Peace

Sorry about the clarity of this pic. Camera is quite weird. But I promised one of Susan with Eli. After all, it is her who has him most of the time. Riley just wanted to join in the fun on this one.

Last night was a much needed night with Eli. I had a very "interesting" time at small group and was somewhat frustrated when I came home. Of course I have agreed to do the 2am bottle feeding. Lately it has involved much screaming (from Eli) and a few messy diapers. Last night he awoke at 2am. I rushed to make the bottle and feed him. Generally when he is done eating he, first of all, fills his diaper. (Did not happen last night!) Secondly, he cries because, well, I'm not really sure why.

Last night, though, he finished his eating and instead of spitting out the nipple and screaming, he pushed it out with his tongue and just looked up at me very contented. I cannot tell you how rare and special this moment was. He stayed there, looking at me, for some time until he began to doze off back to sleep. Not once last night did I need to use the pacifier to calm him down or get him back to sleep. What a peaceful, serence moment it was last night.

Of course, that was followed by me going back to bed at 2:30 and not being able to go to sleep until sometime after 3:30. Two nights in a row of that stuff. I'm the one who's supposed to be able to fall right back asleep. Maybe tonight I pray.

That's the news. That's the update. Enjoy your day and the peace that God provides.

New Pics

Ok! So isn't he absolutely adorable. It actually looks like he's trying to smile in the middle pic. My goal for the next post is to get pics of he and Susan and he and Isaac.

He's growing and getting bigger and more comfortable every day. He loves sitting in his swing and chilling out. What a blessing he is!!

Things are busy here. We are still in the process of getting everything worked out for our community day coming up April 15. Should be lots of fun and lots of stress leading up to it.

Not sure what else to post other than we're all excited for signs of spring. Hope you all are enjoying signs of new life as well.

It's About Time!!!

Well it's about time isn't it?!? We have received emails asking why there are no new posts with new pics of Eli yet. Well, here goes......no good excuse or reason. But isn't it nice to know that I have heard your cries and am willing to share what we have so far.

Eli continues to grow. (He's a baby. That's what he does.) He has developed a case of baby acne. Reminiscent of my teen years. He cries a lot. He eats a lot. He sits in his swing a lot. But he gets more and more comfortable in this world every day.

Susan is doing remarkably well, except for the whole exhaustion part of being a new mother. Eli keeps her busy. I try to help out by keeping the older boys out of her hair for a bit, but sometimes that is impossible.

Isaac is super-stoked about his birthday coming up the end of this month. He's doing great in school and already looking forward to Spring Break. (I didn't think that started until later in school.) We had a meeting with his speech teacher who said that after this next year, she believes that Isaac will be done with speech therapy. That was wonderful news to hear. He is doing so well in his speech.

Riley is definitely a 4 year old. Very active and friendly. Also very demanding and selfish at times. But that goes with being a 4yo, doesn't it? He loves his baby brother and helps out quite a bit at home with him. He is doing much better about getting himself ready in the mornings, much to the delight of his mother and me.

Both boys really dote on Eli quite a bit. In fact, they want to be so close to him all the time that I think it kinda freaks Eli out. He gets nervous when two very antsy boys get right up in his face. But they both love him tremendously and are proud to be big brothers.

I am doing well. Looking forward to a big community day that we will be having on April 15. Easter Egg Hunt included. Hoping that it continues to bless our community and let them know that (1) we're here and (2) we love them. Consistently running over 100 in our worship services now. That is very encouraging. Although numbers are not the most important thing. Making disciples is.

Here are a couple more pics to tide you over for a bit.