this week...

***Stick with me for one more day of baby-talk. Then I promise we'll get back to other topics...but wow, it's hard to stop talking about the fun news I've been bottling up for so long! I just made this chain, with a link for each day until our next doctor appointments. The first heart is the heartbeat appointment and the last heart is the ultrasound. I'm so excited already.

This week my baby is the size of a grape. I was eating grapes when I read this in my baby book and it made me wonder why they choose the healthy fruits mom’s are supposed to be consuming to compare to the little life growing inside of us. It's awkward!

This week my tummy is showing a bit, but I am less convinced that it is baby and more convinced that it might just be the quarter pan of tatter tot casserole I consumed last night.

This week I’m feeling a bit nauseous, but cannot complain. Some women are miserable, and I am far from miserable. But nauseous the same. And oh so tired.

This week my baby’s heart is dividing into four chambers. Just imagine that. It blows my mind, and makes me think that these moments of feeling sicky are really okay with me. Clearly my baby is working hard in there.

This week God has been growing greater and bigger for me. I am in awe of his handiwork, knitting this babe in my womb, and how I don’t really have a whole lot to do with it. I just eat well and sleep lots, but truly, the miracle that this little life is forming fingernails right about now really has nothing to do with me. ‘Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit’ says the Lord.

This week you might hear me say, “I’m sort of hoping for twins, because then I can say, ‘ohhhhh see? That’s why I’ve been eating so much...”

telling our family

First of all, the comments and emails I received yesterday overwhelm me. I swear there were not ten minutes that passed in the day when I did not get an email or message celebrating the life growing inside of me. To know that we get to bring a life into such love is the greatest feeling in the world.

So. We found out our joyous news five weeks ago (I am 9 weeks along) and waited a full 24 hours before we told anyone...it felt like a very, very long time. We were sneaky in telling our folks and siblings...for each person we led them along in a long conversation about other topics before dropping the news on them. I recommend this method. I think we got the greatest reactions ever with this strategy! In the video you will watch us tell the following people in the following order:

Mom Harrington
Dad Harrington
Mom Groves
Dad Groves
Heidi, high school bff
Annika, my sister
Mat, my brother
Sara, rory's sister-in-law
Kyle, rory's brother
Lisa, kyle's wife, rory's sister-in-law



Telling people about our new little life has been far more celebratory than I had ever imagined. To feel other people's joy in response to our joy is one of the most humbling, well loved feelings in the whole wide world. I have a few stories to go with telling my grandma, my uncle carl, and my cousin sarah. All of them left me laughing and grateful for a community that is already excited to love and meet the little life growing inside of me.

And I've got thoughts on pregnancy and patience in waiting to get pregnant and the joy of being pregnant with my sister. But all of those posts will have to wait for another day. For now (tuesday night) I'm off to bed, a favorite hangout lately.

two lines

I'm not sure we've ever been so happy! We're due on November 2nd and ecstatic in every way.

Be sure to stop by tomorrow for a sweet video of us telling our parents and siblings...it's as good as it gets.

PISH. en. ski.

That's how you say Pysanky, the art of Ukrainian Easter Egg Dying. I hosted 28 women here at camp on Friday night for an evening of candles, enya-type music, low lighting and calm conversation. It honestly was one of my favorite events I've led at camp because it was just so relaxed.

My friend Gina and I set up all afternoon so that when the women arrived they each had a place setting with instructions, bee's wax, a candle, two washed eggs and a kiska (the tool you use to apply the wax to your egg).
I had three stations for dying the eggs. And our host Grant (on staff here) made 33 wire egg dippers for me! He's a good guy. The colors of the egg dye are astounding. It's my favorite part of pysanky...the dye is so bright and saturated that the eggs turn brilliantly bright. It's what I always wanted my PAWS to do growing up...but those colors always ended up so muted unless you left your egg in there overnight....

The women all came with a close friend or sister or family member and it was so fun to watch close friends laugh and giggle as they tried something new. I love girlfriends like this.

I began our time together with a flipchart full of instructions. The very first thing listed was: Someones egg will break. It might be yours. It will be sad. And then I warned that these little eggs can become quite precious, but to please remember, it is just an egg.

Thankfully, we only had three eggs break, and they were all the practice eggs. Special thanks to Lisa Groves, my lovely sister-in-law, for sharing Pysanky with me three years ago. Who knew I'd become such an enthusiast?!! If you're interested in learning more, go to: http://www.ukrainiangiftshop.com/

more thoughts on church.

Today is Palm Sunday. On the liturgical calendar, this is a big deal Sunday...the Sunday just before Easter, the beginning of Holy Week. The week begins with this day filled with Hosannas and celebration as Jesus is welcomed into Jerusalem, and then Thursday remembers the last supper and his moments of prayer and deep sorrow in the Garden of Gethsemane. Friday walks through each agonizing moment of the crucifixion and for three days we wait until Easter Sunday, when we celebrate our Risen Messiah.

Last night on the phone my sister said, "enjoy your Palm Sunday." And I immediately felt disappointed because I knew the church we now attend is so less liturgical than what I am used to, and that the day wouldn't be celebrated. Now, to be fair, we got to the service 18 minutes late, so I might have missed something said or done. But as far as I could tell, we didn't acknowledge this day that is so revered in mainline and especially protestant churches.

But here's the thing. When we arrived (again, 18 minutes late) our pastor was just beginning his sermon and let me tell you, this guy can preach. He is so gifted for sharing God's word on Sunday morning. It always catches me off guard because he seems young (look who's trying to judge!) and the church is new and there is always a part of my self that wants to pick this place apart. But this morning was a holy spirit morning, where I really felt challenged and convicted to set my expectations aside and look at the place God has led me.

And what I saw: a faithful people gathered, listening earnestly to the word of God preached, singing hymns of praise to our Messiah. Hmmm. Sounds a lot like palm sunday.