Wordless Wednesday: My Baby

Easter at Grandma & Grandpa's House--With LOTS of Pictures

 Daddy and Ruby

 Grandpa hid eggs for the grandkids to find.

 Ivy Joy with her collection.

 My dad's 63 birthday fell on Easter Sunday so we had

more than one reason to celebrate.

It was a beautiful day and Abram loved being

free to roam on the grass and sidewalk.

After a delicious dinner,

Grandpa and Linnea got the horses out.

 Elizabeth loves the "ee-hees" (horsies).

All of the children have no fear being atop the horses, whether they be 

big or little.

Ruby on Dusty

Even Daddy was able to help with the handling & riding today.

Christopher helped to keep tabs on Elizabeth.

She wants to "go see" everything and doesn't always 

take heed for her personal safety.

Christopher willingly served as her guardian.

 Uncle Mike and Uncle Aaron

helped little girls with little ponies.

Christopher is quite the young horseman.

Here he is helping Ruby with a boost on to Holly, his pony.

Abram's and Grandpa's birthdays are a week apart so they blew candles out together.

Grandpa kept Abram's inquisitive hands out of the flame. :)

Elizabeth and Auntie Bethany 

Abram got to open gifts from aunts & uncles and Grandma & Grandpa.

 There was a rubber ball at the bottom of this tall gift bag

that he was determined to get to by himself.

Oh, how we laughed to watch him nearly climb inside!

Success!!

He also got a drum and knew just what to do!

Funny Things Kids Say

As I sat nursing Abram earlier this evening, 

he was nodding off to sleep and had his hand on his forehead, sort of covering his eyes. 

Ivy was next to me and said, 

"Look--I bet he's doing that so he doesn't see your armpit."

Easter Sunday

I didn't get pictures of all of my children on Easter Sunday,

no matter how much I wished I could have achieved that.

Here are some of the younger children.

Christopher and Elijah enjoy dressing alike 

because then people ask if they are twins.

Sometimes they tell people they are.

We went to the store and they picked out these

shirts and pants, and both boys needed new shoes.

They decided to give people an "out" by wearing

different shoes so that people could tell them apart.

(This is just a game they play with people at church.)

Elijah, Christopher, Abram, Ruby, and Elizabeth

Ivy was being a bit slow getting ready that morning

and wasn't ready for a picture yet.

Ruby got blue glasses on the Friday before Easter;

they look super cute on her and lovely with the blue in her dress, too!

Now, I could get a picture of Ivy Joy.

I've found that taking pictures at our church is fun

because the lighting is great!

My handsome Elijah-boy.

Elizabeth Grace

"Mom!  Take a picture of us hugging!!"

Christopher

Abram Timothy

And Then My Baby Turned One

So my baby turned one last week.

 What a year this has been.

I know everyone always says something to the effect of "where has the time gone?"

but really, can it be a year already since I met this little boy?

 The day of his birthday was a quiet one; 

thankfully one year olds have very low expectations for their birthdays.

I made it through most of "Happy Birthday" before my tears started spilling over.

His birthday is an anniversary of his birth (obviously)

and his birth is one that changed us significantly.

One day, I'll likely write about it publicly, but I can't just yet.

Abram brings us so much joy--

each and every member of this household is so glad that we know him.

Abram has many people that he loves and who love him.

He doesn't walk independently yet, just around furniture or holding onto our hands.

He has five teeth and his almost-auburn hair forms the cutest of curly wisps above his ears and at the nape of his neck.

He loves to roll a ball back and forth, his favorite thing to do is eat,

he gives hugs and high-fives and the sweetest smiles.

His eyes sparkle and I know he's a happy little baby boy.

Happy One Year Old, Dittle Man.

Mama loves you so very much.

Sometimes They Argue

Ruby told Ivy, "IVY, you are the meanest little sister in the WORLD!!" 

Ivy said, "RUBY! I'm NOT LITTLE!!!"

Back to Basics

When I started this blog a few years ago, I used it mostly as a way to chronicle the events of regular life. 

Over time, I've sort of veered away from that and I realize I miss it.

I go back and re-read some old posts and I see how much I've forgotten of the silly things the kids have said or done.

So I'm going to try to go "back to the basics" a bit and start chronicling again if that's okay with you...even if it's not okay with you. :)

I'll start with yesterday.

Our family was at the Broen Home for church.

(For non-local friends, Broen is a nursing home that also has assisted living.)

We do the music there on the first Sunday of each month.

We so enjoy being there and the residents love to see all the children.

I sang "Does Jesus Care?" then Dennis and I together sang "Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross" and "What a Day That Will Be."

Linnea had her "solo debut" on the piano, playing "Sweet Hour of Prayer."

She did very well, cool as a cucumber, and made no mistakes!

Even though I had announced at least four times to my crew before we left for someone to please get the diaper bag out of the suburban and in to the van,

three minutes in to the service, I looked around and--you guessed it--no diaper bag.

Mouthing the words "where is the diaper bag?" was met with shrugs from each of my beloved.

You can guess what came next, right?

You're right--Abram pooped.

A doozy.

I began to fervently hope 

"please don't leak...please don't leak..."

Or at least,

"please don't leak to the point where it becomes obvious to everyone that I have been doing this for over 18 years and I still manage to arrive somewhere without an item of essential importance."

After the service, Pastor Ken told us that one of the ladies wanted to buy us dinner in their cafeteria so we stayed for dinner while Dennis, experienced dad that he is, ran to the store quick and came back with the correct size diapers and a package of wipes so Abram could get changed.

(And Dennis even changed him!!)

Mashed potatoes, chicken, green beans and bars were on the menu;

what a gift it was to have our family fed!

We filled two tables but the kids ate well and no one even spilled.

It was a divine miracle, I tell you.

We got home, I took a short nap, and then Linnea and I went to get some groceries.

We got our shopping done in good time while Andrew and Nathaniel watched little folks at home.

We rushed back home, I fed the baby while kids brought in the grocery bags and the pizza was put in for supper.  Dennis and I each grabbed a slice on our way out the door to Bible study.

When we got back home after study, the groceries had been put away, kids had been bathed and jammied, the dishwasher was running and they were in the living room watching the Cosby Show on dvd.

And that was pretty much our day.

Except for all the stuff I didn't mention.