There Are Two Types of People

 The zero turn riding mower we have has been sitting in the barn awaiting some fixing which means we are back to using the 'ole walk-behind mower.  A sorry stand-in on these hot summer days.

Who wants to be behind a mower when it is 90 degrees out?

One day, I looked out the window to see that Judah had created a solution to the problem using an old, broken wagon and some zip-ties.  I chuckled at his ingenuity and prayed that the Lord would protect him from it too.  ;-)

A few minutes later... I looked out to check on him and saw this:

The answer to the question above?

Moses.

Moses does.

(He had grass burns on his belly for days....)

So this happened...

 As if preparing three feasts, three birthday desserts, wrapping presents wasn't enough for this week- Moses thought I needed the added bonus of a broken foot to mix things up!  

(The feasts never happened-they are on standby- but the desserts did...priorities.)

Lovely boy didn't want life to be boring for me.

Bad things?

Having to change the dressings of a foot that looks like Death.

Trying to get a two year old mover-n-shaker to not walk or put pressure on the broken foot.  (It's impossible.)

Good things?  

It is still warm enough outside to not have to worry about fitting pants over that foot.  

The first night, the one in which he did not sleep for more than five minutes at a time and only then, when he was leaning into me as I rocked him, is now behind us.  He is sleeping soundly and is much more comfortable.

Great things?

He didn't need surgery!

The way in which this happened could have been MUCH more devastating because arms, legs or that sweet little noggin could have been crushed instead.  

God is good.

Mister Moses Turns One

 

Oh my stars, I love this boy.  This year has been a rough one, on many levels, and I really sometimes feel like I actually COULDN'T have done it without this little person in my life, pushing me forward and through hard times, snuggling the pain and worry away, all while brightening the dark corners of my life.  He has no idea and will never know how much I needed him.

When I couldn't walk, he gave me reason to walk- so I did.

When I couldn't sit, he gave me reason to sit- so I did.

When I couldn't speak the deep, hidden things- he snuggled deeper and let me be silent.

When I couldn't find calm- he breathed his sleepy breathes on my chest and gave me his.

What a glorious gift he is to me.

How's this for returning the favor?

The poor boy had his very first birthday cake be a tiny cupcake with leftover frosting from Judah's cake.   

 The worst part was, with two other children blowing out the candles, I missed seeing Moses "blow" out the candle- which apparently, he actually BLEW.

I wouldn't know.  I didn't see it.  

For his birthday gift, I made him a camel to sit and bounce on.  I don't know why....it isn't like I know how to make large stuffed animals or anything.  

When Adele' was a baby, I saw this picture and loved it.  I was determined to make the camel for her.  A-hem. And then didn't.  The same was true with Judah.  And Ineke.  I guess it was meant for Moses.

I *WISHED* I had a video of the first time he saw and used it- his reaction was the BEST and made it all worthwhile.

I totally made up the pattern- hoping that it would work out in the end.  I had no idea what I was doing.  I made quite a few mistakes that I wish I didn't- the neck wasn't stuffed nearly enough and is bendy.  And for some reason, it tips to one side all the time.  

But Moses loves it so.... 

Rebecca Joy, recognize anything?  I used that fabric you sent along for me once upon a time!  It was perfect- thank you!

Let me tell you a bit about Mister Moses that pictures don't:

When he was mere minutes old, his eyes were wide open and he would already turn his head to me as I spoke to him.  NONE of my babies were ever that attentive.  I couldn't believe it.

When he was VERY small, like a few months old, I would put his flattened hand on his cheek and say "Moses" and then put that sweet little fat hand on my own and say "Mama".  I did it because I wanted to teach him names.  And also because it made him smile. Even now, when we are saying names, he puts his flat hand on peoples' cheeks and grins.

He only says "Mama", even now at 14 months, and it makes me kinda feel like I am his whole world. (Shhh- don't tell.)

He did just start whispering "woooooowwww" when something is neat or new.  I love that it is always in whisper form.  And actually, he has been saying a form of 'ahhh-men' for quite a while too, now that I think about it.

He knows when we pray and already expects it before meals.

He signs words like please, thank you, more, all-done and NO.  He signs NO to me all the time when he knows he isn't supposed to do something- and is doing it anyway.

Moses took his first steps when he had JUST turned 10 months old- and was walking like a pro in a week or two.

He most recently began climbing on pianos, tables, chairs and up the stairs.

He loves being outside probably more than any other thing.

He screams a horrible squeal right now that I am trying to break him of and when he is mad he will bang his head on furniture or the floor.  Sometimes he startles himself with his own naughtiness.

This scream most often happens when he tries to squeak out an open door and I catch him before he escapes.

He is magnetically attracted to the toilet bowl water.

He is also magnetically attracted to danger.  In one week, he got a goose-egg on his forehead, ran into the road with on-coming traffic, exploded a firecracker in his mouth, tried to eat a dishwasher pod and nearly made it out the window onto our porch roof.  And YES, I *DO* watch him every minute.  It's the seconds that are the problem.

He has the CUTEST, dopiest look on his face sometimes.  Seriously adorable.

He doesn't ever snuggle anymore unless I am nursing him- and sadly, I have very little milk at this point... the other day he got done one side and signed to me that the milk was 'all gone' on that side.  It was hilarious. 

He has several different little songs I made up for him, but sometimes his name is so musical, it comes out in song.  Every time he hears that 'Mister Moses" song, he starts dancing.

He loves 'helping Papa' with washing the milking equipment by handing up the tiniest piece of the machine.  Same piece, same time, every morning.

Cherry tomatoes were his favorite food all summer- and now that we got several bushels of apples, he has turned to apples.

He is my insufferably sweet  Little Mister and I can't wait to see what this new year brings with it!

Check out the video on my Instagram of him being all cute and sleepy.  

If that doesn't melt you into a puddle, you must be a cold-hearted scoundrel.

Is this FOR REAL?!?

 

Up until this point, I would hand him a baby toy or two.  

When I dumped the bag of Duplo blocks, I think I blew his mind.

He's a Comin' For Ya

First Food

As if his thighs weren't chubby enough...

Babies Make Things Better

The world has gone mad!  This corona virus pandemic is insane.  Children are out of schools now while businesses are opening up and gathering them up together in a different location in order to feed them lunches in case they have no food.    There is no hand sanitizer left in stores because people have bought it all out but have no need of it because government has required many businesses to shut down or implement "soft quarantines".   People without babies are emptying shelves of baby formula in order to sell it in the black market while babies- who DEPEND ON THIS FOR SURVIVAL- may have to go without?!?!  Churches are refusing to gather.  People aren't allowed to travel over state lines?  And what does everyone do in their spare time?  Make toilet paper memes and wonder about what they will do with themselves.  People are PANICKED.  Things are intense.

Frankly, I'm conflicted.  And maybe scratching my head a little bit too.  Do I not know something?  If you look at the numbers, the regular flu has a much higher death rate than the corona virus.  I am not saying the Corona Virus is not a big deal...but I am saying people need to CHILL OUT A BIT.  Media outlets are feeding the frenzy and we are letting them.  And all of a sudden, we are living in a totalitarian government that dictates to us how we must live.  I'm calling a foul.  

Also- let's not forget: (You KNOW I have to say it!): Corona Virus has had 7, 098 fatalities worldwide since December 2019.  Abortion has led to 125,000 fatalities worldwide EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.    On the abortion link, you literally see that number moving up every second.  You literally SEE death happening, in real time.  Where is the panic there?  Where is the intensity to prevent deaths?  Where is the FRENZY people?!

 I know that this whole Corona madness is going to have serious implications in every single sector of business and life for many months to come.  It is hard to foresee how this is going to play out in the long run.  The whole world has come to a screeching halt over this corona virus and frankly, I wonder if the effects of all this business shut-down will have more serious consequences than the actual illness for the American people.  

While the world screeches to a halt, what will we do?  We will continue to live as we live every day.   I will continue to make food from scratch to feed my family, using the food I have on hand.  We will continue to get as much sunshine as these March days allow.  We will continue to wash hands and live life.  We will continue to educate our children at home and go about the work that needs to be done every day.  We will continue to squeeze in the pleasantries that can fill the cracks around the edges but probably not find more cracks to fill because this whole 'self quarantine' thing looks a lot like how we do life anyway.

The other thing we will be doing is praying for those people who are struggling during this time...

Not just those who are sick, but for those who are sick and those who, if sick, will have a more difficult time than others.

For those who are...

out of work

not getting paid

and all the repercussions that those two things entail ( ie *A HECKUVA LOT*)

wondering what to do with the children/grandchildren who don't have sitters and don't have school either

unable to get groceries 

unable to worship

unable to feed their families or get necessities

unable to get surgeries

unable to fulfill obligations or activities they had looked forward to

who are stressed and scared and wondering what they are going to DO.

And also for those who have so many things TO DO- whose jobs are not on pause but on fast forward- nurses, doctors, etc.

There are many people in need of prayer.

I'll leave you with this quote from an essay C.S.Lewis wrote in 1948 called "Living In the Atomic Age" that I have been reflecting on...it really does apply.

"In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.”

In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors – anaesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.

This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things – praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts – not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.ng sensible and human things – praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts – not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.

He then goes on to compare the Christian view versus the naturalist view, and then concludes the essay this way:

It is part of our spiritual law never to put survival first: not even the survival of our species. We must resolutely train ourselves to feel that the survival of Man on this Earth, much more of our own nation or culture or class, is not worth having unless it can be had by honourable and merciful means.

The sacrifice is not so great as it seems. Nothing is more likely to destroy a species or a nation than a determination to survive at all costs. Those who care for something else more than civilization are the only people by whom civilization is at all likely to be preserved. Those who want Heaven most have served Earth best. Those who love Man less than God do most for Man.

And since there is nothing more uplifting to the spirits than a chubby baby.... I give you these:

Just doing my part in helping the morale.  (you're welcome.)

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...