One Month, Family Time and Memorial Day

He's one month old young.  He's growing.  I knew he would.  Sigh*

 

 

 

 

Picnic fun at Mema and Papa's house.  Potatoes from Papa's garden last year still holding strong and great for frying outside on the open fire. 

Some new baby turkey's means a quick pep-talk on how to treat little animals.

 



 

 

 



From the chicken barn window.

 



 Bamboo leaves

 



Potsdam Parade

 



Lost

Lost in the swirl of pregnancy and preparations, in little boy sweaters and socks of blue, of math lessons and Explode The Code pages, of toddler tantrums and almost four year old independence, of a husband with a relatively new job and hours that suit our family just great.

 Lost in a new baby and desperately trying to spend as much time as possible staring at him, knowing he won't be a new baby forever.  Lost in nine (Yes NINE) totes full of spring and summer clothes for girls.  Lost in cleaning and picking up after I clean, in keeping floors a little bit swept up but not obsessing over it.  Lost in prayers for growing children with new attitudes and never really knowing the right time to sooth or to scold then going with my first instincts praying all the while, whether I am speaking to correct or to empathize that God would cover my mis-spoken words. 

Lost in shorts and tank tops, in the smell of sunscreen and sandals.  Lost in windows open and fans blowing, in paper plates and simple dinners, in a lawn mowing husband and grass covered feet.  Lost in sleepless nights and early mornings, in coffee and time to read only one or two verses of scripture before I am interrupted by a need.  Lost in patience simply because there really is no other way to get through the day.  Lost in picture taking and potty training in family time and quiet time and finding the balance between the two. 

Lost in Gods timing and small voice telling me to take it slow, enjoy the moments.  Lost in him, right in the middle, surrounded by his grace and loving shoulder to cry on when the days seem long and I feel unworthy of this mothering thing.  Lost in his answer to my prayers for clearer thinking and extra bursts of energy. 
Just taking it slow, enjoying the moments.

Life Now

What is life like now?  It's busy.  It's far busier than I thought.  Nothing due to a new baby either, and that's the truth.  New babies are actually pretty easy (in my opinion).  They sleep, a lot.  They cuddle.  They nurse.  And then sleep again.  This little guy sleeps.  Just about all through the night.  This past week he has decided to hang out awake for a little longer than usual giving us a chance to really look into his blue eyes and wonder what he'll be like in a year from now.  He stares at me, at the kids, at daddy, at the wall, the sun, the bag of diapers.  Really anything keeps his focus for a good amount of time before someone comes along and scoops up his cuteness.  He smiles.  Call me crazy as I know two week old babies don't normally smile, he does!  And I'm not talking about in his sleep.  I'm talking about staring at me for a long time until a big smile comes over his face.  He's done this at least a dozen times as I talk or sing to him. 

 

 

 

 

These girls.  Giving Simon a sponge bath is the highlight of their morning. 

 

 



There is always time to play dress-up.

 

A few afternoons of sun, daddy and outdoor play.



Of course me and Simon hang out inside using our quiet time to fold laundry and rest.  Natalie usually joins us at some point for a bath and a few minutes of Kindle time.  Olaf singing "Summer" is on repeat in my head on the Kindle.

 The belly bowl.  A good friend of ours asked to do a belly bowl for me when I was about 38 weeks pregnant.  Adding the girls hand prints as a finishing touch. 

 

 

So life goes on and we adjust to a new season in our home.  It's not always (if ever) quiet here, we pray a lot, we eat a lot (thanks to our awesome church full of amazing women cooking dinners for us!) We try really hard to listen more than we speak and take time to enjoy each other even when it seems there are things to be done and tasks to accomplish.  There are a lot of tears and often spanks.  We are working on overcoming fears (Psalm 34:4) and learning to be bold at the right times.  We are slowly organizing bedrooms and finally opening spring/summer clothing bins.  We're planning our camping trip in July and striving to finish school before the end of June.  We're teaching forgiveness and our desperate need for Jesus.  At the end of the day, if even one thing went well I know it's only because Jesus gave the strength, or the wisdom at just the right time.