Joyful Domesticity

We have had some of the best opportunities for photo op’s this week! 🙂 Take a look! And keep looking forward to more pics from Europe… I promise they’ll come soon. Once we figure out our computer situation and get my computer working again, I’ll be more comfy with posting pics. Steven’s computer feels so foreign and unfamiliar to me! 🙂
and Krista–
Yes, Colin and Ashley are expecting twins. Woo hoo!!! We are completely psyched.
And we were gone for three weeks… pics soon, for sure! 🙂

L: my friend Shelby with her little daughter Elise Marie Grace — she’s at home now, about six pounds, and two months old! She’s doing so well, and we praise God for His awesome kindness.
R: my friend Elizabeth who is 32 weeks pregnant with a little girl, and my sweet Gabriel.

L: playing on the counter with his toys while Mama makes dinner
R: smiling in his swing — I love this outfit!

L: dinner on Sunday — crepes! Ooooh sooooooo goooooood.
R: pretty proud of my mmmmm-yummy crepes.

L: Gabriel and his little pal Emma Grace. Don’t they look related? We think they look like twins in this picture.
R: And here they are holding hands! Watching a movie too. Where’s the popcorn? Hm. Maybe a thermos of milk??

L: shopping at the mall, Gabriel tried on this adorable newsboys hat. No, I didn’t buy it for him but I sure thought he looked cute. Look at those cheeks!
R: and here we are!!! Gabriel and me with our sweet friends Carrie and Emma. We’re so excited to have them with us this week!! They’re traveling from Alaska to their new home in New York. We are very thankful they fit a visit with us into their schedule. And now we’re sad they’re moving so far away.

HAPPY OCTOBER!!!

Well, we’re officially home after trotting the globe. Or at least the Mediterranean portion of it. 🙂 What a fabulous time with my family. We enjoyed being able to see my grandparents, parents, and brother/sis-in-law every day too. That was special. And I haven’t mentioned it on here yet, but I’m an auntie to TWINS now!! We’re expecting them probably in late March. I’m so excited to be a double-auntie in one stroke. 🙂 Anyway… Gabriel did really well traveling around. He is now completely addicted to being worn, and hates when I put him down. I’m trying to break him of the idea now that he must be held 18 hours a day. But I love to use wraps and carriers, and include him in everything and nurture him so closely. So it’s not necessarily a bad thing either. I only have a few pictures on my computer so far; I’ll get the rest next week. But here are a few to show you. I’m glad to be home and hope to be over the jetlag soon. But the trip was definitely a highlight of our lives. And my baby boy has as many stamps in his passport as his mama! 😉

A very cool lion outside a military building in Venice. I just liked it. I don’t know why. 🙂

A real Italian cappuccino, in Murano, Italy.

Gelato (mmm) in Burano, Italy.

I think Burano was cuter, but this is Murano.

Have you ever seen these sleep-cots for babies on planes? So cool. Too bad Gabriel only slept in it for thirty minutes. 😉

And here’s my handsome Gabriel at home, learning that there are fun things to keep him busy when Mama isn’t wearing him. Two days ago he turned FOUR MONTHS old!! And today he ROLLED OVER!! Babyhood is going by too fast for this mama. 🙂

Okay… if you’ve never heard of Jamie Soles, you need to become introduced. So here, allow me.
http://www.solmusic.ca/
There. Go to that site and you will find the best place to get your new favorite music. 🙂
This is what we want for Christmas, people!!
So many of our friends have these cds, and we are currently borrowing “The Way My Story Goes” and we love it. Steven and I have had the songs stuck in our heads all day. Biblical stories put to music by a great dad who simply wants to teach his kids about the Bible, good theology, and singing for the glory of God. Woo hoo! I totally love it.
I can’t wait to get the whole collection! You should too. 🙂

p.s. I was laughing with a friend yesterday about how our kids (well, hers so far; and Gabriel will join them in another year or so, hehe) sing unashamedly about everything in the Bible. Instead of dumbing down the Word for our kids into a vegetable-patch, our children proclaim Truth to the world singing about everything from Jael’s tent peg to the Old Covenant sign of circumcision to keeping our bodies pure from sexual immorality to praying our enemies will perish. Praise the Lord!

Happy Things:
an incredibly joyful boy
a new haircut for Mommy
beautiful burnt-red roses from Husby

While I worked on making 6 batches of jam (after we’d gone on a family outing to our favorite orchards) at my mom’s house….

…Gabriel enjoyed learning to grab his rattle and cuddling with Grandmama.

Okay, ladies… I need help again with diapers.
This time, disposables.

We’re going away for a few weeks, and I won’t be able to take my cloth diapers along for the ride.
So I am needing to come up with a decision about which disposable diapers to buy.
What do you use??
What leaks least??
What holds the most??
What have you found to be most economical??

I’d hate to buy the cheapest thing out there just to find they don’t hold anything or leak all the time.
So I need to survey y’all to find out what you’ve discovered.
Please help! 🙂

As Gabriel hit the twelve week mark just a few moments ago (yes, I was actually watching the clock as 9:53 came and went), he was cooing & smiling & wiggling on his Aunt Beth’s lap. His aunt & uncle from the East Coast are visiting right now. We’ve been having oodles of fun all week, with still more to come over the next few days. It is fun to have outings and events. And it is fun to take pictures and make memories together. Gabriel loves to be social, is almost always cuddly, and is endlessly stealing his mommy’s heart (and everybody else’s).
It’s funny how 12 weeks of pregnancy would feel like an eternity, and now these first 12 weeks of Gabriel’s life have flown by like the wind.
Also, just so y’all know… I am fully aware that interrupted nights are coming just around the bend: teething, flu, nightmares, etc will not be far away. And I get that. 🙂 I have just been gaining some perspective and trying to come to grips with the fact that my son’s tiny-newborn days are gone. I am trying to enjoy each stage as it hurries by. Those nights of multiple feedings due to rapidly packing on some chunk on a skinny boy are already gone. Now he is big enough to comfort himself with his little left thumb. And this perspective has given me new joy (and erased the grumbling) when my son does wake me up at night. Like last night. When I heard his cries, I smiled knowing that my arms, my milk, my voice — it would all be fulfilling and comforting to him. It is good to be joyful in service. And it is good to gain new perspectives on service. It is good to serve my son. It is especially good to joyfully serve my son.
And God is incredibly good.

For any busy woman out there who only has two hands… and I’m assuming that’s pretty much every one of us… Go check out Nancy Wilson’s post called “Two Hands” at femina.reformedblogs.com
I pretty much guarantee that you will be blessed by what you read. I know I was.

Just as a little note… my eleven week old son now sleeps through the night. Well, he’s done it for the last five nights. And it’s bittersweet. As much as it is heavenly to get nine hours of uninterrupted sleep, it is also sad that my baby boy doesn’t need me in the middle of the night to feed him, cuddle him, and rock him. He’s growing up so fast!