HELP!!!
What would you name a baby boy if it were up to you??
Looking forward to all your suggestions on urbanmoms.ca:)
Looking forward to all your suggestions on urbanmoms.ca:)
Picking Baby Names...The Great Debate
If you've been reading my pregnancy blog on UrbanMoms.ca, then you know that I'm having another boy. And, with that other boy, comes the need for a new boy name.
HELP!!!
HELP!!!
I've Been REALLY PUBLISHED!
Don't get me wrong- I love writing my blog(s) and all the amazing articles I've gotten to write for various publications but, people, I have been really really published. In a real book. That someone might buy. A book that might even be translated into other languages! Holy Smokes!
Check it out..My first BOOK!(well, sort of).
Check it out..My first BOOK!(well, sort of).
We know the GENDER!!
New Baby is a little wiggly worm- squirming all over, kicking, being a regular old pest in my stomach:) But, at least I know what to call him or her....
Want to know the gender too? Check it out!!!!!
Want to know the gender too? Check it out!!!!!
Somebody Call The Whammmmmmmbulance!!!
Oh, I'm so tired! So pregnant and tired. so 4.5 months preggers, but looking 6 or 7 months pregnant and so TIRED!
Not tired of my whining yet? Check out my latest UrbanMoms post on pregnancy tiredness:
Not tired of my whining yet? Check out my latest UrbanMoms post on pregnancy tiredness:
My First Ultrasound Pic
As some of you may know, I am now blogging pregnancy #2 on UrbanMoms.ca. I'd love to see some of you over there...checking out my ups and downs and giving me your best advice!
So, get ready to Awww- look at my little peanut- his or her first picture...
http://www.urbanmoms.ca/mom_without_a_map/2010/12/first-baby-pic.html
Any guesses on the gender?
So, get ready to Awww- look at my little peanut- his or her first picture...
http://www.urbanmoms.ca/mom_without_a_map/2010/12/first-baby-pic.html
Any guesses on the gender?
MY BIIIIIGGGGGG Announcement!
People, I have a huge, life changing (for me) announcement to make...
Wanna know what it is??
Click the LINK :)
Can't wait to hear what you think!
Wanna know what it is??
Click the LINK :)
Can't wait to hear what you think!
Well, it's been a week at our house. A freaking week.
Z had strep throat (poor little guy) and was just not himself at all. He was actually sick before the strep and it got me wondering about the medicine we give our little ones...how safe is it for them?? Is it ok that we medicate 18 mnth olds in a similar way to much older children, or even adults??
What do you think?
If you have a moment, check out my post on Urbanmoms.ca (click the link) about my desire to start taking Z to a Naturopath instead of running to the Doctor for a prescription.... I'd love to hear what you have to say!!!
Z had strep throat (poor little guy) and was just not himself at all. He was actually sick before the strep and it got me wondering about the medicine we give our little ones...how safe is it for them?? Is it ok that we medicate 18 mnth olds in a similar way to much older children, or even adults??
What do you think?
If you have a moment, check out my post on Urbanmoms.ca (click the link) about my desire to start taking Z to a Naturopath instead of running to the Doctor for a prescription.... I'd love to hear what you have to say!!!
Our Halloween Adventures!
Z went out for Halloween this year as the cutest duck with the weirdest fashion sense...
Have I interested you yet? Check out my UrbanMoms blog to see more (& an awesome shot of my hubby's neighbourhood winning pumpkin!!!)
Have I interested you yet? Check out my UrbanMoms blog to see more (& an awesome shot of my hubby's neighbourhood winning pumpkin!!!)
Feed the Need
I've become very interested in the Feed The Need movement in my local region- the idea that if any of us middle/upper class citizens had to live on the food found in local food bank's hampers we just couldn't do it (or at least not very well).
Feed the Need challenged several local chefs and politicians and important folks to live off of Food Bank food for 5 days in a "Do The Math" challenge. Easy, right?? No grocery shopping required- just pick up your hamper and eat what's in it for 5 days.
Maybe not as easy as you'd think.
I can honestly say that I was so disheartened by what these people were given to eat- and I know that this is the reality for so many. Canned and dry pasta, powdered milk, canned tuna and salmon, maybe a few pieces of fresh fruit and a starchy vegetable or two. And as I read the shockingly honest blog entries from those who are participating, I realized- we can't even fathom. Those of us who have so much, the grocery store just a quick car ride away or takeout at our fingertips, can't even imagine what it would be like to eat and pay our rent on just $585 a month.
The participants have mostly been blogging about how little variety there is. For 5 days, yes, we could all live with little variety. But, people, this is LIFE for so many of those out there. KD with canned peas and tuna on a nightly basis, a cookie here and there, and maybe a few pieces of apple if you're lucky. As I write it, it is boggling to me.
Many years ago, pre-baby, I belonged to a health and fitness website where people would write about their healthy meals and come up with great recipes to mimic fattier (read: delicious) foods using healthy ingredients. I was so into it and I felt terrific eating "clean". But do you know how much I was spending in groceries? $250 A WEEK!!!! (and that might be a conservative estimate). Looking back, I would probably average $1100 a month on food alone- once you factor in quick grocery store pickups and take-out. And, yes, I had the money and could afford to eat as healthily as I wanted to, but that's not the point. The point is, it's expensive to eat well. It's disgustingly expensive to eat well. And it's no shock, at all, that there are so many out there who, after having to make the decision between shelter for their family and healthy food, live off of little more then boxed and canned food.
What I wonder is, HOW did we let it get to this? HOW are people, in our civilized, modern society, being forced to choose between food and shelter? HOW are we throwing out heaps of rotted or unused food while others starve?
Take a few moments to read Feed The Need - what you do with the information is up to you, but be informed. In reality, we are all (yes, all of us) just one, two, maybe three wrong decisions away from being a food hamper recipient ourselves.
Feed the Need challenged several local chefs and politicians and important folks to live off of Food Bank food for 5 days in a "Do The Math" challenge. Easy, right?? No grocery shopping required- just pick up your hamper and eat what's in it for 5 days.
Maybe not as easy as you'd think.
I can honestly say that I was so disheartened by what these people were given to eat- and I know that this is the reality for so many. Canned and dry pasta, powdered milk, canned tuna and salmon, maybe a few pieces of fresh fruit and a starchy vegetable or two. And as I read the shockingly honest blog entries from those who are participating, I realized- we can't even fathom. Those of us who have so much, the grocery store just a quick car ride away or takeout at our fingertips, can't even imagine what it would be like to eat and pay our rent on just $585 a month.
The participants have mostly been blogging about how little variety there is. For 5 days, yes, we could all live with little variety. But, people, this is LIFE for so many of those out there. KD with canned peas and tuna on a nightly basis, a cookie here and there, and maybe a few pieces of apple if you're lucky. As I write it, it is boggling to me.
Many years ago, pre-baby, I belonged to a health and fitness website where people would write about their healthy meals and come up with great recipes to mimic fattier (read: delicious) foods using healthy ingredients. I was so into it and I felt terrific eating "clean". But do you know how much I was spending in groceries? $250 A WEEK!!!! (and that might be a conservative estimate). Looking back, I would probably average $1100 a month on food alone- once you factor in quick grocery store pickups and take-out. And, yes, I had the money and could afford to eat as healthily as I wanted to, but that's not the point. The point is, it's expensive to eat well. It's disgustingly expensive to eat well. And it's no shock, at all, that there are so many out there who, after having to make the decision between shelter for their family and healthy food, live off of little more then boxed and canned food.
What I wonder is, HOW did we let it get to this? HOW are people, in our civilized, modern society, being forced to choose between food and shelter? HOW are we throwing out heaps of rotted or unused food while others starve?
Take a few moments to read Feed The Need - what you do with the information is up to you, but be informed. In reality, we are all (yes, all of us) just one, two, maybe three wrong decisions away from being a food hamper recipient ourselves.
God Teaches When Least Expected
*If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you will know that I am a Christian and work at a Christian school.
Each month, I am responsible for a morning devotional for the staff. I don't always write out what I'm going to say but, for some reason, I was inspired last night and began to write...
I say hard because they were just that. My stubborn, pig-headed, I know best approach was completely insufficient from the moment my son was born. Mostly because he was born with the exact same stubborn, pig-headed, I just entered this world but I already know best approach. It was ingrained in him and we butted heads. As much as a 1 hour old child and his 28 year old mother could.
I say important because they are just that. The lessons that God has taught me (is teaching me) through my son are the kind of life lessons that one can only hope are imparted on them. I often think that God, in his wisdom, didn't allow me even the desire to get pregnant earlier in my marriage (even though I've been married since I was 22 years old). I don't think I would have been ready or even willing to accept the lessons that He needed me to learn.
Lesson #1: I am not enough.
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."(2 Corinthians 12:9)
I'll never forget the moment that my 10 day old son wouldn't stop crying. It had been at least 3 hours. He wouldn't eat...well, he did then he threw the entire bottle up all over me. Head to toe, covered in his regurgitated formula, I tried to soothe him. Then I begged him to stop crying. Then I rocked and sang and begged some more. Then, I laid him in his bassinet and cried. My cries were even louder then his. I screamed at the top of my lungs because I felt so overwhelmed and under prepared and completely alone. WEAK. Weaker then I ever remember feeling before. Powerless and alone and desperate for a shoulder, a hand, an ear, some relief.
I gave up in that moment, and God took over. I can't even remember what the outcome of that night was. At some point, I'm sure Z stopped crying and I probably (but not certainly) showered, but I know that it was no longer of my own might.
I know that God didn't magically make my baby stop crying or make me feel less frazzled. It wasn't a snap, instant change. But I know that in that moment, as I sat on my bedroom floor crying louder then my 10 day old, I gave it over to God. This independent, "you're not the boss of me" girl surrendered to something higher, bigger and better then herself. I, alone, wasn't enough. And his power was perfect in my infinite weakness.
Lesson #2: Worrying is a waste
"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you." Isaiah 26:3
I often wondered, and still do, why God would ever give me the responsibility to care for such fragile life. He could have picked so many other, more deserving, better women to be Z's mom, yet somehow he chose me. Me. Imperfect me.
The responsibility of raising a child, a son, in the world as we know it is overwhelming to say the least. The doubt that creeps in, fills my thoughts and often consumes me. I feel as far from peace as one could imagine.
Before Z was born, I remember being told how, when I looked into my child's eyes, I would know peace. They lied. All I knew when I looked at Z was worry, concern, doubt and fear. I knew what it meant to wonder what would happen if you messed everything up. How a little life could be forever changed by a mistake you made. It made me sick to think of what had been bestowed on me as a new mom.
But God used these feelings, the worry, concern, doubt and fear, to show me where my mind needed to be and where my thoughts needed to be focused. The overwhelmingness of my worry is what showed me my shortcomings and the need that I have to focus on Christ above all. Not on the "what ifs" or "I should have...", but on Christ. His power, his wisdom, his grace. With wholehearted trust that He totally knew what he was doing when he made me Z's mom- allowing him to give me His perfect peace.
Lesson 3: I don't know it all (the toughest lesson to learn)
"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him". James 1:5
I like to think I'm a pretty bright girl. So, I guess one of the biggest lessons that I have learned is that I don't know it all. I actually don't know very much at all.
The moment I understood how little wisdom I actually possessed was the moment the nurse put my new born child in my arms.
"Z," she said, "Meet your mommy". And I looked at the teeny, tiny redhead and knew I knew nothing. Not only did I have no idea how to hold a newborn, let alone take care of him, but I lacked the God-given wisdom that I would need to care for this child and raise him up in a Christ-centred home.
The wisdom to know how to say "No" when its easier to say "Yes". The wisdom to speak softly when I want to scream, and be firm when I want to cave. The wisdom to let him explore within boundaries and to logically explain limitations when he wants none. The wisdom to stand my ground when other parents let things go.
A prayer life was something that I had ignored for years, because I didn't really need God's wisdom when I had my own (brilliant?) thoughts to get me though. But now, finally, I saw the need for God in my life. Not the God that I prayed to because I knew how, that I spoke of because I had grown up using that language, that I praised because I knew the melody and could sing along. I needed the God that could give me the wisdom that I so desperately wanted in order to raise my child in Him.
I couldn't do this one alone- I wasn't enough.
I couldn't waste my time worrying- there was too much on my plate.
I couldn't make all the right decisions- I lacked experience to choose wisely.
There are so many other lessons that I have learned since becoming a mother. God has used Z to transform me in many ways- from someone who praised God when convenient into someone who seeks God's face and God's grace at every turn. I won't even be remotely bold and assume He is done. I know He's not- there is so much more hand hold and lesson learning to be done. But the life lessons I have learned though my son, they are priceless. And I am blessed that God saw fit to teach them to me- even in the most unexpected moments.
Each month, I am responsible for a morning devotional for the staff. I don't always write out what I'm going to say but, for some reason, I was inspired last night and began to write...
God Teaches When Least Expected
In spite of my best intentions, my best efforts, my best laid plans, I was completely unprepared for all that motherhood was to teach me. There have been many lessons, but the lessons about God and my faith have been the hardest (yet most important) to learn.I say hard because they were just that. My stubborn, pig-headed, I know best approach was completely insufficient from the moment my son was born. Mostly because he was born with the exact same stubborn, pig-headed, I just entered this world but I already know best approach. It was ingrained in him and we butted heads. As much as a 1 hour old child and his 28 year old mother could.
I say important because they are just that. The lessons that God has taught me (is teaching me) through my son are the kind of life lessons that one can only hope are imparted on them. I often think that God, in his wisdom, didn't allow me even the desire to get pregnant earlier in my marriage (even though I've been married since I was 22 years old). I don't think I would have been ready or even willing to accept the lessons that He needed me to learn.
Lesson #1: I am not enough.
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."(2 Corinthians 12:9)
I'll never forget the moment that my 10 day old son wouldn't stop crying. It had been at least 3 hours. He wouldn't eat...well, he did then he threw the entire bottle up all over me. Head to toe, covered in his regurgitated formula, I tried to soothe him. Then I begged him to stop crying. Then I rocked and sang and begged some more. Then, I laid him in his bassinet and cried. My cries were even louder then his. I screamed at the top of my lungs because I felt so overwhelmed and under prepared and completely alone. WEAK. Weaker then I ever remember feeling before. Powerless and alone and desperate for a shoulder, a hand, an ear, some relief.
I gave up in that moment, and God took over. I can't even remember what the outcome of that night was. At some point, I'm sure Z stopped crying and I probably (but not certainly) showered, but I know that it was no longer of my own might.
I know that God didn't magically make my baby stop crying or make me feel less frazzled. It wasn't a snap, instant change. But I know that in that moment, as I sat on my bedroom floor crying louder then my 10 day old, I gave it over to God. This independent, "you're not the boss of me" girl surrendered to something higher, bigger and better then herself. I, alone, wasn't enough. And his power was perfect in my infinite weakness.
Lesson #2: Worrying is a waste
"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you." Isaiah 26:3
I often wondered, and still do, why God would ever give me the responsibility to care for such fragile life. He could have picked so many other, more deserving, better women to be Z's mom, yet somehow he chose me. Me. Imperfect me.
The responsibility of raising a child, a son, in the world as we know it is overwhelming to say the least. The doubt that creeps in, fills my thoughts and often consumes me. I feel as far from peace as one could imagine.
Before Z was born, I remember being told how, when I looked into my child's eyes, I would know peace. They lied. All I knew when I looked at Z was worry, concern, doubt and fear. I knew what it meant to wonder what would happen if you messed everything up. How a little life could be forever changed by a mistake you made. It made me sick to think of what had been bestowed on me as a new mom.
But God used these feelings, the worry, concern, doubt and fear, to show me where my mind needed to be and where my thoughts needed to be focused. The overwhelmingness of my worry is what showed me my shortcomings and the need that I have to focus on Christ above all. Not on the "what ifs" or "I should have...", but on Christ. His power, his wisdom, his grace. With wholehearted trust that He totally knew what he was doing when he made me Z's mom- allowing him to give me His perfect peace.
Lesson 3: I don't know it all (the toughest lesson to learn)
"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him". James 1:5
I like to think I'm a pretty bright girl. So, I guess one of the biggest lessons that I have learned is that I don't know it all. I actually don't know very much at all.
The moment I understood how little wisdom I actually possessed was the moment the nurse put my new born child in my arms.
"Z," she said, "Meet your mommy". And I looked at the teeny, tiny redhead and knew I knew nothing. Not only did I have no idea how to hold a newborn, let alone take care of him, but I lacked the God-given wisdom that I would need to care for this child and raise him up in a Christ-centred home.
The wisdom to know how to say "No" when its easier to say "Yes". The wisdom to speak softly when I want to scream, and be firm when I want to cave. The wisdom to let him explore within boundaries and to logically explain limitations when he wants none. The wisdom to stand my ground when other parents let things go.
A prayer life was something that I had ignored for years, because I didn't really need God's wisdom when I had my own (brilliant?) thoughts to get me though. But now, finally, I saw the need for God in my life. Not the God that I prayed to because I knew how, that I spoke of because I had grown up using that language, that I praised because I knew the melody and could sing along. I needed the God that could give me the wisdom that I so desperately wanted in order to raise my child in Him.
I couldn't do this one alone- I wasn't enough.
I couldn't waste my time worrying- there was too much on my plate.
I couldn't make all the right decisions- I lacked experience to choose wisely.
There are so many other lessons that I have learned since becoming a mother. God has used Z to transform me in many ways- from someone who praised God when convenient into someone who seeks God's face and God's grace at every turn. I won't even be remotely bold and assume He is done. I know He's not- there is so much more hand hold and lesson learning to be done. But the life lessons I have learned though my son, they are priceless. And I am blessed that God saw fit to teach them to me- even in the most unexpected moments.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
