Saturday, February 28, 2009

Coffee Lovers


Picture by Isaiah Barry

Today my mom delivered the quilt she made for our anniversary. I was very excited and love it! John and I both love coffee, and as you can see she picked the fabrics to suit our taste!
To me a quilt is like a scrapbook of treasured moments. It is a reminder of friends and family who have touched my heart. Fond (and sometimes funny) memories are stitched within the borders. It is a covering of prayer pieced together in every block.
When we snuggle under this beautiful quilt tonight I will have many good memories to be thankful for and many people to pray for. It reminds me of all the coffee dates John and I had while dating, of my first cup of coffee with my Daddy, of Costa Rica, and of our first house... and as I fall off to sleep I will say a prayer of thanksgiving for John, the love of my life, who for the last six years has shared many a cup of coffee. I will thank God for my parents who lift our family up in prayers daily!

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:17

Medicine

Today I was a grump. I didn't wake up that way, but I started off missing my prayer time and then one thing led to another and by 9am I was a grumpy momma! Thankfully it was a sunny day and my friend MeeSook invited us to accompany her and her children to the park. Needless to say I jumped at the chance to get out of the house, and my children were glad to go too! As I pushed one on the swings, helped one down the "fire pole", admired a grand collection of sticks, and blew bubbles for all... I realized the grumpies had floated away along with the bubbles. My children's smiles, giggles, and silly antics were good medicine. Tonight as I tucked in my oldest son, Isaiah, I apologized for snapping at him today. He said "That's ok Mommy, I forgive you. Come up here." So I climbed up onto the top bunk with him. As I snuggled down with him he rubbed my back for a few minutes finished with a kiss on my cheek and asked: "There! Don't you feel better now?" Yes, sweet boy, I feel much better. Thank you!



A happy heart makes the face cheerful... A cheerful look brings joy to the heart...
Proverbs 15:13,30

Thursday, February 26, 2009

5 months old



Yesterday Tobiah turned 5 months old! He is our sweet, happy little guy. Rayna calls him "little man" and can make him giggle soooo much! He squeals in delight when Lydia is around, and listens intently to all that big brother Isaiah has to say!



He has turned into quite a chubby baby and it is hard to believe that only five months ago this precious little one was born at home. He was my second home birth (Rayna was my first, and that is a whole different story!) and may I say that I absolutely loved it both times! I've had the blessing to have two wonderful midwives for the two births and would wholeheartedly encourage anyone to consider a home birth! Ok... so now for the birth story (which by the way, I love to hear about births!) but don't worry, no gory details!

Tobiah was born on a Thursday just a few hours after my midwife appointment. I had been having contractions pretty regularly throughout the morning since 7 am and they were slightly increasing in intensity. At the appointment my midwife, Lori, declared: "You are going to have a baby today!" She didn't want to go home (which was about a half an hour drive away) until I'd delivered a baby because the last time I went into labor and called to let them know... I had a baby 30 minutes later! So I headed home and started making sandwiches for our three other children. I had already called John to let him know that we needed to get ready, and called my parents to come pick up the little ones. Through sandwich making, clothes packing, sheet changing, and last minute cleaning, things were definitely indicating a delivery sooner rather than later so I called to update Lori. John was valiantly attempting to put together the birthing tub but found out about halfway through that some part were missing... so even though we could assemble it, we couldn't fill it with water! By then I decided to just climb into a hot bathtub to help ease the back pain. Soon after that Lori, her birthing assistant, and the student intern arrived and helped John ready the bedroom. My parents pulled in not too long after them. There was quite a bit of commotion as my parents and John got the kids ready to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a sleep over. Eventually they were on their way. After Lori checked to see how things were progressing and a couple more really intense contractions I decided I had had enough of the bathtub and had some help to get into the bedroom. Lori broke my water and then after about 2 more contractions and pushing I heard her say "Oh my ... he's breech!" with a little bottom coming first instead of a head! Now when I heard that I really wasn't scared about the baby or myself, I just had this really crazy thought that they were going to stop everything, pack me up in an ambulance, and ship me off to the hospital to have a C-section! And that was not going to happen! So I gave two really big pushes and Lori was able to safely deliver our baby boy. He was 7 lb and 20 inches long, and oh! so beautiful! I had picked the name Tobiah which in Hebrew means "God is good" and Lori said "yes, He is!" It was a total surprise to Lori, the student and me that Tobiah was breech. He had felt and presented the same throughout my pregnancy. But God is good and He safely delivered Tobiah Michael ("who is like God?") into our family!



Since that day Tobiah and his name have been a good reminder to us of just how good our God really is. How He provides for our every need (not wants!), how He forgives us and loves us even when we stumble and fall in our walk with Him! May you be encouraged today that God is good, and He works all things together for good to them that love Him and are the called according to His purpose! (Rom 8:28)



"For the Lord is good and His love endures forever;
His faithfulness continues through all generations." Ps 100:5




Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Sewing days

This week I've somehow managed to squeeze out time to work on several projects! Most of it is done during rest time when 3 out of 4 children are sleeping. So far there is one skirt, two pairs of pants, a dozen cloth napkins, and one more pair of pants and two pants tutorials in the making! I have a very skinny 3 year old daughter who is growing out of her clothes quite rapidly, so I've decided to start sewing her new wardrobe! It has been a lot of fun figuring out how to design and sew these different garments (I'm primarily a quilter!) and hunting through my stash to find fabric to suit the project. Plus Lydia loves getting new clothes!

So here's Lydia's new twirly skirt...



And a new pair of purple pants!

Tutorials coming soon for the pants. One for the above pattern, and one made from a recycled sweater or T-shirt.

And with the flurry of sewing going on Isaiah wanted to learn how to sew too!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

What do you do all day?

Being a stay-at-home mom (SAHM) I've gotten that question phrased in many different ways. And some days are so crazy I feel as if Ive been spinning in circles and when I finally stop at the end of the day I look around and there is still dirty laundry in the corner, a basket of clean laundry to fold/put away (ok, usually two!), a half finished sewing project started two months ago, the rug's dirty again, oops, sorry Honey no clean socks! half a cup of coffee on the bathroom counter, a pot still in the sink from dinner (from last night)... What did I DO all day? I think to myself as I sit down after tucking in all four little ones. Then my mind wanders over all the little things that tend to get lost in the mountain of "to dos" ... snuggling with children first thing in the morning, finding a new use for the TP roll, cereal box, flower catalog, instucting a 3 and 5 yr old in the fine art of hardboiled egg peeling, taking a few extra minutes at nap time to snuggle a sleeping baby, making some cookies for Daddy with lots of helping hands, kissing owies, hugs, tickles, giggles, and "just one more book, please!" at bedtime. Ah, so even though I didn't do a lot of "work" today... we had fun! We laughed, we giggled, we sang and read Bible stories. Yes, my house may be messy, but my heart is full of joy!

Big brother Isaiah teaching Tobiah how to use tools


Sweet sisters!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Hooray!



Yeah! I did it, I finally made a blog! Now I have a place to share what I've been reading lately, new recipes, projects I've completed ( or at least started!), what the little ones have learned at home school, or maybe just some random thought or uplifting quote. Whatever the case may you be encouraged and blessed... or at least get a little smile out of it!
For this evening, some pictures of the random places in the childrens' bedroom where Rayna falls asleep! Yes, she fell asleep in a cardboard box and on their toybox...

"I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8

May you find peace in the Lord!