{ A Post Without Photos }

Crazy, I know. But I haven't downloaded photos from my camera in a while, and if I do that...that's all that will happen tonight, and I won't write a post at all. So pictureless will have to do for now.

Lately the busyness has kicked up a notch in my life: manageable, but definitely more activities than the first couple months of Lainie's life. I'm slowly figuring out the balance that works best for us, though I'm sure that will constantly shift as Little Miss grows. She will be 12 weeks old tomorrow--how is that possible?! Tonight as I was rocking her to sleep and praying for her, I got all teared up thinking about her future husband...no way can I imagine her growing up and leaving home and getting married. One day at a time, Nikki, one day at a time...

Recently I realized I don't have a baby book. Doh. I'm going to get one, but that's my current excuse for why this blog is functioning mostly as a recording device for Lainie's development. In the last week or so, she has started taking pretty consistent morning naps, falling asleep between 10 and 11 and sleeping for 3-4 hours. It's heavenly! Around the same time she also started to enjoy being held facing out. She's always been our little observer, intently studying her surroundings, but this seems like such a big girl thing.

Yesterday Lainie started gnawing on her left hand like mad. A few times she managed to get just her thumb in her mouth, and would very cautiously suck a couple of times before proceeding to shove in as much of her fist as possible. She doesn't want the pacifier when I offer it, and happily goes right back to gnawing on her hand for minutes at a time. Makes me wonder if she's getting close to teething--she's been drooling a lot the past couple weeks. It's pretty darn cute, no matter why she does it.

This morning Lainie and I went to baby storytime at the local library for the first time. My friend Krissy {5-month-old Julia's mom} told me about it, and they joined us. It's for newborns through 18 months, and was a lot of fun: singing, peek-a-boo, games, simple books. Lainie seems a little young for some of the activities, but she was enthralled {think very intent observing} till the end when she fell asleep--apparently it was also exhausting. ;-)

Today Lainie and I also went to Mike's work and had lunch with him. Why I've never done this before, I don't know. I'm probably a bad wife or something. Mike loved it--he was practically glowing--and Lainie was such a trooper, considering that she'd already gone to storytime and had two interrupted naplets. We had burgers, fries, and a chocolate milkshake, and then Mike showed us his office. We met a few of his coworkers too.

Speaking of Mike's work...on Sunday our real estate agent showed us some houses closer to Microsoft. The 1- to 1.5 hour commute {each way} is driving Mike nuts, and no wonder! The reason we bought our current condo is because I was working at the time and had to be able to get to the hospital within 30 minutes when I was paged. That's no longer a consideration, so closer to Microsoft we go. It makes us both really sad to think of leaving the awesome community we have here...we will miss being so close to really good friends...though I'd love for Mike to spend less time on the road, I'm dragging my feet because of all the people we'll be moving further away from. But good golly, houses are expensive! And a lot of the houses in our price range leave, ahem, much to be desired. There was one where I asked Mike not to set Lainie's carseat on the floor, and he was like, "I have no intentions of setting her down anywhere in here!" Another time, Mike was like, "This house is a total crack den," to which our friend/agent replied, "Are you kidding? I've seen crack dens nicer than this place!" Sooooo, we are still looking. If Jesus wants us to move, the fact that we find a decent place within our price range will be our green light!

In other news: Mike is going sort of Paleo, so I'm trying to cook mostly Paleo-ish dishes nowadays. It's not as bad/hard/awful/impossible as I expected. {Isn't it awful that that's what I expected?!} I haven't lost any weight since Lainie was born, so hopefully this will be a good thing for me too.

I've spent a lot of time the last few days helping coordinate a place to stay for Cori, a childhood friend whose husband Israel is currently hospitalized in downtown Seattle. They live in Alaska, and last week Israel was in a horrible car accident that severed both his legs. He was transferred down here because of the severity of his injuries. They know very few people here, so I reached out to our church community in the downtown area to see if anyone could help Cori with housing, since Israel is expected to be hospitalized for quite some time. Within 20 minutes of posting the need on the church website, a lady called me, offering the spare bedroom in their home for as long as needed. Over the next two days, five other people offered their homes as well, and more people inquired but I figured six options is enough for now! I am continually amazed at God's work in the lives of His people. This kind of generosity toward complete strangers isn't "normal." When we were the recipients of this same generosity for Lainie's hospitalization, I mostly felt relief that we had a place to stay. I was overwhelmed and incredibly thankful, but I don't remember being excited...perhaps because there was still a lot of fear over how sick Lainie might be after birth. But being a tiny part of extending that generosity to someone else? So exciting!! It is so awesome to see people opening their homes and lives to a sister in Christ they don't even know. It is so cool to see the body of Christ doing its job so well. It really is better to give than to receive. {For updates on Cori and Israel, visit their website here.}

I'd better go for now...Lainie is asleep and I should be, too.

{ Five Minute Friday }

 

Focus.

I'm comfortable with my nose to the grindstone. I feel like as long as I'm accomplishing something, I have value.

 

Funny thing is, I often get so caught up in the nitty-gritty of the daily tasks I'm hellbent on crossing off my checklist...that I lose sight of why I'm doing them.

 

All my life I've dreamed of being a stay-at-home mom. I just knew that's the best fit for me...that's been the "goal" you could say I've been working toward all my life. And now I'm there.

 

BUT I FORGET.

 

So easily.

 

I'm so focused on the endless diapers, the continual nursing sessions, the bouncy chair-swing-Ergo-activity gym loop that I forget the glory in the mundane, the beauty in taking care of this helpless, needy little sweetheart. I swore I'd never do that. I promised myself, as a single woman with no "prospects" on the horizon, that when I eventually reached that mythical land of stay-at-home-mommyness, I wouldn't forget what a blessing it is--how much I love it.

 

Daily I have to remind myself: Focus on the big picture. Jesus redeems even days spent dealing with nothing bigger than stinky diapers and rattles, because I am taking care of this little one who bears His image.

{ I Love My Stripey Sunsuit, by Lainie Rae }

 

Wha---? You takin' pictures of me again?

 

 

Oh. Okay. I guess it's not that bad. I mean, you take pictures of me all the time. But today I'm wearin' my cute red and white sunsuit!

 

 

Horizontal stripes are SO-MUCH-FUN!! And white ruffles! And pockets!

 

 

And look how big I can stretch myself!

 

 

I'm sooooo excited, I can barely contain myself!

 

 

Really REALLY excited!

 

 

I LOVE TALKING WITH YOU MOMMY!!!

 

Okay, that's all. Bye now.

 

{This is an actual sequence of photos taken on September 7}

{ Family Photos 2012 }

Our friend Lauren took family/newborn photos for us at the beginning of September.

{Check out Lauren's photography website here--we couldn't be happier with her work!}

 

Here is our sweet Elaina Rae at 9.5 weeks old...

 

 

 

 

Thank you Jesus for the sweet gift of this baby girl!



{ Graceful }

This week I'm doing something new--participating in Five Minute Friday. I'm joining a group of women who write for five minutes flat every Friday. All on the same prompt that Lisa-Jo posts over at Tales from a Gypsy Mama. As she says, "No extreme editing; no worrying about perfect grammar, font, or punctuation. Unscripted. Unedited. Real."

 

Here we go...

 

I've never been particularly graceful. There were gymnastics and ballet classes for a couple years when I was young, and I have enough rhythm to play the piano--but dancing? Forget it. I'm not a klutz, but I've never considered "graceful" as a way to describe myself.

 

Now I'm in a season very different from any I've known before, and I'm finding new kinds of graceful all over the place. Not the physical kind of gracefulness I usually think of--but the gracefulness of being a mama. Changing a diaper while simultaneously soothing, entertaining, and holding down a squirmy fussy little human--and keeping her socks out of the poo. Making dinner, washing dishes, playing with her, and keeping laundry cycling through the washer and dryer, all at the same time. Driving, singing, and praying that (a) she doesn't choke herself screaming, and (b) I don't go crazy before we get to our destination. It may sound like multitasking, but it's bigger than that. Deeper and more intricate and harder, because I fiercely love the little girl I'm doing it with and for.

 

Motherhood brings me to a place where I desperately need to be full of grace.

{ 70 }

You are ten weeks old today, Baby Girl!

 

It's hard to believe you made your grand entrance seventy days ago. I still feel so new to this whole parenting thing; how is it possible you've been my little sidekick for 70 days already? But on the other hand, I can't imagine life without you anymore!

 

You continue to "talk" and smile, and grabbing is becoming an increasingly large part of your day {Mommy's hair and clothes are favorite targets}.

 

Your new love is the activity gym. You smile and coo and occasionally bat at the dangly things--up till now, you've been totally overwhelmed and overstimulated by it, but now you think it's great fun!

 

Most mornings you fall asleep in your bouncy chair. Such a nice break for Mama.

 

Last Wednesday you got your first immunizations, and you screamed shock and offense at the needle pokes, but calmed down really quickly afterward.

Over the long weekend with Daddy home, he carried you around in the Ergo a few times {firsts for him}, and in spite of his initial protests that it made him look excessively effeminate {he used--ahem--different words, but you get my drift}, both of you ended up loving it.

 

On Labor Day, you gave us a bit of a scare...you coughed/hacked/spit up brown-colored phlegmmy stuff that looked like old blood, so we took you to the walk-in clinic because all the doctors' offices were closed. After several hours and chest x-rays, they said everything looks fine and they're not sure what the brown stuff was. You were {and still are} otherwise perfectly fine and normal-acting, so we're hoping this was just a weird one-time thing.

 

Last evening I put you in cloth diapers for the first time.

Oh.My.Goodness.

Too cute!!

Confession: Apparently I had either (a) forgotten, or (b) not realized, the true extent of the adjustability of Fuzzibunz diapers...had I examined the elastic system more closely, I could probably have started you in cloth diapers a couple weeks ago. Oopsie daisy. Let's chalk it up to sleep deprivation...but wow, Fuzzibunz are awesome! Even if they do make you look like you have a giant flotation device on your bottom.

And now, the biggest news of all:
Last night you fell asleep. In your co-sleeper. By yourself.
First time since coming home from Children's Hospital that you have gone to sleep for the night without me present.
Sure, I had to come in a few times to re-insert your binky and soothe you a little, but you fell asleep in pretty short order. I was so excited I almost cried. Instead I blog-hopped and sat on your Daddy's lap and marveled at the luxury of falling asleep without simultaneously trying to get you to sleep, too.

You're growing up so fast, little Bug! Every day with you is a precious adventure...I love being your Mama!



{ A Winner! }

One of the super nice things about blogging is making friends--finding kindred spirits you'd never have met in day-to-day life. Andrea is one of those friends. She's beautiful inside and out--if you've read this post, you've seen evidence of her thoughtfulness and creativity!

 

Last week Andrea had a giveaway on her blog: She would design custom blog headers for two random winners!

 

As I'm sure you've noticed, my blog is sporting a lovely new header. Yep, I won! And I have to say, I love the header she made for me. It's just perfect. Thank you so much, Andrea!! It's as though you could tell I'd been thinking my blog needed spiffed up a little!

 

If you're looking for some lovely prints, or are in need of some custom design work, please take a peek at Andrea's etsy shop. Lots more cute stuff can be seen at her shop blog, Take Joy Designs.