Climbing the Ladder

I already feel stuck.

I thought I wouldn't feel it for at least another year or more.

But, it's here. Routine. Ordinary. Monotony. The same thing. Repeated. Every. Single. Day.

I read these beautiful blogs written by other women... I mean - wow. They write about finding the glorious in the mundane. Sounds surreal to me, as I live in the nursery with a teething baby and dirty diapers.

I look around and wonder if the room is getting smaller. These walls just might be caving in. Maybe.

This pastel-colored nursery appears dismal at times. You know...

It's me. My mind is playing games. Halt. How do I quit this game?

Easy. I start giving thanks. And with each thing, I start climbing the ladder back up. Out of this pit. I am putting my attitude of gratitude back on. How did it come off? I must guard it more carefully. Feed the Spirit.

As I rise, the nursery looks brighter. And bigger. More spacious.

A smile creeps up. My breathing becomes more rhythmic.

And, I find it! The glorious in the mundane. By pouring out my thankful heart, I am inviting the Glorious One into my mundane life.

There is poetry in these walls. I see beauty. And grace. I want to dance.

Thank You, Lifter of my Head, my Countenance-Reformer!

Aolani's Digs

The nursery is FINALLY being posted! Pictures are below, but if you want a visual tour, then there is a video at the bottom with Aidan as your very own Vanna White...

The door is to the left. A friend of ours from our church small group, Margie Boor, made that cloud for Aolani's shower. It's too perfect not to use for decoration. That tree is a stick-on applique that is removable (placed by Aidan's mom, directed by Aidan)!

The two white dressers are hand-me-downs from Aidan's dad. The area to the right is her changing table, which she enjoys. Poop has actually rocket-propelled to the wall on the right before! A lady at the hospital -- who we don't know -- saw us going to/leaving from work and wanted to make something for our baby; hence, the hanging!

Her basket of toys (and books)

Her crib surrounded by "heavenly clouds." The closet (with Ricky's clothes) is to the right.

(The clouds are more of those re-positionable stickers.)

There is going to be another post featuring the crib and changing area.

Sorry if you cannot understand me (Aidan)... my speech is on the decline...

Fit As a Fiddle

Happy Friday!

My mom and I are going to work in the nursery some tomorrow morning while Ricky puts together the car seat. Since Aolani is officially dubbed "full-term" as of today (37 weeks), I suppose we are trying to get ready for her big debut.

This is a very similar profile picture compared to the previous two. This time was really exciting because I got to watch her lips move like she was talking to us ("Ready or not?!"). In reality, she was probably practicing her suckle. She weighed in at 6 lbs 5 oz and was practicing her breathing. She is still pretty active to be in such a tight ball. She had a full bladder we could see. The ultrasound tech gave her an 8 out of 8 score for her biophysical exam. He couldn't believe how healthy she was and said that she was the healthiest baby they've seen lately!

Oh, and Ricky got approved to take six weeks of FMLA paternity leave once she's born to be able to help me recover! We are so excited and thankful to God for this time we will get to have together as a family!!

Randomness:

• I had a dream the other night about Aolani. She had been born for two weeks, and no one would let me change my daughter's diaper yet! I finally got to change her and yelled, "This is not Aolani!" The baby was a boy! Don't worry; they confirm her femininity every week :)


• My computer is dying a slow and scary death. It's seven years old, which is apparently its lifespan. Last week it kept randomly crashing on me. It takes a while to complete otherwise very quick tasks, such as opening the Internet. We got it on and backed up the entire hard drive. After some prayer and discussion, we thought it wise to just invest in a new CPU (my screen is wonderful). Ricky thought it would really help me instead of spending sufficient time battling with this "I-do-whatever-I-want" computer. I called Dell and explained that I need the cheapest desktop CPU they had. After trying to rip me off three times, I finally got it ordered! We are hoping it arrives before Aolani :)


• We went out to eat last week. Saw an old man playing himself in chess. As we are always prepared for unplanned dates such as this one, we went back to the van and excavated our cheapo, magnetic, travel chess board. Although I had beaten Ricky the last few times we played, he dominated this match! It is really nice to have your spouse not only enjoy chess but to be on the same playing field. Spuds + chess = fun for budgeting nerds. Hint: leave the game in the car if you go to a *nice* restaurant. Hint #2: Where's Waldo is something else we keep handy in the car.


• We've been practicing my squats (which is suppose to let gravity help pull her down). For a woman with poor leg-muscle control, let's just say this is interesting ;)