A Less Traveled Path

I was just sitting in my rocking chair with my precious baby boy cuddled up on my chest, rocking slowly back and forth, listening to the sound of his sweet breath with every inhale and exhale.  His little face was turned up towards mine, those blue eyes sparkling, and I leaned down and kissed the warm, soft skin between his eyes, and the tip of his sweet little nose that gets lost between those yummy, chubby cheeks.  My kisses brought a smile to his petite ruby lips, and I got a glimpse of those white chompers emerging forth from his little gums.  Oh my!  What joy and delight to squeeze his roly-poly, little flesh in my arms!

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.  My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
  Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them." Psalm 139:13-16




I am full of praise and gratitude to the Lord God Almighty for the four babies He has graciously filled my arms with!  What blessings given by grace!




My heart remembers well the painful road of infertility traveled 20 years ago, then again beginning five years ago . . . .




. . . . and I rejoice that at the end of the road were the blessings of Christian, Andrew, Sarah and Luke!




And here we are again, Tom and I, before the throne of the Almighty, asking for another blessing . . . .

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward. Psalm 127:3

. . . . . a blessing given by grace.


Our journey to another blessing, Lord willing, is taking us down a less traveled path . . . . . the path of embryo adoption!

Hill Family Pig Pickin' - An Open Adoption Update

I first heard about Martin Hill's (Haley's grandfather, her mom Laura's dad) pig pickin' birthday bash one year ago when I went with Haley and her mom to one of her doctor appointments.  If we were comfortable with it, her mom was hoping that our family would be able to attend the 2011 bash so that everyone could meet Luke, his mommy and daddy, and his brothers and sister. 

The relationship we have with Haley and her family has been very comfortable.  They are all wonderfully accepting of us, fully recognize us as Luke's mom and dad, and preface and end everything they say with "If that's alright with you."  We don't have frequent contact, but when we do, we are treated with the utmost respect for our privacy.

We were truly looking forward to Mr. Hill's birthday party!  The planets aligned and our whole family was able to attend.  There were more people there than I expected -- lots of friends and family -- and on every account we were treated with great kindness.

 Little Lukey was pretty overwhelmed with the whole shindig and cried the most he ever has.  I felt horrible about that, but everyone was very understanding.  Nearly every face was a new face, and they all wanted to fuss over him!  To compound the issue, the little guy hadn't had a nap.  The world is very dark place when one doesn't get their nap!  With the exception of Luke being grumpy, the afternoon went wonderfully well.  On our way home, the kids gave their ultimate endorsement by exclaiming, "Cool family!"

That's a pig cookin' on there with some chicken on the side for those who don't like pork.  The meat was delicious, but that pig cookin' on the grill was a bit creepy . . . .

Brian Hill (Laura's brother), Martin Hill (Laura's dad) and Paul Hill, (Laura's cousin)

Lukey britches doesn't like the heat, so we spent all of our time inside.

Playing with a cousin

Haley's aunts and mom were so sweet to bring gifts for Luke!

Haley holding a shirt (that has an adorable pair of shorts to go with it) from GG

Haley with aunts and cousins from her dad's side - Aunt Kim (right) and Aunt Jenny (left) with her triplets - Duncan, Will and Ellie

A five generation picture - Anna Mary Hill, Martin Hill, Laura Hill Glenn, Haley and Luke

They were all insistent that I get in the picture with them.  Oh dear - Luke was at his limit by this time!

Seventh Months!

Reading books with sissy (and chewing on a baby chick he pulled out of his book)

With mom in "Sara's Ride"

An after dinner bath

I love to play in the water
(mommy should give me a bath earlier in the day so that she doesn't get the dinner
dishes waiting to go in the dishwasher in the picture!)

My most favorite activity - eating!

I get very messy when I eat

Sitting up!

Eating . . . . again

I really, really, really love to eat (blueberries and yogurt in this picture)

My favorite sitting position

My favorite toy - a pendant from teething bling

 Off to explore!

 Boo Boo waiting for food to fall

Look mom!  No Knees!  My newest trick - up on my hands and feet

Fun Facts About Luke

Fact 1
 Luke has entered the bumps and bruises phase of his life as he is now fully mobile -- rolling, crawling and exploring his environment.  A part of me has dreaded this phase in each one of my babies' lives!  It is such a joy to watch him grow and celebrate each milestone, but some milestones bring with them an element of pain as he grows more and more independent.  He experienced a few head whacks this week as an arm or leg slipped out from under him and he connected with the floor.  So pitiful to hear him cry, but so sweet when I pick him up, comfort him, and he stops crying.  I'm trying not to make a big deal when he does get hurt which is VERY HARD.  As my friend Amy says, save the panic for when there is more than a pint of blood.  Lord willing, I won't ever need to panic.

Fact 2
Luke is cutting his top two teeth!  His little gums are red and swollen, and you can see the ridges of the teeth about to break through the skin.

Fact 3
Luke has turned into an eating  machine.  He now associates the kitchen with food, his high chair with food, and if he sees anyone putting food in their mouth, he whines at them in hopes of getting some too.  He's tried lots of new foods, including some that I vowed I would never let him have, like cake and ice cream.  He doesn't like avocados too much, but he has eagerly consumed everything else that has been offered to him.  My rule of thumb in evaluating how digestion of any new food is going is to see how everything comes out "in the end" if you will.  :o)

Fact 4
Luke is an old pro at the diaper changing activity and holds his legs straight up in the air for me until his bum is all clean.

Fact 5
Luke has a very peculiar way of sitting on the floor.  He will spread his legs out into an almost "splits" position, and then turn his ankles in and press his feet on the floor to steady himself.  I've never seen anything like it!  Other times, he has one leg tucked up underneath him with the other out in front, and his foot on the floor for balance.  (see pics above) 

Fact 6
Luke still rides in the Moby Wrap (greatest invention ever) sometimes, but it gets a little hot for both of us in the summer time (the exception being the Dekalb Farmers Market where they keep it so cold it feels like the north pole).  Upon the recommendation of my friend Heather, I purchased an Ergo carrier.  Again, Lukey and I get very hot when we use it.  When Sarah was a baby, a friend had given me the carrier she had used for her kids called "Sara's Ride."  I gave it away many years ago, and the company has gone out of business since then.  When we began our journey to have more children, I found one on ebay and snatched it up.  I forgot I had it until the other day when I was looking through a storage bin that I had put larger sized clothes in (which Luke can now wear).  Sara's Ride is perfect for Luke at this age as his neck and back muscles are developed, and because of its design, there is plenty of air flow and we don't get so hot when we're using it.  Yay!

Fact 7
Luke loves water.  He likes drinking it as well as he likes playing in it.  When I turn the water on by his changing pad to get a washcloth wet to clean his bottom, he watches the water intently while smiling at it.  Daddy says it's time to get him a little baby pool to splash in.  Hope we can find one this late in the season!

Fact 8
Did I mention how much Luke enjoys eating?

Fact 9
 It's time to put up the baby gates!  Luke is no longer content to sit on his tummy mat and play with toys.  He knows that there is a world beyond his mat and he wants to explore it!  He is about to learn that exploration has its limits for his safety.

Fact 10
Luke has learned that if you throw food on the floor, a doggy (or two) will come eat it up.   I can see now that this is going to be a mixed blessing.  How wonderful to have dogs that clean up the mess on the floor.  How dreadful that the baby has already figured out how to throw his food.

Fact 11
Luke has learned a new trick - standing up on all fours (see pic above).  For now, he just pivots his body around when he does that.  I suspect that he will be "crab" walking soon, which will then lead to pulling up, which will then lead to walking, all before he is a year old.

 Fact 12
Luke is going on his first camping trip!  Check back soon to hear about that adventure!

Summer's Bounty

The results of 2 hours of blueberry picking at the local organic blueberry farm.

We have gotten TONS of roma tomatoes (hundreds) from our 6 plants.  (see this post for how we grow them)

This . . . . .

. . . . . equals this.
One 9 x 13 dish full of tomatoes, rubbed with olive oil, stuffed with fresh garlic, cooked in the oven at 375 for 3 hours, then pureed in the blender, equals one quart of tomato sauce.

My canning efforts for this season have been squelched due to the fact that my canning equipment (hot water bath canner and pressure canner) are made of aluminum and not compatible with my new induction cook top.  I love, love, love my induction cook top (I can boil a kettle full of water in 60 seconds), but it has crippled me in the canning department.  I found a stainless steel water bath canner online that the manufacturer claims is induction compatible and am awaiting its arrival.  Finding a pressure canner that works (and that I can afford) is going to be a challenge.  If the new stainless steal water bath works, canning diced tomatoes is in my near future!  In the meantime, I'll keep cooking and pureeing tomatoes and freezing the sauce.

Our zucchini, yellow squash and cucumber plants are still producing.  What we don't eat of the squash goes in the freezer.  Christian makes sure we don't have any cucumbers left!

Henry Players Present The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

 Henry Performing Arts Center

June 23 - 26, 2011

 Christian (with sword and shield) as Peter

 Peter fighting Fenrus Ulf, the wolf

 The white witch

 Peter fighting the white witch

 The four children are crowned kings and queens

 

The Company bow- they got a standing "o!"

 Mary was a wood nymph - how many people do you know that can look that beautiful with green make up on?!!!

 Nana and Papa came up for the show

 

Hannah Studdard - Susan, Christian Thomas - Peter, Ryan Gaylor - Edmund, Ansley Frickey - Lucy

Mary and Christian with Frankie Asher who played Fenrus Ulf

SNEAK PEEK!!!

I had a new photographer, Kanella Brown, come to the house this evening to photograph Luke!  This is the sneak peek she gave me of the shoot!  I cannot wait to see the rest!!!!!!

The Lukester

At Nana and Papa's house in The Villages

Snugglin' with Nana

Luke and Papa in their Ohio State shirts

Great Grandpa Vermillion and Luke

Cruisin' around on Nana's floor

Bye bye Nana and Papa!

I put him on his tummy mat (top of the picture), but he decided he didn't want to stay there.

Up on all fours!

Sitting up!

Sucking his toes - hee hee!

Enjoying some yogurt and mashed banana

Bonus Picture of Luke's Favorite Dog
Dumb dog!  She was outside with me when I was picking in the garden and she confiscated one of my cucumbers.  Ewwwwwww - into the trash it went as we were not about to eat it after it had been in Molly's mouth.

Fun Facts About Luke

Fact 1
Luke is fully mobile!  He has multiple means for getting to where he wants to go.  He rolls until he gets there, or he has learned to push his body along with one foot, provided he can get some traction.  As long as he's barefoot, he can get there!

Fact 2
Luke loves to look at himself in the mirror and squeals and giggles when he does.

Fact 3
Luke can now sit up.  He's not real steady, but he can sit for quite awhile.  He can also be laying on the floor and push himself up into a sitting position.  The downside to this new activity is that sometimes he pushes himself up, but gets his leg stuck in a very uncomfortable position, which happens most often after I've put him to bed.  If he's fussing at all when I lay him down, I have to check on him every 30 seconds to make sure he's not fussing because he's gotten himself into a pickle.

Fact 4
Luke has discovered that his toes will reach into his mouth.  In the picture above where he is sucking his toes, he started crying right after I took the picture because he bit his toe and it hurt!  I picked him up to comfort him, but I confess that I was laughing!

Fact 5
Luke likes to hum in the car.  It is the sweetest thing!  He sits in his car seat and hums away until we arrive at our destination.  He is a great little traveler!

Fact 6
Luke needs a new car seat.  He is 20 pounds is trying to sit up in his present car seat.

Fact 7
Luke has become very aware of big people food and cries for it if he sees us eating.  He has tried lots of new foods since my last post.  Let's see -- mashed banana, mash avocado, mashed peaches, yogurt, mashed chicken, mashed egg yolk, mashed blueberries, and a few other things that he probably shouldn't have, like ice cream.     Oh, and Cheerios, his favorite.

Fact 8
Luke is such a happy baby!  Every morning when he wakes up, and after every nap, he jabbers and plays in his bed.  When I go to pick him up, he greets me with the biggest smile!  Melts my heart!

Fact 9
Luke has started trying to pull himself up to things -- I'm not ready for that!  Of my four babies, he is the most mobile and active at this point in his little life.  

Fact 10
Luke is learning how to be affectionate.  I spend so much time smooching on his little cheeks that he's learned how to kiss!  Well, baby kiss which translates to an open slobbery mouth pushed against my face!

Fact 11
Luke has learned how to fake cough.  He coughed a few times when taking his bottle the other day.  I coughed back at him, he laughed and coughed back at me.  The next day, I fake coughed to test if he was really mimicking me the day before, or if he really was coughing.  To my surprise, he fake coughed back at me and we kept it up for a bit.

Fact 12
Luke has started doing this fancy maneuver with his arms where he holds them out in front of him and waves them back and forth over each other.  He does it most when he gets really excited.  It's comical to watch! 

Fact 13
Do not take Luke to the grocery store if you are in a hurry.  My older kids were helping out with Bible School last week at church, so I had to take Luke to the store with me.  I was constantly stopped by people who wanted to observe Luke closer.  "He is so beautiful!" they would tell me, and he would smile at them with the biggest, two-tooth smile ever.  It took me TWO HOURS to get through Publix for just a few items!!!!!  I confess that I was beaming.

Fact 13
He has become so much fun and we absolutely adore him!!!!!!!