On baby names, the garden, and true love
Sunday, Feb 12, 2006
Most women recount their labor stories in terms of hours, but I have to use days as my unit of measure. I’ve begun the count officially, and so my husband and I had a talk about names, considering several of the ones people have mentioned recently. A hearty “thank you” to everyone who posted and emailed name suggestions—even to those who left girl names because, well, you just never know.
In the end, I’m content to wait and see, not worried about anyone’s timetable. Truth be told, it is me who is more flustered than anyone else. Even if He hasn’t told us yet, He has chosen the perfect name already. God is never late; He is always on time. If He cares for the sparrow, I know that He cares much more about His gift to us, created in His image. He’s not worried, and so I take my cues accordingly. God is ever-patient toward crazy pregnant ladies, I suspect. How blessed to have nothing of greater concern at the moment.
On the home front, we are enjoying getting the strawberries right, finally. We’ve supplied our own tomatoes (and extra for the neighbors) for months now, but it’s time to replant new ones. I probably won’t get right on that just yet, though.
Apparently, however, I need some remediation with the blueberries. I think this is a respectable amount of berries on a one year plant, but I suspect there are supposed to be leaves on it too.
My husband bought a new-to-us van recently, and just like the houses we buy, he tore it apart. The picture here is actually pretty good, because you can’t tell that the ceiling was ripped out too. He’s installing all kinds of things, but the one thing all mothers of little ones might appreciate is…the onboard DustBuster. Yeah, baby.
I’ve heard that there are some men who are unable to buy gifts for their wives that plug-in, but I’m too practical for that. While others ride around with gold earrings and smashed Goldfish in their carpets, I’ll be smiling purty with a fully-charged vac in the back.
Now, my husband isn’t a car mechanic, but I there was a moment in time that I remember that I would be lost without him. It was the summer of 1995. We had met a couple months earlier– while I was a very poor, working college girl, and he was a youth pastor in seminary. My only transportation developed a major gas leak. He went to the library to obtain a diagram of my engine and fixed my problem with a .99 + tax piece of rubber/PVC thing. I knew right then, for sure, I was in love.
And now with an onboard DustBuster, I guess you could say that he’s still winning my heart ten years later.
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Just a tip from your resident landscaper, if you can stand to do it, don’t let your blueberry bear fruit (pick off the flowers) for the first three years, because a lot of the nutrients that they use to bear fruit also are used for developing a strong root system, and those first few years are crucial for developing a good root system.
But if you took my sage advice and didn’t let your blueberries bear the first few years, you’d be the very first. Evereyone gets so excited when their berry blooms that they can’t bear to pick the flowers off, no matter how much they understand that it is wise! LOL.
I too would take the onboard dustbuster over a golden ring, by the way! Us gardeners get a lot of dust and mulch in our cars!
Comment by Gen (February 13, 2006 @ 1:08 am )
Strawberries in February, wow! It must be a good deal warmer where you are than here in London! I’ve just ordered some blueberry plants they should arrive soon, mine will need to go in a pot as they need very acid soil apparently,we have very heavy clay soil. I will consider Gen’s advice about the berries very carefully!
I hope your baby wait is not too long, I think all the talk of ‘late’ babies from the medics is sometimes tiresome,like you say, God’s timing is perfect.
Comment by Sheena (February 13, 2006 @ 2:55 am )
I know what you mean about measuring in “days”. They say that with the more children you have, the shorter the laors get. If that’s true, with this one, I should be looking at maybe 2 days?
Jennifer
Comment by Jennifer D (February 13, 2006 @ 10:39 am )
Amy,
You should enter this in the Choosing Home Valentine’s Day contest–sounds like your husband’s gifts are award winners!!
(I feel free to suggest this as we wouldn’t be competing in the same category–I also have a competitive streak!)
Jeanne
Comment by At A Hen's Pace (February 13, 2006 @ 11:56 am )
Amy, no contest–your husband’s a true find!
When I was twenty, I worked part-time at a trust company (like a bank) while I attended university. That Christmas, my father gave me a Dust Buster. I was evidently so thrilled with this that another young person with whom I worked confronted me when we came back to work after the holidays and said, “Kel, do you realise you’re BRAGGING that you got a DUST BUSTER for Christmas? From your DAD?”
I just couldn’t make her understand. Maybe you have to be a daddy’s girl to “get” these things . . . .
Now, a DB in a vehicle . . . oh, dear. Envy is a sin.
Comment by Mrs. P. (February 13, 2006 @ 12:11 pm )
I can’t believe you’re only 29. You’ve got a lot of wisdom in between those ears. Hopefully in five years I will have acquired half as much as you.
Oh yeah, and I just have to say I love the name Amos, although most people in the world don’t, and my brother’s name is Zane, which while only being one syllable is still not a very popular name.
Comment by Ashlee (February 13, 2006 @ 12:16 pm )
Amy,
I also measure labor in days, but it is apparently the fault of my own sensitivities. Things were going along smoothly with baby #2 when I found out that my midwife wasn’t available. I wasn’t about to give birth with a stranger, so labor stopped at 7cm. Instead we went to the mall and then for a walk on the beach(stopping for the occasional contraction, scaring all the sunbathers). After our midwife arrived, we went out to dinner with her, went back to the birth center, broke my water, and had a baby an hour later.
Baby #3 was already 1 1/2 weeks late when we went into labor. Things were pretty good until the midwife let slip that she thought he might be breech and need to be born at the hospital! That was not acceptable, so labor stopped at 5cm and stayed there for a week. That allowed us to have a sonogram verifying proper positioning and to go shopping for appropriately blue baby clothes for our precious Jared Michael.
Our God is wise and just and good. He is also very efficient - developing in us the fruit of the Spirit while He develops the fruit of the womb!
Sheri
Comment by Sheri (February 13, 2006 @ 1:35 pm )
I am just leaving you a quick note to let you know that due to trolls on my blog (you can read about it there) I will be password encoding my blog. If you want to continue reading my site, please email me with a link to your blog so that I know whether or not I “know” you and I would be happy to send you the password. Thanks!
Comment by Scooby (February 13, 2006 @ 5:56 pm )
Gen, I remember reading about not letting it bloom to develop the root system. Thanks for the reminder; I’d forgotten. I don’t know if I have the fortitude to cut those blossoms off. Wow–am I getting weak in my old age?
Thanks for the labor stories and other notes, Ladies! Appreciate it!
Comment by Amy Scott (February 14, 2006 @ 3:30 pm )
Just noticing on the baby names….if you go to the social security admin website, what folks actually name kids vs. what’s trendy are two different things. I found no “Aiden” in the top 10 for 2004 - in fact it was number 60. The top ten was instead full of traditional names like Jacob, Joshua, Matthew, Andrew, etc…the girls were a little more trendy. I think some of the polls are what people like vs. what their husbands let them name the baby.
No suggestions here - but just thought this was interesting. Let the Lord lead you! Blessings,
Comment by Shelly (February 19, 2006 @ 11:34 am )