Arrival of a Tiny One

Abi's here - all 8 lbs of her. She's a long and tiny one weighing in at 8lbs 8.7oz and 22 inches long at birth (this is one of the few times in her life that it'll be appropriate to ask about her weight. hehe). She is a sweet little blond haired, gray/blue eyed (like her Daddy) baby who has fit just wonderfully into our little family.

You know, it's funny to hear of us being a "family of four" now. Marrying a husband who is the second of 7 children, having two kids doesn't sound all that impressive (since we all know I live to impress others - HA). But looking at my side of the family, a family of four is the landing place for many of us. So being called a family of four feels like a big deal sometimes. This having two kids is where many people say, "all right, we're done." And there certainly are moments in my little world of being mom to two temporarily I-need-your-attention-right-now-in-this-moment-or-I'm-going-to-lose-all-control kids that make me understand why some people say "done" at two. Who knows what Matt and I have in our future regarding our family, this could be the "end of the road" regarding populating our household- or maybe it could be the start of a batch of 500 kids. Kidding.

All I know is that our little, or big in many eyes, family of four is so wonderful. I am finding myself blessed beyond anything I could have imagined to just hold my babies. Sure, according to "most of the planet" I'm out of my mind for having two children just under 18 months apart (until I introduce my neice and two nephews who are all in the same family and 3 y/o and under). But quite the contrary - Rachael and Abi will be a year apart in school and can you imagine how fun the older preschool years will be with dress-up play and outdoor sprinklers in the yard and family vacations? Oh it's not to imply that my kids aren't fun now, cause that's not the case. It's just so wonderful to think of the life that they have and will bring to the household as they grow up together. We are so blessed. So blessed.

Thanks God.

Just a Toy

It’s funny how much joy it brought to me to see Rachael running to me with an old favorite toy. She came to me to show me one of her favorite toys from when she was learning to crawl until walking. And for a 17 month old, any toy that makes the favorite list for a good 5 months is a big deal – that’s a good part of her life. This little toy sings a rhyming song about the animal that is face-up on the cube. It’s a completely fabric cube toy so it’s little baby-teething safe. Rachael loved it so much that Matt and I have the rhyming songs for each of the 6 sides memorized. We could practically sing them in our sleep.

But what means more to me than the cube is the memory of the smiles and animation that toy brought out of little Rachael. It was that same animation and excitement the small toddler had as she ran to me with the toy.

I remember that specific cube toy going on a trip with me to Dallas. I was nannying for a three year old and a 9 month old on their vacation. I had those same songs memorized since the cube was one of a handful of toys we had with us for a week. And when the news spread of my pregnancy with Rachael, the hand-me-down cube toy found it’s way to our home. How funny to think of the now 8 or so year old (once 3 y/o) and her younger brother who is 5 (once 9 months) – and since then there’s been another brother added to the family. It was just funny how Rachael running across the room to me with utter joy flashed all the memories through my mind at once. And now our little Abi will get the blessing of playing with the same cube of memories.