Quick Pictures

Hello :) I don't have much time to write at the moment, but I thought I'd post a couple more photos. Otherwise, things are going well with us. Still busy and still a challenge to juggle everything... but good. I've been meeting with my adviser regularly now, as he has been "encouraging" me to continue work on my dissertation and begin working on my application materials for my pre-doctoral internship (a very long and very draining process which will begin now and last until next February :( ... yepee!). Christian has begun to renew his efforts to edit his first draft of his novel and I hope that I will soon be able to help him in that process.

Now, pictures. Look at how old Will looks! :) Of course, that is, for an almost 12 week old. He's saying, "uh, what's going on?"


And these are the pictures from back in mid-March (when Will was about 6 weeks old) that Sharon (my younger sister) got of her and Will.



And this is Sharon with her other nephew, Aidan (our sister Ruth's 2-yr old boy).


Until next time...

Love

Love. Can anyone truly explain it? I feel so blessed to be the mother of Will ... what a precious little person. He and I have spent several hours throughout each day staring at and talking with one another. It happens like this-- I tell him how much 'mommy' loves him and talk to him about other various precious attributes he possesses, and in return he smiles, laughs, and vocalizes his own personal response. It's so cute! You can tell his little mind is turning as he seeks to use the right combination of coo's and ah-goo's to get his point across. When I speak in return, his mouth forms an 'o', as he studies my face. It's wonderful to witness how new everything is to him.

I have sat around, of late, and thought about what I would write about on my blog if/when I ever got the chance to get back online again. Would I simply talk about his latest stats? (weight/length, dev milestones, etc) Or would I rather talk about how motherhood has affected me? It would be quite easy for me to get caught up in his percentile rankings and fast-paced development as a proud parent... but then I think, I don't really have that much to do with his development. Of course, if he were deprived in some way that would make a difference, but otherwise, he just needs a loving and nurturing environment and he'll develop all in his own time. That's all to say, I guess it doesn't really matter. The basics are: he's gotten bigger (15 lbs 1 oz/ 24.5 ins) and he's sleeping longer! (6-8 hr stretches) Yes, we are indeed one of the lucky few. Of course, there's no guarantee he'll remain this way (though he's kept it up for 2 wks now) or that any of our future kids will be so convenient, but it's certainly been nice. He still demands a lot of milk... for instance, when I am away at work in the evening Christian regularly feeds him around 16 oz, or more, in the 2 hr period before bedtime. Thankfully, though, my milk supply has risen, as I routinely pump around 9 oz every few hrs when I'm away.

So, motherhood. Right now, it's such a basic get-his-needs-met job, and yet... I don't know if I've ever done something more meaningful in my life. As I've begun to relax into this new role and gain back some of my mental capacities (thanks, again, to the better sleeping schedule), I've thought about my life with Christian and been grateful for so many things. For one, Christian is an excellent father - so interactive and attentive- and, yes, he even changes dirty diapers and watches him for 3-4 hr stretches while I go to work or work on tasks around the house. It has felt like a true partnership. Of course, it's been hard not having as much time for just the two of us as we used to, but we've been diligent in staying up later most nights or planning our Saturdays in such a way that enable us to get some of that quality time back in. ... it doesn't always work out, but the effort's there.

I'm also grateful for the simple things. I'm grateful for Will's adorable cheeks and dimples that I can't help but kiss every moment I can. I'm so thankful that he gives his babysitter a huge smile when I drop him off. And I feel so blessed that I have been given this opportunity to guide this young soul in life. I still don't feel that I'm qualified enough, but I'm slowly learning to be okay with that. I trust that, with a reliance on the Holy Spirit, I will be good enough. Good enough that the Holy Spirit will hopefully pick up where I fail.

So, I've tried to blog about my thoughts on motherhood... but they're really not as complex as I thought they might be. I just love being a mom and I hope I will get better and better at it as time goes on.

Picture time...

As promised, here are a couple pictures of William's smile. :)




A couple of my sisters came in town recently, and I have some wonderful pictures of our time together.

This is my sister, Ruth's, son Aidan (2 yrs old). Don't they look like a cute couple? Will's quite curious.



And, Aidan loves babies... so Will's no exception.


And, of course, Ruth couldn't help but take some photos of her new nephew. (I'm still waiting to receive some photos Sharon got of her with Will :)






So, here are my sisters, Ruth and Sharon, with the little boys.



And here are some black and white photos I took of William Archer. As you'll see, he's getting better and better at lifting his head. :)




Look at that! :)