I will try to post an up to date picture today. Babies change so fast!
Mostly we are doing well. Kevin continues to "hold down the fort" in keeping the house in order and the children busy. Mornings are my best time and then I feel worse as the day goes on.
I am thankful for lots of experience as a mom of a newborn. The first few weeks post partum are a delight, and they are hard as well. I am SO tired, and of course I'm recovering from fairly major surgery. This time around, I am dealing with a catheter while my bladder heals. It should come out tomorrow -- I HOPE SO. I PRAY SO!!
But there are such delights as well...the delights of seeing our other children adore Daniel, of seeing his sweet little baby face many times during the day and night!
I am gradually working to teach him the whole "day and night" thing. He is a very tired little guy and often eats and then sleeps for 2.5 hours before I wake him up to eat again. The last couple of days, I've given him baths or otherwise stimulated him after a couple of daytime feeding. My hope is that he'll realize that days are for being awake (at least some of the time) and nights are for sleeping. Last night he didn't do great as he was up for a couple of hours.
One thing that I know helps (from past experience) is to teach the baby to fall asleep on his own. This is to say that I try not to "nurse my baby to sleep". It is tempting to do that, especially when I'm tired, and indeed I do often nurse him to sleep at night. But during the day, I want him to learn to fall asleep by himself. He will have periods of wakefulness in the middle of naps, and if he can calm himself down and go to sleep without nursing, that is a good thing! So far he hasn't needed much prodding to sleep...he is very tired. Except at night, occasionally :-).
So yes, we are doing well. And I am tired. And we are very blessed.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
A Few Pictures
Daniel and I are home from the hospital. He is doing really well with eating, pretty well with sleeping, and is also doing those other important baby things like filling diapers well. That IS important.
Kevin is taking off the next week and a half from work. I am recovering from the hardest C-section yet, so am very grateful to ONLY have Daniel to care for. I am so thankful for Daniel, and am trying hard to focus on him and the other children rather than the irritations of recovery.
I know I'll feel much better in a couple of weeks!
Here are a few pictures from the last few days...
Our new little guy...
Our 8 blessings from the Lord!
Daniel and me
Kevin and Daniel
I know I'll feel much better in a couple of weeks!
Here are a few pictures from the last few days...
Our 8 blessings from the Lord!
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Daniel Justice
Our son, Daniel Justice, was born on May 24th. He was a big boy, 7lb 4 oz. Big for us, anyway! He was 20 inches long.
He is doing great. What a sweetheart. What a blessing from the Lord!
I prayed early and often that he would nurse well and he is nursing very well.
I had a minor complication during the C-section and had to have my bladder stitched up. Please pray it heals well.
Yesterday, Kevin brought all the kids. I will post pics of our entire clan when I get home, which should be tomorrow.
We thank the Lord for the gift of our little son.
He is doing great. What a sweetheart. What a blessing from the Lord!
I prayed early and often that he would nurse well and he is nursing very well.
I had a minor complication during the C-section and had to have my bladder stitched up. Please pray it heals well.
Yesterday, Kevin brought all the kids. I will post pics of our entire clan when I get home, which should be tomorrow.
We thank the Lord for the gift of our little son.
Monday, May 21, 2012
3 Days...
3 days and our baby will be born!
The last few days of pregnancy are hard. I don't feel very peppy. I feel VERY pregnant. I am tired. I am not sleeping well. I am tempted to be cranky.
I keep praying for patience and wisdom. I am clinging to the verses below:
The last few days of pregnancy are hard. I don't feel very peppy. I feel VERY pregnant. I am tired. I am not sleeping well. I am tempted to be cranky.
I keep praying for patience and wisdom. I am clinging to the verses below:
1 Corinthians 13:4-5
New Living Translation (NLT)
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.
The "irritable" really sticks out to me. I am irritable, but I don't need to ACT in an irritable way. I have Jesus. I have the Holy Spirit working in me. I pray that my Lord will help me to speak kindly and softly and to not fly off the handle.
I think it is true that I am naturally a fairly patient person. Late pregnancy and fatigue and hormonal upheaval strip away my natural patience and I need to depend on God more. May I do so. And may I count to 3 before snapping at a child for doing something for the upteenth time. May I discipline wisely and patiently. May I have the sense to separate warring factions before I "lose it".
Things really are going fine. And we are all excited that we'll soon meet our new son face to face. Please pray that the delivery goes well, that our son eats well, and that I recover quickly from the C-section.
3 days!
The "irritable" really sticks out to me. I am irritable, but I don't need to ACT in an irritable way. I have Jesus. I have the Holy Spirit working in me. I pray that my Lord will help me to speak kindly and softly and to not fly off the handle.
I think it is true that I am naturally a fairly patient person. Late pregnancy and fatigue and hormonal upheaval strip away my natural patience and I need to depend on God more. May I do so. And may I count to 3 before snapping at a child for doing something for the upteenth time. May I discipline wisely and patiently. May I have the sense to separate warring factions before I "lose it".
Things really are going fine. And we are all excited that we'll soon meet our new son face to face. Please pray that the delivery goes well, that our son eats well, and that I recover quickly from the C-section.
3 days!
Garden
Kevin is our gardener. I do most of the indoor cleaning, cooking, homeschooling, and caring for the kids. He takes care of the outside, and it is a big job! He has help from the kids for some stuff (like chicken care) and he recruited 3 of our younger children to put in the garden this year.
We decided a small garden was wise given that the baby arrives soon and we'll be especially tired this summer.
So if I remember correctly, he planted tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, zucchini, and green peppers. We've planted melons, watermelon, squash, lettuce, sweet potatoes, and carrots in the past, with mixed results. Well, the sweet potatoes have always been a success, but planting them is extra work and they take a lot of space. So we'll skip sweet potatoes this year.
As of yesterday, all the plants were up!
We decided a small garden was wise given that the baby arrives soon and we'll be especially tired this summer.
So if I remember correctly, he planted tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, zucchini, and green peppers. We've planted melons, watermelon, squash, lettuce, sweet potatoes, and carrots in the past, with mixed results. Well, the sweet potatoes have always been a success, but planting them is extra work and they take a lot of space. So we'll skip sweet potatoes this year.
As of yesterday, all the plants were up!
New Kitchen Floor
Kevin is a gifted person. He is an engineer like I am, so is good at the math/science stuff. He is also very good with his hands. I am not. I am especially not good at home improvement projects. Thankfully, he is! As a high school student, he worked construction for a couple of summers and picked up many useful skills. He also has the confidence to tackle new projects, and is meticulous about reading directions and learning necessary skills for said projects.
So a couple of weeks ago, Kevin decided that he should put a new floor in the kitchen. The old floor was 7 years old and when he put it in he was thinking it would be somewhat temporary.
Now, I admit to a little twinge of concern about a new project RIGHT NOW. What if the baby showed up in the middle of the project? But knowing Kevin, it didn't seem likely. He said it would not be a really long job, and when he has a project he is completely focused. He is not one of those people who starts a project and leaves it half done. It gets done even if he has to stay up 'til 2:30 a.m. to finish it.
Which is exactly what happened.
Thursday evening, he did some preparatory work.
Friday evening after dinner, he started working:
The new flooring is darker.
He toiled and toiled and toiled. I went to bed. I woke up at 2:30 a.m. to use the bathroom and he was still not in bed, so I went downstairs to check on him. He was just finishing up the main floor.
Unfortunately, he was just a bit short on tile so he left part of the pantry undone. On Saturday, he bought more tile and finished up the pantry.
Sunday, he put the trim back on, and added some baseboard under the cabinets.
Voila, complete!!
We had to move everything off the pantry floor, of course. All that food resided in the corner of the dining room for a few short days, to Sarah's delight. Of course, when Kevin moved everything back in (with the children's help) he was very organized. The pantry hasn't looked this good in a LONG time.
All done! It looks great!
So a couple of weeks ago, Kevin decided that he should put a new floor in the kitchen. The old floor was 7 years old and when he put it in he was thinking it would be somewhat temporary.
Now, I admit to a little twinge of concern about a new project RIGHT NOW. What if the baby showed up in the middle of the project? But knowing Kevin, it didn't seem likely. He said it would not be a really long job, and when he has a project he is completely focused. He is not one of those people who starts a project and leaves it half done. It gets done even if he has to stay up 'til 2:30 a.m. to finish it.
Which is exactly what happened.
Thursday evening, he did some preparatory work.
Friday evening after dinner, he started working:
The new flooring is darker.
He toiled and toiled and toiled. I went to bed. I woke up at 2:30 a.m. to use the bathroom and he was still not in bed, so I went downstairs to check on him. He was just finishing up the main floor.
Unfortunately, he was just a bit short on tile so he left part of the pantry undone. On Saturday, he bought more tile and finished up the pantry.
Sunday, he put the trim back on, and added some baseboard under the cabinets.
Voila, complete!!
We had to move everything off the pantry floor, of course. All that food resided in the corner of the dining room for a few short days, to Sarah's delight. Of course, when Kevin moved everything back in (with the children's help) he was very organized. The pantry hasn't looked this good in a LONG time.
All done! It looks great!
Friday, May 18, 2012
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