Four Weeks Old

Afternoon Snacking

Around 3:30 or 4:00 in the afternoon the boys start looking for a snack. Usually they're satisfied with a piece of fruit or some raisins and nuts, but sometimes they're really feeling munchy. That's when I reach for the popcorn.

I'm not a fan of the kind cooked in the microwave and we don't have a popper so we pop it the old fashioned way, in a big pot on the stove top. With just a bit of melted butter and a good shaking of salt it's a simple, sugar-free snack.

Of course, there are days {especially these days} when I'm we're feeling a bit stir crazy and {gasp} grumpy and tired... that's when we jump in the car and zip up the road for happy hour at Sonic. After all, what goes better with popcorn than a half-price fountain drink?!

Raspberry Sherbet

Breezy, chilly spring mornings require a cozy sweater.

An added benefit, looking as sweet as raspberry sherbet.

Berries for Breakfast

The Boys' Club

Ever since Little Brother stopped his baby screaming, became mobile, and showed an interest in vehicles these two have shared a heartwarming friendship.


But, it wasn't until the day that she was born that the Boys' Club was born.

Remember the one-week photo? Well, here is what was going on around her... camera angle is everything!

Just a day or two after coming home from the hospital I noted aloud that there seemed to be more silliness between them... a new camaraderie. The professor replied, "It's because now they have a boys' club." He was absolutely right.

Oh, they love her dearly... they're most attentive and very affectionate... but, when it comes to being boys that's what they are {and she is definitely not}, it's what they do best {and she definitely does not}. They've found a deeper friendship in each other, a new camaraderie in simply being boys and being brothers. This warms my heart and makes me smile.

While Baby Sister nurses and sleeps the day away they're busy digging holes, riding bikes, and basking under {and in} the Japanese maple tree at the end of the driveway. {Little Brother has even been wondering if we can make Japanese maple syrup!}

Yes, we've all had some less than glorious moments over the past few weeks but life has continued to roll along happily inspite of them. Cowboys boots regularly clomp down the hall, the kitchen door continues to slam, I find muddy socks everywhere, and two boys enjoy the beautiful spring afternoons while relishing each other's friendship. They have unknowingly created their own Boys' Club because they have become buddies and allies as the four of us adjust to being five. I'm so thankful they have each other.

El Hanne'eman, The Faithful God

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands. Deuteronomy 7:9

Three Weeks Old

Holy Batman growth spurt! Baby Sister, this has been your week to fill out. See how chubby your little face is becoming? Oh, it is so kissable!

This week you weighed in at seven pounds and four ounces... that's a gain of one and a half pounds in a week and a half. I wouldn't be surprised if you follow in the footsteps of your younger older brother who managed to gain five pounds by the time he was six weeks old {and in the process he nearly drained me dry}!

You slurped down your first bottle quite eagerly this week only to bring most of it back up again. Those bottles can flow a little fast for a girl can't they?! We'll try again this week because mom needs to have the bottle feeding option from time to time.

We moved you into your room and into your bed this week. As cute as your middle of the night piglet grunts and squeaks sound, you were keeping mom and dad awake.

This week we've seen you make steps forward... and backward... and forward again with regard to nighttime sleep. You seem to be getting it but you do love to have milk in the wee hours of the morning.

And, last of all, I can't fail to note... you came down with your first cold this week. Not fun, but you've complained very little. No matter how much we keep you in all it takes is an older sibling with a germ. I think you're on the mend now which is good because three weeks of age is way too young to be sneezing and sniffling.

One Chair, Two Views

The Boy

"Of all the animals, the boy is the most unmanageable.”

Plato

Her Birthday

...it is not a slight thing when they,

who are so fresh from God,

love us.

Charles Dickens

Wonder of all wonderment!

Momentous moment when small form

First feels life in itself.

When new eyes open wide

On old, old world.

When tiny hands handle air;

Touch tenderness and love.

When ears first wake to sound

And silent lips find voice and food.

Soon newly wakened baby wearies.

World will keep.

Being born is quite enough

For one short day.

Baby hands rest;

Baby mouth yawns;

Baby eyes close in sleep.

"Baby's First Day" by Mary Dawson Hughes

{last belly shot, 38 weeks, 6 days}

It was scheduled and planned. There were no late night labor pains, no broken water, no midnight scurrying to make it to the hospital. The alarm went off at 5:00 a.m. on April 2, 2010, Good Friday, and with nervous excitement we rose, dressed, and drove to the hospital. The house was tidy and the boys were with their grandparents, my bag was packed, my hair clean and styled, and, yes, my make-up was in place. As I carefully applied mascara that morning the professor queried, "You're putting on your make-up for a c-section?" "It's not every day that a girl meets her daughter for the first time," I replied.

The halls of the third floor at the hospital were dim and quiet when we arrived. The professor was told to wait in the empty waiting area while I was admitted. The nurses led me to a room and instructed me to change; in no time I donned my hospital-issue gown, stuffed my clothes in a plastic bag, and nervously settled into bed. It had been a slow night on the labor and delivery floor and I was the first patient of the day... she would be the first baby of the day.

The professor joined me and snapped photos while I tried hard not to pass out as the nurse inserted my i.v. We attempted to make light conversation, we wondered if the boys were awake for the day, and we waited. We didn't talk about names, just as we hadn't the night before when we stayed up way too late. The anesthesiologist came in and we discussed anesthesia. I was told that once the epidural was in place my husband could be at my side. At 7:15 I said a momentary goodbye to him and the nurses walked me across the hall to the operating room.

The room was cold, sterile, and brightly lit. Dr. Smith, already scrubbed and ready, made lighthearted small talk with me while my medical team made quick work of their tasks... epidural, monitors, draping. I remember being fearful that the doctors would start working on me before I was completely numb. "I can feel that," I kept telling them every time someone touched me... they patiently put up with my fears. Before I knew it the professor was at my side clad in sterile scrubs. This being my third cesarian I didn't anticipate being overcome with nerves or dread but when he sat down next to me I remember telling him, "I don't want to do this again." The doctors were already at work.

She was born at 7:44 a.m. I heard a squeaky whimper and then a scream... my eyes filled with tears. "Is she really a girl," I asked. The professor nodded. Dr. Smith held her up over the curtain so that I could see her. My baby girl, my daughter, was here. She was beautiful and tiny. The nurses hovered and scurried over her, the professor followed them across the room, I lay on the table and listened.

She screamed... and screamed... and screamed. She was loud. The doctors and nurses noted that her petite size wasn't inhibiting her lung capacity.

The professor bounced between the two of us, taking photos of her then returning to my side to show them to me.

It's an interesting feeling to be the stationary center point in a room with seemingly controlled and choreographed tasks happening all around oneself. I focused on taking in the sounds and smells, desperately trying to "fill in" what I couldn't see. At some point someone said, "Five pounds, fifteen ounces, and nineteen inches long!" I was shocked. I'd spent the entire pregnancy anticipating the birth of my biggest baby, not my smallest.

A nurse finally brought her to me. I spoke to her while stroking her soft cheek and she stopped screaming. She knew my voice! At that moment, still physically immobilized on the operating table, my heart overflowed with love.

She was whisked away to the nursery; the professor went with her, of course. I know the doctors worked quickly to put me back together but it seemed to take forever. I was wheeled to recovery where I was to "recover" for one hour before I could go to my room and hold my baby. From 8:15 to 9:15 I watched every minute slowly tick past on the large clock hanging on the wall opposite of my bed.

True to their word, an hour later they took me to my room where the professor was waiting and together we waited some more for baby to come from the nursery. They were having a difficult time regulating her temperature... we waited... we decided on her name... I called my parents... we waited. Finally she was in my arms.

Just as her size took me by surprise, I couldn't believe that she actually had red hair. I've always thought that one of my blonde sisters would have a red headed baby girl, not me... that's the way red hair seems to skip around in our family. She was tiny and beautiful and mine... a little dolly placed in my arms, an answer to a prayer that I'd hardly dared to pray.


One of the greatest delights that day, and of the past few weeks, was watching him become the father of a daughter... so special.

After the birth most of the day is a blur... pain... medication... family... spinning room... nausea... so much love and happiness and thanksgiving.

My in-laws brought the boys to the hospital just as I requested. I wanted to see them and I knew they needed to see me, to know that I was okay, and they needed to meet their sister. They were hesitant at first, more concerned about me than interested in her. We discussed my hospital bracelets and my "hurt spot" -- they wanted to know when I would be able to walk, we shared a Sprite.

It didn't take long for their curiosity in her to take over.

Our parents all visited that day and rejoiced with us. Passing her around we marveled over a life so fresh and new. It was, indeed, a good, good Friday.

We named her in honor of our mothers, two Godly women who each have a deep and steadfast faith in God. It is our prayer and greatest desire that from an early age she will embrace the faith of her forefathers, a heritage laid out before her by the previous generations, and that she will love the Lord her God with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength. May we be found faithful in training up she and her brothers in the way they should go so that even when they are old they will not depart from it.

All glory to our God and Father, for He has done marvelous things!

Jehovah-Shammah, The Lord is There

Those who know your name will trust in you,

for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Psalm 9:10

Two Weeks Old

On Monday you weighed in at 5 pounds, 12 ounces. I wonder how much you weigh now.

It seems as though your baby bird mouth is always open and eager for food.

This week you mastered the art of waking us in the night to be fed.

The first week we had to wake you... what a distant memory that is now!

Three feedings a night is exhausting, but tiny girls must be fed often.

This week you enjoyed your first stroll around the neighborhood.

And, you lost your cord stump so we gave you your first bath.

You liked the stroll but not the bath.

This week I fell more in love with you.

We are two of a kind, you and me.

Around Here Lately {or, P is For...}

{pink ruffles}

{pewter cup}

{playing with play dough}

{pink knitted peapod}

Baby Sister loves it...

I love all of our baby knit gifts!

Morning Berries

...Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5b

Sometimes We're Fussy

The Art Cabinet

I keep our art supplies stored on their level so that drawing and art projects become something they initiate. I hope that they're learning to creatively act on their own inspirations... as well as how to tidy their messes! Having an art cabinet is one simple and practical way to encourage spontaneous creativity at home.

Jehovah-Tsidkenu, The Lord Our Righteousness

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf,

that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

2 Corinthians 5:21

One Week Old