Love

When I first found out I was pregnant, my friend suggested taking a picture in front of one of my favorite spots every now and then to document my growing belly. I kept meaning to gather all those pictures into one post but kept forgetting.

Then, we were in DC last weekend and we found a spot very similar to our baby backdrop, which reminded me of the pregnant photos.

So here they are, starting with the DC photo and then rewinding back to Spring of last year, right around the time I found out I was pregnant. I love seeing the changing of the seasons in the photos and remembering the moments these pictures represent.

Just found out!

 Still able to enjoy jogging

Brooke took this picture during her visit

It had just started getting pretty hot

This was during the heat wave. Katie took this picture right before we went to Honest Tom's.

Liz and Jen helped me take this photo on our last day of school! They were doing some repairs around the sign so this was the closest we could get. I found out I was having a girl the next day.

Ben had joined me back in Philly and I had started working at CHOP. Still able to make it to the gym but not as enjoyable of an experience!

 The day of the Philly marathon (I didn't do it)

Fall showers

The first (of many) snow storms

Several days past my due date and just a few days before she actually came

3 days old: the day her daddy finally got to hold her in the love picture

An anniversary, a job, a baptism, a graduation, and a plan

I thought I'd give Normandie a break and narrate this one myself. She turned 20 weeks today (well actually on Friday, but it's taken me a while to finish this post). 20 WEEKS! Hard to believe she's been alive for half of a pregnancy.

An anniversary
D-Day. Watching the veterans on tv and listening to their voices on the radio as they revisited Normandy made me yearn even more to have met my old pen pal, my great-uncle Ray, who was part of the invasion 70 years ago. I hope and pray that one day we can take Normandie there, to teach her about his sacrifice and why it was made and to honor her brave namesake. In the meantime I hope and pray she gets to meet her Great Papa soon! I miss his sweet smile and hope he gets to hold his great grand baby this September when we visit the West Coast.

A job
At the end of March I started my first nurse practitioner job. What a blessing! Leaving my baby for days at a time has been emotionally difficult but we are deeply thankful for an income and for the means to start paying off my school loans. Several of my friends stepped in and took care of Normandie on the days when I had to be at work and Ben had to be at school. It made it so much easier to leave knowing my baby was in loving nurse hands! Now that Ben is done with school, he takes care of Normandie. Although both of us would rather trade places (me at home with Normandie and Ben at work), we both can acknowledge that this is a sweet time for Ben to spend with our daughter that might not come again.

 I'm working as a pediatric nurse practitioner at a community health clinic in West Philadelphia. I'm grateful for my training at Penn that helped prepare me to face the challenges of providing primary care against the backdrop of urban poverty. More than a couple times I have found myself trying to hold back tears as the extent of a child's awful reality unfolds during a visit. My kids are incredibly precious though and I deeply enjoy partnering with their parents to try to improve life even just a little through any means I can. I'd say at least half of my patients are African immigrants which is such a huge treat for me. My rusty French has made an appearance a few times.

The view from my desk

A baptism

Normandie Mae was baptized on Mother's Day at our church, Tenth Presbyterian. What a special day it was. My mom flew into town for the occasion and our friends, the Barretts, drove up from DC to celebrate with us. My mom bought a beautiful dress for Normandie to wear, one that we hope can be worn again and again by little ones in our family for a long time to come. 

Before the service

Dr. Liam baptizing Normandie

The dress that went on and on and on...

Right after the baptism

Playing at Clark Park with our dear friends

Normandie celebrating God's grace with her Mimi

So in love 

The heavy grace behind my own salvation came a little more into focus when I beheld my precious baby in our pastor's arms as he brushed water over her head. She didn't ask or do anything that led us to this decision; we simply did because we love her and because we understood this to be our parental privilege based on Scripture. In the same way, I did nothing to deserve God's choosing, my life has everything to do with Him and His initiative of grace towards me.

My mom and I also got to spend a very special day together with Normandie at Longwood Gardens. SO BEAUTIFUL! I'm so glad we finally went.

A graduation

Two other HUGE things happened this month. Normandie met her Grammy and PopPop and Ben graduated from seminary!!!! We had a great time with Ben's parents and were so thankful they could be here, not only to meet and enjoy Normandie, but also to be a part of celebrating Ben and his amazing accomplishment.

The celebrations kicked off with a nice banquet at none other than Normandy Farms up in Blue Bell. You can imagine we had fun taking pictures of our little Normandie in front of the signs.

Farmer Ben

The next day was his graduation ceremony. Of all the graduations I've ever attended, there's always mention of how great the graduates are or how hard they've worked to get to graduation or how strenuous the program was, etc. Ben's graduation was different. Perhaps it's because a degree from Westminster speaks for itself of the rigor and discipline it took to obtain it. The ceremony was instead focused on Christ and exhortation to use their training to serve Him. It was beautiful.

My handsome seminarian

It's been 5 years since I was married to a non-student. It's been so wonderful already for both Normandie and me!

All so proud of Ben!

A plan

It's been sort of a crazy time for Ben and I. We moved out to Philly 3 years ago (3 YEARS!!) to pursue/finish our graduate degrees. This is the first time in our marriage that we don't have any educational goals for the future. We could literally go anywhere (or stay) and we have no idea where we'll be celebrating Normandie's first birthday. Not knowing the future has forced us to take each day, one at a time. It sounds cliche, I know. But if you had told me 10 years ago that I would one day be a pediatric nurse practitioner, married to an amazing Godly man fresh out of seminary and mother to a darling baby girl, and practicing medicine in an underserved pediatric population (half of my patients being from Liberia no less!)....I would have thought, wow, God has way better plans than I could even imagine for myself. So taking one day at a time with a God who knows us and loves us is not that frustrating or scary.

At the banquet they honored some men and their wives who had graduated from Westminster 50 and 60 years ago. It was so humbling to hear how each of them had served since their graduations. It made me realize that Ben and I may have 50-60 years of ministry in front of us. And the thought of being by his side for wherever God has in mind for him, and raising Normandie in the meantime fills my heart with joyful expectation.

(taken on Ben's last day of seminary)

Month Three

I will just warn you in advance, this one has A LOT of pictures. 

And they are out of order but I don't have a sense of time yet anyway.

Tummy time just got real now that I can hoist up to my elbows. I think I'm finally starting to understand why they torture me with this position.

Still no rolling. Mom thinks this will be a month 4 skill.

I got to spend lots of time with Mimi when she came out a few weeks ago. 

 And I got to meet my Aunt Melanie, Uncle Adam, Aunt Emily and my Cousin Claire!

This is after the Good Friday service at Tenth. I heard a lot of beautiful music, but I was so tuckered out and ready for bed.

Like I said, tummy time is totally different now that I am not face planting.

Dad's IM basketball team made it to the championship game again this year and he got to play in the famous Palestra! Mom and I cheered him on to victory.

Kind of. Mom cheered. I slept.

During March, Mom dressed me in baby blue and gold and told me to cheer for a team called the Bruins. I don't know what this means yet, but she explained that a Bruin is a baby bear, so I played along.

I'm still extremely pleasant at 4:00 AM.

Here I am in church wearing the beautiful dress that Jenny made for me! The three of us sit downstairs and watch the service on tv because I love to make adorable sounds when it's really quiet. Like when someone is praying.

If they're lucky, I'll fit in a quick cat nap too.

Love my fuzzy bear hat and my "orangesicle" outfit as Dad calls it.

Here I'm showing off both my Spring hat and my new wrap that Mom uses to carry me. We use both of these items on our daily walks around the hood.

My future-friend-Evelyn's daddy visited me while he was on a business trip! 

Mom found that putting something interesting in front of me helps.

But no matter how interesting, sometimes I just get tired of holding my head up. It is 1/3 the size of my body right now, after all.

It is FINALLY warmer in Philly now which means some pretty adorable outfits.

And sleeping in the raw.

Daddy and my Uncle Adam at Brauhaus Schmidt's. 

My first time wearing breeches. This is the eve of Mom's birthday. I must have been tired because...

I SLEPT FOR 7 HOURS.

Mom said it was the best birthday present.

I just gave my cousin a kiss.

Aunt Melanie and Uncle Adam. So fun.

I just love that Mimi.

Mom jeans!

I usually still fall asleep on walks, but I am now way more observant of my surroundings for at least 20 minutes before falling asleep.

Books fascinate me.

I had another appointment with Dr. Martin. I'm now a solid 13 lbs 10 oz. My inner elbow fat is Dad's favorite roll.

This also meant my second set of vaccines which really wiped me out.

But luckily Mom had the day off so we changed into pj's and snuggled for the rest of the day. 

I loved snuggling with Auntie Em too.

We were celebrating Mimi's 60th birthday so that meant LOTS of pictures. The trees were soooo pretty that day.

Still got my Alfalfa hair thing.

He's my favorite.

Snack break.

Mom didn't mind.

Claire found a flower for my hair.

Can't wait until I'm old enough to play with her.

And we'll end with this photo of me with my beautiful Mimi because she's coming back this week!!! I'm getting baptized on Sunday so Mimi is coming back to Philly celebrate with us. More on that in Month 4!