Oh dear, my Martha, Martha my dear. At the present moment, my younger daughter is coming out of a fabulously intense developmental stage. Suddenly my baby is no longer constantly clinging to me. She has new confidence to strike out on her own. I hear the sound of her distinctive scoot-slide, scoot-slide – whose efficiency … More One
How, how, how are you three, little girl? With your light, silky hair and your heart-piercing stare. You chuckle ’till you’re out of breath, you whine my patience half to death; you’re a quiet, patient friend; you’re an effortlessly kind sister… I’m still hopelessly in love with you, you sweet, smart, expressive, thoughtful child. Indeed, how … More Three
One of the more maddening things people say to parents of small children is some variation of, “Enjoy the moment!” “Seize the day!” “They’re small for so short a time, enjoy it while it lasts!” Now, I’m generally a polite person, so I usually say something along the lines of “okay!” or “yeah, I’m doing … More Starting to Understand
My knitting has slowed to a snail’s pace. We’ve been here a month and a half, and I’ve got one measly sock to show for it. This is not surprising. When would I knit? We don’t commute anymore. My spare time is spent writing sermons or planning things. My evenings are spent working, or drinking … More Mandalas in the Wind
The toddler is actually asleep during the daytime. The six-week old is swaddled and staying asleep while not physically attached to me. At the same time. This is the first time this has happened in weeks. Welcome to my life! The adjustment to having two kids has been… about what you’d expect. We had our “babymoon” … More There Should Be Two of Them
I do love to knit. But, as it turns out, even when I don’t have much time for knitting myself, there are fringe benefits to just being a knitter. (No pun intended, though I do like a good fringe.) One of them is, other knitters and craft-artists are more likely to give you handmade stuff – … More Hand-me-down Love
I realized, in reading over Martha’s birth story, that one person’s name doesn’t come up as much as one might expect: Jared’s. At one level, this is for the very obvious reason that childbirth is quite literally women’s work. So it makes sense that women’s words and wisdom would come to the forefront. … More Daddy
This is the story of Martha Elanor’s birth – the whole story, no text omitted. Fair warning: I am pretty thorough in my description of what happened, which gets a little specific in the medical quarter. If that bothers you, be forewarned. All pictures are pretty modest, though. You will notice below this post a password-protected … More Easter Vigil: Martha’s Birth Story
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
It’s just after midnight on Holy Saturday. A day that I never expected to reach while still pregnant, eleven days past my due date. I’m awake not exactly by choice, but because every night I don’t take a Benadryl, I seem limited to a four-hour quota of sleep. I am blessed by a savory midnight … More Meditations from the Belly of the Whale
Osborn Fiber Studio 