Baby Turns Four Months, & Other News

 Baby ME turned 4 months on April 14th. Four months! Don't all moms say it: I can't believe it. Where did the time go? Well, I know where it's gone, and I'll get to that in a bit....but still....

ME continues to amaze us with her sleeping skilz and her happy, easygoing self. What a tender mercy of God that she sleeps so well, in this season of intensity and transition. She's indeed a sweet bright spot in everyone's day here, her face always lighting up with a smile.

She is a chubby delight, very contented and sweet. Yesterday she had her checkup and weighed in at 15 lbs, doubling her birthweight. She's entered the octopus stage - you know, grabbing everything with her tentacles.

ME and CA - baby adores all her siblings!

CA was imitating the comical way of infants - the fists and arms flying erratically, the legs pumping randomly. The baby has also started to raise her legs high, putting the soles of her feet together, then letting herself roll to the side. There's also some foot-grabbing starting.

Amazing photos of AH - we enjoyed some time away, just the two of us, recently, and I love, love, love the pictures we got. The sun was gorgeous, the weather divine. The water was icy. We didn't mean to go matchy-matchy, but we realized our clothes were quite coordinated as we got ready to leave!

I love this one, too. So pretty.

LC was part of the elementary school drama production several weeks ago - Schoolhouse Rock Live! She and her fellow cast-members did great! It was a fun, cute show, especially for those of us late-30-somethings who remember Schoolhouse Rock from Saturday morning cartoons as children.

I was nervous (a polite word for anxious, yes?) beforehand about how I would manage the busy-busy schedule that is the week before a drama production...and I was worried over whether I could contribute the help asked of me, which was to create the bio board (there were 2!) in the photo above. God was and is gracious, of course, in spite of my little-faith worries. He gave me the time and help I needed (thank you, sweet husband, for cutting all those little papers for me!) to get the boards done. And though I chose some methods that were frankly time-wasting (hindsight!), it was really satisfying to help out this way! And then there was crazy tech-week, the days before her show - and again, God provided the energy, rest, and unexpected breaks for me and for the family, and I actually got to be more present at the theatre than I expected. The whole family (minus babies) enjoyed her production at the Saturday matinee, then we all went out for pie down the street. So fun! What a great memory! I thought I took better pictures, but it was the coolest place, with mini-pies of ever so many delicious flavors.

Now. Where has the time gone? There's daily life. That's pretty full. We've had doctor's visits and ER visits (she's fine, thankfully!). We've had BB's birthday and spring break as well.

Then there was the house search. I say was because it's done! God has provided us a new home in our new city. The house-shopping was the roller coaster it probably is most of the time for most people. It was our toughest search yet and included the ups and downs you might expect. At last we found a place, signing the papers on Good Friday. It's exciting and overwhelming to think of moving again. That'll happen sometime in mid-May, which is great timing, giving us the summer to settle into the new place!

This year has been both beautiful and hard, simultaneously simple and complicated. Lately, I grieve the loss of our Texas connections more keenly, which makes me so glad God gave them to us!

God has put it in our hearts and minds, BB and me, to think more about glorifying Him...to desire His will above our own, to believe His goodness in all things. It's encouraging to see the way the Lord works to shape and mold our hearts more into His Son's image, even though it's often through upsetting or disorienting events or confusion or through persevering in the mundane. It's a mercy that He does not leave us to ourselves...

And on a funny (and telling?) note: yesterday, I've felt overwhelmed and emotional. Decided to jog. While loping down a pretty flowery-treed street near ours, I swear I heard one of the BIRDS in one of those trees squawk MOM! Yep. Needed a quiet breather, literally.

Lastly, I have to show one of LC's baking projects. She saw this in a recipe book and begged to try making it - multicolored cupcakes! They're very pretty cut in half. She experimented with striped icing, piping it from a makeshift pastry bag. Everyone gobbled up her treats!

No Words Necessary

okay, just a few words....the above eggs are chocolate...

the one below is real - a cardinal egg in the rosebush

Resurrection Day!

He is Risen!

He is Risen, Indeed!

He is Maker and and Sustainer of this amazing, beautiful universe.

Jesus, He is unselfish, obedient, humble love.

He is my generous Provider - of salvation, of daily life-needs, of delight.

He is all-wise, all-powerful, all-good.

My God knows the beginning from the end.

He is Father, Friend, Rescuer, and King, and in all those roles He is relational. 

And because Jesus lived righteously in my place; suffered and died unfairly in my stead; and defeated death on my behalf...because of all this, I can be friends with God, both in this life and when my body dies someday. I can know what He means by I will never leave you or forsake you - because Jesus already endured forsakenness for me. And I'm able to believe and take comfort from the reality that nothing can separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. 

Halleluia! What a Savior!

Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise! Revelation 5:12

 (the picture seems sideways, but it's not...I got to jog under these breathtaking Japanese Cherry trees last week, and this was just the view straight up! pink clouds...pink snow...and matching pink snowdrifts on the the ground, as all the petals are falling down now.)

The Teepee

Spring has arrived in the Deep South on delicate, subtle tippy toes, delivering down-to-earth clouds of fluffy white, cream, pink, and violet floating close around branches that were bare yesterday.

There are pops of yellow exploding from thin stems, little sunshines - the daffodils, and the teardrops of tulip buds standing at attention, full of grace.

The ten springs we spent in Texas were glorious and vivid and eye-popping - so many good memories and breathtaking flowers during the short, intense bloom there. I think those springs dulled my memory of what a Deep South spring entails....I'm sure enjoying being reminded.

And we found buds on an azalea in our yard today. Love.

I promised to show the pine-tree-branch teepee the kids built after the ice storm brought down so many limbs in our yard. This was masterminded primarily by LC, with a good bit of planning and support from CA and EG. We were so impressed with their end result! It did get even better after I took these photos - they added layers on top of this to make it more "watertight." Ha!

CA headed into the teepee...

Hanging out inside. Don't light a fire! 

EG, LC, CA: they spent a lot of time outside working on this project. We are ALL loving the warmer days and hospitable outdoors!

CJ was a good helper, too!

LC explained that this branch was the door to their teepee. It's actually a discarded branch from our Christmas tree!

Poor BH (sort of). He was rather unwelcome in the teepee work and habitation. He's a bit of a terror/destroyer these days. Sigh. 

But hooray for creativity and for the outdoors and for God's wonderful world that He made and maintains and gives us grace to enjoy!

One (Birth)Day More!

If I were to try to catch up on all that's happened this week, it would totally take over this post, so I'll save that for later and finally share about EG's 14th birthday.

The kids all love the story and the music of Les Miserables. Several have read the book. We've watched the screen version starring Liam Neeson. And the movie soundtrack: beyond memorized. Even BH, with his very inarticulate speech, goes around singing, Ooo DOOOW, Ooo DOOOW! He means, Look down! Look down! (You'll always be afraid...), of course. So funny.

So when she woke up on her birthday, EG found France and Les Mis themed decorations. My parents had come in for the weekend as a surprise, so they got to enjoy the day with all of us.

We all wore buttons with famous lines from the songs and story...

We decorated with a bit of French flag, French red-white-and-blue...

 My beautiful mom

(It was a Providential blessing my parents were here, since multiple kids got sick; we had a home-shopping outing; I wasn't feeling great myself; AND there was birthday fun to accomplish. So thankful for their help and support that weekend!!)

Baby ME was even in on our Les Mis day: see, she's dreamin' the dream!

Thoughtful presents from siblings and parents and loved ones

Downstairs, we decorated with red and black, to commemorate the song of that name, of course. She asked for a bombe cake and couldn't decide on flavors, so I made it neapolitan - three kinds of ice cream, three kinds of cake, fluffy white icing, red sprinkles, black candles.

Happy Birthday to you! 

My mom saved the day by providing these awesome silver candlesticks - to remember the silver (the grace!) that helped change Jean Valjean's life.

And, who'd have thought we'd have a tiny baby whilst celebrating 14th and 15th birthdays in our family?!

One of the biggest surprises for EG and all these Les Mis loving kids was that we all watched the newest screen rendition of the story. We'd been saying no to that for very good reasons, when it hit me that we could easily edit out the unnecessary yuck that was included in the film. It is a beautiful gospel story at its core, and the music is heart-wrenchingly lovely, emotional, and deeply touching all at once.

And so we watched! And most certainly, a good time was had by all, including the musical-nay-saying men in the house and the rest of us womenfolk, who were in various stages of sniffling/weeping when it was all said and done.

We finished the day with a French-themed supper at something like 10pm. There was Perrier to mix with white grape juice (does anyone really drink Perrier straight? No thanks!) and sip from fancy glasses, fruit, meats, cheeses, and baguettes.

It was a special day for EG and for the whole family!

Praying for EG in the coming year - for closeness to the Lord, for growth in faith and love, for love of His Word. Thanking God for her and for each of our eight kid-blessings

Sweet Baby Days and Such

Bloggy silence. So much going on in the past two weeks that my head is spinning a bit. It's been snow days and viruses and house-hunting and birthdays (full post on that when I can get my pictures organized - EG is 14! Had a Les Mis birthday!) and visitors and schooling and viruses - oh, yes, it's making the rounds, very slowly it seems, and is NOT a 24-hour experience, unfortunately.

So. Spinning head. Baby days. Loving the baby days even with the swirlyness of it all. Tender mercy of God is that she's still a great sleeper, night and day. I find myself so tired and then so thankful, because how exhausted would I be if she were poor sleeper at night or a not-great napper?!

Here's a mini photo update of Miss ME -

Stretching awake after her morning bottle in my bed...

Oh, my! Did she sleep in her clothes? 'Fraid so! 

 Kicking around on a delicious blanket hand-made and gifted to us by my dear friend in Iowa

 My virus experience had me doing life and homeschooling from my bed from a couple of days. ME sleeps anywhere! BH found himself a cozy box and was reading Katy the Caboose in it. 

 The day of EG's birthday fun. My parents came to town. They snapped photos now and then. It's nice to have some from different perspectives!

 Grainy, yes. But....I love seeing my guy take care of his babies. Nothing better. Well, except for the way he loves and cares for me. Grace of God.

ME soaking up a bit of vitamin D with her PaPa (my dad) in our back yard - while BB and the kids dealt with the massive mess of limbs from the ice storm. Now the kids have taken some of the limbs that were pulled aside but not hacked up yet, and have made a teepee in the back yard. It's fabulous. More on that later...

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The temptation to complain is so very, very present much of the time. And I do complain - inwardly and sometimes outwardly - when the chaos gets suffocating or the exhaustion screams loud or responsibilities seem overwhelming.

When I'm being sensitive to the Lord, I feel a check in my spirit when I'm starting to complain. A lot of times, He reminds me to give thanks. Sometimes I just need to remember His great, sacrificial love for me, or His ever-presence. Or maybe the thanks needed is Oh, God! Thank You for these dreams come true: this husband, these children, this huge, crazy family! Thank You for every single day You give me with each of them, and for each day we've had so far.

And, let me not forget good common sense (also a gift from God, right?): seek rest when needed; find creative ways to escape or cut the chaos; and when it comes to responsibilities - take them to the Lord, remembering that He will accomplish His purposes and the world won't end if I don't attend to all those things that are hollering at me to be managed and checked off a list.