For Mamas and Dadas

In Beth Moore's book, Things Pondered, she has a sweet section on children. While I haven't experienced all of these things just yet, it was just too good to splice and dice. Maybe some piece of this writing will remind you of days with your children and touch your heart like it did mine.

I Like Children

I like the way they're always full of surprises...how they have a mind of their own from the very beginning and arrive just in time to be two weeks late. I like the way they look like little strangers the moment you feast your eyes on them...totally unrecognizable yet freshly detached from your own body. I like the way they come to your hospital room in a plain white blanket, wrapped so tightly and with such precision you wonder if they'll have to wear it to college. I like how they look in their baby bed the very first time you tuck them in it it--so small you decide they better sleep in your room. :)

I like the funny expressions they make while they're dozing and how they crack an awkward smile as if they've tagged an angel. I like the way they yawn with their whole bodies and how the stork bites on the backs of their necks are often as plain as day. I like the way they never go for the applesauce disguising the pureed liver. I like how they smell after their grannies bathe them and bring them to their mamas. I like the soft bristles of their brushes and how their hair looks when you first get it to part.

I like the way they love you more than anyone else on earth has ever loved you. I like how they quiet to your whisper after all your friends and relatives have desperately tried to calm them. I like the first time they reach their arms out to you. I like having the prerogative not to lay them down for a nap and rocking them instead for all three house if you have a mind to.

I like the way they learn to entertain all the patrons at the restaurant with a spoon on the metal tray of a high chair. I like how they first say Mama and Dad with twenty syllables each. I like the dimples their knees make when they first learn to stand. I like how they learn to walk because they want to get to you. And, boy, do I like footie pajamas...until the next morning when no telling what is in the footie. I like the way the know they're going to Mother's Day Out the instant they wake up. And they're not in the mood. And I love sleepy hair. You know...how it looks all fuzzy on one side when they first wake up.

I like the sudden discovery of sentences as their thoughts take the form of endless, delightful vocabulary. I like how you nearly die laughing once you realize what they're trying to say. I like the way neighbors don't realize they've just been insulted because they can't understand a word out of their mouths. I like the way "R's" don't appear in their alphabet until they are at least five years old. I like their simple rules of socialization...move or I push...gimme or I bite.

I like how little girls think pink chiffon dresses are divine and little boys wear their cowboy boots with shorts. I like the way little girls prefer umbrellas and little boys--puddles. I like how they look on the first day of kindergarten--from the front. Not from the back. I like taking pictures of them with their friends every year on the first day of school...that is, until you come across that very first on in the drawer. And you cry. 'Cause it went too fast. And you can't go back. I like the way they know it's time to go even when Mommy doesn't agree. Because that's the way it should be.

I like how your children like you even better when they're grown. And how, if you're really lucky, they might have children of their own. And you can try it once more.

And maybe do a little better. Because I like children.

Twiddling my Thumbs

Well, 40 weeks have nearly come and gone. We are 5 days away from our estimated due date, and I find myself a little anxious, very excited, and mostly just sitting around twiddling my thumbs...waiting for any sign that labor may be around the corner.

My sister-in-law has told me that little Olivia will come when I'm good and miserable. I don't think I've reached my breaking point just yet, but I will say that having a uterus the size of a watermelon and a bladder the size of a tangerine definitely has cut into my sleep-time. And pregnancy brain has most definitely got the best of me. (One day I put some trash down the laundry shoot and my dirty socks in the trash can...whoops.) Oh, and the special side-roll-push-up I have developed to get off the couch or out of bed would put some of our armed forces to shame.

On a serious note, this pregnancy has really been a blessing. The fact that this little one has hijacked my body (and my mind, my heart, my emotions, etc. etc.) has been a refreshing reminder that "it's not about me". Too often I allow our me-centered culture to creep into my heart and I focus my day on my needs and my wants, when there are people around me that I could serve with my time and my prayers. I pray that this "sacrifice" called pregnancy will bend my heart to make sacrifices for all the other people God has purposefully placed in my life.

Here are a few pictures to hold you over till Livie makes her grand debut:

12 weeks pregnant

38 weeks pregnant

Finished Nursery

We've read all the baby books, pacifiers have been sterilized, nursery is complete, and our bags are packed:

COME ON LIVIE :)

A Year in Review

The year of 2010 has come to a close, and I can hardly believe how quickly it flew by.

We have so much to be thankful for... we were married in January surrounded by our amazing family and friends. We then settled into our home in Cleveland, OH where Chris continued his fellowship training in Cardiology, and in February I began work as a PA. In June, Chris finished up his 1st year of training and was awarded the "CICU first year fellow of the year award". How proud is this wife? :) August brought news that we were expecting our first child. And although it was bittersweet, in December we celebrated the life of my grandpap, Charles Friend.

One of my uncles spoke at the funeral, and I think what he said is relevant to everyone as they begin a new year, so I'd like to share it. He said that Grandpap's passing is a pivotal moment in our lives. Things will never be the same without him here with us. And when we come to a pivotal moment in our lives, we have to pivot. We take a slight turn off the path that we were on and head down another. It may not be comfortable or easy at first, but eventually you will see that life and joy are found on this path, too.

And so, 2011 begins...I have pivoted and find myself here. Ready to start a new year, where I will once again witness that God's mercies truly are new - every morning. Where Chris and I will celebrate the ups -and downs- of a 2nd year of marriage. And where we will prepare for and receive the birth of our little girl. (Yes, I said GIRL!!)

Meet Olivia Joy Huff. "Olivia" is just a name we have always liked, with the nickname of "Livie". "Joy" is my Grandma Erenrich's middle name. My Grandma truly is joyful, and has the heart of a servant...if Olivia turns out anything like my Grandma, we will be honored.

(For those of you who can't get oriented to the ultrasound picture...you are looking at a profile view of her laying down. Her two feet are almost straight up in the air, kicking my abdomen. I can't wait till I can actually feel those precious kicks.)

I pray that whether you had a tough year or an awesome year in 2010, that you pivot into 2011 expecting it to be filled with new and exciting opportunities and experiences. Love you all!