Two Months Today!

I finally caught Emma's adorable little dimple on camera!

I thought I'd sneak in a post while Emma is taking an evening nap. Sorry it's been such a long time since we put anything up on the blog. I've started work back up at the church and Brendan has been going the usual intense InterVaristy pace. Work has been fine, I love the people I work with and what I do, but every moment away from Emma takes it's toll on me. Brendan has been bringing Emma up one of the two feedings of the morning while I am gone and having that extra little special time with my girl has been a gift. Emma and I are gearing up for a week with the girls as Brendan will be away in Tacoma, WA for the IV Spring Break trip. My mom flies out on Tuesday which will be a huge blessing this week. The single mom thing is hard!

Anyways, God has been sustaining us and we have somehow managed to see Him pour out more of Himself in our weakness with coffee shop concerts, large group talks, and the usual bustle of life here in Missoula. The good news is our lack of sleep is slowly decreasing, Emma is sleeping so much better through the night and is down to two feedings at night. She's putting on weight- she weighed in at 9 lbs. 11 oz a week and a half ago so I'd wager she's over 10 lbs at this point! Hard to believe some people start out with babies this big! Happy 2 month birthday to our little girl. Here are a few recent pics of the little bean. Enjoy!

The Yawn

A Few Recent Pics

For all you Emma fans (ahem, Grandparents), here are some pictures of Emma taken in the last week!

Emma doing some work with Dad in front of the computer

With Grandpa and Gran Jamieson

After a good meal...

Checking out the ceiling

And with a tired, but happy Mom

My Husband...My Hero

This picture is of Brendan and me in Hawaii last year. It’s good to look back on the things we have done and know that someday soon a sense of normal will return. It’s going to be a new normal, but it will be a routine. I look forward to that day! It’s been an interesting couple of days in the Jamieson household. Last Thursday Emma had a colicky- like episode that consisted of screaming for a 24-hour period with short catnaps in between when she has completely worn herself out. It broke my heart to try and do everything I could and she still would not be comforted. Turns out she had a dislike of something I had eaten the night before- a Mexican pulled beef with green chilis, onions, garlic, and the like. Apparently Emma does not like ethnic foods. That’s okay, I have resigned myself to eating backed potatoes and other bland food as long as I am nursing her. It is worth it not to go through another day like that. Unfortunately that whole day Brendan was preparing his talks for the retreat this weekend and then went to InterVarsity’s large group meeting that night. He came home to an exhausted and teary-eyed wife. That night he told me that he would do whatever it took for me to get a long stretch of sleep that night- I had been getting between one to one and a half hours at a time. So Brendan and Emma spent a lot of that night on the couch sleeping and hanging out while I got one gloriously long four hour stretch. It’s amazing what a difference it makes. What a gift, thank you my sweet husband. I can’t imagine how single parents do this.

Brendan has been gone on a retreat this weekend, leaving Emma and I to have some girl time. We have gone for a walk, visited with a friend, gone to Starbucks for a coffee break (actually we just drove through the drive-thru), watched about half a movie, and Emma has eaten a whole lot. God had been gracious as Emma has been relatively mellow. We’re figuring things out. Even with all the bumps and valleys over the past few days I wouldn’t trade being a mom to this little girl for anything in the world.

Strength for Today...

It's been an exhausting couple of days in the Jamieson household. We are trying to figure out life as a family of three, with one working dad, an average of five hours of broken up sleep nightly, and a tiny three-and-a-half week old who runs our lives. It's an interesting place to be when you are constantly wiped out, needing rest, needing time to connect with each other yet so captivated by our daughter. Every long night that we have is followed by waking up, gazing at Emma and all her cuteness, and forgiving her for every minute we lacked sleep. I have a new profound respect for my parents and all they did for me. Parenthood is a place of constant giving, dying to self, and infinite joy. I don't know how all that works except that is, in a small way, what Christ has gone through for us. Somehow we join in His suffering and joy as we raise this beautiful baby girl. I have been constantly meditating on and reminding myself of the words of Isaiah 40:28-30- "He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. The will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and now grow weary, they will walk and now grow faint." This is the promise we are holding on to, that God will give us strength for this day, He is faithful to do all He promised.

The picture up above is Emma with Grandpa Jamieson and Dad. We have been so blessed by the help of Brendan's parents, what would we have done without them? I am convinced more and more that children are supposed to be raised by a whole extended family- any family want to move out to Montana?

Slowly Resuming Life

Yay for Grandma and Grandpa! Grandparents to the rescue for us in the past week and a half. Katie's parents came out to help a week after Emma was born. They came to help exhausted parents who desperately needed naps, food, and the floor vacuumed. What a blessing to have Mom and Dad come over every morning while we would stumble out of the bedroom, hand off Emma, and go back to bed for a couple hours. That saved our life! Emma loved the being held all the time and bonding with her grandparents. Here's a few pics from the last week:

Emma's first meeting with Grandma:

Grandpa (a.k.a. "the Mattress- Emma would fall asleep on him anytime, anyplace)

Emma's been sleeping a little better through the night after a rough couple of nights of three hours for us, total. We bought a co-sleeper which attaches to the side of our bed and makes nighttime feedings 100% easier as well as giving us the bed back. Brendan's parents arrived yesterday and we are enjoying their company as well as more helping hands. Life is slowing starting to feel more managable, we went to church this morning for the first time since Emma was born. Emma did cry a bit and needed to eat right in the middle of the sermon, but we lived through it and no one gave us dirty looks. I think we will learn to actually do things in public again and maybe even enjoy them! It feels good to be getting back into the swing of life after three weeks away. Brendan starts work again full force tomorrow so that will be another adjustment. Thanks for all your prayers.

A typical portrait of Emma during the day (but not at night!)

Exhaustion

This is Emma's "I'm almost ready to eat but not quite yet" face. Pretty cute, huh? We are loving this adventure of parenthood and can't believe Emma is already a week old. We had her first doctor's appointment today. It was strange to drive to the hospital and remember the early morning she was born. It was the most difficult, beautiful thing I've ever done. And I'd do it all over again for her. It's amazing the newfound respect I have for women in their ability to sustain life and bring it into the world. God is pretty amazing in His design.
Anyways, Emma's first appointment went well. She has already gained back an ounce more than her birth weight. That explains all the feedings! Overall she is very healthy and in fine form. Wish we could say the same for us! We are bit sleep deprived and calorie deprived- not from lack of food but because we keep forgetting to eat. You other parents out there understand. But we are loving life and are so thankful. My parents come tomorrow to help out and get some good time in with their new grandbaby. We are looking forward to taking more naps, and maybe actually cleaning our house!... with their help, of course.
We're off to bed for the night. Pray for us, that we all (including Emma) sleep well.

She's Here!

Emma Elizabeth Jamieson was born on Wednesday, January 24th at 5:47 a.m. She was 6 lbs, 10 ounces and 19 inches long. We are thrilled to have her home. We wish you all could see her and hold her, as she’s beautiful! Katie’s water broke on Wednesday morning at 12:00 a.m. on the dot. 5 hours and 47 minutes later, she was born!

It is amazing the gift God has given us of this tiny, precious girl. The things we have learned about Him through this process of bringing life into the world are so good. All the “grown up” things we know of Him and sanctification- disciplines, theology, discipleship- have been given a new set of eyes through the power of love and pure joy we have experienced in the gift of our daughter.

Here are some words to a song Brendan wrote before Emma was born:

The Artist Behind

The first word, light
Like truth divides
Bringing form to formless night

Speak color, scorn
Sterile black and white
Imagination given sight

Bright burning stars
Crown the evening sky
Set in splendor to remind

With loving hands
Expertly conceive
From dust and into him breathe

Softly, I can hear the beat sound
I can feel my heart pound
See the breath of life all around

The mystery of creation
Is an invitation
Perceived in limbs and eyes
And in tiny cries
O stand in silent wonder
Do not rend asunder
Creation and the life
Of the artist behind

In a sacred moment
In a secret place
Nothingness now wears a face

Small wonder growing
On hearts to her inclined
Ever moving to remind

Foot like a searchlight
Illuminations of
A Makers intimate love

Sweet expectation
Of sacrificial care
And finding the Artist there

Veiled behind light, hidden beneath skin
Intimations of a Lover’s image in

Veiled behind hearts never used to believe
Revelation plain to see



Hope you all enjoy the pictures of Emma. We’ll be posting more very soon (we’ve already taken over 150 of her!)

The final belly shot at 38 and 1/2 weeks:

And then...

With Daddy after her first bath:

A little Mommy and Emma time:

Coming home from the hospital:

Trying out the sling for our first walk together:

Happy New Year!

This post is dedicated to one of my best friends - Geoff Welch. We've been talking a lot about sharing pregnancy pictures (of our wives!) and so here's a recent picture of Katie at 35 weeks. She's actually 36 weeks preganant right now, but the picture is dated. We're mostly ready for our little baby to come out, but are you ever totally ready? I think not.

Life has been pretty interesting the last couple months. We went home to Virigina for Thanksgiving to see Katie's family, which was wonderful. We enjoyed the time with her parents, brother, sister and grandparents. After coming back from Thanksgiving, it was just a couple weeks until school was out. We finished up the school semester, and then traveled north from Missoula to Whitefish, MT, for Christmas with Brendan's parents and grandfather. We've enjoyed having the extra space and time together with students off for the holidays. We're counting the days until our little girl is born, and we hope she comes out soon! Seriously, it is a strange time, waiting for our lives to be changed by this little life, but the changes don't really start until she's out. We really feel like we're just waiting around before we can get on with this next phase of life. We're trying to get in a few experiences that will likely be hard after she's born, like going to a movie, going out to dinner, etc. That's been fun.

So, below are a few pictures from the last two months.

This is Brendan's 28th (gasp!) birthday celebration at the Adams' home in Virginia.

This is Katie and her sister Rachel at home in Virginia before Rachel took off for Dehli, India.

Ugly Sweaters and Pregnant Bellies

We wanted to show off the new sense of style we are sporting these days. Aren't we cute? This is a picture from our "Ugly Sweater Bowling Night" with the InterVarsity crew. Brendan won 2nd place in the ugly sweater contest, though I contend that he should've won 1st.

Here's Brendan with his 2nd place "trophy" along with Brad, the IV chapter president.

We promised some friends we'd post some of my latest belly shots. So here's one, at 28 weeks. I still am getting comments about how small I am! I can tell you though, our little baby girl doesn't feel so small anymore. Our nighttime entertainment is watching her move around. We are convinced there is a little gymnast in there! Last night Brendan found a definite foot and she kicked him back for about 20 minutes. A Daddy's girl already.

And lastly, a baby present from my mom. (Thanks Momma!) It's the little things like this that help connect us with the fact that in 12 weeks or so we are going to have our little daughter on the outside. We can't wait! Hopefully we'll remember our Lamaze breathing and relaxation techniques on the big day.

Cannon Beach

Hello everyone! Here is a picture from our recent trip to the Oregon coast. You'll remember this rock from the movie "Goonies"... if you are old enough to have see it. This rock (behind us) is called Haystack Rock, and is located in the small town of Cannon Beach. We went away for a long weekend, to celebrate Katie's birthday, and to have a belated anniversary celebration.

So, we're planning on using this blog site A LOT more in the coming days and weeks, since we've got a lot to keep friends and family up to date on... especially our growing BABY! (She's not on the outside yet, but will soon be). Katie is 28 weeks pregnant tomorrow, and we'll be posting pictures of her soon. Enjoy, and be blessed.

March musings...

It's March 12th already! Where is the time going?

Ok, now that I've finished expressing my brief lament about the quick passage of time, I'll get on to more interesting and relevant things.

Life is going pretty well in Missoula, MT. It's a sunny spring morning. The sky is blue, the birds are chirping, and the leaves are just starting to come out on the trees (they're still just little leaf buds, really). But all that lifts my spirits. Funny how sunshine can affect your mood.

Katie and I have been well. We've been learning a lot about trusting God, both to provide for us, and to lead us as we follow him. I've been scambling around a lot lately, preparing to speak at Intervarsity meetings (about God's concern for the poor), leading music at church, organizing spiritual survey's on campus, and many, many other things. Thankfully, it is God who does the real work. Mine is just to be faithful. And I have much joy today that God has given me things to do. Some people would love to work, and yet have nothing. So I'm thankful for meaningful labor.

If I'm honest, much of what I've been thinking about these days has been related to music. Somehow, as I've embraced the gift and passion I have for music, it has become a key part of knowing God in my life, and of processing life. I've been writing songs about myself (how warped and self-centered I am), about the poor, about God's awakening and transforming power in our lives... and much more. I'm really looking forward to the day in the future when I can share some of the music with you all.

And as a last quick note - I've been reading several books that have been tremendously good for my soul: The Pursuit of God, by A.W. Tozer, and Orthodoxy, by G.K. Chesterton. If I ever write a book, I'll have to go by B.M. Jamieson.

A Slightly Longer Test

So, I've just got this thing up and running (thanks to a WHOLE lot of help from Geoff Welch). I'll try and post some thoughts I think every so often. For many of you, the only thing you hear about from me is Intervarsity stuff. That's great, but I do think things on my own, apart from Intervarsity, and my life with God has been growing and changing in many ways of late.
So, that's that for now. Grace and peace to you all in Christ.

Brendan