Saturday Morning: He Saw the Sun

Here's the lone picture of me and baby from the hospital. I'll take it, blurry and all.

And the handsome Papa...

I also thought it was a good idea to film his hiccoughs. 

Name That Baby

We don't look at baby names until the baby arrives, so we spent most of Saturday thumbing through baby names books to see which would fit Sunbeam best. Alden was Dad's middle name, and I've put it on the name lists for all our babies. Since most of them were girls, this is the closest a baby has come to being an Alden, but in the end Arthur won out.

Those of you who contributed hilarious R.A. guesses on Discord brought me some joy when we got home.  Caleb Purdy-- you win the blue ribbon! Refurbished Apartment Owen? I can't remember most, but a ton made me laugh.

Before we decided on Ransom Arthur, we had some fine options of our own.
Here's the pool we chose from (Meathooks Smith just barely missed the cut):

These were the top-runners by the end:

 

I had a roaring headache, and to aid my decision making, John entered all the names into a computer wizard that helps one rank items-- in this case, baby names. It reflected my first name preferences, and then he paired first names with middle names and had me choose between pairs again.  Here are two favorites that popped up as choices, one for Piotr James and one for Sarah CP Tate.


I think you and Dad would dislike this random pairing equally, Pete, though it made me laugh. 

Alden "Pope Gary" Owen.

Sarah, I told John that you and Josh have given your children two middle names, one of which is your maiden name. Unbeknownst to me, he added "Paulson Paulson" as a potential middle name, and when the ranking a.i. gave me this choice, I laughed out loud and took a picture.

Saturday Night: Home Sweet Meatball

We were exhausted when we arrived home. The little children had stayed up past bedtime to meet their new brother and to find out his name, of which they were ignorant because John and I had enjoyed their consternation too much to relent over the phone, so that was the first order of business. 

I don't know who took that accidental video, but, no, Piper, we did not name him Alden.

When we walked in the door, everyone rushed to the baby and stayed there until bedtime.

This video makes me happy. So much love.

And what about that home sweet meatball??  On the way home, I told John I was craving meatball subs, a meal I've eaten only twice in my entire life. He chuckled and asked me if I knew what was waiting for us at home. Nope! Unknown to me, Chef Evan had delivered enough scrumptious meatballs and homemade rolls for an army, and I still can't figure out how he knew what I wanted before I even knew what I wanted.

Meeeeeatball suuuuuuubs. I ate them for three straight meals.
Thank you, Evan. Barring dementia, that's a supper I'll remember for the rest of my life.

 

Sunday

Ransom and I were up most of the night, and Sunday morning was a blur. Somewhere in the middle of my throwing bins around in the basement to find the baby boy baptism outfit so that I could wash it in time, Mopsy showed up in her slippers to meet her newest grandbaby.

It's not the greatest picture, but look at those two! Thirty-three grandchildren and counting, and it still doesn't get old. 

Newborn size, and he's swimming in it.

Oh, sweet baby. On your baptism morning, God was with you, as He remains with you now, and as we pray He will be for the rest of your life. May those washing waters work good, and may your heavenly Father grow you strong and righteous, a man to love God, to love others, and to speak truth.

 

Leftovers from Before-Ransom

My chum extraordinaire hosted a surprise baby shower for me a couple of weeks before Ransom came, with church friends and surprise friends (Heidi! Elizabeth! Anna!) gathering to celebrate. Not much is better than having people you love rejoice over a baby you love. That's the way it should always be! Go here to see pictures. (The lemon cookies were the best ever.)

The next day I laid all the loot out on our bed to put it away and had to laugh. What tenth baby is this spoiled??? 

What MAMA of a tenth baby is this spoiled??? :)

And, because I ran out of my gifted Burt's Bees baby products a couple of babies ago, they were lavish enough to replenish the stores...and more. 

I don't usually buy diaper rash ointment anymore but had splurged on a Walmart tube before Ransom came. Sorry Parent's Choice. I'm leaving you to run off with Burt and his bees. It's no contest!

It is a great gift to have those who love us also know the blessing of babies. Thank you, everyone, for surrounding us with care and spoiling us so!

Onward, ho!

Dude built the largest leaf pile in the history of the Old Homestead. The children covered it with tarps before rain and enjoyed it until we needed it for the garlic beds. 

They put it to Very Good Use.

Skylark's jump buried her neck-deep.

And, for Aponi, here are pictures of the cutest miniature horse as he lives the dream.

Okay, well, THIS part's probably not so dreamy...

...but he doesn't seem to mind, as long as there's an ample supply of grass.

 And, lastly, Dude turns lumberjack and topples the dead maple.

Real Time; Real Winter

A week and a half ago, I remarked to Millie that I've really enjoyed this winter, with heaps of snow and a lack of sub-zero temperatures. The next day, Real Winter arrived with bitter cold and wild wind that remain like long-lingering salesmen.

The car got stuck trying to leave our driveway for Captain chores this morning (d'you like how I blame the car and not the Mama driving it?), and it us took over an hour to get it back up the icy driveway with the oldest two helping me shovel and scrape and lay down rubber mats for traction. 

When we ran out of salt, I wanted them to fetch some more and bellowed over the wind, "HEY! GO GET SOME MORE ICE!"   They burst out laughing. Once I realized my mistake, I shouted, "I MEAN, GO GET SOME MORE SNOW!!!"

Obviously, they laughed more. Obviously, my brain was frozen. 

The best part is that until we got the car where it belonged, I made the same mistake several more times.

 No wonder winter's giving us all he's got. I'm quite literally asking for it!

Real Time, Exclusively for Aponi Joi

Retirement Home for Tiny Horses...
HA! That label made me laugh aloud when I saw it. 

I wish I had been better prepared, but while sitting on the couch holding Ransom, I snapped a bit of the chaos. We opened your surprise package a few hours ago, and the children have been playing ever since. The older girls love the bracelets and postcards, too! (F.y.i. An entire Butterfinger disappeared! It simply vanished! Everyone-- including ME-- is utterly mystified. Mys...ti....fied.....burp.) 

Oh, and Grandma just came up! I didn't get a picture, so you'll have to imagine Aidan running to meet her with his fists full of cars. He and Zeke showed her that one of them glows in the dark, and when she said she wished she could see it glow, Aidan triumphantly proclaimed, "You CAN!" He came running back into the kitchen and draped a huge blanket over her head so that she could play with the glowing car, too. She looked like a tiny, maroon ghost. And now I wish I had grabbed the camera. 😂

Susannah noticed the camera; Annika did not.

Everyone had to pick out favorites.

Aidan was amazed that the lollipop was too large to even fit in his mouth.

And here's a shabby video-- just imagine this going on for a while. :) (And pardon the legos-and-laundry mess; we opened the package during pre-afternoon chores time, when the house always looks like a tornado zone.)

THANK YOU!

Popsy in Pencil

 

Longtime readers remember Candida from long-ago days, but she's now a lovely and talented young woman. A couple of years ago, she began sketching pencil portraits, and as a homeschooler without formal art instruction, she's entirely self-taught. I'm amazed by her skill. 

Her latest post features progress pictures of the sketch she made of Grandpa J.

I can practically hear him when I look at it.

He Has a Way with Women: Real Time

Ezekiel just came in from playing outside and plopped next to Ransom on the couch.

Over and over, he exclaimed, "Oh, he's so cute!"

Seeing Skylark nearby, he added, "You're cute, too, Skylark.
AND you're boo'ful. Do you know what boo'ful means?
It means you're pretty. Do you know what pretty means?
It means you look good and stuff."

All the while Skylark stuffed her mouth full of orange slices and balefully stared him down.

October-ish

 

I don't yet have the inclination to sift through the heap of snapshots since Ransom arrived, but I found these posts all shiny and ready to go in my drafts folder. Bingo! I had loaded the photos and intended to post them before Sunbeam, but, instead, I tacked them in the drafts folder, then Ransom came, and I haven't thought of them until now. 

So, Merry Christmas!, Happy New Year!, and Remember-What-We-Did-in-October Day!

Listening on the Windowsill

 

Among my favorite parts of fall and spring-- birds departing and birds arriving, and the people who are drawn to both.