One of the best parts about bringing a new baby into the family is introducing it to the other children. They eagerly anticipate the baby all through the pregnancy, talking about it and making suggestions on the name.
While waiting for us to come home from the hospital they made a banner to welcome the new brother.
The girls were excited that his ‘birth’ day present was a tea set (I love tea) and the flowers from our gardens and the store made several rooms welcoming and cheery.
Garrison, no longer the baby, is totally enamored with his new brother. He keeps climbing up on the couch next to me and reaching out his arms to hold Ryder. He studies the “baby” and gently compares facial features with his own. These two are going to be best buds!
Of course, a new baby is quite fun to play with. Ivy was inspired by some photos I did of baby Flora and has been wanting to set up a scene with the new baby. We decided to carry out his name meaning with this first attempt, and I’m sure more scenes will follow.
You know, not everyone is lucky enough to be welcomed by 7 excited siblings but Ryder is one of those few to be so loved.
Back in April, a generous friend offered to watch our kids overnight so we could getaway and relax a bit before the baby comes. After tossing around ideas, we settled on some new territory to explore – San Marcos. We found the cutest little Air B&B and a few things to do, packed our bags, some games and a good book and headed out!
The first day we ate at a cute Italian restaurant and spent the afternoon strolling the river.
We found a fun swing and waded around a bit. We debated if we should try tubing but the weather was on the chilly side.
The B&B was cute and well stocked. We cooked a pizza and played some games then retired early.
Brian was up before 6 the next morning, eager to get a start on the day. The niftiest disc golf course was a mile down the road and rain was in the forecast so he wanted to get there before it started. We were the only ones on the course.
It was set up more like a putt putt for disc golf. Pictures of some of the more unusual holes:
This putt started on a platform and you had to land on a marked “island.” If you missed, you had to shoot standing on a boulder dubbed “the rock of shame.”
Odd?
Brian’s favorite hole – try to ricochet off the car hoods into the basket.
Basket at the top of the lighthouse.
Which way do you throw?
Last hole – the Alamo!
We played the course several times and quite enjoyed ourselves. Back at the B&B we did some stretching then fixed a delicious lunch before heading back towards home. A local museum on LBJ and some Mexican food for supper finished up our getaway.
Last week I was working with some photos from another time in our family and came across this Mother’s Day video. I thought I’d re-post it just to show a window of time in motherhood.
Funny thing is….those same things still happen around here, just done by a different set of kids!
In March, we were privileged to celebrate the 6th birthday of our Eden girl!
Since we were currently reading the American Girl books for “Molly” we had a party with our co-op group on that theme. The cake is like the one Molly had in the book.
We played some of the classic school yard games like Red Rover and Statues.
Molly also enjoyed roller skating, and in one book shared the fun with a friend by each using one while pretending to walk a dog with a jump rope. We tried out roller skating which is harder than it looks! The weather was beautiful and we had a lot of fun.
About two weeks later we joyfully celebrated a new birth day for Eden as she was born again into the family of God!
Her earthly family gathered (including many of the cousins!) to witness her baptism.
She affirmed her desire to be a part of God’s family, confessing with her mouth the Lord Jesus whom she believed was raised from the dead.
Brian baptized her. (note: she wanted to wear the same dress that Ivy and Flora had been baptized in a year and two years previously)
Behold, a new sister in Christ! She has been interested in being a part of God’s family (as she puts it) since the time of Lance and Flora’s baptism but we had waited, unsure if it was a sincere desire or just an imitating of the older ones. She has mentioned it off and on throughout the last year but I’ve always just waited for her to push the issue. Our Bible study this year was on Revelation and as we went over the lesson on Jesus reaping the harvest she again expressed her desire to be part of God’s family. Brian happened to be working from home that day so the two of us were able to talk with her and walk with her through understanding exactly what that meant. What a neat moment. I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity that our Bible study has provided for a chance to daily disciple our children and discuss the things of God.
And of course, as with our other birthday celebrations, refreshments and games with cousins followed.
We baptized her Easter weekend – what a glorious way to celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ!
