heaven blew every trumpet and played every horn

the moon stayed up until morning today.

i turned off the light in the kitchen and let joseph stand up on the counter to look out the window at it. clearly, i'm not like other moms; i'm a cool mom. :)

i remember days before joseph was born, there was a full moon coming soon, so i googled "full moon and labor" (in addition to "eating pineapple to induce labor") to find out if there was any truth to that whole thing. and by that whole thing i mean i think around that week somebody had said something about a full moon and more babes being born by way of the gravity and the tide and such. i didn't find any compelling evidence that the full moon was going to help me out, but did you know that there are many people who actually believe that the entire moon landing was staged? now that's somewhat compelling.. for the record, there was actually a huge surge of births the days around joseph's birthday, so much so that we saw a couple from our birth class in labor but in the waiting room.. eeeeh.

have i mentioned that this book is one of my favorites of all books ever? it's true. i love it. aunt sarah gave it to joseph along with the runaway bunny when he was a few months old. i just purchased a copy of on the night you were born to give to elliott as a much-delayed birthday present. i just love it so much. you should read it. and own it. joseph and i have it memorized.

enjoying this could-have-a-babe-any-moment-but-life-as-usual-proceeds season for now. i'm off to complete some projects -- crocheting the goggles for joseph's aviator hat he's been requesting (with each babe hat i completed, he'd respond to my "joseph, guess what i made??" with "jophes hat?") and the pre-babe assembly of birth announcements. excited to put a photo on the front and announce our babe on the inside slash meet/hold/smell/hold/love/look at/hold this baby.



happy tuesday :)

thinking lots about:

- my home. how it feels now and how i can glorify God in the ways i care for it. i am desiring simplicity in so many areas that are right now lacking but potentially could change with a bit more thought on my part. there are lots of little ways that our home's aroma is affected by simply doing one thing instead of another, and i'm on a quest to discover the ways i can move in the direction of more restful, more ahh-i'm-home, more i-don't-constantly-feel-like-i'm-forgetting-something-where-are-my-keys feelings. one area of needed simplifying begins with admitting that i'm terrified of meal-planning. really, i'm terrified of any kind of planning. there i said it. first challenge, right? although, i have a feeling the week or so prior to welcoming newborn babe linneman may not be prime-time for me to take on meal-planning, but in time? what are ways you are simplifying in your home? what are things you really like about your home/routine/rhythm? i'm really interested.

- this babe who's growing and moving and pushing my ribs up-up-up. i can't wait to meet this autumn baby. soon oh soon.

- joseph bourne and how to help him thrive and enjoy and wonder in this stage of life. yesterday we walked around our friends' apartment complex for over an hour and he loved it. more enjoyable fall temperatures could not come at a better time for joseph or mama. and for the coming stages -- i'm thinking about education and what jeremy and i think about it. and what joseph will think about it. and how he'll best learn. and what learning even is. and where i can find a big roll of newsprint paper so that he can have a bit more room for the lightning mcqueen marker creations he's been working on. probably where they print the newspaper; we just have yet to make the trip there.

huh. i thought there were more thoughts, although, the above thoughts have lots of thought-layers to them. i think i think too much. hmm...

pictures instead? :)

the mamas on the bus go up and down

it's been a week of highs and lows, as is life, right? i'll leave out the part about the woman not-so-graciously responding to joseph excitedly pulling a lego-wagon over her mother's feet in the doctor's office waiting room and save room for the pictures of my completed crochet projects at the end. some highlights and lowlights of this week:

- the exciting double stroller we've been desiring for some time is on its way to our home just in time for the new babe and joseph to share. and we got a great deal by ordering it from cotton babies AND saved $21 right before ordering by googling "cotton babies coupon codes." $21 off because of a google search? that's the best. well, technically not like the very best in the entire world, but i do like to think about where that $21 will go instead. toward a moby wrap. :)

- jeremy came home from work early on sunday evening armed with a realsimple and the potatoes i requested for that evening's brisket and mashed potatoes. the man knows the way to his wife's heart.

- this really has nothing to do with anything, but it's kind of fun.. i think this company has stolen my strategic communications heart. their little catalogue with its quirky little "small but still long winded book of why boden is quite good" is adorable. and i like their clothes, too. right now they are significantly adding to a longing for autumn and crispness and a cardigan and oh, that baby i'll have by then and warm coffee early in the morning and such.

- my sweet boy and i have had quite the challenging week. mama's getting more pregnant (or more hormonal and more easily worn-out) and joseph's getting more expressive in moments of frustration (or flailing all limbs in different directions at the same time). so, it's been really hard. this morning was especially challenging, and once we managed to get out of the house to calm things down, i spent the walk praying and reflecting on what we're doing and how and why and what i should do in future moments of extreme challenge (or moments of feeling like i should just get under the covers and hope it all goes away). parenting is hard. i think i knew that. i'm just knowing it a lot more right now. anyone else?

- potty training is still going well. going number 2, however, is not. i think we'll figure it out sooner or later. until then, there is some major resistance and awkward how do i help you not to be afraid of this and how are you, me, and this pregnant belly all going to fit in this bathroom while we try to figure it out? moments. nevertheless, joseph's pretty cute when he washes his hands, isn't he?



- recently added to my books to read list: give them grace, radical homemakers, and the well-trained mind. what's on your list?

- i think i gave myself carpal tunnel syndrome (oops) by way of incessant crocheting. but here are the finished hats. i discovered that "repetitive wrist movement" can make this common pregnancy condition worse, but i couldn't bring myself to stop before finishing this sweet little newsboy cap for a baby girl. ah well, i'll just have to deal with a tingly right hand for a bit.



yep, there have been lots of up and down moments this week. i found sweet hope in these words yesterday morning: "but this i call to mind, and therefore i have hope: the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to and end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 'the Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore i will hope in him.' (lamentations 3:21-24)

i hope your weeks have been good (at the same time as possibly up and down as well). until next tuesday, friends. :)

a big weekend.. here are some glimpses:


[watching the lawn mowers across the street. in thomas underwear and double-layered winter hats.]


[sweet jeremy brought these home for me -- five year anniversary/thanks for letting me go pick up dinner and wander around whole foods after the 9-3 potty-training shift on my day off flowers.]


[yep. celebratory cupcakes. with lime frosting.]

we spent our weekend on a 3-day potty training adventure. today is day 4, and not only did sweet boy wear big-boy underwear to the library and keep them dry, he climbed the big historic steps to the front doors (something i pictured happening around, oh, four years old, probably with vibrantly colored autumn leaves blustering about and a look of long-awaited accomplishment on joseph's face) all by himself. the kid's a big boy. (sigh.) (happy sigh.)

how was your weekend?

this week i:

considered making limeade ice cubes to prevent watering down any of my (twice or thrice-) daily limeade indulgence and made a somewhat shameless somewhat guilty trip to target for limeade and only limeade. plus dumb & dumber from blockbuster. yes!

found joseph here (in mama & dada's bed) what felt like hourly. daily. as in if it's quiet for a moment, i can pretty safely bet he's in our bed. pretending to be sleeping. or saying "tunnel.. tunnel," which usually results in a tunnel until mama gets tired of being the tunnel support beams.



took a car-load of we-don't-need-this-we-need-room-in-our-home-who-wants-it items to once upon a child and will take what remains (after selling and giving away to a woman i met in the store) to goodwill tomorrow. sigh. feels realllllly freeing to get rid of things we don't want/need.

managed to keep my $3 chaco sandals living strong (and saved the $60 i was thinking/denying would have to go toward a fitting pair) with a strap adjustment to fit pregnant summer feet. and walked multiple times in skirts that i refused to wear with tennis shoes in wonderful chaco-walking summer's finally cooling off a bit wonderfulness. plus i get to put that money in the double-stroller fund which we are going to order this week!

got to do a family photo shoot courtesy of our friend, megan, as an anniversary present! here's a sneak peek.. i can't wait to see the rest of them! and she's giving us (giving us!) new babe family photos after our little one is born! all of these sentences (appropriately) end in exclamation points!



took full advantage of nesting instincts by cleaning out my refrigerator, sweeping under furniture, cleaning out the disaster closet, and crocheting this hat, which, as is fitting, is an owl. get it? nesting? do owls even live in nests? hmm... also, i crocheted a sweet little pink hat for a potential girl-babe linneman which, after falling in love with this little blue guy, i plan to transform into a sweet little pink owl hat as sooooon as i'm done here.



on that note, i think i'm done here. i'd write more, but it's just that crocheting/nesting is so wonderful these days. and by that i mean i'm addicted.

i hope that you're enjoying this late summer early autumn. isn't it funny how welcome seasonal changes are? and yet i tend to resist the rest of life's change.. there's gotta be a life lesson in there somewhere. :)

bright spots in my week as a mama:

joseph composing the "righteous song" on the piano -- "(playing softly) righteous, righteous.. (banging LOUDLY) righteous! righteous!" -- and following it with the "bulldozer truck song," "dada song," and "mama song."

giving this sweet boy a bath tonight and marveling at the fact that he's a real whole person who i get to know (and bathe for now) -- i'm finding myself largely unable to fully describe the wonder of this. and the bath from two nights ago that resulted in this smooth-studious boy.

the sweetest extended night-night hug for mama followed by, "in the bed" from joseph.. sorry, mama must have forgotten she had to put you down while she was wrapped up in her mama-moment.

major nesting instinct resulting in what feels like miles of tiny fabric birthday banners for the babe's birth announcements and two crocheted hat projects in starting stages.

hope your weeks were wonderful.

elliott's here!

my sweet boy fell asleep before noon today. i know how he feels; we've had a big couple of days. baby elliott made his arrival last night at 5:46 pm. i keep finding myself staring blankly ahead of me while reliving moments from the day, realizing that i'm still somewhat surprised by a baby joining the world at the end of it all, and then suddenly i get this huge urge to bake a big batch of raspberry-lemon scones to take over to the daugherty's, followed by the thought that i may be obsessed with them. i could probably use a pre-noon nap as well. :)

i read psalm 84 yesterday morning before joseph and ian (pre-baby-brother's-birth sleepover!) woke up. beautifully significant:

"blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to zion.
as they go through the valley of baca they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
they go from strength to strength;
each one appears before God in zion." (psalm 84:5-7)

i smiled as i read verse 7 in particular, which was described in the footnote as, "they keep on finding new levels of strength for the journey," thinking of each stage of labor that luke and ann would be experiencing that day, praying strength for them throughout it all.

i can't do word-justice to yesterday's events, but my heart and mind are filled with visions of luke and ann working & moving & being together through each contraction, of the easy smiles and laughter shared between each one nearly up until the moment ellliott was born. at many points in the afternoon it felt so very normal for them to be, quite simply, having a baby together. it was such an amazing picture of beautiful God-glorifying very real life with each other. and then elliott was born, and this tiny baby boy began his life in his mama's arms with faces close and their voices welcoming him, telling him they're so glad he's here, that he was a little bit stubborn at the end there, that he's grumpy just like his brother was. he was so purple and fresh and new.

i am so thankful that i was able to be a part of this birth. thank you, Lord. you are beautiful and your creation is so lovely.


sigh. maybe i will make those scones. :)

p.s. there are lots of pictures that are much better than this one, but they're all on luke & ann's camera.. this was the only picture i managed to snag on my camera. i know, i know, what kind of doula gets a water bottle in the shot, right?