When my baby sleeps.

Sometimes being a mother is luxurious. Like right now, I am drinking a glass of wine in a silky robe. I feel like an adult. My whole life I've felt 15. Even when I was 7. Even when I  was 20. Tonight I feel my age though. 23. It is a nice age. I will take it.

Also. Thank you Lord for wine.

-a.

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The most special nights with Claire are the ones that I sing her to sleep. We lay lazily on the bed and I strum the ukulele and put together odd words. She can't understand me quite yet, so I figure I have a few more months before I have to start singing songs that make sense. She lays there with one hand in her mouth and the other fingering the pegs on the uke. As she drifts off, I quietly slip out of the room to contemplate my day. My daughter is the sweetest bird of them all.

-a.

Moments.

I am a moments girl. I love special moments. I cherish moments. I do not want to portray a fake life on this blog of mine. Everything you read actually happens. I strive to be as honest as I can when I share things about my little family. Over the past few years of reading blogs of all different genres, I have found one commonality. We all want to make our lives out to be perfection, and even if we don't think we do that, we do. We all fall into the prideful make believe of an unrealistic life. Our pictures are well thought out and executed. There is nothing wrong with that..but if the heart behind it it to make others want to drool over what we did today, then there is something amiss. I want to share pictures of my life, because they are true. And if you for some reason start to covet the way I am living, stop coveting and just start living. I will share every secret to how I run my house if you would like, and really, sometimes it is not so great, other times it is. Remember, you are you and I am me. We should desire to live beautiful functional lives. Don't covet though. Share life with me. 

Every week I will be sharing a 'moments' post. I would love to hear of your special moments in life. Please share in the comments box and we can enjoy life together.

All my love.

-a.

loving Christ.

I love my husband.
I married the best man. I truly did. Every moment with him is a wonder. God is such a good gift giver. There is such peace in marriage. Nathan and I were talking about different moments during our courtship last night. All of them seemed so funny and special. We laugh at the two people that we were before. We were so silly. Those memories are gold though.

I've been learning more and more about being a better wife. During this pregnancy, my husband and I have both grown up so much. He especially has developed into this wonderful inspiring man. Every morning is better. He is an encouragement and complete joy to be around. His embrace is comforting, and his words profound. He makes me want to be a better wife. As my belly grows, so does our love for one another. Life is not perfect, but it is blissful. The house still needs to be cleaned and bills need to be paid, but having someone to help makes these things so much more enjoyable. I am beyond excited about our little family. We still have so much to learn about life, and I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else. The excitement of being a mother is overwhelming and joy-filled. God has been so good to our little family.

The verse in Proverbs 31...the one about 'she does him good, and not evil all the days of her life' has been running through my head over and over. I am for the good of my husband. I am to love him in all of his shortcomings and all of his learnings. I am to love him like Christ loves me. Marriage is the most beautiful poem in life. Loving my husband feels so right. It fits. After years and years of searching for something that fit, I have found it. Being a wife and mother. With this calling I have never felt more at peace in my life. The joy that God has given me in these things is unspeakable. I cannot explain the depth of heart in being a wife...and I can hardly fathom the happiness that comes from this impending motherhood. The calling of my life is to serve Christ. To love and adore Him, and draw closer to him day by day. This is how it happens...when I love my husband...when I serve him, I am loving Christ. When I touch my child, and she moves in the womb, this is loving Christ. When I forgive and continue to love despite the circumstance, I love Christ. It is our actions during the day, how we treat one another, how we speak to each other, how we hold each other up above ourselves...this is loving Christ.

If you are looking for the secret to growing close to Jesus, you are in the midst of it.
Life and how you live it.
This will bring you closer to Jesus.



-a.

Fruitful fields.

This morning is dreary. Dreary but beautiful. It reminds me of a weeping woman. It is cool and peaceful outside. I think I shall enjoy some gardening later. My husband is at school. When he comes home we'll have breakfast. We have an abundance of strawberries from Costco that I am really excited about. Maybe a breakfast cake is in order.

Life has been challenging. So many new things are happening. All the good comes with a lot of hard moments. This morning I sat in our wooden chair thinking about all of these things. In my heart I would like it if nothing ever changed. I don't like change, it makes me uncomfortable. Me and my sentimental self longs for yesteryear all the time. It does not help that I still have the heart of a three year old. I was thinking about a passage in Isaiah.

"For the palace is forsaken,

    the populous city deserted;the hill and the watchtower    will become dens forever,a joy of wild donkeys,    a pasture of flocks; until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,    and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,    and the fruitful field is deemed a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,    and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. And the effect of righteousness will be peace,    and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,    in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places."

Isaiah 32:14-18

Then God spoke to me. When I dwell constantly on the past and how things once were, it is like I am dwelling in the wilderness. It is not wrong to reminisce about your past. To sit and wish that things today were like yesterday is wrong. God moves us constantly through different seasons. He is moving us into lush forest grounds. Don't refuse to take the journey though the fruitful field. I desire growth. I do not want to sit forever in the wilderness. The beauty of life is so complex. Our finite minds have such a hard time grasping the fact that change is good. Even when it hurts so much. Do not be afraid to get up and walk through the desert into the field. Embrace the change.

Daisies are not as scary as they might seem.

ria.

shelves.

My husband is putting shelves up in our kitchen with his father. I think it is adorable. I am am pretty freaking excited about these shelves. O my goodness. O my goodness. This is wonderful. Now our kitchen counter will be clutter free. Too many bulk food jars and a juicer makes it look super small. This is one step closer to suspending a pot hanger. I cannot wait. I really love my house. It is my favorite place to be. Before I got married I had my favorite coffee shops and stores to hang out in, but  now I just love to be home. In my home. With my gorgeous husband, and all my little plants, and my nice dishes. I like being home.

Tomorrow I have to go grocery shopping. I like Mondays. Probably because I get them off.

This morning in church I saw baby kick from the outside. My neon yellow dress kept popping up. Needless to say, I didn't hear very many words that the pastor was sharing with us. I was fascinated with my dancing belly.

During my stretching session last night I realized I couldn't pull my knees into my chest anymore. Quite the discovery. My belly is big.

Goodnight.
Enjoy life.

love.
ria.

in a pregnant woman's mind.

Today Nathan and I had a sort of 'doctors' appointment. A nice man, that reminded me of Mark Driscoll, pricked my finger to measure my iron levels. I am ALMOST up to par. He said I better be eating my greens and possibly even go get some liver. I've never had liver in my life. Maybe it's good. He wrapped a bugs bunny bandaid around my middle finger and we called it good. Then Nathan and I ran some monetary errands and I dropped him off to meet with his computer science buddies. Smart cookie he is. People are so nice to you when you are pregnant. I can't get over it. Seriously. It's kind of fun. I wonder what having a baby is going to be like. Ha. I do feel like I am coming down with a cold though...which is not good. I still have 8 days for my flu shot to fully kick in. Did you know I spent an entire afternoon looking for a preservative free flu shot and I only found three? After calling every single store that supplied flu shots in the area, I found one. It was a serious God thing. They should have been gone, because I had to wait an hour for my hubby to come home and get me, and then take me all the way to target. I got one though. Also, my husband bought me a nice pair of mittens and brought me a sample from the starbucks up front while I waited for the prick of dead virus. I think the finger prick this morning was worse than the flu shot, but maybe I'm wrong.
I love being pregnant though. Baby n. kicks all the time and it is pretty heartwarming and thrilling. Daddy felt her kick for the first time Saturday. She is getting strong.
I'm going to get my haircut next week. Kind of nervous about it. What if the stylist wrecks my hair, and I have a meltdown in front of her because I'm pregnant? I have faith though. Hopefully I'll look like a pregnant supermodel by the end of the appointment. I mean, I already do, but this should make me more 'supermodelisious' for my hubby. He thinks I'm pretty dang sexy. He is pretty dang sexy. Does this mean we are going to have a pretty dang sexy baby?

Ok. I've got to rest my eyes a bit. We are having quesadillas and steamed vegetables for dinner tonight. Kind of excited I can eat cheese now that I am pregnant.
O, and I gained 1 pound. Not bad.
loves,
ria.