Wednesday, February 27, 2008

OOps

Sorry I haven't been around. I've been working on a couple of other things that have taken up a lot of my writing energy.

Things with the pregnancy are going well. I actually feel human again most of the time. Now my biggest concern is keeping my back from going crooked again. I have muscle damage from when I was a teen, and while I was pregnant with Hana I ended up with a lot of pain as the muscle seized and caused a c-curve in my spine. Thankfully physiotherapy and massage straightened me out again, but it's still something I'd rather not go through this time around.

I had my first ultrasound on Monday. Baby is VERY active, so active in fact that the tech couldn't complete all the checks and I have to go back in a couple of weeks. She was going to try and get a shot of the baby bits so I could guess, but baby wasn't cooperating with that either, so we still have a surprise. I'd like to find out. I honestly don't like surprises, I like to be able to plan and prepare. However, since this baby is being born in July a lot of white onesies should cover most of our clothing needs for the first few weeks and then we can shop afterwards.

From what my very untrained eye could tell from the scan, everything looked great. I even had proof that baby stands on my bladder - which the tech thought was hilarious- but only because she hadn't just drank a liter of water.

In other news, Ben got hired on full time doing quality control at the plant he was working at. We're excited about this. It's steady, something he enjoys, and will include a raise in the near future. We're very excited about this. If we're able to save up enough he may even be able to take some parental leave when the baby is born, which would be absolutely wonderful.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Wonderful

I had the most wonderful morning with Hana.

We had blueberry muffins for breakfast, then read some stories and played a bit. Then we spent a long time in the shower which was absolutely blissful. After that we spent about an hour playing on the bed. Lots of laughs, kisses, snuggles and other wonderful things.

I love being a mom.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Deconstruction

I was reading Glo's blog, and she posted about a speaker she had heard who was completely against postmodernism because it was so deconstructive, and it got me thinking.

What's so wrong with deconstruction? Really, how can anything change unless someone points out where things need to be changed? Now I can understand frustration if deconstruction is as far as the process goes - it should be done in order to rebuild.

Take Martin Luther for example. He pointed out what was wrong with the church of the time, and so was seen as a heretic, but also brought on reform. If the Church has gone askew of God's intent for it, then isn't getting it back on track more important than decorating sacred cows?

I honestly feel the North American Church is in crisis. Christ has given us freedom, but instead of a safe haven, a place of freedom, it is seen as a place of chains, of judgment, of sin and hypocrisy. As a whole, Christians are seen as weak, extremists, brainless, dull or judgmental. Is that how Christ intended His Bride to be seen by the world?

We are the hands and feet of Christ, our salvation isn't just for ourselves but so that we can go out and save the world. Not so we can huddle together until they come to us, conform to our standards fall into the same ruts we consider acceptable.

I think as a whole we need to spend more time listening to the complaints about the church - not in a defensive manner, but to hear the truth in them and seek to change it. No one will come to Christ if they don't want to be a Christian, and that is a very sad truth.

Saturday, February 09, 2008

The story of Stuff

This is definitely worth twenty minutes of your time. We all have a responsibility to become more aware and more active in our consumer decisions.

Monday, February 04, 2008

15 months

Hana is 15 months old, and amazes me daily.

She communicates so well for someone so small, always trying to pick up new words or signs, always "talking" to the cat, or her toys, or us. She wants us to be part of her world, and wants to be part of ours, and that is such a wonderful thing.

She's almost walking. I should say she's able to walk - has taken a few steps here and there, stands unassisted, has all the skills necessary to walk, and that's good enough for her - she sees no need to walk, and that's fine. It's the same with everything else she's learned in life, there is no use trying to push her, she'll do it all in her own time.

She's always learning new things, trying to figure things out. This morning we were playing on the bed and she was on her hands and feet with her bum up in the air, head down. So I grabbed her hips and flipped her over. Our new game delayed breakfast for a while as she tried to do it herself and then would look at me for help.

She can climb stairs, get off the bed and the couch, can almost use a spoon on her own and knows almost 20 words and 10 signs. She loves books and music and being with people. She's always exploring, observing, trying, moving, doing. She's an amazing child, such a blessing. I'm so thankful to be her mother.