A Beautiful Gift...

When my friend Adrienne came to visit me over the summer we had a blast shopping for some vintage jewelry at a local shop.  I lamented not having a nice box to store/show them off in, and she bought me one!  I was so surprised when it came in the mail!  It is a beautiful vintage box all by itself, but it looks amazing with all of my fun jewelry in it!  Thanks again Adrienne!

Ice Cream Counts As A Protein, Right?

During all of my reading I have consistently found that diets high in protein are associated with lower rates of preeclampsia and full term delivers, while diets deficient in protein are associated with higher rates of preeclampsia and preterm deliveries.  So I'm thinking this is something I've got under control, especially since I feel like we get a healthy amount of protein in our diet anyway.  I start keeping track of my protein intake just to see where I am and find that I regularly consume around 20-25 grams of protein a day (I'm not counting the tiny amount in things like bread and fruit, this is just animal/dairy/nut/bean protein sources).  So I'm feeling really confident about my protein when I ask our childbirth class teacher about exactly how much you're supposed to eat.... and she pops my balloon with a whopping, midwife recommended 80 grams of protein a day!

Pass the deviled eggs, steak, ham, turkey, salmon, re-fried beans, peanut butter and almonds, please?

My Husband's Support During This New Season

This fall has been an extraordinarily busy season for Chris and I, and coping has been a challenge at times, let alone succeeding.  At the beginning of the semester Chris offered to take over the house duties for me - both to reduce my work/stress load and to give me more time to rest.  This was a challenge for me for two reasons: one (the more honorable of the two), keeping the house is one of the biggest ways I get to serve and love my husband and it was hard to give that up, even temporarily.  Two, there are a lot of things around the house and in my grocery shopping that I like to be a particular way - my pride and selfishness pointed out that only I knew how to fold the towels just so and stack them in a pretty manner (as I said, not the honorable challenge!).  After loosing much sleep (and a little hair) trying to do it all for a week however, I returned to my husband, repented of my pride in thinking I could handle all of it and asked if his offer was still open.  Of course it was and the transition of work from me to him began.

Chris has graciously, and competently, taken over pretty much all of the household duties.  He has done a great job at keeping both of us fed and presentable over the last couple of months.  I think the hardest thing for me to give up was the groceries.  I enjoy planning and preparing meals and choosing what we are going to eat for the week - plus I have a long list of preferred brands and ways of doing things since I've had the job for five years now.  It has taken some humility, a lot of communication about preferences and what's need for recipes and a little lip biting when things aren't just the way I'd do it, but I am so proud of and thankful for how quickly he has found his own method of accomplishing all the things that need done.  He is really making use of Wal-Mart's price matcher promise and even going to more than one store most weeks to find all the things we want/need at the best quality and price.  He has noticed that the Winn Dixie next to us often has sales on their Organic Valley products (our favorite eggs and milk when we can afford it).  Combining those sales with our coupons from Mom and Dad has saved us a lot on our weekly budget!

While I'm happy this 'season' will soon be over (we're hoping things will be a bit more 'normal' after Eb is born), I am so thankful that my husband has willingly shouldered this extra load to help make life a bit easier on me!

Letters from Lewis

As mentioned earlier, I am a great fan of C.S. Lewis and recently acquired a small book of his letters to children fans who wrote him after he published books from his Narnia series.  While Lewis gives readers lots of looks into his mind in his books, it is always neat to see what a person is like on more personal correspondence.  It has endeared me to Lewis even further to see the time and earnestness he invested into responding to these young readers, who many authors might have simply ignored.  Below is one of my favorite letters so far!

[When Laurence, a nine-year-old American boy, became concerned that he loved Aslan more than Jesus, his mother wrote to C.S. Lewis in care of Macmillan Publishing Company.  Just ten days later to her surprise and delight, she received this answer to her son's questions.]

6 May 1955

Dear Mrs K,

          Tell Laurence from me, with my love:

          1.) Even if he was loving Aslan more than Jesus (I'll explain in a moment why he can't really be doing this) he would not be an idol worshiper.  If he was an idol worshiper he'd be doing it on purpose, whereas he's now doing it because he can't help doing it, and trying hard not to do it.  But God knows quite well how hard we find it to love Him more than anything or anyone else, and He won't be angry with us as long as we are trying.  And He will help us.

          2.) But Laurence can't really love Aslan more than Jesus, even if he feels that's what he is doing.  For the things he loves Aslan for doing or saying are simply the things Jesus really did and said.  So that when Laurence thinks he is loving Aslan, he is really loving Jesus: and perhaps loving Him more than he ever did before.  Of course there is one thing Aslan has that Jesus has not - I mean the body of a lion.  (But remember, if there are other worlds and they need to be saved and Christ were to save them as He would - He may have taken all sorts of bodies in them which we don't know about.)  Now if Laurence is bother because he finds the lion-body seems nicer than the man-body, I don't think he need be bothered at all.  God knows all about the way a little boy's imagination works (He made it, after all) and knows at a certain age the idea of talking and friendly animals is very attractive.  So I don't think He minds if Laurence likes the Lion-body.  And anyway, Laurence will find as he grows older, that feeling (liking the lion-body) will die away of itself, without his taking any trouble about it.  So he needn't bother.

          3.)If I were Laurence I'd just say in my prayers something like this: "Dear God, if the things I've been thinking and feeling about those books are things you don't like and are bad for me, please take away those feelings and thoughts.  But if they are not bad, then please stop me from worrying about them.  And help me everyday to love you more in the way that really matters far more than any feelings or imaginations, by doing what you want and growing more like you."  That is the sort of thing I think Laurence should say for himself; but it would be kind and Christian-like if he then added, "And if Mr. Lewis has worried any other children by his books or done them any harm, then please forgive him and help him never do it again."

          

          Will this help?  I am terribly sorry to have caused you such trouble, and would take it as a great favor if you would write again and tell me how Laurence goes on.  I shall of course have him in mt daily prayers.  He must be a corker of a boy: I hope you are prepared for the possibility he might turn out a saint.  I daresay the saints' mothers have, in some ways, a rough time!

                                                                                                                    Yours sincerely,

                                                                                                                      C.S. Lewis

26 Weeks Today!

It blows my mind that there are only 14 weeks left until Eb's due date!  We had a great check-up this week and learned that we have crossed an important threshold without knowing it!  If for some reason we were to go into labor and deliver Eb before 24 weeks, the doctors won't really try to resuscitate him or keep him alive because the success rate of babies born that early is so low.  After 24 weeks however is a different story.  At that point they will do all they can to keep baby healthy because he should be developed enough to have a much greater chance of survival.  Obviously the longer he stays in the better, and we don't have any reason to expect him to try to come early, but it was still a relief to know that should the worst happen our little man would at least have a fighting chance!

It is always exciting to me to find out what is happening in his development each week.  The things that were highlighted for this week were: Continued nervous system development, especially with his ears, so he can definitely hear what is going on in the world around him now - albeit a bit muffled; he is starting to put on fat in addition to all that muscle and weighs 1 and 2/3 pounds; he is now 14 inches from head to heel; he is practicing breathing the amniotic fluid around him and his lungs are developing at a rapid pace.

Some new things for me lately include more frequent Braxton-Hicks contractions (they don't hurt, its just like my stomach gets really hard and tight for a few minutes - its uncomfortable, but not painful).  Apparently these are completely okay and normal for the stage of pregnancy I am in and are like training for the real marathon coming up.  Eb has been a super active baby!  I will feel him move all throughout the day, especially after I eat something, and then for a little while at night.  He settles down quickly at night though and hasn't kept me up at all yet.  Painting my toenails has become quite a bit harder lately - not impossible, just challenging to get around my stomach!  I went through my closet and tried to go ahead and take out all the clothes that no longer fit - it was pretty bare when I finished!  Sadly, I had to say goodbye to my favorite pair of jeans (the ones in the picture) along with many other outfits.  Chris' Mom sent me a little money just for maternity clothes though and I'm looking forward to checking out the consignment shops around town soon!