The Month of May: In Faces and on Facebook

It's a good thing I already had this post almost completely ready; because otherwise, there's no way I could have sat up to do this.  You see, I seem to have developed a little breast infection.  I'm sure it's not too serious and, as always, "this too shall pass," but the bone aches associated with a fever of 101.7 degrees, the horrible headache I had this afternoon, and the pain in my left breast have made this a challenging afternoon and evening for me.  I just put Moriah in bed after her last feeding, and I'm planning on hitting the sack myself, just as soon as I finish this.

Here are some of the faces I have gazed on with great love during this beautiful month of May...  :)

And here are my Facebook status updates from this month...just little snippets of life that I don't want to lose as the river of time swirls by...

May 1 - For the first time in a LONG time, I jumped on the trampoline with my boys this evening. There are advantages to not being pregnant anymore, and being able to use the trampoline is one of them. :)


May 2 - My beloved Tobin Bear was sick last night and still is this morning. He never quite managed to get his vomit in the appropriate receptacle, so I had some messes to clean up. Last night's sleep was full of interruptions, to say the least. But even in this, I will rejoice! That's what Habakkuk 3:17-18 teaches me. :)


May 3 - One of the side benefits I get from my early-morning wakings with Moriah is hearing the birds' chorus outside our windows. Since I'm not naturally a morning person (at all!), I would not normally be awake then to hear them. But as I feed her, I am blessed by hearing so many birds. Even before dawn comes, they seem to be trying to outdo each other with their trills and warbles. There is beauty in the (very) early morning hours!


May 4 - Moriah woke up this morning with a goopy eye, so I did what any concerned mom would do: I squirted her in the eye with breastmilk. Sure hope those healing powers of breastmilk kick in soon! For you other moms, have you ever used breastmilk to help your baby's eyes when they got goop in them?? :)

May 4 - During Josiah's group violin lesson this week, Megan of Tiller Strings asked the class about the dress code for Sunday's upcoming concert--specifically, what one item was not allowed. Someone in the class came up with the right answer--"no shorts"--but then David, who always loves to come along to watch his big brother's class, turned to me and whispered, "I thought it was no cigarettes!" Well, yes, I suppose that's true also. Definitely no cigarettes allowed in the concert either. ;-)

May 5 - I got to hang out a bunch with Batman and Superman today. Turns out that Batman is only four years old, and Superman is only two! It's amazing what kind of superpowers youngsters have these days. :) One power that Superman DOESN'T have is the ability to say "s" at the beginning of a word, so every time he referred to himself, it came out as "Ooperman." When I teasingly called him "Ooperman," he would say, "No! OOPERMAN!" He was trying so hard to get that "s" out, but it just wouldn't come. These boys are so adorable. :)

May 5 - Moriah learned an important lesson today: it's impossible to suck and smile at the same time. While I was nursing her, I was talking to her and grinning like a fool, just from the joy of being her mom and holding her in my arms. She was watching me with her beautiful dark eyes, and then she decided to return the smile, which warmed my heart, as you can imagine. But then she seemed to suddenly realize that she couldn't get any milk that way, so her smile disappeared and she went back to the task at hand. Sometimes, smiles just have to wait. ;-)

May 6 - The best part of this day could have been the great talk about love languages that I had with Josiah this morning, followed by a game of air hockey (he won). :) Or it could have been jumping on the trampoline with my boys in the lovely evening air. Or it could have been Jeff thanking me tonight for some insight I shared with him about his relationship with Josiah. But I think what was really the best part of this day was the Suzuki concert this afternoon: watching both Josiah and David playing in it, looking down the row as we sat in the audience and seeing my parents and Jeff's mom with us, seeing Tobin sitting on my mom's lap and peacefully falling asleep there while clutching his stuffed puppy Molly, holding Moriah who snuggled so sweetly against me and slept almost the entire concert, noticing that Shav did pretty great behavior-wise (especially considering that this was the first concert he's been to), exchanging glances with Jeff and sharing the same feelings of pride and joy as we watched our sons perform. Yes, that just might have been the very best part of the day. :)

May 7 - Exactly four weeks ago at this time, I was just getting to know my newborn daughter...still enjoying that first euphoric hour after birth...still feeling a tremendous sense of relief that she was born and that she was healthy...still marveling at the very good gift God had given us. Four weeks later, I'm still marveling. :)

May 7 - David just now, with a big, sweet smile on his face: "I can't believe I have a sister. She's really pretty, and she smells good." After a pause, "But sometimes she smells like spit-up." ;-) 'Tis true.

May 8 - And so it begins. Food Preservation 2012 is off to a good start with 3 pints of strawberry jam made. I would have made more, but I didn't have any more pectin. The way my boys devour strawberry jam, I know I've got to make a bunch more! :)

May 11 - Praying for my dad who is having eye surgery this morning...

May 12 - Baby spit-up on one's shirt = badge of honor. The whole world might not agree with this equation, but I'm going to go with it anyway. ;-)


May 13 - Even while I'm enjoying this Mother's Day and thanking God for the gift of five wonderful children, I'm remembering the ache in my heart during Mother's Days before I had children. The longing for a child was immense; and at that point, I didn't know if it would ever be fulfilled. My thoughts are also with some women I know that would dearly love to have a child but so far, do not. I pray for their hearts to be comforted and at peace on this day.


May 14 - A beautiful Monday morning...rain falling outside (SO good for Jeff's garden)...Grandma Fisher in the kitchen making cookies...little boy voices asking her if they can lick the spoon or have some chocolate chips or at least a bite of brown sugar...Moriah's in bed again for a morning nap...I think I'll do the same. :)


May 14 - Murphy's Law as it applies to dressing a newborn: The cuter the outfit, the quicker your baby will spit up on it. Dress your baby in an outfit you don't really like, and she'll go all day without spitting up. Dress her in something you really, really like, and she'll spit up right away, necessitating an immediate clothing change. Why does it happen this way??? ;-)


May 15 - Utterly exhausted this morning. In my weariness, I'm clinging to these precious words: “Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.” - Deut. 33:12


May 15 - Holding Moriah = good therapy for a tired mommy. Noticing her tiny, perfect eyelashes = even better therapy. Catching a glimpse of one of her quick, little smiles = the best therapy. This season of life is short. I want to be careful to appreciate it and enjoy it while it's here. Some days, that's easier than on other days! :)


May 15 - Today I did a little favor for Jeff (making sure some packages got to the post office), and afterwards, he did NOT say, "Thank you." He said something better: "I appreciate you." Wow! It means the same thing as "thank you," but it felt so much more thoughtful and meaningful...and it definitely caught my attention more than a simple, routine "thank you" would have done. The little things can make a big difference, can't they?


May 16 - Jeff and I and all the kids took Grandma Fisher to the airport today so she could fly back to California after spending four weeks with us. We'll all miss her, but can you guess which of us cried the most when saying goodbye?


May 17 - David just now: "I wish I could marry someone in my family because I want to marry Moriah...because she's a little girl, and I love her." :)


May 18 - One of the loveliest sounds on earth is the happy sound of children playing outdoors during warm summer (or spring or fall) evenings. When the light lingers late in the day, we linger, too. Bedtimes are pushed back and ignored, neighbors come to jump on the trampoline or ride bikes on the driveway, and as my mother and I work in the kitchen to clean up after supper, I savor the sweetness of the sounds floating through the open windows. When children's voices no longer ring outside my windows, I'll remember these days and wish I had appreciated them more. So I'm saying thank you for them now.


May 19 - God promises that His mercies are new every morning. One of His mercies to me already this morning was four boys who happily and quietly entertained themselves with books from our recent trip to the library while I napped on the couch this morning. I feel a whole lot better after my second wake-up than I did after my first! :)


May 22 - Tobin, just now, to me: "I more like girl babies. And when YOU were a baby, I loved you VERY much!" I'm not exactly sure how that's possible, but I'll just be grateful for his sweet expression of love. ;-)


May 23 - The most exciting accomplishment of the day: David learned to ride a bike without training wheels!!! :) Our neighbors brought over a bike that was a better size for him than the one we had, and David hopped on it and persisted in trying to ride until he got the hang of it. At first, he could only go a very short distance; but before long, he was riding like a pro. I'm so happy for him!!


May 23 - It only took me until 11:17 PM, but I finally finished all the supper dishes. I'm celebrating the little things, folks. ;-)

May 25 - Had a fun little photo shoot with my boys yesterday. Their reward for good cooperation? A Hershey Kiss. My reward? A picture of all five of my children, to be used for next month's blog header. I feel continually blessed to be the mother of these five!

May 26 - ‎1:17 AM - I'm up with Moriah, enjoying a peaceful night feeding. All is quiet here in our corner of the world, until the silence is broken by...can you guess? The unmistakable sound of a horse clip-clopping down the road pulling a buggy. These Old Order Mennonites sure have a wild side. ;-)

May 26 - It's a great day to hang laundry out on the line! Well, other than the fact that I sweat about a gallon each time I hang out a load. But at least it won't take the clothes too long to dry in this heat! :)


May 26 - I'm looking forward to heaven for many reasons. At the top of my list tonight is this: no allergies in heaven!!! :)


May 27 - My current favorite mispronunciations, all courtesy of Tobin: "regible" (with a hard "g" sound) for "regular," "motorped" for "moped," and "sprinkable" for "sprinkler." Just now, he came into the house from the garden where he and Jeff headed as soon as we got home from a church service. Tobin called out, "Shav, do you want to get wet in the sprinkable?" I'll be a little sad when he figures out how to say all of these words the correct way, and I no longer hear his unique variations. ;-)


May 28 - Shav's favorite letter seems to be "b." In fact, he loves it so much that he puts it into as many words as possible! Consequently, "Tobin" becomes "Bobin," "tummy" becomes "bummy," "cup" becomes "bup," etc. Sometimes when Shav asks me to get a cup for him, I'll hand it to him and say, "Here's your bup!" :) "No," he'll insist and concentrate intently, "Bup!" He hears the difference, but can't produce the correct sound. If I tease him a little too much about it, he'll say, "Bop!" which, of course, means "stop." ;-)


May 30 - Today was a day of firsts: the first time Shav really kissed us (previously, he would come to us, press his head against us, and RECEIVE hugs and kisses...but he never gave a real kiss...this morning, I said, "Shav, can you give a real kiss like this?"...and of course, he could...the little stinker's been holding out on us!), the first time Jeff changed Moriah's diaper ("Was it poopy?" I asked. "Yep," he said, "A squirt of mustard," which made me laugh because that's exactly what her poop looks like.), my first time grocery shopping with Moriah (she did great when I was holding her, but did not like riding around in her car seat...my arm got very tired!...I should have taken the Snugli and carried her in that), Moriah's first visit to Riven Rock (one of my favorite places around here), and the first time I saw a lightning bug this year. Tonight I'm grateful for firsts...and for lasts...and for all the in-betweens. :)


May 30 - This evening Josiah was referring to the Trixie Belden series of books, and we were talking about how they're really old books. "Like from the 90's?" he asked. "The 90's??? The 90's are NOT old!!" so says his mother who was born in the veritable ancient times of the 70's. When I protested against his categorization of the 90's as old, he said calmly, "Well, it was before I was born." True, that. But it still doesn't make the 90's old!!! :)


And now, one more thing before I call it a night:  I get to change my blog header and layout.  Yippee!  That's always a fun job.  :)