All In A Week

In addition to having a baby, coming home from the hospital, taking birth announcement photos AND getting baptized, Moses' first week of life ALSO included a *real* birthday celebration for Corynn and Judah (who had graciously put it off for a few days to welcome their almost-birthday-twin). 

I figure, we might as well be honest with Moses from the get-go about what kind of family he was born into...

A few pictures from that first week to finish off the majorly outdated photos. (I think.)

So many wonderful tomatoes this year and yet, only a few batches canned.  We ate most of them, canned a few batches and then let too many rot because of Cricket.  (I can blame him because he is too small to be offended.)

Andrew took this shot of a hummingbird.  It's a hummdinger!

Color-coordinated snacktime.

This lady.  THIS LADY came to my house on the day we were discharged from the hospital, left a huge basket of goodness for the WHOLE family to nibble on and drool over, stuck a sunflower in the middle of my island and.......

(brace yourselves...)

.... cleaned my KITCHEN for me.

It was the best gift I could ever have received that day.  For that, I will love her always.

BIRTHDAY PRESENT TIME!  Woot Woot!  And since Papa was home for Cricket- they got to open them during the DAY instead of at night right before bed! 

Double Woot Woot!

Judah requested a dragon cake with fruit roll ups for his 9th birthday.

Corynn, being a much more sensible girl at sweet-sixteen, chose apple crisp.

And for that, I will love her forever.  I would take applecrisp over cake any 'ol birthday of the week.

Because I must have been in a cloud of postpartum sleep deprivation, I put 10 candles on her dessert.  She politely mentioned that the candle count was wrong and so I grabbed three more. 

Because 13 must have equaled 16 in my mind. 

What a good sport she is.

More presents!    Lucky geese!

Matt made me delicious breakfasts every morning of that first week.  Why, oh WHY did he have to go back to work?!?!

First porches are superb for postpartum recovery.

And I will leave you with the sweetest sight in the world.  

You're welcome!

Yarn and Crafting Along

Bookish:  I always keep several books going at once.  Usually a non-fiction, an audiobook, sometimes something a bit more 'heady' and a really simple, silly thing that I can pick up for small snippets here and there.  

I am finishing up The Shaping of A Christian Family by Elizabeth Elliot.  It is excellent and has been so inspiring and convicting!! 

I'm listening to Dante's Inferno on audiobook.   

For the simple, silly book I've been reading a book borrowed through the library system that a friend had suggested called Lessons From Madame Chic: 20 Stylish Secrets I Learned While Living in Paris by Jennifer Scott.  It was an interesting read but in many ways laughably unrelatable to my way of life.  She speaks of pinpointing a "style" and creating a capsule wardrobe of quality clothes based upon that.  Well, I guess my "style" would be Whatever Fits with a side of 'Hand-Me-Down' and 'Thrift Store'.   She speaks $600.00 dresses and cargo pants and I feel guilty spending $20.00 on a clearance item from an actual store!  She speaks of clutter free living and obviously does not come from an angle of having six children.  Of course, some things were a nice nudge to be more intentional in finding beauty, inspiration, gratitude, elegance in food and home and interests and habits.  I could definitely cultivate a bit more grace and elegance in different areas of my life. 

Other books read this past month:

• Susannah Wesley by Kathy McReynolds
• Seven Women by Eric Metaxas
• Love Thy Body by Nancy Pearcy

Make-ish: 

I'm currently working on a pixie hat for Cricket since his noggin is growing so fast.  (He must be brainy.)  I've worked this hat before several times and really LOVE the look!  I'm using a gorgeous higher-quality yarn in a dark green color.  I got it at one of the craft stores that allow coupons so it isn't THAT high class but high class for me.  Unfortunately, I lost the tag and have no idea what kind of yarn it is!  I hope to be able to crochet a sweater to match with the leftover yarn next although yarn work is pretty scarce these days since every time I sit down I have to be nursing.  I have not yet grown adept enough at nursing this little fidgeter while simultaneously knitting.  So we'll see if I can manage that.  No promises.  Especially at the rate Moses' head grows.  

Also working on sewing a birthday skirt or two.  

Other Crafty Pursuits this past month:

Because Cricket was born a few days later than I had hoped for, I was able to not only get a bonnet done for his coming home outfit (as I originally intended) but I whipped out some booties and a matching sweater too.  

This is what he thought of his coming home outfit at the hospital:

Here it is in better lighting; two weeks later, minus the booties that are still too big and a hat that is impossibly already outgrown?!

 I broke out the sewing machine and made some room on the porch for some crafty gift making.  (And tackling the mending too.)  Here is an ensemble  I gave to a friend and her (not so new) little sweetling:

And you remember seeing this crown make an appearance (or three) last week, right? 

That happened too.

~ Joining the crafting on and yarning on communities ~

Meeting the Rest of His Family

Born on Tuesday and baptized on Sunday.

Despite a frantic first-bath (which Moses HATED.  I wonder if it had to do with the frantic scrubbing of a Mama simultaneously barking out orders to all corners of the house... nah.  Probably not.) on a harried first-time-getting-everyone-out-the-door rush to get to church, it was a pretty great day. 

Moses even had a gaggle of silly geese waiting on the doorstep of our church for a first view.  (I love the people in our church!)

Not the last "Doh!" face we'll ever get with him, I bet.

Better than the lilies~ A note on the clothes.  Three days before Moses arrived, still great with child, I waddled to a nearby antique barns/flea market where I have, in the past, scored some awesome vintage clothing for pennies.  I was on the lookout for a baptismal outfit for Cricket since I have one for each of the children to take with them for their own children someday(all bought at yard sales, mind you.)  I didn't find one but I *DID* find the gorgeous dress that Ineke is wearing for a measly $5.00!

It comes with a petticoat, people!

Even better, on the way home, there was a yard sale that had....wait for it.........a perfectly wonderful baptismal outfit for a boy for another $5.00!

Little ways that reveal the Lord knows and cares even about the small details of our hearts.  Even the unspoken ones.  Even the superfluous ones that don't matter like set-apart clothes worn on a set-apart day.

And one more note:

I should be either proud or worried of the obvious delight this girl shows, even in the midst of screaming baby.  I can't decide which...