7 Quick Takes: The Gratuitous Baby Shot, Time Marches On, & Other Random Tidbits Edition

— 1 —

We’ve been engaged in some serious germ warfare around here. I had the first fever I’ve had in ages, and it knocked me out. I felt like a Mack truck had rolled over me; I was so achy. I’m getting old. Good news is I got over it very quickly, and the baby and the rest of my gang have only had to endure drippy, faucet noses.

— 2 —

I’m so thankful to have guest post over at the Natural Parents Network on raising girls to have a healthy body image. Here’s an excerpt:

We live in a society where girls are constantly at risk of sacrificing their true selves – whether they try to find love in the arms of a boy who doesn’t really care about them, wear immodest or uncomfortable clothing to get attention and affirmation, or turn themselves into a shiny, pretty package using extreme dieting or obsessive exercising. Our daughters face a lot of pressures today, but with our guidance and prayers, we can help fight back against a culture that undermines their worth as women and help them hold onto their true selves.

Read the rest here.

— 3 —

NPN is also hosting a giveaway for my book. Leave a comment after this post for your chance to win one of two copies of Weightless. Thanks, too, to Laura of Walden Mommy for the encouraging review.
.

So long as I’m on gratitude kick, many thanks to all the bloggers, friends, media outlets, etc. who have supported my book and me. I’m very, very grateful!

 

— 4 —

Madeline propped Thomas up here and called out to me, “Come see your royal highness!” It’s good to be king (especially such a well-fed one).

 

Speaking of Thomas, his baptism day was perfect. The priest, a dear family friend, actually used water from the Jordan River to baptize our little man. Following the baptism was good food and even better company.

(And I think it’s wonderful that Charlotte’s Cupcake was also welcomed to God’s family this past weekend!)

— 5 —

 I’m so honored and excited to be invited as the Keynote Speaker for the 2012 Behold Conference on March 10, 2012, and I’m really hoping I’ll get to see some of you at this exciting event. You’ll get to meet my mom and Thomas, too, since they’ll be joining me. This year’s theme is “From the Heart of God,” and the event will feature Ginny Baldridge as a guest speaker and musical talent Marie Miller. Saint Gianna Molla is the patron saint for this year’s conference.

I’m thrilled and incredibly humbled to be a part of this event and hope to see some of you there. Mark your calendars now!

— 6 —

One area (among many) I’m really trying to grow in is living in the moment. It’s such a trite saying to embrace the now but not doing so really can rob you of a lot of joy and fill you with pangs of regret when the future comes and the past is just a sketchy blur. I’d been forced to slow down during pregnancy bed rest and had every intention of taking with me the lessons I learned once I was back on my feet and had my little one in my arms, but the baby and fall arrived and whoooosh.…it feels like we’ve been going nonstop ever since. (I’m so very thankful for those quiet nursing sessions when I can just sit, be still, listen to the sweet gulps of my boy, and watch those round cheeks wiggle.)

I recently saw this quote from Literary Mama, and it reminded me of how, as parents, we can be so invested in our children’s future that we forget to slow down enough to enjoy the child they are now.

“We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.”

– Stacia Tauscher

All the veteran moms I know look wistfully at Thomas and my little girls and say things like, “Enjoy them now. They grow up so quickly.”

“Uh-huh,” I nod through my bleary, sleep-deprived fogginess. Yet, I know they’re right. I can’t believe my big girl will be turning 7 soon. Seven seems so old. So did five, actually. Sometimes it’s hard to remember what she was like when she was a baby, how her solid, roly-poly body felt in my arms. Did she sigh those happy sighs when she nursed like her baby brother? (I know she didn’t sleep like him. He’s been a pretty chill baby.) Not my high-energy Madeline. Then there are Rae and Mary Elizabeth, turning into big girls every day, surprising me with the funny things they say and their emerging talents. It really does go by so quickly, so why do I sometimes have such a hard time pausing to savor all the small moments that make a lifetime?  I want every day to be intentional. I want to enjoy these littles with all their quirks, irrational outbursts, and their sweetness. But life with little kids, the messes, the sniffles, the tantrums, the sleep deprivation, they sometimes have their way with me. But I’m willing to keep plugging away at this living in the moment. Thank goodness for these children of mine, these precious timepieces marching on who are always prodding me to look at the child they are now and to not be too wistful of the baby they once were or too focused on the person they are to become.

— 7 —

Thomas hasn’t peed on me in over a week. Woo-hoo!

Have a good weekend!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!