Girl Time

A couple weeks ago I was reading about preparing Abigail for a new baby joining the family. I was seriously emotional as I was reading it and was by myself. So when Joel came home I met him at the door and said, "I need a hug..." to which he obliged, of course. He asked what was going on and we talked about how Abigail "might" respond and will most likely respond to having a new baby in the house.

For me, it was just a processing and accepting of things changing. I felt like I needed to grieve the fact that this chapter of our lives is ending and a new chapter is about to begin. I remember doing that when I was pregnant with Abigail and feeling that about ministry and mine and Joel's relationship, going from just the two of us to adding another.

I also realized that it's something that I go through since moving over here. For the most part, my life was pretty consistent growing up, I lived in the same house my whole life except the few years of living with roommates in Gresham, my parents were consistent and stable...my life was pretty "horizontal" I guess you could say.

Since moving here though, it seems like about every 2 years there is a giant vertical leap in my horizontal line that throws me off. Some of them have been really hard, sad and disappointing things to deal with and others, like having a daughter has been a complete joy and a wonderful change. I just find that with each "blip" I feel myself preparing for it before it even happens. And then it's over. Once the change occurs, I'm fine with it, well..."fine" in the sense that I've already grieved the change is about to occur and I don't resent it once it happens.

So! All that to say...I was grieving the fact that my relationship with Abigail is changing. And my loving husband suggested that Abigail and I go out and get some special girl time to mark that change. So we did!We got dressed up and headed to the new mall, got Abigail some new jewels and hair clips, had coffee and hot chocolate together and she listened (sort-of) while I told her how much I love her and am so proud of who she is.

We are sure she is going to be a wonderful older sister!

One day we were walking around at the mall and she saw a baby girl (who was just 3 months younger than her), she turned to us and exclaimed "Baby!" then as quickly as she could walk, she walked over to her, stopped and just smiled at her. We were thinking..."you're a baby too, you know!" but we don't think she does. It shows her excitement though and we're looking forward to adding a new "Baby!" to our family.