Two Little Somebodies

One little somebody is two months old!

Our precious, smiling, cooing, congested little girl.  The pediatrician says that hopefully as she continues to grow, the stuffiness will go away.  She weighs 12 pounds, 3 ounces now and is 23.5 inches long!

And another little somebody sleeps in a big girl bed!  (Most of the time . . . )

Naptime is still a struggle, since Gemma realized that she can get up at will... But once John had casually mentioned to her that the new mattress would be her bed one day, and Baby Ruth would sleep in the crib, Gemma had her mind made up!  She always chooses her floor bed and points to the crib and says, "Baby Roof!"

One more photo . . . 

Nursing her baby . . . vertically, of course.  :)  "Eat, eat, eat!"

My Jethros

"Moses' father-in-law said to him, "The thing that you are doing is not good. You will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone." Exodus 18:17-18

All the family birth visits are over, and we've been on our own as a little family of four for a few weeks now.  It is tiring, but we are loving it!  We'd stocked up on some disposable newborn diapers for the early days, but I was excited to get my girls into cloth once again--and for the first time, in Ruth's case.  :)

It's a good thing that I enjoy laundry, because there is so much now!  It's funny how just one new little person can make that job so mountainous.  I love it, though--I love hanging the diapers out in the sunshine while Ruth sleeps in the Moby wrap and Gemma runs around the yard.  I love making pancakes on my new cast iron skillet, and having homemade muffins around to snack on.  I love sipping tea and reading to my girlies on the couch.  There are many, many things to treasure about this season.

My Mom and sister are wonderful.  Besides John, they're my best friends and favorite people to talk with on the phone.  Lately, though, they've both been giving me advice like Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, gave to him.  "Are you sure you're ready for cloth diapers?" and "if both babies are sleeping, why aren't you sleeping?"  

It's a little difficult to take Mom's advice very seriously.  She had two in cloth diapers, and didn't have a weekly "Thai night" to give her a break from cooking.  She had a baby with colic!  She had to iron Dad a shirt every day, while my husband stays home with me!  Somehow she kept her cookie jar stocked with homemade cookies.She also wore herself out . . . but not until she had three little ones.  

Surely, they're just saying these things because they love me, and that's what you're supposed to say to a mother of a newborn.

But, as our house got dirtier and our freezer stash of meals started dwindling, I started re-thinking some of my priorities.  I appreciate the financial and environmental aspects of cloth diapering, as well as putting my babies in fewer chemicals, but John has assured me more than once that he's willing to pay for disposable diapers.  And I'm not exactly blessing him by making muffins when they're almost exclusively for me.  Gemma likes them and he'll eat one out of courtesy, but I did not marry a muffin-man.  And, perhaps the time has come for simpler breakfasts while I spend more time cleaning the house, which does bless him.  

For a few weeks, I'm taking a break from social mediia and simplifying home life while endeavoring to get our priorities back in order.  In the grand scheme, it's more important for Gemma to see her mommy reading her Bible than baking, and certainly more important than scrolling through facebook!  



Thanks be to God for my Jethros . . . and for our little ones who make them necessary.  :)

(photos by Madeline Christoph Photography, artismad.com)

TEA! and first smiles

Gemma and I both received tea pots for Christmas!  I've liked tea for a long time, but there's something about adding that extra step between kettle and cup . . . instead of drinking a cup or so of tea a day, I end up drinking a pot or so.  It's very fun. :)  I would fit in quite well in Britain, I think! 

Gemma's little tea set is ceramic, which means that one cup and saucer have already been shattered and a couple of the others super-glued, thanks to daddy.  She gets it out and plays with it every day, and we just try to have her keep it in the carpeted areas to prevent more catastrophes.  

She does like to actually drink tea, too!  Several weeks ago, she had her first taste from a tea sampling I was enjoying in World Market.  It was a fruity variety on black tea, and she asked for more!  Not long afterward, I was sitting in bed with Ruthie and had forgotten about the pot of ginger tea on my night stand for so long that it had gone cold.  Gemma was playing nearby, and when I finally paid attention to what she was doing, I realized that she was continually dipping her own little cup into my pot and drinking it (and spilling a fair amount, too!).  Now, whenever we see a mug anywhere, Gemma confidently exclaims "TEA!"

Drinking tea at Grammy's house in New York . . . 

Doesn't she look like a teenager?

Ruthie gave me her first smile the Sunday morning before last!  It was January 27, and she was a month and a day old.  A few evenings ago, we finally caught some smiles on camera.  John was puffing air in her face with the giant bulb syringe from the hospital.  ;)

Isn't she the cutest?