the lonelies

Christmas is over the New Year is here and our small family of three is back home again in the suburbs of St. Louis. It felt much better coming home this time than last Christmas, which means St. Louis must be growing on us after all. Still, after being surrounded by the noise and bustle of five children under seven, their parents, grandparents and various aunts and uncles all living in the same house for a week, our small apartment is quiet. Too quiet. I think Charlie wonders what happened. He misses having his cousins run circles around him.

And I miss all the helping hands, the laughter and the connecting.

We fed 13 people breakfast lunch and dinner and chased five kids around too, yet I found it much preferable to feeding 3/chasing one on my own here. While it is certainly less work, it is also less fun because it isn't shared with my wonderful sister-in-law and mother-in-law. I'm seriously considering buying that covered wagon.

P.S. Thank you for a wonderful visit Marla and Andrew!

He Steps

Charlie took his first steps over Christmas. He's really not very good at it yet, and has to be in just the right mood, so we have a little time to prepare before he's running around the place. Still it was very exciting to watch.
Here's the little video...

Christmas Day

All the cousings: Anna, Andy, Emily, Rebecca and Charlie

Here's a photo story of our stay so far!





















Merry Christmas!

nathan's bootie pants

Charlie's friend Nathan has a bootie problem. He's short and stout and wears cloth diapers and his pants don't fit. So Charlie and I undertook the task of making him a pair of big bootie pants just his size for Christmas.

We used an old t-shirt and cut out some extra-wide pants. I sewed on a knit applique of a whale. It was just the right project for us--quick, easy, recycled and a fun accomplishment. We passed them on to Nathan's mom today...hope they fit!

P.S. We are leaving for PA tomorrow to have Christmas with Jonathan's family. Jonathan and I will be "sharing" his laptop while we're gone so I can't guarantee another posting until we get back after Christmas. Merry Christmas, Friends!

First Christmas Present

We are going out of town for Christmas, so when a Christmas gift came in the mail for Charlie yesterday we let him open it right away. It was from our dear friends in Seattle, and it had jingle bells on it, which Charlie LOVED


He got the ribbon off, needed a little help with the paper, and then knew exactly what to do!



What a cute outfit! Thank you Cole!

Ten Months

Well, Charlie is 10 months now. It is hard to believe we have come so far and are so close to seeing him turn a year old!
Here is a video which celebrates his big man status around here:


Here is a video which celebrates the joy he takes in his babyhood:

He Stands

Charlie stood on his own for the first time today. He let go of the chair he was balancing with and stayed up about 3 seconds before gracefully bending his knees and sitting down as if he had practiced it a thousand times before...I watched in stunned awe. Of course there is no picture, but what a breathtaking moment!

quirks and eccentricities

Charlie has been going around with his neck craned back looking up at the ceiling for the last week. He has discovered lights, and points them out everywhere. I showed him how to work the light switch in our hallway. Now he thinks anything on the ceiling is a light and wonders why we can't make the smoke detector shine. His fascination with lights has made me realize he has quite a few other quirks too.

He loves touching our coffee mugs, even when they are so hot it hurts his hand a little, he keeps wanting to touch them again and again.

He carries things in his mouth when he crawls.

Sometimes he tries to pick things up with his mouth too, like a dog.

If he especially loves something, like this poor, but very soft snowman, he eats it's nose. This applies to his mama too.

He can't get enough of bath time. I think he lives all day to get into the tub!

the domestic monastery

A friend posted this article recently on Facebook. I found it thought-provoking and deeply encouraging.

http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/ron/ron_14domesticmonastery.html

He Crawls

...like a funny monkey!



and here's a silly video showing just how fascinating an everyday object like a bowl can be to a 9month old!

to have: grandma or the dishwasher?

So, every once in a while taking care of Charlie get's lonely. You'd think because I'm around him, a person, all day I'd never have the chance to get lonely. But he doesn't really give me kind of interaction I need! When I get lonely, I start imaginig weird senarios.

Yesterday, I was imagining what it would be like if I was a settler woman in a covered wagon going west to settle Oregon. (can you tell I'm homesick for Seattle?) I started thinking about the hardship. And it made me thankful for my life. Having to knit or make all the clothing for my family without a sewing machine even, cloth diapers without a washing machine, no stove, no dishwasher. Just me doing a whole lot more work than I'm doing now....wait just me?

Who else would be on that wagon train? Maybe there would be my brother's wives, my mom or a grandmother. No doubt all the women in the wagon train would be doing the same hard work, maybe we'd even do it together, and share a big pot of stew, or a large basin of dirty diapers by the creek side. Mmmm, fun image! Of course we'd all be doing a lot of work, but it would be shared with the meaningful friendship such community brings. Some people I know are lucky and live close to their family, or have a network of friends close around them that might just as well be family. But most people I know don't have this luxury.

So this is my daydreaming question for you: Would you rather have close extended family and friends or all your household appliances?

While I'm daydreaming, I vote for both...

redeco-baby-rating

There's an entirely new kind of redecorating happening around here, and I don't mean the kind you do for Christmas!

Nick knacks are creeping up the bookshelf.

After a sad, but inevitable episode with my tea set, our dishes have migrated up the shelves.

The potato and onion baskets have moved to my desk.

Pillows permanently flank the fireplace and the heater is blockaded.

Undaunted by my efforts to limit his exploration,

Charlie moves through his day with an uncanny talent for disaster!

a little time with Charlie

Here's a slow paced video of Charlie waking up from a nap. Nothing too exciting, just a puppy kiss, some socks and a goodbye wave. But, if you feel like spending three minutes in the everyday life of Charlie then watch away!

Advent

Growing up, I knew Christmas was coming when we started lighting the advent candles in the evenings. Amidst the sibling fights over whose turn it was to light the candles and who had blown them out the last night, a wonderful rhythm of scripture, verse memorization and singing grew. It all climaxed on Christmas morning when we celebrated the lighting of the Christ candle before we opened any presents. And all the time while ribbons and paper flew off presents, the Christ candle of Life illuminated our joy.

Jonathan and I have been celebrating advent ourselves since we got married and have been putting together our own version of the readings and hymns. It has become special to us.

To add to our joy, this Sunday, Charlie lit his first advent candle....

...light in the darkness.

It is an amazing thing to have traditions like this to give to our children. May Charlie's understanding of advent grow even more rich and full as we celebrate Christ's coming and watch for his return each year.