Monday, January 19, 2009

God speaks

It's been a very difficult 24 hours.  Yesterday the baby girl turned 2 weeks old, and she is starting to wake up more.  She had been such a sleepy little girl, barely even squeaking to let me know she was hungry.  Yesterday evening at about 8:30 she remained awake after her feeding. . . and stayed awake until 2am.  

I fed her, diapered her, swaddled her, rocked her, swayed with her, fed her again, tried the pacifier, tried laying her down with me in my bed, tried to feed her yet again. . . all to no avail. When I laid her down she grunted her way up to a nice, loud cry each time within a few minutes. I suspect gassiness or maybe not liking the new formula we started over the weekend. . . but the doctor was closed today so I might not have a real answer until tomorrow.  

My husband was working night-shift last night and this was my first time with all three children under my care without a helper around.  Bedtime went off for the older two without too much fighting and I thought things were going great.  About 1:30 this morning and I was beginning to wonder what I was thinking leaving my mom's as soon as I did yesterday.  

I think I got around 2 hours sleep last night.  My husband is on night-shift again tonight so he came home and went straight to sleep.  Being the saint that he is, he woke up a couple of hours early so I could get a nap this afternoon.   I was really grouchy and a pain all day, singing the "woe is me" tune loudly to anyone who would listen.

Then I sat down on the computer this evening after dinner and I decided to catch up on reading the blogs I subscribe to.  One of them had links to two other bloggers who had recently had babies.  Both of these ladies had normal, healthy pregnancies and their babies were born at full-term.  Neither was expecting an infant with health problems.  Both of their babies are literally fighting for their lives in NICUs far from home.  

God speaks loudly when our attitudes need adjusting.  I am thankful, and I listened.  Off to kiss the grunty baby lounging happily in her baby papasan chair -- and to gear up for what might be another long night ahead.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Who's informing the electorate?

So tonight I saw this story and I just cannot let it go by without commenting.  All of my faithful readers are waiting to hear my opinion I'm sure :)  Let it be said that I have some thoughts about the controversy over Rick Warren's invocation at the upcoming inauguration, but I'll save those for another post.

Anne Hathaway, actress extraordinaire (description meant to be sarcastic), has decided to wear a ribbon to show her rejection of Rick Warren as the pastor chosen by Obama to pray at the inauguration.  Like anyone cares.  Judging by her choice of company (her ex-fiance is currently serving a jail term for some kind of white-collar theft) and her occupation (which requires little education, integrity, or values) no one should be influenced by her opinion of PEBO's choices.

It sickens me the way Hollywood has jumped on the Obama bandwagon and America just seems to follow along behind them, tongues hanging and tails wagging.  These people are ENTERTAINERS.  Unfortunately they also have the media machine at their disposal.  I have lost a lot of faith in my generation and the ones to follow with the way this most recent election went down.   Our President is the winner of the most-popular contest and if you ask the average young American a few questions about what his plans for the office are I bet you won't receive many informed answers.

I just wish celebrities like Anne Hathaway, who is quickly becoming one of my least-favorite, would stick to their day job.  Either that or I wish the average American would wise-up and take the initiative to learn about current events and form their own, informed opinions.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

A Little Girl's Dream

This evening my 3-year-old daughter told me about a dream she once had.  She said that before she was born, before she was in my tummy, Jesus held her in His arms.  She said that after that He put her down in the clouds and I flew by in an airplane.  When she saw me, she wanted me to be her momma, so she jumped in the airplane and got in my tummy.

This got the tears flowing.  Little did she know that I rarely fly in an airplane, but I did fly when I was about six weeks pregnant with her to see her dad while he was on a work trip.  Maybe children really do choose their parents. . . 

And I sincerely hope that each baby that comes to live with us here on earth gets a big, loving hug from Jesus before they start their journey.  

I just started reading the book Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge.  It's a study we are doing in Sunday school about unveiling the mystery of a woman's soul.  The first chapter talks a lot about little girls and what they dream of.  Reading this four days postpartum after having a new daughter (and with the sweet 3-yr-old sibling mentioned above) has really gotten the tears flowing.  However, it is amazing to read about the common threads we women all seem to share and then witness these traits coming alive in my own daughter.  I am excited about this study and I think it comes at a great time in my life.