Letters to Julianne: Grandpa Tom

Dear Julianne-

I wanted to take some time today and tell you about a man who lives in Heaven with Jesus who would have loved you very much. 11 years ago today this man met our Lord face to face after being very sick for a long time. While we are very happy that he got to go to Heaven to be with Jesus, mommy still misses him very much and wants you to know all about him. He is my Daddy, your Grandpa Tom. I am not sure where to begin in telling you about your grandfather. There are so many memories to choose from. In thinking about his life today though, I couldn't think of a more appropriate time to start sharing who he was with you.

Physically he was about the height of your daddy (Andrew) and had lighter hair and blue eyes. He also had a lot of hair for a man his age and always looked younger than he actually was. Grandpa Tom loved God, his family, the mountains, horses, saltines covered in apply jelly, and diluted red cool aid. He could fly planes and was very smart. He took me to school each morning precisely at 7AM. Once, I was not ready on time and he left without me. This event may be why your mommy is such a punctual person. He also picked me up from school from time to time. When I would jump into his red and tan Ford Bronco, he would tell me of all the girls leaving school, I was the prettiest one of all. He really meant it too...to him I was. Then we would go get a cherry lime aid together and he would ask me what I had learned new at school that day. Now, whenever I drink a cherry lime aid, I think of him and our afterschool discussions.

Your Grandpa Tom taught me how to ride a horse, snow ski, drive a car, and more easlily understand my Algebra homework. When he got sick, Grandpa Tom showed me what it means to suffer well. He was a very brave man. Although he didn't like being sick, or the thought of not getting to meet you, he trusted God's purpose for his life and his suffering. He knew that God would ultimately use it for good. Before he died, your grandfather shared that his one hope for his family was that we would be transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That our hearts might be forever changed by the saving grace of God. Just as he prayed that for me, it is my hope and prayer for you. That at an early age you might understand and be changed by the Gospel. I am glad that his story is a testiment for you and that he has a legacy in you. I will always miss him but am thankful for the memories and how God used his life to change mine. 

Love,
Your Mommy

Baby M’s Name

In the short time I have been pregnant; I get the following questions almost daily:

1. How are you feeling?

2. Do you know if the baby is a girl or a boy?

3. Do you have a name for her yet?

The 3rd question for me up to this point has been the one I cannot answer with certainty. Even when we were first married, Andrew and I would occasionally pass the time by thinking of names for our future children. Our future son’s name was easy to come up with for us since it is two family names, but we could never settle or agree on a girl’s name. Figures God would give us a girl so we would have to work through the challenge of coming to some consensus. When it came down to it though, the issue was Andrew and I simply had different tastes when it came to naming baby girls. In line with all previous girl name discussions, we could not agree. He loved modern, trendy names; I loved traditional old lady names (it seems these are making a comeback).

There were many long sessions that went something like this:

Andrew: What about (insert trendy name)?

Me: No…too many people are named that. What about (insert old lady name)?

Andrew: Is she going to be born in a nursing home?

The other challenge was trying to incorporate my middle name Beatriz; also my mom’s name and her mom's name. My mom and grandmother are Hispanic and it is the Spanish spelling of Beatrice. Growing up I always swore I would never pass on the name since it was an old lady name (go figure) and all I wanted was to be Nathalie Marie or Lynn or some such normal middle name. Fast forward 15 years and my husband turns out to love my middle name and insists we must keep the tradition going. I have to say I now agree with him and it is special and has grown on me a lot since I was 11 years old.

All this to say, and if you are even still reading this, we have finally found a name we both love that goes with Beatriz McClish! I have hesitated making it official, but we are calling her by her name already so it just seems wrong to name her anything else at this point.

Our daughter will be called:

Julianne Beatriz McClish

Her Mommy and Daddy and close family/friends will call her Jules occasionally for short. We love it because it is unusual without being too “out there”, to us it is lovely, and we can picture a little girl or grown up girl with this name. Finally, I can respond to question #3!


Nathalie and Baby J :)

21 weeks....

This was taken at dinner on Saturday night. I cannot believe how large I am getting. I know this is nothing compared to how large I will eventually become but the whole thing blows my mind. The doctor tells me I am gaining weight at the right rate, but each time I step on the scale it is a bit alarming. Oh well...when else in your life is it OK to gain 4 pounds in 1 month? Tomorrow we get to have a 3D sonogram and I am looking forward to it! We should have a good idea of what she is looking like as long as she cooperates with us and shows us her face.  I will post those pictures soon.

I am also still feeling great and have a ton of energy. I am told this is the "golden trimester" and to enjoy it since in the coming weeks I may not be as comfortable. I guess we will have to see how it all plays out. Really I have had an easy go of this whole pregnancy thing so far. I was never really sick, don't get heartburn (knock on wood since I am loving the spicy food these days!), and sleep pretty well aside from the vivid dreams and bathroom trips I inevitably take each night. I am very thankful for these blessings. I know for a lot of girls the road is not so smooth. I guess there is not much else to report for week 21. We are going to begin setting up the nursery soon and are pretty set on a name. More on all that later...

Nathalie and Baby M

She's Moving!

Or rather...now I can feel her moving!! Yesterday I had finished lunch and was working at my desk when all of a sudden I felt a little punch from the inside. It was unlike anything I have felt before, so I reasoned it must be the baby! Over the last several weeks I have thought perhaps each twinge or gurgle in my tummy was our girl, but couldn't say with certainty that it wasn't just gas or digestion. I was beginning to feel like a bad mommy since I had heard from others that they started feeling their babies way before 20 weeks. Was something wrong with my mothering abilities if I couldn't even feel my child? I realize this is silly and I honestly didn't fret too much over it, but boy am I glad I am on the other side! Pardon my enthusiasm, but this might been the coolest thing about being pregnant. I can't wait until the kicks are strong enough for Andrew to feel them!

On another note, our good friend Sherah Witt took some lovely photos of our family at the lake last weekend and I have been able to use them to update our pictures on the blog. You can see more of her work here: sherahwittphotography.blogspot.com. Our specific shoot here: HERE

p.s. I have definitely "popped"

Nathalie and Baby M

Andrew's reaction to Having a Daughter

As you know we decided to indeed discover if Baby M is a boy or a girl. I am so glad we did! I still think it is awesome when people have the discipline to wait, but for us it has helped us bond with our daughter and imagine life with a girl.  Andrew thought we were going to have a boy, along with 65% of our blog readers which I think is 9 people, and when he was told he would be a baby girl's daddy, he was a little surprised and shocked. His first reaction to me was, "We are going to have a baby!", like it wasn't until that moment it was real for him. Then as if accepting it he said, "we are going to have a daughter...wow...wait.... what if she doesn't get asked to the dance?" This comment caught be a bit off guard. This was his first reaction to the news? I tried to assure him that the dance was a long ways off. Then he said as if he hadn't heard me, "what if she DOES get asked to the dance!?" It seemed the reality of this scenario in his mind would be even worse than the first.

Even though we laughed about it, it became apparent to us how much we already love our girl and how much we want to protect her. I imagine these feelings will become even stronger once she is here. While I think it is good for us to love and protect our daughter, we are also asking the Lord to help us trust him with what he has for her life. We know that his path for her is perfectly planned and ultimately for His glory, but I suspect living this out will be difficult at times. We are praying about this.

Andrew now refers to "us" as "his girls" and it is really cute how much he has embraced having a daughter. I know she will adore him just like all the other baby girls in our life (there are 5 other baby girls in our small group alone and they all love Andrew). He talks to her and constantly touches and kisses my belly for his daddy daughter time. It is adorable and I love Andrew more or differently somehow now that we are going to be parents together.

In addition to seeing her private parts, we also got to see her heart, spine, lungs, kidneys, bladder, and stomach. Although the ultrasound photos of these anatomies are not as interesting to look at, I found them beautiful to behold! It is a miracle that all of her spine is in tact and perfectly formed. Likewise that she has functioning kidneys and bladder etc.. I am just in awe of how all of this happens in such a short amount of time and how thankful we are to God to have made our baby (at least as far as we know) healthy.

I am still eager to feel her move inside me. So far nothing on that front, but I am told I should start to feel her any time. I cannot wait for that!!

Nathalie and Baby M

Baby m is..........

A........

Beautiful baby....



GIRL!!!!!!


We are thrilled and will share more soon!

Nathalie and baby M