Distractions

I've learned over the past 4 months that my newest son needs a quiet place without anyone else around if he is going to get a decent meal in.  He gets distracted easily.  Getting that "full feeding" just isn't that much of a priority for him when there's something else to look at or listen to. 

Here are a few of the things that distract him the most:

These 2 murals that his Auntie Sophie painted for him.  He really likes to turn his head around and look at them (who wouldn't?).

These curtains that his Aunt Sissy and I made him.  He really likes the tractors on them.

But what distracts him the most out of everything:

This fat boy. 

If Silas is in the room, I can forget about trying to get Eli to eat.  As soon as Eli hears him, he's turning his head to see what Silas is up to.  He really likes to watch Silas.



"Momma stop poking fun at me."

Hehe.

Science Experiment Goes Bad

Christian helped Silas out with a science experiment today, building a volcano.  He taped a plastic water bottle to a cardboard box, then piled dirt up all around it in the shape of a mountain.  Then they added baking soda, dish soap, red food coloring, and finally the vinegar.

And while this was a lot of fun, Silas wasn't ready for the fun to be over.  So, he dismantled the mountain and started mixing water into the dirt. I pulled out some plastic containers to make mud pies.  This was a lot of fun.

But while making mud pies, our hands got a little dirty.  This is where things started going down hill.

Before I knew it, we had mud in our hair, on our faces, and all over our clothes.

And while a mud fight with Mom is always fun, Silas still wasn't ready for the fun to be over.

So he got into the bucket of mud and we covered his legs.

This still wasn't the zenith of fun, though.  

This was:

After this, we rinsed ourselves off with the water hose.  Since we were already wet, we decided to jump into the pool and go for a swim. 

Needless to say, I had some laundry to do.

To Eli, At 17 Weeks

Your smile is infectious and always at the ready.  It takes very little to make you smile, and even when you're sleepy or crying, you can still pull one out for us.  All I have to do is catch your eye and smile, and you'll give me a grin to melt my heart.  Sometimes when you're in my arms, you'll just stare up at me with that wonderful grin.

Silas can easily make you giggle.  You love watching your big brother play around, and love it when he talks to you.  You're very ticklish, especially around the neck and under the arms.  You love it when people look at you and sing or talk to you, it'll almost always stop you from crying and always makes you happy.  You love it when the kids at church gather around your stroller and look at you.

We used to sing in this really low, sad, slow voice to Silas and it would make him cry, which we thought was so cute and hilarious.  When we try this on you, though, you just smile.  I think you know that it's kind of sad/scary, but you just laugh because it's Mommy or Daddy.  Occasionally you might pout your lower lip out, but end up laughing with us.

You are successfully holding your head up all the time and your back muscles are getting stronger.  This makes it easier to carry you and pick you up (you're not so floppy).  You also really like to put your weight on your legs.  You like the Johnny Jumper because of this.  And you really have a thing for your toes right now.  You love chewing on them.

You're rolling over from back to front.  Once you get on your front, you get really annoyed and start crying.  You've been doing this at nap time and bed time a lot lately.

You still HATE being swaddled, but if you ever manage to get an arm out, you start crying (or rolling over) within 15 minutes.

You're still not sleeping through the night, although it's not your fault.  We've had a busy month and you weren't ready before then.  We'll try again soon, though.

You're soft and cuddly and I want to squidge you all the time.  So does Daddy.  He's very good at getting you to settle down for sleep, by the way.  Better at it than Mommy.

You are a true blessing to all of us.

Remember, Remember the First of September

We have had a very busy month.  My husband's sister got married in the field at the top of our property.  While this created a lot of preparation and work, it was also a nice time of visiting with people we don't often get to see.  

In the midst of all the preparations, Christian and I celebrated our 10th anniversary.  We weren't able to get away and do much (other than a nice night out when my mom babysat the boys), but I must say we did an excellent job of reminiscing over the past years.  It was salubrious to look back at the path God's taken us on, the different seasons we've gone through.  It makes the future even brighter.

Death's Sting

I've been contemplating the meaning of that phrase recently for various reasons.  The acute pain of losing a loved one is indeed very sharp and pointed. When you think of that pain, even some time later, you draw short quick breaths, until the sting fades.

The sting is not for the person who has gone on from this life into the next, but for ourselves. There's a space missing in our lives that was once occupied. There was a love that burned bright, which now has dimmed.

I place my faith in the hope that one day that sting will be taken away. That there will be a place where death cannot reach us and where the pain of separation will be an unknown. My only prayer is that all of my loved ones will be there with me.

I don't think God gives us a certain amount of love to share, of which we must partition between our loved ones. Instead, I think He gives us a separate love, whole and unending, for those whom He gives to us. Just because we love someone completely and wholly doesn't mean we can't also love another completely and wholly, as in the case of our children. And just because someone has passed out of our current lives doesn't mean that love will become less or will be replaced.

I was reading in 2 Samuel about David after his affair with Bathsheba, and stopped when I read his response to hearing the news that his child had died:
"He said, 'While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, "Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me, that the child may live."  But now he has died; why should I fast?  Can I bring him back again?  I will go to him, but he will not return to me."


"I will go to him."  Those five words give me so much peace.

I Can Touch My Toes

See?  I can reach them now.

And I can chew on them.

That one didn't taste very good.

This one is better.  I think it's chocolate.

An afternoon snack.