2011

Last night we rung in the new year with the typical crowd of friends. I took a moment to look around the room and I relished in the realization of how fortunate we are. 2010 was a challenging year for a lot of reasons. I feel I am growing into the sandwich generation and all of the pressures and responsibilities that implies. I almost lost my father. We continued to mourn the loss of David's brother, each year in a new and different way. We suffered through the current economy like everyone else. In the midst of all of that, we experienced incredible joy--the birth of our third baby who has brought out a renewed tenderness in all of us, my father's miraculous recovery, the blessing of job stability, a re-energized faith in God and a matured relationship with Him, and the usual realization of the friends who are family to us and all of the happiness that brings. Life is hard. Life is joyous. A whirlwind of emotions and trials and triumphs. That's what keeps us going. That's what makes us blessed. Now, capture that and remember it when you need to. Love is the bottom line. It makes us vulnerable but it also makes us whole. Pretty deep thoughts the morning after New Year's Eve! Happy New Year and enjoy 2011!

Welcome Baby Dippel

Those are three words we didn't think we would be saying again! What joy--undefinable joy--this little one has brought us. You've read many blogs, I'm sure, going on and on about babies and family and children. I can only say that watching our older two children interact, love, and care for our new baby is nothing short of overwhelming. They will teach the baby the particulars about growing up in our family. I can only hope we are teaching THEM right! We look forward to baptizing him this summer and just enjoying every tiny moment of that little life that we know will grow up much too fast.

What is Important to Me in 2010

Heavy question. I've thought alot over the last part of this year about what is really important to me. I've come up with a pretty short list-in no particuar order.
1. Being a good parent. That's a given, I suppose, but how often have you thought of the enormity of that responsibility. The responsibility to my children to teach them right from wrong, to be compassionate and generous, to be responsibile and kind, to trust their relationship with God, or me to constantly model all of those behaviors. Almost more than you can bear.
2. Being a good daughter. What does that mean? When I think of my children, I inevitably think of my parents. They need to know I love them, respect them; and, they need to know they did an ok job of raising me. (Hopefully, they think this!). I want them to have a good relationship with my kids, and I need to constantly let them know what the gift of my happy childhood means to me and continues to do for me.
3. Being a good wife. It is so easy to take your spouse for granted, and I know I do it regularly. He knows I love him. He needs to know how much I like him. How much I appreciate how dependable and helpful he is. How much fun we have when we get those treasured moments alone. I lucked out in the husband department, and I don't tell him that enough.
4. Being a good Christian. My relationship with God has grown and matured. I concentrate on wanting my actions to reflect to everyone with whom I interact what being a Christian means. Of course, if I am doing what I'm supposed to be doing, this definition will change from time to time.
That's it! All of the other little things fit someone or another into one of these categories. Through many trials, loss of friends and family members, illnesses, and job losses, these four things have gotten me through. Happy 2010. What is most important to you?

We went to family wedding this weekend. You know what struck me the most? How young the bride and groom were. They were obviously old enough to get married, it's just that I remember my own wedding like it was yesterday; yet, fifteen years later we have lived a lifetime since that day! It was very sentimental! We watched this young beautiful couple that has their lifetime ahead of them. They have no idea the bursting and unctrollable love they will feel when they have children. They have no idea of the pain they may feel when friends begain divorcing or fall fatally ill. While we have certainly had our share of good and sad times, it made me realize that we wouldn't even trade the sad ones. They've made us who we are today as a couple. We're not perfect--far from it. But we are the Dippels and I like the Dippels. What a beautiful wedding and what beautiful memories it brought back. Looking back, I wouldn't change a thing.

It's a Boy!

We found out recently we are having a boy. Did we care one way or the other? Not really. I confess to feeling like I'm more comfortable with girls because I understand them, I know how they think, I know their emotions. Boys? Not as much. I've been spending alot of time trying to tune into my young six year old son. Result? He amazes me. There is an undeniable bond between a mother and her son. When I see him acting like a gentleman, being considerate, or doing something consistent with what our family's values are, I am full. I am proud. I am tearful. (That may just be the hormones.) I love him dressed up like a little man. I love him all dirty, sweaty, and smelly. I love him watching him sleep. He makes me laugh. I decided what most kids need is the same--boy or girl. Love. Knowing I love them and knowing there is nothing they can do or not do to change that. Knowing that I like the person they are. I hope they know all of these things.

Missing Babar

This is a picture of my grandmother, I called her Babar, at her 90th birthday party. You may wonder why a classy southern belle would be blowing a party favor while having brunch at the club. The answer seems clear enough to me--her great-granddaugther asked her to! I have spoken to many friends about how much I loved my grandmother. She lived down the street from me almost my entire life. I spent probably as many nights at her house as my own--and so did my friends. My friends knew to call me at her house if I wasn't at home. We'd all come to her house sometimes for lunch, sometimes after a football game. Sometimes we had the courtesy to call. But probably most often we didn't. She loved listening to our stories. She passed away peacefully a couple of years ago. It has surprised me how sad I have been at losing her. You're supposed to lose your grandparents. But this really hurts. I think about her almost every day. Especially now with another baby on the way--the only baby that she will never meet. I had a dream the other night that she walked by me and touched my cheek as if to say, "it's alright, I'm here." I hope she looks down on us and meets her last great-grandchild. I miss her. She epitomized Southern hospitality. She was Christian. She was gracious. She was welcoming. She was beautiful. She loved family. She loved fried chicken. She was my Babar.

And Baby Makes Three...

Wow. My husband and I just kept repeating this three-letter very insightful word. Wow. We're going to have another baby. Wow. With a 10 year old and a 6 year old, we weren't expecting to find ourselves here again. But wow. What an incredible and wonderful surprise. My mind wanders ahead 5 or so years as it did with the birth of each of my children. I imagine their relationships with each other and smile. I fast forward 10 years and imagine our house full of friends and girlfriends and boyfriends and laughter. A big, loud, chaotic, fun house. That's what I've always wanted. We are thrilled, surprised, shocked, excited, and scared. Because mothers do worry about everything that can go wrong, I worry we've tempted fate too many times with two beautiful healthy children. Are we too greedy to expect a third? Am I really too old to do this a third time? Is a third c-section healthy? I have been praying and I hope you will join me in praying for a healthy pregnancy and delivery and a third beautiful healthy baby to join the Dippel clan. For those keeping count, that's five grandchildren on my side and ten on David's. I love being this baby's mom already as much as I love being it's brother and sister's mom. Wow.