Karen's Blog

Welcome Harrison!

Harrison Cooper is finally here! In fact, he was born about 6 1/2 weeks ago, on April 21, at 2:00 even in the afternoon. He weighed-in at 7 lbs. 9 oz. after a big poop! He measured 20 1/2 in. long with a head circumference of 13 1/2 in. Friends and family agree that although he resembles his brother's baby pictures, he maintains his own unique look.

Labor and delivery was much easier this time around. For one, I didn't have back labor: Hallelujah! Second of all, Harrison had a significantly smaller head than his older brother (2 1/4 in. smaller in circumference!). Thirdly, the labor was under controlled circumstances. I had an appointment to be induced, so the labor began on my timetable. I chose to have my water broken only (no pitosin) to get my labor going. Within 15 min., I was experiencing contractions so intense, that I saw blue stars and believed I would pass out before I made it back to the hospital bed! Fortunately, I arrived back in time and received the epidural. Once it kicked in fully, I enjoyed an almost euphoric state of relaxation until the baby was born, which was about an hour later. Only 10 min. of pushing capped off a 3:25 min. labor. No complaints, here!

What a joy our little Harrison has been to our lives! Over the last couple of weeks, he has begun to coo and smile quite a bit. It makes our hearts melt into putty. Even Jonathan talks back to him in baby talk, imitating his sounds. It's actually really sweet. Jonathan really gets a kick out of when Harrison toots or poops, declaring, "Harrison went poo poo!" as if we didn't all hear it, too. Jonathan enjoys participating in Harrison's bath times, which take place in the kitchen sink. He'll go all the way down the hall to retrieve his step stool so he can watch and help to pour water on his belly. He likes to lie down next to his baby brother on the floor, put his arm around him and stare. He also gives plenty of hugs and kisses each day. Our number one prayer is that our sons would truly know God's love for them. But our number two prayer is that our sons would be the best of friends.

When Derek returns home from his business trip to Santa Monica, I'll see if he can help me post some of my favorite pictures of Harrison on my blog for you to enjoy.

Miscellaneous Thoughts on Upcoming Baby

I'm 39 weeks today and feeling great - in fact, the best I've felt since this pregnancy began! I feel very fortunate to have made it this far. As some of you may know, I miscarried between my pregnancy with Jonathan and this one, so I don't take this healthy baby for granted! God has blessed me already with such a wonderful family, that it's hard for this only child to imagine anything better! I'm looking forward to the surprises and blessings the adventure of having two children will hold. Please feel welcome to comment on your experiences with having a sibling or a second child.

If the baby is born tomorrow, on 4-12-08, Jonathan and Harrison will be exactly 2 years, 6 months apart, which is pretty cool (Jonathan's birthday was 10-12-05). If the baby is born on his due date, 4-18-08, he will share birthdays with Mama Blanche (his great-great grandmother, Derek's great grandmother), who passed away last year. He will also share the date of my maternal grandparent's, Ray and Georgiana Cooper's, anniversary, after whom he was named: Harrison Cooper Lee. Either of those two dates would make meaningful birthdays for Harrison, but ultimately God decides that one! Jonathan was born on his great, great aunt Eleanor's birthday. As my great aunt, Eleanor has been an inspiration to me throughout my life. For Jonathan's first and her 93rd birthday, she flew down from Portland to share in a joint birthday party. I will never forget that special celebration!

I will keep you posted on Harrison Cooper's birth stats once he comes! Until then, please keep us in your prayers!

37 Weeks Today!

Yes, that's right. Today, I'm 37 weeks pregnant with Harrison Cooper Lee, our second son. It's very comforting to know that the baby could come at any point now and be term! (According to Kaiser, term begins at 37 weeks.) Now that the baby has matured sufficiently, I'm hoping that he comes on the early side, since according to recent ultrasounds he's measuring large. Derek and I have been working diligently to prepare our home for four, so hopefully after this weekend, we'll finally be ready for Harrison's upcoming arrival - whenever that may be! We can't wait!

The Ultimate Sacrifice

Isn’t it a touching photo? It pierces my heart to the core. I think it does even more so now that I have two precious boys. Our country's soldiers lay down their lives for our freedom every day. But there are young heros, too, sacrificing their dads and moms! What a tremendous offering for those so young to give. Thank you, Rosaly, for sharing this photo with me.

Sonshine Preschool Registration

After interviewing my friends with older kids and touring what seemed to be the top three affordable, developmental preschools in the area, I fell in love with one in particular for my son: Sonshine Preschool (spelled with an 'o'). I could tell Jonathan was welcome there from the moment we stepped foot on the grounds and he seemed to fit-in seamlessly. For example, he spotted an open chair at the snack table of one of the classes in session and ran over to join the other kids. Sonshine still had some openings for the T/Th morning class, so it wouldn't have to interfere with Jonathan's afternoon nap routine. I was sold! The only problem was that I would soon learn that preschools in the area are very difficult to get in to! You have to pay a price - and I don't mean a monetary one!

Registration was to open at 7 A.M. on Wednesday, February 13. But while on the tour, our guide warned us to arrive early. She even mentioned that the earliest person to arrive last year showed up at 1 A.M.! I was incredulous! There are other families on our court whose kids attend Sonshine and one friend in particular mentioned that the earliest person to arrive the year her second son was to attend, showed up as early as midnight! My other neighbor, Stacey, who also wanted to enroll her twins for the fall, and I, decided we needed to take drastic measures if we wanted a prayer of getting our kids into the school! So, on February 12, at 11:55 P.M., we set out for Sonshine. We reasoned, "What was the point of showing up at 1 A.M. if we could potentially miss our opportunity by one hour?" Would you believe that we weren't the first ones there at midnight? Another couple had come at 9 P.M.! Because we arrived early, both Stace and I were able to claim a couch for our sleeping bags and pillows and get a good 3-4 hours of sleep. People continued showing up all the way until 7 A.M.. Registration started as scheduled and Stace and I were finished by 7:20. Thankfully, our sacrifice paid-off and we both obtained the spots we desired for our kids! As we were leaving the building, however, we noticed a woman looking very discouraged. We asked her if she was OK, and she told us that her child had to be put on the waiting list for the three's morning program - the same one Jonathan had just gotten into! We showed her compassion and discovered that she had arrived at 4:30 A.M.! Boy, was I thankful that we had arrived as early as we did! Jonathan will now have the opportunity twice a week to learn and socialize with his peers and I will have some "Mommy Time" with Harrison.

The experience turned out to be quite an adventure! Stace and I caught up on our celebrity gossip, reading "People" magazine, enjoyed some snacks and even got in a little shut-eye. The inconvenience was well worth it and now makes for a story we won't soon forget!

Say, see what Craig Ferguson had to say about P-Town!

Stepping Heavenward - Favorite Quotes

What a wonderful book! I recommend it to all singles, wives, mothers, and anyone who has ever been discouraged by his/her own weaknesses, but really wants to love God and people. Jennifer Foster urged me to read it, lent me her copy (which I proceeded to spill coffee all over) and wrote the following on the opening page: "Welcome to a most satisfying exploration of the human soul and spirit man. May this journey be of great benefit and lead to much reflection and growth." For me, it has been and done just that. Thank you, Jennifer!

Since no one can put it better than author, Katherine Mortimer, I will let her do the talking. I limited myself to this handful of favorite quotes from her journal:

On the importance of sticking it out when people actually have the guts to speak the truth to us, because few actually will: "'I feel very sorry for you, dear,' mother replied. 'But you must bear with me. Other people will see your faults, but only your mother will have the courage to speak of them.'" (p. 5)

On God's faithfulness to sanctify His redeemed: "'My dear Katy,' she said, 'I wish I could make you see that God is just as willing, and just as able to sanctify, as He is to redeem us. It would save you so much weary, diappointing work.'" (p. 15)

On God's love for us: "If there is any one truth I would gladly impress on the mind of a young Christian, it is just this, that God notices the most trivial act, accepts the poorest, most threadbare little service, listens to the coldest, feeblest petition and gathers up with parental fondness all our fragmentary desires and attempts at good works. Oh, if we could only begin to conceive how He loves us, what different creatures we should be!" (p. 61)

On Sanctification: "Remember that it is His will that you should be sanctified, and that the work of making you holy is His, not yours." (p. 82)

On counting the cost: "The idea of seeking holiness had never so much as crossed my mind. And even now it seems like presumption for such a one as I to utter so sacred a word. And I shrink from committing myself to such a pursuit, lest after a time I should fall back into the old routine. And I have an undefined, wicked dread of being singular, as well as a certain terror of self-denial and loss of all liberty. But no choice seems left to me. Now that my duty has been clearly pointed out to me, I do not stand where I did before. And I feel, mingled with my indolence and love of ease and pleasure, some drawing towards a higher and better life." (p. 85)

On mothering multiple children: "'A mother,' she went on, 'receives her children one at a time, and gradually adjusts herself to gradually increasing burdens. But you take a whole houseful upon you at once, and I am sure it is too much for you.'" (p. 117)

On God's compassion for his children: "But there is an under-current of peace that is not entirely disturbed by any outside event. In spite of my follies and my shortcomings, I do believe that God loves and pities me, and will yet perfect that which concerneth me. It is a great mystery. But so is everything." (p. 118)

On having a third child: "She says I shall now have one mouth the more to fill, and two feet the more to shoe; more disturbed nights, more laborious days, and less leisure for visiting, reading, music, and drawing. Well! this is one side of the story, to be sure, but I look at the other. Here is a sweet, fragrant mouth to kiss; here are two more feet to make music with their pattering about my nursery. Here is a soul to train for God, and the body in which it dwells is worthy all it will cost, since it is the abode of a kingly tenant. I may see less of friends, but I have gained one dearer than them all, to whom, while I minister in Chist's name, I make a willing sacrifice of what little leisure for my own recreation my other darlings had left me. Yes, my precious baby, you are welcome to your mother's heart, welcome to her time, her strength, her health, her tenderest cares, to her life-long prayers! Oh, how rich I am, how truly, how wondrously blest!" (p. 240)

On making home a heaven on earth: "But, oh! I am so selfish, and it is so hard to practice the very law of love I preach to my children! Yet I want this law to rule and reign in my home, that it may be a little heaven below, and I will not, no, I will not, cease praying that it may be such, no matter what it costs me." (p. 241)

On the sacred vocation of motherhood: "Then you will permit me to say that when you speak contemptuously of the vocation of maternity, you dishonor, not only the mother who bore you, but the Lord Jesus Himself, who chose to be born of a woman, and to be ministered unto by her through a helpless infancy." (p. 277)

On being wives and mothers: "Home again, and full of the thousand cares that follow the summer and precede the winter. But let mothers and wives fret as they will, they enjoy these labors of love, and would feel lost without them. For what amount of leisure, ease, and comfort would I exchange husband and children and this busy home? (p. 345)

Childhood Antics

I've always loved a good adventure. When I was a kid, I much preferred involving myself in some thrilling exploit over staying inside to read a book. And I always managed to get some poor old friend to be my partner in crime. I remember some pretty crazy stories. One time, I somehow talked my neighbor friend into clearing out the inside of a giant hedge in an unsuspecting elderly neighbor's front yard to create a hideout for ourselves! Do you reckon we asked for permission? It started out with snapping a few carfully chosen twigs to make the space we had squeezed our bodies into a little roomier. Soon, we were finding that our hands weren't strong enough to break the size branches we were going after! So, I went back home, got some loppers, and set back to work with my friend. Whenever we would crop a branch, we'd push it out of the hedge to make more room. It got to the point where we had a sizeable pile of branches sitting on the side of the hedge (which was along the street, by the way, for all to see - I don't know how we thought we were going to get away with this!). Well, I wasn't going to just leave the pile of branches there, so I decided to return home again for a garbage can, which we proceeded to fill up. Soon after I had come back to our hideout with the trash can, my Dad found us and told us to "close up shop." I'm still amazed to this day that he wasn't angry with us! Was he too baffled by the randomness of it all? Was he impressed with our industry? Did we strangely remind him of himself when he was a kid? All I have to say is that only the Lord knows how much of that hedge would still be left if my Dad had never found us! As we walked away, the 15 ft. high "wall" now had some visible holes, which for the next year or so, wouldn't let us forget what we had done each time we would pass by.

"Schickleschickleschickle"

Last Wednesday, I was crossing the street to head back to my car from the Bagel shop, arms laden with diaper bag, bagel bag and 19 mo. son Jonathan, when all of a sudden Jonathan, who had been silent up until then says, "Schickleschickleschickle." For those of you who know Jonathan well, you know the above word can only be translated as one thing: "shoe." So, I replied, "Shoe? Shoe, what? Why are you saying shoe?" As I readjust my cumbersome load in my arms, I happen to notice that Jonathan was actually missing his shoe - his precious yellow-and-kelly green Croc! I turn around quickly, as on a dime, and begin to retrace our steps. There, lying tucked between the curb and the road was the mate!

Boy, was I thankful that we hadn't left his shoe behind! But even stronger an emotion was that of pride. I was proud of my son for using a word he knew to communicate a message to me. That alone would have been enough, but I was impressed that he had initiated it; he wasn't just responding to my question. Additionally, it was out of the context of the familiar - we were away from home. He was using something he had learned at home and applying it to real life outside the home. I still beam with delight every time I think back to the moment - a moment which represents so much more to me than simply recovering a lost shoe. How satisfying a life I lead as a mother to train a son and watch him grow!