Our week in pictures

Everywhere I go, people are sure Canaan is teething because he always has his fist/fingers/blanket/YOUR fingers in his mouth, and he really chomps down. He's been a little out of sorts this week anyway since we were at VBS every morning and baseball every night, so I didn't think much of it when he woke up to eat at 2:35 am last night (unusual for him). Today I checked his gums to see if they looked swollen or anything . . .

And look what I found! Two white bumps under the gums, one a lot bigger than the other. Poor baby, he really is going to cut teeth!

We were at VBS all week long. I was in the music center and a good, though tiring, time. I love to sing, the dances are fun though they stretch me in more ways than one, and the look on the kids' faces when they obviously get the message in the music is amazing. Seven children made a decision for Jesus this week. I get goosebumps just thinking of how the Word was planted in their hearts this week! All that hard work was so worth it!!

Canaan, 21 weeks

-Two white bumps on bottom gums, then on July 1 the first tooth broke through!

-Went to his first VBS with Mommy. Mostly hung out with me in the music center but went to the nursery a few times too, for about 30 minutes each time. Once they brought him to me screaming. Wah!

Wait a Minute, Mr. Postman!

We had our last day of Vacation Bible School today! What a fun week we've had. Anyway, we got home and had some things to unload, and we could see the mailman walking up, too. I said hello to the mailman and then turned around to ask Malachi to put a big box in the trash on the side of the house. The mailman turned to leave our porch just as I was saying to Malachi, "thank you, honey," and the mailman said, "you're welcome". AAACK! ROFL!!

Happy Surprise!

So I saw that dumb Home Depot commercial where the lady is raving about her "Home Depot Guys" in the gardening department, and as intended, it made me rush over to see what they could teach me. I started by asking them if they had any strawberry pots in stock. One lady said, "strawberry pots?" I explained to her what they are and she wasn't sure at all if they had anything like that, so she asked another garden employee who was walking by and without even looking up, this other lady muttered, "nope." Gaaaa.

Well! In comes Target! I was in a big rush with a pair of pants, a bottle of Robitussin and Canaan in the sling, and thought I'd exit through the garden area and pick up another 6-pack of alyssum to fill in my little front beds. I saw a Gardenia and nearly purchased it but wasn't sure if it would work well in the area I had in mind. I asked the guy at the checkout what he thought and SURPRISE! He knew ALL about whether it would work or not and why! I am so happy! Do I actually have a department-store garden guy who *knows his stuff*?? Woo HOO!

P.S. I never did plant a strawberry pot. The gorgeous one pictured above belongs to someone else and was found through Google.

Picture Time - yet again.

Gotta protect those little peepers! He was sitting in his Bumbo on the porch while I watered my flowers.

Canaan has taken an interest in this car seat toy Juanita got for him and he really likes to play with it!

Caris is so cute in her new sunglasses. We were watching (I use that term loosely) Malachi's game here.

Don't you love the look on my face here? I was asking Alif to take a pic of Canaan because I thought it was cute how he fell asleep with his arm straight up.

Canaan & Graham having some brotherly bonding time.

Canaan checking out the animals on this blanket - this kept him occupied for like 20 minutes.

Miscellaneous Pictures

We made corny shirts for the Grandpas for Father's Day. Here's Grandpa Moore's . . .
and here's Grandpa Payne's.

I ordered Caris a bunch of bows to match her very first t-ball uniform. Isn't this so cute?

Canaan was pretty impressed with the waffles & berries Malachi was eating! Only a month and a half until he can take his own first bites of solids!

Felicia and Canaan at the church picnic. Felicia was born in December '06.

At our church picnic there were two VERY HUGE slip & slides set up. The kids absolutely loved it!

Graham zooming down!

Caris on the slip & slide, having tons of fun!

Little Mister, quite curious and also very drooly.

Canaan enjoying his "new" exersaucer

Canaan, 20 weeks

-Had his 4-month checkup. Weighs 20 lbs 3 oz (over 95%) and is 28" long (over 95%). Really enjoyed kicking the crinkly paper on Dr. Kaye's examining table.

-Got another cold.

-Likes to "scritchy scratch" in his pack n play. He's learned what a neat noise his fingernails make against the nylon side of it and he practices it when he wakes up - and last night he practiced for a good 5-10 minutes in the middle of the night. LOL

Canaan, 19 weeks

It's really hitting me how much Canaan has changed. I can't BELIEVE four whole months have gone by. It's so much fun watching his personality really emerge now and seeing him learn to actually DO things, but boy I can't believe he's not a newborn any more.



We got him an exersaucer at a yard sale for $5 and he really likes it! I say, "bounce!" and he jumps, and he can turn himself around and play with all the toys.



We have been dragging poor baby all over the place now that baseball has started. Almost every night we are out and about and most of the time he is just so laid back about it all. He'll still sleep out in public if I nurse him.



Lots of times now he wakes up "talking" and looking around instead of crying. When he sees me coming for him he smiles so big!



When he is facing away from me and can't see me, I call his name and he smiles before he can even see me. Aww!

Canaan's Dedication

Today we dedicated Canaan in front of our church body. This is not when he makes his own personal decision to follow Jesus but it is a time when we promise to raise him to know the Lord, and a time when our church dedicates to help us any way they can in raising him up to be a godly man.
Worship team in the back, then in front, Alif, me, Pastor Kenny and baby Canaan. Pastor Kenny spoke kind words thanking Alif for all of the construction he has done on our new church home and me for letting him. Ha ha!
Praying over our precious son!
Praying *forcefully* over our precious son. LOL :*) Canaan was calm and peaceful and quiet as usual and Pastor Kenny asked if he's always this good. I answered, "yes."

Brick Pathway

Finished pathway from an odd angle. Sorry about that. LOL
Graham & Alif on the side of the house, loading up more bricks to take to Malachi.
Malachi in action. He did so great with this! At the very end, Alif kicked a brick into place without realizing that Malachi's finger was in between the two bricks. I heard Alif going, "::::::gasp:::::::: Ow, ow, ow, oh maaaaan oh maaaaan ow ow ow" and went out to see what had happened. Malachi never cried or anything but did come in and we put some aloe and ice on it. It's fine today. :-)

When we were getting ready to move into our new house, there was a lot of work to be done! One day there was a guy that Fred had paid to help Alif for the day, and Alif sorta ran out of work for him to do so he had the guy pull up a brick pathway in the back yard. Little did he know that that very pathway was my favorite thing ABOUT the back yard! I could not believe my eyes when I saw that it was gone. Well, last night Alif was clearing out the side of the house, where he plans to park his Corvette, and he figured that as long as they were going to move the brick they might as well put it all back as a path and patio. With Alif's guidance, Malachi laid the whole thing. Hooray, my cute path is back!!

Caris

Caris just now, after I talked to Graham about eating some of Caris' special snacks: (Hugs me) "I love you Mommy. I love you so much . . . 'cuz you handle every problem." ROFL!

Canaan, 18 weeks

-We had a cold snap (highs in the lower 80s LOL) and I got to put him in snuggly outfits for a couple days. So cute to see him all cozy like that!

-I was holding him in McDonald's one day and it occurred to me how *aware* he suddenly is! Looking all around, holding his head up all the time without breaks now. He was talking his head off to a huge Shrek cutout. LOL

It isn't enough.

I went for a late-night Target run just now, and on my way home I was listening to the Donut Man (Rob Evans) and a group of children singers praising the Lord. Ok, in all honesty, I was praising right along. As I sang the words, "Here we are with our voice we sing, with our hearts and hands up-raised . . . " it occurred to me: it isn't enough to just be an attentive mother. It's not enough to teach my children their academics, give them hugs, read to them, take them on walks, do crafts with them, expose them to new places. If I am to raise children who can stand against the wicked that is so prevalent in this world then I have to actively teach them to love the Lord, to honor Him, to lift their hands to them and praise Him. I thought of sitting in on the little children's worship session on Sunday evenings and hear Miss Marta lovingly, gently guiding the children into worship with Him. She doesn't only model this, she specifically teaches them: "raise your hands, children. This is how we tell the Lord how much we love him." And the children, so willing, do raise their hands to Him. If my kids have any chance to fight off the evil that surrounds them, they have to have a habit of calling on Him in every circumstance. They have to know His word and what it means. Oh Lord, guide me as a mother. Make me aware in every moment what I can be doing to help my children to gird up their hearts against the wicked one.

Lotsa Pics

I converted this picture of Canaan & I to "sketch" and thought it turned out so sweet. I love my baby!!

Canaan's first-ever stroller ride!! We walked all around our neighborhood for about an hour and he did just great! I still sling him pretty much everywhere, but it's getting too hot to sling him during our exercise-walks.

When you've got thighs this chunkylicious, you'd better show them off!

We are working on limiting the pillow/thumb action to nap and bedtime only. We're not doing that well with that.

So Caris is a little beyond the 13-month age "limit" on the Bumbo but she sure likes it anyway.

Canaan enjoying his new Bumbo seat

Alif, Graham and Canaan enjoying the park during Malachi's baseball practice.

Boys circle sparring

First Graham (orange belt) is sparring with another boy and then Malachi gets in on the action! Go boys! This was just for fun on awards night.

Canaan, 17 weeks

-Rolled over from back to tummy!

Oopsie Poopsie

Canaan went to bed a little after 8 last night (in a Rumpster AIO with a preemie prefold) and woke up at 6:30 this morning. I nursed him, then went to change him but he was totally dry. I took him to the shower and turned it on and held him so he could go pee. I waited like a minute but he didn't go, so I just took him back to the bed and put the diaper back on. I commented to dh that he hadn't pooped yesterday and that was weird because he usually poops 3 or 4 times. Came downstairs and nursed him again while dh took a shower upstairs, then felt the diaper and he had peed. Went upstairs to change him and dh goes, "Umm, he pooped in the shower." I don't know how I didn't hear/see it but he pooped all over the "dam" (that thing you step over to get into the shower). ROFL ROFL

NIP

I feel sorta strongly about NIP - nursing in public. When I had Malachi, I never nursed him in public. I went to a bathroom (in the stall, on the toilet) or my car or, if I was in someone else's home, to a bedroom. If I absolutely HAD to nurse him in front of others, I covered us with a blanket. I loosened up a bit with Graham, and a little more with Caris. Alif & I met with a financial planner when she was just a few weeks old and I was trying to get her to latch on in his office with a receiving blanket over her. We knew this guy, John, and it was just sort of uncomfortable to me, nursing her directly across from him. She was a little squirmy and fussy, and he said in a totally casual, kind way (not like he minded her fussing a bit) "Take the blanket off! She's hot in there! My wife just whips it out wherever we are. When they've gotta eat, they've gotta eat!" I tell you what, for whatever reason, that just freed me right up. LOL There are still times I cover during latch, just so no one gets a big eyeful of my bustiness, but for the most part, I just latch him on discreetly and go about life.

Now the actual point of this post. Today I was sitting at Graham's baseball practice and nursing Canaan. A Dad walked past - a tough-guy, guys'-guy kind of Dad - and said, "That is a beautiful bonding right there." How sweet, isn't that??

I hope that as time goes by, more women will nurse their babies - at home, in the restroom, anywhere they're comfortable - and that it will start to be seen as the norm. I hope some Mom sees me nursing somewhere, chatting with someone or tending to my bigger kids, and thinks, "hey, I could do that!"

I love you

I love you, Mom. This is a silly thing, maybe, but I have been thinking of this since the moment you said it and have never sat down to blog about it. I think I am afraid that how much this meant to me won't translate in a blog entry. When I was in labor with Canaan and you said you were on your way, I anticipated your arrival. It was a wonderful feeling when you came into the bathroom with a smile on your face, but also the look a mother has when her daughter is in labor. Excited, nervous, praying everything is going to go well. Anyway, at some point you said, "This is the cleanest bathroom I have ever seen!" Obviously it wasn't literally the cleanest bathroom you'd *ever* seen but it was wonderful to be laboring and have my Mom there and speaking words of affirmation. Thank you for that! Every time I clean that bathroom I smile and think of your kind words.

Dad, Alif got me a new iPod and as the kids & I drove home from Costco today, the Paul Simon song "Father and Daughter" came on. I had read the lyrics when you gave me that cd, but I'm not sure I'd actually listened to the song. I am a lucky girl (even though I'm a grown woman with my own kids) to have a Dad who really loves me and isn't afraid to say it. I love you too, Dad.

I'm gonna watch you shine
Gonna watch you grow
Gonna paint a sign
So you'll always know
As long as one and one is two
There could never be a father
Who loved his daughter more than I love you

Oh wow, what a surprise!

Alif went to run errands today - said he needed to go by our old house and look for some jeans. Well, when he came back he gave me a brand-new iPod!! I said, "Oh my gosh, what's this for??" He said, "You needed one! We have a little extra money since selling the truck, so I got you one." Wow, how thoughtful and generous of him!! :*)