Virtue on Netflix

Daniel and I were scrolling through Netflix looking for a new show to watch when we fell upon a show called "Tidying Up." When I watched the first episode, I was struck by the virtue the woman: Marie Kondo demonstrated (albeit sometimes in an odd way). I had never thought of the physical structure of a home being an instrument of virtue until I watched Marie Kondo teach these families how fostering these virtues were actually key to having an organized home.

Christmas Joy

My sister and I were in Target the other day, and there was an adorable toddler in the self check-out. We were near the back and were quite the sight since we had a full cart, Diana in the stroller, and were doing three separate check-outs. She, her mother, and her grandmother were in front of us as we scanned our various items. She turned and saw us, and started shouting. "Baby!" "Baby!" Over and over with an increasing sense of urgency. Diana was completely covered in her car seat, but this little girl knew that where there is a car seat, there is a baby, and she had to see this baby. NOW. This little girl's reaction reminded me of how we should feel during the Christmas Season.

The Mom Shrug

First of all, I just have to say that I am loving this whole mom thing. There have been rough moments here and there don't get me wrong, but I have never found myself tearing up with joy as often as I have in the past 5 weeks. The whole experience has given me a lot of insight into God the Father. Growing up, we always heard that God created us because He loves us, but I never really understood the joy and delight He finds in us. Additionally, just having Diana around has made me think about God more than I ever did before her. So just by existing, she has brought me joy and has brought me closer to my faith.

One of my favorite new discoveries is how she has taught me to trust God. Thinking back to how much I felt like I couldn't control or plan things before makes me laugh. I had no concept of a lack of control or planning. Now, my whole day is rescheduled around when she needs to eat. I don't get to plan it, I just go about living my day until she starts asking to eat.

With this in mind, I had two options, I could either let my type A self get frustrated and try to control the situation, or I could institute "The Mom Shrug" in my life. "The Mom Shrug" is that moment when you look at what's happening and say "Welp, there's no point in freaking out. Let's just roll with it."

And then there were three

Warning: This is a long post :)

October 22nd Standing by the door with my packed bags, I was on the phone with the nurse. I was feeling something every 5 minutes. I didn't think it was strong enough to be contractions, but everyone feels things differently right? Was it time for my baby to be born? She said to drink two full glasses of water and lay on my side for an hour. If the contractions were intense and continued to be 5 minutes apart, then I was in active labor, if not, then it was still early labor. I did as the nurse said, and she called me back an hour later to see how things were going. I told her they had mostly spaced out, and I asked her what she meant by "intense" contractions. She said I shouldn't be able to talk through the contractions. 

My mom had already come down a week earlier, and we were both super frustrated with this verdict. I shouldn't be able to talk? Isn't that too late to go to the hospital? Isn't that the point when you should already BE at the hospital?

So the week went on, and I continued to get sporadic contractions, but I could always talk and even walk through them, so we just continued to play Nertz and Yathzee and waited as patiently as possible for little Pumpkin Peters to arrive.  

The Calm Between Storms

It's ironic how sometimes the world around us reflects what's going on with us personally. Hurricane Michael is approaching the southern United States only about a month after Hurricane Florence, and I started thinking about how often life can feel like the recouping or waiting in between storms. 

Brewing and Booming

Aside from the morning sickness in the first trimester, this has been a relatively physically easy pregnancy. As we were going to all of these classes and learning about labor and delivery, I remember thinking to myself, Jeez, I wonder if I'll hit the point where I'll actually WANT to go through labor and delivery because the pregnancy will be uncomfortable...What if the pregnancy continues to go so smoothly that when it's time, I'm like "it's ok, baby, you don't have to come out." Well, no worries, Amanda, you will be done with pregnancy when it's time!

A Changing Perspective

Up until this past week, the reality of how Daniel and my lives is about to change was incredibly unnerving. Thoughts about how our day-to-day lives would change, my increasing exhaustion and laziness, and the...discomfort of actually going through labor and delivery permeated my dreams and thoughts throughout the day. Tomorrow Daniel and I have our last class together at the hospital to prepare for the baby, and I have to say these classes have been key in changing my perspective on the upcoming birth of our child.