His Crib

~Sheets {lovingly used} given by his great-great aunt Tita.

~ Knitted blanket and pillow made by his paternal grandmother Mimi.

~Little lamb blanket given my his soon-to-be Aunt Karen.

~Painting from his talented Uncle Drew. 

Marbles.

Rafa recently brought home a huge jar of marbles.  They had been at his mom’s house; his collection from childhood.  Since we are about to have a full-time child at this house, he thought it was high time to bring them home.  I love them.  Each one has a story of how he won or traded for it and why he likes it.  Some are teeny tiny while others are giants.  Some are solid in color, others have more colors than the rainbow. 

They remind me that I married a man who was once a boy and open a window for me to peep inside his yesterdays.   Being married to Rafa has caused me to realize that the line between boyhood and manhood is not as defined as I once thought and that the best of men still know how to be boys. I am so thankful that my son has a dad who will teach him how to be a boy, and in doing so, show him what it means to be a man. 

Yes, the marbles have a permanent place in our home and I foresee them playing a large part in another boy’s childhood. 

It’s April 13th. It’s April 13th?!

How in the world did we ever get halfway through April already?  Wasn’t it *just* Christmas?!?  As a child I heard people talk about time flying and I could never understand it.  Now I do.  Does that mean I am old?  I’m okay with being old. 

Last night I spent some time cleaning up the computer.  Defragmenting, erasing old pictures and the like.  We are about to have a baby and I have a feeling we will need all the memory space for pictures we can get!    I took the time to look at the pictures from the past several months.   In doing so, I was reminded again and again of God’s goodness to us. Our life is nothing extraordinary. We are just a young couple passing through day to day life in the midst of the struggles that come from being strangers in this world.  But God is good.  Showing us again and again that we are His. That He wants our hearts and has a plan for our lives that is anything but ordinary. 

Why am I so slow to trust?  Why do I let my emotions, not the truth, guide my heart?  We are weeks or even days away from welcoming a little man into this world.  A child.  A person. A soul.  To say I am thrilled would be an understatement.  But to say I was not worried would be a flat out lie.  Change always worries me because I do not know what the outcome will be.  I often prefer for everything to stay the same, good, bad, or missing out on God’s best, because I know the way things are is something I can handle.  How sad is that?  Some thoughts from my journal a few days ago….

“Lord, I do believe that this whole things is causing me to trust You…and your word….trust that You know what’s best even if its not what I would choose.  Trust that You love the soul I carry inside of me more than I ever could. That this child is only mine for a time, that I am only a season in his life, and that You will determine the rest.  That you have entrusted me with this precious boy because you know I am able; not on my own, but thru You.  That your mercies are new every morning and that You will carry us through one day at a time.”

35 weeks.

Puppy.

A very round, quite adorable, chocolate-brown Doberman.  A sweetheart through and through. 

Shelving.

My dear Rafa has never quite understood the mentality behind blogging, reading blogs, and status updates on Facebook. “Why do they really care?  Why do you really care to know what someone ate for dinner last night?!”  he questions with a grin and a shake of his head. 

Recently, we have been reorganizing, de-cluttering, simplifying, and marking projects off our to-do list, cause as you may know there will be a little person coming to live with us in about three months.  Our house is new, and was built {like most homes here}  without cabinets, closets, or storage space.  I like it because it makes you keep only the things you use and become creative whenever you do not have something you think you need.  Most of our belongings we keep in suitcases or crates on the floor.  That works for a young married couple in a new home, but when you think about a baby and all his things moving into that, you realize you need a more permanent solution. 

One of our projects has been shelving. We worked on it over several of Rafa’s lunch breaks and finished up last week.  As we were finishing Rafa said, “Now this is something you should put on your blog!”  So here it goes…

I do not have any before pictures, but here is the space at the very beginning of the project.  It is a corner between our bathroom and back doors. 

And then our after pic…

One day we may get cute little matching boxes or baskets for everything, but for now we are quite pleased with the result.  It serves it’s purpose and does not look half bad! And in the process of organizing everything, we were able to get rid of a lot.  The only thing left sitting on the floor now is a suitcase for each of us with our clothing in it. 

It is great {and economically friendly} being married to a guy who knows how to make an idea come to life with a few handy tools.  And I thoroughly enjoy being his assistant! 

The Day God Gave me a Chicken…

I have wanted hens for a long time now.

But there was always one thing and then the other…Apartment living,  no closed in yard space, going out of town, then the cold season. Then there is the list of a million other things that are more important than chickens that we hope to accomplish before Baby D makes his arrival.  Building a chicken coop, buying chicks, and all that while desired where put on the back burner. 

Until a couple of weeks ago.  Rafa came home from work for lunch with a cardboard box.   A hen was inside!   She “just-so-happened”  to show up at the shop where he works. And wouldn’t you know?  She has been quite faithful in her egg laying duties.  She is calm, does not destroy things, and clucks occasionally, but other than that you would have know idea she was around. 

I know that she was a sweet gift from God.  A just-because-I-love-you gift.  I smile and give thanks every time I step outside to see her or pick up a still warm brown egg. 

“…Every good and perfect gift comes from above…”