Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

 

Thankful!

It was our first Thanksgiving Stateside in three years. What did we do? Go to the zoo, of course! That's right. Our little trio of a family went with Nate's parents, brother, and sister to the San Diego Zoo. We wandered through the vegetation and watched the baby tiger cubs romp and play. Then we went and gorged ourselves on the Thanksgiving feast at the Treetop Restaurant. Somehow though, most of the family's biological gazing was directed toward Selah. She's too cute these days!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving here are some things we are thankful for:

1. Nate's job during this time of economic deflation.

2. For our new home! (more to come on that)

3. Our enjoyable marriage. 

4. Selah Grace Leboffe! Those three words are enough. 

5. Honey Nut Cheerios. No more generic Spar flakes for us. 

6. The Hibbs/Hiroto/now-Leboffe Toyota Camry to roll around town in. 

7. Flood San Diego. 

8. Fresh milk. 

Our Little Family at Selah's Baby Dedication. The other little girls had on foofy dresses and bows. Somehow Selah ended up looking like a skater-baby. 

Sometimes we look for the little gift tag on our daughter that says: To Nate and Jenny. Enjoy. Love God

Selah's Baby Dedication!

Last Sunday was Selah Grace's baby dedication at our home church, Flood San Diego.  We stood with her in front of our congregation as we pledged to raise her in a way pleasing to the Lord. She spent most of the time swinging her little legs and flapping her arms in circles while on stage. 

We are so thankful for our daughter! Her name, Selah, is a Hebrew word found in the psalms. It is a difficult word to translate, but was a pause in the music where the congregation was encouraged to meditate on the goodness of God. Our little one is a manifestation of Goodness in our lives. Her middle name, Grace, is an undeserved gift. 

                        

                Our little pumpkin is enjoying October and hopes you are too!

Movin' and Groovin'

This morning I could have sworn that Selah was humming a baby rendition of "Bobby McGee". All the consonant babbling and grunting was remarkably similar. The sweet girl is quite boisterous in the wee hours of the morning. We aren't sure where she came from. Nate gets up dutifully in the pre-dawn, but it takes me a good hour before I can actually form words.

These days our little darling is more interested in spinning summersaults in her crib than the naps she is supposed to be taking, she is aggravated that she can't quite get her body to do what her mind is telling it to do, like crawl, and changing her diaper is quite a wrestling match. It is so amazing that you can see her thinking while she plays with toys, reaches for glasses at the table, or attempts to crawl. Right now she moves by spinning in a circle and rolling until she gets where she wants to go. Yogis the world over would be proud of the ways she contorts her body in her efforts to move. Most of the time she pushes her body up into a bridge and makes a valiant lunge forward toward her desired designation. Sometimes the end result is the gleeful grab of a toy. Other times it is a face smack on the carpet.

I feel as though these trial and error ways as babies have stuck with us. We all just flop and maneuver the best we can. Meanwhile, we're figuring out the way to do it right. Life is a steep learning curve. Sometimes we get the prize, but sometimes we just get a nose full of carpet. Still, we keep lunging...

Identity Crisis

Some of you know that I (Jenny) really love teaching. My ability along with my affinity for teaching made it seem like my God-given purpose in life. So I have to admit that when the time neared for Selah to be born I was simultaneously ecstatic to meet her to be her Momma, as well as anxious about leaving the realm of teaching. Yes, it was and continues to be a sacrifice to choose to stay home right now. Partly this is due to the fact that I'm an impatient person who tunnel visions into projects until a tangible result is produced. There are no immediate results when it comes to raising children. So now I find myself being the pupil; observing Selah's cries and body cues, pouring over baby books, having small moments of victory and some failures as well. For a while I felt shy about answering the question, "What are you doing this year?". Formerly I would have animatedly shared that I am a teacher and prattled on about students, curriculum, the joys, wonders, and trauma of a teacher's world. But now, I felt like my identity badge had been stripped. My aunt shared a story with us once about the time my then-young cousin asked her what she had wanted to be in life before she grew up to be a nothing. Ouch. Her occupation wasn't nothing. It was mom. Nate said that stay-at-home moms should be paid a stipend. He's going to get right on that when he's President. I happily happened upon some words of wisdom by my old buddy G.K. Chesterton. With these words Chesterton wrote out a new id badge for me in Sharpie and I wear it proudly. Jenny. Mom.

"To be Queen Elizabeth within a definite area, deciding sales, banquests, labors, and holidays; to be Whitely within a certain area, providing toys, boots, cakes, and books; to be Aristotle within a certain area, teaching morals, manners, theology, and hygiene; I can understand how this might exhaust the mind, but I cannot imagine how it could narrow it. How can it be a large career to tell other people's children about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one's own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone and narrow to be everything to someone? No, a woman's function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute." (Chesterton)