31 Days: Learning to Just BE... Strong {Day 23}

Last week, I heard about an awful, horrible, terrible thing. I did not even look up the full account because I didn't want to know any more details than I already did. This is a court case here in our town. Makes me feel ill.

 

A ten year old boy was locked away in a room and barely fed. His parents kept him so hidden, he had two little sisters who didn't even know about him. At age 18, the parents kicked the boy out and told him to find his own way in life. Now that he has come forth from the darkness, his story has come to light.

 

Due to malnutrition, at age 18, he still has his baby teeth.

 

As horrid as this story is, the person telling it shared an interesting insight. We are like that boy, spiritually. Think about it. Hasn't someone been keeping us in the dark, under lock and key? How can we be really soul-satisfied if we ourselves are malnutritioned?

 

Haven't I tried to slake my thirst with dead water? He is the Living Water.

Haven't I tried to fill my hunger with maggot-riddled bread? He is the Bread of Life.

Haven't I been satisfied with day-old "manna?" His Word is Living..

Haven't I slouched after crumbs on the floor? He has a table laden with Goodness.

He beckons me, Come.

 

About this time last year, I wrote these words in my journal...

 

"Thank you, Holy Spirit, for guiding me into all truth. I see that as a "baby" in Christ, one cries out in a crisis moment, asking for immediate help; but cannot be full/satisfied for long, just as a baby. With maturity comes the ability to devour the 'meat' of the Word, gaining revelation and insight into the mysteries of God, while becoming accustomed to the ability to discern between good and evil, especially in the thought-life."

 

He was drawing me nearer then, calling to me to join Him in the feast of His presence.

He is still drawing me.

 

How can I eat the "meat" if I still have my baby teeth?

Thank God, He holds the keys to unlock the prison!

 

 

 

"... Concerning Him, we have much to say, and it is hard to explain,

since you have become dull of hearing.

 

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God,

and you have come to need milk and not solid food.

 

 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness,

for he is an infant.

But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil."

 

{Hebrews 5:11-14}

 

~ christa jean ~
~~~

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A Piece of My Mind

The following post is a jumbled up look at what has been going on in my mind for the past few months. It is not always pretty.

It all began back in January, when I read this interview with a seller on Etsy named "Poor Pitiful Pearl". In the year 2011, her shop was the second most clicked upon. That is astounding when you realize that there are ten million users on Etsy. If you don't know what Etsy is, go check it out. It is big. It is a marketplace for artisans, designers, crafters, and the like.

After reading about her life as a stay at home, homeschooling mom and seeing her unabashed love for God reflected even in her business, I began to get excited. Really excited. What inspired me the most, was that she is doing what she loves, keeps her priorities of family first, and sees her business as a ministry. She gives ten percent of her profits to an orphanage in Mexico. Add to that a really funky and unique style and she's on my list of cool people to hopefully meet someday.

Go read her profile here. I cried. You probably won't, but I did. I blame it on having lots of babies, or something like that.

{one of her items that I would totally buy!}

 I told you that I got really excited. Well, I did.

I began to dream about selling my jewelry again and really becoming successful at it. I began to dream about including the girls and teaching them the life skills that come from owning your own business. I wrote up the rough draft of a business plan. I opened a new Etsy shop (that has nothing in it). I opened a Twitter account. I began cleaning up my blog posts and tagging them so that they are searchable (it's all about social networking, ya know!). I began getting out my jewels and playing with them again. I found a solution for a design/work space.


And then, about a week later, reality hit.
What was I thinking?!
I have five children. Poor Pitiful Pearl Wonder Girl (this is not meant to be a dig, she really IS cool and genuine) has two. She also has way more business experience. I am an amateur.
One of my five children is a baby who needs (loves, deserves) a lot of attention. All of them do, really. But baby can't just go entertain himself for thirty minutes like the others can.


Jump back to the first item on my business plan, which was to decide upon and begin implementing a daily schedule. And that brings me to the next reality bite.


My days are chaotic. I spin my wheels in this area because, well, probably fear of failure. You know I want it to be perfect THE FIRST TIME I do it. Whatever.
I guess I'm afraid that if I get my days all planned out that I'll be constantly tweaking it for the rest of the year.
So, because I feel out of control in this area, I do the one thing I CAN control.
Clean.
Yep. We clean a lot. It is rather dull to always be cleaning.


This brings to mind a third piece of reality that I believe IS changing this year, by the grace of God!
Perfectionism.
There is a drivenness behind perfectionism that, I have begun to believe, is based in, take a wild guess ... fear. I'm not sure what the fear is behind this, could be a fear of what others may think? Still chewing on that one.


Then there is the fourth smack of reality. Since we have no real sense of order to our days, schooling comes in spurts. Right now, I think I really suck as a home school teacher. My oldest basically schools herself because she is a voracious reader, but lacks in subjects such as math. My Oli is struggling to be a confident reader because her mother isn't taking the time to work with her on it. My wild child could care less to join the schooling craze, but she does know her letters, by golly. She must've learned 'em from Starfall The three year old is content to just go along with the flow, although, he REALLY wants to work with tools out in the garage which can't happen when daddy's not around. Plastic tools don't fool him! And me? Well, I sit around nursing a baby and making meals and cleaning up after our meals. Oh, and spend quality time on facebook and Pinterest. And try to be a thoughtful wife too.


The biggest reality of all that I have had to face, is my selfishness. Add to that, laziness.
I have been slapped in the face by the realization of it! I would rather sit around and be served by my children than be a servant to them. I see them as a bother rather than a joy. They interrupt my quiet and peaceful existence. Sounds rather selfish, don't it.


Well, I'm gonna shout "HALLELUJAH!" now that I've seen it clearly. Because now I can change. Be changed.
I have not loved my children without requirement. BUT...
I have been loved without requirement, and this changes everything, when I let it in.


Another thing that changes everything, is  g r a t i t u d e.
I see the word "attitude" (minus a 't') peeking at me. An attitude change comes when I choose to choose JOY. Honestly, that statement has always irked me in a deep-down-get-under-my-skin-kinda-way. Mainly because I could never get it. I didn't know how to choose it. Now, I see.


I see that I have been given a voice and that voice must not be kept silent.
When I sing songs infused with God and His Spirit, He dwells and abides with me, in me, all around me. Sometimes His presence is almost palpable. It is definitely catching. When my children hear me sing, whether out of joy or desperation, they join in. Then something in the air begins to clear.


My head clears too. Even in the writing of this, I see that I have not really taken the time to ask, seek, knock. I keep trying to do this alone. I keep yearning for wisdom, but not believing that I will be given it. So double-minded of me.


"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally, and reproaches not; and it shall be given him.
But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.
A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways." {James 1:5-8}

Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!

I also see that I must become a vigilante against the doldrums. I usually spin into the dullness by not watching my thought life. There was a reason for the verse that states, "bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" {2 Cor 10:5}


The battlefield is in the mind. As soon as I begin to accuse myself, like believing that I really suck as a homeschooling mom, which then leads to believing that I really suck as a mom, I agree with my Accuser. I would rather disagree with him, wouldn't you?


Maybe by the end of the year I will be able to pick up my business plan.
But for now, I exist here, learning, growing, stretching, being transformed, in this place called wife and mother. It is a good place.

~ christa jean

DIY: Hot Air Balloon Mobile

Lately, I've had my eye on hot air balloons. There is something so whimsical and almost magical about them. They make me think of dreams come true.

Look! This one, you can buy for ONLY $1,875!

Or not. But it is stupendous, is it not?!

I.love.rainbows.

And that's that.

This is the mobile that peaked my interest at first.

I stood there in that posh little baby boutique and just stared at it.

I like to look at an item and try to figure out how I too could make the same thing.

I looked at it longingly. I looked at it lovingly.

I looked at it long enough to know that I could not make cute little hot air balloons that looked like that easily or cost effectively.

Sigh.

But, then I saw this hanging just a few feet away.

And, I had an idea.

"The Grinch had a wonderful, awful idea."

(Well, sometimes I can be a Grinch.)

I bought this picture hanging mobile right then and there.

You can find it on Amazon for a way better price than what I bought it for!

Wish I had thought of that!

My idea was to print out a template of a hot air balloon and use some fabulous papers to create my own fabulous mobile.

Here is a list of the supplies I used:

~ picture hanging mobile

~ any picture/template/vector of a hot air balloon, printed out for tracing purposes

~ pretty papers, paint chips, wall paper, etc. (I couldn't resist glitter paper)

~ paper letters

~ laminator with pages (optional, I wanted my paper to be sturdier)

~ exacto knife

Items not shown (oops!):

~ glue stick

~ small eye hook (for hanging mobile from ceiling)
~ some fishing line (to attach to eye hook if you want a lower hanging mobile)

I printed out my template in three different sizes, and began tracing and cutting. I glued papers together so that there would be interest on both sides.


I wanted to have my boys initials floating amongst the balloons also.

"E" for Eliot. "I" for Isaac.

And "Bb" for big brother, little brother. ;-D

I.love.laminators.

Seriously. I want to laminate everything.

Flying high!

My baby loves to stare up at this and that makes me happy.

This project was so very simple and inexpensive. I only paid for the picture hanging mobile.

I will honestly tell you that this project took me three days.

I know!

It's because I have five kiddos, y'all! one being a five month old! I don't have a lot of uninterrupted time. But it was still fun.

The great thing is, I can change it up whenever I want! There are so many options.

What about colorful paper airplanes? Or birdies? Or origami shapes? Or pom poms...

What would you hang from it?

~ christa jean ~

My Birth Story ~ 2011

{Me, days before baby was born. can't you tell I was ready to be done?!}

I knew it was coming.

I was so tempted to hide out in my house and not come out until he was born. The comments of "That baby hasn't come YET?" were starting to get on my nerves. Or maybe it was that people had been saying I looked ready to pop for two months...

Then there was the week I was put on a modified bed rest because of all the pressure I had been feeling "down there." I was ready then, but had to wait another three weeks.

It began at 2:30 am on August 27th.. Six or more contractions right on top of each other hit me strong with no warning. I immediately called my midwife because she was forty minutes away and every minute counted, considering my last birth took less than three hours.

I got up and began cleaning. We had been so good about having the house picked up every night, dishes put away, laundry put away. We were prepared. But not that night. So, I was putting laundry away and straightening up the bathroom, etc. Hey, don't laugh! I like order. AND I was having company over.

I felt a sense of excitement. I felt like this birth was going to be beautiful and glorious. I remember pausing by my bedside table at one point as my eye caught this quote on my journal, "Joy comes in the morning." I smiled. We were naming our baby Isaac, which means "Laughter" for a reason.

My Doula lived just five minutes away so she arrived first and began preparations for my midwife. During all this, my contractions were still strong but had slowed waaaaay down. As in, every eight to ten minutes apart.

My midwife arrived and lugged all of her gear in, which is a lot. Did you know that a midwife can suture and adminster oxygen and run an IV? She was ready! After checking all my vitals, she began unpacking.

I remember the first moment that I began to fear. My contractions had gotten to be so far apart. The thought came, "This is taking too long." I began to compare to my previous birth which was so precipitous. I guess I had expected, albeit wrongly, that this would be another "bing, bang, boom, whoa baby!" birth. The thought, "This is taking too long." then turned turned into "Something must be wrong."

Now, if you knew how much fear I had battled with during this whole pregnancy and how many times I prayed and repented for each specific fear, you would maybe think that the fear shouldn't be an issue anymore. At least, that is what I thought. I know what fear does to your body, especially in a birth. Your muscles tense up and your body begins to fight the birthing process. Been there, done that and that is why I fought so hard early on so that I would not have to deal with the fear in the middle of the process.

There were days during this pregnancy when I almost went into anxiety attacks. Anxiety is not just a disorder or a physical thing to be treated with pills, it is a battle with thoughts in the mind. It is fear. Or, even more accurate, a "spirit of fear." Evil spirits are named for their character. First Timothy 1:7 states, "For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind." When the fear would come upon me, I would begin to fight, first by recognizing it, then taking responsibility and then repenting for letting it in and renouncing it. I have found that if I entertain a fearful/anxious/worrisome thought, that I begin to agree with it. We are commanded to do this: "... bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ..." {2 Corinthians 10:5} Fear is not trusting God. It is unbelief and ultimately a sin {Romans 21:8}. Sounds harsh, but for me who has been under fear's influence my whole life, I have to take a hard line against it.

Okay, back to my story!

I decided it was time to get into the birthing tub. I needed to relax my body. I wondered if the soothing, warm water would slow the labor down any more, but the opposite happened. My contractions began to speed up. Good, right? No. I began to dread each coming contraction and tense my body against them. And the fearful thoughts kept coming. Even as I began the pushing process, they were bombarding me. One said, "You're just gonna end up in the hospital anyway" another said, "The umbilical cord is going to be wrapped around his neck," yet another said, "You are failing." And the best one was, "I am NEVER doing this again!" Which is kinda funny. Doesn't every mom in the intense moment feel like this? But this thought was also based in fear because of the fear of pain. Can you believe that I was even worrying about whether or not we should have any more children? I have worried about what others would think of us if we did. Not saying we will... :-D

One of the best weapons against fear is the WORD. I finally felt the attack on my mind lift when I whispered, "Hide me in the shadow of Thy wings... " {Psalm 17:8}

At that point, I was near the end. I reached down to feel his fuzzy head. There he was. Finally! We brought him out of the water and he wouldn't breathe. Literally, for what felt like forever we were trying to get him to take his first breath. It was really only a minute, but he was being so stubborn with his little lips all pursed shut.

All went smoothly from there, but for an intense struggle I had with myself later in the day. I really felt like I had failed at being strong. I began to join my voice with my Accuser's and believe it. I had let the fear back in and was not able to overcome it until the very end. The attack had been too strong.

When I think back to those fearing thoughts that were bombarding me, they sound so ludicrous. But in my weakness, they came in and got a hold on me. The enemy had planned to steal my joy and almost succeeded. It wasn't til a week later at a check-up with my midwife that I realized how wonderful my birth had been (aside from the mind wars). From start to finish, it was only four hours! My midwife informed me that the bag of waters had never broken and so, when baby came out, she had to break it from around his head. This was a rare thing she said, and made for such a gentle entry for baby. Gee, that was so nice of me to do that for him. Hahaha.

I am so thankful that I am being perfected in His love because, "... perfect love casts out all fear..." {1 John 4:18}

{Welcome Baby Isaac!}

{Newborn}
{One Month}

{Two Months, swimming in a sea of fur}

{Such sweet cheeks!}

{Tiny baby hands} {That he is with the signature Cheston baby chin}

{Crazy action shot with brother}

{Lovin' this!}

~ christa jean

Long time, no see!

I've been putting off posting for a while now, not because I don't have anything to say, quite the contrary! I have TOO much to say and TOO little blogging time.

Since my last post, I had a baby. Yay me! Hence, the other reason I've been procrastinating. I wanted my first post back to be his birth story, but, alas, every time I think about sitting down to pen it, I get lost in thought about it all. I am still processing the whole experience.

So, as I drag my feet on that, let me just give you some photos to browse.


Here is the newest little man, born at... honestly, I don't remember what time, on August 27th (four days after my birthday, what a treat!). He was 8lbs, 13oz. and had a big noggin!

Welcome Baby Isaac!

They come out of the womb with such razor sharp little nails! Poor little face! But pretty blue eyes. Hope they stay that way!

Baby Bros. Big brother is very protective of him, but tries to pick him up when I'm not looking. So, I look.

Here he is, chillin' to tunes on Gracie's keyboard.

Now we come to some randomness. I look at these photos and chuckle. This is what you do when you are SOOOO done being pregnant. You paint random objects about the house. At least, that's what I did.

We found this chair at the GW years ago. I thought it might need a little "livening up."

This is the color I was gonna paint in our master bedroom. Decided to try it on a chair instead.

I don't much love the finished product, although, I think it's unique and even a bit whimsical. I have a pearlescent glaze I may paint over the aqua... not sure yet.

This cute towel stand was originally black (drat that I forgot to take a "before" shot!). I like it much better white. And I *heart* spray paint! It makes me happy.

I used these pom poms at a baby shower and then decided they would be super cute in my girls room. Makes the ugly ceiling light almost unnoticeable. Fist pump!

My youngest two girls sleep on the bunks. They each got to choose their own comforters from, can you guess? IKEA, of course.

This is my oldest's sweet bed. Can you tell that the walls are pink? I chose a pink that almost looks white. Love it! Still pondering what to put on the bare walls.

We finally got our "gallery" started in the hallway. Still waiting on the boy's photos.

Here is another paint project that I neglected to take "before" pics of. It was black, much cuter as white now.

Pour me some cold milk and give me a brownie. Perfection!

We bought this island at IKEA as well. The front is super cute, with lots of white drawers that, now, I'll have to take a photo of.

Here's my Hunka Hunka Husband attaching the top of the bar. I love him to bits.

I think I'm gonna paint the barstools something unexpected. Maybe cobalt blue.

The finished product!

This is me, right before baby was born, very large and too tired to put make-up on.

I am trying to model this new hairstyle that my sis showed me. My husband said I look like Pocahontas from the 70's. Not sure if that's a compliment?

This hairstyle is super easy. Just pop an elastic head band on top of your partially dry hair, all hippie like, then begin twisting portions and tucking them into the band, pulling them down under. It's best to twist away from your face. Wrap all the way down to the back and let dry. I braided the rest of my hair so that it would have that twisted look also.

The back looks like this! It's even cute enough as is to go out in public.

Couldn't get a great shot of the finished result (you know, the old "taking pictures of myself again" routine), but trust me when I say, it's an easy do that gives you flirty waves!

And that's that for now.

Be back soon!

~christa jean

SOZO

There is a mystery in childbearing that I have yet to fully understand.

You'd think that because I am preparing to give birth to my fifth child, I would be an "expert" by now, but tis not the case.


With each new birth, there is a part of my spirit that is opened just a little bit more to "see" and grasp what this mystery truly means.


We were singing the above song a few weeks back and the chorus lyrics, which I've sung many a time, took on a new meaning.


"I am alive, 'cause You are alive.
Jesus, Your presence is changing my life.
I'm saved by the power of Your life in mine,
I'm saved by the power of Your life in mine."


Trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I have another little life growing inside of me, is like trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I have Jesus' life growing inside of me.

I have Christ in me and it gives me hope.


"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." {Col. 1:27}


To some this is foolishness. I admit it to be almost unexplainable, and isn't that just like a mystery, which often is only understood by revelation? It takes a child-like faith that says, "Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!" {Mark 9:24}


In 1 Timothy 2:15, it says, "Notwithstanding, she shall be saved in childbearing..." When you actually look up that Greek word for "saved", you find that it denotes much more than an eternal salvation. "Sozo: to save, keep safe and sound, rescue from danger or destruction, to preserve, to make well, to restore, to heal, to be made whole."


"To be made whole."

This phrase is dear to me. I am being made whole. Daily!

Don't ask me to explain how giving birth will make me whole, because it is a mystery. All I know is that I need it, I crave it, I long for it.


It is the hope of this life. To be completed by the One who is perfect in love.
He takes all my sins, flaws, fears, and He restores, renews, heals.


~christa jean

Time Flies

{Pic borrowed from KK's blog}

It was a lazy day, not the kind when one is lazily enjoying the company of family, but the kind of laziness that kept me from doing anything interactive at all. My dishes were everywhere, my house was a disaster (yard sale consequences), and my kiddos were left to their own devices.

I was lost in blog land, for hours it seemed. And then I got to one blog written by a single mother (not single by choice) of four boys. She wrote about how she has to work five jobs to stay in her house and how she worries for her boys. She spoke of the strain she sees of divorce on her children. She voiced her hurt. She also lovingly described the ways she stops everything she's doing when she is home with them and looks them each in the face, and reads stories, prays with them, and tickles them. Because time flies and she didn't want to miss their childhood.

That's when I left my computer.

I don't want to be near my children in body, but never engaging their hearts.

I joined my little people outside and in my haste to be with them, locked us out of the house.

Now, hubby was gone helping a family member with a house project, and that left me, outside with no cell phone. I knew he would be home in about an hour, so I thought we'd just sit in the shade and enjoy it.

It's amazing how attitude can make or break an opportunity like that. When I first told my kids we were locked out, one said "Oh no, now we'll never get in!" Isn't that just like us? To see the negative first? Another one said, "But we'll be bored out here!" Really? It seems to me that we were given imaginations for a reason. Yet another one said, "If you guys would have just checked the door knob before you closed the door... " Shift the blame onto someone else, that's the way it's done.

Okay, that last one was me.

At that moment, I had a choice: to admit it was my doing and change the attitude atmosphere, or to keep the scowl on.

Thankfully, I chose wisely and admitted it was my fault we were locked out. And changed my tactic to, hey, let's be together!

I turned the sprinkler on and let them at it with their clothing on. That changed everything. I could have been further tempted to scowl when I realized that my little guy had done his "dooty" in his diaper. Literally, the flies were swarming around him, folks. But, again, I decided to relax because I couldn't change a darn-tootin thing at that moment.

When I ponder how quickly time is flying by, it gives me pause. I think about how I can only remember small fragments from even when my little guy was a babe. That was only 2.5 years ago! How my firstborn looked as a baby, I seem to recall only in the photos I see of her.

So, my prayer is that I would learn this lesson early and learn it well. And even in the harried moments, remember...

Babies don't keep.

~christa jean

Double Trouble

Twins have been on my mind. Seriously.

I am already very poochy belly and only 17 weeks.
I started feeling this baby (or babies) move at 8 weeks.
I know a few people who have had twins in the last year or so.

And then my midwife said the words, "You are measuring 4 weeks bigger than you should be. I'd like to schedule you for an ultrasound."

Soooooo, last Wednesday I get my 32 oz. of water ready and the kiddos and I head to the library. I was told that I needed to have all my water guzzled by 11:30.
Fine. No prob.

I'm just dinkin' around the library and happen to look at the clock... 11:35! Oh no! I had only finished 8 oz.! I quickly chugged all but 4 oz. (just couldn't do it!) and finished my water by 11:4o- ish.

I dropped the kids off at my sis-in-law's for some cousin time and headed up to the hospital to meet Carter. Of course, the first question they ask is, "Did you drink your water?" to which I promptly reply, "Yes."
They didn't ask me if I had finished it by 11:30, so, no lying on my part!

We head back to the exam room and I lie down on the table, praying that the gel is warm. Cold gel is NO fun on a nice, warm belly.

The ultrasound technician (super sweet gal) squeezes warm gel on my belly and smiles. She measures the head first and finds that, indeed baby is 17 weeks.
Note, that I said baby. There is only one.



For a brief second I felt sad for this... what an adventure twins would've been! But then reality check hits me and I remember that I already have four. God knows what I can handle and I thank Him.

Why was I measuring so big? Not sure, but my theory is that my uterus just goes into "done this drill before" and so, pops out the day I realize I'm pregnant.

Back at the ultrasound, Tech Gal says that baby probably won't cooperate because of it's position and we'd have to see the sex a different time. Sigh.
I think she could tell we were disappointed, so she had me get up, relieve my bladder (THANK you!), and move around a bit. I climbed back on the table and she took some face pictures. Sweet, little face that looks like a skeleton.

She jiggled baby's legs a bit and then, voila!
We saw it.

The third leg.

That's right, friends. Eliot get's himself a baby bro!

I had to sign a waiver stating that I understand this is NOT a guarantee and that said Tech Gal could have been mistaken about the sex. You know, just in case I think I wanna sue her if she was wrong. Puhleeeeease. Who does that? Well, someone has or I wouldn't have had to sign it.

Speaking of Eliot... didn't I just have him?
I feel like it. I still recall that day and all that surrounded my home birth like it was last month. And now I'm going through with this again?!!!!
I crack me up!

Ohhhhh my.
Well, if you don't mind a few more "Pregnancy Blatherings" then feel free to read along.

~christa jean
p.s. Once I troubleshoot why my phone isn't syncing with my laptop, I'll post pics of the infamous belly.

Big Baby Boy

Here's a shout out to my little, big man for turning 2 this month!

What would we do without the world's sweetest little boy in our house? He's a funny little character. If he sees a drawer or cupboard open, he will come by and close it for you, even while you're trying to get something out of it. Or maybe it's the fridge that he tries to close you into. He's efficient that way. He is very neat and cleans up after himself. He sings himself to sleep with "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" every night and wakes up humming some little tune every morning.

{Moustaches are all the rage. Especially if they are chocolate.}

{He says "I yuw yoo" to us day and night.}

{He loves to wear royal garments. No matter that they have purple hearts on them.

He's paired it nicely with a camo shirt.}

{When daddy comes near, he knows it's tickle time!}

{He's very regular and goes on the toilet after breakfast every morning.

And that's one less icky smell for me to deal with.}

{I LOVE this. He "reads" daily.}

{I'm FREE to be ME!!!}

{He loves to be cuddled, loves to be touched,

which is most definitely his language of love.}

{My two hunks!}

I'm sure he would love to stay being THE baby in our house, but such is not meant to be. Come August, he'll be a big brother to one more little bundle of joy.

YUP. And baby makes seven!

~christa jean