Oh, Baby!

I usually get up quite early. I really value the dark, quiet time alone that allows me to ease into the day as it arrives. By the time it's light and others are stirring, I'm usually ready to get on with it. It's my favorite time of day, that time just before it actually starts--full of possibilities and hope. And even if they don't come through, there will be that same sense of 'maybe' tomorrow, as the next day reveals itself. So this morning I am writing as everyone else sleeps. I hear their nights noises around me and while I am glad for what that means--being surrounded by those I love most--it is also the noises I am not hearing that bring joy.

We spent yesterday hauling around an outlet mall so that the kids could take advantage of the bargains, and 2 of the 3 of them did well. But being pregnant and not wanting to know the baby's sex made it hard for JLO to get into the whole shopping thing. We did find a couple of cute unisex things for Twitch (as the baby is called prebirth since JLO's first unusual hint of the pregnancy was an eye twitch), but compared to the others, there wasn't much of interest for her.

Last night I brought out the stethoscope and like an incredibly good sport, JLO found the baby's heartbeat for us. I sat there trying to hear it, hearing mostly crackles and things I knew weren't it, wondering if I'd recognize it if I did hear it. And then faintly, faintly, in the background--there it was. There is a miracle in there--a whole new person we are all waiting to meet. And everytime it sends me a reminder, I am in awe.

Today KT and I will finish up the last of the food shopping (hopefully!) and do the last bit of cooking. I think this will get us through Boxing Day. It's been kind of funny... I've spent all this time cooking/baking and freezing it all--the realization that it's time to start taking it all out and serve it seems somehow wrong. The husband's brother and his family should arrive--no one knows when or if they will be expecting a meal or not, but that is how it usually goes and plans (both food related and other) are fluid. The teens may perish from boredom, but no one will go hungry!

The girls have been asked to go through some things that we are interested in passing on to them and in doing so we are sharing some memories both recent and going back to both my and the husband's childhoods. It seems very appropriate as it invokes the presence of those who are no longer with us. At this time of year especially, they are most welcome.  The bottom line is family--even when they drive you nuts, it is a blessing to have them in your life.  Add to that their desire to come home and be together, and that is another miracle as far as I'm concerned.