Matt and Nancy Heerema

Today marks three weeks since Anna’s birth.  She passed her birth weight (7 lbs., 15 oz.) at her 2 week appointment, weighing in at 8 lbs., 4 oz. which made her mama very, very happy since she had lost the full 10% of her birth weight in the hospital and we had some catching up to do.  She’s eating well, and sleeping fairly well considering she’s only 3 weeks old.  I was all ready to brag her up after she had slept well for over a week of only two middle-of-the-night feedings, but of course babies like to keep ya hoppin’: last night she was up until 3:30 and then awake again at 5.  During the day, though, she’s been a very easy-going baby like her sister Kate was.

The sister adjustment has been going surprisingly well here, too.  I feel like God has been very gracious in allowing our big girls to continue to be excited about Anna being here and not becoming resentful about receiving less attention from mom and dad.  They are still regularly asking to hold her, help change diapers, and help give her baths.  Kate says, “She’s my beeeeeest BABY!”

Some of you may know that I had a c-section with Anna (my first c-section) at the advice of my doctors after some difficulties in recovering from Kate and Elena’s births.  I knew I was up for a completely different recovery with Anna’s birth, but overall I’ve been really pleased with how things have gone.  I was able to be completely off all pain medicine by about day 10 and am, in general, feeling really well but just lacking energy.  I was all excited about a trip to Target last Friday with the whole fam and we got halfway through and I was just about done in.  After Elena’s birth, several older women had told me that I could either spend 6 weeks taking life slower and recovering, or I would end up needing 6 months to really recover, so with all of our girls I’ve tried to take things slower during this time.  We had a bunch of help from my mom during the first few weeks which was a huge boost to my sanity, and I also had some help from friends and family with rides last week before I was cleared to drive again.

We’re looking forward to tackling some more life adventures with our three ladies!

Watched this video (below) about a man who read to his daughter every night until she went to college (doing their last reading session in the stairwell of her new Rutgers dorm).  Pretty inspiring.  He was trying to answer the question “how do I keep her heart?”  Worth a quick watch (~3 mins including commercial).

It made me think about my bedtime routine with my girls.

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We’d like to welcome Anna Elizabeth Heerema to the world.

Born June 2nd, 2011, 7:56am in Ames Iowa at Mary Greeley Medical Center.

Vital Stats

• Sex: Female
• Height: 20″
• Weight: 7lbs. 15oz
• Head: 14.5″
• Hair: lots
• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Mammalia
• Order: Primates
• Family: Hominidae
• Genus: Homo
• Species: H. Sapiens
• Race: Human
• Alignment: Chaotic Good
• Class: Princess (Baby)

Meaning of the Name

Anna is a latinized Greek version of the Hebrew name Hannah, meaning “Grace” or “Favor”.

Elizabeth is a Greek translation of the Hebrew name Elisheva meaning “God’s Promise”, “God’s Oath”, or possibly “I am God’s Daughter”.

Of course all these names bear great significance to us, but our intended meaning is something along the lines of “Grace, God’s Promise”, which is the most important concept one can grasp. Also, we just like the sound of “Anna Elizabeth Heerema”.

Namesakes

There are several people we have in mind specifically with these names. Anna (being a fairly common name) is frequent in our family in various forms. Nancy, Diane, Hannah, Ann is the middle name of my sister and mother and also Nancy’s sister. It is also the name of several great grandparents: Nancy’s Great Grandmother Anna Elias, and Great Great Grandmother Anna Wigdahl.

Most preciously to us, two biblical figures:

First, the Asherite prophetess Anna, daughter of Phanuel, who was in the temple when the infant Jesus was presented and upon Jesus’ arrival there “began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38)

Also, Elizabeth, relative to Mary the mother of Jesus, who recognized Jesus as the Messiah before he was even born. (Luke 1:39-45).

Both these women waited long for God to answer various prayers of theirs (Anna was widowed at a very early age and spent her widowed years in prayer at God’s temple waiting for the promised redemption, Elizabeth was “very old” when she conceived her firstborn), and both were let into the “inside track” of God’s plan: Jesus.

Our prayer for our Anna is that God “lets her in on” His plan: Jesus. This is our highest desire and greatest goal for all our children, receiving the lion’s share of our prayer and effort in their lives.

Thanksgiving and Amazement

I am amazed and thankful for many things. I cannot believe I am a father to three children, let alone three girls. I consider this an honor, privilege, high calling, and a whole lot of fun. I have grown accustomed to pink princesses, and I think trucks and guns would take some getting used to (though I’m sure the adjustment would come ;-)).

Nancy never ceases to amaze me. She went through a Cesarian section smiling (yes. smiling.) And has born through the last two days of recovery with amazing poise. It hasn’t been easy for her. God has been merciful and given us both strength.

I am also very grateful for and astounded by the incredible health care we have here in Ames: the access to medicine, the technology – even just our own private, clean room and a dedicated ward for this purpose. Our anesthesiologist made reference to his medical mission in Guatemala and our desire to complain that we weren’t in the super-deluxe birthing suite and instead had to “settle” for a small recovery room evaporated. We have it good.

Thanks for all of your well-wishes and prayers. We feel very loved.

Soli deo gloria.

We hope this finds you well, enjoying the pre-Christmas fun and chaos. Elena has been very excited about the coming of Christmas this year…last week she was exclaiming how the decorations at the grocery store were “so beaUUUtiful!”

Some highlights for our family this summer included a week at a cabin with Nancy’s family in northern Minnesota fishing, playing, and relaxing, and also a trip to Chicago with Matt’s family. The kids loved Brookfield Zoo and the Field Museum and we also visited some of his family’s old stomping grounds from when they lived there years ago.

Matt took a new job managing the Web team for Desiring God, a Christian ministry based out of Minneapolis, though he still gets to work remotely from his home office here in Ames. He occasionally has an overnight trip to the Twin Cites for 2-day meetings with coworkers… and we get to tag along! Additionally, Matt manages Zeke’s, a non-profit music & arts venue in Ames, coordinates and leads music for our church, and occasionally teaches at the church’s college ministry.

Elena is almost 3-1/2 and likes to write her name, loves to be read to, and is always asking to do some sort of crafty project. She is definitely a “girly girl” who loves princesses, dancing and fancy dresses.

Kate is 14 months old now, still has a very sweet disposition, and has been walking like crazy for 2 months. She seems to be a little bit more accident-prone than Elena was; she has chipped both of her front teeth in the last two weeks! She greets Daddy with both arms extended and a giant grin when he comes upstairs at the end of the day.

(Matt is now stealing the keyboard to brag about his wife) Just prior to the arrival of Kate in 2008, Nancy pushed pause on her private music studio to concentrate her full attention and effort on caring for our home and family. I am constantly amazed at the skill and joy with which she performs this all-important task. She still finds time to mentor young women in our church, and helped to coordinate a playgroup for other young moms. Amidst all this she does a masterful job of keeping me sane, her most important and difficult task. I am so blessed and constantly thankful for this rare jewel that I have in her.

Wishing you true joy and peace this season through Jesus,

Matt, Nancy, Elena, and Kate

Apparently my 3 year old (nearly) daughter is a songwriter.

I was playing my guitar earlier today, and as usual Elena walked over and asked to start strumming the guitar. The difference is that this time, she started singing along. The tune was indiscernible, so I assume she was inventing it.

I think I captured the lyrics fairly accurately. Here they are.

Once upon a time
there was a happy little lady
and her name was mommy
and her name was mommy
and her name was mommy

And she was playing with her magic ball
and she was going to the potty
but she was not going in her pants
she was going all by herself
she was going
she was going
she was going
she was going
she was going
but not forever and ever.