Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Winter.

I like winter.  I know that sounds like crazy talk after the last couple days of snow and record breaking cold.  I realize most people are fed up with winter.  I argue this with Randy quite often... He would be happy to live in Texas or Arizona... But I can't imagine life without the seasons.  To me, they are all necessary...you can't appreciate any one of them without the others.
Here we are in winter, the world is black and white.  I love how the trees look with snow stuck to their bare branches.  Everything is simple.  We slow down.  You have to in the cold and snow... Sometimes you are forced to by closed roads, businesses and schools.  Mother Nature presses pause on our busy life, and there's no way around it.  
Take a breath and make a pot of chilli, or soup, or stew... One of the  deliciously warm foods that just hit the spot when it's cold out.  How about a mug of hot cocoa, hot apple cider, or coffee...there's something about warming yourself from the inside out.
Winter has no mosquitoes, flies or humidity.  Without winter we would have no maple syrup!
Winter cold makes a summer day feel warmer.  Winter drab makes the leaves and grass of Spring greener.  I like the contrast. Don't wish away winter.  Wishing away winter won't stop it from happening.  It just stops you from enjoying the beauty in it.











Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Baptism


Sunday was Autumn's baptism.  We asked Randy's brother Jason and my sister Lauren to be Godparents.  When Austin was born, they were only 16 and 18... Too young to take the roll.  So both the third-borns are now Godparents to our third-born!  Another fact all three have in common that we enjoy telling is that all three were born in years that the Cardinals played in the World Series...but lost ('85, '87, '13) :(
The weather was not very cooperative, but we were blessed to have our family make it up despite that.



   












Monday, December 9, 2013

Movin' right along...

We're into our second month already!  I spend most hours of the day with Autumn, so I don't see her growing right before my eyes until I look back at pictures.  I started taking monthly pictures, and it's amazing how much bigger she looks in one month!  At her two month check up she was 11 lbs and 21 1/2 inches long...

       
Some other pictures of Autumn...

 








   



  






Sunday, November 3, 2013

A little bit of fall...

With a baby named Autumn, I had to make an effort to get some fall pictures...

 


Halloween... Austin was Dumbledore from Harry Potter and Andrew was Steve from Minecraft...

 Autumn is one of her Halloween outfits...

Watching the Cardinals lose the World Series...










Thursday, October 24, 2013

Our little girl, Autumn Grace

On the morning of Friday September 27, I was having some discomfort that my wise husband thought was labor... After some prompting and tears, he convinced me to go to labor and delivery.  Okay, actually, he came home and made me go with him... And had already called our parents to tell them we were going, if he hadn't I would have talked myself out of it... In my mind it was still too soon, even though the others came at 36 weeks, I had convinced myself this time would I would go longer.   I would highly recommend Boone Hospital... The nurses we had were great, and I was lucky that my doctor was on call that night as well.  It was like it was meant to be...
I will never forget Randy telling me "it's a girl!"  I absolutely love my boys, but those words, for this baby, were pure sweetness.  We named her Autumn because I love the season of Fall, and have always loved the name.  I knew if we had a girl we had to name her Grace.  In the Christian definition Grace is "the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings."  It is the love and mercy given to us by God because God desires us to have it, not because of anything we have done to earn it.
It is by Grace that I have 3 healthy happy babies, my boys are wonderful kids, and now to have a little girl...
It is by Grace that I have a husband that loves me, and after 13 years of marriage we celebrate with a baby and not a divorce...
It is by Grace that our parents and siblings are all alive and healthy...
I could go on for a long time, but Grace is something that I feel every day, and I couldn't imagine a better name for our little girl!

Autumn being weighed...


Randy didn't tell the boys if it was a boy or girl.  So we brought them in first, and here was their reaction when they saw the pink hat...



They got to go back to the waiting room to tell the grandparents...


It's a girl!!!













Saturday, October 5, 2013

Autumn

On September 27, at 10:29 pm, we welcomed a little girl into our family... Autumn Grace.  She was 6lbs 5.8 oz and 18 1/2 inches inches long, and she has stolen our hearts.
We didn't find out if we were having a boy or girl, so along with being 4 weeks early, she was a beautiful surprise!  I haven't found a lot of time to take or download pictures, but I wanted to share a few that I love...













Thursday, October 3, 2013

A few more of my boys

There were a few more pictures of my boys I was going to share...