When temperatures start warming up again, children flock to playgrounds. Against backdrops of still-naked tree limbs and grass that looks crunchy and yellow, they play hard while the sun shines. And then, as the sun begins its descent, mamas might put them on the swings for a few moments before calling it a day. Heads sag to the side in tiredness, faces a bit drawn. And then playtime’s over and the moms pack up their crews and move on towards home, thoughts of dinner fixings in their minds. Someday soon the sun and its delicious warmth will last long past suppertime. We wait in eager anticipation.
Bunny Portrait by Livia. All others by her mama.
My friends Joie and Jake went north for the L’Abri conference in Rochester and came home with a rabbit. One of Honeysuckle’s offspring, to be more specific. Honeysuckle is well known in the Tredway household. Ever since I began reading of Honeysuckle’s adventures on Margie Haack’s blog—and then met the rabbit in person last spring—we have awaited any news of the bunny and hoped with bated breath that she’d get pregnant. After some time she did conceive and birthed the cutest baby Angoras you could possible imagine. And now those babies are small no longer! Apparently rabbits grow fast.
Livia began asking me daily to visit Joie’s apartment to see Jack. Or Zach. Or sometimes Honeysuckle, which we both called Jack when we weren’t thinking straight. Livia even volunteered to spin Jack’s wool when the time came for shearing. This is how dedicated we are to Angoras now: we watch YouTube videos on spinning. I’m saving up all these thoughts and hopes and dreams for Livia’s future. I have visions of her marrying a Nebraska farmer and then running a menagerie of animals on their farm. Liv will come and go as a rural veterinarian and she’ll take every lost and broken thing under her wing until they are mended. In the meantime, she is learning to add and subtract and read and write. Back to the present. We finally made it over to visit Jack in person and Liv lovingly fed him carrot bits and brussel sprouts. Joie believes Jack is an introvert, so we’ll give him some time to get used to the rapt attentions of a seven-year-old vet-in-training.
DFW Airport, January 2012
As it turns out, I don’t feel any better about avoiding sweets on Day 4 than I did on Day 1. Bummer. The sensation of denying myself sugary treats has become more familiar, however. I am less likely to reach for a Swedish fish or Dove chocolate to pop into my mouth. My mind is beginning to grasp that those things are off limits—don’t even think about it, missy. But I want want want to eat sweets almost all day long. The very idea of self-denial is clearly not something I am accustomed to. (Interestingly enough, we’re not avoiding sweets for Lent, the timing is merely coincidental.) This challenge began in the interest of breaking an addiction to something that is obviously not healthy in my life. You can imagine how it’s not helpful to munch on sweets all day long when you have diabetes. :)
What I am enjoying is the knowledge that I can pick and choose what goes in my mouth. I can pick and choose healthy, life-giving items over the ones that are temporarily rewarding, yet life-draining in the long run. I know I will return to eating all those blessed, amazing, spectacular tasting desserts. I simply hope to show a little more self-control when that time comes.
My friend Bethany indulged me by modeling for a little photo shoot on what had to be the most humid day ever last summer. The payoff was the brilliant light and the time alone with a good friend. We both have little girls now, so it was fun to escape daily life to play with our cameras and the light near the Wesleyan campus one evening.
Now Bethany and her family are in Germany and we miss them greatly. Fortunately, we get updates on little Adeline’s cuteness through Facebook. How in the world did people survive before Facebook? ;)
Friends. Coffee. Brunch. Encouragement. It’s kind of like MOPS on a smaller scale. If you’d like to hear what we heard last week, check out Kerri’s blog. She did a fabulous job speaking.
**Table decor courtesy the creative and talented Tara Mackrill! I love her eye, and it blesses us moms month after month.
I’m playing catchup from last fall! I shot my friends the Erdmans last October and am now invoking the better-late-than-never clause. I enjoy this sweet family so very much; my time with them is always great and editing their images is a joy for me. I hope you enjoy a few pictures from warmer days!
Clara Mei Morehead arrived, safe and sound, into the world yesterday morning! This baby is a dream. I am absolutely mesmerized by her chubby cheeks that softly roll against her little shoulders. I could trace her sweet round arms and legs all day—or at least until she cries and I hand her back to Jason or Renae. Before she was born I guessed she’d weigh around 7lb. Her brothers, who were born six and four weeks prematurely, were quite small, which makes sense. But boy oh boy was my guess off! Clara, full-term, was determined to skip the newborn clothing all together at 9lb, 5oz.
Congratulations, Renae and Jason, on your amazing and beautiful baby girl! You done good, friends.
Though I didn’t cuddle this little guy last night (Jeremy and Livia were sick on Christmas Day), I did get to see him. And that was satisfaction enough.
Joel is absolutely adorable. And big! What a gorgeous 9lb baby! He was getting plenty of love from his grandma, aunts, cousins and Renae, so I know he wasn’t neglected whatsoever. Renae snuggled him right on top of her own very pregnant tummy, and I can’t help but wonder what it will be like to see Joel and little Clara (ETA: Friday morning!) running around the pews at Redeemer together.
In the face of Joel I see evidence of God’s goodness and graciousness and incredible joy. Thank you, God, for blessings like him that strengthen my faith and keep me turning to you in amazement.
The story I have to tell is greater than three images and a few words in a blog post. But for now, these small markers will suffice for representing the larger story. At 1:00am Saturday I received a phone call where Brian Bradley’s voice said something like, “Let’s go, Tredway.” After that, my camera captured snapshots while one Maralee Bradley did the work of a lifetime. Seen above, she’s walking the hallways, smiling before all smiles vanished, and breathing deeply through a contraction.
This post lacks an ending. That beautiful reward a mama literally labors towards happened in a surgical room and, alas, only one person was allowed in. I was kind of hoping Brian would pass out at the last minute so I could dress in scrubs, but no such luck. ;)
The Facebook announcement reads, “For unto us a son is given! Joel Richard Bradley was delivered via C-Section on 12/24/11 at 5:11 pm after 14 hrs of hard labor. He is 9 lbs and 21 1/2 in long.”
I praise God for so much today! And when I finally hold that darling baby in my arms, you can bet I’ll photograph him.
