Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

From our home to yours ...

Rejoicing in the reason for the season ...

And the angel said unto them, Fear not:
for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David
a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
:::

Luke 2:10-11

This Moment ~ Growing Up

I'm a Three Toother!

Happy 8 Months, Matthew!

Where has the time gone??? Our little guy is as happy as ever, has three teeth, sits up wherever we put him, and brings a smile to everybody's face! :o) What a blessing he is!
He's definitely enjoying investigating everything around him!

And this is Mommy's new favorite picture of her littlest man! Isn't it beautiful?!? We were having so much fun! :o)
So is he crawling? Nope. He firmly believes that "tummy time" is simply an opportunity to demonstrate how very quickly he can roll over. ;o) He likes standing when he has something to hold on to, and he started scooting on his bottom just a wee little bit the other day. I suspect I may be attaching a mop to the seat of his pants, and then at least I'll get some cleaning accomplished while I chase my "mobile" munchkin! :o) (That's still at least a few weeks down the road ...)

We love you, Matthew! You bring joy to every day!

Back again!

The LORD is my strength and my shield;
My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart exults,
And with my song I shall thank Him.
~
Psalm 28:7

:::

That was my special verse for my day of surgery. Surgery (rather recovery) wasn't particularly pleasant, but praise the Lord, there were no complications. Chris did a great job of managing things for those first few days, and Hannah and Peter were super sweet and blessed me with lots of get well wishes in the form of gentle hugs, handmade cards, and visiting buddies. :o)

I was reasonably coherent about 12 hours after surgery, and we actually managed a trip to the emergency room less than 24-hours later to get a steroid shot for Matthew who had a really bad case of croup. I was puttering around by the time Monday came around, and a week later, was feeling about normal. :o) So, the deed is done. I'm glad to have it behind me. :o)

Here's pictures of the crew from last week:

Hanging out with Toby ...

Doing puzzles ...

Reading books ...

Investigating strange sights ...

Playing with toys ...

And creating Christmas goodies ...

I must say, Hannah was a real blessing this weekend. She stuck with me for the whole Christmas goodie marathon, and we had lots of fun together. :o) We made goodie bags for teachers and friends (50ish in all ... between church and school, teachers really add up with three kids!) and she helped from start to finish and did all of the pretzel decorating! Thanks, Pumpkin!

We also enjoyed our annual church Christmas dinner, the Christmas cantata, and a very special visit with friends this last weekend. It was a busy one, and I was very thankful to be feeling better. :o) Thank you all for praying!

Seven Months and Counting!

In the midst of last month, our littlest man turned seven months old! (And he reaches eight months in just ten days!)

I'm so glad that I did remember to take pictures, even though I didn't post them right away. :o) In the last few weeks, he's started sitting up really well on his own, and he cut his first tooth just four days after his 7-month birthday. It's so cute (when you can see it)! :o) However, everything goes in the mouth. (Socks are one of his favorite "edible" objects!)

He loves "petting" Toby. Here's a staged picture, compliments of Daddy. However, just the other day Chris had set him on a blanket and we came back to find Toby resting with her head in Matthew's lap (of her own accord.) It was SO cute (but alas, no pictures.) :o)

Just one of a myriad of funny faces.

And our cutie!

We love you, Monkey!

This Moment - November Smiles

{This Moment} A Friday ritual. A single photo (or maybe three) - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor, and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for others to find and see. inspired by Little Blessings.

Perspective

Perspective.

I've been (more than) a little overwhelmed at the prospect of getting my wisdom teeth pulled tomorrow.

I've also been less than patient at times with my little ones today.

I'm tired.

And I'm sure I could rattle off more than a dozen other complaints if I tried. Why?

Did you notice all of those begin with "I"? My biggest problem? My focus has been on me rather than my Savior. I'm more interested in my own convenience and comfort than in serving my family.

The Lord has rebuked me and restored my perspective.

A dear friend just gave birth to a miraculously healthly little boy after enduring with grace a very challenging pregnancy with significant complications. However, she is today in the hospital with her nine-day-old son who stopped breathing last evening for no apparent reason. The Lord who carried this little one through the entire pregnancy must certainly have a special plan for him, for He ordained fire-fighters to be in their neighborhood, and they were able to quickly respond to their 911 call, provide oxygen, and rush little Hudson to the hospital.

Please ... pray for little Hudson and this family. Rachel has a beautiful blog where I'm sure she'll post updates soon.

:::

Lord, thank You for the abundance of blessings and these most precious gifts You have given me in the form of my children. Forgive me for taking them for granted and failing to trust You for the challenges You bring.

And now there are five ...

We did take our annual family photo this last month. I haven't time to repost all of our former family photos, but you can see them here. Kind of neat to see how the Lord has grown our family. And us.
Let me just say, I'm so thankful for my husband. We've joked often in recent days that either one of us would have it rough without the other. We're definitely a team ... and I'm so thankful for him. And my munchkins. Can't imagine life without my three blessings. I must admit there are times when their enthusiastic activity gets a bit overwhelming (and I respond less than gracefully), but I'm thankful for them ... and their energy! (And with the Lord's grace, I'll learn to be consistently thankful even on the loud days ... )

:o)

Just short of one month later ...

I'm back again! :o) I warned you, didn't I? Well, I'm back with pictures and a mental backlog of posts. Albeit, it's December with all of the associated busyness of that month and I get my wisdom teeth removed on Friday, BUT ... at least I shall share our Thanksgiving pictures with you. :o)

We had a great visit with Grandma and Grandpa and all of our family up in Michigan! :o)

We all enjoyed lots of fun relaxing, cuddling, playing games, fellowshipping, knitting, sleeping, reading, eating ... the usual vacation blessings. :o) However, the highlight was our visit to Crossroads Village.

As we thought about doing something "special" during our visit, Chris remembered riding on a train as a child and called his dad to see if it was still around. It was. :o) It was closed the beginning of the week because they were decorating for Christmas, but Grandma and Grandpa were able to get tickets for the opening night of the Christmas season, the Friday after Thanksgiving.

There were lights everywhere! It was beautiful! And the kids were SO excited to get to ride on a real train!

We also enjoyed freshly-made kettle corn and hot drinks ...

A ride on a 1910 carousel, ...

Cuddles from Grandpa, ... And a ride on a 1912 ferris wheel ...

One particularly cool site is this tree:

The entire thing is covered with lights. Covered. Along with the train, Chris had remembered this tree from when he visited as a child. It's still here. :o) It's sometimes nice when things haven't changed too much. :o)

Thanks for a wonderful visit, Grandma and Grandpa! We love you!