First Day of Fall

I didn't intend to disappear for 3 weeks on the blog right when I have a new baby to show off.  It wasn't even that I was super busy, or postpartum recovery or snuggling or sleeping too much.  (Definitely not sleeping too much...) 

Mostly, it is the fact that with the sixth baby, I now have four children old enough to operate a camera, three devices on which to take pictures and FIVE children who constantly want pictures of them holding the baby.  We are positively inundated with pictures and since I am the sort that never prints pictures but instead posts them here for posterity (until the internet dies and we lose them all)...blogging seemed like a project too daunting to begin. 

Like the inevitable clothing-switch over.  (That still needs to happen.)

And homeschooling (that really should start some time.)

But where to begin?  And how?

Just take the next step.  Do the next thing.

I have declared this my last week of 'maternity leave' which means NEXT week school begins officially.  (It HAS to at some point...though I try and convince myself it doesn't every single day.)  As anyone who homeschools knows, there will be precious little time to do anything extra at that point, so this week is my Cram-As-Much-In-As-Possible week. 

As such, I'll be trying to get caught up here, there, and everywhere.  You'll be seeing more of me soon.  VERY soon.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures I took of Moses for birth announcements and thank you notes. 

(The goldenrod made me do it.)

Cricket has Come

He missed sharing a birthday with his brother and sister by six hours...

but Cricket finally introduced himself to us!

He was born on September 3rd at 5:50am, less than two hours after arriving at the hospital.

It began with blood on the bathroom floor, followed by a frantic and worried drive to the hospital, an agonizing labor and transition with me reading, singing (and eventually screaming) scripture memory songs of deliverance and ended with me pushing Cricket out in one single, impossible push- tracing the tip of his head, his neck, shoulders, back, down to his toes with my very own fingers.  I was and will always be the first to touch Cricket- from the tip of his head to his teensy toes- and the first thing he ever felt in this world.

What a gift.

This pregnancy has had its' trials; gestational diabetes and blood platelet concerns and things that filled me with anxiety and fears but the Lord sustained and delivered me out of trouble at the very time He graciously sustained and delivered my precious boy.

Meet 

Moses Matthew Newman... 

our newest pride and joy.

Born September 3rd at 5:50 am

8 pounds, 9 ounces

20.5 inches

A squeaky mouse of a thing and

every inch of him, just the sweetest

“The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.”   ~ Psalm 34: 17

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ~ Phillipians 4:6-7

I will strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

 Isaiah 41:10

Crafting On

MAKING: I decided to set aside my other project (since it is being troublesome and also because it is size 6 months) and get a quick something done up for Cricket to wear home from the hospital.  I was intending to sew up a kimono something like Adele's coming home outfit but then opted for the even quicker route.  I feel lazy about it- but not guilty.  I blanket stitched around those super cute little kimono onesies to match a pair of fox pants I got for a buck on clearance. Then I crocheted up a quick bonnet (when Matt saw he said "Ummmm...boys don't wear bonnets."  And I said, "This is a BOY bonnet so it is totally okay." 

I used Feels Like Butta yarn because I *love* the feel and texture of it but that gray ball was a bonafide headache to start.  It didn't unravel well at all and got so twisted and knotted up (and, I discovered as I tried to unknot, had SEVERAL open ends and several knotted together cut ends) when I first began that I wound up cutting off two balls that were somewhat intact and throwing away the rest of it.  A brand new skein of yarn!  (I NEVER do it- but I seriously wanted to kill it after hours of trying to unwind and unknot it.)  Maybe I will have enough of the leftover bits to crochet some matching booties.  The orange yarn is also Feels Like Butta and I didn't have that trouble with it- so maybe the gray was just a fluke. 

READING: Just started The Shaping of the Christian Family: How My Parents Nurtured My Faith by Elisabeth Elliott.   It's a bit different than I thought it would be- more autobiographical and less directional but I'm enjoying it.  It is one of those books I've had on my shelves for a long time and it feels good to just get to it already! 

DOING:  All the little jobs I've been trying to get through before Cricket comes.

• Cleaning the Spare Oom and rearranging
• Sorting books and cleaning School Room
• Bringing in the cradle and fixing up/cleaning the very-disgusting bedding that cats had used for cozy beds in the Granary.
• Fixing up the cradle and mattress
• Getting the bin of newborn stuff out
• Making some gifts and mailing them off
• Spiffying up the big van that my parents are letting us use so our whole family can FIT in the same VEHICLE!  We bought some rugs and air-fresheners to make it smell like us.  ;-)  (We should have just junked it up a bit with old shoes and books...that would have been a more authentic scent.)
• Canning tomatoes
• Dehyrading cherry tomatoes
• the going-home outfit

 Every time I finish a job I think "There!  Now Cricket can come!  I really wanted to get that done ahead of time!"  and then I find something else to do that I would really like to get done ahead of time.

The chill in the air makes me think I should start the summer/fall switch but you know what?!  THAT is where I put my foot DOWN.  We can all wrap in blankets or wear last years' coats that still hang in the mudroom before I haul a bunch of clothing bins to the house with this gigantic, aching belly. 

And THAT is final. 

crafting on...

The Camping Trip

 

 

 

Camping out at the in-laws pavilion and lakefront property (just a hop, skip and jump down the road.  AND free!) for a weekend wasn't exactly RELAXING for a pregnant Mama just three weeks shy of giving birth. 

Camping requires days of food prep, packing vanfuls of stuff, setting up vanfuls of stuff, taking down and unpacking vanfuls of stuff and of course...sleeping on a thin air mattress in a teeny tent with a three year old. 

But the idea was to get away from our house (and all the projects there to be done) and get the husband and children to spend time together, relaxed and chillin' like lake villians.  I think that was accomplished.  I got to see a lot of smiles anyway.

So...while it wasn't super relaxing for ME... it was all worth it in the end.

Added bonus:  there was tubing with Grandpa's boat!

Crafting On

I finished Love Thy Body by Nancy Pearcey in record time because, it is a book that I couldn't seem to put down!  So incredibly astute, it helps to put a finger on the underlying philosophies that our culture is adopting as we practice this sort of a 'personhood worldview' in relation to current cultural ideologies of transgenderism, homosexuality, abortion, euthanasia, hook-up culture, etc.   The author speaks to the fact that modern liberal views of these issues actually REJECTS science for subjectivity.  Man.  EVERYONE needs to read this book! 

I also finished The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton.  It was entertaining- the first few chapters had me enraptured.  So many times I felt myself grinning, imagining a jovial Chesterton, belly shaking with guffaws at his own descriptions.  I'll admit, the ending of the book had me feeling a bit bewildered and mentally out of breath but it continues to marinate in my mind a week later.  Which, in my mind, makes for a truly good book.  Someday I may understand it better.  But maybe not too. 

Now I am on to The Household and the World for the Cosmos by C. R.Wiley.  This too, is an excellent book.  I feel like I have hit on some goldmines the last few books I've read and it has been pure pleasure!  It's a short book and I doubt will take me long to get through- I always bring books (and my yarn basket) to my prenatal appointments and since I am now classified as 'advanced maternal age' (at 37 years old, a-hem), let's just say those appointments aren't scarce.  So a new book will be coming soon.  I hope I can keep the string of awesomeness going!

Reading isn't the only perk of being a geriatric expectant mother!  It also means ultrasounds!    Whose that little person peeking out of the corner?!  I sit and stare in wonder at that picture of Cricket ever day.  It is weird to me that I basically know what this child looks like before he even leaves my belly.  Ultrasound technology blows my mind.  Even moreso, that God created that little person and He created WOMEN, to be able to house, protect and grow said little people. How incredible is that?!

Coming back around to the beginning of this post, we ought to LOVE THY BODIES because they were created for us by a Master Craftsman for an ultimate purpose and He gives us the tools required to fulfill those purposes, that we might be craftsmen too.

Still trying to recreate this Amazon Romper using the ravelry pattern called the Lesley Sunsuit.  Since  even FOLLOWING a pattern can be difficult for me, creating my own pattern alterations feels a bit like I have bitten off more than I can chew.  The Lesley sunsuit has no buttons at the crotch and that seems like a really helpful addition.  The Amazon romper has buttons but lacks the ribbing around the legs which I like.  Trying to do both on my own is proving to be a challenge.  Also- I think I made the granny square too big for the size of the bloomer.  Ah well.  The more I muddle through these issues, the more I learn from them, right?

My hope is the years of muddling through projects may result in some day, things coming a bit more easily for me.  Maybe in time for the grandbabies.  ;-)

PS.  70% Lindt Chocolate Truffles are seeing me through all the desserts and deliciousness I have to turn down that people are eating all around me.  Except!!! Those are my last two and I told myself I am not going to buy myself ANY MORE. 

Correction: last ONE.  (yum)

knitting and crafting along with these ladies