Introducing Mary...and becoming a Doula

Introducing Baby Mary! She was born this morning by C-section @ 10:15 am, weighing 6 lb. 8 oz. & is 19.5 inches long. Congratulations to Heather & Allen!




I did a post recently about some of my high school friends who have been an encouragement to me in my faith over the years. In that post, I mentioned that Heather was due with her 5th child soon. This morning a group of us had the privilege of coming to Heather's hospital room before her C-section for a time of prayer and worship. We stuck around and got to be the first to meet baby Mary & pray over her after she was born, too.

Some of you know this about me...I just love everything to do with babies, pregnancy, childbirth, and nursing. I've had a desire for quite some time to become a certified Doula. (Labor coach and support person to pregnant mommies.) I had planned to attend training and begin the process over a year ago in South Bend, Indiana, but then we moved. Today I spoke with Heather's Doula, Marla, and was going to ask where she'd recommend I attend the training in this area. Well, I found out that Marla herself is certified to teach Doula training. She's got sessions this summer and fall & I think I may just be pursuing this dream of mine...

Heart Overflowing

Some things I'm thankful for today...




My girlies picked these for me the other day. Lilacs. My favorite. :) A tangible and fragrant piece of God's goodness and beauty.




My sister, Bria, came for the weekend. She stayed with the kids Friday night so Wade and I could go out to celebrate our friend Ed's birthday. Speaking of Ed's birthday--he got the best birthday present ever--the long awaited phone call informing him and his wife Vonda that they've been approved for guardianship for their soon to be adopted daughter Eva !!! Glory be to God for this answer to prayer!

Saturday Bria helped me paint Nathan's bedroom. (Nathan helped too.) Thank you Bria!




Sunday my Mom and sister and I were treated to luxury pedicures together!



They were a Christmas present to us from Dad. This was my first pedicure ever! I was so touched that my Dad would come up with that idea to bless his girls.

Afterwards we did a little shopping at the mall and then went to Panera for supper. I just loved spending time with my mom and sister. Didn't want the night to end!









Also on Sunday...severe storms hit Prairie Farm where Wade's folks live. Their century old farm was hit hard as they lost two enormous pine trees, their silo, & part of the roof on the shed. (The photo shows where the silo once stood.) All 5 siblings went up to the farm on Memorial Day to help clean up the debris that covered the area. We were grateful that no one was injured, as the silo could have easily fallen on the house. (Wade's dad, Marv was also out in the field planting corn when the storm was at its worst!)

Also on Memorial Day we got to spend the afternoon with some of our good friends from church. What a blessing when others open up their home and provide a place where friends can laugh together, share a meal, and encourage one another.

I've also been impacted by the death of singer Steven Curtis Chapman's 5 year old daughter. The morning it was announced, I put all the laundry and other to do's on hold in order to hold my kiddos. Emily wanted to look at her baby scrapbook. So together we looked through her book, reading over the captions and memories I'd recorded to let her know how loved she is. Time spent like this is never regretted. And it's good to be reminded to be thankful for those things that really matter.

An ongoing prayer request of mine has been "Lord, help me see You as a tender loving Father. I know You are Sovereign, all-powerful, omnipotent. I know You are in control and not a sparrow falls to the ground without your knowledge and permission. But I need to see you also as the God of compassion. The God who knows our needs and truly cares about each detail of our lives." In each of the details I've mentioned above, I have seen God display that tenderness and compassion. I'm not saying that God is only good when He does what we want. I'm just offering thanks to Him today for showing me so many glimpses of His heart this weekend through other people. He knew my need and met me where I was at. What a gracious God we serve.

Connections

Emily and I were playing the game Connect Four. (Anybody else love that game as a kid?) Em was on a winning streak. She informed me as to the reason for her success..."I pray every time. Works! You should pray, Momma."

When I laughed at her cute but faulty logic, immediately she came back with "Don't put this on your blog." (Which made me laugh all the harder.)

Bessie's Goin' Bubbye

She ain't gone yet, but the time's a comin' soon. She's on her last leg--or wheel, I should say.

Wade replaced her transmission 4 years ago, and it's going again. (Common with this make & year.) Bessie's also got a whole host of other smaller ailments to contend with...the A/C went out a couple summers ago, heater's going too, cruise control's broken, power locks don't all work, radio speakers go in and out, the big sliding door takes significant amounts of elbow grease and arm shimmies to close--often taking repeated tries, oh-- and it also just falls off randomly in McDonald's parking lots in below zero weather. Let's see, what else...she's dented and rusted, stalls periodically at stop lights, and we've been driving on the spare tire for the last month as the back right one blew completely down to the metal. (If you heard a loud obnoxious clunking hunk-o-junk making its way down Wisconsin street a few weeks back--that was us. Sorry if we woke any sleeping children.)

Given all of the above, I'm temporarily not allowed to drive out of the town we live in. If I have the cell phone, I am allowed to travel within a 15 minute radius of our home.

Yes, it's time to put Bessie to rest. We've been praying for a new van. (Not brand new, just new to us.) I would love to have one with two side doors and working A/C. And some color other than white would be just awesome. We're trusting that God will provide something we can afford that will meet our needs. We've been looking online, but if you have any leads, pass them our way! And I'll keep you posted on the fate of Bessie. But if you haven't guessed already, I'm not really very attached to the old gal.

Shaggy

'Twas the perfect day for a hairy lolly.

Scrounge

This is just random...

Heard Nathan banging and clanking under his bed with his new squirt gun from the garage sale we'd just been to. (It was missing the water plug, but no matter to Nathan.) When I bent down to peek in on him, I noticed a wet chewed up chunk-o-somethin'. A gummy bear? A jelly bean leftover from Easter? No, a piece of orange pepper, actually. Said he got it from the kitchen floor. At least it's healthy floor scrounge, right? (And it sure beats the Polly Pocket shoes he ate and pooped out as a baby.)

Later that night, Wade came and asked me if I threw away the aforementioned chewed up piece of orange pepper. (No, I just left it there for carpet decoration...) Yes, I did, I told him. Well, Wade walks in with Nathan's squirt gun. But somehow it now has a water plug. Apparently Nathan had two pieces of orange pepper under there. One for chewing, one for a make-shift water plug. Resourceful and healthy, that boy.

Knordobs and broomsticks

I love the way kids talk. Recently Wade hung the doors in our newly finished basement. Nathan helped with the "knordobs." When Wade needs to do caulking, Nathan assists with the "caulk-a-dile." When Abby was smaller, if she had an owie--it required a "dam-daid." And when Emily was being potty trained, her first round of success included 3 cheers for "I hooped on my hotty!"

My favorite comes from my friend Danielle's little girl, Ariana. When she was on a Veggie Tales kick, she had a thing for Larry the "Pew-Mummer." Tee hee. Makes me smile. What cute pronunciations have you heard out of the mouths of babes? Do tell!

P.S. I just went and read over parts of the journals I've kept for the girls over the years. I may have to do a part 2 to this post. All kinds of goodies I'd forgotten!

Harold, er, um, Nathan and the purple...

Why color on paper when you can color on your face instead? Toddler logic.

Little Dipper

When we're having something like chicken nuggets or other dunkable foods for lunch, the kids love to be able to pick whether they want ketchup, honey, or ranch dressing for dipping.

Well, the other night Wade was changing Nathan's diaper. Since his surgery, one of the steps in this ritual is to put Bacitracin on the incision of the circumcision revision (there's a rhyming mouthful, eh?) Nathan informed Wade that he didn't want Bactiracin this time. He wanted RANCH DRESSING on it instead. Yeah. We told him this is one of those things he'd just have to trust us on.

Huh?

Abby just came and asked me "Mom, every year before Mother's Day, can we have a sick day?"

Me: "A sick day?"
Abby: "Yeah...we can all pretend we're sick. It will be a family tradition!"
Me: "Sure." (Going along with it)
Abby: (rounds up Nathan and Emily) "Guys, we're going to have a sick day! Everyone's going to pretend they're sick except one person--who will take care of everyone..."

I didn't tell her that that's called being a mom. She'll be a great one someday. And it appears that it doesn't take much in the way of family traditions to make her happy, either.

Friends

(L to R: Susan, Heather, Angie, Kara Jo)

Yesterday I got together with some of my friends from Waconia High School. All believers, and a great source of encouragement. We usually see each other once or twice a year. We had a reunion last May when my family and I moved back from Indiana. And this time we got together because Angie and her family were visiting from Wyoming.

We had a great time...had a potluck lunch and then our 11 kiddos (soon to be 12, courtesy of Heather) all played outside while we chatted inside. And we ended the day with such a meaningful time of prayer for one another. The kind that brings you to tears and fills you with hope and praises to God. Spurring one another on toward love and good deeds. Inspiration to keep our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith. This kind of encouragement has been taking place amongst us for nearly 20 years and I am humbly grateful.

Every time I'm with this group of gals, I am reminded of God's faithfulness to meet our needs. He has been so good at each stage in my life to provide kindred spirits--godly sisters in Christ--to walk this road and share the load with me. We so need that, don't we? We were not meant to function alone--especially as Christ followers.

Who are you thankful for today? Whom has God placed in your life along the way to encourage you, keep you accountable, and remind you of His goodness and truth? Who has prayed for you, loved you, and inspired you to honor God in all you say and do? Take a moment to share, if you like.

Olive You, Nathan

"I want a-nudder one!" Nathan requested. Five times. One for each finger. Olives are a staple at any Knutson family holiday meal or special get together. When my sister Bria and I were kids we always liked to put the black ones on our fingers and pretend we had big black and blue owies. (How many of you did that, too?) Bria has now passed on the tradition to my kiddos. So Nathan was pretty excited when he helped unload the groceries today and found a can of black olives. It's the small pleasures in life, isn't it...?

Speaking of the Knutson side, my mom visited yesterday. LOVE having her visit. I had told her about Nathan (see my previous post) and how relentless and exhausting he'd been to parent lately. But of course, he was Angel Baby practically the whole time she was here. Lots of smiles, manners & eyelash batting going on. Mister Cooperation. Poster child for mild mannered and happy-go-lucky. I almost wanted him to act up just show she'd know I wasn't exaggerating. No such luck, though. So maybe I made it all up. Or maybe he's turning a new leaf, as Wade is hoping. I'll let you know. In the meantime, we're enjoying olives for supper.

The OpinionNater

Alright, I warned some of you that I was going to do this post. AND that it would probably be my longest post ever. So here goes...

If two year old Nathan were to write me a letter about a day in the life, this is how it would go:

Dear Mom, pray for patience today. The morning will begin like this...I will come bumbling into your room with my carpet hair sticking out all over and Bear tucked under my arm and demand to nurse RIGHT THIS SECOND. I'll also insist that you sit up immediately to do so. Upon the granting of my request (after you've required me to calm down and ask nicely) I'll look up at you with my big blue eyes and then wave hello with my little hand. After giving me fair warning you'll get up to take your shower and I'll either scream until you're done or bug my sisters until one of them ends up in tears because I swatted them with my new T-ball set.

When you try to get me dressed I won't be pleased with any shirt you pick out. When offered the option to choose my own, I will kindly live in my race car jammies all day, thank you. Which would be fine except that I'll rip my bib off at breakfast and subsequently spill my cereal on myself. Then I'll get mad and demand that you remove my wet jammies immediately.

When it's time to get ready to leave, I'll refuse to get my socks on. If you pick blue socks, I'll want red and vice versa. Even if I pick my own I'll still complain that they hurt and that they're "buggin' me." And good luck fixing them. It's anyone's guess as to how many adjustments it will take to satisfy me to my foot's content. But then I'll refuse my shoes, too. I may agree to my rain boots, on the wrong feet, though. And my coat...only if I can zip it up myself...except that I don't know how to zip it up myself.

And carseats. I don't like mine. The buckle and harness really cramp my style so I'll be sure and let you know. And the music you pick, mom, I won't like it. But if there's no music, I won't like that either. Once we find a song I like, I won't like the volume. And good luck trying to guess what I want because I get "turn it up" and turn it down" mixed up.

Once we arrive at the store, I want to walk. You'll inform me that I either have to hold your hand or be carried through the parking lot. Given the options, I decide to kick and scream and make a scene. You'll be thankful for the kind elderly gentleman in County Market who says with a knowing smile "stick to your guns, Mom, this too shall pass."

Once we're back from the store I'll now want to stay buckled in the aforementioned once dreaded carseat and not come in the house. Once I'm lured in, I'll insist on helping to put the groceries away. But I don't want to put the milk in the fridge. I think it belongs in the cupboard instead. When it's time to wash my hands for lunch, I'd rather lick the germs leftover from the shopping cart. Don't want to waste a good cold virus I might be able to catch. And when you put the foam soap on my hands, it had better look like a snake. No other animal substitutions will do, mind you.

By the way, when you're halfway through typing this, I'll be sure to hit the off button on the computer and erase the whole thing for you. Then I'll want to climb up in your lap and snuggle.

We might have some good times reading books or doing puzzles, but then the rest of the afternoon will continue along the same vein as the morning. I don't want my teeth brushed before nap. And if I pick the bubblegum toothpaste, once it's already on my brush I'll be sure to scream that I had actually wanted the mint instead. Too bad, you tell me patiently.

Don't even get me started on my diapers. One minute I've pooped and want to be changed immediately, but if it's not my idea, then I don't understand why they need to be changed at all. I'll also be sure to demand "medicine" (ointment) on any imaginary owies I might dream up for random places on my legs. Then I won't want my pants back on either. Thanks for creating the game where I get to at least pick which leg goes in first.

I know my sisters still slept 2-3 hours for nap time at my age. I'm sorry you have to wake me after an hour or I won't go to sleep at night. I'm sorry that I have a hard time staying in my bed and always seem surprised when you put a gate in my doorway after I've attempted my escape. And I'm sorry that I almost always wake up crabby after the naps you have to wake me from.

Mom, with more of the same from me at supper and bedtime, it's a good thing you pray often. I hear you taking deep breaths, counting to 10, and asking God to help you parent me with loving discipline and secure boundaries. Please remember that I am a toddler, and am trying desperately to figure out how much of my world I have control over. I haven't figured out yet that the world doesn't revolve around me, that I have a sinful nature, or that impulse control is even an option. But please be patient, God isn't finished with me (or you for that matter) yet.

Love,
Nathan


P.S. You're right, Mom. It's a good thing I'm cute.

Confessions from Mom:
After my first two kids, I sort of thought I had the parenting thing down--at least with toddlers anyway. (Yeah, go ahead and laugh.) Oh sure, I had challenges with the girls too (like hour long screaming fits), but I don't remember them testing me incessantly on absolutely everything. And I thought we had a pretty good system of expectations, obedience and consequences for the lack of. I'd read all the parenting books--even studied child development in college, and thought I was confident in my parenting style. And I admit, when I'd see other mothers whose kids acted the way I've described Nathan, I'd think to myself "lazy parent. She needs some backbone. Her kids are running the show. She needs to step up and be the parent. She needs to have firm and consistent consequences, etc. etc." While I still do think there are plenty of cases where that assessment is probably accurate, I have also been humbled. It's not always that simple. I am not kidding when I say I often have to pray my way through my days. (Shouldn't it be that way anyway, though?) This parenting thing is hard. On so many levels. And I need God and his wisdom to get us through to the other side! I'm so thankful He promises to give wisdom "generously to all who ask, WITHOUT finding fault." (James 1:5)