Babies"R"Us - Baby Registry

Babies"R"Us - Baby Registry

Trying to Feel Peaceful and Not Succeeding

Why is it, that when I'm supposed to feel peace, I feel turmoil? Is it the lack of sleep, the blessed weight of pregnancy, or the stress of not knowing what the financial future holds? Perhaps it is a combination of factors. Another life transition knocks at my door and even if I'm not ready, it's coming into my life at it's due time.

We're wondering how we're going to make ends meet, and pay all our bills when I'm home with the twins and still don't have a teaching job. I'm wondering how my delivery is going to go and dreading it, while at the same time looking forward to seeing our long awaited bundles of joy....

How will it all come together? I know that time marches on and circumstances will all crash together, I'm just wondering what condition our lives will be in, after it all hits the fan. (I enjoy mixing my metaphors.)Will we still be in our house? Will I ever find a teaching job? How will we pay for my special education classes I need to finish my special ed. certificate in order to get a teaching job?  (I have found that you need to be certified in order to even be considered now!)

I want to know it's going to be OK. I want to know that we'll be able to stay in our home and raise our babies, and that I'll get a teaching job, or that my husband will get a magical promotion at work and we won't have to worry about money.

There are no guarantees in this life. That's part of what makes it so worrisome and yet, so adventurous.

Thar She Blows!!!!

While I do not find myself identifying closely with Captain Ahab, I do myself akin to Moby Dick, if for no other reason than I feel like I have the potential to want to attack ships and to bite the leg off a a cantankerous sea dog. For those reasons and many, I continue to want to eat lot's of calories, though I am careful to not eat too closely to bedtime to avoid the dreaded heartburn.

At 24 plus weeks, my belly is now 45 inches around...that's if you take a tape measure and wrap it around my back and cross matching ends at my navel. There you have it...a whale of a belly, as yet to reach legendary proportions. I remember that I have about 15 weeks to go, and that's if I am delivered at 40 weeks. Perchance I may deliver early...I'd say 36-37 weeks would be safe.

I am happy to report that the twins hearts are is great condition, no hint of the pin hole the perinatologist thought he might have glimpsed on the ultrasound for Baby B at my last appointment. The caridologist I was referred to pronounced both girls, A-OK, to the great relief of their parents. Daddy and Mommy are happy about that!

So that's what I'm contemplating these days: the round expanse that is my ever-increasing girth and growing offspring, and the fact that someday soon, we will get to meet them.

123 Days and Counting!

I have 123 days left until my due date, and while I know that most women don't have their babies on their actual due date, I can't help but smile and think that somewhere close to that time frame, I'll get to meet my babies for the first time. Wow. Mind-blowing stuff. The stuff that dreams are made of.

So many thoughts are going through my head these last few days, among them: thankfulness over the holiday, missing my Grammy that passed a year ago this time of year (a few days after Thanksgiving), missing my husband who has gone hunting and thinking about preparing for my babies.

Shaping Your Child's Gender Identity

I'm sure there are many things written about appropriately shaping the gender identity of your child as an evangelical parent. In today's day and age of permissive parenting, that parenting role, that aspect of training of a child has taken a back seat and children are now encouraged to explore their own identities, unstifled by traditional roles and values. If you try and guide your child's gender identity, you may be seen as intolerant or hateful, or homophobic. Why not let them decide? Does it really matter at the age of five if a child goes to a school Halloween party dressed as Daphne from the Scooby Doo cartoon? Does it matter if we let our daughter's go as Batman, or let both dress up in boy and girl clothes from the dress up trunk? When is it appropriate to step in and guide children towards godly, biblical gender roles? You can guess what the world would say, but what is the godly thing to do?

I recently read a rant by a pre-school mom who is a popular blogger. She let her five-year-old son go as Daphne to his christian pre-school costume party and was surprised by the intolerance and wide-eyed looks from some of the moms. Really? You were shocked and surprised that evangelical christians, of a traditional mindset found your permissive yet supportive and unconditional parenting questionable?

Polling all adults: Would you let your kid dress up in a Halloween costume (or dress up costume) of a different gender from your child's and send them to school? Would you ever try and shape the choices of your child with regard to gender role?

I was not surprised on a liberal website like this to find a lot of liberally minded readers who chimed in with how proud they were of her as a mom for defending her child's choice, and his self-expression and how intolerant those so-called christian moms were of her son and shame on them, blah, blah, blah. First of all, he's five, I get it. Kids are still experimenting with gender roles. I've heard the arguments that supposedly support a child's choice and that "he might really be gay", "he's raised by mostly women" or "has lot's of sisters" or "he's just different than the rest of his brothers" etc. Whatever the excuse is, when is it right to step in and try and guide our children's choices in this area? Some would argue, his choice is not hurting anyone, it's part of who he/she is, and it's not for adults to interfere, only to support. What do you think?