Waiting for Lil’ Bit

“I held my breath as we do sometimes to stop time when something wonderful has touched us…”  –  Mary Oliver

Life seems a bit unreal these days. We are here in the States waiting to welcome our first child into the world. And, in the few short weeks we have been here, there have been many wonderful moments in which I have held my breath, trying to stop time.

Here are just a few of those moments:

– The day that we drove from Washington DC to Tennessee, surrounded by sunshine and snow.

– The few days my whole family was together in our little Tennessee valley, catching up with each other and eagerly anticipating two new family members — our little boy and my sister’s little girl (both due sometime in March.)

– The moment we met our new little nephew, Tyler Paxton Trull, for the first time. We soaked up many sweet snuggles with him over a few relaxing days at Travis’s brother and sister-in-law’s house.

Our sweet nephew Tyler.

– Our first evening in Alabama where we sat with Travis’s parents, in their cozy living room, sharing stories and experiences since the last time we were together.

– The fun conversations with Travis’s extended family after church on Wednesday night.

– Sitting down to a true southern breakfast around Travis’s grandparents table one crisp Alabama morning.

– Feeling truly showered with gifts and blessings at three different baby showers in three of our homes: Tanzania, with our team-mates (before we left TZ); in Jellico, surrounded by the women who watched me and my sisters grow up; and in Alabama, surrounded by Travis’s community of family and friends. We felt truly blessed.

– Drinking chai and coffee around our wood-burning stove as winter hesitates to let go.

Snowflakes in March

– And now, as we are back in Jellico waiting for our Lil’ Bit to arrive, we are soaking up the moments of pre-parenthood by wandering the woods and going to see movies as often as we can.

I want to remember all these moments — so, as each wonderful thing touches us, I hold my breath in an attempt to stop time.

And yet, even though there are many moments we wish we could pause, we are also eagerly anticipating our new baby’s arrival and look forward to introducing him to the world. Though we are not going to get to travel as much this time as we would like, we are planning a trip in April to Arkansas, where we are eager to see and visit with as many of our state-side friends as possible.

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