Oh, How His Beard Grew

It's Friday, which means we're 22 weeks!  I can't believe we're so close to being 6 months pregnant!  Harlan's also been growing his beard for 6 months.  Here are a few things I'm learning about being married to a bearded man:

1.  We're starting to get stopped in public places.  It seems like everyone has something to say about a man with a beard, especially one with a very RED beard.

2.  Beards need maintenance.  Harlan got his hair cut, and his stylist recommended he use a leave-in conditioner to help keep his beard soft.  There's even a specific product line, called Beardsley, for beard maintenance.  It "Leaves Beards & Moustaches Clean & Fresh, Unusually Soft & Smooth."  Seriously?

3.   Harlan's beard has volume.  Some men may have beards that grow straight down (picture this guy, or maybe this one), but Harlan's is growing OUT.  It's quite fluffy. 

4.   I have 18 weeks, give or take, left before we meet our little girl.  That means 18 long weeks of further beard growth.  Have mercy.

So, I need your opinion, blog world.  Should baby girl Elam see her daddy for the first time with his beloved beard, grown in honor of her?  Should it be shaved during the labor? Maybe he should compete? Inquiring minds want to know!  For a frame of reference, here's his progress:

Baking:

I had these butterscotch chips I wanted to use, but I was struggling with a new recipe to try.

I had Guittard brand chips, so I just went to the Guittard website!  They have a recipe for Butterscotch Fudge Brownies.  BUTTERSCOTCH FUDGE BROWNIES!  How could I not make them?  I took them to work, and unfortunately I don't have a picture to show you.  They're all gone!

Do you own this book?

I highly recommend it.  The pastors at my church often use excerpts from it during sermons.  After our first failed pregnancy, Harlan read passages from it to me quite a few times.  It's a collection of Puritan prayers, which may sound a little "old school," but the words are so powerful.  I really love it, and I'll leave you with the first prayer from it:

Lord, High and Holy, Meek and Lowly

Thou has brought me to the valley of vision,
Where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;
Hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox
That the way down is the way up,
That to be low is to be high
That the broken heart is the healed heart
That the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
That the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
That to have nothing is to possess all,
That to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
That to give is to receive,
That the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from the deepest wells,
And the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine;
Let me find thy light in my darkness,
Thy life in my death,
Thy joy in my sorrow,
Thy grace in my sin,
Thy riches in my poverty
Thy glory in my valley.

 
Have a wonderful weekend!