One Month of Tennyson

This week, Tennyson turned one month old!  Believe it or not, I’m a little weepy that he’s reached this mark because I know it’s already flying by.  Despite the lack of sleep and the blurriness of days that comes with a newborn schedule, we have loved every minute with this new little one.

Tennyson has gained over a pound since his birth so he is definitely growing bigger, but it’s mostly in his belly.  He remains a long and lean little guy in his limbs.  He’s an incredibly alert child who loves to stay awake and constantly observe his surroundings (which makes napping difficult).  Thankfully, he’s exhausted by night time so he sleeps well then.

Danny and I have A LOT to learn about being parents, but thankfully they grow little by little as we try to keep up.

Tennyson Crouch

James Tennyson Crouch was born on October 2, 2011 at 10:50pm.  He weighed 8lbs even and measured 21 in. long.  Danny and I are overjoyed!

He is named after Danny’s dad, James Crouch (1945 – 2008), but he’ll go by Tennyson.  Danny’s dad was named after a great missionary and writer, James Hudson Taylor. The name James will remind our son of his late grandfather, also a great missionary, teacher and leader. James Crouch gave up his life in order to find it in Christ. He found it in the lives of missionary and Nigerian children, teacher colleagues and local churches in Nigeria, where he lived and served his entire life. We give James Tennyson up to Christ and pray that he too will find his life in Christ.

Tennyson is a literary name we liked for it’s British roots, which is where he began . Here are a few of our favorite quotes from the British Poet Laureate Lord Alfred Tennyson:

“More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.”

“My strength is as the strength of ten because my heart is pure.”

Thank you for your love, care and prayers as we’ve welcomed Tennyson into our lives. We are eager to introduce him to our friends and family.

9 Months and Counting

I thought I would never desire food again after 16 weeks of nausea in my first trimester of pregnancy.  Now, I’m blinking twice at the date and wondering how on earth we got to 40 weeks so quickly and thanking God that I just ate my lunch with an appetite.  Where has time gone?  Perhaps it was moving from one country to the next, reuniting with family and friends after being abroad for 2 yrs, moving back to our Nation’s Capitol and trying to reorient ourselves into American culture.  Maybe that’s where the past few months have gone.  Maybe.

It could also be that life carries on, even when you’re pregnant, and perhaps that’s been the greatest surprise of all.  Now that we are waiting, waiting, waiting, on a job for Danny, on our child’s birth, on the first night I can sleep on my stomach again, I can’t help but look back at these nine months and reflect on this unique and special time.

Month 1:  January 27, 2011 we found out we were pregnant in Durham, England.  We were giddy and surprised to find this out, at least as giddy as we could be on a dark, wintry morning.  We couldn’t stop smiling all day and wanted to tell everyone.  But, we both decided we’d wait until I was farther along to announce the pregnancy.

Month 2:  Sick, sick, sick.  Enough said.

Month 3:  A little less sick and starting to move around.  On March 21st, we saw a heartbeat and were told our baby was one week farther along than expected, due on Sept. 27th and not October 3rd…we’ll see about that!

Lindisfarne, England

Month 4:  Auntie Anna and Uncle Ben came to visit lifting our spirits immensely.  My sister, who just had her baby 3 days ago, was a great comfort to me coming out of 3 sick months.  We had a full, fun-filled 2 weeks with them that we’ll never forget.

Month 5:  We introduced Baby Crouch to our favorite hobby: traveling.  We took our Babymoon to Southern France and Spain for 10 days.  On May 11th, we looked at a healthy baby on the ultrasound and somehow made it out of the doctor’s office without finding out the gender.

Madrid, Spain

Month 6:  June was a month of transition!  I had my first baby shower, one I will never, ever forget.  I don’t think a baby could ever be more internationally celebrated!  Friends from China, Mexico, Canada, France, USA, India, Japan and Columbia came out to bless this little child.  Mimi Crouch came to visit us for a week before we left.  We had a great time showing her around Durham and introducing her to our friends.  On the tail end of this, we said our goodbyes to those people who we still miss a lot.  For the first time in two years, we were bound for the US for a permanent stay.

Durham Baby Shower

Month 7:  Surrounded by friends and family, we felt that joy that you experience when you “come home”.  We celebrated Matt and Daynes Crouch’s wedding in early July, went on the Oster’s annual beach vacation, apartment searched in D.C, and ended the month with a family baby shower in Roanoke that was an extremely sentimental time for me and Baby Crouch.  I loved looking around a room full of women ages 3-78 who are part of this family.  I can only hope and pray that I live to be a great-grandmother and watch my family grow year by year like my Me-Maw.

Roanoke Baby Shower

Month 8:  Moving house in your third trimester of pregnancy is a good idea, right? I think our new motto is, “If it’s not crazy, why do it?”  On August 1st we moved into our new home where we will be a family of 3.  Thanks to the help of D.C. friends, the move was relatively painless and we were able to spend a good month settling in.  We continued to get to know our doctor better and better who we love and Danny logged tons of hours job searching.  The month ended with an earthquake, hurricane and tropical storm–both more hype than actual ‘disasters’.  It didn’t stop a terrific baby shower hosted by old friends in DC.  If rain is lucky on your wedding day, what does it mean on the day of your baby shower?

Month 9:  And here we are.  Still doing much of what we did in Month 8 but feeling ever

DC Baby Shower: These girls made that day so special!

the more expectant.  Any day now we will finally meet this little tyke who has been a trooper through all these months of transition, months of highs and lows.  One thing is for certain, this little life will bring us more joy than we could ever imagine and we can’t wait to introduce the world to it.  In the meantime, I’ll continue to use Danny as my official mirror.  We went on a date last night and I left the house with two different flip-flops on.  The worst part?  One of the flip-flops was Danny’s…you’d think I’d feel the difference.

The left one is green, the right one is blue.

Aubrey Mae Porter

Welcome to the world, Aubrey Mae Porter! My sister and brother-in-law had their third child yesterday morning, a sweet baby girl.  Aubrey weighed in at 8lb, 6 ounces, and 21 in. long.  She is a content, healthy baby and we are all rejoicing in her birth.  My sister was a rock star, laboring for a mere 6hrs from start to finish.  I’m hoping this is genetic!

Isn't she beautiful?!

Now, Baby Crouch, are you ready to join the party?

40

How Long will we sing this song?

Sarah and I are waiting a lot recently.  We’re waiting to welcome our first child into the world, which we’re so excited about and know will change our lives forever. We’re also waiting for a job for me, which is becoming more and more of a pressing need.

Despite her discomfort, we agree the job search has been the harder of the two.  The question really is: How long?  How long will we sing this song?  We know God will provide.  But when?

Lately, we have learned so many good things, for which we are grateful.  We’ve revisited stories that we can relate to, like the Israelites in Exodus stuck between the Red Sea and the Egyptian army.  Their story teaches us that God means for us to be where we are; that the same God who led us in will lead us out; that we are to be more concerned with God’s glory than our relief; and that he’ll provide in his own unique way.[1]  Sure, we are not actually fugitive slaves encountering an angry army, but we do feel like we’ve been led into a desert and are looking for our own exit strategy.

But how long… how long will we sing this song?

Losing my dad was the most tragic event of my life and far outweighs the pain of unemployment.  However, death is something we accept.  We all know life ends, we just don’t know when; it can be a surprise.

But waiting?  Waiting is almost harder to accept.  Waiting is hard to understand. Waiting is not cut and dry.  Waiting is long. Ambiguous.  Unknown.  We don’t know how long it can take.  Sometimes, it’s quick and we move on.  Other times our song is put on repeat.

In case you don’t know it, U2 sings a song called “40”, which we can relate to at this time. “40” comes from Psalm 40, a prayer for help when trouble abounds. It says, “I waited patiently for the Lord, he turned to me and heard my cry.”  Bono and The Edge, who wrote and recorded this song in about ten minutes as they ran out of time in a studio in 1983, captured this feeling of waiting.

Here is a live performance from Chicago.

Despite the pain of waiting and asking how long, we hold fast to the truth we see throughout God’s word, throughout our whole lives, and throughout the history of our families.  These are our stories that we can revisit and draw strength from.  But it’s not our story write…

(“40″ could also be about the 40 weeks of pregnancy. Just ask my wife.)

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[1]Red Sea Rules by Robert J. Morgan

Photos courtesy of Keith Richard Hammack

Entering the Waiting Zone

38 weeks and just 2 weeks to go (roughly)! The doctor says things are progressing meaning there’s some dilation, some softening and the baby’s head is engaged.  I’ll spare our readers the minute details since the terminology still makes me giggle when I say it out loud. Our suitcases are packed and ready to go should this baby start coming but seeing that this is our first child, we aren’t too expectant that it’ll come too early.

In other news, I think my form of nesting is cooking. I’ve felt this sudden urge to try all these interesting recipes, but ironically I’ve had a lack of appetite. This was tonight’s creation. Who wants some?

Off the Shelf: August 2011

Summer reading fever continues! I feel a bit embarrassed recommending the following books. Recommending this trilogy is perhaps like recommending the Harry Potter books or Nancy Drew; I mean you probably have already read them or decidedly not read them, right? The trilogy I’m speaking of is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins which is this month’s “Off the Shelf”.

My dad and sister-in-law recently recommended these books to me and let’s just say with my many bouts of pregnancy insomnia, I tore these books up in less than two weeks! You know, it’s very easy to do once you start reading these. Oh, you don’t know? Well then, get thee to a bookstore or library and see what all the hot fuss is about.

The Hunger Games is about the country of Panem, what we would formerly call the United States after it’s been devastated by natural disasters, wars, etc. Panem is composed of 12 Districts that are controlled by the Capitol which is a city buzzing with greed, gluttony, licentiousness, and perversion. While those in the Capitol live a life of indulgence, citizens of the Districts are worked to death producing commodities for the Capitol and starving to death under harsh conditions. After a District rebellion 75 years earlier, the Capitol decides to “teach” the Districts a lesson in obedience by hosting an annual “Hunger Games” at which two children from each District must compete to the death against children from other Districts. Only one person is the winner and everyone else must die. The story centers around 17-year old Katniss Everdeen from District 12 who takes the place of her younger sister to compete in the games. The story is full of violence, romance, suspense and bizarreness. Yes, bizarreness. I can’t think of any other way to put it.

The story continues in books two and three called Catching Fire and Mockingjay. I highly recommend these books as a light read. I’m not afraid to read Young Adult Fiction, are you? Well, don’t judge. Let’s remember all the goodness of Sweet Valley High.

Nesting

I don’t think I’ve hit that “nesting” stage that so many pregnant women talk about, when they are in a frenzy to clean their floors, stock their fridges, reorganize their closets, what have you. I just dripped maple syrup on my floor from the waffle I’m eating, my laundry is in piles and my closets look like we turned our moving boxes upside down and deposited the contents in them. No, I don’t think I’m nesting yet. BUT! We did move into a new place a few weeks ago and man it feels good to be settled!

After a pretty tough apartment search, we found a place in the neighborhood we originally wanted. This time around, we decided to live right outside of D.C. in a place where many of our friends live, where things are quieter and parking isn’t a hassle. There are many days we miss driving around Capitol Hill on the Scoot or walking to church rather than driving, but we’re thankful for this change of scenery as we prepare for Baby Crouch.

Outside our new home!

We still have quite a bit of unpacking and set-up to do on the inside of the house so, I’ll spare you those photos for now. Everyday there seems to be a huge list of to-dos before the baby comes in just five weeks–five weeks! I can’t believe it. This is the most recent baby bump shot for those of you who are interested.

High-quality, right? This poor child is not getting proper photo documentation...

Amidst all the transition, we are trying to prepare for this baby. We babysat for our good friends’ 3 mth old son the other night and had a lot of fun. This picture made things very realistic for us.

We also put together our nursery furniture the other night. Was nursery furniture construction invented to make you go crazy and rethink your decision on becoming a parent right before you are one? We started out in such a good place. “This will be so fun and memorable. We’re setting up our baby’s room–wow!”.  Three hours later we wanted to kick the one piece we managed to put together (out of three) to the curb. Don’t worry, we stuck with it and I’m happy to announce that our child will have a place to sleep.

Now, for a little crowd participation, I thought it’d be fun to do a poll on what you think our baby’s gender will be. I’ve been asked several times if I “have a gut feeling” about what we’re having and the truth is, absolutely no, I/we do not. What do you think? Cast your votes!

Off the Shelf: June and July 2011

Summer reading is the best, isn’t it?!  I often remember my vacations by what I was reading during that time. One summer it was the Twilight Series, last summer it was The Help (has every woman in America read that book by now?). Despite the busyness of traveling and being between many places this summer, I’ve been able to tuck a book in the bag and enjoy some reading. For me, reading is probably one of the best antidotes to insanity.

June’s “Off the Shelf”, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, came recommended by several friends. I was lucky to spy it on the “Recently Returned” shelf of our library in Durham about two weeks before we left England. It made for some fast reading before we headed back to the States and this puppy was thick!

This novel takes place in Germany during the Holocaust and is narrated by Death as he witnesses all that is occurring during this tragic time. He tells the story of a young German girl who has been orphaned and taken in by a German family in the early 1940′s. The family who adopts her also gives shelter to a Jewish friend who quickly becomes close friends with the girl. The girl’s love of books and learning paint the backdrop of this novel as her Papa teaches her to read and then she reads daily to the Jewish man hiding in her home. 

There are a lot of novels written about the Holocaust but this is the most unique one I’ve read, mostly because it’s narrated by death but also because it’s about a child who has little knowledge of the atrocities going on around her. I found the first part of the book pretty slow and at times I lost interest in the plot. The writing style felt a bit forced, almost as if the author was trying too hard to be creative. But, the story is incredibly heartwarming and it was refreshing to read about the Holocaust from a completely different perspective. My personal review is that it’s not a “must read” but if you see it at your local library, go ahead, pick it up and give it a go.

Now, moving on to less than literary books, if there is such a category. I wrote in a previous post about beach reads and July’s book would be hard-pressed not to fall into this category. It’s a quintessential beach read and as it would so happen, I read it at the beach. July’s “Off the Shelf” is The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly.

Micky Haller is a defense attorney who takes cases for those in society who arguably should not be defended, drug dealers, repeat sex offenders and murderers. His office is a Lincoln Town Car and he defends those in L.A. who rarely can get an attorney.  Even though his career is successful, he’s looking for a case that will give him a paycheck bigger than he’s ever seen. The case comes in the form of Louis Roulet, a young, wealthy realtor from Beverly Hills who’s the suspect in an attempted rape case. What seems to be an easy trial with a big payoff becomes a living nightmare for Haller as he questions his own ethics and career choices.

I read my fair share of John Grisham’s in high school and college; they were always easy books to pick up and hold your attention. On the one hand, I can be a bit snobby about “good literature” and what that means but on the other hand, I give a lot of props to an author if he/she can tell an interesting story with a compelling plot. Not only were the characters in The Lincoln Lawyer colorful and interesting, I also learned a lot about criminal law. I found the story a bit anti-climatic, which was disappointing,  but it didn’t stop me from picking up the second one in the series, The Fifth Witness. If you’re heading to the beach in August and want a fast read, pick this one up!

Summer Trips

These past three weeks have been chalked full of summer fun. We spent a long weekend in Atlanta, GA for Danny’s brother’s wedding. It was the first time all the Crouches had gathered together in a year, so we were pretty excited to be together. I was not on the ball about taking pictures that weekend but here are a few of the celebration!

Mr. and Mrs. Matt Crouch!

Brothers and Brother-in-Law

Rehearsal Dinner

The following weekend we went on our annual summer lake trip to Deep Creek Lake, Maryland where we’ve been going with DC friends for five years. On the first of  these trips, Danny and I got to know each other and the seeds were planted for our future romance–isn’t that sweet? This time we returned with a bun in the oven.

Deep Creek Lake, Maryland

My family also took their annual beach vacation to Duck Beach, NC.  We’ve been going to the beach for 16 years and every year we realize how much the family keeps growing. I’m always sad to leave at the end of the week and vow that one summer of my life I’ll live at the beach while I write my first novel. Good idea, right?

My sister, Anna, Mom, Me and my brother Stephen who sneaked into the background

My sister-in-law, Ashley, organized a few happy hours on the beach in the evening--fun!

Biking and ice cream in the afternoon with my niece and nephew

Lots of puzzles at night. I've never been so addicted in my life!

Our two nieces and nephew all the ages of 3 and 4

Alongside these trips, we’ve been plugging away at all the to-dos involved in transitioning back to the States. Danny is working hard on his dissertation, his final assignment before the MBA is complete, as well as job searching.  I’ve switched into more full-time baby mode now that I’m in my third trimester.  Amidst all the busyness we’re trying to remind ourselves that a little Crouch will be joining us in just 10 weeks and there’s quite a bit of life to be settled before he/she comes along, at least we’re praying those things get settled!

We’re thankful for all the ways God has helped us so far in this move. More to come soon on book reads!