Christmastime!

In the words (or lack thereof) of the Vince Geraldi classic, "Christmastime is here!" It's a sweet time for us, although it always reminds us how much we miss our families back home and the traditions we've built with them. But the best way to walk through that is to create traditions of your own. How, you might ask, are we doing that? There are a few things, and we seem to develop them more each year.

Music

It really is interesting how our entire culture switches to a special type of music for Christmas, but we're not complaining! In addition to listening almost entirely to Christmas music, we just plain listen to more music this time of year. Between a few Pandora stations we've created, the Christmas music in our iTunes, and an ever-growing Spotify playlist, the sounds of Christmas are filling our home all the time. We tend to stick to songs about the celebrations ("It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas") or the true nativity story ("Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,") and avoid the Santa Claus songs (more on that later). Later on, we also hope our children will sing with us!

Church and People

Whether we like it or not, our children will surely grow up thinking that in December, we see a lot of people, we to go church a lot, and Daddy goes to church a whole lot. And, yes, we like that. It tells us that something special is afoot. All this bustling and busyness creates an anticipation- it often makes me feel like someone is coming. That's perfect, and I hope it feels that way for our children also.

We also spend a lot of time with people, which reminds us of how nice it is to have someone near. That's a wonderful thing to have on your mind when you consider the God who came near to us. God truly is with us!

Skip the Mythology

Most of the people who know us well enough to read our blog know by now that we don't do Santa Claus with Sarah. I don't completely remember how it came about, but we actually decided before we were even married not to do Santa in our home. So far, it's turned out very well for us.

Imagination is a beautiful and powerful thing, especially in a child. Things like the Tooth Fairy, the Boogeyman, and whatever else Dad and Mom make up are healthy parts of childhood. But as parents who are trying to use a story and a holiday to teach a deep and vital truth to our children, we decided it just isn't a good idea to mix that story with a mythological one. So there is no Santa, reindeer, elves, or even Frosty around here this time of year. There are several reasons for this, but the greatest is that a far better story is already being told.

January is really the start of winter on Cape Cod, so we do plan to sing the story of Frosty the Snowman after Christmas, when there is snow on the ground. And we'll tell them about Santa (both St. Nicholas and Santa Claus) when they start realizing what's going on in their friends' houses- we just won't act like the latter is real. And eventually, when they're old enough, we'll watch fun movies like "Elf" together. Until then, we'll give them gifts, tell them we love them, tell them the real story, and skip the Santa songs when they come up on Pandora. 

Candy!

There's often a bowl of hospitality candy in our house, which we rarely ever eat from. But not at Christmastime! Not only does Christmas get its own special candy, but we actually enjoy it rather than just having it there for guests. Andes mints, Candy Cane Kisses, fudge- it all lives here during Christmastime. And then there's this ever-growing pile of cookies and other goodies just a few feet away! Why? So we'll remember, and our kids will learn, that it's the most wonderful time of the year. 

Decoration, Tree, and Ornaments

Yet another way many people make Christmas special is to decorate, and we're no exception. New England has a tradition of putting candles in the window to signify an open house, and we've adopted it. But our favorite tradition comes from our families: trimming the tree together and telling the stories of ornaments while we put them up. What a great way to remember our family, and for us to tell our children more about our own mommies and daddies.

Gifts!

We have a Father in heaven who knows how to give good gifts, and we try our best to model that to Sarah.  But we never expected to be showered with so many gifts from others! In the following picture, for instance, one present is from Emily and one is from me- the rest came from outside our home! I get a sense of the love and generosity of our church and family every time I see that mound of gifts that has grown too big for the tree, one that I hope our children will get as well. In the future, I think our plan is to put all the gifts we receive under that tree until Christmas Day, just to remind ourselves of the generosity of our loved ones. Perhaps that will point us all to the generosity of God and the good gifts He's given us.

Stories (One Day)

When Emily was pregnant with Sarah and Christmas came around, it came upon me to start writing bedtime story adaptations of the Christmas stories in the Gospels. I wrote one called "John is Coming!," and another called "Jesus is Coming!" Then Christmas came and they went into the vault until that little baby would be old enough to understand them. One day she will be, and I look forward to sitting with her before bed and dramatizing the stories of my Lord's birth. Stories teach so well, especially to children. I don't know if I'll keep writing them, but I do hope to sit down and learn the fine art of storytelling before my children some day soon. 


Surely more festive fun will develop as our young family grows in wisdom and number, but that's what we do for now. It really is the most wonderful time of the year!

First Snow!

The front yard when we first woke up.

This was sometime mid-afternoon, just before it started getting dark. We were so surprised that the flurries lasted all day.

The next morning it was still there! The day continued to be cold so it lasted for a while, but by sunset most of our dusting had melted.

We have experienced an exciting thing...winter's first snow! Sunday morning we woke up to a light, unexpected dusting. The drive to church was beautiful- we were reminded how picturesque the village we live in really is. Throughout the afternoon the flurries surprisingly continued. This time last year the ground was already solidly frozen and covered, so it is nice to have enjoyed a long, warm fall. We do look forward to this new season, though, and are so thankful for the exciting change that the Lord regularly brings.

Trip to Florida

Well, life has finally calmed down enough to tell you a little about our trip to Florida, in which we got to see so much of the Cook side of the family!

It all started the Sunday evening after Thanksgiving, in which we rode up to Boston and spent the night in a hotel. Although we (especially Emily!) love staying in hotels, this was really so we could avoid driving up from the Cape to catch our 6:00 a.m. flight. By 4:20 the next morning, we were out the hotel door and on our way to the airport.

Wrap a couch cushion in a baby blanket, stick it between the hotel bed and the wall, and what do you get?
A toddler bed!

The sun rising over our beautiful Cape Cod

After landing, we spent the afternoon and evening with our family, having lunch at Chick-Fil-A and a dinner of my Mom's hamburgers. The next day, we took a trip to the Regional History Museum so Emily could be briefed and I get a refresher on Florida history.

A little playing in the car while we waited on Auntie J.

I was NOT going to let this stone alligator eat my wife!

Sarah picking oranges with Grandma Vicky. I think I was up in the tree at this point.

Wednesday was a real treat, as we went to Dunnellon to see my Uncle Jerry and Aunt Faye. We all took a trip together to Rainbow Springs, a beautiful part of what I call "the real Florida."

Rainbow Springs

Somewhere it turns from Rainbow Springs into the Rainbow River

On the way home, Sarah got to meet Molly and Amanda.

The rest of the week had some great plans attached to it, but instead the strangest thing happened. By Thursday morning, Jacki and Sarah were the only people who hadn't come down with a stomach bug! So we all spent a day or two at home in recovery- fortunately it was a quick one. By Friday evening, everyone was well again and a dozen or so of us had a nice dinner together before we flew back home.

Panorama of sunrise on Lake Louisa

Sunrise the next day

Playtime!

Reading with Great Grandma B.

It was a great and refreshing trip. Although we were sad to miss out on a few days of fun, especially on seeing our good friends the Kerrs, I think the easy rest of a sick day may have been just what we needed.


Epilogue: you may be thinking, "it's a good thing Sarah didn't get sick." And you would be right . . . if. As it turns out, she only managed to fight it off until the day we flew home. I don't suppose the details are internet-appropriate, but let's just say that plane ride involved several outfit changes and ended with a diaper-only baby and some stewardesses I feel very sorry for.

Sometimes, rather than just giving us patience, the Lord teaches us patience.

Halloween: Better late than never...

We had a full and fun Reformation Day (a.k.a. Halloween) this year, highlighted by some fun times with the neighbors. A sweet, young couple who lives around the corner is also expecting this spring. Early in the day we were pleased to run into them at the doctors' office. They knew the doctors really well and were able to encourage us in our choice of practitioners and hospital.

Their son was walking in the Osterville Halloween parade in the afternoon and they invited us to watch the fun. Dave regrettably had to run to an evening meeting, but I got to see all the cute kids excited about costumes and already hyped up on candy. I ran into our neighbors again in town and they invited us to trick or treat with them.

This couple knows almost all the neighbors, so making the rounds with them was a great way to introduce ourselves to the neighborhood. Sarah and I still had tons of fun! She, of course, turned on some serious charm and I greatly enjoyed getting to better know our neighbors.

She was a bag of Cape Cod Potato Chips! I used my minimal sewing skills to make arm and leg holes, while Dave used his superior graphic design skills to create an iron on design. The result: still a cute little girl!

Recent Pictures

We've got a few nice pictures as of late that haven't made it into any particular posts, so we thought it would be a good idea to share them with you this way.

There's much more to come about our recent trip to Florida and this year's Christmas presents. Stay tuned! 

I went with the OBC leadership to a retreat on Newfound Lake, NH. This is the fog rolling away that Sunday morning. For once, I used the HDR technique to make something look more real, rather than less real.

Sarah eating her first bowl of spaghetti.

On top of Mt. Monadnock, where I took a group of OBC men hiking one weekend this October.

A tree from a different hike on the same trip.

The sunset from the Eversons' boat, on which we took a ride very late this summer.

A true Cape Cod sailor, the same day.

Ultrasound: Where We Go From Here

Today I saw the nurse practitioner for a regular monthly appointment. She found the baby's heartbeat quickly. We then spent the rest of the visit discussing what comes next.

Her take on the situation: The 18 week ultrasound is technically an "anatomy ultrasound" not anatomy and gender like we thought. Insurance companies are somewhat picky, I guess, and don't allow technicians to specifically look for gender. Most technicians love the hunt, but some, like the one doing our ultrasound, choose to not really try. The NP was super sweet and understanding.

Where she suggests we go from here: Our nurse practitioner will get the results in the next couple of days. If she sees anything that isn't perfect, she will order another ultrasound. This time we would schedule it at the OB office with their loving ultrasound tech. We will find out about this at the next regular appointment. If everything is perfect, we praise the Lord! At that point we could choose to do an independent ultrasound, hope to have another ultrasound late in the pregnancy, or decide we would rather be surprised at birth!

Next appointment: Tuesday, January 3, 2012 (!) at 3:45pm

And we're having a...

...baby! Still a baby of unspecified gender, albeit what appeared to be a healthy baby. There were several factors that contributed to our lack of certainty, but we hope to get another sneak peak before all is said and done. And if we don't, we will just be extra surprised on D-day!

An intern in training was the first to take measurements. About an hour in an ultrasound technician came in to get final measurements. All in all, I was on the table for exactly an hour and a half.

Leaning toward girl: (1) The intern initially thought girl. (2) The technician said she was 80% sure it was a girl during her first look.

Leaning toward boy: (1) Upon further examination, the intern couldn't tell if she was seeing cord or "turtle," but she clearly saw something. (2) At second pass the technician said it looked very much like a boy, but again, could have been cord. She didn't put odds on this observation after telling us it was a girl 20 minutes earlier and didn't do any further investigation.

Appointment: We received a call this morning to inform us that our nurse practitioner was out today and we rescheduled for tomorrow at 3:30. Hopefully, she will have the ultrasound "results" by then and I will have a chance to talk to her about where we go from here.

Praise the Lord for those wiggly arms and legs, a beating heart, eyes with lenses, a working bladder, and for the 6...I mean 5 toes we were able to count!

Mischief...

Since the addition of a bowl of Halloween candy to our living room coffee table, Sarah has loved taking the pieces of candy in and out of the bowl. Occasionally, she examines the differences in, say, a square of shiny Giradelli and a round white piece of taffy. This morning she was interested in a purple dark chocolate Hershey Kiss. There was normal play, some interest in unwrapping it, a gentle reminder that we don't unwrap the candy, and I left the room to brush my teeth. I came back to this overly innocent face:

I then went digging and found this in her cheek:

It seems from the remains of purple foil that she must have sucked the chocolate out of the wrapper. Sarah never really acknowledged the deed, never asked for more. Thus far. she hasn't tried to eat any other pieces of chocolate. Maybe she prefers milk chocolate? :)

How We Chose Birth Control: A Thought on Proposition 26

For those of you not from or near MS, next Tuesday there is a vote to define or not define personhood in the state constitution as beginning at the time of conception. With the increasing debate about the effects such an amendment, I thought it was an opportune time to share how we chose our method of birth control. Needless to say, this post is a little more graphic than some. If you don't like thinking about birth control, you might want to skip this one :)


There are several things a girl does when she is newly engaged. She looks at dresses, sets a date, talks to her wedding party, and dreams with girlfriends about cake and flowers. Another item high on the priority list is a trip the OB-GYN. Unless she has already been taking a birth control pill for a medical reason, her doctor will probably ask her a long list of questions about health and values. She is then, in many cases, prescribed a birth control pill and sent on her way.

This is exactly how it happened for me. My only concern was that is cost $70 a month and I wasn't sure how we were going to pay $840 dollars a year for birth control. Another box on the pre-wedding checklist: marriage counseling. Our counseling was a combination of readings and in-office discussions. The excited bride-to-be that I was, I got right to work with my reading. It was Andreas Kostenberger's book God, Marriage, and Family that gave me pause. In the section on birth control it said that some forms of the pill were abortifacient. What?! Everyone I knew took the pill, almost all of them pro-life!

So I did a little research. There was a fun link explaining in three steps how it was 99% effective. (Here's a different site, the original one was not to be found.) First, the hormones keep you from ovulating. This is the main work of the pill. But then it gives two secondary measures, in case ovulation does occur. It thickens mucus so that the sperm has a difficult time reaching the egg. No problem there. And finally, it changes the lining of the uterus so that, if an egg was released and a sperm made the connection, the newly formed baby would not be able to implant in the uterus lining and be washed away. What?!!!

My doctor didn't tell me about this! After talking to some friends I learned that the drug companies weren't certain how the secondary measures worked, so it may or may not really work that way. But by that time my mind was made up. Dave was already hesitant after watching friends who had taken the pill for years struggle through the emotions and expense of infertility treatment. Of course, there is no proven connection, and infertility has been a reality since at least the times of Abraham and Sarah, but it made us wonder. Neither of us were willing to even chance losing a child because of something I was taking. So after two months, well before we were married, I stopped taking my pills and we chose another method of birth control.

Believers, I hope that as you read the testimonies and see the videos of both sides of the personhood initiative, you will hold the Scriptures more highly than either of them. Studying 1 & 2 Peter with the women of OBC has reminded me that, with Christ's return near, we are to pursue "lives of holiness and godliness" (2 Pet 3:11) and to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Pet 3:18).  I ask you to seek growth in your knowledge of Christ as you make decisions about personhood, constitutionally upheld or not, that will glorify the Lord. Most of the arguments out there will ask you to make them based on feelings or personal convenience rather than the truth of Scripture. Treating all people like people will require sacrifice. It isn't the easy way, whether that person is the unborn, of another race, of another belief system, obese, etc. Christ sees these people and loves them, and we should too.

The few people who read this blog will know that we found out we were pregnant with Sarah one month and one day into our marriage. Surprise! It wasn't our timing, and it was a scary year, but could we be any more blessed? That year caused us to cry out to God with our requests and needs like never before. We depended on Him and He grew us in our knowledge of Him greatly during that challenging time. He also gave us everything we needed. I pray that the Lord would grow us in knowledge and courage as we continue to seek His will in every aspect of life, and grow us in grace where we fail.

We've got a heartbeat, people!

Ok, so 4 heartbeats. Last Monday morning all three (or 4) of us loaded up for a trip to the doctors' office. This was our second real appointment- we are 13 weeks. We heard the heartbeat for the first time and our doctor said all seems well. The heart rate was 140 bpm. The official due date remains May 5. It will (hopefully) be a very happy Cinco de Mayo!

Next appointment: Monday, December 5, 1pm: Since we will be in FL in four weeks, we are waiting 5 weeks, because...

Next ultrasound: Monday, December 5, 11am!!! We will be 18 weeks at that point and, if we have a bold one, get to find out gender!

Fun Photos :)

Dave and I had the treat of eating breakfast out at Dunkin Donuts last week via gift card. Sarah didn't get any breakfast sandwich, but she did get our balls of wrapper. She held on to them until she went down for her nap more than an hour later.

We had fires this week. Sarah loved helping Dad get things going.

Did Dad dress me this morning? Is my onesie buttoned outside my pants? Yes :)

We had a long Sunday morning at church. Solution? Put her down on a toddler car table during the second service, before the potluck lunch.

Hairdrierphobia

Sarah has a new found fear of my hair drier. She often hangs out in the bedroom while I get ready in the bathroom, but never before has drying my hair been an issue. For the last week or so not only does her little lip turn down and her eyes moisten when I use the hair drier, even seeing in makes her scurry for someones knees. Being the mean mother that I am, I even tested this theory so that Dave could see. With both Sarah and Dave in the bathroom I opened the bottom drawer of our vanity and Sarah peeked in. She quickly turned away, started crawling up Dave's leg, and let out one of her good cries that starts long and silent. Theory proven.

I'm not sure how her fear began, but I am now a mom who has to schedule time to dry my hair. It is the little laughs that make this job so much fun!

First ultrasound

First, I would like to warn you that ultrasound pictures are included below. If you are not a fan of the in-utero shots, you might want to just know that everything looked normal and we are praising God!


For those of you who would like to know a little more, you're in the right place :) Our ultrasound tech was really good at her job. This meant that she showed us cool things and answered our questions, but at the same time, if something had been amiss, I don't think we would have known from her reaction. She was very professional.

Going into the ultrasound, I had to finish drinking 32 ounces of water 30 minutes before our appointment. Yep, I was about to burst. But ultrasounds depend on fluid for the signal to bounce around nicely. At this point there isn't a whole lot of fluid in the uterus, so the bladder has to make up the difference and helps lift the uterus away from nearby bones. Now you know :)

Unlike our first ultrasound with Sarah, this technician did an external in addition to the internal ultrasound. She was looking to present the ordering physician with a size and due date. To do this she measured the yolk sack, uterus, and crown rump length multiple ways to get good averages for each, then plugged each average into their formula and the computer said that our baby was due May 6, just one day after the doctor's estimated date. We will know for sure at the next appointment which number they will stick with, but my guess it that it will remain May 5. [Side note: The technician said she thinks that just measuring the crown rump length is most accurate (and the books agree) when the baby is big enough to measure, but the hospital requires them to use all three measurements.]

Now to the miracle of the ultrasound. We didn't hear the heart beat, but we could see it. Blood was moving all around! The baby was moving, be it real movement at this point or just floating, we weren't sure. We could clearly identify body parts, especially the hand! The technician inspected everything and told us things looked good and we haven't gotten a call from the doctor saying otherwise, so praise the Lord!

Here is our miracle...

We could see all appendages! The white spot on the lower belly is the umbilical cord.

We got the most awesome wave. The technician snapped this great picture, but nothing could do justice to seeing that hand go by the ultrasound wand.

PS- Sarah was with us and did alright, but she gets pretty freaked out when we go to the doctor. I should say really freaked out when she is at the doctor and fairly freaked out when a doctor goes to work on Dave or myself. So while the TV was fun to see, she wasn't so sure about me just hanging out on the table and resorted to eating lots of Cheerios. Maybe she will understand better at our next ultrasound :)

The White Mountains

Here's a sneak peak into our trip to the White Mountains in northern New Hampshire. The weather was beautiful for our 2 nights and full day among the peaks and foliage. We usually needed a light jacket in the morning, but by the time we got going, especially if we were hiking, we were more than ready to shed our outer layers.

One of the most interesting parts of our exploration was finding the Appalachian Trail (or AT as the pros would say). My brother, John Thomas, is preparing to hike the AT from south to north next spring/summer and will go straight through this area in June or July. From our little experience, it is going to be a beautiful trip!

We also saw the former Old Man of the Mountain, poor New Hampshire's pride and joy. Since all we knew was that we were looking for a flat rock spot on the side of a mountain, we made lots of guesses as to which mountain was the former Old Man's residence. Most notably, an Asian lady asked Dave from the parking lot which mountain was "the" mountain. A bit hesitantly, Dave pointed to the one we were most recently speculating over and said, "I think it's that one. Yeah, right there." The lady then confirmed that Old Man had indeed fallen off and turned to tell her entire party, in another language, that this was it. They all took their pictures and went on their way. We, on the other hand, decided to follow a path. This path took us through the woods, around a lake, and to the real Old Man Memorial! Yep, a scrapbook somewhere is going to be forever duped. Granted, the true mountain didn't look much different from the first. Just make sure Dave has a little proof if he is naming a mountain :)

Another highlight was our stop at The Basin. From the uniquely formed whirlpool we hiked along a creek coming down the mountain that was littered with waterfalls. I think it was unanimously voted that hiking is most fun with a pretty view along the way. Somehow Mom and I didn't make it into any of the pictures...I think we just weren't quick enough to claim time holding Sarah!

 

Dave took several photos of this overlook and stitched them together to make this panorama.

 (For the record: pictures by Dave, written by Emily)

Cranberry Harvest

We had quite a bit of fun last week when Papa John and Grandmama came to visit. We took a great trip to New Hampshire, but today we're going to tell you about the Cranberry Harvest we saw on Sunday. Cranberries are one of those signature things about the Cape, and New England, so we had to go see a large cranberry farm just off-Cape when they opened the operation up to everyone. 

Sarah found a new mode of transportation

Once there, we took a big school bus up the hill to the bog.

A cranberry bog. Just like the commercials.

They gather the berries after they've flooded the bog and the berries have floated to the surface.

 

Then they send them up this belt, much like the grinder at Dad's mine.

It was much fun, even better to enjoy with family. These warm fall days are quickly coming to a close, so it was especially nice to enjoy the weather!