15th Wedding Anniversary

Yesterday was our 15th wedding anniversary.  It is really hard to believe that 15 years have passed since Kevin and I made our vows to one another in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

  We were able to sneak off to lunch together.  In this picture, Kevin is strategically placed to conceal Daniel, who came along.  He slept through lunch as he sleeps through many things!

  Kevin took off the afternoon so we got some more time together.  We also both got naps, though mine was shorter than I liked what with one thing and another. But any nap is a good nap these days!

  Kevin told me of a rather bizarre comment from a coworker.  Kevin told this woman that we were celebrating our 15th anniversary, and she responded with, "Well, it's never too late to get divorced!"

  That ranks up there in terms of non enthusiastic comments, but we used it as a springboard for a good conversation at lunch.  She is of course right -- many people divorce after 15 years of marriage.  The big point for us is that we need to keep working on our marriage. Like most families in our country, we are super busy. I don't work full time so we aren't dealing with the whole "2 couple, 2 full time job" challenge, but we have a large family and they require a great deal of energy and commitment. And we homeschool as well, which takes significant time, money, and energy as well.

  It has been said that the best thing a father can do for his children is to love his wife.  I actually disagree with that; I would say the best thing a father can do for his children is to love the Lord most of all, and his wife second.  But still, the point is that our children thrive when our marriage is strong and healthy.  It is tempting at times to let the marriage "slide" and assume we'll be Ok if we don't spend time together.  And sometimes (like after we have a baby) we are in survival mode and we don't spend as much time together. But as Kevin said, we need to get back to "normal" as soon as possible, with normal being a deliberate choice to make time for one another frequently.

  Last year, we had a regular sitter on Saturday  nights and went out on a date most Saturdays. We have a new sitter lined up for later this year, and we're excited.  Tomorrow night we will have our first date since Daniel was born.  Well, I should say, our first date where we don't bring him along as we've had several lunch dates. I've been pumping milk and introducing him to a bottle so he can manage without me for a few hours.

Not all couples want to get away from the kids for a date and I'm not saying it is a necessity to "go on dates".  Not all couples can afford babysitters, for that matter!  But I do believe every couple should make their marriage a high priority.  We can't afford to let our marital relationship slide to the bottom of the priority heap.

 

  One very last thing -- it was CRAZY hot yesterday. First 100 degree day in a LONG time.

Our Precious Eight

1 month old

Reality Check

A friend brought dinner last night (very yummy burritos!) and we were comparing notes on having a new baby.  She has a 3 month old and has 7 children totoal, we have a 1 month old and 8 kids total.  Yes, she is amazing to be bringing me dinner!

I was telling my friend that life is rather hard right now.  She agreed.  New babies are very stressful.  I make a point on my blog of talking about what a blessing the children are.  They ARE.  They are wonderful gifts from the Lord.  And I am aware of how blessed we are to have a healthy little baby boy when I'm an "older mama" of 42.  We have a friend whose daughter in law is pregnant with a baby who has been diagnosed with Trisomy 13.  It is usually fatal before birth, and the ones who survive birth almost all die by their first birthdays.

So yes, we know that Daniel and all the children are gifts from above.  But still,  it is hard not having enough sleep, and recovering from a roughish C-section, and dealing with massive hormonal changes.  I am guessing some people look at us with 8 kids and think we have this "baby" thing down pat.  Well, we don't.  It is still a struggle for us to act in a godly way towards others, especially other family members.  We are still tempted to be grumpy and irritable.

A few days ago, our 6 yo daughter Miriam asked me, "Mom, why didn't God make it so babies will sleep through the night when they are born?"  Good question. The answer I came up with is that God uses babies to help us become less selfish.  We have to sacrifice a lot being parents. Each stage is wonderful, each stage is challenging.  A newborn doesn't talk back and doesn't sin openly and doesn't hit his siblings.  But a newborn needs lots of care day and night, and cries a lot, and is very needy.  That's Ok.  God uses this testing to help me flush out my own selfishness that tempts me to focus on my own wants.

So say a prayer for us if you would, that Kevin and I would communicate well, that we would be wise about what we try to accomplish right now, that we would remember that "this too shall pass".  I said a few days ago that Daniel slept 7 hours one night. Well, that hasn't happened since, and that is Ok, but I'm still hopeful he'll be sleeping through the night by 2 or 3 months.  We'll see.  At any rate, we will someday go back to a life where we get enough unbroken sleep, praise God :-).

Poor Chickens

Well, we have a predator!  We've been fortunate so far in that we've only had one predator before...that was the neighbor dog that killed the first flock we purchased, all of them.

In the last 2 days, 3 chickens have been found dead in the chicken yard. Something is getting in to them as 2 were...chewed on.  So, we have a problem.  We'll start shutting the chickens in at night and Kevin will try reinforcing the fence.

In other poultry news, Kevin and 2 kids caught one of the neighbors guinea fowl last night and returned it to its coop.

Almost SEVEN hours!!

I kid you not, this handsome little fellow slept almost 7 hours straight last night!  He isn't even a month old yet!  The night before he slept 6.5 hours.  I think we may have a really good sleeper on our hands.

By the way, my parents tell me that when they brought me home from the hospital, I slept 12 hours straight every night and ate every hour during the day.  So the genetics are there for good sleepers :-).

Rainbow

Yesterday we got an incredible amount of rain. In addition to a veritable river in our yard, we saw a glorious rainbow.