November 2021

 

Cause for thanks exists always, but God laid out enough for us in November that we'd have been hard pressed to miss it. Ransom, our little Sunbeam, turned one, and this milestone renewed our gratitude for an unexpected baby. The night after Thanksgiving, Skylark became ill and had another status epilepticus seizure. It lasted nearly 45 minutes even though we administered Diastat within minutes, and this hard thing, too, renewed our gratitude for a God-given life. 

Do good things come in threes? When Luke and Jae Ryong visited for Thanksgiving, we were all teasing Joel about a lovely woman with whom he'd been spending time, and Luke cut in-- "We can either tease Joel for another hour, OR we could talk about the fact that Jae is pregnant." 

All jaws dropped. Then came the tears. Luke and Jae Ryong have been married for 12 years, and Jae is my age, so this baby was the truly unexpected one. Years of prayer, years of longing, and years of waiting culminated in this precious baby whose small face we all pored over in ultrasound black and white. At the late date I write this post, Kongi-- their "Little Bean"-- is now among us, with dark eyes like obsidian and a laugh that makes us laugh along.
Joy truly does come in the morning. 

He Likes To Eat

 

Just sometimes...the wrong sorts of things.

RAWR.

Thanksgiving Day

The day before Thanksgiving, Millie made delicious, spice-laden, fall meringues.

These little pumpkin-shaped clouds were all too easy to pop in my mouth one after another (after another after another after another).

Ransom stayed up late and kept me company because he woke up and would not fall back asleep. He lent his toddler cleverness to the tasks at hand, though. When I went to the spice cupboard to look for cinnamon, I found the cupboard half empty. This baffled me. Where had all the spices gone? It took a minute before I had the inspiration to look in the garbage can. Yup. He'd carefully tossed all these and more into the kitchen garbage when my back was turned. 

Thanks a lot, baby.

The next morning, we finished feast preparations and brought out the nut-studded Texas caramel that the children had been eyeing for the previous two weeks. (Thank you, Molly! It was one of the most popular items on the dessert table!)

This was the table before guests arrived and added more to it. The table nearly collapsed. 

Piper made the apple pies this year, and Millie made chocolate cream pies.

Mopsy made pecan (with those Texas pecans from Molly, of course!) and pumpkin pies.

Luke and Jae Ryong brought fried plantain and dumplings, which is why I always love their platters best. 

When Ransom woke up, he cuddled for the entire afternoon, poor babe.

The rest of us just lounged around and digested food. Exciting!

This was an important task, though, because evening brought with it PIE, all the aforementioned plus peaches and cream from Debbie.  This picture is for you, Molly.  :)

 

First Haircut/ Thanksgiving/ Sick Day

 

The night before Thanksgiving, my mom, Joel, and Luke and Jae Ryong came for supper. Jae Ryong took one look at Ransom and said, "He has a mullet!"  

Yes, indeed.

So on Thanksgiving morning, while taking a picture of him with a baby pumpkin, I determined that after his nap I'd transform his mullet into his first Homeschool Haircut.

Well, he fell asleep on the couch in Mildred's arms and unexpectedly became hot and feverish. What better time to cut a baby's hair? I ask that only partly in jest, as scissors near a baby's head really are a better idea when said baby is fast asleep.

Goodbye, mullet. 

Hello, Homeschool Haircut.

He was not impressed with his first look, still being sick and all. Truth be told, it was a funny-looking haircut.

But at least no one can call him Mullet Head.

Sunbeam Here for A Year

Ransom's first birthday breakfast was nothing fancy, but he didn't seem to mind. 

Moses sensed that this innocent young thing had no idea what the candle was for, so he promptly blew it out for him.

Moses knew exactly what Ransom needed! When we re-lit the candle, Ransom just stared at it, so we had to help him blow it out a second time.

Speaking of Moses, I got to spend a lot of the day with him, and he helped me make Ransom's cakes. It was exhausting, as you can see.  And he barely squeaked into a pack-n-play for nap-time!

This picture is for Grandma Owen. All it takes is a few young girls to paint through half a book of paint-with-water in no time flat! They had a lot of fun with these. (Thank you!)

And evening came again, with a sunbeam cake in the darkness. I decorated it hastily, but it suited this little baby who lights our days and nights. From the moment we knew of him, through that cold, dark spring and back into the season of waning light again, he has been a light and our joy.

We love you, Baby-- gift unlooked for, little Sunbeam still.