Video Update

On The Road Again

It's  been a while since I've been able to post and I would say it is likely that the posts from now until Christmas will be short and somewhat sporadic. The biggest reason? We are entering what I like to call 'travel time.' 

Last weekend was spent back in Virginia with our families - giving them some much needed W time.  This upcoming weekend, the first in October, we are headed to Charleston, SC for my parent's vow-renewal in celebration of their 30th wedding anniversary.  A definite plus to this visit is that Chucktown is my baby brother's new stomping grounds so we will get a weekend with Uncle J as well. We are also expecting W to meet his great-grandma and great-grandpa O!

November will bring several trips - the first weekend home to VA for the celebration of the impending arrival of my n-o-n, W's new baby cousin! Following that is the wedding of a close friend and before we know it - it will be Thanksgiving. 

As my n-o-n is expected sometime between Thanksgiving and the 2nd week in December, I expect that no sooner than we get back to Knoxville we will be back on the road to see the new addition. And then, suddenly, it will be Christmas and W will be 6 going on 7 months old!! 

It's good to get time with family and friends in these early days. Baseball season will soon be upon us again and travel with a 7-10 month old will, I'm sure, prove difficult for me without Kirk. And much as I lament the quick passage of days in W's life so far, I know that his baby-hood will continue to go by quickly and he will be toddling around and involved in a plethora of activities very soon.

Until then, we will soak in every second of family time we get and store up the memories of peaceful sleep and simple days.

What a difference year makes

When we are young we think we are grownup at ten, adults at eighteen and old at thirty. I believe this is a result of our limited experience with time. When you've lived eighty years one year is less than two percent of your life. When you are twelve it's just shy of ten percent. That's a big difference!
As you mature you realize that you never really feel like a grownup. I've lived about four years of what I consider my adult life. (No, I'm not considering myself an adult at eighteen, far from it actually). None have brought more changes than this most recent one.
For those of you who know the story you know that this time has been one of the most trying of my life. Kirk and I thought we were strong when we made it through six years of a long distance relationship. Little did we know that we would soon be faced with surgery, an interstate move, job layoffs, and personal loss in just 15 short months.
Both of us believe things happen for a reason yet we struggled to come to terms with why we were having so many trials in the first two years of our marriage. I often said 'I love being married, but man does this suck!' Let's just say that in three years of marriage Kirk and I have yet to celebrate our anniversary.
In August of 2009, after a very difficult July, we joined a 'life group' and the next month we helped to seed a new campus of Cokesbury church. Little did we know something else had also taken seed. As we helped to grow a church congregation and ourselves in the process, I was growing a tiny baby Whit.
Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a time if joy was, for me at least, filled with uncertainty. It took several months after I discovered I was expecting for me to feel at ease that everything was going to be ok with the baby. Even eight months later as I could feel his strong movements within me I worried for his safety. After his birth I was finally able to breath a little. Still, as our mothers will jokingly tell you, Kirk and I both spent a good portion of Whit's first few weeks checking to make sure he was breathing.
One full year later we have become a family of three. We are getting the hang of things, settling into a routine and loving every minute of being parents.
It's been a long and bumpy road but as we look back on the path that we have traveled we can see that we were right all along. Things do happen for a reason and, as I type this, that reason is sleeping peacefully in my arms. Our journey brought us to Whit and the years, the tears, and the sacrifices have been more than worth it.

I've Got a Feeling...

More than just a part of a Black Eyed Peas song - this has become one of the most frequently used phrases in our household.  It began with the week we were waiting impatiently for Whit's birth. Kirk would say "I've got a feeling....." followed by "It's happening tonight" or "It's never going to happen" depending on his mood.

Fast forward to 3 weeks later (I can barely recall anything that was said or done in the first two weeks) and we began to use it this way: "I've got a feeling...." followed by "Whit's almost asleep" or "He's about to wake up" or "someone is hungry."

Now that we are moving in on the end of Month 3 (wow!) it's a phrase used in almost daily conversation, at least for me.  I say it quite frequently to Whit and sometimes sing it as the song - it never fails to get a smile.

But let's talk about how it's not used.  I think everyone in our family 'has a feeling' evidenced by the way each and every one of them react to Whit's presence.  I know that "I have a feeling..." one that has surprised me.  As a pregnant woman you already love your child, even before birth and you expect to continue to love them once they are born.  What you don't expect is for that feeling of love to grow and change every single day.  To increase in strength and intensity, to develop subtlety and become layered and deep. And this love extends to other people - I have a new love for my parents because I understand finally how they feel about me.  I have a new love for my sister as she goes through this experience herself.  I have a new love for my husband because he gave me Whit, and a new love for my in-laws because they gave me Kirk.

A few photos of us sharing and showing "the feeling."