a year in review

Life is so much more than the quick highlights and events that take place, and yet I do love remembering the highlights and events because they trigger thoughts of what God has been doing in us and how incredibly faithful He has been to us. I suppose I'm the only reader who gets the full picture of it all, but hopefully you'll enjoy remembering with me anyway!

 
January

- We celebrated Jackson's fifth birthday. (Unbelievable!)

- The Make-A-Wish Foundation sent our family to Disney World for the week so Aubrey could see a castle and meet princesses. It was memorable, special, wonderful, and luxurious!

 

February

- Our church closed on a building in Potsdam that we had been hoping/looking to buy for almost 2 years. Daniel was instrumental in the closing process and subsequently to the remodeling and planning processes.

- Gabriel turned eight!

- We got lots of snow! The kids had so much fun building snowmen, sledding in our yard and at The Big Hill in town, having snowball fights, and making snow angels.

 

March

- We wrapped up another Upward Basketball season with a great deal of competitive fun that extended to the sidelines at times! Both Gabriel and Jackson played this year, and Daniel coached.

- Our three school-age children participated in another CFA Grandparents' Day celebrations. They all sang in choirs and participated in the talent show with a dance routine.

 

April

- Gabriel participated in a wedding as a ring bearer for some good friends in Pittsburgh. He looked handsome and was tremendously blessed to play a part.

- We had a lovely, mild Easter!

 

May

- Daniel and I traveled quite a bit, attending three out-of-town weddings in one month.

- Gabriel began his 2nd year of baseball in our town's league, which included being given the opportunity to march in the annual Memorial Day parade.

- The kids all participated in CFA's end-of-the-year Academy Night. I wrapped up the year as the 2nd-4th grade choir teacher and 1st-2nd grade story time teacher, and Daniel finished his year as assistant director, K-12 phys ed teacher, and 3-4th grade character class teacher.

 

June

- We planted our vegetable garden, something we've done for the past three years now. It is one of the highlights of summer for us all at this point.

- Bronwyn finished her first year of ballet study with a dance showcase.

- Jackson graduated from kindergarten!

- We began a major home remodeling project, expanding our upstairs by about 330 square feet. That project is on track to be finished sometime this coming summer/fall, as anticipated.

- Daniel ran his first 10k!

 

July

- The whole Sinclair family traveled to Long Island to celebrate Independence Day with Aunt Judy, Uncle Huck, and girls-- and also to celebrate my sister Louissa's engagement! We visited NYC and FAO Schwartz while in the area.

- Work on the building in Potsdam continued and Daniel began logging more and more hours there. He is turning into quite the remodeler!

- I ran a 5k, despite poor running habits this year overall, and the 3 big kids ran a 1-mile race. We all had a great time.

- I spent a whole week of my life painting the kids' bedrooms, many pieces of bedroom furniture, and the stairway. A whole week, pretty much day and night, I tell you.

 

August

- Daniel, Gabriel, and I headed out with a team of musicians for a youth conference in Michigan that Daniel was asked to lead worship and speak at. Bronwyn and Jackson stayed with some good friends while Aubrey and Claire stayed with my parents. It was the longest we've ever been away from any of our kids, excepting our time in Syracuse following Aubrey's birth.

- Daniel's parents came for a visit and to return Gabriel home after the week he spent having the time of his life with them in Pittsburgh.

- Bronwyn turned seven!

- We announced that Paladin #6 is on his/her way and due late March.

- I attended the first birth I've been to since Julia was born (unless you count my own children's, but those weren't exactly optional) and saw my niece Beatrice make her grand entrance into the world.

- Daniel poured countless hours into the building Potsdam, preparing it for the first service on September 4th.

 

September

- Our church launched its Potsdam location, which is where Daniel leads worship and oversees the service that we attend each week as a family.

- We started another school year: Gabriel in 3rd grade, Bronwyn in 2nd, and Jackson in 1st.

- Bronwyn began another semester of studying ballet with a new teacher and dance studio since her old teacher is no longer giving classes in Potsdam. She loves the art and is a lovely little dancer who has every hope of continuing with her studies for quite some time.

- Aubrey, our miracle baby, celebrated her fourth birthday. God is good!

- Carina and Julia put together an amazing Hoe-down/Engagement Party/Bridal Shower for Louissa and Josiah. It was one of the most fun parties I've ever been to.

 

October

- Daniel and I celebrated 10 years of marriage with a 3 day/2 night get-away to Montreal, Canada. We did lots of fun things and ate [too much] delicious food and, most of all, enjoyed being together. I am so thankful for this man who leads me in the ways of the Lord, and I love him more today than I did 10 years ago!

- We began another year of CFA Friday Program. Daniel is officially overseeing this ministry of our local church to homeschooling families and doing a great job. I am teaching choir and story time again, and three of our children are attending as students.

- Our church hosted an alumni reunion and we got to reconnect with lots of alumni who grew incredibly near and dear to us in their time in the North Country.

- My sister Louissa got married to a great guy. Her wedding was beautiful!

- Gabriel and Bronwyn began another year of piano lessons with Aunt Camilla, and Gabriel began some drum lessons with Papa.

 

November

- Claire turned two years old on the 1st.

- We headed to Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving, stopping first in Syracuse for in-depth prenatal tests (all clear!) and a hotel stay on our way.

 

December

- December contained lots of Christmas parties, a concert or two, special meetings, holiday decorating, tree-getting, choir-practicing, and cookie-baking. We love this time of year!

- Bronwyn had her tonsils removed after dealing with severe tonsil infections and abscesses on and off since she was two years old. Her recovery was quick and relatively painless.

- We celebrated Christmas with our sixth year of Christmas Eve and Christmas morning traditions right here in our own home. It is a joy to celebrate the amazing kindness of our God; and it is wonderful to see our children growing to love celebrating with one another.

Daniel & Brietta
Gabriel (8), Bronwyn (7), Jackson (5), Aubrey (4), Claire (2) & baby #6 due at the end of March 

 

In all the ups and downs one year contains (and it does contain a lot!), we are so blessed. We have a warm and inviting home to live in, five (six!) beautiful and growing children, a job that is so much more than just a job working for a church that is truly family to us, friends and family that we love and can count on, and the infinite joy of walking with Jesus. I'm so thankful that as we begin another year, our rest is found in Christ and the faithful work He has begun in us.

Happy New Year!

 

10,000 Reasons

We are hunkered down for the day. Our North Country sky, which usually boasts bright sun at this time of year, is gray and overcast for multiple days in a row now. The wind is howling so that the much warmer than average temperature we are experiencing is almost nullified by its biting chill.

Bronwyn is on day 6 of feeling rather sick. What began on Saturday with a high fever and throwing up has turned into a full-fledged tonsil infection. She is pale, quiet, and tired. We do our best to cheer her with favorite movies, wii competitions, Edy's popsicles, books, gifts from a friend and an aunt, and lots of candles, while encouraging lots of fluids and rest and vitamins and probiotics. I am hopeful that the worst is behind us, but she seems to have a good road to full recovery ahead of her yet.

Of course, having one of my students missing school has meant that we've all adjusted our schooling slightly. The boys plug away at math, handwriting, and reading, but we are foregoing most history and science until all our members are once again fully able to participate . Things like reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever aloud together, listening to Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, and baking lots of holiday cookies (the tally is well over 35 dozen at this point-- but don't worry, we've given most of them away!) take the place of normal school activities.

It is so good to be home. I am so thankful to spend each day with these beautiful five people that I call my own. There is no place I'd rather be.

I have to say, I always love this place I call home. I love the security and family and love and commitment and Christ that is in it. I love the uneven wood floors, the old doors, the big windows. I even love the noisy heat ducts and ongoing projects and toys on the floor.

I love that it is a refuge. I am thankful for God's design for us, to give us a place where we can laugh and cry and share and mess up and repent and grow and be. It's not about the house itself or the way it looks, but how we conduct ourselves in it and how He pours Himself out right here in our daily lives.

I'm often undone by how good God is to us, how thoughtful He is in His plan for our lives. Lately, I tear up regularly and at times downright cry about how above and beyond He goes for us. I don't always stop to consider His kindness the way I should; I am sure even now of how far short I fall in my attempts to consider and comprehend His love for me.

I want to try, though.

Each and every single day, I want to try to see a bit more.

I want to wake up each morning eager to better understand His heart toward us.

You're rich in love and You're slow to anger
Your name is great and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find
- matt redman 

Getting the tree!

I usually decorate the house for Christmas the weekend after Thanksgiving (and we managed to pull this off even this year, despite not returning home from Pittsburgh until that Saturday night!), but we don't get our tree until a week or two later in an effort to keep it fresh through the holidays. I am not one who is eager to say good bye to the tree after Christmas, preferring to wait until a week or so after to take it down, so we can't get it too quickly or else it's just a pile of needles come January 1st. The only problem with this plan is that we can get oh so eager and impatient waiting for Tree Day!

This year was no exception. It may have, in fact, been one of the worst. The kids were not the only ones counting down the days; I was, too!

Yesterday finally came. Jackson was feverish so he and I stayed home (sadness), but the others braved the rain and mud and chill to bring home our beauty. We opted for another small tree, making it two years in a row now of down-sizing. I like the sweetness of small trees and the kids didn't seem to mind altogether too much, though they would prefer a big one (and I do think we'll oblige again one of these years!).
 

They found it!
(Claire was there, but not in the picture, apparently)

 

Stringing the lights

Frosting cookies while Daddy strings lights = tradition

 

Bronwyn crocheted all our garland this year

 

Claire tried to figure out the crocheting, too

 

Hanging ornaments

 

Daniel and I didn't really have to hang any, as Gabriel and Bronwyn were actually tall enough to reach most of the way up

 

The final touch and our first *real* tree topper!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Our first year with a *real* mantel!

Heaps and heaps of reading and re-reading these special books that only come out once a year

 

A favorite Christmas card framed

Our 1895 piano, decorated for the holidays

One of many nativities about the house. Jesus really is the reason for the season and we never want to forget Him!

Swimming In November

On November 21st I had a number of appointments scheduled in Syracuse: a level II ultrasound, a fetal echocardiogram, genetic counseling, and a meeting with MFM about delivery options at Crouse Hospital. We had already planned to head to Pittsburgh the next day for a Thanksgiving trip and it seemed silly to drive to Syracuse and back on Monday, only to drive that same 2-1/2 hour stretch the next day. The plan of taking all the kids in order to then spend the night in a hotel with a swimming pool was hatched and, boy, was it even better than we had anticipated.

We had so much fun!

The big indoor pool was the highlight (and we took advantage of it twice), but the giant atrium with lots of little paths to explore, the roomy suite, the hot [free!] breakfast the next morning, and the hours of family time were pretty awesome, too!
 

We had the whole pool area to ourselves both that first evening and the next morning

Sticking our feet in the hot tub

The kids were rather excited about not only having cable television but also WATCHING TV IN BED!!  

For those curious, the five hours of appointments did go well. This baby, unlike Claire, was not in a great position for ruling out all the heart abnormalities they like to rule out, but they feel confident that there are at least no major problems.

I had a long chat with a doctor who was absolutely enthusiastic about my VBAC'ing there and even said, "That's great!" when I told him that I would want midwife care with OB back-up. We've not settled entirely on where the delivery will take place, but we're definitely leaning more and more strongly toward an out-of-the-area birth. Though the drawbacks to that are plentiful, the drawbacks locally are at least as plentiful and-- right now, anyway-- much more daunting and exhausting to me.

Also for those curious, we did not find out what we're having! Daniel and I both prefer the surprise and neither of us felt a compelling reason to find out ahead of time. We're in this for the long-haul and loving every minute of Who Knows?! I lean toward boy myself, for what it's worth.

(Not much, I realize, since I'm generally wrong! Still, it is what I think!)

 

coming

Tonight we clasp hands around the table and begin. We light the first candle and read the first book in this 24-day countdown. The anticipation in my children's eyes is almost palpable. And-- oh!-- the excitement they ooze as the book is hung from the shelf, visibly marking the passing of time and reassuring them that, yes, Christmas is coming.
 

 

He has come, we tell each other, and that is what all this-- the decorations and parties and cookies and celebrations-- is about. With humble beginnings and heavenly declaration, He entered the world as a baby.

For us.

What a privilege we have to look back, to know with familiarity the story that the saints of old ached to hear.
 

 

We look back, and yet even in the midst of remembering, we look forward: He has come, and He is coming again.

And the looking back gives us faith for that which we have yet to see.

He is coming.

 

November begins

Well, it's November now. Hard to believe we're closing in on the end of the year. This one is going fast, if I do say so.

It's a beautiful day. After school and indoor chores, we raked out the gardens and cleaned up the front porch, which has more or less been a constant mess since June thanks to being a "drop zone" for construction work upstairs. Now that the last of the insulation and sheetrock has been brought into the house, we could finally reclaim that space. You know, just in time for the porch to get buried in snow drifts.

The best part of the outdoor work was not needing a jacket or even a sweater. Unbelievable!

Equally unbelievable is the fact that we've not had even a flurry in the sky yet. It's been all sun and cloudless skies. I don't think too many of us around here are complaining.

I am feeling good today, which is the first day in about a week and a half that I've been able to say that. Just as my horrible, no-good cold started clearing up, I managed to get myself one seriously pinched nerve in my neck. Ouch, ouch, ouch. I can't remember the last time I actually cried real tears because of pain, but I was crying on Monday! Thank goodness for ice packs, tylenol (the one thing I can actually take while pregnant!), and chiropractors.

In an effort to make the most of 1+ week of feeling under-the-weather, I tried to make some headway with plans for the house that Daniel has been needing from me. This included finalizing the upstairs bathroom floor plan so that he knows where to run electrical boxes in there (he's done with the bedrooms, closets, and attics-- I was officially holding him up). That sort of thing is pretty daunting for me, so I tend to do a lot of research (thus the slowness). 

Thankfully, putting together ideas and plans for our on-going renovations (target end date of August 2012, so we're in this one for the long-haul!) has become infinitely easier with pinterest.

Of course, as I put together all these ideas, I start thinking outside the box. Daniel is a really good sport about letting me spring my latest brainstorm on him. I think he's learned that the good brainstorms stick while the not-so-good ones don't, so he just lets me talk in the meantime. I love him for listening!

I've also started working on holiday plans while being laid up. I haven't purchased many gifts yet because some of the sisters, Mom, and I are planning a shopping trip for next week, but my lists and ideas are being compiled. As usual, the only part of preparations that makes me roll my eyes with exhaustion before I've even begun is Christmas photos. I like to try to get something taken because we are so bad about taking pictures of all 7 of us throughout the rest of the year, but trying to get everybody looking decent and feeling generally happy at the same time is no easy task. I think we may do black and white photos this time around because then it doesn't matter what we all wear!

So yes, November is already in full swing, and it's a lovely one at that. I sure hope that we can figure out a way to make the most of each day left in 2011. It will be gone before we know it.

 

Happy Two, Baby!

From her first easy, easy days as a newborn to these less-easy but still joy-filled days of toddlerhood (thanks to the increasing attitudes that come with increasing independence!), our Claire-Bear has been an undeniable treasure to our family. We love her scowl, her laughter, her spunk, her grin, her snuggles.

Claire Evangeline means "bright, bringer of good news." She has already been this in so many ways that touch some very deep parts of this Mama's heart.

As we celebrate two years with Claire, we are absolutely astonished that time passes by so quickly (!) and yet equally in wonder that she has been part of our lives for such a short time, so much a part of our family is she.

A bit about Claire:

- She loves to eat. (I think this is a requirement to be part of our family.)
- Favorite toys are dolls and kitchen set. Hands down.
- Shoes of all kinds are a huge preoccupation and obsession. Obsession, I tell you.
- Her scowl is fierce, but her lavish physical affection makes up for it.
- Daily asks for Barney or Backyardigans.
- She has ever red hair, peaches n' cream skin, and could pass as Louissa's toddler twin.
- Makes us all laugh as her babbling turns into cute pronunciations of real words.

 

 

An update (or, rather, two)

1. A friend emailed recently, asking how things are going and what the latest with the new babe is. Kind of made me realize that this pregnancy really is flying by. I feel like we just shared our news, but the calendar tells me that I'm 18 weeks pregnant-- not 7 like I was then-- and the kicks and flutters of new life reinforce that regularly.

We have taken the initial steps in putting a plan together for maternity care-- the rest will be determined at the end of the year/beginning of the next:

I saw the local OB/GYN who delivered Claire when I was 14 weeks along, following routine blood work (anemia: check) and an ultrasound for dating purposes (only 1 day discrepancy at 12 weeks is pretty accurate, so no change in due date there-- though I always welcome the opportunity to push the due date back). All was normal at that visit, including the baby's heart rate of 151bpm.

We set up an appointment with Dr. Smith (one of Aubrey's cardiologists) for a fetal echocardiogram (required each pregnancy for me since Aubrey) on November 21st. I will be 22 weeks along then.

I've decided to take advantage of an already-planned trip to Syracuse to meet with the MFM there that day so that I can warn them of my potential desire to deliver with them. I'm still not sure whether I will want to go to Syracuse or Burlington for the delivery, but I figure meeting a doctor or two may help me sort that out and since I'll be in the area anyway, I might as well.

My local doctor is very ready-- dare I say eager?!-- to help me arrange an out-of-the-area delivery. I know that he is genuinely convinced the local hospitals here are simply not equipped for VBACs. I'm not a medical professional so I can't fully comment on that, but at least he's being super helpful. My next appointment with him is December 21st.

Yes, you read that right and, yes, that means I will have gone 12 weeks between my first and second regular OB appointments. I asked for a more laid-back schedule and I got it!

2. In other health news (but not completely unrelated, since Aubrey's little heart is exactly how we wound up dealing with things like VBACs and high-risk pregnancies in the first place!), we received a letter from Aubrey's cardiologists letting us know that they and the pediatric cardiology surgeon in Rochester, NY discussed Aubrey in their most recent monthly conference, just as Dr. Byrum told me at the latest appointment that they would. I don't completely understand all the jargon or how to better explain it, so I'll just quote part of the latest update:

The principle question that we focused on was whether Aubrey would be able to be repaired leaving four heart chambers or whether it would be in her better interest to go toward what is called a single ventricle pathway of surgery. It would appear that an attempt to do a surgery to leave her with four heart chambers would be highly complicated and potentially fraught on both short and long term with difficulties including the need for reoperations.

...We discussed possibly a catheterization for her as an outpatient in the spring of 2012 and discuss the possibility of surgery for her in the summer of 2012; but, it could just as easily wait another whole year.

I could tell you that my heart seizes a bit when reading words like "highly complicated" and "fraught on both short and long term" in anything having to do with my beautiful little girl, but really, I just need to say that I am so thankful for the words "it could just as easily wait another whole year."

The truth is that we don't know exactly what lies ahead for Aubrey. Even her cardiologists aren't certain.

But she's okay right now.

And we serve a good and faithful and powerful God.

Which leaves us time to pray, to seek counsel, to look for second opinions (and third, if Daniel chooses to humor my paranoia!), and to continue learning how to trust and treasure this moment as the tremendous gift that it is.

 

limitations

I'm bundled in blankets, pillow under head and computer on lap, piles of tissues all around me and surrounding the half-empty cup of tea on the nearby table. It is that time of year, after all, when we put in more hours indoors and less out in the germ-killing sun, and the sniffles and aches start to beset.

I was not pleased with this scenario an hour ago as I sadly came to terms with a change of plans for the evening (namely, staying under the covers while the rest of my dearly loved homeschooling mothers community gathers together for fellowship and encouragement), but then my husband returned home and he lit the candles around me and said, "I'll take care of dinner," and brought me a fresh box of kleenex and called the little girls off (they think I am a jungle-gym whenever I am in a semi-reclined or reclined position) and I'm pretty sure some of the sniffling was because of tears: I am a lucky girl and sometimes it takes just this sort of scenario for me to see it.

The truth is that it is that time of year and there are limitations that come with it, but I think to myself that just like the girls who come to my house each Sunday evening and I talked about last night, sometimes the limitations really are a gift.

As the days grow shorter and the temperatures colder, we are more and more confined to our homes. This can be tiresome at times, but really, I think it is a gift if I will stop moping long enough to see it. Our rhythms slow down just a bit. We think harder about outside-the-house activities, since they mean interrupted schooling and zipping multiple jackets and blowing on cold hands around icy steering wheels and being busy when it is dark (and we all know deep down, I think, that dark is meant for home fires and home cooking and home smells and home serenity). Candles and warm applesauce and wool afghans replace late-night stops at the ice cream shop and play dates at the park and sweat from gardening. I have grown to love both extremes, and I would be remiss to ignore the limitations of each as gifts.

Even when the limitations are blurry eyes and an achy neck and a stuffy nose.

After all, I think I needed this rest.

My body has been issuing a demand for pause and I have been ignoring it to the best of my abilities, which is not something I am now proud of. I can't say for sure what my iron levels are at this point, but I feel certain that they have dropped significantly and quickly of late because I have been having dizzy spells and just feel weary beyond anything I've ever felt before. I have not cheerfully accepted this new limitation (thus the pressing forward despite indications that I should not), but I am feeling remorse over that.

I tell the girls last night that perhaps the novelty of pregnancy has simply worn off and that's why it's hard for me to accept these adjustments to life as I was enjoying it, and not long after one of them prays that I will not miss the excitement and awe over a new baby even when it means giving up certain things.

Today, as I shorten school lessons and dole out extra chores to try to accommodate the limitations of this season, I think about that prayer. I think about the idea of limitations being a gift. I think about how self-sufficient I start to think I am when I am not confronted with the reality that I am not.

I think that this confrontation is a gift.

 

Home

Home today looks and sounds like:

- handwriting exercises and oral spelling tests

- processing at least 1 bushel of beautiful Wayne County apples

- saws and nails and the installation of more insulation upstairs

- autumn sunlight streaming in through freshly washed windows

- the washing machine humming non-stop as it works to keep up with our family

- audio Scripture 

- 16 weeks of growing

 

Learning

We are not far into our school year (I waited until I was beyond the puking stage and mostly out of the nauseas one before we began in earnest, which has meant that we've only been at the "full" routine for a week), and already it's been good for all of us! The crazy days of summer are fun in their own way, but I have to admit that come late August (and even sooner, really), I am usually feeling completely out of touch with all goals and any concept of how we're doing. There's something very refreshing about making plans and developing objectives, and then setting our hearts and minds to them.

Gabriel:

has discovered that math and science can be fun, thanks to Teaching Textbooks and Nature Journaling
can mow the less sloped sections of the lawn
is learning that when we assume the best about others, kindness is much easier to live out 

Bronwyn:

is learning cursive handwriting
has developed a deep fondness for crocheting, thanks to our friend Mrs. Fox
asks to do history because she thinks it's so interesting

Jackson:

can read a good variety of words & a few simple books
is understanding that obedience isn't obedience unless it's instant, cheerful, and thorough
now folds laundry & vacuums (like the big kids!)

Aubrey:

has taken on more household jobs, of which she is very proud
is teaching Claire how to help her with a few of those jobs (a natural born leader, that Aubrey!)
can walk 1.5+ miles without being carried at all, which is a feat for her

Claire:

is learning that she's not allowed to tell Mom "NO!"
finally colors with crayons instead of trying to eat them
recently found out that she actually does have to eat the meat & vegetables and not just the bread

And as for me, if you read that list with any understanding, you know that inevitably in the midst of my children learning and discovering these things (and more), I have been learning (albeit slower than I should) how to be patient, consistent, encouraging, inspiring, calm, persistent, faithful, and humble.

Boy oh boy, does motherhood teach me how to be humble.

I am not who I want to be. I am not who my children need me to be. I so desperately need Jesus to make up the difference each and every minute of each and every day.

And so those lessons in humility pave the way for lessons in thankfulness. How grateful am I that as I fall so very far short, He not only makes up the difference but gladly does so-- and in so doing uses those very weaknesses to show Himself strong to me and to my children!

 

Aubrey

 

 

Aubrey is four years old today!

We celebrated her birthday on Friday with a wonderful outing to Boldt Castle.

Aubrey is as full of spunk and personality as ever. She's vibrant, funny, unique, and confident: our miracle girl who hasn't stopped amazing us since her wild entrance into the world. We love her and are beyond thankful to be celebrating four healthy, thriving years with her!

 

Yes, it's true

there's another bouncing babe on his/her way!

due March 28, 2012

 

 

"If one feels the need of something grand, something infinite, something that makes one feel aware of God, one need not go far to find it. I think that I see something deeper, more infinite, more eternal than the ocean in the expression of the eyes of a little baby when it wakes in the morning and coos or laughs because it sees the sun shining on its cradle."  -Vincent van Gogh

 

Bronwyn is 7

A little more than 7 years ago, we were [sometimes impatiently!] waiting for Bronwyn's arrival. No two babies are alike, and Bronwyn wanted to prove that by coming 17 days after her due date. Aside from the usual aches and pains, I was happy overall to let her bide her time, and we had some special last outings-- just the 3 of us-- as we waited for her to come.

Then she came, at last, on a cooler August day, born into a peaceful room at The Midwife Center, right in the heart of Pittsburgh. She had dark hair, red skin, and a loud cry.

It never fails to amaze me how the minute I meet one of my children face to face, I wonder how I ever lived without knowing them before.

My recovery with Bronwyn was rather quick, despite my [customary] dangerously-low iron levels post-birth, probably thanks to a very "textbook" labor and delivery (12 hours start to finish and 15 minutes of pushing). She made her first public debut at church 10 days following her birth.

We were now four.

 

It's hard to believe it's been 7 years now since Bronwyn became such an indispensable part of our lives. She was an easy, easy, easy baby and is now a delightful and enjoyable girl, helpful and eager and content and pleasant and silly and chatty and sincere.

We love her so!

 

Progress

If you're friends with me on facebook, you know that this weekend we finally-- 5 weeks later!-- returned the kids' to their bedrooms (they'd been "camping out" in the sitting room all that time). The upstairs expansion necessitated them staying away from the second floor of our home altogether and then even once the new space was all closed up and safe again about 2-1/2 weeks ago, we decided that instead of just deep cleaning the kids' bedrooms (that were by then quite dusty from all the work), we would take advantage of the opportunity to rip up carpets, patch sheetrock, paint ceilings and walls and trim-- and even floors, in some instances!-- and reorganize/rearrange the rooms.

The boys' room: 

The girls' room:

 

It feels good to have the work in those two rooms done and know that we are, indeed, making progress (albeit slow at times). For a few days there I had the brief fear that we were making matters much, much worse.

In the meantime, despite some days of sore neglect thanks to my serious preoccupation with painting the bedrooms, the vegetable garden continues to amaze me. My menu planning of late simply consists of figuring out which vegetables & herbs really need be consumed and going from there. These are the days that are a trial for my meat & poultry loving oldest son, but the days of real satisfaction for this girl who could practically live on veggies and rice/pasta because I love it so much.

And, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, can I just say it again? It's amazing what can grow from a small seed!

Even during the house chaos upstairs, I did my best to continue taking ground downstairs. I reorganized bookshelves and cabinets and did some rearranging of some large pieces of furniture (that job required Daniel's help, although I put forth a valiant effort before finally determining that even if I could move the huge wardrobe by myself, I probably shouldn't since I would most likely scratch the floor in the process). I cleared out space for new school materials that were ordered and then subsequently arrived.

I am now officially amped for the start of a new school year.

Before we can start school, though, we are headed out of town for a youth conference that Daniel is leading worship and speaking at. I'm excited, if momentarily distraught about leaving 4 of my children behind for 6 days. I don't think I've ever left any of them for that long and it's a strange sensation to be giving them instructions on where all their belongings are located in their suitcases so they can fend for themselves.

(I write, "fend for the themselves," but the truth is that they'll all be well taken care of. Two are going to my parents' and two are going to a very good friend's. I really am not a smidgen worried about them. Let's be honest: it's me I worry about!)

On a final note, lest you think it's all upward and onward progress around the little yellow house and no reality, I leave you with these photos that I took the other day for fun:

Sometimes (a lot of times, actually), I leave the non-perishable groceries on the counter for hours or, yup, even overnight.
Some habits die hard. 

This pile had a home on our dining room table (with occasional and temporary relocations to my bed) for WEEKS.
(Have I ever mentioned how much I hate putting laundry away?) 

I like to blame Daniel for leaving clothes lying around, but these are ALL mine.
(Again... some habits die hard.) 

This picture doesn't actually show how disgusting my refrigerator is right now so you'll just have to take my word for it: the shelves are icky.
(If I were to pay anyone to do any job for me, it might just be cleaning my refrigerator. Blech.) 

 

The end.