July 28, 2012

Baby’s Breath	Perfect Timing
This may sound strange but, I must admit, one of my favorite things these days is my baby's breath. You know how a puppy has that great bologna breath? Well, BC's is like that only better. It's all milky, warm, and sweet. And it's always followed by a slobbery mouth planted on my cheek or nose - his version of a kiss, I'm convinced. It's these little things, see, that I want to remember about BC's infancy. I want to remember how his hair sometimes sticks straight out in the back in a little tuft and how we call it his "duck tail". I want to remember how he extends his arms to the sides when we ask him "how big are you?". I want to remember how his eyes get so big when we go under a bridge or through a tunnel while driving. I want to remember his laughter. I want to remember his Elvis sneer, his plotting nursing hands, his curled up monkey toes, his love of being naked baby, "Go, go, gadget glowworm!", "AEIOU", his sleep noises, his sigh after sneezing, his gummy mouth, and I want to remember his baby breath. I want to remember all of it. I know that's impossible. As he grows, new things will inevitably arise that I'll want to remember, pushing other things out of my memory, despite all my best efforts to keep them there. Maybe one day, years from now when he is grown, I will look back on this writing and think, "yes. I had forgotten, but now I remember, how much I loved my baby's breath." ~M	This rose bush was a gift from our neighbors across the street.  It got planted in the front of our house a little over a year ago, before we even knew SJ was in the works.  I wasn’t sure it would survive this drought we have been in, as I’ve only intermittently watered my plants and bushes.  When I walked outside this morning and saw these two blooms I smiled.  How appropriate and what perfect timing. Last night someone said something to me that played over and over in my head throughout the night.  “That’s your baby?”    It’s not necessarily the question but the tone of this woman that stuck with me.  She was genuinely surprised that I had a 3.5 month old baby.  Maybe it’s because she knows I have teenagers and who in their right mind would start over again? Maybe it’s that I looked a little too old to have a newborn? Who knows? I answered her with, “Yes, yes he is.  He’s our surprise blessing, perfectly timed in our lives.”  She smiled an awkward smile and said, “Glad it’s you and not me.” What? Well me too!!! I began thinking about how amazing it is to have SJ and how everything just seems to be in God’s perfect timing, even if I don’t recognize it in the beginning.  I recognize that we have what we need when we need it and I am so thankful for that. When we found out we were going to have SJ I was nervous, a little scared, but mostly excited.  I couldn’t wait to meet him.  Sure I worried about little things.  Like how it would be for him to grow up in a neighborhood where most of the kids are grown or at least 10 years his senior.  How he would do as the only child in the home from elementary school on.  Of course soon after that thought, my neighbor (the same one that gave us the rose bush) announced that she and her husband were expecting twins!  That’s right, twin babies that will be here next month.  SJ will have not one close by playmate but two, only five months younger.  Perfect timing! ~A