PSA

Public Service Announcement

We interrupt these festive tidings of the recent birth of our newest family member to bring information valuable to the public broadcasting audience: how to remove Flubber from hair. (Flubber is a gelatinous, sticky material made out of water, white glue and borax. Extremely strange stuff.)

A couple of weeks ago, Audrey received a small container of Flubber in a party favor box. Ecstatic, she had only held it in her hands about 60 seconds before she just HAD to put it on her head. Bad idea.

Flubber absorbs its way into hair about as fast as water would. Unlike gum, it didn't need to work its way in--it was just automatically a gooey mass of hair, completely inseparable.

So what does a mother do? Laptop, please. Google search: 'how to get flubber out of hair'. Results? Turns out good old fashioned mayo does the job. You have to massage it in for a few minutes, dissolving the glue bond in the Flubber, then shampoo & rinse. Then you get to have greasy hair for several days because mayo is a deep conditioner of sorts.

Happy Birthday...

Kellen Henri Morris

Born at 12:58 am this morning, May 7, 2010.

7lb. 140z, 20 inches.

Precious.

Seeing Audrey and he meet for the very first time was one of the most adorable scenes that I have ever witnessed in my life.

Sad.

For the past many months I have been very aware of the fleetingness of these last precious moments together with Audrey as my 'only child.' Every little thing we do together seems extra special and almost every time I look at her throughout the day, I feel teary and nostalgic. Appreciative.

What an amazing little person that calls me 'mommy/mama.' As Henri says, "Children are honored guests." Indeed they are and my little daughter is truly an angel come to earth. (I'm not claiming she's perfect...just that she is a heavenly gift.)

When I think back to how much she has changed my life...inspired me to be so much more than anything or anyone else before her, I feel guilty. That first week after she was born, I recall what mixed emotions --bliss and absolute, total love! Annoyance, resentment, misery. Sleep-deprivation, hormones and wondering if life would ever be 'normal' again...whether we'd ever sleep or watch a movie in peace again. Dreading the future stretching out into endless diaper changes, feedings, baths, laundry. Oh the mundaneness of it all. And hence, the guilt. To be honest, surrender is a long process. One will probably always be underway. But somehow there was a definite turning point when it occurred to me: what other better or more worthwhile thing did I have to do? Was anything in my former independent life more worthwhile or significant than sacrificing for, investing in-, loving and nurturing this little person entrusted to me for such a short time?

Oh sure, I can still long for the control of a structured workday, work clothes, the kudos of a job finished and well-done. The paycheck :) I miss reading a book without interruption and being the master of my own day with few responsibilities for anyone outside of myself. The sleep.

But what is all of that worth compared with the flowers and weeds that my little girl picks for me every single time we're on a walk? Her 'gifts' --feathers she finds ("feathers that eagles left"), drawings. Her laughs or deep appreciation for the smallest of joys a fort in the living room, digging in the dirt, a craft together...or perhaps best of all those tight little hugs and sighs when she nuzzles up to me and says "Ooooooo I LOVE you mommy." The stories she tells. How she tries to help me with everything...I could go on and on.

Every time I give her a bath or dress her I marvel at how this strong little child-body was once as small and flailing as the one inside of me now. That tiny newborn is now a kid. A bona fide kid. How quickly life passes. And baths and stories and diaper changes and hugs and kisses and feedings. This is life. A million tiny moments strung together like beads on a string.

I hope that this second time around, I can slow down enough from the very beginning to treasure each and every one.

Message to 3 people.

3 responses.

Last night, after watching 'Lord, save us from your followers!' on Netflix, I was overwhelmed with the urge to name our coming son, Bono.

I mean, seriously: Bono ROCKS. Ok, truth be told I know next to nothing about what he's like as a husband, father, etc. But as an artist? Genius. As a force for change in the world? Social Justice? Philanthropy? Being for the things Christ would be for? Absolutely.

For those of you who don't know, we have really struggled to decide on a boy name. There are lots of 'nice' names but they're either too common, don't sound right with our last name, already used by close family and friends, and so forth. We've got our short list, but just haven't had that 'Yes! This is it!' experience.

So last night, I was thinking what a cool name and namesake Bono would be. Even so, I can't see pulling the trigger on that one but for fun I sent out an email this morning to 3 friends:

Subject line: Found a name.

Body of email: Bono (Jude?) Morris.

Each response was hilariously indicative of the personalities of each of these beloved people. (Responses are in quotes below.)

First, the ever diplomatic but forthright Kelly:

"I dig. Very cool. He's gonna have to have major cool-cojones to wear it, but I think your kid could pull it off."

2nd, blatently frank and hilarious Lindsay:

"No. Try again."

3rd, the ever-supportive and earnest Mish:

"That's awesome!

Yay for finding a name!!!!!"

To say that I love these 3 is a massive understatement.

P.S. On a totally different note: MAJOR stroke of luck today. After getting my haircut, stopped into the Gap where a big sale was happening (not sure why I did this since I am obviously not fitting into normal-sized clothing at this point in time. I think it had something to do with feeling like this was a final moment of freedom, probably for a long while.) Found a super cute $89 sand colored light canvas trench on the sale racks marked down to $6.99. Asked sales lady what was wrong with it since it was marked down so severely. 'Oops!' she says. 'That's supposed to be $69.99!!!' They offered it to me for the marked price. SOLD and MAJOR SCORE!!!!!!!!!