Author Archives: Abbie

Malachi in March

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Today mark’s Malachi’s first month here!  I still can’t believe he’s a month old.  My recovery is going really well.  Malachi is doing great too.  Sleeping, eating, and that other stuff.  I do have to brag…Malachi is our fourth child to sleep through the night (five hours or more), at before a month.  Now, don’t start hating.  I’ve done my share of up every two hours and walking and crying babies (okay, Mark’s done his fair share…he’s our primary nighttime parent…His choice…again, don’t hate.  I’ve tried to convince him to let me do it but he won’t).  I don’t sleep train them to do this.  They just sleep long stretches at night.  Can’t explain why!

Also, he marked his four weeks by starting to smile.  He started out smiling at my friend, Kristina on April 2.  We thought it was a fluke, but the next day he smiled at Mark and me.  We were pretty impressed with his toothless grins and he’s offered them up to his brothers and sisters too.  I’ll get those pictures up soon.

On to a smathering (I just love that nonsensical word), of beautiful Malachi pictures.

A dear friend from church.  We actually met when she was posting on a forum about moving to our area.  I’ve been so blessed to get to know her and her amazing and wonderful family!
Our awesome babysitter!  She loves babies and my kids.  That’s a plus in our book!
Another friend from church.  She’s like a substitute grandmom to my kids!  Even the boys…who seek her out to get paper airplanes!
He loves sleeping with his hands clung together.  Praying…
Two Weeks

 Yo Peeps!

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Busy, busy

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Not sure how much posting I’m going to get these next few days.  We’re busying loving on our friends who are visiting from far, far away…Kentucky!

So, in the meantime, check out Tracy’s sneak peak of our newest most adorable addition!

I can’t wait to see the other pictures she took…the good and the bad.  Sometimes it’s really fun to laugh at the bad!

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October Baby Review

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If you haven’t heard of October Baby, well, you’re just missing out.  Mark and I had the wonderful privilege of going to see this movie yesterday while our wonderful babysitter watched the kids (excluding the nursing babe).

October Baby is about a young lady who finds out at 19 years old that she’s adopted.  Not only that, but also that she is an abortion survivor.  The movie takes you on a journey as she seeks and searches for meaning in her life and forgiveness of others.

The cinematography and acting are top notch.  Wonderful and amazing.  The heart of the story is just that, all heart.   Maybe it’s my post baby hormones but several tears were shed…and I forgot my tissue so a burp cloth had to suffice.

The writers did an amazing job of not playing the “blame game” or criticizing the choices made.  At one point, one of the characters reminds 19 year old Hannah to hate the crime not the person who did it.  I thought that was a very fitting to remind the audience that this isn’t just about the act but about what happens after it.  And they played both sides so extremely well…both the post-abortion mom/woman and the survivor.

And when the credits roll, don’t get up to leave.  Stay, and hear how the movie has brought healing to one of the actresses in the film.  What an amazing way God used this film to heal her and to portray what was in her heart!

We were quite impressed with how the screenwriters brought in the father/daughter relationship.  As Courageous did, this film really portrayed fathers not as perfect individuals but as strong leaders who, when they mess up, can seek repentance and forgiveness.

I don’t think Mark would mind me sharing that this film not only touches women but is also for men.  Mark got a bit choked up at a touching scene between the father and daughter.

I encourage everyone who can to go see this movie.  10% of the profits from October Baby goes to support Every Life is Beautiful which works to support pro-life organizations through crisis pregnancy centers, adoption agencies, and orphan care. 

Go to October Baby to see if the film is playing in your area.

And a bonus, the film is made by two brother filmmakers out of Alabama!  Woot!  Woot!  

Disclaimer:  Nobody paid us to say all these nice things…we gladly forked over one of our children’s college education funds to purchase two movie tickets to see this amazing film. Not really…but it was close!

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Introducing…

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Our new stove!

Papa & Grandmere came up the Wednesday before Malachi was born, and wouldn’t you know it, our new stove was in so Mark & Papa could install it.  I know Papa was thrilled at all this manual labor (the next day, he continued with the hard labor to get our yard cleaned up…he did an awesome job…although our yard needs cutting again)!

Okay, I know it’s a stove…but my dear friends if you like to bake and cook for your family, you’ll totally get why I’m so excited.  It’s a convection oven!  How cool is that?!  And it’s a glass top.  Which means, no more cleaning out the catchers for the heating elements!  Or underneath them.  Oh, and it also has a “slow cook” function on it.  I can use my stove as a slow cooker…that is so cool!  And will come in handy since my kids have decided they like my barbecue made from Boston Butts…I don’t think one will cut it the next time I make it!

So, here’s the process of how the swap out occurred.

Out with the old.  In all fairness…it was time for the stove to go.  The broiler was broken and one of the heating elements was overheating.

The kids weren’t really anxious to see the new stove…they wanted to play with the box!

Daddy always has a helper…or two.
A few little cuts and Papa had transformed the box into a house.

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Ceili Rain’s Birthday Weeks

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We ventured out a week before Ceili Rain’s birthday to start off her celebrations.  Mark felt we needed to do it then rather than trying to get out on the day of her birthday.  Good thoughts considering Malachi and I came home from the hospital on her birthday.  And, she’s three, and doesn’t really care when or where we celebrate.   The longer the celebrations the better!

They proved to be longer too.  She received gifts from Ge & Granddaddy while we were in the hospital and was able to celebrate with Papa and Grandmere on her actual birthday.  As far as the cake…which we were informed was very important when singing “Happy Birthday!”  Well, that came the day after her birthday.  Mom just wasn’t up to snuff to decorate on the day of.  She didn’t seem to mind having to wait one more day for her cake though!

So, for her birthday, we took her to Build-a-Bear.  We thought, at three, she would surely enjoy making her own decision and decorating a bear to go with it!  She did.  She was in total heaven!

 She had a lot of help picking out an animal to stuff.  
But, in the end, she knew what she wanted… pink bunny with daisies all over it.
She still wasn’t quite sure what was going on.
But, then she saw the almost finished product.
We all stuffed her full of hearts.  

Then Ceili Rain took her to bathe her.  A job she took very seriously.
And, then she choose her name.  Daisy…how appropriate.  When we got home though, she told us her name was Prissy…except she couldn’t add the ‘r’ in Prissy so it came out…well, you know.  I think she’s since stuck with Daisy.

Celebrating at the hospital with Ge & Granddaddy!
And here at our family celebration the day after.  Ace took these pictures and I think he did a good job if I do say so myself.
As, I decorated her cake, she informed me that she wanted a “queen” to go on her head…not just her cake.
I didn’t take this in to account and had not gotten her a crown.  We quickly remembered that Zoe had this tiara from a long time ago and she promptly got it and plopped it on Ceili Rain’s head.  Happy Princess!
When we were discussing cakes, she first told me she wanted a chocolate
cake in the shape of a “queen” (that’d be a crown), but then, by no
coercion on my part, decided she wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate
icing and m&ms and a crown.  I’m still patting myself on my back
that I remembered to pick up Valentine’s M&M’s in February…and
that I hid them from myself and the kids until her birthday.  So, here
is her cake request in all it’s glory!

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Malachi…for the relatives

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Our Chi (like the greek letter…at least that’s how I think you spell it…anyway), is growing and doing all the baby things he should.  And, apparently, I did not plan any baby pics for this week…so, to satisfy the family…here’s some more pics of Malachi!

Relaxing before hitting the road…that was the calm before the storm (of siblings)!
There is a baby in there…#6 was not feeling up to snuff so he didn’t make the pic.
 For some reason, Malachi’s head is the favorite resting spot for several siblings.
More cuddles.
Josiah totally rocked the baby holding.  Malachi was a bit cranky about being passed around but Grandmere helped Josiah get him to sleep.  It never phased Josiah that Chi was crying.
Of course, Aunt Tracy had to get her hands on him!
And so did some friends from church.  J was able to get Malachi asleep as well!
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Dive In

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We’re going on vacation really soon, so Mark and I decided that it wouldn’t be a bad idea for some of our non-swimmers to take some swim lessons and hopefully keep a few from drowning. Ace and Liam are so close to swimming so they were a must. What we weren’t sure of was Josiah. He had never had a swim lesson by himself before and I really don’t count the “mommy & me” class we took. Although, that was fun. So, we weren’t sure whether to put him in or not. We finally decided to give it a try.

Here’s how it went down (again, didn’t get pictures except the last night).

The first night, Josiah cried. The whole time. And did everything they said, while crying. We were really wondering if this was going to be worth the money.

The second lesson, Josiah cried but only when he had to do something. And he still did it. Hmm, this might work after all.

By the third lesson, he was smiling and informed us that he was having fun! He spent the rest of the lessons smiling and listening and doing all that was asked. He’s getting pretty good at floating and pretty good at swimming on his back! Not something any of our other 4 year olds have been able to do!

As for Ace & Liam, well, they had a wonderful teacher!  Ace is at independent swimming status and Liam is so close but needs a bit more confidence.  His teacher didn’t make it to the last class until the very end and Liam all but refused to do anything for his substitute teachers.  He was really scared and just didn’t trust these total strangers.  But, as soon as Mr. Eric walked in, he did everything that was asked.  I talked with his instructor afterwards and it really all boils down to his confidence in being able to do things.  Hopefully, when summer gets here (and at least our vacation), he’ll have that confidence.

We were really proud of all of them and how hard they worked!

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Settling in

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My stamina is increasing each day but I’m still trying to take it easy.

Next week, we may add a bit of school to keep our sanity about us…but don’t think I’m going to be pushing it.  Totally am planning on taking it one day at a time.

The kids are all enjoying having Malachi around.  However, some of them are turning into Loraxes!

Courtesy of Target’s Reading time they had in February!

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