homegrowing

The birthday song rang often in our home today.

“Happy 8 month birthday to you, happy 8 month birthday to you!  Happy 8 month birthday to, you, Eden Grace…. Happy 8 month birthday to you!”

We’ve set up a little gated mat in the corner of the living room.  The boys love to play in there too.  Note, Eden’s hand is holding onto a string that was once tied to the gate.  She is always holding tight to something… the sides of her changing table while I changer her diaper,  your shirt, your hair, her hair,  or her pacifier attach-er.  It seems to be a security and comforting behavior she has.  We think it’s cute.

Eden is feeding herself rapidly any food we present her.  I have another months supply of baby food coming in the mail tomorrow from diapers.com.  When these are gone, she will be on table food only.   She uses a sippy cup with formula, and doesn’t seem to miss mamas-milk when I am away.

She is crawling swiftly across the house.  She pulls herself up on objects, onto her knees while holding on or peering into the toy box.  I’m in no hurry for standing!   Tucker was my earliest walker at 9 months,  and I sense she won’t be far behind him.

She is a breath of fresh air.   Content and a delight.   When her binkie isn’t in place, she is cooing and singing.

Thank you Lord for the blessing of Eden Grace.  We just love her!

Note: If you are interested in ordering supplies from diapers.com, you are welcome to use my referral code DARC5015 to receive $10 off your first order of diapers over $49, with free shipping always.  (In full disclosure, I do receive a referral credit to my account as well.)  I have been using their service for over a year and am very happy.  Diapers, wipes, formula, puffs and baby essentials delivered to my door, with free shipping.  I can still use coupons, and the kids love all the big boxes.

Homegrowing seems to be a scrapbook of late.  Lot’s of photos and silly happenings.  I have serious posts and lessons being learned, rambling about my brain, but need time to work them out and on onto the screen.  Therefore, in the mean time I must keep Grandma (still residing in Florida for her rehabilitation), and the rest of you supplied with smiles and silly homegrowing stuff!

January third, she turned seven months.  We’re closer to her first birthday than the date she was born.  Sigh.

This past month we celebrated her first Christmas.  Fun and special.

She is up on all fours to crawl, but she only works in reverse.

She can work and maneuver an entire room with her rolling, squirming, sitting up and back down again, and crawling backwards.

She can feed herself puffs off her highchair, but she spits out anything of texture.  She loves her baby food menu at lunch and dinner.   She like to scrunch up her face and breath in and out of her nose fast when she’s eating.  We don’t know why she does this, but we all applaud with laughter!  She hums along and kicks her feet in excitement when she likes the food as she’s eating, too sweet.

Still only two bottom teeth, but her excessive drooling must be making way for her top teeth.

She examines everything!  She wants to hold tiny little things and manipulate them all about her fingers.  She doesn’t miss a beat or a sound.  Little Miss Busy Body, wanting in on everything around here.   This does affect her nursing…

She always wants to be holding onto someone or something.  She grips your shirt, the changing table, a blanket, or her doll Kisses while she sleeps.   Lately, she likes to pinch me (it hurts!) and hold onto my hair….

Her hair is filling in and is dark like Hunter’s was.  The rest of the babies have been blond.  I debate whether or not to cut the front mowhak wisps, but it’s starting to look very cute in a little barrett!  More fun…

I will remember her sixth month of life filled with….  dresses, dresses, dresses!  That’s the blessing of hand-alongs… I pray for them and am so grateful for God’s provision.  She has about six holiday dresses in size 9mo-2T, and I just made them all work.  It was fun and pretty.

Smiles and laughter….  I’m a blessed woman.

Well, you might remember a slight detail from my MANY birth posts…

That when you just pull into your friends driveway at mid-night, in labor, requesting their assistance….

Their husband might come outside to help too.

As I gracefully removed my panties between contractions, they got stuck on my left big toe.

I proceeded to bend and flick them off as I felt under my skirt to see if I could feel the baby’s head exiting my body.

At that very moment,  my eyes caught a pair of mans feet and flannel pajamas in my peripheral vision.

For a split-second I gasped and thought….. MIKE MCO IS WATCHING ME HAVE A BABY!  (It’s in caps because I was, and am screaming.)

This is one downside to a driveway-mini-van birth.

It was only a split-second gasp, because my hand made contact to a little head that was at an eyebrow-level exiting point!

Ha!

When this sweet man found a shoe string around his house this fall,  his creative side ignited.    He made our family this beautiful ornament for our Christmas tree.   I just love it.

There are perks to split-second gasps…

Well, I could take a beautiful picture of the lawn or trees for you.

But, after all my recent photo-happy posts, I am trying to restrain myself.

And,  I just can’t resist this picture.

All of my Treasure’s do look adorable in their puffy snow-gear,  but Eden just captures winter in this one.

Again, they say it isn’t winter until the 21st.   But in my part of the globe, it’s arrived.

It’s here.

Lots of it.

It’s white.

It’s windy.  (Blowing my lovely patio benches all around!)

It’s cold.

It’s sparkly.

It’s beautiful.
It has me wearing boots.  (Not my Birkenstock sandals I wear ~360 days a year.)

And, it has me shifting the Salis-bus into 4-wheel drive!  (Yes, I can do that.)

A couple of days this week our mornings greeted us with a white covering.    We finished our morning chore-packs, and immediately had a “school-delay”.   The Biggies snow-geared up and disappeared for a few hours.  They were happy to do school work after lunch, as they observed the now green grass out the windows.

The first few great snow days, I declare a  “No-school-until-you-come-into-the-house-day.”   We all love it, and in case you are worried we haven’t had frost bite.   I believe their record is six hours, with eating lunch out on the porch!

I do love it.  Winter that is.  I admit it.

Today the snowboards, sleds, snowballs, and friends were all over the yard.  This white stuff is sticking around.  The driveway required snow removal.

And to think, only one picture.

Hmmmmmm.