There's something about having a new baby that inspires me to do a little re-focusing. I get to slow down for a few weeks (thanks to the help of many family members and friends... along with all the preparations I made beforehand!) and I get to do some extra thinking. I had some areas of my life that definitely needed to be simplified... a few things that have gone out the window all together... and some things that I just needed a nudge to be more efficient about!

Breastfeeding is, and has always been, such a great blessing to me... because I get to sit (or lay) down every couple of hours (or more often!) and just hold my baby and relax. Okay, so sometimes I'm also reading stories to my boys, or jumping up to get Eliyahu out of trouble, but still... breastfeeding makes me relax.

I am just loving being a mommy. Having a new baby reminded me again of how quickly each day passes... and what a blessing it is to enjoy each moment to the fullest. I love holding Ruth... the boys and I all fight over who gets to hold her all day. ;) And Yehoshua just melts my heart when he says to me, "Mom, Ruth is so beautiful."

So... we're feeling pretty blessed around here. And it's not so much that things in our life have changed, but that our Heavenly Father is changing us... showing us His blessings and causing us to see how good He is.

Yehoshua and Eliyahu helped me mix up some homemade macaroni and cheese last week. We baked a 9 x 13 dish of it and used it for one dinner meal (served with cooked veggies and homemade bread) and several lunches/snacks. Macaroni and cheese is very simple to make, but since it's not one of our favorites, and not a very healthy meal, I only make it a few times a year. :)

We also made two more loaves of homemade wheat bread. I love homemade bread. Eliyahu stirred some of the wet ingredients (honey, warm water, etc.) in the bread machine pan before I added everything else. I told the boys which buttons to press, and they started the bread machine on the dough cycle for me. Then they spent 10-15 minutes hovering over the machine, watching the dough form! Ruth slept in her car seat while we worked.

I think Ruth's car seat has found a permanent location... on our kitchen table! Even when she's "just sleeping", I love having her close by us while we're making a meal or cleaning up. :)

Eliyahu loves to help stir things when I cook. Yehoshua isn't too thrilled about having "lost" yet another job to Eliyahu, since Eliyahu "stole" his dishes and laundry duties. But, I've been having Yehoshua help measure ingredients for me instead of stirring.

And yes... Eliyahu is wearing his pajamas in these pictures. Some days it's just more fun to wear pajamas all day, right? ;)

Ruth Patience is almost ten days old now. We are enjoying her so much! Yehoshua and Eliyahu love her lots, and haven't displayed even the tiniest bit of jealousy... even though our life has (obviously!) changed a lot with a newborn in the house. :)

Ruth is just soooo sweet and I am treasuring every moment we have with her! She is a sweet little thing, and not fussy -- though with constant attention, nursing, and holding, I'm not surprised. :) Things have gone very well since her birth... she's nursing lots, and is sleeping more at night. The first couple of nights, she was awake most of the night, but took lots of naps during the day, so I'm glad we got that switched around! ;)

(Co-sleeping, short labors, and doing "lots"...)

I got this email today from a friend:

Hi, Tammy,

I just pulled up your website. I didn't want to see kitchen tips!!! I wanted to see more pictures of Ruth!!!

This past week has positively flown! I have been so busy just being a wife and mom... and dare I say... I've been enjoying a bit of a blogging break? ;) I am loving this special time as we get used to being a family of five... and I haven't taken time to snap many pictures, much less blog about them. ;)

But, I do plan to post a family-update-sort-of-post with more pictures of Ruth for the folks who come here looking for more than just kitchen tips. ;) Check back tomorrow. :D

And, thank you to all of you who did share your kitchen tips this week! You all make this blog an interesting place, even when I'm not around. Thanks. :D

Last evening, Joshua and Yehoshua were washing dishes together. Eliyahu was already in bed, so Yehoshua gladly took over his job as "helper". :)

I heard Joshua telling Yehoshua as they worked, "Thanks for your help, Bud. I couldn't do it without you. The company's nice, too." :) Yehoshua said, "Yeah." :)

When they were finished, Yehoshua came to me and said, "It's more fun to do dishes with Daddy. He lets me use the sprayer!" ;)

I wrote Ruth's birth story today, and thought I'd share it here for those interested! It's not too graphic, but it is about birth, so... :) I love reading others' birth stories -- birth is such an amazing miracle! :)

We're doing well. I am trying to rest amid the craziness that comes from having 2- and 3-yr-old boys plus a newborn. ;) We've had plenty of help from my mom and sisters, which has been a huge blessing. And dinner this evening was provided by some friends of ours... another great blessing. :)

Ruth is a sweetheart and I'm loving having a little nursling again, since Eliyahu weaned a number of months ago. :) Her hair is so long -- at least an inch long all over her head! Pretty neat that our little girl already has hair that's substantially longer than her brothers'. ;)

So, I'll stop rambling and get on to the birth story. :) (Read more...)

Here is our new arrival!! :)

Ruth Patience was born at 5:55am on Wednesday, January 23. She's 19.5 inches long and weighs 8 lbs. 5 oz. :) We have had this girl's name picked out since before Yehoshua was born! :)

I've been resting all day, and haven't had a chance to take more pictures or write up the birth story yet, but will be working on that soon. :)

The story in short? I woke up about 4am and couldn't get back to sleep... by 4:40am I decided I should call our midwife, since she lives a good hour away. Joshua was working all last night, so I called him there and he started on his way home (about a 30-minute drive). Joshua got home about 5:20am, and I told him to go ahead and hop in the shower. :) By the time he was cleaned up, I was in transition and managed to ask him to call my mom, who lives 15 minutes away.

About 5:45am I told Joshua that the baby was coming really soon and before we knew it, we had a beautiful little girl! Ruth was born in our living room and it was a perfect, peaceful, and wonderful delivery! We weren't planning on it just being us three (and two sleeping boys!) but Yahweh did, and He gave us peace and strength throughout!

I make it all sound so easy, don't I? ;) Anyway, I am off to bed for now. Thank you ALL for your kind words of congratulations, and for rejoicing with us! :) God is so good. :D

Thank you all so much for praying!! We were blessed with a lovely and healthy baby girl this morning after a whirlwind labor! (I know this is short on details, but I'm still waiting to get hold of my grandparents on the phone.) I'll be back later today with all the details and a few pictures. :)

Yahweh has blessed us so abundantly! He gave the strength I needed, and blessed us with a peaceful and quiet home birth. Joshua caught the baby while Yehoshua and Eliyahu were still sleeping! Our midwife and my mom both arrived shortly afterwards.

Praise Yahweh, for His goodness to us!! :)

Yesterday evening, Yehoshua and I made a birth day cake for when the new baby is born! (For more pictures of this cake, check out the recipe link!)

I looked through my file of cake recipes, trying to decide which one to make, when I came across one of my favorite cakes: Deluxe Whole Wheat Strawberry Shortcake. Normally this is more of a summer time dessert, when we have fresh strawberries on hand. But last week at Aldi's, I got 4 pints of whipping cream (reduced to half price, since Aldi only carries whipping cream around the holidays). I figured all that whipping cream was a good excuse to have strawberry shortcake... right? :)

Yehoshua helped me make the cakes. We made a double batch, since I knew we would want to eat some now, as well as freezing one of the cakes (without cream or strawberries, of course). The cake is simple to make, but does require some mixing. Yehoshua does great at holding the mixer these days, so he got to use my electric mixer while I added ingredients and did everything else! :)

Pregnancy ramblings and pictures... I'm getting excited! :) Read more...