being a mom. praise the Lord!

so some of you may know my husband took off for a far-away conference, only yesterday.  i'm holding down the fort...with 2 boys!  let me say, it has not been hard so far.  i didn't get much sleep last night but it was a saturday morning which means a slow start, then my sweet friend picked up aaron for a day at her house.  with one boy taken care of i thought i'd attempt a little grocery shopping...yikes!!

seth fed, nappy changed, grocery list made, seth buckled into his car seat, nappy bag fully loaded...left the house.  

phew!!  we made it to the grocery store.  parked too close to car next to us so couldn't get the car seat out of the back door...improvise...pulled it out of the driver's door.  still on track, we can do this!  

found a trolly right away so i wasn't lugging that GIANT car seat through the garage into the store.  seth starts crying half way through the shop, pulled him out of the seat, carried him through the shop while pushing the trolly.  not a prob.  

finally he's back asleep...checked out, got groceries to the car.  the car that was parked too close is gone, hooray!  groceries and everything else packed into the car...uh oh!  i realize i did not lock the gear shift!  uh oh!  i also left the back window cracked open and worse of all, i left the front door unlocked!!  i do a quick check, PRAISE THE LORD, nothing seems missing and best of all no one stole the car. ;)  

pulling out of garage, passing the boom, oh no!!  i didn't buckle seth into his seat!  pull over, get out, buckle seth.

i did make it home but i tell this story in great detail to help paint a picture.  being a mom is a physical challenge.  its a mental challenge.  i have so much respect for all the mom's out there doing this every day!  maybe you don't remember but when we first moved to sa i did a note on the 15 steps it takes to get out of our car.  i feel like i'm back in that place!  my first time to the shop on my own with seth and i nearly get our car stolen and unsafely drive with an unbuckled infant!  (as a side: i did get all the things on my list.  so not all bad! :))

all that being said though, i can praise the Lord for so many things...i'm not doing this on my own.  not only do i have a wonderful husband (props to single moms!) i also have the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the ultimate Friend and Father helping me.  not only am i sure that He kept my car and child safe, i know that His ways are better than my ways...no matter what happens.  i'm so glad i can rest in that.  i can rest in the fact that He is strength in my weakness.  i can rest in the fact that He makes me a better mom.  praise the Lord!

[reposted from Diana's facebook page - original date: 03 August, 2013]

Baby Seth has arrived!

Vital Statistics

Seth two minutes after birth

Date: Saturday, 06 July, 2013
Time: 7:26 pm
Weight: 3.66 kg (8 lbs, 1 oz)
Length: 55 cm (21.6 inches)

Delivery Details
Seth came into the world quite suddenly with the whole event taking less than 5 hours.  Diana and I were preparing to go out for our anniversary when at about 2:30 pm (in the midst of her preparation), Diana started experiencing some discomfort and decided to lay down on the couch.  About 30 minutes later, she noticed they were coming at regular intervals (about 4 min apart).

Getting ready to head to the hospital

We were both really hoping to avoid having a baby on our anniversary, but after about a hour of hoping that the discomfort would go away, we realized that this was going to be the day, and got everyone moving towards the door.
  We dropped Aaron off at a nearby friend's house for the night and headed to the hospital.  We arrived about 5:30 pm and after 20 minutes of monitoring, were told that it would be another 5-6 hours.  So, we went for a walk, did the check-in paperwork, discussed our dinner plans and headed back up to the labour ward.

Happy Mom, Dad and Baby!

At about 6:45 pm, Diana went to the bathroom and heard a pop, which in retrospect was her water breaking because the contractions got significantly more intense.  The doctor arrived about 10 minutes after that and told us that the baby would be coming soon (45 to 60 minutes).  The nurse got Diana prepped and then after one look realized that the baby was less than 45 minutes away, so sent word to get the doctor back in the room.  He came running in and they rapidly put everything in place. 
No more than 5 minutes later, the head started to appear and Seth was born a few minutes after that.  In the span of 5 hours, we went from denial (hoping that we wouldn't have to share our anniversary with Seth's birthday) to elation (baby Seth had arrived, the miracle of life!).  I will provide more details regarding the choosing of Seth's name in a future post.  Cheers, Steve

First family picture

Sleeping 4-day old Seth

Lesson from a two-year old

It is not often that my two-year old son teaches me something.  Outside of the names of dinosaurs, I can safely say that at this point he does not know more than I do.  But one area that he far exceeds me in is emotional expressivity (I think I just made that word up).  The emotions of a two-year old are pure and innocent.  Now that Aaron is approaching 3 (just over two months away), he has developed more complex emotions, like getting upset, or refusing to cooperate, and reacting to how Diana and I are feeling.  I read somewhere that the hormonal changes of a two-year old rival that of a teenager and I can believe it.

Well, this morning, they taught me a lesson.  We have had a productive weekend, getting a chance to do some things around the house, have a walk along the ocean, and spend some time together as a family.  In my usual fashion, I left a few things from the weekend tasks cluttering the house, which bothers Diana.  So, this morning she asked me to clean up some the stuff laying around.  And, unfortunately, it rubbed me the wrong way, so I did the assigned task and then decided a little silent treatment was needed (no, that is not the lesson I learned from my two-year old, childish as it seems).  So, over the following 10-15 minutes, I continued to get ready for work, brushing my teeth, taking out the trash, all while ignoring Diana, creating a tension between us.  During this time, I wondered if Aaron would pick up on this.  I was trying to interact with him as I always would, but not sure how successful I was being.

As I headed out the door, I had a chat with Diana and she apologized for the comment, which I accepted, recognizing how childish I was actually being.  I asked Aaron for a cuddle and he ran away.  I didn't really have time to chase him, so I asked again and he refused.  For the next few minutes, as I am getting my jacket and helmet on and pushing the bike out, I continually asked for a cuddle or kiss, but he refused every time.  Even as I started to drive off, he refused to wave, blow a kiss or even say good bye, which on a ordinary day, can take a few minutes to accomplish.

Now, I am not sure that my refusal to talk to Diana led to this reaction from Aaron.  Mondays are often hard days to say goodbye because after a whole weekend together, I don't think he appreciates me leaving, but the tension between Diana and I probably didn't help.  The one thing that I am sure about is the pain that I felt as I drove away.  His rejection, although most likely hormonal and not intended to inflict emotional pain, delivered a sharp prick of guilt and remorse.  It is not often that we get immediate feedback on the ugliness of our actions.  My reaction to Diana and my subsequent treatment of her was petty, childish and mean, designed to return some of the selfish pain from my bruised ego.  Aaron's unwillingness to say goodbye was merely a two-year old reacting to a situation, but delivering a powerful lesson about the the pain we can inflict on those we love.  This stark reminder will linger for a while longer, but will eventually be soaked up by the business of life, and that is why I am writing it down, so that these words will remind me that nothing is as important as caring, loving and never mistreating the ones that we love.

Diana, I am sorry.  Aaron, I love you (and I will get a cuddle when I get home, no matter how long I have to chase you :)