I grew up doing these, and always feel like I'm missing out on a great opportunity if I let a new year slip by without some purposed changes coming along. So... here I go making these public, now that I've had a week to let them stew, and to talk to Ryan about them...
1. Spiritual- read through the Bible using the Plan for Shirkers & Slackers (explained a bit here). My buddy Val is teaming up with me on this one all the way from Toronto! Ryan & I are reading through Moments With You, a couple's devotional by Dennis & Barbara Rainey, every night together. So far we've made it a week straight and are enjoying it and finding it helpful!! :) (thanks for the wedding gift, Uncle Jeff & Aunt Karen!)
2. Spiritual- keep more of a liturgical year by celebrating Advent & Lent both personally and as a family, as well as the 12 Days of Christmas (between Christmas Eve & Epiphany/Three Kings Day)
3. Physical- exercise at least 4 days a week (using DVDs, gardening & walking, and that new iPod insert for my shoe Ryan gave me for Christmas), with the goal of running a 10-mile or half-marathon race this summer
4. Physical- continue to cook seasonally, with an expanded garden grown from seeds this summer (the "from seeds" part is what really freaks me out), and canning/preserving as much as I can
5. Intellectual- keep on reading, reviewing one book per week on my children's book review blog.
6. Intellectual- keep on blogging, streamlining my blog to reflect my passion for equipping others to fully use the brains God has given us by thinking critically about what we eat, read, and do.
TA-DA!
What about you? Have you done any formal (or informal) resolves for this year?
Showing posts with label My Powells. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My Powells. Show all posts
Saturday, January 08, 2011
Sunday, May 02, 2010
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Covenants-in-Skin
I don't remember how it started... some defining moments are also memorable; that first date, your wedding vows, graduation, your baby's first cry... others are more fuzzy. Sometimes you don't realize how important something is or will prove to be until years later, and by then the details may have blurred. That's how this was. Hold that thought.
Shift now to me coming back from Canada a second time. It'd been 5 months since my last visit, and this time it's been a much easier homecoming. There are 2 main reasons for that. The first is that God is faithful. He provided this second chance to visit out of the clear blue; completely unexpectedly. I've seen Him so graciously let me be reunited with my dear friends yet again, and I have every reason to believe that He'll do it again, in His kind providence. He loves it when "brothers dwell together in unity!" The other reason that it was easier is that my friendships, rooted in that Faithfulness, are stronger, both "here" and "there." Since leaving that first time and leaving now I've remembered the nature of intentional friendships-- in Biblical terms you might say I remembered the sweetness of covenant faithfulness. God's love for His people is honest, forever, always, no-matter-what, never-giving-up, forgiving, deep, and full of laughter. It loves as-is and it transforms. It's amazing. And people who are loved like that start to, are called to, love others like that. When people start loving each other like that, it's totally super-natural, and amazing. As we all know, natural friendships just don't always last.
In God's mercy, I have had the privilege of having experienced covenantal love, extended to me by a hand with human skin on it-- more than once, actually, now that I'm married. But before I met Ryan, and before we ever uttered a public covenant to love each other permanantly, I met Chris & Val Powell. I'd just finished my freshman year of college, and was living back at home. I remember my sister Nicole & I chatting it up with Chris, actually-- this new Canadian who'd come down for seminary. He had a wife, but we hadn't met her yet. She was a physical therapist who commuted to work up in NC (about 45 min. from Greenville, SC). Being a future pastor & his wife, I guess they decided to practice some student ministry on us, =D, and Nicole & I ended up over at their place to watch Anne of Green Gables and have supper. I don't really remember meeting Val, and I only vaguely remember that supper. We laughed a lot, but then I usually do if I can help it, especially when my sister is around. At some point after that meal I started
thinking about that commute Val had to make every day, and had the idea to call this new person in our church to keep her company on that drive. I'm sure those first phone conversations were short and somewhat forced; I mean, we didn't know each other at all... I am amazed at my own gall looking back on it, to be honest-- but somewhere along the line, we became friends. And then really really good friends. And then best friends. And it was like anything is when it's fresh and new, be it a hobby, relationship, or setting-- it was fun, easy, exciting, and full of potential. Lots of laughter and ridiculous inside jokes; long phone calls, random packages in the mail... But we'd had good friends before, and lots of surface friends too. Neither of us was naive enough to think that a friendship like ours would automatically grow or even just last. We all have had friendships that withered through hurt feelings or waning interest. So, and finally, here I am back to my opening paragraph: we made a covenant.
I don't really remember it, honestly. Maybe Val does. It wasn't solemn or ceremonious. There were definitely no slain animals involved... not even a certificate or a handshake. But we promised, to one another and before God, that we would never let sin cause a rift in our relationship. If distance or time caused our friendship to fade, so be it, but never sin-- instead, we would confess, confront, and forgive. On one level, that should be every Christian friendship, right? But it isn't... and so we promised. And that promise has changed my life quite deeply.
Over the years, we have by God's grace kept that promise, and it's been amazing. Tim Keller
says Christian friends should extend "befriending grace-- they always let you in, and never let you down," just like Jesus. 'Befriending grace' is always seeking to build others up, to make them closer to that blueprint the Spirit has of them... grace that seeks with every word spoken or deed done to help others along towards the glory they will one Day be as we both finally gaze unveiled at The Glory. That's what my friendship with "my Valerie" has been, of course imperfectly. We sin and we hurt each other sometimes, but there's freedom to be ourselves, and to be loved & treasured amidst even sin or failure. There's someone whose prayers can be tailor-made for me, whose encouragements and rebukes or cautions have a chance to go much deeper. There's still a lot of laughter, and there's always a shoulder to cry on.
Each time we are together and things go "right back to normal" it's a reminder that promises made based on His promises last. It's a reminder of how community isn't scary the way I tend to think it is. My last visit to Toronto was a push to me to try and plant seeds for those kinds of covenant friendships here. By God's grace, I have been renewing my efforts to look at those around me, especially in my home church, through eyes that have seen befriending grace here on earth. I think it's beginning to bear fruit-- the thought that it can sure made my homecoming easier... I pray fruit keeps growing!
Shift now to me coming back from Canada a second time. It'd been 5 months since my last visit, and this time it's been a much easier homecoming. There are 2 main reasons for that. The first is that God is faithful. He provided this second chance to visit out of the clear blue; completely unexpectedly. I've seen Him so graciously let me be reunited with my dear friends yet again, and I have every reason to believe that He'll do it again, in His kind providence. He loves it when "brothers dwell together in unity!" The other reason that it was easier is that my friendships, rooted in that Faithfulness, are stronger, both "here" and "there." Since leaving that first time and leaving now I've remembered the nature of intentional friendships-- in Biblical terms you might say I remembered the sweetness of covenant faithfulness. God's love for His people is honest, forever, always, no-matter-what, never-giving-up, forgiving, deep, and full of laughter. It loves as-is and it transforms. It's amazing. And people who are loved like that start to, are called to, love others like that. When people start loving each other like that, it's totally super-natural, and amazing. As we all know, natural friendships just don't always last.
In God's mercy, I have had the privilege of having experienced covenantal love, extended to me by a hand with human skin on it-- more than once, actually, now that I'm married. But before I met Ryan, and before we ever uttered a public covenant to love each other permanantly, I met Chris & Val Powell. I'd just finished my freshman year of college, and was living back at home. I remember my sister Nicole & I chatting it up with Chris, actually-- this new Canadian who'd come down for seminary. He had a wife, but we hadn't met her yet. She was a physical therapist who commuted to work up in NC (about 45 min. from Greenville, SC). Being a future pastor & his wife, I guess they decided to practice some student ministry on us, =D, and Nicole & I ended up over at their place to watch Anne of Green Gables and have supper. I don't really remember meeting Val, and I only vaguely remember that supper. We laughed a lot, but then I usually do if I can help it, especially when my sister is around. At some point after that meal I started
thinking about that commute Val had to make every day, and had the idea to call this new person in our church to keep her company on that drive. I'm sure those first phone conversations were short and somewhat forced; I mean, we didn't know each other at all... I am amazed at my own gall looking back on it, to be honest-- but somewhere along the line, we became friends. And then really really good friends. And then best friends. And it was like anything is when it's fresh and new, be it a hobby, relationship, or setting-- it was fun, easy, exciting, and full of potential. Lots of laughter and ridiculous inside jokes; long phone calls, random packages in the mail... But we'd had good friends before, and lots of surface friends too. Neither of us was naive enough to think that a friendship like ours would automatically grow or even just last. We all have had friendships that withered through hurt feelings or waning interest. So, and finally, here I am back to my opening paragraph: we made a covenant.I don't really remember it, honestly. Maybe Val does. It wasn't solemn or ceremonious. There were definitely no slain animals involved... not even a certificate or a handshake. But we promised, to one another and before God, that we would never let sin cause a rift in our relationship. If distance or time caused our friendship to fade, so be it, but never sin-- instead, we would confess, confront, and forgive. On one level, that should be every Christian friendship, right? But it isn't... and so we promised. And that promise has changed my life quite deeply.
Over the years, we have by God's grace kept that promise, and it's been amazing. Tim Keller
says Christian friends should extend "befriending grace-- they always let you in, and never let you down," just like Jesus. 'Befriending grace' is always seeking to build others up, to make them closer to that blueprint the Spirit has of them... grace that seeks with every word spoken or deed done to help others along towards the glory they will one Day be as we both finally gaze unveiled at The Glory. That's what my friendship with "my Valerie" has been, of course imperfectly. We sin and we hurt each other sometimes, but there's freedom to be ourselves, and to be loved & treasured amidst even sin or failure. There's someone whose prayers can be tailor-made for me, whose encouragements and rebukes or cautions have a chance to go much deeper. There's still a lot of laughter, and there's always a shoulder to cry on.
Each time we are together and things go "right back to normal" it's a reminder that promises made based on His promises last. It's a reminder of how community isn't scary the way I tend to think it is. My last visit to Toronto was a push to me to try and plant seeds for those kinds of covenant friendships here. By God's grace, I have been renewing my efforts to look at those around me, especially in my home church, through eyes that have seen befriending grace here on earth. I think it's beginning to bear fruit-- the thought that it can sure made my homecoming easier... I pray fruit keeps growing!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Abby
Abigail is 6 mos. old and the size of a 9 month old. She is the most sweet-tempered baby I've ever met, even when sick or tired. She's usually content to play on the floor, rolling around to get what she wants to grab, or to be in her exersaucer. Either way all she needs are a few toys, clothing items, or pieces of paper to eat. :) She doesn't always take her bottles well, which means she still has trouble getting the sleeping-through-the-night thing worked out, much to her mother's chagrin. But she's so pleasant and easy-going, not to mention downright adorable, that it's easy to forget that. She will smile back at anyone who smiles at her, with the biggest, sweetest grin that you've ever seen behind a pacifier. And despite her drive to explore everything by devouring it, she doesn't fuss if someone takes away her prey. And yes, she has manlier pacis than her brother.
Noah
Noah will be 2 on Friday, and he is as energetic as his sister. While his verbal skills leave a bit to be desired, he makes his desires and opinions 
CLEARLY known via his own language, Screech, and personal sign language. He loves to sort, stack, and store objects, which is very handy when it comes to cleaning up. He also loves puzzles already, and whatever else Hannah happens to be doing at the time! He is very affectionate, with THE best, most contagious all-out laugh! He loves babies, especially his sister, getting so concerned when they cry, and being surprisingly gentle with them. He would come up and get right on Eowyn's level if she was fussing, and say in a sweet voice "Hi! Hi! Hi!" to try and comfort her. He also would try to give her a Noah-kiss by putting his head against hers, but we discouraged this due to his flu-i-ness.
CLEARLY known via his own language, Screech, and personal sign language. He loves to sort, stack, and store objects, which is very handy when it comes to cleaning up. He also loves puzzles already, and whatever else Hannah happens to be doing at the time! He is very affectionate, with THE best, most contagious all-out laugh! He loves babies, especially his sister, getting so concerned when they cry, and being surprisingly gentle with them. He would come up and get right on Eowyn's level if she was fussing, and say in a sweet voice "Hi! Hi! Hi!" to try and comfort her. He also would try to give her a Noah-kiss by putting his head against hers, but we discouraged this due to his flu-i-ness. Noah's Words:
--coo-kee (cookie)
--mama
--daddy
--uh-oh
--hi
--mo' (more)-- often combined with "pees" for "mo' pees!" (more please)
--cah!! (car)
--unk ooo (thank you)
--ushh (fish)
--pashee (paci- his pacifier... his favorite one is, wait for it, pink with a strawberry on it!)
--bay-buh or bay-bee (baby)
--ball
Any other concepts are communicated through pointing and/or screeching.
He understands pretty much everything you tell him, and can complete very simple 2-step instructions, which is really good for his age! Most challenging has become his new 3-step approach to tantrums: 1. screech 2.stop/kick (or wave his feet if they can't reach anything stompable) 3. grab paci and throw it-- if it's missing, just grab cheek and glare menancingly. It's quite hilarious to think back on later, but not funny in the moment. He is showing himself to be every bit as strong-willed as his sister! You'll notice he doesn't say 'yes' or 'no'-- the 'no' is made manifest through tantrums/screeching, and the 'yes' through a huge grin and even huger nod!
Hannah
For those of you who love the Powells & are wondering what their kids are like, the following is a brief series detailing each of their precious little ones. First comes Hannah, who just turned 4.
I think this picture quite captures her personality: she is very smart, full of energy, talkative, and girly. She loves jewelry (pronounced "jew-ler-y")-- the last time I saw her,
she had on 7 necklaces at once-- crafts, and stickers, and would wear a church dress every day if she could. She also loves accessories; chapstick, stickers, fun shoes (be they flip-flops, boots or jellies) and bags. She tried to convince her parents that she needed 3 backpacks to take me to the airport on Monday. She is ALWAYS thinking, looking for any loophole to turn to her advantage, listening when you think she isn't, and eager for a good story. She's quite a verbal little girl, and will be reading in no time flat. She gives her parents-- especially her mom-- a run for their money, being very strong-willed and innovative in her testing of limits. She also frequently tries to give her brother away, so as you can imagine, doesn't exactly play nicely with him most of the time. However, she does love her baby sister (and now "teeny-tiny-Eowynny-weeny-win" too) very much.
I think this picture quite captures her personality: she is very smart, full of energy, talkative, and girly. She loves jewelry (pronounced "jew-ler-y")-- the last time I saw her,
she had on 7 necklaces at once-- crafts, and stickers, and would wear a church dress every day if she could. She also loves accessories; chapstick, stickers, fun shoes (be they flip-flops, boots or jellies) and bags. She tried to convince her parents that she needed 3 backpacks to take me to the airport on Monday. She is ALWAYS thinking, looking for any loophole to turn to her advantage, listening when you think she isn't, and eager for a good story. She's quite a verbal little girl, and will be reading in no time flat. She gives her parents-- especially her mom-- a run for their money, being very strong-willed and innovative in her testing of limits. She also frequently tries to give her brother away, so as you can imagine, doesn't exactly play nicely with him most of the time. However, she does love her baby sister (and now "teeny-tiny-Eowynny-weeny-win" too) very much. Hannah quotes of the week:
-- upon hearing Val & I discussing what we might do or eat "later":*sigh* "Later means after bed-time."
-- Me: "Hannah, Mommy just told you to stay upstairs" Hannah, counting the stairs she had gone down: "Well, four steps is mostly upstairs." Me, dropping my voice an octave: "Hannah..." Hannah: skitters upstairs
--to cousin Judy, on hearing her say Noah was cute: "Well, would you like to take him away with you?"
-- Val to Noah: "Noah, are you about to throw a temper tantrum?" Hannah: "Oh yes, he is!"
-- on the way to take me to Buffalo: "We're on our way to pick-- hmm-- to un-pick Aunt Christina at the airport.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Happy Birthday, Dear Hannah
I can't believe you're a big FOUR year old today! Uncle Ryan & I hope you get better soon and that God lets Baby Eowyn be your birthday buddy! =D We sure love you!
--Aunt Christina, Uncle Ryan & Eowyn
Yes, she & her entire family are down for the count. :( Poor Val doesn't get sick days. My favorite Hannah quote of the day: "Mommy, is watching a lot of TV how we get un-sick?"
As far as hopes for our own daughter's birth-day...
Mom & I just got to peek at her via ultrasound-- she's got cute chubby cheeks! Everything looks great-- plenty of amniotic fluid, great heartrate & movement, placenta still quite "adequate." As far as readiness to be born, she's just sittin' on "go." 4 cm dialated, 90% effaced, head at station 0. No idea what she's waiting for. Maybe the weather to change? It is sorta rainy and dreary...
But we're still hoping she'll come today and be Hannah's birthday buddy!
**Edit: so we are working through intense contractions over here... 6-8 minutes apart. Our bags are packed & we're ready to go. Once they hit 5 minutes apart we are making like a baby and heading OUT! hehehehe :)
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Finding Whole-Heartedness When I Feel Like I Left Part of it Behind
I flew into Louisville yesterday evening, and Ryan picked me up at the airport. I'm sitting here admiring our newly-painted dining room walls (I LOVE the red!) and thinking about everything that must be done here in Louisville, because this is where I live (duh). But getting home to Louisville and my husband and my dear little house on Camp Street meant leaving Toronto. Not that I have any particular attachement to that city, per se (I've seen the snow pictures, and it wasn't nearly warm enough for June, in my opinion)... but it meant leaving people I very much love, with no reunion time in sight. It's been a hard thing.
In some ways, I feel like I just moved all over again... most of you know that I have lived in Greenville and its environs for most of my life, attending the same church and so serving alongside, laughing with, knowing, being known and being loved by the same people for many many years. It's not just my childhood home, it's my high school home, my college town, my church home town, and my family's home. Sure, there are lots of painful memories, lots of old hurts and questions and people who STILL annoy me (and people whom I have always annoyed, lol), but that's just life! I still love it there! Packing up everything to marry a man I'd known a year was something I very gladly did (and will gladly do again and again and again!!!), but it did mean leaving everything else behind. Thankfully, I'd been here to Louisville before, and had started the integration process. I loved my new church already... and my new life in Louisville had the very significant perk of now being married to my favorite person in the world! So it wasn't as hard as it could have been, but there were days of living among the boxes when all I could think of was "I want my Mommy." I hear many new brides get that urge. :)
Two years and many new friends later (not to mention a new job, house, car and now pregnancy), I feel all those old pains again, very fresh and very raw. For two whole weeks, I was with people who have loved me through the most painful days of my life-- Chris, Val, and my Mom,-- people who have held me to the Gospel when I could not hold myself there, people who know me as I really am -the good, the ugly, and the goofy- and love me all the way. It reminded me of what I've left behind to follow Him. It reminded me of how much goes into friendships in order to make them that sweet and safe, and of how much I've resisted investing in new friendships. It reminded me of what the Gospel calls us to, and how far I've slid from living that way... and it all just hurts. I spent 14 days laughing my head off, reliving old jokes and making new ones, being honest, listening to, and just sharing life with the dearest friend the Lord has given me. I'm gonna miss that. (and of course I mean apart from my husband; Ryan's my life partner and soul mate; he gets his own category =D)
So today I'm unpacking and trying to re-orient myself to life here and now. I'm trying to stop crying and to thank God for each happy memory to treasure, and for the wonder of technology that enables international friendships not just to survive, but even to thrive. I'm trying to learn all that God has been trying to teach me through this experience. I think the main point is that I must be living all the way, wherever I am, doing whatever I'm doing for His glory. Chris preached a sermon Sunday whose application was that when we sin, the problem is a lack of passion for God. Part of every repentance should be repenting to Him for not loving Him supremely and passionately enough. Oh, that one hit close to home.
So... today I'll be unpacking, and thanking God, and repenting of lukewarm passion. I'm also pretty sure that God's trying to show me that my joy must not, cannot be circumstancial. This is something Val & I were talking about a lot- we both are quite competant, and able to manage life pretty much alone. We can do what needs to be done, and do it pretty well. But it's not enough to just survive-- there's got to be a "joy in the journey." That joy has to be Jesus, or else it will fade whenever anything else in life fades... which is everything. My joy and cheif companion must be He, not my new baby girl, not my husband, not my success as a teacher, not a great VBS, not even godly wives & moms who spur me on and set a great example for me.
Still, though, I am looking forward to Heaven for so many reasons, among them: "...what knitting severed friendships up/where partings are no more/ then eyes with joy shall sparkle/ that brimmed with tears of late/orphans no longer fatherless nor widows desolate.//" (~"Ten Thousand Times Ten Thousand") Beacuse it seems like no matter who I'm with, I'm missing someone so hard my heart hurts. That's just life in this fallen world, where sin and distance and the drive to take the Gospel to those who haven't heard always separate. One Day it won't, and in the meantime, Jesus offers us wholeness in Him, no matter where we are or what we don't have.
"Give me an undivided heart!" David prayed. So am I-- and please, if you pray for me, pray too!
--Christina
In some ways, I feel like I just moved all over again... most of you know that I have lived in Greenville and its environs for most of my life, attending the same church and so serving alongside, laughing with, knowing, being known and being loved by the same people for many many years. It's not just my childhood home, it's my high school home, my college town, my church home town, and my family's home. Sure, there are lots of painful memories, lots of old hurts and questions and people who STILL annoy me (and people whom I have always annoyed, lol), but that's just life! I still love it there! Packing up everything to marry a man I'd known a year was something I very gladly did (and will gladly do again and again and again!!!), but it did mean leaving everything else behind. Thankfully, I'd been here to Louisville before, and had started the integration process. I loved my new church already... and my new life in Louisville had the very significant perk of now being married to my favorite person in the world! So it wasn't as hard as it could have been, but there were days of living among the boxes when all I could think of was "I want my Mommy." I hear many new brides get that urge. :)
Two years and many new friends later (not to mention a new job, house, car and now pregnancy), I feel all those old pains again, very fresh and very raw. For two whole weeks, I was with people who have loved me through the most painful days of my life-- Chris, Val, and my Mom,-- people who have held me to the Gospel when I could not hold myself there, people who know me as I really am -the good, the ugly, and the goofy- and love me all the way. It reminded me of what I've left behind to follow Him. It reminded me of how much goes into friendships in order to make them that sweet and safe, and of how much I've resisted investing in new friendships. It reminded me of what the Gospel calls us to, and how far I've slid from living that way... and it all just hurts. I spent 14 days laughing my head off, reliving old jokes and making new ones, being honest, listening to, and just sharing life with the dearest friend the Lord has given me. I'm gonna miss that. (and of course I mean apart from my husband; Ryan's my life partner and soul mate; he gets his own category =D)
So today I'm unpacking and trying to re-orient myself to life here and now. I'm trying to stop crying and to thank God for each happy memory to treasure, and for the wonder of technology that enables international friendships not just to survive, but even to thrive. I'm trying to learn all that God has been trying to teach me through this experience. I think the main point is that I must be living all the way, wherever I am, doing whatever I'm doing for His glory. Chris preached a sermon Sunday whose application was that when we sin, the problem is a lack of passion for God. Part of every repentance should be repenting to Him for not loving Him supremely and passionately enough. Oh, that one hit close to home.
So... today I'll be unpacking, and thanking God, and repenting of lukewarm passion. I'm also pretty sure that God's trying to show me that my joy must not, cannot be circumstancial. This is something Val & I were talking about a lot- we both are quite competant, and able to manage life pretty much alone. We can do what needs to be done, and do it pretty well. But it's not enough to just survive-- there's got to be a "joy in the journey." That joy has to be Jesus, or else it will fade whenever anything else in life fades... which is everything. My joy and cheif companion must be He, not my new baby girl, not my husband, not my success as a teacher, not a great VBS, not even godly wives & moms who spur me on and set a great example for me.
Still, though, I am looking forward to Heaven for so many reasons, among them: "...what knitting severed friendships up/where partings are no more/ then eyes with joy shall sparkle/ that brimmed with tears of late/orphans no longer fatherless nor widows desolate.//" (~"Ten Thousand Times Ten Thousand") Beacuse it seems like no matter who I'm with, I'm missing someone so hard my heart hurts. That's just life in this fallen world, where sin and distance and the drive to take the Gospel to those who haven't heard always separate. One Day it won't, and in the meantime, Jesus offers us wholeness in Him, no matter where we are or what we don't have.
"Give me an undivided heart!" David prayed. So am I-- and please, if you pray for me, pray too!
--Christina
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Abby's Wake-Up Routine
I finally shot 6 mini-videos of our littlest princess of the house of Powell. :) We'll see how well they upload...
Abby, like her sister before her, is often hard to wake up for her feedings. And she often falls asleep during feedings, too. So I like to have the job of waking her up. She hates to be cold, so off come the chalupa-style blankets, and if necessary, socks and clothes. I've also found that blowing on her gets her attention without upsetting her, so that's the blowing on the tape. She makes the FUNNIEST faces while she wakes up, which is why I wanted to capture them.
This one is awesome mostly because of her mad and serious faces:
And, last in this mini-series (done in the morning), the Kung Fu routine:
She actually usually has a lot more kung-fu like moves, but at least I got the general idea on film. Who knows when her tired parents will do better...
Abby, like her sister before her, is often hard to wake up for her feedings. And she often falls asleep during feedings, too. So I like to have the job of waking her up. She hates to be cold, so off come the chalupa-style blankets, and if necessary, socks and clothes. I've also found that blowing on her gets her attention without upsetting her, so that's the blowing on the tape. She makes the FUNNIEST faces while she wakes up, which is why I wanted to capture them.
This one is awesome mostly because of her mad and serious faces:
And, last in this mini-series (done in the morning), the Kung Fu routine:
She actually usually has a lot more kung-fu like moves, but at least I got the general idea on film. Who knows when her tired parents will do better...
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Parenting 101?
** Update from Val 6/9/09: here's another Hannah quote, hot off the press: "I'm ready to lawn the grass" (they're going to mow) :) Oh I miss that little voice... with the dimpled smile & gleam in her eye!
-----------------------------------------------
Ok, not really a "Parenting Post." This will actually be a list of Hannah's cuter quotables. I'm sure we'll get more during our road trip to Woodstock (Ontario) tomorrow. Val & I are taking the kids to visit her mom for 2 days, and her sister will join us there along with HER two kids. So it'll be a mom & kid PARTAY!!
-- Combining two Scripture memory songs ("Train up a child in the way he should go," and "You knit me together in my mother's womb") into one: "Chain up a child in my mother's room..."
-- after lunch, all in one breath, "Oh, I'm still hungry...let's see, what could I have?...how about those cookies we made!?" as if THAT wasn't pre-meditated... give her a few months and she'll even have believable pauses thrown in!
-- once again mangling a Bible-verse song: "You knit me together in my mother's room..." (hmmm...) (oh and then Chris used the actual Bible verse in his pastoral prayer in church... Val & I about lost it)
-- someone commenting on her new baby sister "Oh, she's so precious-- I could just take her home with me!" Hannah, seizing the moment; "how 'bout you take Noah?"
-- Sometimes Noah closes his eyes, which is very good when we pray.
-- as I discussed how only Jesus will make us happy after her sin (driven by an obsession with lipgloss) led to sad consequences for her: But I want to be happy in Jesus AND lipgloss! well... at least she's honest.
--looking at the cowlick at the back of Abby's head "That looks kinda like when Stuart [Little] fell into the washing machine!"
...but nothing makes me laugh quicker than the way she says "Stuart" (yes, she's able to relate most of life to that movie)... it sounds like "Sthtuart." I'm gonna get such weird looks walking around saying it to myself when I get back home, I just know it.
Really good book on parenting: Aren't They Lovely When They're Asleep?- lessons in unsentimental parenting... I really really hope they print it in the US, because I want one!! One of Chris' relatives sent this to them from the UK as a baby gift, and I've been enjoying it SO much! Shepherding Your Child's Heart is still my favorite, but it's sort of a different category. Anyway, this little book is brief, biblical, practical, balanced, and funny! Check it out!
-----------------------------------------------
Ok, not really a "Parenting Post." This will actually be a list of Hannah's cuter quotables. I'm sure we'll get more during our road trip to Woodstock (Ontario) tomorrow. Val & I are taking the kids to visit her mom for 2 days, and her sister will join us there along with HER two kids. So it'll be a mom & kid PARTAY!!
-- Combining two Scripture memory songs ("Train up a child in the way he should go," and "You knit me together in my mother's womb") into one: "Chain up a child in my mother's room..."-- after lunch, all in one breath, "Oh, I'm still hungry...let's see, what could I have?...how about those cookies we made!?" as if THAT wasn't pre-meditated... give her a few months and she'll even have believable pauses thrown in!
-- chuckling to herself while looking at her belly, "Oh, baby June. You are kickin' me!"
-- "Mommy, did you pick up that snake we saw?" "Oh no, I would never handle a snake!" "Why not?" "Because I'm not trained as to how to do it." (totally blank look) "But, Mommy, you're potty trained!"
-- "Now I can get a hula-hoop, 'cause I've got the right hips!"-- once again mangling a Bible-verse song: "You knit me together in my mother's room..." (hmmm...) (oh and then Chris used the actual Bible verse in his pastoral prayer in church... Val & I about lost it)
-- someone commenting on her new baby sister "Oh, she's so precious-- I could just take her home with me!" Hannah, seizing the moment; "how 'bout you take Noah?"
-- Sometimes Noah closes his eyes, which is very good when we pray.
-- as I discussed how only Jesus will make us happy after her sin (driven by an obsession with lipgloss) led to sad consequences for her: But I want to be happy in Jesus AND lipgloss! well... at least she's honest.
--looking at the cowlick at the back of Abby's head "That looks kinda like when Stuart [Little] fell into the washing machine!"
...but nothing makes me laugh quicker than the way she says "Stuart" (yes, she's able to relate most of life to that movie)... it sounds like "Sthtuart." I'm gonna get such weird looks walking around saying it to myself when I get back home, I just know it.
Really good book on parenting: Aren't They Lovely When They're Asleep?- lessons in unsentimental parenting... I really really hope they print it in the US, because I want one!! One of Chris' relatives sent this to them from the UK as a baby gift, and I've been enjoying it SO much! Shepherding Your Child's Heart is still my favorite, but it's sort of a different category. Anyway, this little book is brief, biblical, practical, balanced, and funny! Check it out!
Changing Rules
Being pregnant is such an all- encompassing... experience. It's not just like a list of symptoms; it's a whole-body overhaul that demands a matching shift in thinking, as well as changes in habits and even emotional patterns (you don't get choices about those two)! The physical changes are the most obvious-- the bigger belly, the bigger appetite, the extra fluid, and all that goes with all that... but it's such a total package deal; I had no idea before the alien started taking over MY body! Since being an expectant mommy is such a part of my life (even when I forget I'm pregnant, which does still happen often, amazingly enough), I thought I'd jot down a list of things that I've had to learn to roll with... both so I won't forget (placenta brain is REAL! I honestly have trouble stringing coherent, gramatically correct sentences together at times), and so I won't drive Chris & Val up the wall talking about it while I'm with them. :)
Rules I Never Had to Live By Before (in no particular order)
-- sleeping is something you desperately crave, and yet often proves more elusive than even in college. It's just harder to lay comfortably, and then there's the guaranteed mid-night nature call, along with the requisite snack (or else deal with the adrenaline surge and accompanying shakes of low blood-sugar)...
-- Taco Bell's 4th Meal sounds awfully piddly. Hah! It's more like 6th meal for me!
-- eating must be done s-l-o-w-l-y. I don't get a choice about taking big bites, either (if I do, it comes up... and if I eat too quickly, it's called the scarf & barf routine. lovely, huh?)
-- large portions are a must... but they often will be eaten at several sittings
-- the phrases "seismic activity" and "Richter scale" often come to mind regarding my belly, especially when I sit in a reclined position. Yesterday it was so bad that she actually gave me an upset stomach! I don't know if she was using it as a punching bag or a trampoline, but yipes, girlie, settle down!
-- nausea no longer means "drink a little water, lay down, and don't eat much until you're better." It just might mean "go eat a ton," or "get up and move" or "stop drinking water- you're too full!"
-- I can't fit in spaces I thought I could. lol this often catches me off-guard when I'm getting up from the table and I don't bother to push a chair in all the way. Suddenly, my belly's caught!
-- going from sitting to standing or vice versa requires the extensive use of quads. I never realized how much I tend to "lift with my back," or how much in debt I am to my abs, until both were rather out of comission due to the bowling ball lodged in my midsection. At least I'm getting a good leg workout, huh?
-- I will ALWAYS get something on my shirt. Often multiple things. I look down at my belly and I'm shocked... no matter how careful I try to be, it's a catchall!!
-- single-digit bedtimes are advisable
-- food choices aren't just a matter of taste-- there's the pressure of eating for a being still being formed. She is what I eat. YIKES!! And, there's the questions of acid reflux, of calories, and lactose content...
-- in thinking long-term, there's the realization that there will be another little person to consider... for the rest of our lives!!!
And to close with Hannah's quip from yesterday, as I carried her to the car. "I'm sitting on Baby Eowyn's head!" =D
Rules I Never Had to Live By Before (in no particular order)-- sleeping is something you desperately crave, and yet often proves more elusive than even in college. It's just harder to lay comfortably, and then there's the guaranteed mid-night nature call, along with the requisite snack (or else deal with the adrenaline surge and accompanying shakes of low blood-sugar)...
-- Taco Bell's 4th Meal sounds awfully piddly. Hah! It's more like 6th meal for me!
-- eating must be done s-l-o-w-l-y. I don't get a choice about taking big bites, either (if I do, it comes up... and if I eat too quickly, it's called the scarf & barf routine. lovely, huh?)
-- large portions are a must... but they often will be eaten at several sittings
-- the phrases "seismic activity" and "Richter scale" often come to mind regarding my belly, especially when I sit in a reclined position. Yesterday it was so bad that she actually gave me an upset stomach! I don't know if she was using it as a punching bag or a trampoline, but yipes, girlie, settle down!
-- nausea no longer means "drink a little water, lay down, and don't eat much until you're better." It just might mean "go eat a ton," or "get up and move" or "stop drinking water- you're too full!"
-- I can't fit in spaces I thought I could. lol this often catches me off-guard when I'm getting up from the table and I don't bother to push a chair in all the way. Suddenly, my belly's caught!
-- going from sitting to standing or vice versa requires the extensive use of quads. I never realized how much I tend to "lift with my back," or how much in debt I am to my abs, until both were rather out of comission due to the bowling ball lodged in my midsection. At least I'm getting a good leg workout, huh?
-- I will ALWAYS get something on my shirt. Often multiple things. I look down at my belly and I'm shocked... no matter how careful I try to be, it's a catchall!!
-- single-digit bedtimes are advisable
-- food choices aren't just a matter of taste-- there's the pressure of eating for a being still being formed. She is what I eat. YIKES!! And, there's the questions of acid reflux, of calories, and lactose content...
-- in thinking long-term, there's the realization that there will be another little person to consider... for the rest of our lives!!!
And to close with Hannah's quip from yesterday, as I carried her to the car. "I'm sitting on Baby Eowyn's head!" =D
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
New Pics
My Mommy's gone. :( I cried.
But I do love the rest o' the folks here!! You can see pics here. Typing while holding a baby is too slow... so, tata!! :)
P.S. Hannah at breakfast, quite matter-of-fact-ly, "So, what's Baby Eowyn doin' to you right now?" (she's also decided that SHE has a baby in her tummy; Baby June... we don't know where she got that name)
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Holding Abby
I never have been so amazed at how much I can love a person before... with absolutely no effort on her part, I am completely entranced after 52 hours in her company. I just hold her and watch her sleep, marveling at her expressions, wondering what she is thinking, or if she's even able to think at all. She makes the funniest faces, moves her tiny limbs in the most natural ways, and I know it's all completely unconscious. AMAZING. Babies really are just amazing. I love her smell, sweet and clean and totally baby. I love her soft new skin, her downy skin, her rosebud lips. I took the night shift on Tuesday and even in my sleepy state at 3:30 am, I was just amazed at how precious she is. What a gift!
I remember how much I loved Hannah when she was born, 3 years ago. I missed most of Noah's babyhood (he was born 2 months after I got married), but fell in love with him when he greeted me at the airport. Now I'm in love with the newest Powell-- the one currently sleeping draped over the belly housing my own daughter... it's so true that your heart never runs out of love; you just are given more and more to share! This is especially true for believers, who are "dipping" out of the love of Christ in God!
What keeps blowing my mind is that in 3 1/2 months, I will be doing this all- the holding, the staring in amazement, the late night feedings, the spit-up drenchings, the diaper changing- again (and again, and again and again and...) with my OWN baby girl. Sometimes I go by a mirror holding Abigail, and I get caught off guard: "this will be ME in a few months." On the one hand, it just looks totally natural to me. I've always felt most happy with a child in my arms. But on the other hand, just thinking of the permanence of the situation makes me wonder "Do I look old enough to be a mother!?" Because, ready or not, here she comes!I can't wait to meet you, Éowyn... can't wait to see whose hair you got and what your toes look like. I can't wait to breathe in your smell, and hold you as much as I can. I have a feeling I will be a "baby-wearer" to the core. :)
-- Mama Szrama
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Enjoying Toronto... the official sights to see
Backing up to the white cliffs (like in Dover)-- Hannah & me with matching bellies (Eowyn), "Mr. Karina", Noah
Betcha didn't know Toronto had gorgeous beaches, didya!? (Lake Ontario) Hannah (3 1/2), Me, Mom & Noah (18 mos).
I Miss My Ryan... this guy's (they're all over Toronto) not the same, despite the crazy headgear... ;)
On the way to the CN Tower (Chris pushing two babies, Val w/ Hannah)
At the top of the CN Tower (the second-largest freestanding structure in the world). My Mom was too freaked out to stand on the glass floor. After a little coaxing, Hannah wasn't scared!
Virtigo-inducing
Chris, Noah, me & Hannah at the top of the tower (downtown Toronto)-- Val stayed below to nurse AbbyEnjoying Toronto... the lesser-publicized delights
and the sights I love the most! :)
Parks! I'd never see these if I were on a Michelin Guidebook tour!
Hannah & Aunt Christina (when she says it, it sounds like "Ana Scrina")
And again! Slides really are fun!! :)
We had a little photo op...
Cheese!!
Hannah, looking sooo sweet.
Me holding Abby (3 weeks old)... I'm so tired I look like I just delivered, lol
The happiest little man on the planet... when eating M & Ms or sliding backwards down the stairs!
Holding Abby-- this baby gets put down as little as I can help it-- between Mom & Val & I, that's not too often. I just have to put her down when my own baby gets too heavy... which is more often now, as I'm stretching faster & faster!
Parks! I'd never see these if I were on a Michelin Guidebook tour!
Hannah & Aunt Christina (when she says it, it sounds like "Ana Scrina")
And again! Slides really are fun!! :)
We had a little photo op...
Cheese!!
Hannah, looking sooo sweet.
Me holding Abby (3 weeks old)... I'm so tired I look like I just delivered, lol
The happiest little man on the planet... when eating M & Ms or sliding backwards down the stairs!
Holding Abby-- this baby gets put down as little as I can help it-- between Mom & Val & I, that's not too often. I just have to put her down when my own baby gets too heavy... which is more often now, as I'm stretching faster & faster!Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Presenting...
Éowyn Rose (?) Szrama,
in the flesh... well... sort of :)
in the sonic image skeletal flesh, finally digitized for her far-away devotees.
in the flesh... well... sort of :)
in the sonic image skeletal flesh, finally digitized for her far-away devotees.
My favorite shot-- look at that tiny nose! I love her little profile, down to the mini ears.
Tiny feet! I love 'em!! I FEEL them all the time now- usually on the left side, and especially whenever I hold another child against my belly. She kicks them off...not that they ever care enough to move.
With an open mouth, you can really see her jawbone, and it makes her look kind of creepy! But a mother can still love this face.
Here's a picture of me at 21 weeks (2 weeks ago) so you can verify that my belly actually IS growing.Well, I'm here in Toronto with my Powells, eating up the new baby, Abby. I can't believe we'll get out very own in 4 months! She is a beautiful, sweet baby, and I couldn't be happier than with my arms full of her soft warmth, and my nose full of her sweet baby smell. Pictures to come. Noah is an absolute doll. He laughs uproariously at the drop of a hat, which is SO fun! He doesn't talk at all (well, unless you count "DaDaDaDaDa") but he chirps and grunts at different pitches-- he has a special one for his baby sister-- and points and grins at whatever he wants. Hannah has a dimple and curls, a literary bent and an extensive vocabulary. What more could I ask? Val & Chris are such wonderful friends, and I refuse to think about leaving them in 13 days ("all ten fingers, plus three of your toes" as I told Hannah). And to top it all off, my MOM is here in Toronto with me!
I've got places to go, people to see, babies to kiss-- three of them, actually! :)
--one Éowyn's wannabe heir, and another one's Mama
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