Baby Girl Gets Teeth

9/25/2014


This baby girl got some teeth this week! 
The first one popped out on Monday 
and its twin showed up today.


You probably can't see the teeth in the pictures, 
but you can see her happy smile clearly! 

Love this little lady! 

The Classics

9/19/2014

Classic Literature. Sounds like a college English class. But I've been reading through some classics lately and have been challenged by the process. 

My husband found a great 14-volume set of condensed classic books for free. Who can pass up free!?! Not us! So we incorporated these onto our bookshelves and I began to work my way through them. Although they are "condensed" each story is still 100-300 pages in length, which still gives the feel of reading the classics.

So far I've read...
Treasure Island 
David Copperfield 
The Call of the Wild
Madame Curie 
The Scarlet Pimpernel 
The Good Earth 
Robin Hood 
The Story of Helen Keller
My Friend Flicka
Horatio Hornblower
Alone
Jane Eyre
Abe Lincoln Grows Up 
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Great Cases of Sherlock Holmes

I still have another 40 or so titles to get through. I find it takes me about 1-2 weeks per title, so it'll be a while before I finish the entire set. But what a treasure these are! So many of these are well-known classic titles, but have you actually read them? I recognize titles but have only read a handful of them, and even those were in high school English class. 

My favorites thus far were the Sherlock Holmes cases (which were fascinating, what incredible observation skills Holmes has) and the Scarlet Pimpernel (which reminded me of the 1990s movie True Lies - where a wife is unsuspecting that her husband is leading a double-life performing dangerous government-related missions). Both of those were stories that I'd gladly read again and again.

Least favorites would include The Hunchback of Notre Dame  and The Good Earth (both of which seemed to lack a point or moral or lesson in any way).

Robin Hood surprised me since it was similar at the core to the Disney version I remember from my childhood but many details were different from that version or the Robin Hood Prince of Thieves Kevin-Costner movie I remember. Treasure Island was a good read, though somewhat bloody in battle scenes, which makes it a good "boy" book (note to self for my son's future reading material).

Alone (which tells the story of Richard Byrd who spent 5 months all alone manning a weather station in the Antarctic) and Madame Curie (the story of Pierre and Marie Curie's discovery of Radium) were both inspirational stories of real life heroics in the scientific field.

So here's to the classics... and actually reading them! 

Inside and Outside

9/18/2014


My baby girl.

9 months inside the womb 
and now 9 months outside the womb 

For her 9 months inside the womb, she was restless and moved and kicked a lot. During her 9 months outside the womb, she continued to be restless and generally hasn't slept well and kicked a lot. 

For her 9 months inside the womb, she was fed by my body. During her 9 months outside the womb, she continued to be fed almost entirely by my body. I thank God for the opportunity to nurse her, as I was unable to do so with my other children. 

For her 9 months inside the womb, Mama was her favorite person. During her 9 months outside the womb, Mama remains her favorite person. However, Daddy and brother and sister are all in the running now! 

How we love this little girl! 
How easily she has come to be a natural 
irreplaceable part of our family! 
How uniquely and beautifully 
each family member has embraced her. 

We continue to thank the Lord for this happy and healthy baby girl. What a blessing!

Baby Girl

9/11/2014

A few recent pictures of our baby girl, nearing 9 months old.


Time with big sister


Sniffing a flower from our garden


Sitting with mama



With Grandma K in Wisconsin


Baby girl enjoying some outdoor swing time

Growing, growing, growing up. 
Loving, loving, loving it!

First Loose Tooth

9/9/2014



My son recently lost his very first tooth. 


See! 

Growing up... 

A Boy and a Baby

9/8/2014


My son, who is now 6 years old, is a typical boy. He's into trucks and balls and swords and wrestling. And yet, when he is around his baby sister, his tender side emerges, quite by surprise. 


He loves to hold his little sister. He *tries* to carry her around. He likes to give her toys to play with. 


He likes to put bowls on her head and laugh at her. :-)

They are both such a breath of fresh air for our family!

Trip to Wisconsin

9/5/2014

We recently took a trip to Wisconsin to visit my side of the family. We try to make it up once in the summer and then again at Christmastime. So Labor Day was our weekend to head up this year. 



My mom had a luau party while we were there. Well, really it was just an excuse to get everyone together while we were visiting. I appreciate that she does this when we visit so we can easily see all of my brothers and their families.


So here is my baby girl with her festive flowers.


We had a great time together, as we always do. Mom had set up a swimming pool in the yard for the kids to enjoy. Here's my son and cousin Trinity having a blast in the pool. 

Thanks, Mom, for hosting a great party for all of us!