8 months

It's hard to believe, but Charlie is 8 months old! 

And what a delight he is!!

At 8 months, Charlie is

• Sleeping 13 hours at night
• Nursing 3 times a day and drinking 2 juice bottles a day
• Eating 3-4 jars of baby food a day
• Wearing a size 2 diaper (but not for long)
• Wearing 6-12 month clothes
• Snacking on Ritz crackers, especially when mama is cooking dinner
• Taking 2 good naps a day, unless he gets off schedule from being away from home during the day
• Tolerable (most of the time) to his brothers' and sister's attempts to play "house" with him as the designated "baby"
• Tolerable of being passed around to family and friends, but is happiest with mama (as it should be!)
• Still does not like tummy time or bath time
• Still toothless, but not for long
• Grabs, pulls, and reaches for anything he can get his little hands on....most often my hair.
• Sitting up independently for short periods of time

Forget this "baby food" junk....I want the real deal!!

Playing independently and happily....just the way I like it! 

Blanket time, here we come!

We absolutely adore this boy!!  One of the most common questions I hear throughout the day (other than "Can I play a computer game?") is, "Can I hold Charlie?"  Oftentimes, one of two responses immediately comes to mind....."No, he's fussing right now, let Mommy take care of him" or, "No, he's happy where he is.  Let's leave him be."  And then I catch myself in my own contradictions!  Trust me, the bigs do get plenty of time to love on their little brother, so much so that they often come toting him back to me because they've had their fill of fun.....or he needs a clean diaper. 

Little Charlie is an absolute delight and we love him dearly!  He is growing up so fast!!





O Christmas Tree

This is the first of at least three Christmas related posts that I will be posting before Christmas, so be sure to come back and check for more in the coming days.

The Christmas Tree.  This year we had somewhat of a dilemna concerning the Christmas tree.  It began last year when we decided to give our old Christmas tree (a hand-me-down from Ezra's grandmother), that was over 20 years old, to Goodwill.  To say the least, it had seen better days, and we wanted a newer, prettier tree to go with the house renovations that were coming.  We knew we would be remodeling the house this year, and we were attempting to throw away/donate as much as we could in preparation for the mess that we knew awaited us.  So, we were now facing another Christmas season, without a Christmas tree.  We have moved back into the house, but we are not "settled" completely, so decorating for Christmas has not been at the top of the list.  We talked about going shopping for a tree, but to be honest, my husband does not have a whole lot of extra time to be braving the cold and crowds for a Christmas tree, and this was one purchase that I was not going to attempt by myself with four littles by my side (nor would he want me to).  As the days drew nearer to Christmas and people all around us were decorating and putting up trees, we realized that we would have to come up with something.  My husband decided that we could cut down a tree from the farm and save a couple of hundred dollars instead of buying a new, artificial tree.  Now, mind you, I have never had a real tree at Christmas before.  This was definitely a first.

Due to Ezra's busy schedule and fewer hours of daylight, he had to get up before 6am Friday morning to go cut the tree and bring it to the house, if we wanted a tree before December 23. 

Tree Trimming...it was originally about 10 feet tall!

When Ezra first brought the tree inside and stood it up, I honestly thought, "Is that the best you could find?"  It was thin and had many bare spots.  I couldn't imagine anybody even trying to sell a tree like this at a Christmas tree lot.  I also wanted to go crawl back into bed.  Wisely, I kept these thoughts to myself.

After fitting it securely in the tree stand, Ezra had to leave for work, so it was up to me and my little helpers, who were eager to decorate the tree at 6:30am, to turn an out-of-shape tree with many bare spots into our Christmas tree.

Can someone please tell me when my 6 year old

turned into a 13 year old???

I spent all morning repeating myself, "That's breakable....stop playing with the lights....be careful on the step stool....put the garland down....." while fighting with lights that would not work, garland that was tangled together and broken ornaments, all the while thinking, "How am I supposed to make this tree look pretty?".....and then, it happened.  The Lord convicted me and my heart changed.  Not one of my children had complained about the imperfections of the tree or questioned its appearance compared to other Christmas trees seen in stores or for sale on tree lots.  I realized that an "imperfect" tree in my mind does not diminish the "perfect" Christmas gift....Jesus Christ.  That very first Christmas was not "perfect" by our standards today.  Mary, an unwed mother, gave birth in a dirty stable, laying her baby boy in the feeding trough for the animals.  There was no perfectly decorated nursery with matching quilts and curtains, warm blankets and new sleepers to welcome the newborn or even a battery-operated swing to lull the baby to sleep.  There was no beautifully decorated tree or colorful lights, but there was love....God's love, and that's all that was needed in the little stable in Bethlehem....God's perfect choice for His Son, our Savior. 

So, our humble little tree, decorated by the hands of eager children, stands in our front window, a daily reminder to me that only my Savior is perfect.  It reminds me of the Christmas tree at the end of Charlie Brown's Christmas, and I kind of like it that way. 





I didn't snoop....I promise!

I admit that back in the day I regularly peeked at my Christmas gifts a few weeks early.  And when I say "regularly," I mean every year, every chance I got.  Because you never know, something new might have been bought in the past two days.  I blame this addiction on my sister....The year that I had just turned 10, we were left home alone one night in December (my parents were probably at some Christmas party) and she forced strongly encouraged me to untape one of two identical shaped presents, one to me and the other to her.  We untaped just enough of the present to see the box and identify the gift as a CD player and then quickly and carefully retaped the paper, making sure it lined back up just right.  On Christmas morning, sure enough, we each had our own CD player.  I admit, it was kind of a disappointment without the true element of surprise (that I had to fake), but that didn't stop us from finding the Christmas "stash" (on the top shelf of my parents' closet and/or in the old refrigerator in the garage) every year thereafter or unwrap and carefully re-wrap presents that were already under the tree.  We got so good at this that we could tell the difference between "cheap" wrapping paper that would tear when tape was removed and "quality" wrapping paper that the tape would peel off of easily, without evidence of our snooping.  Throughout my high school (and college) years there was little to no surprise come Christmas morning.

Now that I am grown and married, I like to think that I have grown out of this childish behavior.  I no longer go snooping for Christmas presents that might be hidden in the back of my husband's closet.  I don't have to.  Even though he tries to surprise me, usually, one of two things happen (because he does not like shopping or the crowds in December, go figure).....I am with him when he buys it or I buy it myself, bring it home and tell him that he can put it up for Christmas.  That all changed this year, however.  I went out one Saturday to do some Christmas shopping and he kept the baby at home.  He told me that he was going to do some shopping as well.  I figured that he would do some online shopping, and even though I only had about 3 or 4 things on my list, I didn't know what he was planning on getting.  I did know, however, that because of our budget this year, I would not be getting everything on my list (let's face it, I've basically gotten a brand new kitchen and house already this year). 

Fast forward to yesterday.  I notice the mailman walking away from our front porch....obviously having just dropped off a package.  Since I have about 3 packages that I am expecting, I go open the door, to find this, as is, sitting on the porch.....

So much for a surprise!  Maybe next year.....

But as for me and my house.....Part 6

The Garage!!    I know, I know.....Boring.  A garage is a garage is a garage....but I get excited over little things.  Growing up, we always had a garage, since I was about 4.  And we actually parked the cars in it too.  But, it was more like my parents' garage.  As the high school driver in the family, my car had its designated parking spot outside.  And then, in college I once again parked outside, only this time, I had much farther to walk from the car to my room.  After Ezra and I married and moved into base housing, we had a single car carport, and finally, when we moved into the farmhouse, we had a carport once again.  However, 90% of the time it was used for storage rather than vehicles.  Even though we don't live up north in extreme winter conditions, we do have our fair share of morning temperatures below freezing, and sitting in a freezing cold car waiting for the windows to defrost is not fun.  Running out to the car, when it's 17 degrees outside, in a robe and slippers to turn it on and start the heat (when we remember) is not fun either.  And, carrying loads of grocery bags (and babies, for that matter) from the car to the house in freezing temperatures or pouring rain is not fun.  Therefore, our house plan has always included a garage.  We wanted a garage large enough to park both of our vehicles as well as the lawnmower and other necessary lawn & garden equipment, bicycles, etc.

The early stages

Well, the garage was officially finished Saturday.  Garage doors are installed, walls are painted and the floor has been brushed with an enamel/epoxy....Too bad we still can't actually park in the garage until we finish cleaning outside and then fill in with dirt/gravel leading up to the garage.  So, for now, it remains a big "playroom" for the kids.  I took these pictures to remind me that at one time it was clean because I know once we actually start using it, it will never look like this again.



The "third car" area of the garage,

reserved for the lawnmower and bicycles

With our recent morning temperatures well below freezing and afternoon highs just above freezing, now would be a good time to get the driveway in usable condition!

But as for me and my house.....Part 5

Master Bedroom edition!

If I wait until we fully furnish our bedroom and actually move into it, then you will be waiting a looooong time for me to finish this series!  The upstairs is now "move-in" ready, complete with hardwood floors, trim and painting touch-ups.  However, as we near the completion of this year-long, over-budget home project, the new bedroom, dining room and living room furniture that we have been waiting so long to purchase, will have to wait awhile longer. 

So, here are some pictures of our new, empty bedroom.....

Yes, those are cows outside our window.

Charlie's room, adjoining our bedroom

Ezra's closet.....aka Christmas staging area

Master Bath

Master Bath....whirlpool

Master Shower

Linen Closet with laundry chute



Thanksgiving....a little late.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ok, I know that I am a little late....but I have been busy.  Very, very busy.  Stuffing my face and the faces of my little monkeys with turkey, ham and all the fixin's for the past four days.  And when I say "all" the fixin's, I mean all of them!

Wednesday morning we loaded up the crew, along with an entire grocery store of groceries and headed north to the blessed land of Gatlinburg, TN.  In Gatlinburg, we met up with 19 more members of my awesome family.  The plan for the long holiday weekend was very detailed.  Eat.  Sleep.  Football.  Repeat. Again and again.

Our cabin

The details include 26 family members, spanning 4 generations, traveling from 5 different states across the south from Oklahoma to Florida, spending 4 days together in a 9 bedroom cabin nestled in the Smoky Mountains.  There was turkey (roasted and fried), ham, two different types of dressing, homemade rolls, cranberry sauce, corn casserole, carrot souffle, green beans, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, mac n cheese and roasted veggies (forgive me if I left anything out).  And then there was dessert, and more dessert.  We had at least 10 different people contributing to the cooking duties of the day.

The back porch

I learned several things on this trip:

• My family is AWESOME (Ok, I already knew this, but it's still worth mentioning.)
• 2 1/2 miles up a mountain is a wee bit too far for a 3 year old to hike.  He slept on daddy's shoulders the whole way down.
• 20lb of mashed potatoes goes a long way, even when you are feeding 25 people.
• Mary, Queen of Scots had 6 fingers (Random, I know.)
• I am the only member of my family who does not own some sort of wireless laptop, blackberry, droid, or other electronic means of staying "connected" with the world while away from home.  (And I'm ok with that.)
• My younger, "teenage" cousins are now 18-25 years old.  Still trying to figure out how that happened.
• My Aunt Gwenn and Uncle Charles deliver pizza.....10 hours away.
• 4 years is way too long to go without seeing extended family....This must change pronto!
• Always take extra camera batteries on a trip.  Always.

A few pictures I managed to capture before the camera battery died...

The men, staying out of the women's way in the kitchen.

Turkey and dressing....lots of it

Fixin's

Fixin's

Some more fixin's

And even more fixin's....Needless to say, we ate well.

Hmmm....Turkey or pie?  I think I'll take pie.

Relaxin' in the hot tub

I thank God for my wonderful family, being able to spend the holiday with them and safe travels for everyone to and from home this weekend!  We had a blessed Thanksgiving and I hope everyone else did too!

Big Green Tractor

On the farm, tractors are a necessary part of life.  They allow us to efficiently complete tasks such as plowing the garden, planting seed for hay, mowing, raking, baling hay, and feeding hay out to the cows.  The tractors are also very useful at other times, like when you are cleaning up leftover construction waste that needs to be dumped in a far-away, eroding creek-bed. 

We start 'em young.

"Ok, Dad, just hand me the keys.  I got this."

5 of the 6 of us that rode through the pasture to dump the rock & gravel.....

notice the vacant "jump seat" next to Ezra, reserved for yours truly and the handsome little guy in green.

Haven't you heard the saying, "The family that farms together, stays together".....or something like that.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving Week!!  We are looking forward to a wonderful, large family get together, with many whom we haven't seen in over 4 years (that was two babies ago!).