I feel like Christmas has already begun, and I so love this time of the year. Ever since I was a kid, I claimed that Christmas Eve was my favorite day of the year. I'm sure that as a small child, Santa's arrival and the onslaught of presents was a big part of that, but over the years, I realized that it was the people I was with that made it really special. So, as we've grown and moved and had babies and inlaws and miles between our homes, even when the date of the gathering has had to change, it's still my favorite day of the year. This past Saturday was no exception. I absolutely loved seeing kids getting excited about spending the day with their cousins. We don't get everyone together nearly often enough, but I still knew they would have a blast together. And they surely did!
We are set for a quiet Christmas Eve (quiet in terms of no travelling, because I'm sure it'll be anything but quiet at our house) and then a homebound Christmas Day/Day After with family in Turbotville. I had to laugh as I was travelling down 522 on Saturday morning with the kids in the back of the van. The thought occurred to me that this would be the last trip to Lewistown with only two children in the van. The next time we do it, we'll be loaded up with all three, and knowing my luck, 2 of them will be screaming their heads off. I can hardly wait. (Sarcasm totally intended!)
As the weeks fly by, the double anticipation is really something. It's kind of hard to describe. While all of our focus right now is on getting ready for Christmas- cookies baked for school parties, presents loaded into the van to be smuggled into the basement, last minute errands run, meal plans set and cooking started for the weekend, etc.- there's this looming question mark of whether the baby is going to hold off for our schedule or dictate one of her very own. And anyone who has spent more than 34 seconds in my presence and knows the control freak that I am knows that, even as much joking as I've been doing about a 2011 tax deduction and a 2011 health insurance deductible, I wouldn't exactly be graceful about a surprise middle-of-the-night delivery. Although, with God's sense of humor, I know it's a distinct possibility, particularly since my c-section is scheduled for the literal day before my original due date. However, on all accounts from last week's biophysical profile and non stress test, the baby looks awesome. She is between 5.5-6 lb and they don't anticipate her to get much bigger than 7-7.5 before delivery. She scored 10/10 on the biophysical profile, an indicator of her health apparently, and really showed off on the non stress test with tons of activity and great heartrate patterns. My numbers look better this pregnancy than they have in either of the other two and it seems we are all systems go for riding out the rest of this roller coaster ride. But.......and there's always a but.......they still always warn me that at this point, anything can change on a dime, and anything can happen in a heartbeat. Comforting. Especially when you pride yourself on planning every nanosecond of your life. I'm taking this as a lesson in reality that is about to hit me square between the eyes when I suddenly become the mother of three.
And so....we wait. For Christmas. For the miracle of Christmas that always amazes me- in how real and profoundly the message of God's packaging of our salvation in the perfect, most unexpected way feels when I allow myself time to really reflect on it. For the looks on the faces of our two most precious blessings when they see the treasures they have waiting for them under the tree. And for the most amazing gift that is headed our way in just a short time- the face of our third blessing. There is so much to look forward to. I don't know if my heart can hold this much joy. But I can't wait to find out what it feels like.
I'll leave you with some pictures of the weekend's festivities in Lewistown.
Getting 5 children to look at the same spot at the same time = mission impossible.
Joshua and Lauren wasted no time digging into their gifts! And they love them!
That is what I call a mess of Richards!
Although rotated incorrectly, please turn your head to see what a disaster this photo attempt was. Joshua could not be more bored. Anna was making silly faces. Lauren is dazed and confused about what we're even trying to do. Brooke was about to split. The only one who cooperated was Ridge. Bless his sweet little heart. These were all of Grandma's great-grandchildren, minus Jordan and Olivia in Tennessee. What a crew.
My generation of cousins. I especially like that the flash didn't work on this, so you can't really see how big my 36 week belly is. Yikes.
Pap read the kids "Twas the Night Before Christmas" which used to be a family tradition. I only wish I could scan in a photo of what it used to look like when we were kids-- all of us sitting nicely in our Christmas dresses around Pap on the floor, listening intently. In this frame, at least Lauren was listening. But make no mistake, she headed for the hills only moments later. The kids kind of listened, but it was a funny contrast to the memories I have as a kid. Let's just say, my generation still listened intently!
No comments:
Post a Comment