Tummy Before, Tummy After

Wow! What a difference a few short months make! It's funny, a lot of the time I don't feel pregnant. I have NEVER had morning sickness (Thank God!), most of my clothes still fit, and I haven't felt any fluttering yet. Besides the worst case of acne I've ever had in my life not much has changed. Or so I thought. These pictures are a terrific reminder that YES, there is a whole new life growing in my belly. Jacob and I are going to blink, the months will flash by, and we will be Mommy and Daddy! What a wonderful gift. I know that there have been BILLIONS of women who have gone through this before...but I am just struck by what an utter miracle this whole experience is. There is a human life INSIDE my body. What's more is this tiny baby is going to finally, by great effort, struggle free of me and grow into a self-sufficient adult in a few short years. How did God ever come up with this? Half me, half my husband, and yet entirely unique to both of us. A miacle. What's also a miracle is this child, not even yet arrived, has started changing my husband and I from slightly selfish and wild, to more conscious and thoughtful people. Wonders never cease. Even as I type, 18 weeks pregnant I am already worrying, will my baby be healthy? Will I be able to give good council? HOW WILL I EVER HANDLE MIDDLE SCHOOL!?!?! Then will come the bitter, bitter/sweet day he will leave home... When my child is grown and on his own (or maybe just starting kindergarten) I will comfort myself with the words of Kahlil Gibran from The Prophet:

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children.

And he said:

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor terries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are set forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinire, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far..
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies,
So he loves also the bow that is stable.

PS- Thank you Ray Carroll for turning my on to this most wonderful and beautiful book.
PPS- I know my soul will never be the same after motherhood, but what about my stomach??? ;-)