Motherhood

Click below to read these two GREAT articles. Very challenging and convicting.

Motherhood as a Mission Field

Motherhood is a Calling

First Family Zoo Outing

We were blessed to be able to visit the Fort Worth Zoo recently. It was 100+ degrees, so we only stayed a couple hours. Evie slept most of the time, but Caleb really enjoyed it and has been talking about it ever since. His favorite animals were definitely the monkeys, though he also liked the bongos, giraffes, turtles and crocodiles. Caleb was not terribly impressed with the elephants and merely seemed to notice a ball that they were all standing by. He kept calling out, "ba ba" (his word for ball) and then "boyne" (his word for bowling). Caleb was able to bowl recently,and since then, he's been a little obsessed with bowling. Anyway, I just thought it was kind of funny that he could be so close to these massive elephants that we often talk about, and yet, the only thing he could talk about was bowling.

Though we were all sopping wet when we left, we had fun and look forward to lots more zoo outings.

*Notice the adorable baby monkey in the pictures below--he was tiny!

I Love This Kid!

Family Resemblance

Since Evie arrived, it has been fun to look back through Caleb's old baby pictures to see how much the two of them look alike. Here's a picture of each of them that I think shows their strong family resemblance.

She's Here!

Evangeline (pronounced Evangelynn) “Evie” Grace Bishop was born on Friday, June 24 at 2:08am. She weighed 8lbs 0oz and was 21” long. Evie arrived 3 days past her due date, but when she came, she came quickly! We arrived at the hospital at 1:30am, and she was born 38 minutes later! Thankfully we live in a small town because we (and the delivering doctor) barely made it as it was. Evie came out after only 2 pushes and has been doing great. We were discharged yesterday afternoon and are starting to settle into life at home.




I hope to post more pictures and details soon.

Stages

It's weird to be about to start over with a newborn. It seems like just yesterday that Caleb was so tiny and I kept wanting him to stop getting bigger. I've loved each stage along the way and was amazed when people would tell me that it would just keep getting better.

Thankfully, it's been true. Caleb is at such a fun, fun age, and I feel like he gets so much smarter every day. It’s fun when they start talking more regularly and you can actually get glimpses of what they’re thinking. We had lunch yesterday at this restaurant on the lake, and Caleb loved looking out the window. I pointed out a boat to him, and he kept saying, “butt” (boat). But then the boat drove off, and he started saying, “Butt. Bye bye.” Then as I was talking to him about the water, he said “sammie,” which is his word for swimming. He then looked inside at the fish tank and said, “fish.” As he scanned the restaurant, he saw a picture of a guy riding a donkey and said, “gee up!” (giddy up). What a blessing to now be able to follow some of his thought process!

One of My Favorites...

I wish I could have known Ryan when he was a little boy. I have no doubt that he was absolutely adorable, and I love being able to see old pictures and hear old stories about him. Well, one of the things that I've often heard about was how messy of an eater Ryan was as a little boy, especially when it came to chocolate ice cream. Caleb doesn't get a whole lot of sweet treats, but as evidenced by this picture, he thoroughly enjoyed the chocolate mousse Ryan made the other night. Cute, but messy...just like Daddy!

Maybe Today??

Well, I couldn't sleep and am up having some more regular contractions, so maybe today's the day we get to meet our baby girl! Thankfully the Lord's timing is so much better than our own, but now being two days past our due date has really heightened my eagerness to see and hold her!

While I'm thinking about it, if anyone had noticed, several of our more recent blog posts say they were written by Ryan, but it was actually me who wrote them. Not that it matters, but it might make more sense.

Anyway, I thought since I was up I would do a little blog update.

A few weeks ago, our church threw us a baby shower. I was totally amazed at the love and generosity that was shown by the ladies at Graham Bible Church. It was sad to leave our dear friends at Kenwood Baptist Church, but God has been so kind in placing us in such a loving congregation here in Graham. I didn't take many pictures with my camera (but have been given a CD with more which I have yet to download to our computer), but here is one of the few I did take. I was amazed at the ability of a friend who made the cakes to match the plates exactly! You may not be able to tell from this picture, but each cake she made was identical to the corresponding letter on the plate.


Caleb's hair had been getting a little unruly, so Ryan cut it a couple of weeks ago. It's crazy to me what a big difference a hair cut can make in how old Caleb looks!


We've been trying to prepare Caleb as much as possible for the arrival of Baby Girl. We are borrowing a bassinet from some friends, and Caleb will show it to you if you ask where his baby sister is going to sleep. He will also point to his old crib and say, "Baby Nigh Night." At our baby shower, one sweet lady brought Caleb some presents which included a book called "Little Sisters Are..." which Ryan tried reading to him the other night. I don't think they got very far in the book before Caleb was ready to move onto the next thing, but that's ok. :) Here's also a picture of Caleb kisssing my tummy...not too much longer and he'll be able to kiss his sister in person! All this to say, that I still don't think he has a clue what's about to happen, but hopefully it won't all be quite as big of a shock for him when it actually does.


Some sweet friends came by the other night to drop off some shelves and play tools that their son no longer needed. I think that's the only toy Caleb played with yesterday was those tools--he loves them! I'm sure they make him feel more like his daddy. :)


Though we're so very excited to meet Baby Girl, I've been trying to soak as much time with my boys as I can. Here are just a couple recent pictures.




And finally, here are a couple pictures of Baby Girl's new nursery. It hasn't been fully decorated yet, but it's super exciting to know that we have a place to put her when we're ready. A place that is not only free of boxes, tools, ladders, etc., but that's actually painted and girly! So fun! (By the way, the walls aren't quite as bright yellow as they appear in these pictures.)

Baby Girl

Well, sweet girl, we thought you would be here by now. Tomorrow is your due date, and your big brother was born 4 days early. Your daddy and I were both convinced that you would be even earlier than he was, but you've definitely proven us wrong. I know you have to come out at some point, but our mindset has shifted so much with regard to your arrival. We've gone from waking each morning wondering if that would be the day we would meet you to just wondering if you're going to come on your own at all. I'm sure you're warm and cozy in there (though I'm not sure how because there certainly isn't much room), and I appreciate your patience in waiting to come which has allowed us to even get your nursery ready, but come, sweet baby come! We're eager to meet you!!

Humbled

On Saturday afternoon, we looked out our window and noticed someone in our front yard. Upon looking a little closer, we saw that it was a member of our church who had decided to mow our lawn for us--just to serve us! It was the sweetest thing and brought tears to my eyes knowing that people love us so unselfishly.

Our house has definitely been a work in progress since we closed, and there have been many, many projects left to do, including getting the nursery ready for baby girl. Because of the chaos of our lives, we had written that project off until after baby girl arrived. Besides, she wouldn't know the difference anyway. Well, a sweet friend of mine decided last week to come over 3 mornings before she went to work just so she could help me get it all painted and ready to go. On Friday morning another lady also came over to help, and when we got back from our weekly doctor's appointment, they had left but had finished completely setting up our nursery. Oh my goodness, how that blessed my heart! Having Baby Girl's nursery done was not something I had expected for another month or two, but these 2 ladies chose to spend their free time blessing us in this way. I'll post pictures at some point soon, but I'm really excited about it.

I must say that we have had many, many people serve us in a number of ways over the last couple months, so these are just a couple of examples. We've had people provide meals, lots and lots of painting, family slaving over drywall, installing floors, etc. It has been such a beautiful, humbling process to be loved and served in such practical ways!

Any Day Now...

our daughter could be here! We are 39 weeks and are so excited to meet this sweet baby girl. Caleb was born at 39 weeks 3 days, so we'll see when this one decides to make her appearance. Please be praying for her safe delivery!

Caleb's Hair...

is a little hard to explain. Immediately after it's been washed, it usually dries fairly straight but still with some wave in it. However, if it's been more than a day since it's been washed or if he has gotten even a little hot and sweaty, it gets pretty curly. We'll probably cut it soon because it's getting a little unruly, but I'm kind of enjoying seeing those sweet blonde curls. This picture doesn't show nearly how curly his hair can get, but it can give you an idea. I can't wait to see what Baby Girl's hair does (or if she'll even have any)! :)

36 Weeks!

Well, for those of you who have been asking, here's a tummy picture at 36 weeks. I can't believe there are just 3.5 weeks to go until we will Lord willing meet this sweet baby girl! So far everything is checking out just fine and she seems to be doing great.

I'm not sure Caleb has a clue what's about to hit this household. He loves kissing my tummy and then saying, "Baby," but then he lifts up his shirt and says, "Baby." I put the infant car seat in our car yesterday, and I keep telling him that's where his baby sister will sit soon. Maybe that's helping him understand some because now when we get in the car, he'll look over at her car seat, smile and say, "Baby."

2 Month Recap

Well, as I mentioned in my previous post, we closed on our house 1.5-2 months ago, and it's been a blur ever since. Tons and tons of renovations have been and are going on, but here's just a glimpse of our life lately. This area that has been gutted is our new dining room. The other picture shows just some of the lumber and debris that were removed mainly from that same area. You can play the "Where's Caleb?" game with that picture. :)




Here are just a couple of our sweet little boy helping out. He's become quite the expert with tools!














In the midst of the chaos, we rejoiced in the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior. Happy Easter!


We also celebrated one of Caleb's little friend's birthdays Texas style--a homemade petting zoo featuring a baby goat and baby chicks (both pictured below), donkeys, ponies and a tractor ride. The kids loved it!














Though the vast majority of our last 1.5-2 months have been spent working, we've also taken some time to play.

Knee Deep

As you may have noticed, there has been a blogging silence from the Bishop household. That's largely because we closed on our new house on April 7 and have been knee deep in renovations ever since. My mom and her husband have been helping us as we learn all about tearing out walls, adding windows, moving door openings, drywalling, taping and bedding, texturing, removing wallpaper from cabinets, laying laminate wood flooring and ripping out tile. This is not to mention the usual stuff like painting. Though we're far from finished, we went ahead and moved in 2 weeks ago and have now added unpacking to the everyday list of chores. It's starting to come together, though again, we have so much left to do, but I will try and post pictures when I get my computer back from being fixed.

On another note, we have about 5 weeks left before baby girl arrives. All of our checkups are going well and starting at our next appointment, we'll be going every week. I can't believe we're already at this point in the pregnancy! We're working furiously to try and make as much progress on the house as possible before she arrives. I'll also try and post an updated pregnancy picture soon.

Sweet Caleb has been talking up a storm for the last month or two. I just can't get over how one day they decide they're going to say everything. Mind you, not everything is completely intelligible to everyone else, but his vocabulary is now huge. One of my new favorite things is that when I sneeze, Caleb says, "Bessu" (God bless you) and then runs to get me a kleenex saying, "No, no" (nose). I love his tender heart in wanting to care for his mama.

As a result of all the renovations, Caleb has also developed a huge love for tools and all things boy. He LOVES hammers ("hamma"), drills ("dill") and pounding anything and everything he sees. This was ok in the early stages of renovations, but as we're starting to finish some areas of the house, we are having to retrain his new habits of pounding on walls, floors, etc. Hopefully Caleb can relearn the meaning of "gentle" before his baby sister arrives. :)

Please Pray!

Please be praying for the people of Graham and the surrounding areas. There are lots of wildfires going and many people are being evacuated from their homes, including members of our church. If it continues, there's a good chance we will be evacuated as well. Please pray that God will still the winds, extinguish the fires, and protect people but most of all that He would be glorified as many hopefully are forced to turn to and lean on Him.

Thank you for your prayers!

Caleb's First Rodeo

Last night, we went to the Graham rodeo. It was a night filled with barrel racing, horse and steer riding and calf tying. Caleb loved it! He is really into animals these days, and loves seeing cows and horses as we drive around. He says, "mmmooo" for cows and will occasionally making a laughing sound for horses--I guess my "nay nay" sounds kind of like laughing to him. :) He also kept saying "geeee uh", which is his version of "giddy up." Too cute!

I don't think Caleb was a huge fan of the calf tying because every time the calf was caught and then flipped, Caleb would say, "uh oh". Uh oh is right, buddy. I was sad for those calfs too!

Playing with Sticks

Caleb LOVES being outside and LOVES playing with sticks. He also LOVES his cowboy boots and really wanted to wear them when we went to play in the backyard yesterday. I thought he looked like such a little boy in his Honduras soccer outfit that Ryan brought back in January coupled with his cowboy boots. Shorts and boots are definitely the way to go. :)

Third Trimester!

Yea! Yea! I can't believe how quickly this pregnancy is going by--we just entered our third trimester and yet it seems like we just found out we were pregnant. Anyway, as of our appointment today, baby girl is doing great and continues to be super active. We now start going to our checkups every 2 weeks.

Here's a belly picture from yesterday at 27.5 weeks:

Provin' Mama Wrong

Today has been one of those days for Caleb. While at a friend's house this afternoon, I made the comment that Caleb loved to kick and throw balls but seemed nowhere near being able to actually catch one. Just a few minutes later, I tossed him a ball and he caught it. I know this was a fluke catch, but it was his first one, nonetheless.

During this same conversation with my friend, we were talking about how our little boys hadn't yet attempted to climb out of their cribs. I remarked that I figured Caleb was still awhile from that. Well, about an hour later, after we were back home and Caleb was down for his afternoon nap, Ryan and I heard a thud. You guessed it...our little monkey had climbed out of his crib. Praise the Lord he was ok!