funny moment

Ever have one of those moments when you wish you had a video camera so you could capture a moment and watch it again and again? I had one of those moments recently. Here's the story:
One sunny, busy Tuesday, Johan and I were in the car driving home from picking up some groceries. I had placed the groceries in the backseat as usual. Since Johan has been exploring everything he can get his little hands on, I intentionally put the bread and crinkly chip bags on the other side of the car. Instead, I put the bag with frozen meat in it near his seat, thinking he couldn't possibly rip the package or chew on it. Worst case scenario (or so I thought), I would wash his hands when we got home if he touched the frozen ground beef.
So, there we are driving along, singing to the music, rushing home to make dinner and welcome Bernard. Out of nowhere I hear Johan crying, screaming at the top of his lungs. Compassionately, I say something like, "It's ok, Johan, we'll be home soon, and you can have a snack while Mommy makes dinner."
Naturally, he quiets down...for a few seconds. Then the banshee wail starts again.
"Johan, what is gong on back there?"
He keeps this up for a couple miles, and I can't figure out what's happening. Finally, we get to a red light and I turn around to see what could possibly be making him this upset.
As I watch, Johan looks at the frozen meat, reaches out a little finger and gently places it on the package. His face contorts and he screams at the top of his lungs as if to say, "It's cold! It hurts!"
Chocking back a laugh, I tell him to stop touching it and his finger won't hurt: "No touch, Johan, don't touch."
He pulls his finger away, looks at me, then seems to be irresistibly drawn back to that frozen package.
For the 10 minutes it took us to arrive at home, he kept up the touching and screaming. Me? I couldn't help it: I laughed, hysterically.
Once we arrived home and washed Johan's cold little fingers, his world became a lot happier. I have to say, mine did too.

twists in the road

Not to be overly cliche or anything, but life certainly does throw you curve balls, doesn't it? On Friday at our weekly doctor appointment, Angie was put on complete bed rest. Out little monkey is doing wonderfully bouncing around in the womb, but Angie is another story. Her blood pressure was overly high and she was swelling up a lot. She was tested for preeclamsia but all the tests came back negative - thankfully.
So, Angie spent the weekend on her left side lying on the couch. It's enough to drive you stir crazy! Props to all you moms out there that have had to do that for an extended period of time!
Yesterday we had a follow up appointment with the doctor. The swelling is almost gone and blood pressure is down in the normal range. But, bed rest is still on the menu...only for a couple hours 3 times a day, though. We did get permission for Angie to be able to do one small thing outside the house a day. What relief!
I never realized how much I like to be up and around and active! Thank you to all of you who have been praying and have called to encourage!

an excess of Angie's?

As you have probably guessed, I (Angie) have been spending quite a bit of time in clinics and doctor offices and the like. The funny thing is in the past few months I have seen more women with the name "Angie" than any other time in my life. Each and every time I am in the OB office for a test or check-up there is another, different Angie there, too...also pregnant. Weird, huh? Every time the nurse calls "Angie" instead of getting up to follow her, I now ask "which one?" Bizarre, I know. This is even worse than being in 7 classes all day long in seventh grade with two other Angie's.
Moral of the story? We will not be choosing a common name for our son. We want him to be an individual. Now, don't think I'm going to let you know what his name is...you will all just have to wait until he's born. We'll introduce his wonderfully-individual-but-not-too-weird name to you then. :0)

baby update

Hi all.
Thank you to all who check back faithfully. I (Angie) haven't gone online in over a month! Me and our little active bundle of joy are doing very well. We've been keeping up with what feels like endless doctor visits and lab tests and the like. All that to say, everything looks great and our baby is totally healthy. I'm just hitting the 21 week mark, so we're on a very long home stretch. But, spirits are high and bring pregnant has really truly been a blessing. More to come soon (well, hopefully soon...) :0)

nostalgia

Funny how the holidays bring out nostalgia in almost everyone. Memories from our childhoods, longings for the present, wishes for the future...
Well, this year I am no different. I was paging through a pregnancy magazine (crying my eyes out) today looking at pictures of the amazing process of growing life, a baby, inside me. WOW! Honestly, nothing could have prepared me for this time. Just thinking about all the development happening to our little one makes my mind spin. Myriads of emotions spinning around in me...joy, excitement, anticipation, nervousness, anxiety, even a little fear. But, when it all comes down to it, I feel blessed. Completely 100% blessed. I not only have a wonderful family, I have a man who amazes me every day with his capacity to love me, and now I am a part of growing a new little life we get to love and nurture.
You know that part in the Bible where Mary is told she is "blessed among women?" Well, I don't want to be blasphemous, but that is exactly how I feel. Thank you, Lord, for choosing me to carry this child! What an amazing blessing! Life is awesome.

i love community!

Last weekend I (Angie) spent some time at a retreat center with other women at Bethany Church. In the past I haven't been very gung-ho for women's ministry - or retreats in general - if truth be known. Recently, though, I have been gripped with the reality that communities are necessary. I don't mean just your neighbor across the street, either. I mean people with the same heart and passion and direction you have. How wonderful to be able to share life together! I have longed for this for quite a while now.
This weekend I got a taste of that. All the women at the retreat were from many different seasons of life with nothing in common other than our love of Jesus and that we have ties to Bethany Church. We just talked and shared, ate together, shared our creativity, and spent time together. I feel so refreshed that I am connected to a Body. I know the Church in America isn't traditionally good at keeping together as a community...but this weekend gave me hope. I had a lot of fun and feel like a part of something bigger than worrying if I made someone's latte correctly or used the right tone in communicating at home.
So, I love community! Anyone interested in keeping this moving?

christmas baking...yum!

I've spent today baking cookies and preparing for the elevate Christmas party tonight. It's been SO FUN!!! It is a lot of work, but I love that this season is one of parties and celebrating. I always have to keep in the front of my mind that it is so much more than that in case I get carried away with all the preparations and planning. As fun as the shopping and baking and family and parties are - that is not what it's all about. It's about Jesus. Period. So, tonight, we're taking a twist on the traditional Christmas party (as you can see by the advertisement we made). Bye bye materialism and busyness. Hello Jesus. Have fun today doing whatever it is you're doing to prepare for the season of Joy!

weekend to remember

This past weekend was significant for us in two ways. First, it is the longest we have been apart from each other since we got married. (We agreed that we would wait until after our first year to be apart for more than a day since we had such a long-distance engagement).
Second, I (Angie) did something I haven't done in way too long. I spent the weekend with thirty other women at a retreat. We spent time worshiping, hearing teaching from some amazing women, eating (!), and getting to know each other better. I had a fantastic time! I feel so privileged to know these women - they enrich my life and I look forward to the friendships that will be forged out of the weekend.
I find that I take the precious friendships I have for granted sometimes. I get so caught up in the busyness of life that I don't take the time to appreciate what a blessing it is to have wonderful friends that I can share my life with. So, to those of you reading this, I appreciate your friendship! :0) My life is enriched because of you.

changing seasons

As I sit here, the first snowflakes of the season are falling. We've just changed back from "summer" time, and the familiar tune of "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" is floating through my mind. I know, I may be rushing things a little bit, but who can blame me on such a wonderful late fall day?
The holidays are generally the busiest time of year for me...as I'm sure is true for most people. But, this year, I refuse to get caught up in the busyness of shopping and decorating and scrambling to get to all those projects that have been put off for too long. This year I'd just like to stop and enjoy winter.
Maybe the fact that I'm married to a Canadian has given me a new appreciation for the coming season. Maybe I'm just running on too little energy and need a chance to refuel. Or maybe, just maybe, I am finally learning to enjoy each day as it comes...to see life not as a string of to-do lists, but as a moment by moment symphony of everyday occurances that are, as a whole, extraordinary.
Whatever the reason, this winter season is one I am anxiously anticipating. Bring it on, Jack Frost!

caffeine, smiles, and a paycheck

That's right: I found a part time job! I (Angie) started at Starbucks on Tuesday. I know, it's not very original, but I just couldn't resist. I mean, where else are you going to work that gives you free caffeine, great people, and the ability to set your own hours. I loved my times working at Starbucks in college. Not to mention the fact that there are Starbucks everywhere, so I can take my skills (and my discount) all over. There's no place like home! ...a grande sugar-free caramel soy latte coming right up!