I Count Myself Blessed

Will become, becoming, became. Promise and fulfillment at once.

In this season when we celebrate the incarnation of our Lord, I have found myself more and more surrendering to introspect. It would seem that marriage and motherhood takes the simplest of women and renders them either hopeful philosophers or bitter cynics.
I purpose to be the former.

When I look back at the few past years, I have to marvel at all God has done in our lives. In a moment that feels like yesterday, we pledged our love to one another for this lifetime, and since then, the love that shone between us has been polished to a brighter gleam. A year ago at this time, (by my best calendar estimate) our dear Sean, though known only to our maker, had become a soul destined to join our family and bring us such joy.

Motherhood inspires such a passion for life that I fail to articulate. I love to gaze at my baby boy's face, in wonder at every intricate facet of his sweet form and dear personality. Cupid's bow is pressed gently into Sean's rosebud lips, while his eyelids flutter with the wind of his dreams. Every diaper I change, every wail I soothe, every load of soiled laundry I wash and fold, brings me a step closer in this task of forming a future man, and that reality leaves me in awe of the beautiful responsibility Ridge and I now carry.

My husband has loved me so well. His provision, protection, companionship, and devotion are more than I could have ever imagined in girlhood daydreams. Ridge asked me what I wanted for Christmas, and I've had a difficult time deciding. Of course, there are myriad lovely things I might desire, but all pale in comparison of what I already have: him. His voice cheers me, his smile warms me, his presence comforts me tenfold of what it did before. We have been through what I consider quite a bit for just over a year of marriage, and though the actual honeymoon may be over, I am happy to say that my heart still races when I get his call on his way home from work, and I look forward to every morning that brings us a new day together.

I am so thankful to have such a wonderful husband, a beautiful baby, a dear family and family-in-love, old friends, new church, and.......
(drum roll)
a house that, if all goes well, we close on December 31st.
Just another blessing I thought I'd mention. :-)

But most of all, I have a Savoir.
Not a pompous and arbitrary god, but the Almighty Creator who lowered himself to give us what we would never reach for, a salvation from that which we neither knew nor cared was our destruction. Quietly he clothed himself in our mortal flesh, to live among us and call us his own. He is the gift from which all others stem.

Let heaven and earth rejoice, for our Redeemer and King has come!

Photo Shoot(s)

The other day, before we took our walk down to the mail, I bundled Sean up in a fluffy suit Aunt Kathi had given him. It's a little too big just now.
Then, last night, while Ridge was editing video footage with Rem, I decided to take some more pictures of Bug in the bedroom. For not having much of a clue as to what I was doing, some turned out surprisingly well.
Why yes, I am obsessed with my baby- why do you ask?

p.s. to Mom and Dad: I'll give you guys copies of these tomorrow. :-)

Mr. McChubbins

My baby is getting fat. Of course, being fat at six weeks old isn't a bad thing. His chubby face is that much more kissable, his doughy thighs more squishable, his belly rotund and just asking for tickles.
He's also a very expressive little man. Sean has begun to give us genuine smiles and giggles, and thereby melting his Mommy and Daddy.

Just watching him makes me laugh. :-)

Yep. I'm in love.

Healthy & Happy

It has been almost six weeks since Sean was born, and I feel so blessed that he is healthy; gaining weight and making developmental progress. He's getting quite the little tubby tummy, enjoys his baths, smiles fairly frequently, and is a champion snuggler. We are having fun learning what songs Sean likes, and, though he doesn't watch anything else, he stares so intently while we watch Mythbusters that I really think he recognizes their voices from when he was still an inside baby. My days with him are such a delight, and I am treasuring our time together.

Besides my son doing so well, I have enjoyed a speedy recovery from pregnancy and birth. In the course of these six weeks, I have become a firm believer in nursing on demand. It takes a lot of time, and it isn't always very convenient, but the great benefits we have both reaped far outweighs its disadvantages. For one thing, I have a jolly, contented little man whose cheeks and thighs have plumped out very nicely.
For another thing, I give most of the credit for my recovery to it. Breastfeeding makes me ravenously hungry, but it's also given me a metabolism approximate to that of a fifteen-year-old boy. It took only a few weeks for me to reach my prepregnancy weight, and now I weigh a little less than when we got married last October. So, even though I could still use to tone up, everything is back to where it was previously, and my closet is much more appealing to me.
Yet another benefit I've found in feeding on demand is just how stress free and relaxed I have been. I just feed him when he needs it; I don't have to worry about anything else. Of course, babies can be unpredictable, but if Sean gets hungry while we're in the Radio Shack parking lot, so be it. If I am in the middle of reorganizing the laundry room, oh well. It just works for us that way.
Well, that's all I have time to write today; I'll try to post more pictures of Sean soon!

There and Back Again

Don't you just love the fall weather we've been having? It's been gorgeous; the perfect blend of sunny and chilly.
The fun thing about fall is that, when it comes to clothing, you can start to get really creative with layers and rich colors. Knits, cords, velveteens, and all the other lovely textures entice in a way no other fabrics can. And guess what?
Now I can take full advantage of them (or at least, as my budget permits).
I've recovered from pregnancy and birth pretty well so far; I never got stretch marks, and by the time two weeks had passed, I was within three pounds of my prepregnancy weight. Now it's just a matter of toning everything up again. I've had great fun playing dress up with my old clothes, and eyeing new pieces for my wardrobe.
Our little Sean seems to grow and change every day. I love it when we make eye contact and he responds to what I say. His favorite things to do include looking out the window, "talking" to Daddy, and snuggling in Mommy's soft robe. Sometimes, when something tickles his fancy, he'll even give a couple little giggles, and I think he knows that I live for his smile.
Am I smitten? You betcha.
We are excited to be planning a trip to Philipsburg celebrate our anniversary in October. I am looking forward to having Sean with us, and hopefully he'll be proof enough to the lady at the B&B that we were not running away from home last year (as she asked us when we checked in; she didn't think we looked old enough to be married).
Last year we made such happy memories, and this year we will make more, I am sure of it. :-)

So Thankful for My Husband

Well, since I've written about my new little man, I see it only fit that I say a few words about the other man in my life.
Throughout my pregnancy, labor, and birth, Ridge was there for me every step of the way. He took me to every appointment, helped me prepare for Sean, and gave me his emotional support the whole time.
He spent untold hours rubbing my back and trying to ease the pain of labor for me, held me while bent epidural needles were discarded, and caught our son as he came into this world.
Now, a few days into parenthood, Ridge is a fantastic father. He loves taking care of Sean, and relishes the occasional reward of a sleepy half-smile he gets in return. We enjoy just reclining on the bed, with our Bug between us, and admiring what God has given us in this first year of our marriage. Ridge has been showing Sean Rubik's cubes and music, and every day, when he comes home from work, he makes sure to go and give our Bug a kiss (after he's gotten to me, of course!).

I am so happy that we are finally starting our lives as a family, and that we are back to a good mixture of "real life," (bills, need I say more?) and jolliness.
There is a lot of kissing, laughter and love going on at this little home.

My Boy is Here!!

It's been awhile since I wrote, and my followers are probably wondering what I've been up to. If you haven't, that's okay; I know you all have lives. ;-)
This here is why I've been tardy. Getting ready for Sean's arrival, a false alarm, and general late-pregnancy laziness are my best excuses for not writing more.
Our son was born weighing 6lb. 14oz., at 12:51, on Saturday morning. We're kinda tickled that he came on 9/10/11. His birth took some unexpected turns, as after experiencing an exhausting labor for nearly three days, we finally resorted to an epidural. I had been dead set on doing everything naturally, but with Sean being post-date, and after discovering that my back had become too tense for his head to be born, we decided that was our only remaining option.
Thankfully, God is good, even when things don't go quite as we expect.

Just after he was born, Sean had to be taken to the nursery because he was unresponsive and had gunk down in his lungs. The next day though, he was doing much better, and by Sunday night, he could stay in our room.
Now we are home, and the up-all-nights have begun.

So far, Sean has been doing great. He took to nursing so well, and is alert and inquisitive about everything around him, including the Rubik's cube mobile his Daddy made for him.
We love the little Mallery God blessed us with!

The Changing Lights and Shadows

Hard to believe, but summer and my pregnancy are soon coming to an end. There have been a few days that were uncomfortably hot for me, but for the most part we've been enjoying this season of sun, no matter how late it came.
I even got to swim a little, down at Wayfarer's Park (a site that is famous among Mallerys for marriage proposals, I have been enjoying the lake there since I was a little girl). Swimming when you are eight months pregnant is very different than at three or four months. At that point, no one could even tell; I hardly could myself. But now... well, let's just say I had to improvise a bit with the swimwear. A stretchy top, and a skirt I usually only wear to church became my ticket to the water. I may have looked like a runaway funeral attendant, but I got to get wet, and that's all that mattered. Some gals may be happy with wearing a bikini while pregnant, but, issues of modesty aside, the sight of my white, never-seen-the-sticky-side-of-a-wax-strip thighs is something I think all of humanity would gladly be spared of.
It goes without saying that I am looking forward to unpregnant swimwear next summer. In fact, I'm getting all giddy over unpregnant clothes, period. I can't wait to wear a pair of jeans that actually fit my rear end, not to mention dresses with a waistline!
Yesterday, I put away stacks of tiny diapers, and began filling out Sean's baby book, starting with the very first image we saw of him, at sixteen weeks. I hardly felt different at that point, but I'll never forget that overwhelming feeling, seeing a real human being, wiggling his arms and legs in there. Fearfully and wonderfully is what the king David described our fabrication as being, and to experience it first hand has made that truth so much more real to me. And if cravings suggest "what baby needs," it's good thing we confirmed the fact that our child is human, otherwise, I might have begun to think that we were baking a fruit cake in there, with all the fruit I've been eating.
Well, that's about all for now. I know I said there would be more pictures, but the one above is one that Ridge took, while we were out on one of our evening walks. If you haven't taken a walk at sunset lately, you really should.

"Question," a parody of "Human" by the Killers

This is a music video that Ridge filmed with his brothers & Mitch Underhill while I was out of town for the day. You can see that they have a lot of fun together.
We wrote the lyrics together last year, and it probably won't make a lot of sense. If you watch the original music video, ("Human," by the Killers) you might understand what Ridge wanted to get at here. His point is that, in an effort to sound philosophical, many artists have begun to just string together random thoughts and call it "music."
Anyway, hope you enjoy it!

I'm Here

Sorry for the shortage of pictures and posts. Today Ridge showed me how to get the memory card out of his camera, (way harder than it sounds) so maybe I'll have more shots to show soon.
Anyway, it's so hard to believe that I have only three more weeks (give or take a few days) until our little Snugmuffin is here with us. Preparing for labor. Getting my post-bump wardrobe ready (how I've missed those clothes!). Wrapping up the last few purchases for Sean.
As much as I'm looking forward to sleeping on my stomach and wearing pants that actually fit my tush, (among other things) I'm also enjoying these last weeks of having my son so close. It's so funny when he gets the hiccups, which is once or twice a day, and Ridge and I have both had fun giving him a little poke & getting a bump back. It's a special time, and I am so blessed to have had no complications and relatively little discomfort with this pregnancy, and to have such wonderful support from my husband, family, and friends.
Well, like I said, I'll try to get some pictures on here soon, so check back and I might just have something interesting on here!