Lucy had a very smiley morning. It’s so funny to see her different expressions develop each week. She’s also been getting very chatty. She loves to ‘talk’ whether it’s with us or her stuffed animals. She’s definitely a cute little kid.

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One of our favorite things to do on a Sunday afternoon is hang out in the backyard with our neighbours. Also Lucy also seems to prefer the outdoors over being inside. Usually if she’s fussy inside we just need to bring her out and she immediately stops. You can see her sitting with Jonathan in the photo.

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This weekend we took Lucy down to the Riverway for her first swim. I think the water was a little cold and as you can judge by the photo she wasn’t the biggest fan of it.

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Last night, Nick and I were sitting on the couch, watching one of our favourite shows. After feeling her little limbs in my ribs for close to two hours, I became exasperated. Seeing the movement and my discomfort, Nick got real close to my belly and spoke firmly:

“Listen, little girl. It’s time to quiet down so mama can have a break.”

The INSTANT he started talking…stillness. She didn’t move a tiny muscle. I was shocked. Not only that, but she didn’t move for 20 minutes after that, staying totally obedient. We both sort of giggled about it and when she began to do the twist an hour later, I asked Nick to “speak with her again” and it worked – like a charm.

As cute as it was, I decided to make myself very clear:
“Ok, child. I know you love daddy, but you will have to obey to me too,” I said matter of factly. To Nick’s delight, she jumped and booted her feet into my ribs, giving me a very firm “yeah right.” Nick erupted into laughter and I realized what I’m in for.

Luckily, it seems as though I will be able to pull the you-just-wait-until-your-father-gets-home card. Until then, I will have my hands very, very full. Bring it on!

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Right now, the lights are dim, Nick is soundly asleep and everything’s quiet. I’m a little tired, but nothing a good nap tomorrow won’t cure. And my baby is snuggled in my belly, no chance of crying or screaming aloud. She’s content and life, it seems, is in the waiting. Like the calm before the storm.

Or at least that’s what everyone tells me.

All of a sudden, as my belly protrudes further and further into public space, people feel more at liberty to tell me how my life is going to change. A lot of “oh my gosh you will never sleep” and “you think you’re tired now” and “you’ll never be the same”…which is great. Thank you, world, for preparing me. And scaring the crap out of me, too. Which may be why I sit here, late at night, wondering if I have what it takes to stay the same and still be a great mother and wife.

And then I remember this.

My mom did it. Nick’s mom did it. My friends are doing it. And people are still ok. People are still normal. And my mom, in particular, didn’t have all these books around (I’m sure she still got the cacophony of advice) or youtube videos to watch – and she did it. She had me and my brother, raised us, fed us and still had fun. And still had a life of her own. We just melded into that life like we were always there.

So, yes, I’m a little scared. And yeah, maybe a lot naive. But people do what I’m about to do every day and they make it. They still laugh, have fun, and love their life – no matter how much sleep they get. So as I appreciate the fact that things will change, they can only go up if I get to meet another part of my very interesting husband. And I know there’s a whole other part of me I’m ready to meet, too.

“I am glad that I paid so little attention to good advice; had I abided by it I might have been saved from some of my most valuable mistakes.”
- Edna St. Vincent Millay

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I can remember the first time it happened.
I was driving back to work on Shelter Island from my lunch break and it had been pouring rain all morning. I was working on a ferry boat at the time, being whipped by the weather since 8 am.
As I travelled back, the sun started peeking through the thick cloud cover. I can remember thinking in my car, “How long, Lord, am I going to have to persevere?” I was in a situation at the time where I needed a way out and I desperately needed a sign that God was listening.
At that moment, in the midst of my duress, a rainbow appeared in the afternoon sky, directly in front of my path. Relief flooded me. I was immediately reminded that rainbows signified a promise after a long time of waiting, after wondering if God would ever show up again.
I knew that rainbow was meant for me and it meant God had not forgotten my requests. I could trust Him because He keeps His promises.

Cheesy, I know – but ever since, I have felt the presence of God when I see rainbows in the sky. They fill me with faith, knowing that a long time ago, God made a promise to a man who was really sick of looking at the rain.

The other morning, I was beseeching God once again. I was asking Him if He was going to show up. Why was He telling me things and then leaving me in the dark? I started (well, more like continued) to doubt everything He’d been saying in the last few months and I can remember writing in my journal – “Lord, if this is You, I need a sign that we’re on the right path…” and left it at that.

Not long after, I had forgotten my own plea as Nick and I drove out to a prenatal class we were attending. We were mid-conversation when it appeared, ever so faintly, on the horizon in front of me.
A rainbow, not bright and shining, but small and dim, glowed in the morning sky.
“Do you see that?” I asked Nick. Squinting, he replied, “Yeah, I see it.”
My eyes filled with tears and my heart filled with hope. He asked me why I was crying. After a few moments, I sputtered out what I had been praying, not even an hour ago. Once again, I was being told that I wasn’t forgotten and that God knew what He was doing.
The rainbow left as quickly as it came, as though it was meant for our eyes only.

God doesn’t have to answer my prayers. He doesn’t have to give me tangible aspects of His promises. But, man, He cares for me enough to do it anyway and it restores my faith.
We serve an amazing God.

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I love tea. And all things girly. And in Australia, High Tea is a big deal. So me and some friends thought – what better way to throw a party than with a theme that all girls can enjoy? A friend found a great theme design for the invites, welcome sign and tags on the teaspoons…she is so talented and her keen eye and amazing design skills helped build the scene and anticipation (p.s. she is also the photographer).

This was one of my favourite things about the party. The day before, we were searching for favours and I couldn’t find anything (relatively inexpensive). Then, I had an epiphany and remembered that the op shop down the road that had a bin of old cutlery. I knew I could find some cute spoons. The shop was closed, but I found an antique store that sold all these novelty spoons for 50 cents each. I thought it would be neat to make sure they were all from Australia. I made a baking soda paste, scrubbed a little to clean them up and, voila. $2 ribbon and 50 cent spoons = very cute, affordable favours.

My other friend, who loves to decorate and arrange, was in charge of the decor. The punch bowl was borrowed from one of the guests. The white flowers were some I had in different vases around my house (around $2 a bunch from any crafts store). The other flowers were cut from around my friend’s property and even in the heat, stayed fresh and looked oh-so-country in random little baskets.

Ok, had I known the amount of food and the quality of all of my friends’ baking, I wouldn’t have eaten anything all day. On the invites, we asked people to bring “a classic bite size snack to share” and what we wound up with was a table full of scrumptious tea sandwiches and sweets. The funnest part was that everyone got to take a sampling of each dessert home with them. In hindsight, it would have been great to have little take-away containers for each guest (Chinese take away boxes, lined with a sheet of tissue paper would have been perfect!).

Drinking from dainty cups, engaging in conversation and competing in a game of Bocce was the extent of the items on the party’s agenda. I loved how relaxed everyone felt in the late afternoon. Held in our other friends shady back yard, everyone chipped in. Some people brought chairs, others brought their tea sets and still others brought tables. It was a combined effort to make the afternoon seem effortless.

Thanks to the amazing tropical autumn weather, 2:30 in the afternoon was a great time of day for the party. One of my main concerns was that my guests were comfortable and able to relax! Thank God for the shade and as the afternoon wore on, the cooler it got. I loved seeing everyone, including smaller guests, enjoy themselves. The beautiful lady on the right of me (bottom photo) is the amazing photographer, Joanna Orpia.

So I guess this wasn’t really a how-to after all. It was more a reason to brag on creative friends, thrifty ideas and of course, the love of all things girly. Especially tea.

Thanks for reading!

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It’s like another honeymoon – the last hoorah before the baby comes and you’re never alone, ever again. Just kidding. But lots of couples are doing it, and we’re so excited that get to have one, too!

We’re heading down to the Gold Coast of Australia (about a 2hr flight south) where temperatures are a bit cooler and beaches are a bit nicer (and waves are much, much bigger).

While down there, we’re catching up with a few friends, visiting the area and getting some good ol’ fashioned rest – in a hotel for a few nights, too!
It’s been a while since we’ve had a proper holiday, so we’re stoked.

We will definitely be taking some pictures so when we go in a few weeks time, you’ll hear about it!
Hope that many of you are enjoying the beginning of either Spring or Autumn and Happy May!

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I will post our “final” assignment soon!

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Many believe that the world is taking a real stand against issues of injustice. We prayed this morning that it would be more than a passing fad, but a movement that ends human trafficking in our lifetime. That’s a big issue, you might say. Yeah, it is. But people who give up don’t make any change. So why should we?

Getting back to my dream.

I dreamt I was in Thailand, sitting somewhere reading a large, heavy book. I could feel the weight of it in my lap as I turned its thick, glossy pages. The book was filled with black and white images of women. On the right side of each page was a woman’s picture and on the facing page, her description. I realized slowly that the book wasn’t a compilation of stories, but an advertisement. This book was selling women.

The strange thing was that the pictures weren’t racy or provocative. They were real. These women looked destitute, poor, dirty and hopeless. I flipped through the book and began to notice something even more disturbing. With each page, the women pictured grew younger and younger. The last few pages were girls so young, they were barely out of diapers. And the last page I saw was a baby in full color, smiling bright with innocence.

I was sickened, closed the book and my dream ended.

I didn’t remember the dream until we started praying for CNN and then flashes of it started flooding back. With sadness in my heart, I wondered if the world needed to see something like that book in order to believe it existed. Does the world know that there are girls as young as six being brought into countries to turn a profit? They need to hear their stories, need to look into their eyes. If they saw it, how could they not respond?

And so it turned my attention to our prayers. I prayed that Freedom Sunday and the coverage of CNN would bring awareness in such a way as to cause people to continue to wage war on this dark industry. Maybe this doesn’t hold your interest, but something stirs you. And whatever that is, run for it. Make your dreams a reality by not giving up on them.

For more information about Freedom Sunday, please visit www.notforsalecampaign.org

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