Eve over again

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”-Genesis 3:1

New mothers frequently stand in Eve's shoes. We hold fragile young life in our arms, often rejoicing, but just as often-- on the long restless afternoons, in the dark wakeful nights-- facing down the serpent and his questions. Did God actually say? 

Did God really promise to walk with us? Did he really say that He would be our strength and did He really pronounce children a blessing? Or perhaps does He not care as much as we'd hoped? Has he forgotten us and these children?

He really did promise.

The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
-Genesis 3:20

We inherit Eve's task to birth new physical life, but more than that, we are heirs of spiritual life ourselves. Our heavenly father is always upholding us, just as we hold our tiny ones. The things of the grave (whether actual death, or its everyday relatives, pain and toil and disappointment) don't have power over us anymore. He really did promise.

Family snippets

Ellie turned two last month. Her personality, much like her mother's, tends toward extremes, and so she vacillates between showering Zoe with tenderness and treating her like a rag doll. One minute she's stroking her head and cooing "Baby Zoe! Oh sweetie!" but the next minute she's stealing her socks, yanking her thumb out of her mouth, or in particularly wild moments, scratching her dear little face. Zoe goggles at Ellie's acrobatics (she goggles at almost everything) and objects strongly to the rag doll treatment.

I'm pretty sure they love each other.

 

Unfortunately, Zoe has also begun teething, and that is very traumatic for everybody, with much crying and finger-gnawing. I don't think it is fair to make a mere three-month-old sprout teeth. I am thankful that she still sleeps well at night. The difference between Getting Up Thrice and Getting Up Once is staggering.

Back to the newly minted two-year-old: she is giving my patience a run for its money but she is so much fun. She frequently asks to "pray Jesus?", snuggles on my lap to read book after book, and adores all of our relatives-- she hopefully suggests "grandma's house?" even when we have no plans to go anywhere. She has a strong personality and decided opinions. She likes to figure things out, and likes to help us with our work: she has learned to work the salad spinner, enthusiastically imitates Jared's running stretches, and hands me clothespins when I do laundry. She knows all her colors and is learning to count (not always accurately: "one two fee, five nine ten!")

Weekend linkage

I love the Grand Duke.

I guess this would convince me to come camping.

Scientifically speaking, could you actually walk and dance in Cinderella's glass slippers?

Hidden pocket scarf!

Texts from the Dashwoods, and even more good ones in the comments. (The Toast is an oddity to me. I laugh myself to tears over every humor piece they publish, yet completely disagree with everything else on their ultra-feminist, ultra-PC site. Whatever.)

"Yelp Reviews of Newborn Babies." Hee.

Speaking of which, a new approach to caring for preemies in the NICU: get the parents involved, and see markedly improved results. This is great. I am all about giving parents more agency in their children's medical care.

Homeschooling parents are not a special breed. I like this post, because I've heard tons of people say "Oh, I could never homeschool, I'm just too impatient/not smart enough/can't deal with my kids all day." 99% of the time that is not true: this is a matter of choice, not of temperament. Impatient non-geniuses can totally homeschool. So if you just don't want to, that is fine. No need to make self-deprecating excuses.

Sometimes I feel that people think homeschooling parents have different blood—or a different genetic code—that allows them to live with their children during the day. Like maybe they're picturing all homeschooling parents as gentle, patient, generous, encouraging, soft-spoken introspective introverts who like to hang out with their kids. Which is too bad for me because I am a demanding, impatient, and aggressively-selfish extrovert.

"Did You Mean to Have All These Kids?"

I don’t know why God gave me children effortlessly and withholds them from others who would make fantastic parents. But I know this: fertility is not a curse, it is a gift. It is a scandalous miracle.

harder and easier

Having a second baby is harder because now you have two tiny people to interrupt your shower, distract you from your book, and spill things on your clothes. So every day you have to share just a little more of your time. Your patience is stretched just a little bit more. After a while, that seems like a lot. Even basic tasks seem daunting with a drooling baby in your arms and a sleepy headache that's begging for more coffee. My unfinished to-do list looks more than a mile long (not to mention the theoretical to-do list that I don't bother making because I can't even complete the real one . . . can you believe I used to clean the fridge on a regular basis?). Frankly, I often feel like a failure at the end of the day.

Life is way too full. I can't get my arms around it.

Having a second baby is easier because now you have two tiny people to make you laugh, accompany you on walks, and look at you adoringly. Babies love you no matter how grungy you look, and don't particularly care if you forgot to thaw the chicken for dinner. And even though I battle discouragement about household tasks, I am too busy to even notice most of the things that fall thorough the cracks . . . and therefore, I am not stressed about them to begin with! Watching the two girls together melts even my unsentimental heart. Love multiplies as people do.

I know I did this whole newborn thing before, only two years ago in fact. I'm far more relaxed. Even though the specifics will look different with each child I know that I can be a mom, I can take care of a baby, and everybody will get through this stage with sanity relatively intact.

Life is full but it definitely isn't boring. My little ladies are precious.