From the Inside Out

Those of you who know me well know that I loathe baby showers. I can only take so many “ooh’s” and “ahh’s” before I want to start ripping out my hair. And since I don’t have children, I find shopping for baby stuff terribly annoying. The stores are crowded with crying infants. I have no idea what to buy, and the long laundry list of items provided on the registry doesn’t help either. I don’t have a clue what most of the items are and why they are important. It’s a best guess effort every time…until now.

I found a “heelarious” gift for baby girls, leopard print heels. Yes, that’s right…heels. Heelarious.com offers soft crib booties for babies designed to look like high heels. They are extremely cute and funny at the same time.

The shoes — in sizes 0 to six months — are designed purely for entertainment purposes. They are completely safe because the soft stilettos collapse when weight is put on them. The novelty pumps come in six colors - leopard satin print, hot pink patent, black satin, zebra satin, black patent, and hot pink satin.

Now if heels aren’t your thing, you can choose to buy the new baby girl her first pair of boots instead. Heelarious also has baby boots complete with spurs. They come in black or two-toned red and pink.

Check ‘em out. And if you buy these for a shower, check with me first to make sure we don’t show up with the same gift…haha!

We celebrated my niece’s 16th birthday this evening with a family party at my sister’s house. It made me reflect back to the day I turned sixteen.

Sixteen is such a magical age. It’s when you start driving and that brings new freedoms and liberties with it. I guess that’s why they call it your “sweet” sixteen.

For my sixteenth birthday, I received a huge surprise — a car! I had no idea it was coming, and I was completely blown away. It was a classic ‘68 Mustang — sweet, indeed.

I took my driving test on my 16th birthday, passed the test, and drove to school for the first time. It was a major milestone in my life. I experienced many other milestones that year including:

• Winning the Student President election by one vote
• Taking first place at state for female quartet
• Traveling to New York for Nationals, singing at the Statue of Liberty
• Taking first place for a female quartet at Nationals (it was the first time one of our singing groups had even placed there)!!
• Starting my first job (gift wrapper and then sales associate at Lord & Taylor’s)
• Graduating (yeah, that’s right…I graduated a year early — it’s a private school thing.)
• My best friend moving to New York with her sister (she eventually realized that there’s no place like TX and came back home)
• Changing churches and attending ALC
• Meeting the man who would eventually become my husband

Ah, those were such great times. Sixteen was truly a sweet year.

For many kids, it’s an annual event. Their parents dress them up and haul them to the mall to get a photo taken with Santa. Many enjoy the experience, but it seems that far more find it to be terrifying.

I can remember being forced to sit on this strange man’s lap while someone snapped a picture. I’m sure my mom still has the photo of me with tears streaming down my face while this huge bearded man in a red suit held me. I never really liked Santa since I was a kid. Some people find clowns creepy; I think Santas are creepy.

Authors Denise Joyce and Nancy Watkins have found at least 250 toddlers who agree with me. The two recently published a book called “Scared of Santa: Scenes of Terror in Toyland” that shows photos of children on St. Nick’s lap — most of whom are desperate to leave. The book contains both current pictures and vintage pictures of frightened children with Santa. They have some from the ’50s and ’60s and even have some that go as far back as the ’20s. According to Nancy Watkins, “It just proves that being scared of Santa goes back many, many decades.”

The project started at the Chicago Tribune, where both Joyce and Watkins work. They asked readers to send in their photos and got an overwhelming response that’s still going strong. Last week, the Tribune’s “Scared of Santa” Web site had 2 million hits, and it contains some hilarious pictures. You can check them out here.

Over the course of my life, I’ve had many friendships. Some stay and some go, but there are a few special relationships that never change no matter what happens. Whether separated by distance or time, the connection remains. It goes beyond friendship — it’s a lasting bond, a sisterhood.

It’s been said that we do not choose our friends, God does. There’s a part of me that believes it’s true. I think God brings certain people into your life. These people are meant to share not only your joys and achievements, but also your heartbreaks, fears, and failures. They are the ones who walk in and stand beside you when it gets tough and others walk out. These are the people who are truly gifts from God.

I was blessed to meet this type of a friend early in my life. During our teens, we were inseparable. She was more than a friend; she was my second sister. And though a lot has changed throughout the years, she remains my sister. We have been through so much together, and I know she would be one of the first people to respond in a time of need. She is a courageous person, and she may not realize this, but I have learned a lot from her. I love her dearly.

Oftentimes, I take these rare friendships for granted, not fully appreciating how special they are. The busyness of my life doesn’t allow much time for relationship nurturing, yet these people stick around anyway. They love me in spite of my flaws and inadequacies. Elbert Hubbard said, “Your friend is the man who knows all about you, and still likes you.” It’s so true.

So, in today’s blog, I want to say thanks to the friends who “know all about me and still like me” anyway. Your gift of friendship is priceless.

“Are we going to be friends forever?” asked Piglet.
“Even longer,” Pooh answered.
- A. A. Milne

I’m odd. I know it. I think my “baby gene” failed to develop properly because I’m not one of those girls who are naturally drawn to babies. Even so, I have to admit that there is something incredibly special about the day a baby enters into the world.

I have celebrated the births of three nephews and one niece, as well as the births of my closest friends’ children. After nine months of waiting, I enjoy seeing the new baby, but to be completely honest, my favorite thing is watching the new parents as they look at the incredible gift that God has given to them. The mixture of joy and awe on their faces is a special sight to behold. I enjoy sitting back and simply observing their expressions. It’s neat.

We have welcomed a large number of babies into the world during the last two years — there was a major baby boom at our church in 2007 and 2008. Another special one was born today. Heidi and Cody welcomed Hayden into their family.

She weighs in at 7 pounds and 8 ounces. She is perfect and gorgeous. Heidi and Cody were all smiles.

Once again, I witnessed how special new life can be.