Motherhood: My First Year

My amazing Mother's Day present, from a husband who somehow miraculously continues to out-do himself in the area of gift-giving. I am humbled and so very, very grateful for him, our precious daughter, and the Beautiful One who saw fit to make us a family.

8 Months Home

My sweet girl... how you've grown!

July 10, 2008 - Homecoming









March, 2009

Tagged

Thanks to Bill for remembering that I used to blog! ;-) I have been granted the gift of an hour for introvert time. Any kind of writing is better than the none I've been doing, so I will answer this tag...

Here is how it works:

Step 1: Respond and rework — answer the questions on your own blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention, add one more question of your own.

Step 2: If all your blog readers have given up waiting for new posts, and your most faithful readers have now converted to Facebookism, just tag everyone who happens upon your post and be glad for what you get. :-)

1) What are you wearing right now?
Hey - what kind of tag is this anyway? My reindeer robe. That's right. Got a problem with that?? This is what I wear when I'm sure I won't be seeing any other (non-Rankin) humans until I have time to change. UPS guys and spontaneous friends: beware!

2) What is your biggest fear?
Oh so serious! Actually, this one might be morphing... It's been singing solos since I was 13; about time for a change, yes? How about a more sophisticated, adult-like, (and equally senseless) fear like: my child might one day declare herself a democrat. Oops! Did I just admit that? I hate it when people use these things as a free therapy session...

3) Do you nap a lot?
Um, please excuse me; it's time for my nap now. "Nap hard. Nap often." That's what I always say.

4) What are your favorite places to visit on a nice day?
Sorry, Bill; I'm reinstating the first question because my answer to your 'Favorite thing to cook on a grill?' is "Cook? Grill?" ;-) Perch Lake is my favorite place to visit on a beautiful day. Stately white pines stand in rows as strong, kind and watchful sentinels, reminding me of the sacredness of Grandma's house. Whispering sweet secrets to my soul as I float carefree in the deepest waters of the middle of the crystalline lake. Amazingly, this isn't embellishing.

5) What was the last item you bought?
A strawberry mango Tropicana and two pieces of pizza: (one, ham and pineapple; the other, pepperoni and veggie), for Eva and me before enjoying Underwater World at MOA last night.

6) What’s the last book you read?
A Slobbering Love Affair: The True (and Pathetic) Story of the Torrid Romance Between Barack Obama and the Mainstream Media. Told you so. I also love How to Keep Your Inner Mess from Trashing Your Outer World, by Bill Giovannetti. Check it out! (Don't let my first choice scare you; my reading taste is quite diverse - I read Obama's 'Audacity of Hope' this time last year).

7 ) If you could go to the Oscars, who would you want to sit next to?
This is the one I'm skipping... I would never, ever, ever want to go to the oscars. Not because of reverse snobbishness - but because even the thought of high-profile conferences/social events where they don't judge everyone for what they're wearing or how they do their hair are enough to give me hives.

8) Instead: Have you ever had the experience of lucidly teaching yourself how to fly in your dreams, as described in 'The Shack'?
I hadn't known there were others, and am now obsessively curious about how many of us there are...

9) Has a celebrity’s hair cut ever influenced your own hairstyle?
Oh yeah. I regularly fluctuate between between Jennifer Anniston's layered look and Audrey Tautou in 'Amelie'.

10) What is one skill you wish you had, but don’t?
I have to agree with Bill here. Dancing. Hands down - same fundamentalist upbringing to blame. I especially crave this gift when watching Bollywood films.

11) If you were certain of getting an immediate, verbal, answer from Jesus, what would you ask Him?
This is my question... but I haven't a clue what my answer is yet. Maybe something about my nose... "Was that on purpose?" ;-)

Girl's Night In

My husband is so very good to me...

Gratitude

As Eva and I sat down to our ham lunch today, I decided to use the moment as a teaching opportunity:

ME: (Pointing to the ham on her plate), Eva, do you know what kind of animal that is?
EVA: Umm... Chicken?
ME: Nuh uh.
EVA: Umm... Cow?
ME: Nope - a PIG! (Snorting sounds ensue).
EVA: Thank you, Pig!

Ah, gratitude...

The Weight of Good

Today: the day we've been waiting for. For 3+ years in one way, for 12 years in another way... for what has seemed to us a very, very, very long time. Today, in a court hearing to finalize Eva's adoption, legally conveyed on Eva were all rights and benefits of a daughter born to us. And on us, all the responsibilities of a birth parent.

Of course, we needed no court to tell us she is our daughter, or we her parents; our hearts tell us these things. But there is a beautiful finality in having this good, right, God-ordained relationship recognized also by the laws and government of our land.

There is a certain weight to the best gifts God gives us. Like holding a piece of jewelry that is truly gold - or a vase that is truly crystal. You know that it represents something true and valuable. In its earthly endurance, it hints at something of eternity; something that is truly lasting. All of us have received such gifts, perhaps in different measures.

What astounds me is the ordinariness of the days in which these gifts pass into our hands. Today is just a Tuesday. Just another 24 hour period in temporary earthly lives that could maybe last 70 years or so. But gifts like these spark the mundane like sunlight on a breeze-swept lake. What an amazing paradox God has created - that things which speak of eternity enter in so naturally here, bringing joy and hope to a temporary world. Still, the gift of this child: only a glimpse of the weight of His greatest Gift.

Jesus: the weightiest gift of eternity bestowed on those who, in body, are perishing. And the day of His birth - was it an ordinary Tuesday? - another 24 hour period. But how long, how long, had the world awaited His coming. And how long we wait still - for the fulfillment of that coming. It makes me look harder, watch more intently. Eternity will reach again into this dying place. (Actually, He dwells here among us even now - God in our place). May all of us be ready and reaching back. Come, Lord Jesus.

12 Steps To Save The Day

1. Before you can save the day, it has to be in a steep downward spiral. Nothing says potential like leaving a full container of Vaseline on your toddler's bedside table.

2. In middle of night, find toddler's bed, carpet, bedside table - AND HAIR - full of petroleum-based (non-water-soluble) Vaseline.

3. Return to bed and leave mess till morning. Be sure to set alarm earlier.

4. Rise early and throw toddler in bath. Wash hair multiple times making no dent in said Vaseline.

5. Rush child to daycare prior to work. Resist temptation to care that everyone she comes in contact with will think you haven't washed her hair in a month.

6. Enlist hubby to research Vaseline removal, and purchase needed removal supplies: (cornstarch, coke, eggs, peanut butter, Dawn, Tide, etc.)

7. Return home to find 7 web articles on Vaseline removal; at least one recommending shaving child's hair off.

8. Notice bottle of Goo-Gone as you grab the 409 to clean countertops.

9. Notice bottle of Goo-Gone has warning that it contains petroleum distillate. Hmmm... Lightbulb moment!

10. Spray Goo-Gone on paper towel and carefully apply to hair (not skin) of devilishly/angelically laughing/screaming child.

11. Rinse hair with Pantene Clarifying Shampoo and blow dry.

12. Presto-chango! Petroleum hair, schmetroleum hair. The day (and imminent 4th b-day pictures) is saved!!