thankful

Making Thanksgiving pumpkin pie.

With a bump in the way.

(and raptor-claw hands)

We have sooo, so much to be thankful for this year.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

budding musician

Thank you for the sweet comments and for sharing in our joy!  It has been so much fun experiencing the excitement of our friends and family as we share our news.   This week the doctor declared it a "healthy, low-risk pregnancy" (yeah!), and the morning sickness and exhaustion have started to ease up a bit (yeah again!). 

Kiddo has known for a couple of weeks, and says he feels "excited, because we've been waiting for a baby brother or sister for a very long time, but it also feels a little weird because we didn't think it was going to happen."  Yep.  Sometimes it feels pretty weird to me, too.  While Kiddo is looking forward to May, I don't think the reality has quite set in for him yet.  ;)

*****

The hills living room has been alive with the sound of music the past few weeks...

Kiddo has been learning how to read music at school.  He came home the other day so excited about learning the notes in the treble clef.  He grabbed some score paper (is that what it's called?) and started composing.  And composing.  And composing.  He's filling up a notebook with his songs.  He's got quarter notes, eighth notes, half and quarter notes, ties and pedal markings.  He's got measures and repeats, choruses and verses.  His songs are...not particularly melodic.  And even though he's got all the (mostly) right markings in there, he doesn't always play what he writes.  But it is so much fun to watch him experiment and create, completely absorbed as he plinks out notes and then scribbles on his paper.  And he's so proud when he's finished.  I get daily concerts of Kiddo songs.  Love that.

Piano lessons may or may not be in his future.  We'll see. 

un(expected)

Almost exactly two years ago, our pastor at church was preaching about the story of Hannah.  As part of the service, Hubby and I shared about our own journey through infertility and our experience as we "waited on the Lord."  We shared about the tough stuff, the anger and disappointment and tears.  We shared about the lessons we were learning and the unexpected blessings that had come out of our experience.  And we shared about the peace that was slowly growing in our hearts as we continued to wait.

It is a fascinating thing, the effect this journey has had on me.  From depression, anger and grief to resignation, peace, and eventually contentment and even joy.  I was telling someone recently (finally) that I have slowly come to appreciate the time I have spent wrestling with infertility.  It has been incredibly difficult, this waiting and hoping and longing, the roller coaster of emotions and the disappointment of each seemingly closed door.  But I feel richer and deeper for having gone through the past six and a half years.  Life is hard.  Tough things happen to good people.  God won't always do what you ask him to, but that doesn't mean that he isn't good, that he isn't present, that he loves you any less.

                               He won't say the words you wish that he would
                               Oh, he don't do the deeds you know that He could
                               He won't think the thoughts you think He should
                               But He is good, He is good

                                                                       Kendall Payne - "Aslan"

It has taken me a long time to understand and truly believe that.  And even longer to accept it and find joy in circumstances I wouldn't have chosen for myself.  To be content, trusting that God is at work even though he seems silent.

Two years ago, as we stood up in front of our church family, we were just figuring these things out.  We didn't know what God was doing, and occasionally often wondered if he was doing anything at all.  We didn't know how or when our story would end.  And we still don't.  But, after six long years of waiting and wondering, we now know a little more about what to expect in the (totally UNexpected) next chapter...

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Meet our little peanut.  Due to arrive 5/22/12.  We are incredibly, unbelievably, undeservedly blessed.  Morning any-time-of-day sickness has never felt so good.

 

baking

I was in the kitchen today, baking. 

Self-injury and Lightning McQueen band-aids were a given.

breaking the silence

Yes, we're still here!  This poor little blog has taken a back seat for the past few weeks, but we are all fine and life is good, despite a freak snow storm that has turned our neighborhood into a battered war zone and left us all without power for four days (and counting...we're not supposed to get it back until the end of the week).

Our poor trees took quite a beating.  We lost quite a few branches, including a few BIG ones.

And our poor magnolia tree - most likely a total loss.

We toughed out the power outage for a day or two, but as soon as we heard my parents had gotten their electricity back a few miles away, we packed up and headed to that haven of warmth, light, hot showers and flushing toilets.

Kiddo had his first snow day of the year yesterday (Halloween) due to power outages and closed roads, and school is optional today, as his building still doesn't have power (jury's still out on whether or not he'll go this morning - he's one tired boy). 

Hard to remember that just a couple of days ago, our world looked like this!

Damage and inconvenience aside, it really was quite pretty.  It's not very often that you get to see fall colors and snow at the same time.

We've got a warm, welcoming place to stay, and Kiddo is having a grand time with his grandparents.  Our house is undamaged, it's warm enough that we don't have to worry about frozen pipes, our basement isn't flooding, and my mom had room in her freezer to take on most of our perishables.  We'll be paying a hefty sum to the tree surgeons, but life is good, and we'll look back on this week as a grand, crazy adventure.

P.S.  I realized (after posting) that I totally copied the title for this post from Faith.  Whoops!  Sorry, Faith!

kindergardens - week ??? {wrap-up}

Our garden is quiet these days.  There are a few tomatoes here and there, a pepper or two, and one lone eggplant attempting to slowly ripen in the cooler temps and seemingly non-stop rain.  The sunflowers are bowing under the weight of their seed heads and the dozens of birds that come to feast on them, while the rest of the garden is tucking itself in and saying good-bye. 

Good-bye, shovel.  Good-bye, rake.

Good-bye, trusty trowel.

 

Good-bye, wheelbarrow.

Good-bye, garden centers and greenhouses.

Good-bye, morning glory house.

Good-bye, dinosaur garden.

Good-bye, alphabet garden.

Good-bye, teepee.

Good-bye, zinnia path.

Good-bye, flower maze.

Good-bye, garden-fresh snacks.

Good-bye, summer evenings spent putzing around the garden as a family.

Good-bye, garden.

Hello, red, brown, orange and yellow.

Hello, geese, honking over our heads as you wing your way southward.

Hello, open windows during the day.  Hello, quilts at night.

Hello, jeans and socks and sneakers.

Hello, fall.

Once again, I am so thankful for the KinderGARDEN contest.  Thanks, Kim, for giving us some additional motivation to spend our summer out in the garden.  Our garden has been such a haven for our family.  We have made so many memories there, working together on warm spring weekends to get everything ready and planted, and then spending sun-drenched evenings there in the summer, watching everything grow and snacking on tomatoes and peas.  It's amazing how rewarding such a simple thing, growing a garden, can be.  We've also enjoyed following our fellow Kindergardeners, making some new friends, cheering on old ones, and sharing the ups and downs of another (crazy) year in the garden. 

Be sure to head over to The Inadvertent Farmer to see what's happening in other Kindergardens.

one cat and seven goldfinches...

...separated by a window.