YAY! Wow, Ham is almost a year old.
She has grown so much and then again, she's still just a baby.
I could have never imagined what a joy my own child would bring. I have fiercely loved my nieces and nephew with all of my heart. I would do anything for them. I would lay down my life for them. I have also loved the kids I baby-sat for in the last 10 years. I have become so attached to other people's children that I cried when I had to say good-bye.
When I look into Ham's eyes, I see my heart. I am so in love. She is the funniest, wittiest (yeah, yeah, she can't even talk, I know), most brilliant, sweetest baby ever. I love everything she does...even when she is crying or whining, I love her. Even like her a lot. I love her voice. I love everything about her squatty (my sister's coined word for Ham), chubby, silky-soft body. I love her open-mouth, a-little-too-wet-kisses. I love it when she pats me on the back while I cradle her in my arms. I love it (and it breaks my heart) when she cries out, "Ma ma ma ma," if she doesn't want to go in her crib. I love watching her discover EVERYTHING. I love discovering things all over again through her eyes.
If we have another baby, I can't even imagine loving them as much as I love her. But I know I will. My sister told me so. And she's really, really smart. She had the same thoughts, the same fear, "How can I love anyone as much as I love my first?" Then she had her little boy and she fell in love with him, too...and with her second little girl after that.
I know each parent feels the same way that I do about their children. I know that every aunt and uncle love their nieces and nephews as their own children. To all of us, however, the love for our own flesh and blood is unmatched. It is what it is.
So, anyway, we don't know what we're doing for Ham's 1st Birthday, but I'm sure it will involve family, friends, cake and ice cream, NO PRESENTS (I hope, but know she'll get some), and lots of pictures and laughs.
Here's what Ham learned to do for the first time on September 8th...her 11 month 'birthday.' (What DO you call that, anyway?)
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Monday, September 8, 2008
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
And a Child Shall Lead Them...
Friday I got the pleasure of taking care of two boys (Tornado 4 yrs. and Little Bear 17 mos.) that I used to babysit for on a regular basis. The youngest of the boys, Little Bear, was actually born while I was still caring for Tornado and his older sister, Princess-with-a-Smidgen-of-Dirt (now 7-years-old).
The mom, Her Awesomeness, called me in the middle of the night and said, "OK, Baby is coming (They had yet to find a name for him). You ready to come over?" I was the 'go-to' girl and had agreed to come over to watch Princess-with-a-Smidgen-of-Dirt and Tornado, no matter what time of the day, when the mom, went into labor.
BTW, I walked in at midnight all frantic, concerned that it had taken me 8 minutes to get there and afraid I'd find her on the floor pushing Baby out and it'd be my fault. However, Her Awesomeness, smiled and ushered me in the door while she was having a contraction. That kind of calmness happened for the next 30 minutes while her husband got things all packed and ready. She'd be talking and say, "Oh, hold on," walk over to a piece of paper and right down the time and duration of the contraction, and then say, "ooo, that was a strong one. OK, anyway, I was saying...." CA-RAZY! Make a note, that I was 3 months pregnant at the time and thought, "Man, labor's not so bad!" HAHAHAHAHAHA
So, anyway. Her Awesomeness asked me if I'd come to the rescue once again and keep the boys before MDO started this week. Of course, I said, "YES!" right away. (I am very naïve and will jump at taking care of kids...no matter how many.) She asked me if I need to pray about...insisted actually, but I knew my answer would still be 'yes.' I didn't know what it would be like with two babies (one walking, one crawling) under the age of two and one very energetic little boy.
So, I headed off to her house at 8:00AM after a 7 o'clock appt. with the chiropractor...I'm naïve, but not stupid! Of course, this meant that Ham had been up since 6:45AM. That's really early for her. By the time we got done at the chiro. she was ready to go to sleep. However, once we got to Her Awesomeness's house, Ham was excited and wanted to play.
Within an hour of Her Awesomeness leaving me with Tornado and LB, my chest began to tighten. LB could not contain his love for Ham and was tackling her every chance he got. Ham would crawl about two feet and LB'd be crawling right behind her and then tackle her legs in a bear hug. Ham would lay there, immobilized, arms splayed out and probably staying as quiet as possible to make LB think she was dead. It didn't work...he only tightened his grip and then Ham would let out a whimper.
This went on all day. Poor Ham. She was no worse for the wear, but she was exhausted from playing 'dead' all day.
Anyway, when it was time for Tornado and LB to take a nap, I put LB down and Ham and I went to read Tornado a story. I asked Tornado to pick out a book and at first, he wanted his Bedtime Bible stories. But then, he said, "No, no. I want this one. This is the Bible." Before handing me his Bible, which was a pocket-sized one with the tiny writing, he said, "Here I'll pick out a story. Please read this one." Tornado was instantly transformed to I'm-the-Calmest-Boy-Ever.
When I looked at the story he was pointing to, I almost said, "Let's read a different one," but decided, it's the Bible. It's really OK to read the Bible. :) It was the story of Pontius Pilate sentencing Jesus to be crucified. As I began telling how the Jews were yelling, "Crucify!" I'm-the-Calmest-Boy-Ever (a.k.a. Tornado) said, "I know what happens." I asked, "Yeah?" He said, "Yes. They take him up a mountain, to a cross, and these soldiers play a GAME to see who gets Jesus' clothes and then Jesus DIES." I was astounded. I said, "Yes, you're right, baby. And Jesus forgives them." He nodded and said, "I know dat. And he came back to life in just two days." I said, "Three days." He said, "I know dat." :)
As I laid him down and covered him up, holding Ham in my left arm, I wanted to weep. How incredible. He gets it. At least, he knows it to the extent that a four-year-old can. And he is not questioning it to be true. To him, it's fact. It's not a fable or a story of a good teacher. It's Jesus, the Son of God. Who died for us because we need him. We do things like gambling for a dying man's clothes. We're mean sometimes. And Jesus wasn't like that. He was always good. Tornado knew that it was preposterous that Jesus 'DIED' while men mocked him.
I love children.
The mom, Her Awesomeness, called me in the middle of the night and said, "OK, Baby is coming (They had yet to find a name for him). You ready to come over?" I was the 'go-to' girl and had agreed to come over to watch Princess-with-a-Smidgen-of-Dirt and Tornado, no matter what time of the day, when the mom, went into labor.
BTW, I walked in at midnight all frantic, concerned that it had taken me 8 minutes to get there and afraid I'd find her on the floor pushing Baby out and it'd be my fault. However, Her Awesomeness, smiled and ushered me in the door while she was having a contraction. That kind of calmness happened for the next 30 minutes while her husband got things all packed and ready. She'd be talking and say, "Oh, hold on," walk over to a piece of paper and right down the time and duration of the contraction, and then say, "ooo, that was a strong one. OK, anyway, I was saying...." CA-RAZY! Make a note, that I was 3 months pregnant at the time and thought, "Man, labor's not so bad!" HAHAHAHAHAHA
So, anyway. Her Awesomeness asked me if I'd come to the rescue once again and keep the boys before MDO started this week. Of course, I said, "YES!" right away. (I am very naïve and will jump at taking care of kids...no matter how many.) She asked me if I need to pray about...insisted actually, but I knew my answer would still be 'yes.' I didn't know what it would be like with two babies (one walking, one crawling) under the age of two and one very energetic little boy.
So, I headed off to her house at 8:00AM after a 7 o'clock appt. with the chiropractor...I'm naïve, but not stupid! Of course, this meant that Ham had been up since 6:45AM. That's really early for her. By the time we got done at the chiro. she was ready to go to sleep. However, once we got to Her Awesomeness's house, Ham was excited and wanted to play.
Within an hour of Her Awesomeness leaving me with Tornado and LB, my chest began to tighten. LB could not contain his love for Ham and was tackling her every chance he got. Ham would crawl about two feet and LB'd be crawling right behind her and then tackle her legs in a bear hug. Ham would lay there, immobilized, arms splayed out and probably staying as quiet as possible to make LB think she was dead. It didn't work...he only tightened his grip and then Ham would let out a whimper.
This went on all day. Poor Ham. She was no worse for the wear, but she was exhausted from playing 'dead' all day.
Anyway, when it was time for Tornado and LB to take a nap, I put LB down and Ham and I went to read Tornado a story. I asked Tornado to pick out a book and at first, he wanted his Bedtime Bible stories. But then, he said, "No, no. I want this one. This is the Bible." Before handing me his Bible, which was a pocket-sized one with the tiny writing, he said, "Here I'll pick out a story. Please read this one." Tornado was instantly transformed to I'm-the-Calmest-Boy-Ever.
When I looked at the story he was pointing to, I almost said, "Let's read a different one," but decided, it's the Bible. It's really OK to read the Bible. :) It was the story of Pontius Pilate sentencing Jesus to be crucified. As I began telling how the Jews were yelling, "Crucify!" I'm-the-Calmest-Boy-Ever (a.k.a. Tornado) said, "I know what happens." I asked, "Yeah?" He said, "Yes. They take him up a mountain, to a cross, and these soldiers play a GAME to see who gets Jesus' clothes and then Jesus DIES." I was astounded. I said, "Yes, you're right, baby. And Jesus forgives them." He nodded and said, "I know dat. And he came back to life in just two days." I said, "Three days." He said, "I know dat." :)
As I laid him down and covered him up, holding Ham in my left arm, I wanted to weep. How incredible. He gets it. At least, he knows it to the extent that a four-year-old can. And he is not questioning it to be true. To him, it's fact. It's not a fable or a story of a good teacher. It's Jesus, the Son of God. Who died for us because we need him. We do things like gambling for a dying man's clothes. We're mean sometimes. And Jesus wasn't like that. He was always good. Tornado knew that it was preposterous that Jesus 'DIED' while men mocked him.
I love children.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
A place to learn and grow
So, this is a place I can call my nuthouse home. I seriously need a way to get out what I am thinking and also to make fun of myself. Blogging isn't new to me...well, I did a LiveJournal about 10 years ago and have misplaced what the name of it was. However, as I write this, I have the http://www.bloggingbasics101.com/ website open to help me along. (Hence the ability to cross things out. Woo-hoo.)
I am excited. This is a time of my life where I have about three hours during the day in which torelax do laundry, cook, clean, run errands, use the bathroom, shower, and if I am feeling really adventurous lazy, I can paint, draw, and now...blog!
The other hours of the day are mostly spent taking care of and playing with my sweet baby Ham. If you haven't understood where the three hours 'down time' come from, that is when Ham is sleeping.
I am 32 years old, a wife of almost 5 years, and a mother to a 9 month old little girl. I am also an artist and a writer, but those things have taken the backburner for years until recently. I am in the process of bringing those things back to life. It's very fun.
I love my family, I love my kid, I love nature, beauty, helping other people out, and my God. I am not very good at loving any of these things. I have trouble remembering to call my family, I get irritated at Ham's whining, I don't recycle, I eat too much junk food, read those dumb gossip rags, I don't help other's out enough, and some days I forget to talk to God all-together. I don't know why I use the word 'love' if I can't prove I love all these things.
I just know that I do and that I would be nowhere without any of these things...except the beauty part. However, I find beauty to be everywhere, not just in the conventional things like tan gams, rock-hard abs, celebriosity, and flowers. I think the homeless man is touching and beautiful. I find beauty in helping an elderly lady find Depends on aisle 3 of CVS so that she doesn't have to be embarressed about asking an 18-year-old male clerk, and there is something about my nephew coming inside smelling like a 5-year-old should and covered in sweat and dirt.
So, come join me on my jour....oh, Ham just woke up. Gotta go!
I am excited. This is a time of my life where I have about three hours during the day in which to
The other hours of the day are mostly spent taking care of and playing with my sweet baby Ham. If you haven't understood where the three hours 'down time' come from, that is when Ham is sleeping.
I am 32 years old, a wife of almost 5 years, and a mother to a 9 month old little girl. I am also an artist and a writer, but those things have taken the backburner for years until recently. I am in the process of bringing those things back to life. It's very fun.
I love my family, I love my kid, I love nature, beauty, helping other people out, and my God. I am not very good at loving any of these things. I have trouble remembering to call my family, I get irritated at Ham's whining, I don't recycle, I eat too much junk food, read those dumb gossip rags, I don't help other's out enough, and some days I forget to talk to God all-together. I don't know why I use the word 'love' if I can't prove I love all these things.
I just know that I do and that I would be nowhere without any of these things...except the beauty part. However, I find beauty to be everywhere, not just in the conventional things like tan gams, rock-hard abs, celebriosity, and flowers. I think the homeless man is touching and beautiful. I find beauty in helping an elderly lady find Depends on aisle 3 of CVS so that she doesn't have to be embarressed about asking an 18-year-old male clerk, and there is something about my nephew coming inside smelling like a 5-year-old should and covered in sweat and dirt.
So, come join me on my jour....oh, Ham just woke up. Gotta go!
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