I have so many little matters to tell you of, that I cannot wait any longer before I begin to put them down.
Now that Elizabeth is into 0-3 month clothes, I’m enjoying another great set of hand-me-downs from my neighbor. This outfit reminded me of Piko, so I had to take pictures and blog about it. (I think it’s the hoodie and the fact that it’s from Old Navy that makes me think of Lizzie’s favorite pretenduncle…)
May 30th, 2009 by ECM
Hannah’s leaving for NY for the summer, and Tommy and I are rather devestated…what will we do with our Monday mornings now? Fortunately, we have quite a few photos to document our fun times together…
I’m just wondering how my children, who ostensibly cannot yet communicate with each other, have managed to perfect the art of pooping in unison in the two short weeks of their acquaintance. It’s uncanny.
May 28th, 2009 by ECM
This week’s farm share was quite light, and our farmer even apologized…I guess the rain has messed with the harvesting a lot. This is the last week of the spring farm share, and I’m thinking that we won’t do this portion next year. We got a lot of interesting produce, but I’m not sure that the spring veggies are things I really want to cook with all that often. Next week starts the summer portion of our farm share, and I’m looking forward to all the great summer produce in the months to come.
Meanwhile, I think we can use up the lettuce, rhubarb, potatoes, and purple asparagus. But one little baby bok choy isn’t enough for any of the recipes I found online, and those crazy sputnik-looking kohlrabi have me flummuxed. Even epicurious.com doesn’t have that many recipes for them! With my farm share recipe expert out of the country on her honeymoon, I’m going to have to get creative…some other day, because the kiddos already have me worn out today!
May 27th, 2009 by ECM
We went in for a weight check today to make sure our little girl was back up to her birth weight. No need to worry–she’s a whopping 8 lbs 4 oz! (Guess nursing for just five minutes is working well for her…she’s gained 9 oz this past week.) I also noticed today that her newborn sleeper was getting tight–she’s moving up to 0-3 month clothes tomorrow!
May 25th, 2009 by ECM
I’ve shared before about our tradition of picking a special hymn for each of our children. With Elizabeth, we are so much more mindful of the blessing that a healthy child is. Throughout my pregnancy, I kept reminding myself and Derek that this was not something we could ever take for granted after our miscarriage. As we discussed what hymn this baby would have, we wanted one that had strong theology (when you sing it every night for years, your child will hear it thousands of times!) and a good tune for rocking a fitful child to sleep. Here’s what we’re singing to her at night (and what we’ll be singing at her dedication this summer):
Come, thou Fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
mount of thy redeeming love.
Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I’m come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.
O to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.
So I’m missing my brother’s wedding today to take care of this pair. It’s kindof been a rough, emotional past 24 hours for me. The sister part of me so wants to be out in Maryland celebrating with Lt. John Willett and Mr. and Mrs. Peter Willett, but the mom part of me realizes that my kiddos could not have handled 90 degree heat and crowds even if Elizabeth had been old enough to travel. I hope my kids love each other as much as the boys and I do…they seem to be starting off well…
May 22nd, 2009 by ECM
May 21st, 2009 by ECM
Fortunately, our farm share was pretty normal this week–besides the Napa Cabbage, we know what to do with everything and can just use the veggies to supplement the meals that church people are bringing us! Derek’s mom and Tommy made a strawberry-rhubarb pudding with last week’s rhubarb, and they’re going to make us a pie this weekend with this week’s crop. Yum!
May 21st, 2009 by ECM
Honestly, how many of my faithful readers were surprised at our little girl’s name? Apparently the idea had not crossed the mind of one male relative who shall remain nameless, but most of my friends had guessed correctly even though we weren’t sharing our names ahead of time. My Austen class students asked me this week if she is named after Elizabeth Bennet, and my answer is…sortof…
Elizabeth has always been my favorite girls’ name. If Peter or John had been a girl, they would have been Elizabeth, so maybe my mom’s affection for the name rubbed off on me. I had a doll named Elizabeth long before I read Pride and Prejudice and became an Austen fanatic. Derek and I disagree about this, but I swear to you that while we were dating, he mentioned to me that he had always wanted to name a daughter Elizabeth. I was very happy about this, since I had determined my firstborn daughter would be Elizabeth! Unfortunately, when we got pregnant with Tommy, Derek insisted that he’d always liked a different girl’s name. I was grieved indeed–grieved, shocked! He had married me under false pretences! So we compromised–he got to pick the names for our first son and second daughter, and I got to pick for our first daughter and second son. So far, it’s worked out well.=)
So who is Elizabeth Laura named after? Well, there are so many great Elizabeths out there…our pastor reminded us that the Biblical Elizabeth was a woman known for being full of the Holy Spirit. We hope that our Lizzie has the wit and spunk of Lizzy Bennet. I pray that she will be as sold out for the Lord as my heroine/role model Elisabeth Elliot. In Hebrew, her name means “consecrated to God” or “my God is abundance” (depending on what baby name book you look at). Coming to us almost exactly a year after we lost her sibling, I think both meanings are appropriate reminders of what a blessing from the Lord she is to us. So she’s not really named after anyone, but I think she has a rich heritage in her name, regardless. She is named after one particular Laura, though–her “Auntie Laura” Gentry has prayed with me weekly for six and a half years (we started in accountability group in college and have kept it up on Sunday afternoons since my graduation), and I so look forward to seeing her faithfulness and heart for the Lord influencing Elizabeth for life!