It's cold. So what?

I had this idea for a blog post. Then John Piper stole my idea and posted it 5 years ago here. So rude. Whatever, I'm writing it anyway.

It is cold. If you're reading this months from now you may have forgotten. But if you are reading this now that is a super obvious statement. Early Monday morning when I was up feeding the babe I'm pretty sure the temp was -11. It might have said -25, but I think that was just a dream. The wind chill was -30. That was real.

And Twitter and blogs would tell you about how inconvenient it is. How fans have to bundle up so much for the NFL games. "It's so cold! Why don't the seat warmers recognize that it's so cold and just turn themselves on?!" Yes. I really saw that on Facebook today.

And yes, it is inconvenient that we can't park our cars in the garage because the garage is too small. So my windshield wiper fluid is frozen and my windshield is dirty.

And yes, it is inconvenient that the hot water pipe to my kitchen froze so I have a space heater running under my sink, all the under-sink-cleaners are on the counter, and the sink and stove are covered with dirty dishes.

And yes, it is inconvenient that I am constantly pulling my little peanut's socks back on.

And it's downright cold when I let Mack outside and wait at the door (in the garage, where it is also zero degrees) for him to come back because I just cannot close the door on him for 60 seconds.

But here's the real deal.

There are people out in the cold.
The ones who are out there for our convenience
The grocery store associates gathering carts from the parking lot, the pizza delivery man.

The ones out there for our safety
Police and tow truck drivers helping those whose cars have broken down, people salting the streets, people fixing power lines or plumbing problems.

The public service people
Postmen, toll booth workers. You, my friends have earned the right to wear ski masks in the flat land of Kansas.

But others are inside. Without heat. Without warm blankets.

Still others are outside. But not because they are out there taking care of others. Because thats just where they ended up.

What in the world does a girl do with that? 

NOTHING.

That's what this girl did. Can we all just be honest and say that's what most of us did?

Stopping myself. That's not true. What I did, what I have done multiple times in the past three days, is pray. Pray for God to extend grace to this nation and protect people. And that's big. But let's not forget that God cares about the physical. So while I could sit back and say "The cold front is passing us now. I didn't do anything. I fail." what I will choose to do is to step in.

Project Warmth. Yes, there was a telethon in December and you missed it. You know why the big push was in December? #1- It's the beginning of the cold. #2- People donate more in December for the sake of taxes. Let's forget about the taxes and be January people, shall we?

Donate. Don't wait. I'm not.

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What I don't want to write about

Not many people read this. Which is fine because I'm kind of a slacker about writing. But one of the reasons I haven't written much lately is that I don't want this to turn into a mom blog. A baby blog. A baby-book blog.

Now when I say that I hope none of you feel defiant toward me. There are many, many people who want to be be mom bloggers. Who want to capture their family life story on their blog. And I love reading those blogs. That's just not my cup of joe. 

(I'm a coffee drinker, not much for tea.)

Remember the blog name, around here: "Abundance of the heart". That is not a "my heart overflows with great love and happiness and cushy sparkly things" title. It is about me telling you the things that are going on in my mind and heart. We- people in general, not you and me specifically- talk about the things we love. So I guess it is about me telling you about the things I love. Sometimes the things I love are pretty, but sometimes they are ugly. 

Here's where it gets tricky. 

Sometimes what I love, what is overflowing out of the abundance of my heart, is being a mom. Sometimes what I feel so compelled to talk about is my pretty little baby girl. 

Speaking of which...

She is two months old today, you know? Where did the time go? 

Well three weeks of it has gone to a nasty cold. Have you ever heard of a newborn getting a cold? Well it's rotten. And to add insult to injury she has a throat condition that makes her cough sound like bronchitis in a full grown man. It started off as some head congestion, became the aforementioned horrible cough, migrated to some nasty vomiting of mucous, back to mild congestion and a mild cough, and in the past 24-48 hours has manifested itself through more vomiting of the aforementioned mucous. You know what the difference between spit up and vomit is for a newborn? Practically nothin! Vomit can get some air to it and make a little girl mad, but generally speaking it is like trying to tell the difference between sleet and freezing rain. No one really knows. More on frigid temperatures later. 

In between squirt (saline) and suck (bulb syringe) sessions, our little Mary is developing a personality. She seems to be very independent. I have no idea where she gets that. 

Where is the sarcasm font when you need it?

If she isn't eating or being rocked to sleep, she usually wants to be lying on her back playing. Generally this involves people hovering over her adoringly, myself included, but she is often content to just look at the ceiling, walls, or whatever is in her periphery. She is also an exercise fanatic and loves to do bicycles nonstop. I've never seen a baby kick so hard and so fast! And about three weeks ago she started showing off her smile. Oh that smile will melt my heart. We are so excited for giggles to come next. Enjoy a few random, unedited* pictures.  

One month old here. 

Tummy time turned nap time. 

 Exploring. 

Trying to distract dad while he's working. Clearly Mary is successful. 

* We got a mac (hooray!) but I haven't messed with the picture storage/ editing software yet. Expect better pictures in the future. 

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Thanksgiving and Beds

Last week was Thanksgiving.

Well obviously. You knew that. 

We made the trip to see hub's fam on Tuesday and the little lady slept almost the whole way. Stopping to feed at a truck stop was fun and classy, but it kept our little one full so that's good. It was a short trip, but we had a great time visiting the inlaws and the two little rascal cousins.

We made the trip back on Thursday to have Thanksgiving with my family and as always enjoyed great food and a mostly lazy day.

My favorite part of thanksgiving: Christmas music. I just luuuuuve Christmas music! I could sing along (or a capella) for hours! Hubs has never been very good at song lyrics, but over the past few years he has picked up on just enough to be dangerous. He was singing to little miss on Friday and messing up a few of the words, but Mary won't have them memorized until she is at least 18 months old so I let him go with it :-) We love sing-a-longs.

What is it about coming home from a trip- even a short one to visit family- that makes your bed that much sweeter? You may not have changed the sheets in a while,
that's not us of course, we change our sheets every 2 days like Oprah, but let's just imagine for a second that we're talking about someone else and it's been a few weeks
The sheets aren't clean, there are piles of things on the dresser that need to be put away, and the dust bunnies on the floor have multiplied like rabbits (ha! get my joke?) but you are still glad to be home in your own bed.

It's kind of like Thanksgiving. Objectively, the stuffing your mom makes is not as good as it would be at a restaurant on the plaza. The cranberry sauce- the kind with no berries that actually comes out like jello- would be scoffed at if you'd never seen it before and your aunt served it to you. Here's the deal- your thanksgiving is the best. Even if it smells a little funny, the glasses have watermarks, and blah blah blah. We are comforted by what we know well.

I don't really have a point. Just an observation.

I'll leave you with a few photos of a baby because that's what blogs are good at when your story has no point.

And for the record, my mom makes good stuffing. And I love cranberry sauce from the can.

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The art of sitting

Every new mom has a post about things I wish I had known. Today hubs said "no one told me how much fun it would be to have a kid." I reminded him that we heard often that parenting would be the hardest job we'd ever love- I think that covers it.

For me though there aren't any things that I didn't know that I wish I had known... yet. (I'm leaving that caveat for later.) What I knew would be hard for me is the sitting. Before Mary came I would go to the store and they would offer to carry my groceries out for me. "No thank you. As long as I have two free arms, I'm carrying them myself." Similarly, I went on lots of walks and just generally kept moving. I knew there would be time for sitting later. Sitting. The dreaded pastime.

And then it came.

For the first few days after delivery there was lots of sitting so my body could heal. Contrary to the well-intentioned suggestion of friends, it wasn't time to start doing the stair-master quite yet. There was a lot that had to get its act together first, if you ladies know what I mean. I thought I could go on a short walk three days after she was born though. It was a nice fall day! Take advantage! Aaaannd pay for that one with pain through the night that night. So to avoid more pain, I sit.

And then the visits from friends and family. When people come to see you and visit the baby you sit on the couch and talk. Or they offer to do chores for you "so you can sit for a minute." So gratefully, I sit.

And then the sleeping baby. You can only walk around with a sleeping baby with a wobbly head for so long before you just stop and sit down with her in your arms. I have to stop doing and sit.

And then the sleeping at night is hard to come by and by dinner time each night you think "yeaaahh... I should have taken that nap that I refused to take a few hours ago." So a few days of that go by and I learn to force myself to plan to sit for a few hours. (Or lay down. Depending on the day.)

Here is the thing. Sitting is an art has to be learned. 

Think about a toddler. When they finally learn to crawl, you can't get them to sit! Don't we all love those blurry pictures of 1 year olds in motion?

Or a 7 year old. There is a reason there is a kids table at Thanksgiving. They squirm at the table, jump up as soon as possible, and dance around the room until something breaks or they find their way outside or in time-out. I've never done that, for the record.

Or a 17 year old. They "sit" but really it looks like a sling: sitting and laying down combined. And their eyes are so fixated on the TV or their phone that they don't interact with people. And don't do their spines any favors. I've never been there and done that...

And then there are 27 year olds that are so busy with... well I think you might know someone like this and be able to fill in the description for yourself. Not me of course...

And then there are the older, wiser people that love to sit around the house and enjoy their company. That are okay letting the dishes sit in the sink, not knowing who it was that just called their cell phone that rang across the room, watching a sleeping baby.

That's what I didn't expect. I knew sitting would challenge my sense of accomplishment, my independence, in short- my humility. But what I didn't expect was how much I would love sitting holding a sleeping baby.

Day

after day

after day 

 

after day

after day 

after day 

after day 

This Thanksgiving I'm practicing the art of sitting. I'd encourage you to do the same.

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Meet Mary

Oh hey there, blog. I haven't seen you in a while. I like your new style. 

What have I been up to? Oh, ya know. 

I wasn't really one for doing consistent, posed photos, 

but we still managed to capture the whole process pretty well I think. 

On November 5th Mary Elizabeth arrived

8lbs 1oz - 21 inches long

On her due date. 

All on her own, mind you. I didn't even schedule it! 

Once the process started, it took a long time.

(Long is all relative when it comes to labor, but I'm calling 20 hours long.) 

Mary's head got the brunt of it, with plenty of bruising and a few blisters, 

but she was healthy, albeit shocked, when she was finally born. 

The doctor said she looked like a deer in the headlights. 

Well, she was under a spotlight or two. Duh. 

After she realized Brett and I are mostly normal and will

love her 

and cuddle her 

and feed her

and put adorable clothes on her

she calmed down. 

We are all still adjusting to this new normal, 

but Brett and I think she's pretty cute 

and cuddly

and fun

and everything a little girl should be. 

We are thankful. 

Thank you, Lord. 

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So close to spring

Let's just set March Madness aside for a second. You know I am totally enthralled with that and concered that only two of my final four teams remain. And one of those is my beloved Jayhawks who have a tough game coming up tonight. Let's just pretend like I'm not worried about that.

Cause what I'm really thinking today on this 60 degree day is how much I want to get outside and dig in the garden. Cause photos like these from Better Homes and Gardens are calling at my heart. In all honesty, there is a decent chance I'll leave work early today and end up at my favorite spring location, Family Tree Nursery. 

This year many of my bulbs didn't come up. We're talking like maybe 10-20% of the tulips we planted two-three years ago are making another appearance this year. Who do they think they are? Don't they know that I love flowers more than chocolate?! Here's what I'm thinking...

1. Compost
• Go at the gardens with some compost. I would love to start making my own this year, but we'll see. Want to set some realistic goals here.
2. Bulbs
• Fill in some of the bulbs that have disappeared. I know that not all bulbs come back every year, but we gotta fill in some holes. I love a good grape-smelling iris, and don't tell the little yellow pretties, but I'm not totally in love with daffodils. I think I want to stick to tulips and hyacinth. Did you know you can plant bulbs in the spring? Cause you can. The trick here is that you have to plant ones that have already sprouted. In other words, buy potted flowers. Not the bulbs themselves.

• Pots
• Fill some pots with pansies and pretend like you love them. You don't, but you do love the color. Besides, if we have freakish Kansas weather and it starts to freeze again, pots can come inside.
• Peonies. Get over it.
• Stop kicking myself for not planting that peony plant in the fall. I can't plant peonies in the spring so I need to stop crying and move on with my life.
• Hostas. Give in.
• Fill in the side garden with hostas. Even if they aren't the prettiest plants out there, hostas are reliable in shade and sometimes even in sun. I just need to own it.

• Be content. Again.
• Stop complianing about the giant, ugly evergreen shrubs in the front. As much as I would love for them to turn into boxwoods and liacs, they aren't going to.
• Budget.
• Gardening is not cheap. So I need to budget for it. And convince hubs that I will stop spending money on clothes and will use in on the garden instead. And then actually stick to that budget.

This is just a starting point. I have wishful ideas for herbs and veggies and luscious daisies and everything else that is wonderful in the world, but I'm trying to take it one step at a time. Wish me luck! And if you want to come hang out in the garden with me, I'd love that :-)

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never too old for kids books

So last night I went book shopping for my old cousin-in-law once removed. Let's just call her my pseudo-niece. She is turning five and I wanted to find some of my old favorite kids books. What I found, sadly, was that many of my favorites from when I was a kid are out of print. A few that were my favorites that are still around...

The whole Berenstain series including...

And some that are out of print now but were uh-may-zing

The whole Clown Arounds series

Don't judge me for this last one...

What were/are some of your favorites?

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