I always find pictures on my phone that Susannah has taken of Ransom.
I HAD to test out Maranatha's dress to make sure it would fit her (picture of Ransom in the dress/bonnet combination not included).
From the moment he was first placed on my chest, wet from the womb, and lifted his head to look at John, Ransom has shown unusual strength. He also, from the very beginning, displayed a profound love of windows. Here he is, at two weeks of age, pulling himself away from cuddles with Mama to stare out the window. What two-week old baby holds himself like this?! Don't grow too fast, baby boy...
Thank goodness, he also cuddled in those weeks.
Sunbeam in a yellow sleeper in a yellow room. So much brightness!
I caught Skylark slipping outside to play in the snow wearing only her skivvies and bare feet, so I told her to get properly dressed for winter. She came back for permission to play like this, having added a shirt, boots, and gloves. Almost good enough...
I forgot St. Nicholas Day this year, too, squeaking it in just in time.
Ezekiel wanted me to take a picture of his excavator and dump truck, all set to move and carry heavy loads.
I decided to put up a blog post this afternoon because my other two options were as follows:
1. Create and submit excruciatingly late quarter reports to the school district.
or
2. Descend into the Basement of Horror and Doom to chip away at horror and doom.
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Hey, howdy! Here's a blog post! I found a few pictures on my phone from early November to get this ball rolling.
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Deborah and I display our matching bellies and matching bowls of Unmatched Purdyville Ice Cream. (Yes, those are "normal" portions.)
Right before Ransom was born, Ezekiel surprised me with a fancy snack of warm, cinnamon apples, enough for six people my size.
I found this picture on my phone. Apparently, someone wanted to record their dishwashing achievement.
Millie couldn't deliver these to the hospital, but I gobbled them once I got home. It's like a coconut chocolate dream.
Ransom with his sunbeam blanket from Anna.
I'm still wearing maternity shirts four months later (totally blaming that bowl of Purdyville ice cream Titi dished up), but at least that first week home, Ransom was small enough to fit inside of them.
I gave Skylark a treat one morning-- a few tablespoons of my coffee. This is her guilty face when I asked if she added any sugar to it.
And here's the evidence left in her cup.
Ransom's last diaper from his baby shower was a little too true. He's oblivious to it all.
The younger ones gathered around Lucinda like moths to a Light,
This interminable series is entitled "Taking Turns with the New Babe." The first few weeks with a brand-new baby are rife with scuffles over who gets to hold him next. Somehow, we fit everyone in, and then some.
Shaggy Ezekiel took a turn.
Later that week, a more respectable boy did the same. (It's the wonder of Homeschool Haircuts.)
Cadence and Skylark are always shaggy.
Aidan could not (and still cannot) refrain from rubbing his face against the baby's face whenever he holds him. The lure of baby cheeks is just too much, and I understand completely.
When John and I first told the children I was pregnant, Susannah, Piper, and I all started to cry a bit. It is unspeakably precious to have children who Know how amazing new life is every single time.
Little grumpy face...
Ransom is an unusually strong baby. Annika already harbors hope that he'll be a Newbsaniac by the time he's five.
Oh, Little Lu. She may have the record for Ransom-holding!
Our Birdie stretches across the whole couch these days.
Millie shows off his incredible core strength. Always curious.
