Finally here...

Today was our anxiously-awaited ultrasound day. Long enough we've had people asking if we know what it is, what we think it is, if we want to know what it is, if we want to know what they think it is (actually they don't ask, they just tell us) and what we want it to be. Today we finally KNOW and those questions are put to rest! Hooray! Of course, now begin the questions of have we chosen a name. No, we haven't. We didn't finally decide on Cora's until delivery day. Believe me, we are no more decisive than we were two years ago.

So, you want to know what it is???

It's a....











girl!!!

We are so excited. I kept going back and forth about which I would prefer. Either one would have been wonderful and perfect. But Dave had no qualms about expressing he was hoping (or more realistically trying NOT to get his hopes up just in case) that it was a girl. Of course he wants a boy too. With the next one. We just both agree it will be so fun to have sisters close in age. So, as my sister-in-law Rebekah said, "Yeah! A house of princesses that camp and hike and mountain climb and read really big intellectual books." Sounds fun!

Today was not just ultrasound day, mind you. Today was: arrive half an hour early for Mommy and Me at church as usual so I can prepare coffee and treats for a dozen and a half ladies and snacks for 2 dozen children. Leave early from Mommy and Me (before Cora's favorite part--the singing) to rush to for Cora's appointment with the speech therapist. Spend an hour and a half "playing" with the therapist who confirms what we pretty much knew--Cora is doing fantastic and right on schedule with her speech development. Just a precautionary though due to the TS. Then rush home my exhausted, totally played out, whiny and hungry toddler for a quick bite of lunch (which wonderful Dave had on the table: leftover butternut squash soup and bread toasted and melted with mozzarella). Get Cora down for her nap just as Esther arrives to babysit. Dave and I rush to the ultrasound at the hospital. We quickly get in and out. I drop Dave off to do some errands "in town" at the bank, library, etc. from which he will take the bus back the quick ride to Regent for an afternoon of studying. I continue on home to relieve Esther, consider making phone calls to let people know the news, but instead promptly fall on the bed and sleep for the last half hour of Cora's nap. Cora wakes me up and I jump up to bake cookies and get ready for our dinner guests. Sage and her toddler Lucas arrive at 4:30 for some play time. The husbands walk over from Regent at 5:30 and the four of us sit around the table enjoying a relaxing meal for a couple hours discussing elections, classes, the myth of a "balanced life", and the details of preparing for life with two children, while Cora and Lucas destroy the house. Our friends leave, we do a massive overhaul of cleaning up the wrecked house that was just cleaned last night to perfect order for our small group Bible study and will just have to be cleaned again tomorrow before my parents arrive. The never-ending cycle. We get Cora to bed after lots of stories, water, singing, prayers, more books in bed, talking, crying, putting her pajamas back on, more crying, more prayers. Then Dave goes to have a short visit with a friend in need and I am left to FINALLY getting around to sharing my great news! This is my life. Only usually it involves studying/classes in there somewhere. Which, for today, is right now. Good night. I'm off to Jonathan Hill's A History of Christian Thought.

Tomorrow I'll start running again, first with a midwife appointment at 9:30, then picking up my parents at the train station after their journey from Seattle, then a quick lunch and off to class....

Outdoor days

Camping was a success. We went east over the mountains to the Okanagan where it's drier and supposedly warmer, though it was plenty chilly enough considering it was only the first week of September. We were still visited with a short rain shower each day, too. But it was better than Vancouver (although this week to honor the start of the fall semester it's back to summer weather again). This car camping was a first for Dave and I: we always backpack in miles and live on the bare necessities. But this...this was luxury. And absolutely necessary. A toddler makes all things complicated and camping only more so. Having a car full of food and cooking supplies and dry clothes and books and even a laptop (only for Cora's videos on the carride!) made life leisurely, not to mention the blow-up mattress and port-a-crib in the tent. Cora, needless to say, outdoorsy girl that she is, thought camping was the best thing ever. She was the happiest girl the whole time. But you should have seen her scream and cry as David pulled the tent down on the fourth day. Every time we tried to put something in the car, she would scream and grab it and try to prevent us, particularly her pink papasan chair, which was her throne for consuming marshmallows and reading books.

Time slows down while camping. We sat on the lakeshore enjoying the quiet, played in the sand, took long naps, cooked simple meals, went to bed early after a couple hours of simply staring into the fire drinking decaf coffee and munching on smores or cereal. We took books that we barely cracked, and journals that remained neglected. We just spent time with each other. Which is rare. And lovely.

A tiny break

I'm sneaking away from my paper for a few minutes so I can write on a different subject for a few moments. Something perhaps a little more lighthearted than the theology of poverty. This week, like last, is push-through week. Dave and I have turned in what seems like a multitude of papers already this summer, but we're still trudging along. We're determined however to finish by Saturday so that Monday we can take off for a few much needed days camping...before the fall semester starts on September 8th. We take turns each day giving each other a few hours to work uninterrupted while the other takes care of Cora. Today for example, I had her in the morning, so I went with friends Dana and little Clay to the beach to build sandcastles and climb all over driftwood, and David took her in the afternoon sailing with friends Jonathon and Charlotte, which since the rainy season seems to have settled in, was a very wet trip for them. The result of our little arrangement is that I've written about 5,000 words in the past week and a half but still have another 3,000 to go before Saturday, as well as about 600 pages still to read. Dave, definitely a more consistent and productive worker than myself, has done much more and is a little closer to being finished. It's been a heck of a summer, as full to the brim as we could get it. We're tired, which is not a very good place to be before you start another semester. But we're also broadened, stretched, challenged, changed. And that is a very good place to be.

So, the summer has been full with far more than classes and theological musings, of course. This month saw David turning 28 and Cora turning 2. We had a joint-birthday party for them, though David did get a bit short-changed, as it was mostly for Cora. We had a picnic out on the beach, and Cora was SO cute. It was such a joy to see her excitement. Each time a new friend came (she had six come), she would run over to hug them and take their hand and lead them over to play in the sand. There were about 30 people in all, and I served huge bowls of mediteranean pasta salad, colorful cupcakes, hummus and veggies, and watermelon.







On Monday after the party, Dave and I took advantage of his parents being here for a visit to go off for a little getaway retreat. We went with our close friends Esther and Kevin to a little cottage on Bowen Island for two nights. It was an absolutely beautiful setting and very peaceful and relaxing. We just read our Bibles, C.S. Lewis for David and Nouwen for me (nothing for school!), took long walks in the woods around the lake, played Settlers, had dinner outside by the harbor, and had morning coffee out on the deck with the magnificent view of the ocean and mountains surrounding us. Also while his parents were here, we all rode bikes the 10 miles around the Vancouver seawall (Jim and Shelli on a tandem!), did some maternity and birthday shopping, and went swimming.

Well, I should get back to my work. The rain is pouring down, the classical music is drifting in, and my book is fantastic: Poverty in the Theology of John Calvin (really, it is!) I've got about 50 pages to go tonight to keep on schedule. Plus, David's bringing me my nightly bowl of cereal and making tea, so I need my hands free. Good night! We'll let you know if we finish and get to go camping!

Unexpectedly Expecting

As most out there know (but not all--sorry, Sallie! I've been wanting to call you!!!), Dave and I got a big surprise this Father's Day when we found out I'm pregnant. We had big plans to begin trying around November so we could hopefully have a summer baby during the university break. Now we get one at the beginning of the winter semester--a much more stressful time! But that's okay...we have two very loving and doting mothers who I believe won't have a problem coming out to give us a hand. It just means no classes for me (probably) during that semester. The baby is due around February 15th. Considering we have several friends who have been hoping and trying and praying for a baby for long periods of time, we count ourselves incredibly blessed, overly blessed, for the ease of this "accident".

Today we all three went to the midwife and got to hear the heartbeat for the first time. It was such a joy to finally know there's definitely, for sure, without a doubt, a little baby in there. Up until this point, which is pretty late--the 12 week mark, we hadn't had too much indication except the one little plus sign (and the obvious lack of a monthly visitor.) I have felt pretty normal, besides a few twinges of nausea, a craving for sausage gravy and biscuits which I still haven't given in to, and, oh yeah, that unusual seasickness in the sailboat yesterday (the waves were ridiculously choppy though and even Cora seemed to be looking green. She kept cuddling close and putting her face down into my arm.) My first visit to the midwife at 8 weeks was particularly uneventful. Just a relaxed little get-to-know you chat. No peeing in a cup or even touching my belly. They said it's better to just get to know each other first before they go poking and prodding. Just like the laid-back west coast. So I left still not having any confirmation that I was indeed pregnant. It may sound weird that I wanted this assurance, but if you had felt as surprised and shocked as I did by that little plus sign you would want an additional verification as well. So today I finally got it. Dave too was anxious to actually hear the proof and that sweet little heartbeat sound was music. I had hoped to record it and put it on the blog, but not surprisingly, I forgot the mini voice recorder. Maybe that's another of my pregnancy symptoms I didn't mention: forgetfulness. No, that's been here ever since Cora came along. And I think the toddler stage is just making it worse because it takes so much energy just to get us dressed and out of the house without remembering the fun optional extras. Anyway, it was beautiful and I wish I could share it. Though, okay, I guess it might have been a little dull to listen to a recorded thumping noise. We'll leave you alone until the ultrasound. Here we get one ultrasound at which, as long as it's after 20 weeks, they'll tell you what the sex is (some policy apparently in order to limit abortions due to gender--how horrible!) So I told them to schedule me for right at 20 weeks because we're dying to know if Cora will have a little brother or sister! And to know if some poor little boy is going to have to share a pink room with Cora for his first year and a half.

Cora's Big Imagination

While the week before last was one of playdates and swimming and parties and all sorts of toddler craziness, this past week would definitely be better categorized as "just getting through." David had class in the morning, we met up for a quick lunch, and then I was off to class from 1:15-4:15. Not only is it intense being in class for 3 hours every single afternoon, but the subject matter was extremely intense and challenging as well: The Gospel and Human Poverty. I felt pretty beat up by the end. Not only that, but I had a few deadlines for papers which needed some finishing touches. Thus, for Cora, it was a week of "Let's color" (while mommy reads). "Let's watch Baby Einstein" (while mommy writes.) And the mother of all tricks that keeps Cora occupied for ages on end: "Let's play with Baby."

David's Aunt Chris gave Cora in May a little girl's dream of a gift: an American Girl Bitty Baby and TONS of accessories. A diaper bag with cloth diapers and wipes. An old-fashioned traveling case with clothes and blanket. A lunch bag with sippy cup and snacks. A pair of glasses. A bottle and rattle. A tiny bear and book. So she doesn't lose the assortment of adorable little things, I keep them put away until playtime. The Baby remains in her possession and must be in bed with her every night, but all the extras I save for just such a week as this. I pull it out and Cora can be occupied all morning. Certainly there is still a lot of interaction: she has to come show me what she's done, and needs me to help her take the clothes on and off. But she's amazingly quiet for long periods of time. It's lovely!

Cora's imaginary play is certainly not lacking in any way. I will walk past her room and see her rocking and singing to her baby. She shows Baby books and feeds her pretend food. Or, as was the case today, real food. At lunch, Baby was sitting on the table and Cora would put the spoon to Baby's mouth, then finish the bite herself, then ask Baby "More?", then proceed to nod her head dramatically (for the baby) and give her another bite, over and over until the food was gone. I absolutely look on in amazement at her creative games and interactions!

Playtime

This past week was a wonderful mixture of play and friends and outdoor sunshine, with only a little work thrown in for good measure. After the previous two weeks in which David and I both spent each morning at Regent and the afternoons/evenings struggling to keep up with homework, Cora did a lot of fending for herself. She spent the mornings at her friend Charlotte's house whose dad watched them both. In the afternoons we would try to get outside, but usually I was occupied at the park with my reading while she played by herself.

So this week I soothed my guilty mommy conscience with lots of time playing.

On Monday, we went to Serenity's house to play:

On Tuesday we went to the pool with Clay and his mom and dad, Dana and Justin:

On Wednesday, Dana and Clay and Cora and I walked to the beach and hunted for tiny crabs:

On Thurday, Charlotte and her parents came over and we ordered in Chinese food and then Charlotte spent the night:

On Friday, we went to the park and played Ultimate Frisbee with our friends. Usually I don't play but sit on the sidelines with Cora, but they were in need of another player so Cora simply ran around the field while we both played. Then we headed back home and quickly dressed for the Barefoot Ball, where everyone dressed up to the hilt...and went barefoot.

Cora hanging out at the food table...

Sorry!

Once again I have let time fly quickly by without stopping to give thoughts and news to dear friends the world over. I love to give part of ourselves to you by taking time to bring you into our circle of events and people, but sometimes life slips elusively through my fingers and I see in disbelief that almost two months have gone by. These particular two months have been especially full and wonderful: traveling, a long and meaningful vacation, classes and studies, moving and the long process of decorating and settling in a new home, a visit from a too-little-seen sister. I am in recovery mode! Which involves curling up with coffee and laptop on new cozy beige couch (a Craiglist steal for $60) to reaquaint my long-lost self to you.

David and I headed to Atlanta for almost three weeks in May. David took part in his cousin Laura's wedding, performing the ceremony and officiating the marriage. It was such a beautiful weddding, and such a treasure to be part of it. We had a blast partying with all the family, tearing up the dance floor with his grandma, and Cora running around with her sweet cousin.

The next weekend it was time for another wedding, beautiful Kelley's at the Florida beach. This time we left Cora at home with David's parents and had a long romantic weekend to ourselves. It was perfect in every way. A stunning vacation house on the beach shared with some second parents to us. A beach bonfire, dance parties, an absolutely stunning wedding, and relaxing days walking or reading out on the beach. Even the drive down was wonderful, just the two of us reading aloud or listening to music, not having to worry about keeping a toddler entertained. It was a great break, something we decided should probably happen a little more frequently. The rest of the time in Atlanta was all such a joy, just spending as much time with our families as possible.

Arriving back in Vancouver, we jumped into crazy life again. We began packing for a move, because we applied for and were offered a fantastic two-bedroom apartment on campus in the university family housing. David right away started a systematic theology class which ran every morning for two weeks. Meanwhile, I watched the daughter of a friend taking the same class, a little girl Cora's age, Charlotte. So playing with the little girls in the morning, packing, moving and unpacking in the afternoons and evenings for the first week. The second week though my own class started: Globalization, World Religions, and Missions. Then I had the girls in the morning, class in the afternoon, and continued settling in in the evenings.

A couple days after class ended my mom arrived from Atlanta and my sister and her toddler Claire from Oklahoma for over a week of fabulous girltime! We trotted all over Vancouver, trying new places to eat and taking long walks along the beach or in the woods. David stayed at some friends' apartment down the street who were on vacation, so we even had the apartment all to ourselves for chick flicks and late night chats. Cora and Claire had a blast together. Of course, there was some toddler frustration too, but they loved playing with each other and egging on each other with various antics during dinner. I think Cora was very sad to wake up this morning to not find them here, although her Nana is still here until tomorrow and she has had a blast with her today while David and I worked on the papers for the classes we just finished.

So there is some catch-up time. Short but sweet. Glad to finally be in touch again!