Randall has been trying to be better about blogging, and I'm momentarily inspired.

The previous name for this blog no longer works as we now have two babies.  I need to come up with a better title, but sleep deprivation seems to impede my creative abilities.  Hopefully there will be a better name coming.

At 10:13am, September 14 (after complications and delays with my c-section) we added Eleanor Joanne Weiss to our little family.  She was 20 3/4 inches long and weighed 7 lb 5 oz.

Audra loves "Baby Elie."  We'd talked a lot about the fact that Mommy was going to have a baby even though I was quite certain that my 15-month-old wasn't old enough to understand.  She was obsessed with bellies and babies for months.  Then Elie arrived and she seems to know that Elie's her baby.  It's so cute.  When she first saw her sister though the nursery window at the hospital she was excited and talked about "Baby Elie."

She loves giving Elie hugs and kisses.

It's been rough recovering from my second c-section.  We've had lots of help.  Sometimes it drives me a little bit crazy, but I am very thankful for all of the help.  I don't know what I would do without all of the family and friends.

I'm going to try to post regularly (if only to maintain my sanity).  We'll see how that goes with two precious little girls.

Spirituality of Parenting

It's crazy to think that I'm in my third trimester and that I'm the mother of a one year-old. Audra keeps growing up so quickly. She can walk and says words. It is also very obvious that she knows what is being said. This has gotten me to thinking about a lot of the things I say and do around Audra. I've also been thinking about her development and how much she's grown. We've worked and helped her reach physical developmental milestones and intellectual milestones. I don't think we've done much in terms of her spiritual growth short of taking her to church and walking our own spiritual walks.

Today Randall and I were finally able to listen to the Speaking of Faith broadcast "The Spirituality of Parenting." I heard part of it on the radio a month or so ago. I really wanted to listen to it together and have a discussion.

I think Randall was a bit disappointed that there weren't more specifics on ways to nurture your child's spirituality. She talked about a few things that didn't really apply to us. I came away from it wanting to incorporate some new bedtime traditions and wanting to find childrens' stories that teach children about God that aren't necessarily Bible stories. Not that there's anything wrong with Bible stories. I want to teach Audra Bible stories. I just want her to be able to find truths about God and people and love and life through other stories and eventually in the events of everyday.