On Kindness

Just a little bit of kindness

Can go a long, long way

Just a little bit of tenderness

Can brighten up a day... 

Excerpt from "Kindness" by Alice Joyce Davidson

I recited the full text of that (admittedly pretty cheesy) poem at the Association of Christian Schools International Speech Meet when I was in third grade. Funny how the things you learn and memorize way back then stay with you! I may not remember my drivers license number every time, but I do remember most of my speech meet pieces!

That stanza sets up the point of this post, though: How MUCH I have been touched by the kindness of others, particularly at the end of this pregnancy! From texts and Facebook posts by sweet and encouraging friends (read: NOT the ones who say things like, "WHERE'S THAT BABY?!" but the ones who remind me of the fun ahead and tell me that they're praying for the birth) to my surprise baby shower to other incredible acts of kindness.

A few more that come to mind are my friend Lisa from Bible study gifting me some really fantastic used baby gear; my acupuncturist/herbalist giving me every piece of personal contact info that he can in case I need him at any hour; Alison and Lola coming over for a playdate/visit and bringing us an armful of Starbucks pastries; our neighbors and Brad's aunt and uncle watching Ford so I can either get stuff done around the house or Brad and I can go on dates; Abby coming over for a visit and making the sweetest framed art for baby girl's room; and more, so much more!

To be clear, people have done a TON of stuff to bless us during this pregnancy. My mom has bought baby girl a TON of sweet clothes (and Aunt Brittney, Tara and others have added to her stockpile, too!), and Tara and Katy loaned me maternity clothes, and Shelly gifted us a boatload of Liliana's precious smocked dresses and other special outfits, enough to keep her well dressed for at least a couple of years! Above are just a few examples of things that have blessed us in the last few weeks. If I didn't mention you by name, please don't think I'm any less grateful! 

I wanted to share some pictures from the play group shower, but they have disappeared from my phone. Basically, a bunch of us gathered at Kimie's house for the normal Monday morning play group, but Kimie had rallied the girls to bring some hand-me-down (many with tags still attached!) baby girl clothes, since I hadn't had any showers. Anne brought cupcakes and Kimie made bran muffins with cream cheese frosting, along with yummy oolong tea. I opened gifts and "ooohed" and "ahhhed" while the kiddos milled around and played. I will forever cherish the memory of that time with friends!

A couple of weeks ago, Kimie so sweetly agreed to take pics of me and Ford at a park in Richardson to capture what it's like in these last days of it being just Mommy and Ford. She took up photography as a hobby not long ago and is REALLY talented! Below are a few of my favorite shots from our time together. Such a sweet gift to have these precious days captured in photos!

Ford and his friend, Kimie's daughter Lucy, whom Ford affectionately calls "Nnnlooooosy." And she reciprocates by signing the word for "forehead" for his name (or at least she did once, which Kimie and I thought was hilarious!).

Do not try to get between a toddler and his snack.

Feeding the ducks. Ford gave them approximately two small bites of bread and ate the rest himself.

I feel like Ford looks like a stuffed animal here. Does that make any sense?!

Again with the snacks.

Toddler Thug Life.

And finally, this knocked my socks off... Brad's cousin's wife Shelly, whom I've mentioned here before, has been such an encouragement to me during both of my pregnancies. She is a childbirth guru, both because she apprenticed with a midwife when she was 19 or so (Shelly, correct me if I'm wrong!), and because she has had four beautiful babies herself, and each birth was a little different, so she's seen and experienced the full spectrum of how things can go, from a birth scenario. She is also just really wise and discerning. She recently moved from the Denton area to Montreal with her family as her husband works with a church group in Canada. I emailed her a few weeks ago telling her that I missed her and I could really use a piece of her amazing chocolate cake. She emailed me again early this week to say that her chocolate cake was on its way. I couldn't imagine what she had planned... Mailing me a box of ingredients? Going to have her mom, who still lives in North Texas, deliver a fully baked cake? It was exciting all week to see what would show up and when! So Saturday it was SUCH a treat to have her cousin's wife, who happens to be a friend of mine through our church, show up on our doorstep bearing a GIANT chocolate cake with pink, cream cheese frosting, and gifts! Murphy (Shelly's cousin) and Lauren also brought along a couple of gifts: one was a pink piggy, like Liliana's beloved Piggy, from Shelly, and the other was a sweet little Janie & Jack sailor dress from Murphy and Lauren. Such an AMAZING surprise on a rainy Saturday, and the cake could not be tastier. I have already eaten an embarrassing number of servings! Ahhhh! Shelly dreamed up this sweet surprise, and Lauren executed it. I could not have felt more loved or supported!

My heroes! Murphy and Lauren Stroope. An added bonus of their visit was learning that we live really close to them! I feel like no one from church lives within a 10-minute radius of us, and they are within 10 minutes! P.S. LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT CAKE.

Of course Piggy had to have a slice, too. :)