Celebrate Simply

My friend Jen gave me this amazing Celebration Banner.  I love it!!  It’s crazy that one little accessory can transform any ol’ space into a celebration.

We’ve used it for every Birthday- home and away.  It’s how we welcome Daddy home, family into town or whatever else we could be celebrating!!

When we unconventionally celebrated Thanksgiving at the Gainesville Rehab facility, we brought the banner.  It was hard-working as usual- cheering us all and reminding us that, through all of Dad’s fight with & recovery from Guillan Barre Syndrome, we had much to be thankful for!

We’ll take it out again in a week- Georgia Anne will be 3!!  And we’re all ready to celebrate.  I say it’s time to get back to the simple things- like transforming ordinary into extrordinary with a smile, a fabric banner and good times had by all.

A New Kind of Growth Chart?

We’ve been working on these handprint monkeys as part of our India study.  Reading Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling has inspired us.  Georgia Anne loved it when I painted her hands!

I borrowed the idea from a facebook friend who, apparently, borrowed it from somebody big because when I googled it, a million (okay, not really- but a lot) people had these on their blogs, facebook, websites, etc.

This website, in particular, caught my eye.  What if, instead of growth charts, we did semi-annual handprint projects with our kiddos?  Wouldn’t it be a fun way to watch them grow!?!

Clara hadn’t participated in the monkey handprint project because, well, I didn’t really think she was paying too much attention to Kipling.  But I think I may go back & have her do one.  And I think we may need to do Thanksgiving turkeys and Winter (bare) trees and Spring sunflowers and Summer crabs… you get the picture.  The memories that accompany the growing handprints will be priceless!

Brotherly Love

You know those moments when everything is going perfectly? The big kids were playing happily (together!), Timothy & Andrew were taking their naps and Georgia Anne was exploring happily. Of course that couldn’t all last too long. Georgia Anne started crying and Andrew (supposed to be napping) rushed to my bedroom.

Andrew: “Georgia Anne crying!”
Me: “Yes, I hear her.”
Andrew: “Georgia Anne need you.”
Me: “Thanks. I’ll go get her.”
Andrew: “Georgia Anne crying me hit her on heeeaad.”

Ah HA! The truth comes out! At least he fessed up, right? Turns out she was about to do a “no no” and… whack! He stopped her, all right!

Do I love my children, family & friends enough to stop them from sinning… no matter what the cost?

Georgia Anne

This article was originally printed in The Creekline.

     Col 3:23-24   Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

This passage always comes to mind when I am doing a task I do not particularly enjoy.  “I need to iron well because I’m serving the Lord by blessing my hubby in this way,” I tell myself.  But today, this passage has taken on a whole new meaning.

I am choosing to set aside my perfectionist ways for a bit.  Ironing, cleaning, and all other kinds of work can wait.  For this brief season, I’m going to choose to focus on the Lord’s gifts to me and let the busy work that daily distracts fall aside.

Today, I have decided to put aside researching for my article.  Instead I’ll study a teeny dimple as it materializes and then vanishes on a perfectly formed cheek.  I’m snuggling on the bed, staring into deep pools of blue wondering at the depth possible in two little eyes.  Today, I hold Georgia Anne Olsen in my arms- our precious new baby girl.

The stock market isn’t offering much of a return right now.  Recently bought houses are selling below their purchase price.  The economy is an interesting topic of conversation.  These things don’t shake me today.  I’m holding my reward.  This precious bundle, and her older siblings, are my inheritance.  An investment with immediate returns!!

New Pix for you, GeGe

Here are some more pictures for you, GeGe! I’ll try to take more of Miss Georgia soon- but she’s sleeping now so they all look the same. I love you!

Everyone else, enjoy the pix!

Meet Georgia Anne!

Short version for the guys: Last Friday, we welcomed a new little one into our family. All in all, I was in “active labor” for 44 minutes as Chris recalls. I was in “labor land” where time stands still.

Georgia Anne Olsen was born at 5:28 pm. She weighed 9 pounds 6 ounces, is 21 1/2″ long, she has lots of hair though we’re undecided on the color (dark brown or auburn? give it a day or two!). She has blue eyes and is a precious part of the Olsen fam already!

For all the girls, here’s the longer version, though the full thing (with emotions and all) will have to wait for another time, when life slows down (ha!): My labor started with my water breaking at 1:30 in the afternoon. Chris rubbed my back and shoulders while I sat on the birth ball. They weren’t too sore- but labor is one of the few times I get as much back rubbing as I’d like, so I wasn’t turning down a backrub! I was 5 cm dilated. The rest of the birth team arrived, Katie and Kristin, and got set up- we were ready to have a baby!

Well, they were ready but my little one wasn’t quite ready yet! (That’s a good order, by the way. Birth team ready and waiting for the little one, not vice versa!) The wonderful thing about a homebirth is the relaxed atmosphere while we all wait for my body to do what it was created to do. So we talked, I walked around the house, sat on the birth ball some more, my sweet sister rubbed my back and then Sharon checked me again- I was 8+ cm and though the contractions were still around 3 min apart, they were getting much more intense.

I decided to get into the tub to help ease the intensity of the contractions. Andrew came in to check on me. He loves taking baths and really wanted to join me in the tub! But I had to turn my little buddy down because they were really getting strong and it was almost time. Granny took him out to play with Ben, Lauren and Timbo upstairs and the birth team came in.

This is where the relationship with my midwife is such a blessing. Sharon is so steady, soothing and encouraging. I know I can trust her and that she isn’t only relying on her own strength, but on that of the Lord. When I started to push, she helped me get in a position that both felt good to me and was productive in pushing out our baby! Katie, a student midwife, was a huge blessing there as well- she was encouraging and super helpful. (Thanks, Katie!) I pushed for about 10 min (according to Chris, time was standing still to me). I couldn’t feel this baby move down the birth canal as obviously as I did with Andrew, but when I looked in Sharon’s eyes, I knew things were going just as they should. Perseverence!

Chris offered to sit behind me so I could brace myself on him, but I decided no since I was almost done. Sharon told me to reach down and feel my baby’s head- that is so encouraging! Another push and her head was out. (That felt much better!) Then she told me to reach down and get my baby. Sweet relief! I reached down and lifted my little one up and onto my chest. My baby!

Smiles and thanks to the Lord abounded- my new baby was here. The children came in and Lauren was the one to nervously look and then gleefully announce, “It’s a sister!” GeGe, Daddy & Lauren were right! She is named after my GeGe, her great-grandmother. Georgia Anne Olsen. Timbo cut his new sister’s umbilical cord. What a big boy!

There is so much more that I love about birth- the excitement of sharing birth with my hubby, Mom and sister (who is due in February with her first!)… A nice warm shower and then snuggling down into clean sheets on my own comfy bed afterwards… The children being the ones to do the newborn exam with Mrs. Sharon- what a privilege! The Lord was kind to us and birth was, once again, a sweet time of waiting, trusting, working and welcoming new life into our family.