Patience

I already knew that we had the best friends in the world and then we received a package in the mail from Kathy and her boys that confirmed this. She made, BY HAND, this adorable little Zooter piggy for Elijah. It could not be more perfect! "Zooter" has such a fun, special meaning for us, so it is a very meaningful little gift.



I'm pretty sure I will always think of 2010 as the Year of Patience. Bed rest has required a lot of patience (and will continue to do so, I'm sure), Elijah is in a phase where he is constantly searching inside himself for patience, which requires even more patience from Dan and me. We literally pray for patience at each meal and before bed each night and all three of us repeat "patiencepatiencepatience" as we walk around the house or eat dinner or lay on the couch or do whatever.

Today I realized that it's not really that Elijah is overall behaving worse than he normally does. It's just that his highs have become higher and his lows have become lower. When he is a good boy, he is really really good and when he's not, well.. No matter what, though, I love every minute I get to spend with him. I'm so grateful for him and for his health. We love our little (sometimes very impatient) boy to pieces! He's the best.

I reached the 32-week mark in my pregnancy yesterday, which is a huge milestone. My contractions have maybe gotten just a little bit worse, but nothing too alarming yet. I am so happy to have made it to this point and I'm still hoping for a 39-week delivery. Stranger things have happened!

I'll end with my favorite recent Elijah translation:
"bundled up" (as in, wearing layers of clothes) = "buckled up"