Wherever you are, be all there

I finally got Rage’s birth announcements in the mail. I decided that it was something I wanted to do since this is our last baby. I did announcements for all 3 kids…did it right for Row and mailed them, but I cheated emailed Rig’s (poor middle child)! And now there’s this little man… I’m afraid he’s going to be spoiled. I think I’m starting to understand why people always make comments about the “baby” in the family. When it’s your last one — you HAVE to overdo things. Well, maybe you don’t have to. But you better believe I’m going to give it a shot! I’m already over-achieving in the areas of snuggling and smooching on this little guy… so what’s the harm in proudly mailing his mug all over the USA?

My friend Liz stopped by when he was about 2 weeks old to take some pics for me [see below]. She really did an amazing job. Thank you my dear!!!

I have to say though, that knowing this is our last baby has definitely made an impression on me as a mom. I think that morsel, and in light of everything we’ve been through with Derek, I’m looking at my role of wife and mother a little differently now. Time is short, so very short. I want to do what I can to SLOW this time I’ve been given with these precious ones. To take the days and moments that are before me and really live and enjoy the whole of them.

This got me thinking and reading…and I decided to re-read one of my favorite books “One Thousand Gifts” by Ann Voskamp. She talks about slowing time with the weight of full attention… living fully in the moment… (all her words) and doing it by just simply opening our eyes and being thankful for the seemingly small stuff we’re blind to in the every day. It’s life changing to see life like this — thru a thankful heart. Pretty awesome.

One of my many starred paragraphs in her book…

“Being in a hurry. Getting to the next thing without fully entering the thing in front of me. I cannot think of a single advantage I’ve ever gained from being in a hurry. But a thousand broken and missed things, tens of thousands, lie in the wake of all the rushing… Through all that haste I thought I was making up time. It turns out I was throwing it away.”

A thousand broken and missed things… I want those moments. I want ALL of them. I want to enjoy getting my kids ready in the morning for the day that’s before us — not by yelling at them to get dressed and brush their teeth or to hurry up and eat. Those words suck the joy out of the day and are sadly said more than I’d like to admit. So tomorrow I plan on being intentional with words spoken and time spent. I’m going to laugh and hug and pray with these little creations of God. We will not hurry. We may not make it anywhere “on time”. But that’s okay. I’m going to treasure my giggly slow pokes and embrace the imperfect with grace.