Sweet Baby J

Baby D's cousin is finally here! We are all super excited to meet Baby J tonight. Please say a little prayer for this brand new baby and his brand new parents!

a little Middlemarch on Monday

The tenacity with which he strove to hide this inward drama made it the more vivid for him; as we hear with the more keenness what we wish others not to hear. Instead of wondering at this result of misery in Mr. Casaubon, I think it quite ordinary. Will not a tiny speck very close to our vision blot out the glory of the world, and leave only a margin by which we see the blot? I know no speck so troublesome as self.

thankful

Sometimes you just have a wonderful day, with beautiful August weather, phone conversations that deepen friendships, and afternoons with caring relatives. And then your son smiles at a silly dance you do. And you are so, so grateful for it all.

a little Middlemarch on Monday

"It was certainly a hasty speech, my dear," said Mrs. Garth, with whom speaking evil of dignities was a high misdemeanor. "We should not value our Vicar the less because there was a ridiculous curate in the next parish."

"There's something in what she says, though," said Caleb, not disposed to have Mary's sharpness undervalued. "A bad workman of any sort makes his fellows mistrusted. Things hang together," he added, looking on the floor and moving his feet uneasily with a sense that words were scantier than thoughts.

"Clearly," said the Vicar, amused. "By being contemptible we set men's minds to the tune of contempt."

The Things I Don't Regret

This mom lost her son to drug addiction...a sad, beautiful post.

It makes the sleepless nights and cranky days a little easier to bear.

Happy 3 Month Birthday, Baby D!

Three months! Where o where does the time go? Looking back through my log of old posts, I realized that I had written one on his 1 and 2 month birthdays, and never finished/published them. So this post combines all three into a super-mega-fantastic post. So let's work our way backwards, shall we? Here we are, Baby D, three months after the day you were born. I used to call you Little Man because of your old man hairline but now you really are a little man! You smile and respond and laugh and coo; you can hold your head up (somewhat) and you can even support some of your own body weight on your legs! We don't even swaddle you anymore, so we find you in all sorts of crazy places all over your crib when we check on you at night. Boy do you like to travel around your bed! But not in the car - you hate the carseat, with its confining belts and gadgets. Even a baby mirror and my singing can only entertain you for so long before you start to wail - a horrible noise that you really only make when strapped into that seat. Which makes me want to cry, because I can't pick you up! But you're really just not that into crying (except at the end of a very long day). Instead, you have this kind of yell, like you're calling out to us - hey, feed me! entertain me! love me! You're just a happy kid who likes to spend time with people, even if it's just sitting on the front porch and watching the trees move in the breeze. And I could spend all day with you, Baby D, watching you smile at the world.

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Whew! Happy 2 months, Baby D! All three of us have survived many, many sleep deprived (but wonderful!) days. And now you smile! You coo! You're actually quite chatty. You like to watch light and shadows, stare out windows, take baths before bedtime, play with your hands, and kick your legs constantly. It's like you woke up one morning and realized there's a whole big world out there. We have to carry you facing away from us now, so you can look at absolutely everything while we tote you around. But you still love to snuggle and be held while you fall asleep - thank goodness! I wouldn't want my little man growing up too fast. As difficult and trying and exhausting as these months have been, there is nothing as delightful and absolutely breathtaking as watching you really come alive and find the world around you. Even a ceiling fan or a leaf blowing in the breeze is mesmerizing when you contemplate it the way a baby does. And it's even more enthralling and magical to watch the baby as he watches the world. Thank you for this gift, Baby D.

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Baby D is finally one month old! Part of me can hardly believe it's been a month already, and part of me feels like it has been forever. It's been a rough four weeks - we're all waiting anxiously for that first smile to reward us for all the late nights and endless diaper changes. But there are little glimmers of development along the way - he grabbed my shirt! he held his head up for 10 seconds instead of 5! he noticed himself in the mobile mirror! Something so small seems so big when you witness a human doing it for the first time ever. I can't wait to see what's coming next, D.

Why Do I Have A Feeling This is Headed Our Way?

H is for Huuuuuuge