The Moment We've Been Waiting For

With a gesture towards my very round stomach, a stranger would ask, "Is this your first?"

I'd rest a hand atop the shelf created by the life growing and kicking and flipping inside and say with a smile, "No, he's got a big brother at home.  He'll be three when this little one arrives."  

"Three years apart?  That's good, they'll be great friends some day."

"That's what we're hoping."

When we started talking about having a second child, the age distance between our children was important to me.  My sister and I are just shy of two years apart, and our birth months had me just one grade behind her once we started school.  Now I love my sister dearly, but I had my share of issues growing up with the identity that stemmed from being "L's little sister" and not Kim.  I know that made me incredibly sensitive to the plight of being number two and I wanted to make sure that there was at least one school year as a buffer between our children.  But at the same time, I didn't want them to be so far apart that they could never find common ground.

So, we've got two boys who are three years and two months apart.  Far enough apart that j won't be so fresh in teacher's minds as they greet e in a classroom, and close enough that they can still share common interests and activities.

And finally, almost three years into their relationship as brothers, we've reached our first point of common interests and activities, and dare I say it, these brothers are becoming friends.

They can now laugh and play together for hours without tears and complaints.  They can make a game out of running back and forth in the house, or can snuggle together quietly with books or a movie.  e is now interested in toys that j is still interested in, as opposed to the "baby toys" j made known he was too old for.  e is also now big enough that they can play like little boys do, and that kid can hold his own against his big brother.  It is so fun to watch their interactions now.

And while they still have their moments, I think this rather recent change is going to stick around.  At least until they have girls to fight over.

Necklace Winners

Hey all, sorry I didn't choose winners and get this posted earlier.

Yesterday was a busy day, what with celebrating my sister's MBA, alternately cheering and chewing my fingernails during the Vikings game, and finally ending the night emotionally exhausted from the Vikings loss.

But, today is a new day and I figured out how to post a screen shot!  Yea me!

The winners are:

Fifteen and five, which are Julie and Shel.

Ladies, get ahold of me at kimdeshaw at gmail dot com to claim your necklaces!  First to e-mail me is first to chose which she wants.

Not A Coincidence

Pssst, when you finish reading this, go back to here and enter the giveaway for a Ugandan Paper Bead Necklace.  Please?  But not yet!  Read this first.  Or go there and come back.  

I strongly believe that sometimes a person needs to be still and quiet to hear whispers from God.  I'm pretty sure "be still" is a direct quote actually.

I also strongly believe that sometimes God gets sick of waiting around for me to be still and quiet and instead decides to do something akin to smacking me upside the head with a 2 x 4 in order to get me to listen.

I haven't been listening well lately.  I've been ignoring a quiet whisper, a gentle nudge for a few months and yesterday God brought out the lumber.

I've known for a long time that I could make some minor adjustments in my life and free up some additional finances to sponsor a second child through Compassion International.  And I resisted.

Until yesterday.

I sat at my desk on Wednesday reflecting on the prior evening spent at Feed My Starving Children thinking about how blessed I am and how I should be doing more.

Then I decided since I knew how FMSC was reacting to the quakes in Haiti, I should see what Compassion International was doing to respond.  (We already sponsor a little girl in the Dominican Republic.)

And since I was on the Compassion site I decided I could look at kids who need sponsorship.  You know, just browse.

Now though I had Haiti on my mind I knew Compassion didn't have sponsorships available in Haiti, as they need to verify the status of all of the kids in their program since the quakes, so I needed to chose a different country to browse.

I pulled up the drop down list and scanned it.  Rwanda jumped out at me because I have a high school classmate who has a heart for Rwanda.  She was just there last week visiting what she considers to be her second family.  Rwanda it was.

Then I decided to narrow the age range down to 3 to 5, because I want my kids to relate to the child we sponsor, even though I was just browsing remember?

Compassion then gave me approximately ten photos of children ages 3 to 5 in Rwanda who needed sponsorship, and one stuck out.  That one photo contained a red heart in the corner.  A heart that means that particular child has been waiting for more than six months for a sponsor.

I still wasn't going to sponsor a second child, but I clicked on that little boy's picture, my cursor hovering over that heart.

I started to read that little boy's bio and was soon wiping away tears and reaching for my wallet.  Little M was going to be our second Compassion child.

And that 2 x 4 God needed to hit me with?  The not so subtle prompt that was much more than a random coincidence?

M shares a birthday with someone incredibly important to me.

My firstborn.

Bloggers Meeting, Eating and Feeding, with a Giveaway!

So Kim, what are you doing tonight?  The question came from a co-worker and I hesitated before answering.

Um, I um, well, um, aw heck, I'll just say it.  I'm going to meet a bunch of strangers from the internet, again.

I always hate explaining myself to people who don't understand why I blog or spend time on Twitter, or people who don't believe that authentic relationships can be formed via words on a screen.   Explaining to people outside of social media that I am going to spend time with people I know but am meeting in person for the first time is awkward at best.

Last night I faced rush hour traffic from my end of the Twin Cities suburbs to the entirely opposite end of town in order to spend some time meeting some other Minnesota Bloggers.  I picked up the first volume of the Glee soundtrack on my way outta dodge and boogied my way through a nearly 45 minute drive excited to see some of my blogging peeps.

I got to see some blogging turned in real life friends again, meet some bloggers I've got an online relationship with in person for the first time, and meet some bloggers that I'd never heard of before.  (I'll totally admit that I didn't have the time I would have liked to fully explore the attendees links beforehand.)

Despite the opportunity meet and greet and mingle, I was seriously excited about what the second half of our evening was going to hold, packing meals at Feed My Starving Children.

We gathered around tables and measured soy, rice, dehydrated vegetables and a vegetarian chicken flavoring full of vitamins and minerals into bags, sealed them and packed them into boxes.  A bag weighing less than 400 grams that has the power to change the life of a starving child.  Food with the power to take a starving child on the brink of death and return him or her to health in just weeks and months of a single meal a day.

In an hour of work, our group with the help of some other volunteers were able to pack enough meals to feed 38 children everyday for a year.  What a difference our time will make in the lives of those children.  Children in Haiti to be specific.  I saw a tweet this morning that a shipment went out today, and there is a good chance the pallet of food we helped pack (and that we laid hands on and prayed over) is already on its way.

What an amazing group of people, and an amazing way to spend an evening with them.

Photo Credit: Carrie

You can also see a list of the posts by other attendees here on Missy's blog.  And while I'm at it, a huge thank you to Missy for organizing the event. 

And, finally, to the giveaway!

Feed My Starving Children supports their program in a few ways, one of which is selling merchandise, both FMSC gear and handmade goods from countries in which their food is distributed.  They purchase the goods at market price in those countries, benefiting the creator and their families and then mark them up and use the profits to fund meals.

So, while at FMSC yesterday I purchased two necklaces from Uganda.  The beads are made of paper, hand rolled and sealed.  Each of these necklaces provides the funds needed to make 41 meals.

You can win one of these two necklaces by answering two questions in the comments.  One, had you ever heard of Feed My Starving Children previous to this?  And two, will you consider joining us next time?

I'll use random.org to choose two winners on Sunday, January 24th, no entries past 11:59 p.m. CST Saturday.  If you don't have your e-mail address readily available on your profile or blog, please leave a way for me to contact you in the comment in the event that you win.  (And seriously, in case it wasn't clear enough above, I purchased the items for this giveaway myself.)

What I Learned Tonight

Do NOT rub a vapor rub product on your sleeping, coughing son's chest and then rub your itching eye.

Even if you've washed your hands and think the vapor rub product is gone.

Ouch.

Invaluable advice.  You're welcome.

Help For Haiti

I posted a while ago about an event Missy was organizing for Minnesota Bloggers to gather and socialize, network and serve a non-profit together.

I've been excited about this event for a few reasons. 

I'm going to get to catch up with bloggers I've met in real life previously, including some of my new friends from Cupcake.

I'm going to take online relationships offline and meet some bloggers in person for the first time.

But most importantly, I am going to spend some time again serving at Feed My Starving Children. 

While I love Feed My Starving Children and what they do, it is even more important to be supporting them now as they respond to the increased needs of Haitians since the earthquake one week ago. 

FMSC has been working with organizations in Haiti for many years now, and had approximately one million meals on the ground in Haiti when the earthquake hit.  Some of those meals are already being used in relief efforts and FMSC will be producing an additional three million meals specifically for earthquake relief.  Twenty eight thousand meals left their facility nearest to me and will be airlifted to Haiti to do as much good as quickly as possible.

While we pack tomorrow, Haiti will certainly be on our minds, and when I make a donation to FMSC I will have it earmarked for their relief efforts in Haiti.  You can help as well by making a donation here.  With each meal costing only seventeen cents to produce, a gift of any size can make a difference.

From The Mouth of j

So there is a long list of things I want to blog about, but my words still feel blocked some how.

Seeking inspiration from my oldest son I asked what I should blog about.

Without missing a beat j replied.  My new sweatshirt, he said.

So, j got a new sweatshirt today.  It is from Old Navy and cost me $4.50 on clearance.  It is orange and has a cool retro-ish screen pint of Wolverine on it.  Awesome.  He is planning on wearing it tomorrow.

I know you care.

Actually, aside from wanting to talk to you about his cool new shirt, I should share the funny thing he said yesterday.

I took him to have his eyes checked for the first time yesterday morning.  Since we were having some quality Mom/j time we headed out early to stop at Caribou Coffee for my needed caffeine shot and some cocoa for him.  He took a sip and from the back seat I heard Wow Momma, that's a good cup of joe!  I nearly spit my Campfire Mocha across the car, and can not for the life of me figure out where he came up with that.

Something surprises me every day with this kid.

Unplugged

It seems funny to me that I bought my shiny new domain and then stopped posting.

It seems funny to me that I spent a weekend surrounded by amazing blogging women and haven't posted since.

It seems funny to me that my internet was down and I thought my modem was broken, but in reality, it was just unplugged.  Kind of like me.

I'm unplugged emotionally right now.  I need to tell you all about Cupcake, because it was amazing, but my heart and my head haven't quite finished processing the experience.

I need to tell you about the Susan G. Komen Twin Cities 3-Day for the Cure season kicking off, and vounteering at my first Get Started meeting, but I'm still wrestling with needing to do it in the first place.

I need to tell you about my youngest son starting school, but I haven't figured out how I feel about that either.

I need to tell you about my new hair and my new glasses, but that seems shallow in light of what is happening in Haiti right now.  And I can't write about Haiti because my heart is torn in two for that country and I can't get past it.

I guess because writing is what helps me figure out what emotions are swirling in my head and my heart I should just plug back in and sit down and write.

And I will.

But for now, I'm unplugged.

A Minivan Purchase

Seven plus years ago I bought my current car.  It was the first new car I'd ever owned, in fact it was a new model.  So new that the car company I bought it from used to call and ask how it felt to own the 4th such car ever purchased in my state.  Oh the power I felt!  (Until the third time my hood latch cable broke.  Can you say design flaw?) 

And now, seven plus years later and that same car company (a planet with rings) doesn't really exist beyond selling off inventory.  Their parent company however still remembers me as the 4th sucker to buy one of their cars hot off the assembly line and it seems they are trying to keep me loyal even with my brand tanking.  Today's mail contained a $1000 loyalty certificate good towards the 2009 or 2010 vehicle of my choice from their "family" of brands.

I thought about it for a while (okay a split second) and realized, duh, I want a minivan!  But I can't afford a minivan, even with my loyalty reward.

And then I realized that I could have a minivan without buying a minivan.  I mean, I could have I want a minivan without buying a minivan.

Are you confused yet?  I'm getting there.

I didn't purchase a minivan, but I did purchase I want a minivan, which looks something like this:

www.iwantaminivan.com

Yep, I did it.  I went ahead and bought my very own domain.  It is shiny and new and easy to remember.

Now of course (Gramma) you can still use my blogspot address to get here, but isn't this nice, clean domain so much better?

It looks way cuter on my new blogging business cards too.

These Words Are Not Mine

But I want you to read them anyway.

Early in December my friend Heather at The Extraordinary Ordinary wrote a post that I wanted to share with you, and it is only now that I am actually doing so.

I don't know that it is even possible for me to find words to describe the beauty that is this post of Heather's.  I could tell you it is about becoming a mother, but it is so much more than that.  Heather's words were spoken straight into my heart, and judging by the comments, Heather put words to an emotion many of us couldn't.

Please go here and read what I consider to be my favorite post that Heather has ever written, and considering how much I love her, that is saying a lot because I love everything she writes.

This post is just one of the reasons Heather is a writer I admire.

(And, how lucky am I to spend a day with her at Cupcake '10?  Seriously!)

Finally, the After

Back in October I shared a before picture of my sewing and crafting space.  You can find that post here.

I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that in order to work on the projects I had going, I mostly just moved stuff around so I had some space to work without actually putting anything away.

It was getting pretty ridiculous to work down there and when I needed to get Christmas projects done I moved my sewing machine to the kitchen table which is guaranteed to drive my husband absolutely batty.

But, every family has to eat, so back to the basement I went.

I'm facing a fair amount of sewing in the next few days as I finish lanyards for the ladies of Cupcake '10 and realized that I had to do something about my space.  I stumbled upon a desktop craft organizer on clearance at Michael's this morning for less than ten dollars and it was the jump start I needed.

So, here is a before.  Now it wasn't quite this bad today, this is the picture from October.

And here is the after:

My sewing machine is right in the center, pushed back away from little fingers when I'm not using it.  The basket contains some small WIP's (works in progress) that I hope to finish up in the next few days.  I need them in sight as a constant reminder that they need to be finished.

Storage, storage, storage!  Instead of having machine pedals, notions, ribbon and such all over the table, now they have a place.  One of the projects I've added to the list is to make a couple of machine covers, both for the serger on the left and the machine that my mother bought me on the right.

My ironing board is handy, and though you can't see it in any of the photos, directly to the right of it is our chest freezer with my self-healing cutting mat on top of it.  It is the perfect height for cutting.  The new organizer is hiding bobbins and thread on one side and my various cutting implements on the other.  The jars on top have buttons, d-rings, and lanyard clips in them.

And finally, hidden underneath the table while leaving me plenty of leg room is two bins full to the top with fabrics.  Fleece from my tag blanket and tie blanket days on the right, cottons, battings and interfacings on the left.

While it is nice to have this space put together, I'm hoping it is a temporary solution.  This space is simply against a wall in the main room of our basement.  Toys on one side, books a couch and a TV on the other.  There is a room behind our laundry room that is just storage right now.  It gets very little natural light, but even so I hope to someday have turned that room into a space that is mine and mine alone with cabinets and counter tops.  We'll see.

Do you have your own dedicated sewing/crafting/scrapbooking space in your home or do you haul things out to the dining room table when you want to make a mess and create?

In 2010

In 2010, this boy will turn six.  Six!  Where have the years gone?  He is already asking how many days there are until his birthday.  Will this be the year we actually throw him a party?  This will be the year that he graduates from Kindergarten.

In 2010, this kid will be turning three.  We can only hope this this is the year that his verbal skills take off and start to catch up to other kids his age. 

In 2010, this man will continue to shape his sexy gray hair into a faux-hawk just to make his wife laugh.  He'll celebrate eight years of marriage to his amazing wife.  Eight!  Where has the time gone?

In 2010, this girl is hanging up her walking shoes, but putting on her working shoes as a crew member and volunteer for the Breast Cancer 3-Day.  She'll start volunteering at Get Started Meetings for new and returning walkers in just two weeks.  Soon she'll request a crew assignment for the 2010 event.  Will she work at a pit stop?  Hand out towels in camp?  Man a sweep vehicle?  Whatever the assignment she'll work hard to make sure the 2010 event is an amazing experience for the walkers.

That same girl also hopes to spend lots of time with her sewing machine in 2010, sewing for pleasure and maybe even to make some money.  Etsy in her future?  Maybe.

What is 2010 going to bring for you?