This morning Ammon woke up pretty content, so I let him play in his room while I got ready for the day. Abe changed his diaper and put Ammon’s basketball hoop in Ammon’s closet before he left for work.
By the time I got to Ammon, he had literally torn his closet door down trying to get to his hoop. He just barely missed smashing the window to smithereens, and when I found him, he was climbing the fallen, angled door like a slide. He really likes his hoop. (Abe took the other door off of his closet so this can not happen again.)
The girls played really well again today. They are on a roll! Also, Lydia loves drawing princesses. I remember drawing very similar kinds of princesses when I was younger–with the same form as Lydia draws them and everything. But one difference is that Mary insists Lydia put RED glasses on her princesses. Lydia has been so sweet to oblige.
Every morning for a week Lydia’s first words of the day have been, “How many more days until Clarissa gets here, not counting today? It’s taking sooooo long! I just want her to be here NOW!!!!” She continues to be very excited to meet her little sister. I know she knows how many more days are left because she asks both Abe and me this question multiple times a day. I think she just likes hearing that we are getting closer each day.
Also, I also finished Clarissa’s blanket today!! That means, according to my calculations, we are ONE HUNDRED PERCENT READY for Clarissa! Honestly, we have never been so ready for a child before. With Lydia we were physically ready but had no idea what a new baby would be like. With Ammon and Mary we were arrogant slackers and thought that we were ready but put off setting up their spaces until after they were born. Because I have had almost two months to think of everything we need to do for Clarissa, we are so, so, SO ready.
I recently read a story Abe’s cousin posted about his miracle baby’s birth. It scared me so badly and I think about it every day, multiple times a day. His cousin’s wife basically sensed that there was something wrong because the baby had stopped moving. Since the baby had not moved before in the past, Abe’s cousin, Danny, didn’t think much of it but drove her to the hospital anyway. When they got there, they discovered the baby was literally dying and had minutes left to live. Within three minutes, they performed a c-section and saved his baby.
Danny wrote about how horrible the experience was, but how his testimony of God’s hand and miracles was strengthened. He was one red light away from having his baby die on the way to the hospital, and every single light he hit was green. When they got to the hospital, every doctor and nurse necessary was right there on hand to perform the surgery. Also, most babies who are dying because of a cord knot (as his baby was) don’t come out very well. His baby is one hundred percent normal on every test. These are some of the miracles he wrote about in his blog.
I am so glad his baby is okay! And every time Clarissa moves I say a silent, “Thank-you, God,” because I am very scared of cord knots. When I lived in Salt Lake, one of the ladies I visit taught was thirty-nine weeks pregnant and her baby died because of a cord knot. I was with her in the hospital as she gave birth to her stillborn baby girl, and the experience has stayed with me ever since. I don’t know if I have ever felt as sad as I felt when my friend delivered a perfectly beautiful but lifeless baby daughter. It was so, so awful.
Right now Clarissa is moving as I type. Thank you, God.
Anyway, I will take pictures of her blanket tomorrow when there is sunshine for lighting. Right now Abe is breaking it in by taking an evening (well, 10 pm) nap under it.
I am going to start another blanket just like this one tomorrow. I know of about five babies happening between now and the end of January that I would like to give a blanket to. Sadly, this blanket took me at least twenty hours, though maybe now I that have experience I could whittle the next one down to fifteen. I have no idea if I will ever finish another blanket like this, but I can dream! I absolutely ADORED the yarn for this blanket. Each skein was so soft, and the colors were rich and so, so fun to work with. I feel like I could make this blanket five more times and not get tired of it, but with a newborn on hand…I just don’t know. I do know that if they allow me to crochet in the hospital, I am going to crochet between contractions all day Friday and try to get a head start on this crazy goal.