Caedmon.

The story behind the name "Caedmon" (as told by my sister, Sam... she did such a good job paraphrasing the folktale, that I've simply reposted here)...

In 7th century Northumbria (modern day Northern England and Southeast Scotland), there lived a quiet man named Caedmon who cared for the animals at the monastery Streonaeshalch. He didn't know much about music, so when the monks would play instruments and sing, he'd shamefully leave the festivities to just be alone with the animals and go to sleep early.

Gaelic legends say that the Lord came to him in a dream and asked him to sing. At first, he refused because of his lack of knowledge and insecurity. But he eventually obeyed, and music came out! When he awoke, he remembered the words and tune he sang and wrote down the song that God put on his heart.

He went on to pen many more songs and poems with his newfound boldness. English writers of sacred verse tried to imitate Caedmon for centuries, but none managed to parallel his words' descriptive beauty.

Wayne and I also hope and pray that our Caedmon will grow up to know and listen to the Lord and His calling.  Welcome to the world, little guy! 
 

an owl-themed nursery

Here's our owl-themed nursery!  You can't see it, but the bookshelf in the corner contains owl bookends that I just adore!  (Thank you, FHS staff!)  I wasn't able to find a motorized mobile with owls on it, so I took one with jungle animals on it (thank you, Colleen!) and changed them out with owl stroller toys (and thanks, Aunt Sam!). 

I hope our son likes owls!  :)

39 weeks

That's me and Baby--39 weeks (and a day) along.  I'm feeling great, though.  Surprisingly, no backache, no heartburn, no swollen ankles... I never even had morning sickness.  But for all my mom friends who are narrowing your eyes with envy, may I console you by telling you that I DID have (and still have remnants of) a HORRENDOUS rash, not once but twice in my pregnancy.  The second time was so horrific that my doctor called in two other physicians to look at me.  Apparently, I had an infection stemming from my navel that manifested itself in a nasty rash all over my belly that spread to my back, arms, legs, and a little on my face.  See, I've had my own pregnancy woes.

But I'm almost there!  No signs of contractions yet (or at least I'm not feeling them), but his head is really low, and I feel his arrival is imminent. 

I'm trying to convince Baby to wait just a little bit longer, though.  I still have Amsterdam and London to finish in my Europe album, I wanted to clean our home from top to bottom, and I have many odds and ends errands to run... Please, Baby, Mamma just needs a little more time.

A friend whose due date was just a day before mine had her baby last night!  (Congrats, Steph and Tony!)  Yup... he's coming, whether I'm ready or not.  I suppose I had better get used to living by a schedule that isn't entirely mine anymore, anyway...

Pregnancy Brain

It's a real condition.  Though some cursory research on the internet shows that most researchers have found no scientific proof for pregnancy brain, most moms will attest to its reality.  I can, too.  While many women experience pregnancy brain in the form of absent-mindedness, my pregnancy brain has manifested itself mostly in my misreading of words, which hasn't caused much harm except for momentary bouts of confusion.

For example, this morning, a friend on Facebook shared an article from the news site www.baycitizen.com, and I read "babycitizen" and wondered why a baby site would be reporting on a developing murder story and why this friend (male, engaged-but-not-yet-married) would be frequenting sites like babycitizen.com.  And how reputable is this source anyway?...when I realized my mistake.

There have been many, many, MANY more occurrences, but I also chalk it up to pregnancy brain that I've subsequently forgotten them all.

Showered with Love

This weekend, Wayne, Baby, and I were showered with so much love from our friends and family.

On Friday was Shower #1, thrown by Wayne's coworkers! It was so kind and sweet of them to do this for us!

 

four different cupcake flavors: chocolate peanut butter, chocolate cookies 'n cream, vanilla blackberry, and vanilla cookies 'n cream.  I tried them all, of course.

Lots of babies!  Ours will be in good company.

 Baseball-themed diaper cake!

I LOVE these owl bookends!!!

 I've already put them to good use!

Saturday was Shower #2, thrown by Sam, Emily, Stef, and Sanli!  These ladies put in so much time,  effort, and creativity into making this children's book themed event super special! 

Fun, frilly sign made by Emily!

These lanterns were made by my sister, Sam, and are covered with pictures from favorite children's books.

Stef made these book garlands that contained actual excerpts from Where the Red Fern Grows, my favorite book.

 Our food fit the theme too.  Here are cupcake pops (made by Sanli) from If You Give a Cat a Cupcake.  Other treats were Rainy with a Chance of Meatballs cocktail meatballs, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie chocolate chip cookies, Puff the Magic Dragon pastry puffs, The Hungry Caterpillar fresh fruit, The Tales of Peter Rabbit veggies and hummus, and The Stinky Cheese Man baked brie and crackers.

 The diaper station, where friends wrote messages to us on diapers.  This should bring a smile even during midnight diaper changes!

 Everyone brought a favorite children's book to help our little bookworm start his collection.

 The favors: fabric-covered button bookmarks (handmade by Stef) attached to library book check-out sleeves (designed and printed by Emily).

 Emily, Stef, Sam, and Sanli--THANK YOU for such a fun and beautiful shower!  

I feel so, so, SO blessed by everyone's love this weekend!  Thank you!!!

Making Room for Baby

Yes, you could call it nesting... or procrastinating from lesson planning.  Whatever it is, I am very happy with the progress we've made in making room for Baby To!

Here is the hall closet, all cleaned out and organized:

And we did some reshuffling of our furniture.  Here is what our house looked like before.  And this is what it is like now:

We moved Wayne's desk out to the front living room area and moved the couches around.

 

We moved my desk and the guest bed into what was Wayne's man-cave.  Now it looks like a teenage girl's room.  I'll need to replace the maps with some fun wall art!

 

And what was my craft room/guest room is now the baby room. 

A very productive day!  I was about to give the dogs a bath too, but we ran out of shampoo.  You lucked out, Lucy!

I really should blog more...

I haven't blogged much lately.  And I really should (or at least journal, or something), especially during these last few months before our lives are forever changed.

I don't have anything profound to say, so.... I will start 2012 with a picture of the progress I'm making with our hall closet.  We've been cleaning, organizing, and rearranging to make room for Baby.  I've been working on the hall closet all morning... except, I've lost my momentum, and I don't feel like finishing and am distracting myself with other activities.  Hence, the blogging.  Gah!  Must refocus. Though... maybe I'll feel better after some lunch...

Cat's Out of the Bag!

Last week, a student (during detention, nonetheless) asked me, "Mrs. To, can I ask you a question?  ... Don't be offended."  uhh... Before I had a chance to say anything, he asked, "Are you pregnant?"  what??  The look on my face said it all, though, and he and the few other students in my room started cheering and exclaiming, "I knew it!"

Since my little secret was out, I announced my pregnancy to the rest of my classes today.  And to my surprise, they all told me that they had been speculating for weeks!  They said that they knew because I was wearing a lot of baggy and loose clothes, and some of them noticed my baby bump.  I guess they do just stare at me for an hour every day... but still, I thought I was being SO slick.  I had even boasted to friends that my students had no idea, and I was probably going to be able to hold out until after Christmas!

I guess my students are a lot more observant than I give them credit for. 

It was very sweet to have my students so happy and excited for me... though I did advise them that "are you pregnant?" is never a good question to ask a woman!

It's a Boy!!!

Wayne and I went in for the ultrasound on Thursday, and it was clear as day--our baby bean is a boy!  After resigning himself as a father of three girls, and all of whom would be crazy and loud like me, Wayne was excited, and even a little surprised, by the news.  A BOY!  And now I'm the nervous one... I have no idea what to do with boys!

I'm sure I'll learn, though... or so I hope.  I will love him despite all the extra messes I already foresee...  the little boy obsession with wrestling and blowing things up (that may not solely be confined to little boys)... and the extra energy and rambunctiousness I've witnessed in so many a Sunday School terror.

That's what Wayne and I have been learning about lately--love.

Last week, we found out some scary news, that our baby has a 1 in 21 chance of having Down Syndrome (most women my age carry the risk of only 1 in 500).  While this means that our baby is more than 95% going to be normal, the results are still alarming, and we were scheduled a level 2 genetics ultrasound right away with the option of having an amniocentesis performed that day.  With the ultrasound, the doctor would be able to inspect its organs and measure the baby's bones for signs of normal development, but it is the amniocentesis, a procedure in which they extract amniotic fluid from my uterus, that provides conclusive results as to whether our child has Down Syndrome or not.  The downside to the amnio, though, is that it does carry with it a slight risk of miscarriage. 

Wayne and I went back and forth concerning the amnio.  While we REALLY want to know if our baby has Downs or not, we wrestled with whether that was enough of a reason to subject our baby to any risk of harm, even if it was just a slight risk.  After a lot of deliberating, talking with others, and prayer, we decided not to proceed with the amnio.  In the end, our worst case scenario wouldn't be waiting five months to find out our baby has Downs, but to lose the baby unnecessarily through the process.

We went into the ultrasound with peace of mind and heart, and seeing our baby on that monitor... it was magical.  We got to see his spinal cord, femur, brain, his little fingers and toes, all four chambers of his heart beating healthily, the tiny valves that provide him with oxygen right now but will close once he meets the world...  And we learned our little baby is a boy, which makes it all that much more real.  The doctor said that our son's bone structure looks good--no signs of Downs--which is a relief.

We are continuing to pray.  And not just for a normal baby, but for our own hearts as well.  Through this process, we realized just how many expectations we already had for our baby... we wanted him to be smart and athletic... and if he played an instrument or two, that wouldn't hurt.  Now, we're just praying for his health and that he loves the Lord... and that we will be parents who will support, nurture, and veer him towards Christ.  We need to keep everything, including our children, in our open palms, as nothing is ours, but the Lord's.  This is a lesson in letting go, before our baby has even arrived.  And it's a lesson in loving and accepting our child, our son, no matter what. 

"The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21).

His & Hers

His.  Programming and playing "Civ 5" while watching a "Deadliest Warriors" marathon.

Hers.  Scrapbooking while watching "Grey's Anatomy."  And crying.  Yes, crying... over a dying mother who has to say her goodbyes to her teenage daughter. 

Further evidence that men and women really are from different planets.