We've Been Waiting for You [With CD]

I first received this pretty little book as a gift. Full of pregnancy hormones, I found it hard to read two pages without weeping! The poetry/stories are sweet, lovely, and deeply meaningful. The music CD that is included is wonderful, and Arends has a clear, honest voice and writes moving lyrics. I've been happy to pass it on as a shower and birth gift since then.

I bought this when my baby was about 6 weeks old. The CD contains 2 songs-- We've Been Waiting for you and Be God's. When hearing these songs, tears came to my eyes--the lyrics are so personal! As a Christian mother, I appreciated the lyrics to "Be God's" since it is my desire to have my child become God's child. The book has personal stories and more great lyrics. I'm glad I bought this book/CD.

...and make her bring her guitar!I don't know if it's because Carolyn is Canadian, or what--but this book (and the CD) deserves a much larger audience that it's had. Carolyn writes like a dream--and by that I mean not "dreamily," but like any wordsmith's best dream of making the craft work, making the words sing (like a world-class songwriter, which Carolyn happens to be), and telling a story without making the structure intrude. Carolyn, on only her second go-round in the prose business, has proved herself as able a storyteller on the printed page as she is on the concert stage or coming through your stereo speakers. She's tender, she's funny--and the beauty of it is, you don't have to be a mother or even a dad to love these revelations of a parent's hopes and heartaches. You only have to be alive. Get a whole bunch of these and pass them out to everyone you know who's having a baby, thinking of having a baby...or whoever's been a baby at some point. I think that's just about all of us. (And while you're at it, check out her music. The books are good--exceptional-- but the music will knock you over. Plus you can't read and drive at the same time. It's mighty dangerous.)