inventory two: december edition

Blessing: our December world finally became a winter wonderland. Snow is so peaceful. It prompts me to be still. 

Oh how I have loved seeing my world in white. 

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Blessing: being home for the holidays. 

Having so many littles at home to be the center of our celebrations made this year especially fun. 

Grandma Susie gathered everyone in and around to reenact the Nativity Story our first night home, including Ryan's family. 

(sub-blessing: mine and Ryan's families are friends, our homes are within a mile of each other, and his littlest brothers play with my nieces and nephews. Hello, awesome)

Everyone loved it, except for the babe-wrapped-in-swaddling-clothes, Olivia. 

All she wanted was to sleep in heavenly peace. 

I love the story of our Savior's arrival into this world. I love that today children most often reenact the event. Nothing else better conveys that magnificence and majesty are found in simplicity. 

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Blessing: my baby girl is loved. 

And she is so happy. 

It is such a privilege to mother her...kisses to you, Olivia darling. 

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Blessing: my family here is an eternal one. The end.

We had the merriest Christmas and a beautiful year. 

I am bursting for what is to be.

Dear 2013, 

Be as good to us as your forbear, if you will.

I think that you will be, if not even more. 

You have incredible potential. 

Love the blessed, hopeful, and excited lady,

 Jeni

oh the irony

My teal paper-filled journal - the sole treasurer of our family's happenings as of late - has had repeat entries like this:

"Beauty day. I was finally ready at like, 4:00, and I checked off one item on my to-do list (even though my goal was to check the whole thing off and away). Whatev. Could be worse. We'll get scheduled again, and Olivia is gaining weight. All is well."

What else has an inexperienced mother have to say when the baby girl's schedule is unpredictable due to
A) Reflux - what did I eat this time??
B) Incoming teeth
C) The 45-minute nap intruder
D) I have no idea, really, so all of the above

I pick "D."

Lately I've just started the day with a plan of what I want to get done, and then I ride the waves of Olivia's needs. That means that in the end I spend a lot of time cooing and squawking, gargling and singing.

Sound enlightening, productive, and inspirational?

Not naturally.

However. This little girl is growing because of these most "insignificant" interactions and it's obvious that our friendship means everything to her. She trusts that I'll be there when she wakes up, and to be present until she drifts back to sleep. She relies on me entirely as she endeavors to develop, because what can she do for herself?

Do I grasp how much it means to her that I give her my time, how important it is that I am simply with her? I don't think so.

 If only she could really talk.

So, this motherhood job is turning me into a much more relaxed person. Never have I been so okay with just letting the day happen. I've been a strict scheduler of my personal life for ages. 

That said, as I am ever adjusting to this work, never have I been more efficient. The time I have to check of my to-do's when she naps - whether it be 45 minutes long or a blessed 2.5 hours - is oh so purposefully spent. Never have I showered, make-up'd, and tidied my house so fast. Never have I eaten my meals so swiftly. Never have I really, really tried to make my minutes count toward total productivity. 

I am Lady Easygoing and Mrs. Make-Things-Happen. Oh the irony.  

Oh, yes, the irony. This day-to-day work of caring for three-month-old Olivia is more fulfilling than anything I've ever done, and yet it's so very simple. 

Fact (however ironic it may be): the smallest of things in this life make the greatest, happiest differences. 

All is well.

hello, blog

Sorry for the neglect.

Promise it wasn't intentional. 

Olivia's perfect schedule went berserk the week after Thanksgiving, but she and I have worked things out, which is why I'm back. No, that perfect Baby Wise schedge hasn't returned to us, but we're working on it. Olivia may be getting teeth. That's all I need to say. 

Olivia is basically laughing now. Don't you love it? She does this gargle in the back of her throat, I gargle back, then we both smile, then we laugh. Three-month-old Olivia is my favorite so far. 

What the, three months? What happened during the last three months? Reflux, what? Sleepless nights, what? That time has flown. 

*Note: no, Olivia hasn't outgrown reflux (yet), and no, Olivia isn't sleeping through the night (yet)

Three months ago I was about to go into labor with this special delivery in tow...

and now here she is

and here she is smiling at her (not pictured, but also smiling) father 

 and here she is looking at her (totally smitten) mother 

Okay now here she is again smiling at her now-pictured father. 

P.S. Do I need to remind you that her father is incredible? Don't worry, I'll get back to you on that one soon.

So, we're alive, and oh so happy. 

The happiest, in fact.