For all the people who have said...

...that Max looks like Will...




or that Max looks like Jack...

or that Max looks like Eleanor...

 

or that Max looks nothing like his siblings...



here is Max:

So what do you think??

An evening to remember

Children are a blessing from the Lord!
Here is Max at 4 months.  Sweeter than ever, social, sucking on his fingers, rolling over.
His smile still gets me every day.

And these three hooligans!!!

Tonight at the dinner table was one of my most encouraging moments as a parent.
The kids were playing a game (King Steve with his Queen and their friend Tom-Jerry at their favorite restaurant - SteakFans - but that's beside the point) and Todd and I started playing along (Manager and server at SteakFans, but that also is beside the point).  Eleanor decided that I had never heard the Gospel and thus began 15 minutes or so of awesome role-play.  Eleanor, with some great help from Will and Jack, took me through the nature of God (Powerful and completely Good, existing from eternity past), Creation, the Fall, my own sin, Christ's birth, death and Resurrection, and Heaven and the future New Earth.  They told me to read Romans 3:23 and Romans 6:23 and John 3:16.  They told me how to pray, and invited me to church to worship God with other people who love Him, and reassured me that God never sleeps - He is always with me, and though I cannot see God, He always sees me.  Eleanor explained that everyone individually has to bow before God - alone, "without parents", she said.  They talked about their sister in Heaven and how they will see her again and how Jesus Himself is there and how wonderful Heaven will be. 
Needless to say, I was converted!  Then we talked about Romans 10:9, "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

As a parent, sweet moments like this are something I live for.
A taste of the fruit of our labor.
Thankful to God for our time this evening!

Graveside ponderings

We visited Lucy's grave a couple of weeks ago.  Our first time since we've had little Max.  It is hard to go, always makes for an emotional day, and yet I truly like to go.  The kids like it, too.  We took pink tulips, and cried a little, and walked around reading grave markers.  There is a strange comfort in seeing what surely represents a community of grief...and of hope.
All those little graves represent so much heartache, loss, so many tears.  I am confident they also represent precious souls now worshiping our Savior.

I saw two graves, it seemed of a brother and sister.  Jeremiah and Meriah.  The little girl's date of birth was the same as her date of death.  The little boy died 6 months later...he wasn't even two.  Why did God ask those parents to endure that??  I don't begin to understand, but I do know that God is good.  And even though their loss was 30 years ago, I could stand there in the grass two weeks ago and pray for those parents.

 

 

The joy and healing that God has brought through the birth of Max exist side by side with the sadness I still feel over Lucy's death.  They are very...separate.  The sorrow of Lucy being stillborn doesn't take away the joy and delight I feel in Max's birth; neither does that joy take away the grief of a year and a half ago.

Walking around the cemetary, I noticed several graves of two month olds.  Of 2 and 3 year olds.  I hold my children a little tighter and fight fear and thank God for every day He sees fit to give us together.

Yesterday I was excited to drive to our hospital and talk to a nurse about the possibility of having some books donated for parents who are dealing with loss.  "Safe in the Arms of God" by John Macarthur was a great help to us after Lucy, and I would love to be able to put that into the hands of other people needing solid, Biblical comfort.  I hope it all works out!
 Regardless, yesterday I handed somebody words of Biblical hope.
  I handed somebody the Gospel.
 And it is because of Lucy's death!

Little Man at 3 months

This is one of my favorite photos of Max.  Look at those cheeks!  Look at that smile!  Every time I look at this picture I want to go pick him up and kiss him...so I usually do.  :D

 

When Max smiles, his whole face lights up.  He beams!  His smiles bring us all such joy.  His siblings still get giddy at his grins.  (So do I.)

He holds his head up so well by himself, "talks" and loves to blow spit bubbles, thinks pat-a-cake is awesome, and clutches blankets, clothes, fingers, hair.  He has begun to bat intentionally at toys.
He is sweet and cuddly (although he also likes to make himself as stiff as a board sometimes!).
Sleeping through the night for about a month now...aahhh.

Max is such a gift from our good God!

Pictures from the past week

First Snow
 

Andrew's birthday.  Don't you love the pirate hat?  It's really a card that Will picked out!

Diana and Audrey, so sweet!

Max is starting to hold on to things and put them in his mouth!

Trick-or-Treat!

Aren't they so cute and funny?! 
You can tell I put very little effort into Haloween costumes...

 

October 12 - Happy 5th Birthday...

...to our sweet, sensitive, rascally, rhyming, baby-loving, Lego-building, energetic, wonderful WILL!

He asked for a Lego birthday party, and he got one!



"This is so cool, Jack!  I LOVE it!" he told his brother.
 A police set, complete with thief and handcuffs.

 

I was pretty excited about these crayons that we made!

 

I baked the cake, but Mimi Ruthie gets the credit for carefully frosting each marshmallow!


 

The kids played with Legos

Then we told them to build whatever they wanted, timed them for 2 minutes, and gave awards for their creations.

 

 

 

 

Then came a game of hot potato...

And gifts.  Lots of them.  Will was very blessed by the generosity of his family and friends!

 

 

 

 

Will liked the look of his cake, but was really just interested in eating those marshmallows!

 

 

 

 

 No cake for Max and Audrey...

Children are a blessing from the Lord.
We love you, Will!!