Slacker Mom
Oh my gosh! I’m such a slacker. No posts in 3 1/2 months. Well, needless to say I’ve been a bit busy. I lead two worship services at church from Labor Day until January 3rd, 2010. I’m so glad Don got better and returned to church. I enjoyed my experience, but it really reminded me that my time needs to be spent focusing on Kate right now. So now I’m a free woman again. Able to decide how Kate and I will spend our days. She’s changed dramatically in the past three months. She can say “mama,” she can walk about 10 steps by herself, she is eating some table foods, she has gained 5 lbs. and now weighs in at a mighty 20 1/2 lbs, and she giggles each time her daddy throws her high into the air. Life is good. Motherhood is the best. I cherish each day and don’t want her to grow up…but I know she will. And my job know is to teach and guide and model the things I want her to learn. Oh my, I’d better grow up and become civilized very quickly! So hopefully my slackerhood has come to an end. I will try to be more diligent with my posts so that one day Kate can look back and see her life through my eyes.
Leading Worship
I never imagined I’d be leading a worship service at First Baptist Church. Years ago I would have told you “that’s just not what I’m good at, I just like to sing…” But it seems God’s current plan for my life includes leading contemporary worship. Through leading I’m becoming closer to and more reliant on Christ. He guides my decisions now more so than ever, and I put all of my anxieties into his hands. It’s amazing how those worries seem to fade when you realize God is in control. I’m really excited to see how God is going to use the new contemporary worship service at FBC. We had prayed for 100 people the first Sunday and 110 showed up – God is good! A church member recently told me that even if this new service reaches just one person and brings them to Christ then it’s worth it. I agree. I thought I would be exhausted and not have the energy to lead worship, prepare for each Sunday, and be a full-time Mom – but again, God has provided me with strength and a new spark in my heart to reach out to others and tell them about Jesus. This is my mission. This is everyone’s mission – to tell the world about Jesus and how he can save them. I pray that our church will be set on fire with a passion for Jesus and will take that flame into their jobs, homes, and families. The words of Casting Crowns new song “Until the Whole World Hears” shares this message:
Lord I want to feel your heart
and see the world through your eyes
I want to be your hands and feet
I want to live a life that leads
ready yourselves
ready yourselves
Let us shine the light of Jesus in the darkest night
ready yourselves
ready yourselves
May the powers of darkness tremble as our praises rise
Until the whole world hears Lord we are calling out
Lifting up Your name for all to hear the sound
Like voices in the wilderness we’re crying out
as the day draws near
we’ll sing until the whole world hears
Lord let your sleeping giant arise
Catch the demons by surprise
Holy nation sanctified
Let this be our battle cry
we’ll sing until the whole world hears
we’ll sing until the whole world hears
Want to be your hands and feet
Want to be a life that leads
To see you set the captive free
Until the whole world hears
and I pray that they will see more of you and less of me
Lord I want my life to be the song You sing
Until the whole world hears Lord we are calling out
Lifting your name up for all to hear the sound
Like voices in the wilderness we’re crying out
as the day draws near
we’ll sing until the whole world hears
we’ll sing until the whole world hears
Updated Pics
Just wanted to let everyone know that we’ve posted updated pics of Kate. Make sure and check them out. She’s soooo adorable!!!
Amazing Changes
Momma and Kate in the Moby wrap
Each day there is something new. A few weeks ago Kate discovered her hands. Now she chews on them. Last week she started teething. Now her two bottom teeth starting to push through. A few days ago she started cooing “ooo” when she hears music. She literally changes everyday, which keeps me on my toes as I search for a new movement or sound. I love the fact that she can interact with us more now. It makes my time with her so much more special and I really feel like she enjoys our time together. The joy I feel when I hold her is indescribable. I must say that part of me wants to keep her this age longer. She is such a momma’s girl right now and that feels so good. I’m sure one day she’ll me a daddy’s girl and I’ll be old news. But for now I’m thoroughly enjoying being the one who can make her smile the biggest and calm her down when she’s upset. I guess the greatest and most welcomed change of all began within the past week. She had been increasing her amount of sleep time at night to around six hours throughout the past month, which was great. The awesome thing is that within the past week she has slept nine hour stretches at night two different times. It’s so nice to not wake up till the sun comes up. I’m sure things may change as her teething progresses but for now I’m enjoying catching up on months of lost sleep.
“No Soup For You”
“No soup [or milk in this case] for you, [Baby Kate],” as the soup nazi from Seinfeld would say. It seems as though Miss Kate a.k.a. Miss Piggy has been eating a bit too much since she was born. But I guess I can’t blame her since I’m the one supplying the surplus of white soup. Over the past few weeks, she has been getting increasingly more cranky. She cries when awake and is only soothed by being held, upright, against the chest. If you put her down, she is not a happy baby, for long that is. So today I decided I was not supermom and I could not cure whatever was ailing her, so I called the doctor. When I took her in he informed me that she had gone from being in the 8th percentile of of weight to the 52nd percentile. Meaning she had caught up with other 7 week olds that were not premature. So when he found out her symptoms of spitting up often, diaper rash, irritability, and fast weight gain, he quickly diagnosed acid reflux. So now Kate is taking zantac for acid reflux and is on a new cream for her diaper rash. She will now be fed every four hours instead of every two to three, so I can only imagine how angry she will be at me for awhile. I know if people withheld my food for any length of time when I was starving I would be furious. But all I can do is tell her I’m sorry for getting her into this predicament and I wish I could take her pain away. My advise for all new mothers is to call your doctor as soon as your worried. I wish I had of instead of listening to lactation consultants, friends, family, and the well-informed internet. Sometimes doctors do know best.
Surprise Blessing
As most of you know by now Matt and I have welcomed our new baby girl into this world. Kate was born on April 6, 2009 – exactly one month before her due date. Who would have known that on that Sunday morning as I performed in church service all day and went to luncheons afterward that I was actually in labor. Later I realized that those stomach pains were actually contractions. I mean how was I supposed to know. But later that evening there was no doubting it that something was about to happen. My water broke at home around 9 p.m. and after that it was on. My contractions went from every six minutes to every three minutes in the time it took Matt to drive me to the hospital, which was about 15 minutes. We got to the hospital around 10 p.m. and checked in quickly to find out I was well on my way to having a baby. Matt and I were shocked to say the least. I really was not prepared. I only had one day off from work and I was supposed to have one month. This was not the plan – and I like things to go my way. In that wonderful leisurely month off of work I had planned on nesting and resting. But, God had another plan in mind and I soon realized there was nothing I could do to stop it.
My contractions became constant with no relief from pain around 11 p.m and that is when the nurse told me that my baby would be here soon and I would not be able to get my much anticipated epidural. No drugs, lots of pain, definitely not what I had expected. I had imagined being laid up in a hospital bed for hours listening to my mp3 player, watching tv, chatting with family and friends, as my epidural did its job. But life is usually not at all what you expect, and if it was that wouldn’t be very exciting at all. So at 12:12 p.m, Katherine Joy Forbis entered this big bright world with all ten fingers and all ten toes. She was perfect and beautiful and Matt and I were filled with indescribable joy.
As I look back on Kate’s first few weeks of life it seems like a cloudy daze. I was tired, in pain, and was not feeling like the mother I wanted to be. I was irritable at Matt, at myself, and at the world, but I kept praying that God would bring me through this tough experience, and of course he did. Kate is now six weeks old. My hormones are back where they are supposed to be and I feel an overwhelming peace about my new life. I love being a mother. It has brought me more joy and taught me more about love than I ever imagined. How can anyone look at a newborn baby and not believe there is an awesome God that created them. I know Kate is a blessing from God and one that I will be thankful for everyday for the rest of my life – well, at least until she’s a teenager. Thank you Lord for this blessing and help guide me to the wisdom, patience, and love I need to be a good mother. Amen.
The Belly Body
I never thought that a period in my life would revolve around my belly. I swear I can see it growing daily and the more it grows the more it gets in the way. Sleep, definitely less; bending over, much more slowly; hugging my husband, not quite as close. But with all of these inconveniences I know the end result will be getting to see my beautiful daughter. One thing that this pregnancy has helped with is the big 3-0 birthday. It didn’t bother me whatsoever like I thought it might. I guess all of the excitement about seeing my first child trumps the woes of getting older. I can’t wait for the next 30 years, to see my children grow up, maybe even become a grandmother some day. But who can think about that now as I sit uncomfortably on my couch awaiting to see Baby Kate!
Kate’s Nursery
Well, the past month has been filled with time consuming construction of Kate’s nursery. Matt and I have had a blast working on it together. The colors I chose are green, pink, white, and brown. These must be some of my favorite colors because I seem to use them for all major events in my life (wedding too). I must say, I think we did an awesome job. I decided to use the antique furniture that I used growing up. I know it came from my great-grandmother but I’m not sure how old it is. I also have an old painting of a girl hung on the wall that came from my great-grandparents as well. I’m passing down my Madame Alexander dolls to Kate and have put some of them on the shelves that Matt built for her. I hope she grows to enjoy it as much as we have so far. Tomorrow I will be 26 weeks pregnant. She is kicking more and more everyday. With every kick I feel closer and closer to her, she now feels so much more “real.” I can’t wait to meet her, hold her, kiss her, and love her. Only 14 weeks to go!
Mercy Me Cover Tunes
Ok well this post is goign to be a little different. I am all about funny videos and here are some of my favorites from http://www.mercyme.org/blog/category/cover-tunes-grab-bag/. They are a group called Mercy Me doing covers of older songs. It is a great example that Christians have a great time in life. I hope you enjoy.
Don the accordion rocks.
Mercy Me – Jump
Mercy Me – Crazy
Mercy Me – Time of my life
Mercy Me – Shout