Peter: 1

Peter, you are one! How can 365 days have passed so quickly? Weren't we meeting you for the first time a few moments ago?

We all love teaching you new things. You can do a few signs - more, milk, dog. You point to everything, wanting to know what it is. You say "dog" with some regularity and I'm waiting to hear "Mama" in your little boy voice. You are days away from taking your first steps. It's going to get really crazy in our house when you can run with your sisters! And those sisters, by the way, take such good care of you. The "new" never wore off - you are still just as special to them today as you were a year ago. I'm thankful.

We're seeing more and more of your unique personality. Every day holds something new for you and we learn more about you. I love that. There are some things we've known about you from your first weeks of life and these things are still part of your makeup today. Like how your lovey (woobie) has to be smooshed into your face for you to fall asleep. Or how you love being close to someone, touching them or cuddling with them. Or how attached you are to your Mommy. (Had to throw that one in there. :-) ) You are sweet, happy, fun, loving. You are beautiful. I'm a lucky, lucky Mommy. I'm very happy that you're my baby boy.

We love you so much, Peter! Happy first birthday!

June 2012

I've let so much time elapse between posts that I honestly don't know if I need to go backward or move forward? I think this quote from an excellent recent read is somewhat applicable:

"Life, too, is like that. You live it forward, but understand it backward." -Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Thanks, Laura! I've already started your next recommendation! :-)

Looking back at the month of June...

A certain little boy keeps growing.

Caroline had a Senior K class program and graduation, shared moments with sweet friends, and had an awesome 2 weeks of swimming lessons.

The girls had a blast at gymnastics camp (especially Helen).

That's a lot of fun to pack in to one month. And it doesn't even include our week at the beach. It's hard to believe summer is half over. I'm certainly going to do my best to ensure we enjoy every last, hot minute of it!

Carpool

I'm thankful for a very patient little brother and his beautiful blue eyes.

Peter: 8 months

This baby boy is growing entirely too quickly. I'm enjoying him so much!

 

Sixth birthday fun

We had originally planned to do a small birthday celebration with a few of Caroline's friends the weekend before her birthday. But she got sick and we had to postpone and rearrange. 

Last Friday was the start of spring break, so I took Caroline and Shelby to the Children's Museum. They had a great time. 

The dinosaur exhibit was so interesting to the girls. They spent a long time reading, exploring, doing puzzles, and making dinosaur art.

 

 

Here I am with my "can't-stand-the-stroller-must-be-snuggled" baby. I'm wondering why in the world I left the Moby at home.

 

 

Then we invited Maddie and Elizabeth for manicures and pedicures on Monday.

 

 

 

 

And no birthday celebration is complete without cupcakes!

 

I am so thankful for these friends in Caroline's life. She is a lucky girl to be blessed with such sweet friendships at such an early age.

Peter: 7 months

Peter is absolutely adorable. His current bag of tricks includes rolling around, sitting, flirting, eating, and rocking on his hands and knees. So much fun. I'm not too ashamed to admit that he's got me wrapped around his little finger.

Biggest sister

Caroline loves her little brother so much. I'm sure he loves her back. He just watches her, waiting for her to interact with him. She is so gentle with him - a little mama. I told Kevin recently that I'm really thankful she'll have such sweet memories of her little brother as a baby.

(I have no idea why Caroline has a "100" stamp on her forehead. It's a good picture nonetheless.)

Peter: 6 months

Peter, you are six months old - half a year old. Daddy came home today (January 27) and wished you a happy birthday. I had forgotten that today is the 27th. I must be in denial. I told at least two people today that you were 5 months old.

I can't believe how much you have changed! You are almost 27 inches long (68%), but only weigh close to 14 pounds (3%). You are still long and skinny.

We've started feeding you solids and you love everything. You like playing with puffs on your tray and occasionally one makes it into your mouth. We're hoping you'll gain a little more weight once you start eating more.

 

You have the brightest, most alert eyes. You take in everything and are so engaged. It's the first thing people notice about you. The next thing they notice is your perfectly round head.

You like being sung to. The girls love singing "You Are My Sunshine" and "Pinkle, Pinkle" to you. I usually sing, "I Love You a Bushel and a Peck". But you're not picky. You have started to like playing peek-a-boo with us. It's very fun.

 

You love Mommy. I'm extremely flattered. You feel happiest when you know where I am. You also love to be held - mostly by mommy, but others do a fine job, too. You just like to be close. Sometimes you are so snuggly. And other times, you need to roll and stretch and be free. It's a perfect combination.

You roll all over the place. I haven't seen you on your hands and knees yet, but I know it's right around the corner. You can sit for a few seconds on your own. This makes me excited because soon you can take a bath in the tub and sit in a restaurant high chair and ride in a shopping cart. Plus it will make playtime so fun.

 

Your nights are getting better. On a good night, you wake up sometime between 11 and 1 to eat and sleep until 5 or 6 in the morning. We are working on moving you into your crib in your own room. It's time and I know it's good for you. But I'll miss you. Lately, you haven't wanted to rock at naptime and bedtime. You squirm and fidget and fuss when I try to rock you. You are learning to put yourself to sleep. You flip over on your tummy and grab your woobie and rub it in your hands. This is a bittersweet transition for me. I love rocking you. I'm looking forward to reading books with you in the rocking chair.

You are adorable. You are very loved. We thank God daily for your precious life!

Nothing much

There isn't anything too special or exciting to report about around here. 

Silly girl. Helen still sometimes needs an afternoon nap. I guess I thought she didn't need one this afternoon. I was wrong.

Smart girl. We picked up a 300-piece puzzle at the toy store over the weekend. I thought it would surely keep her busy for a few days. Kevin and I did help her a bit, but she had this thing put together in a few hours. She loves puzzles.

Sweet boy. I feel like Peter is finally setting in. His sleep patterns are getting more predictable and the rough nights are getting fewer. He's growing and changing every day. He's a mama's boy.

Tigger

The dog is our first child. Almost seven years ago, Kevin was finishing up an ER rotation and one of the nurses was complaining about their wild dog, saying that they really couldn't handle him and needed to give him to someone else. As luck would have it, Tigger was the exact same kind of dog I had grown up with (wire-haired fox terrier) and I was in love with the idea of having one of my own before we had even met him. He was already a year old and house trained, but WILD. This poor dog had had zero obedience training or discipline. He knew no boundaries and literally bounced from one piece of our furniture to the next. He paced our apartment, unable to relax. I took him to my parents' house for a visit right after we adopted him and all he could think to do was run to the upstairs bathroom to eat the bar of soap. My dad told me to give him back. They wouldn't take him.

We were stuck with Tigger. About that time we found out I was pregnant. So we enrolled him in obedience training and did "doggy bootcamp". He's turned into a good dog, despite a few neurotic obsessions and behavoirs. He still gets on my last nerve. I'm convinced he only barks during the following situations: 6:30 in the morning so the neighbors are bothered, naptime so the children wake up, Kevin is on call or out of town so I'm sufficiently on edge. 

The best thing about him is how he loves our kids. He actually plays gentler with the girls than he does with Kevin. The most interesting development within the past few months, though, is how much he loves Peter. He likes the girls, but he loves Peter. When Peter cries, Tigger shows up and hangs out next to Peter until I come. Sometimes we get home from an errand and I leave Peter napping in his carseat. When he wakes and I go to get him out, Tigger is right there beside him. I don't remember Tigger ever caring if the girls cried. It warms my heart and makes Tigger a little less annoying to me. It's going to be fun to see how their relationship develops.

Happy boy

I just had to post something more upbeat. So here's my sweet, smiley Peter...

Daygown

I love babies in daygowns - girls and boys. And I love making daygowns. I made this little daygown for Peter a couple of weeks ago. I know the daygown days are quickly coming to an end and I'm taking advantage of them as long as I can. I'm really, really grateful to my patient husband, who lets his son wear dresses. :-)

It's made from blue imperial broadcloth. The pattern has machine pintucks on each front panel. I embroidered tiny french knots between each set of tucks. I opted for a collarless style and used large pleats at the sleeve openings instead of gathers. This gives the "dress" a little more boyish look.

I'm finishing up one last daygown for Peter's first Christmas season. Then it's time to move on.

Can't get enough

Of this boy's smiles and giggles:

Of this girl's silly faces:

And of this girl's delight in every task:

Peter's gown

We have an heirloom baptism gown in our family. It is over 60 years old and was handmade by my great-grandmother. Six girls have been baptized in this lovely gown. It's beautiful - gathered lace, hand-embroidered flowers, pintucks, puff sleeves. But I just couldn't see our son wearing it.

I was probably just looking for an excuse to sew something new. Peter's gown is not too frilly, so I feel like he can wear it on regular Sundays. The pattern I picked out is #101 from Creations by Michie. I used a scrumptious (Caroline's new frequently used word) striped swiss voile for the gown and satin batiste for the smocked insert. I added tiny swiss edging to the neck and sleeve edges. I loved making this gown. It was the perfect garment for our son to wear to his baptism. Our beautiful boy...

Baptism

We celebrated Peter's baptism this past weekend. I've been thinking about almost nothing else since. (Yes, even my sewing thoughts have been pushed aside a bit!)

We look great, don't we?

But the fact is that we're sinners - every single one of us. Even sweet Peter is a sinner. Every single one of us needs a Savior and renewing grace. Kevin and I claim Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and our children's Savior until the day comes when they can claim Him themselves. We made that commitment at each of our children's baptisms.

These men standing beside and behind us and the entire congregation promised to assist us in responsibly raising our children. I was texting a friend later that evening and I thanked her for consenting to help us raise these kids. "No problem," she answered. "We've got you covered." We are covered indeed. Not only by the prayers and support of our church and family, but also by God's blessings and righteousness and most of all His grace. Completely humbling.

It is a frightening thing to unreservedly dedicate my children to God. My sinful heart has lots of reservations and wants total control over everything - especially my children and their lives! What if they grow up and don't profess Jesus as their Lord? What if I don't teach them correctly? What if one of them dies? What if, what if, what if?

Yes, it's frightening. But there's a freedom in knowing that God is sovereign over all of my "what ifs". His wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth are infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. And everything has been foreordained by Him. That's comforting.

So I do the only thing I can do. I pray. I pray that our teachings will accomplish their purpose, that everything we do and say would point to God, that the days of our children's lives would be many, that each of them would grow to know Jesus as their savior, and that we would praise Him and glorify Him in all things.

3 months

Peter: 2 months

You are surprising. Nothing about your life thus far has been expected. We didn't expect to have a third baby. We certainly didn't expect to have a boy. I never expected that you wouldn't hurry into the world like your sisters did. I'm so very thankful that God's plans for us far exceed our expectations.

Your sisters adore you. And nothing entertains you longer than your sisters' antics and silliness. I can't wait for you to start laughing out loud at them.

Your little head is so round and perfect and fuzzy. You are a beautiful baby. We sit around and stare at you.

You are a snuggly baby. Daddy always wants to know how I get anything done around the house because you are so fun and easy to hold. The truth is, the housework gets left undone many days because I spend them holding you. It's an easy decision.

You love your Daddy. He knows just how to hold you that makes you feel safe and secure. His arms cradle you and you are instantly soothed.

You love your Mommy, too. Other mommies told me I would love having a boy. They were right. I'm very enamored with you.

You are my best eater, but my worst sleeper. That's not always a good combination. The first few weeks with you were hard. Really hard. Several of those early nights we saw you every hour and a half to two hours. It was exhausting. Things are moving in the right direction now. You are up once - usually around 2 - and then we can convince you to sleep until 6 or 6:30.

I was concerned in those early days that you would not be the easy-going, laid-back baby we needed. You don't cry nearly as much as you used to and we can almost always identify why you are fussy. You are becoming a very easy baby. We are always driving somewhere - school, church, errands. I'm so lucky that you are content in your carseat.

You love to be swaddled. You are strong, so we had to devise a "super swaddle" to keep you tucked in for longer periods of time. Daddy calls it "maximum security prison".

Your smile is easy and so very sweet. We get to see a lot of it these days. It melts my heart every single time.

You love being sung to. Your favorites are "You are My Sunshine" and "I Love You a Bushel and a Peck". Sometimes you sing your own little songs back to me. Then my heart melts again.

Your eyes are big and bright and inquisitive. You are absorbing all the activity around you.

At two months, you weighed 12 pounds and were 24 inches long. You are long and skinny according to the charts. Just like the girls were. You cried for 10 seconds when you got your vaccinations. You were perfectly fine once I picked you up. You are brave. 

We are so glad you are here, little Peter. We are so excited to learn about you and see who you are becoming. You are a perfect addition to our family and I already can't imagine what we did before you came into our lives. We love you very, very much.