With and For

Jump to Comments

Here are some snapshots of our days as of late. There have been many days since we last posted, sorry for those who are checking in. This first picture is of Christmas with my dad (celebrated on the 30th in good Cecka fashion). We wanted to feel this grandson kick and then said something really funny, can’t remember what.

This picture is one of the first ones Tom took with our new camera. Baby is growing. Me in my usual place on the couch. Good season to be pregnant. Winter is good for napping.

We were not able to go to Iowa for Christmas because of the snow storm, which was a real bummer. But the weekend before we stayed there for a couple days to celebrate Tom’s brother, Josh. It was a great few days (all crazy like, in Parks fashion). We saw friends at the Cup (a quant little coffee shop in Cedar Falls-one of the only of it’s kind-frequented by Tom’s good friends).  Another surprise was getting to hang out with one of our staff from this summer, Martha, who is in town from a year in Africa. Martha was one of the first to know about our pregnancy and continues to be a very dear and supportive friends to Tom and I. Tom and his brothers got together for a quick photo with Josh in his graduation gear (what we were celebrating while in Iowa). This was a great event to watch happen in Joshs’ life!  Plus, getting to see the UNI-dome, who could pass up that opportunity? And lastly, another highlight to the winter has been a visit from our friend, Claire, who I lived with before marriage and now resides in Atlanta, GA. She was in town visiting friends and, well I think anyway, giving it another go as a true southern gal stickin’ out the freezing MN winter. This picture was taken just before she left. An afternoon snack of chai tea and stroopwafels (a dutch cookie that is irresistable). We were sad to see her go.

Pictures do tell a lot, but in between all these moments, Tom and I have spent a lot of time together these last few months. A time that we are both really thankful for in this season as we try to get “ready” to be parents and start that next chapter in our life together. Both of us have expressed that there is this dose of mourning the stage in our life that is ending. Inevitably, the mourning is coupled with excitement and anxiousness, which seems to be more of a position of balance/tension between the two rather than one all-encompassing feeling. The support and encouragement we have both received from friends and family has provided for us more than we can express. Truly, they are expressions of the divine. I know as we look back on these days, we will think on how the heck we got through it. And then, remind ourselves that we were not alone, not for a minute, but instead surrounded and supported.

As for the baby, he is doing everything that he right so far. Head down, back out, and moving like crazy. I think he will be a good baby, and if he is anything like Tom and I, he will be a very active little guy (Tom and I both “center stage” kind of kids).

Another big change in our lives is the possibility of Tom getting a new job in the near future. Dunn Bros. has been a great job so far for Tom. But the search for a full-time job continues…and continues. He is a very persistent person (which I have really come to admire in him) and dedicated to finding a job. They are out there, which is great, but so many have a ton of applicants so getting ahead has proven somewhat difficult. We are confident that something will work out soon and will keep you all posted on how it goes these next few months!

I could keep going, but should stop there. We will post again once our baby is born and let you all know how it goes. Thanks for tuning in…

T&T