It Just Feels Right for This to Be a Boy

I've done a fair amount of floating today, buoyed up by the knowledge we learned yesterday at our ultrasound--we're having a boy!!!

Now before I go any further, let me say that if we had found out that we are having a girl, I'm sure I would have felt an equal amount of elation, because truly, either way would have been great!  But as it is, I'm so very excited to know that a tiny little son is growing within me!

There are a few reasons why it just feels right for this to be a boy...

1. Jeff and I felt all along that it was a boy.  For me, I can't pinpoint why--certainly there was nothing specific about the pregnancy that made me convinced it was a boy, since all my pregnancies have pretty much felt alike--but for some reason, there was an underlying current of "boy" rippling through my mind.

2. Jeff and I had talked about how special it would be for Moriah to keep her "only girl" status.  Of course, she is so special (as are all our children!), with or without that status; but we weren't overly eager to share the daddy/daughter or mommy/daughter relationship with someone else.  Again, if this had been a girl, we would obviously have been thrilled; but since this is a boy, I'm feeling free to jot down some of the thoughts and conversations we had been having about it.

3. Long ago, when I bought frames for the family picture corner in my bedroom, I bought five frames that said "the BOYS."  We only had four boys at the time, but something nudged me to go ahead and buy a fifth one; and I've hung onto it through the years, waiting...just in case...  :)

4. When we were choosing names for this baby, I initially liked the girl name more than the boy one; but it didn't take long for the boy name to grow on me so much that I almost couldn't imagine not using it.  And speaking of names...

5. Unlike my siblings and I, all of whom have "D" as our first initial, none of my children have the same first initial; but the girl name we chose did repeat the initial of one of our kids.  To us, it wasn't such a huge deal; but we found out yesterday that it was sort of a big deal to our kids, especially to Josiah.  He was really happy that each of the kids would still have his/her own initial.  :)

6. Recently when I have seen or thought about little babies, I've been most mushy in my heart toward newborn baby boys--maybe because it's been so long since I had one?  Though she is three, perhaps Moriah remains more of a baby in my mind, so my drive to have a baby girl has not been as strong as my desire for a baby boy.  Shav will be six before this baby is born, and six years is a long time to go without dressing a child in sweet little blue outfits!  ;-)

7. As I mentioned quite early in this pregnancy, my own close relationship with my next oldest sibling, who happens to be a boy, reminds me that brother/sister friendships are very real and very precious!

8. Most of all, as time goes by, my faith in God's sovereignty over the happenings in my family increases as I see His hand at work.  I'm more convinced all the time that He is the one who opens and closes the womb, despite all our efforts to control that; and I'm also fully committed to the idea that He has a perfect plan for my family that includes the sex of each baby, as well as the timing of each pregnancy.  Even though quite a few people expressed that having a sister for Moriah would be a wonderful thing, it's clear that God knew that a little brother for her would be better!  About a year ago, I read something in one of the Duggars' books that still comes to mind from time to time; it was about the "ten unchangeable things about ourselves that make each person a unique individual," and two of those things were "our gender" and "our birth order and placement in our family."  If Moriah ever frets because she doesn't have a sister, I hope that she will find her own faith in God strengthened as we remind her that the fact that her younger sibling is a boy wasn't random at all, but was part of God's amazing plan for our family!

And so, with all that in mind, it just feels right for this to be a boy!

Thanks be to God for the marvelous gift of five sons and one daughter!!!!!!  :)

Wordless Wednesday {Our New Baby Is a...}

:)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)

Halfway to the Finish Line!

In a day and a half, if all goes as we expect, Jeff, our children, and I will walk into a darkened room in a doctor's office across town and watch in utter delight as grainy black-and-white images flash on a screen and an ultrasound technician explains to us what we're seeing.  And then, if our baby is as cooperative as we hope, the moment of revelation will come; and we'll hear the excited proclamation, "It's a BOY," or "It's a GIRL"!  And our rejoicing will be great indeed.

As you can imagine, there is quite a wide variety of opinions in our family about what this baby is; and whenever one of the boys is asked what he thinks it is, he'll often respond with something like, "I think it's a girl, but I hope it's a boy," or vice versa.  As for me, most of the time I feel like it's a boy; but sometimes I remind myself that it actually might be a girl.  I suppose because most people assume that I must want a girl, I tend to push back against that, just to go against people's expectations (like I did with the expectation that we must surely be done after Moriah because now we had our girl).  ;-)  

The truth is, either way is really and truly and absolutely and sincerely and genuinely and positively fine with me!  Better than fine, in fact!!  :)

We have clothes and things for both boys and girls, Jeff and I have chosen names for either a boy or a girl, I can see the advantage of having a girl so that Moriah could have a sister but also the advantage of having a boy so Moriah could retain her special place as the only girl.  I can easily picture the boys falling in love with another little sister or with another little brother.  Either way is really OK!  :)

But one thing is certain: I CAN HARDLY WAIT TO FIND OUT.  :)

Towards the beginning of this pregnancy, I was a little ambivalent about whether we should find out; and if Jeff had been keen to wait until birth, I would have gone along with that.  But when Jeff said that he would rather go ahead and find out during this ultrasound, I was instantly on board with that plan!  :)

Because I'm pretty sure this is our last baby, I am beyond eager to find out who this little caboose is so I can mentally fill in this missing face in our family portrait.  I want to know, "THIS is what my family will look like.  THIS is who I am as a mom--either a mom of 4 sons and 2 daughters, or a mom of 5 sons and 1 daughter."  That sense of completion that I've been craving for a long time in regards to our family is so close I can almost taste it; and if all goes according to plan, Wednesday morning will advance me a huge step towards putting the pieces of that puzzle together.

Several months ago, I had toyed with the idea of finding out the sex of the baby but not telling anyone until the baby was born, but Jeff talked me out of that.  So if you're curious what this little one is and are looking forward to checking in on Wednesday to find out, you can thank Jeff that you won't have to wait until September!!  ;-)

It's no wonder that thoughts about the ultrasound are what's been dominating the 20-week mark of this pregnancy; but I'll mention that besides that, the most interesting thing is probably the contractions I have every once in a while.  Sometimes, like this evening as I prepared dinner, a strong one will grab hold of me; and although it's not really painful, it does capture my attention by how long it lasts.  "Braxton Hicks" is a very familiar term in my pregnancy vocabulary, so I'm not in any way worried that these occasional contractions are indications of preterm labor.  I expect there will be many, MANY more of these before my baby is eventually born!  :)

Although I don't pay strict attention to it or keep track of it, I do often feel my baby's movements; and at this stage, they are purely pleasant sensations without any of the late-pregnancy "ouch, baby! could you stop kicking me in the ribs?" feelings that I expect will come eventually.  :)

We've never had an age gap this large between our children before (and it wasn't our intention this time!), but one of the great things about it is that Moriah is old enough to be somewhat aware of what's going on and is verbally competent enough to express in words her own excitement about the new baby.  In the repetitive fashion common to two- and three-year-olds, she has asked many times in a voice of glorious anticipation, "Can I be a big, big sister?" and of course, my heart melts every time she does that.  :)  She is particularly looking forward to pushing the new baby in the stroller; and every time she tells me that, I make a mental note to carefully guard the new baby when he or she is in the stroller so that no unauthorized wild stroller rides occur!!  ;-)

As is commonly known about the second trimester of pregnancy, things are easier now than they were in the first trimester--and, I expect--than they will be as autumn approaches and our baby's arrival grows close.  For the most part, I feel good.  As always, I wish for more energy; but that's a life issue, not just a pregnancy one!  ;-)

The most surprising part of this pregnancy so far is that, despite my obvious baby bump (or maybe I should come up with a larger term than "bump" to describe this growth!) ;-), I have actually only gained about half a pound.  When I got pregnant, I was weighing in at about 164; and this morning when I weighed, I was 164.4.  You might be incredulous enough about that to send a scale repairman because you think something must surely be wrong with mine!  ;-)  Well, as far as I know, it's working just fine.  ;-)  But I have been convicted over and over by this that I was really carrying around too much weight before I got pregnant, and I have grand dreams of being disciplined enough to slim down (gradually, of course) quite a bit after this baby is born.   It's easy enough to say that in the spring of 2015 when I really don't have to think too much about my weight than it is in the spring of 2016 when the rubber meets the road and we can tell if my hopes of getting into better shape come to fruition!  We shall see!  ;-)

And in a day and a half, we shall see something else: our first glimpse of this precious, deeply-loved child.  Be he a boy or be she a girl, this baby is a GIFT and is already cherished beyond my ability to express.

See you soon, sweet baby of mine!!!  :)

~ photos taken by David on Sunday, April 26, when I was exactly 20 weeks pregnant...clearly, Moriah didn't want me to be lonely in the pictures...such a considerate girl to keep me company like that!  :)  ~

A Sweet Victory for Tobin

About a year and a half ago, I wrote a post about my decision to postpone reading lessons for Tobin since he wasn't picking up on them and was getting frustrated by them instead.  I haven't regretted that decision.

However, I have been eager for him to learn to read because I know how much enjoyment that brings to a child when the world of words opens up to him; and Tobin has been eager, too.  I can't remember off the top of my head at what point we started those lessons in earnest again (I could go look it up in my homeschool planner, but I'm choosing not to do that at this late hour!).  ;-)  But I'm happy to say that, during this year, Tobin's official first grade year, he is doing much, much better with the learning-to-read process.

We've been using the book How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, just like I did with Josiah and David; and Tobin had been sailing along fairly smoothly with that.  He hit a snag recently however because the lessons started using normal font for the words, not the special font that book uses as the child learns to read (for example, they physically connect the "s" and "h" if the "sh" sound is required, and they place a straight line over a long "a" sound, and so forth).  The stories continued to be fairly long in each lesson; and without those hints in the font, he was a little lost--and also a little frustrated.

It was time to change gears again--not to put that book away for such a long break this time, but to take a few days off and have Tobin practice his reading through other methods.  Giving him the opportunity to practice, in a different context, words he already knew made a significant difference since it turned him from a painfully-slog-through-hard-sentences kind of reader into a I-can-really-do-this one!

This afternoon, I pulled out the good ol' book Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw, knowing that Tobin didn't actually know all of the words in it yet (like "shove" and "driver") but guessing that, with a little prompting, he would be able to learn those few words and successfully read the whole book, since many of the words were already familiar to him.  

It was indeed a success.  :)

I had him read it once to me; and as we went through it, I helped him learn the unfamiliar words; and then a little while later, I had him read it to Jeff.  That time, he only needed a tiny bit of prompting on a couple of words.

When he got to the last page and finished saying "Jeep for sale - cheap," the most beautiful smile broke out on his face.  :)  I'm not sure who was prouder in that moment: Tobin or me!  :)

The next time I go to the store, I plan to get a little notebook for Tobin that we can use for his reading record; and I will be delighted to write that on April 26, 2015, he read his first official book!  And tomorrow night, Tobin will be eating his supper off our "Celebrate" plate.  :)

What a sweet, sweet victory this was for him!!  :)

God's Gift, God's Time

Nearing the halfway point of the expected 40 weeks of this pregnancy, I'm realizing that it's high time I told the beginning of this story!  It's a story that fills me with hope and rejoicing every time I pause to consider it, because I clearly see the hand of God at work through it.  Here's how it all began...

After Moriah was born, folks (most of 'em, anyway) thought surely we were done.  After all, we finally got our girl!  And obviously that had been the whole reason we continued to reproduce, right?  Well, no, believe it or not, that wasn't our reason.  ;-)  As far as my own heart, I rejoiced exceeedingly at the gift of four sons and a daughter; but I still had a lingering sense of wondering if there would be another child for us.  I spent many, many moments pondering the "should we or shouldn't we have more" question.  I don't remember who first said it to me, but the best advice I got during that time was this: "If you're still asking the 'am I done?' question, you're probably NOT!"  There's a lot of truth to that.  ;-)

One of my main motivators for wanting another child (besides the fact that children are a blessing and I adore each one of mine) was the two-by-two principle.  In fact, a very long time ago, I began a blog post about that idea; and although I never finished it, my point was that in my family, even though there is much mingling between all of the kids, they seem to group naturally into pairs: Josiah and David are the first pair, Tobin and Shav the second, and then come Moriah and _______?  I was hoping to fill in that blank.  In that unfinished blog post, by the way, were these two pictures, taken several years ago perhaps, showing the close companionship of Josiah and David.  Why not post them now?  :)

Well, time went by, as it does; and eventually Jeff and I decided that we would try for another baby.  It was Christmas of 2013 when we came to that decision; and in my naivete, I presumed we would conceive in the next few months and have a baby sometime in the fall of 2014.  After all, Shav and Moriah had each been easily conceived in quite unexpected circumstances (Shav while I was still nursing nine-month-old Tobin, and Moriah directly after a miscarriage in a month we were supposed to be preventing pregnancy), so surely it wouldn't take us too long to get pregnant this time around either.

A whole year went by.

All of 2014 slipped away, lost in the sands of time; and the only thing I had to show for it was an early miscarriage in August of that year.  As the end of the year approached, I had truly begun to believe that God's plan for us might not include another baby, and my heart was at rest with that.  How could I not feel abundantly blessed by the children He had given me already?  I even got to the point of thinking, "Well, if I'm not pregnant by the new year, maybe I should switch mental gears and start making other plans for the future.  Maybe we should look into doing emergency foster care, for example, and use our resources--clothes and toys and other things for both boys and girls from birth on up--to bless other children who are in need of someone to take them in immediately.  Maybe that's why God never brought peace to my heart about getting rid of our baby stuff."

2015 arrived; and on the 6th day of the new year, so did a positive pregnancy test.  :)

The second line was faint, but present; and two days later when I took another test, the result seemed even more convincing.

God, in His supreme wisdom, knew that 2014 was not the right year for us to have another child (I think particularly because of the need for me to help more with my mother while she was here at home and then  her transition to a nursing home and the emotional upheaval that entailed...that would have been extremely difficult for me if I had been pregnant or caring for a newborn); but thanks be to Him, 2015 is!!  :)

I believe I told Jeff about my first pregnancy test shortly after I took it, but also shared my uncertainty that this pregnancy would last; and we adopted a "wait and see" attitude.  After my second test--the more definite one--which had been on Thursday, January 8, I didn't tell him about it until two days later, on a Saturday afternoon as he was dressing for a night of police duty.  I vividly remember thinking that if something were to happen to him that night, I at least wanted him to know about his child on the way before he died!  Such cheerful thoughts!  ;-)  When I told him, he exclaimed, "Cool!", then asked about the due date; and when I told him September 13, he mentioned that would be great because it would be unique for our family.

And then I didn't tell anyone else.  That is so uncharacteristic of me, but this time was different from the other times I had gotten pregnant (and let's see, there have been nine times when I suspected I was pregnant and anxiously took a pregnancy test that turned out to be positive...but there have been far more than nine pregnancy tests taken by me because I've never yet been able to trust a single pregnancy test, so I always take at least two and sometimes four! it's a good thing I purchase them at the dollar store, so we don't go broke buying them!).  ;-)  This time, the new baby growing within me was a secret I held close to my heart.  I didn't want to share it with anyone.  Except Jeff, of course, but even with him, I didn't talk about it much.

I was scheduled to fly to Canada on January 24 to visit my aunt and other relatives there; and I had emailed Aunt Joyce and my cousin's wife Susan to let them know that another passenger--a quite small one--would be coming with me.  ;-)   I knew that before I made the trip, I wanted to announce this pregnancy to all of our friends and family; and I'll be honest, part of my motivation was that, if something should have happened to me during the trip--a plane crash or other calamity--I wanted the fact of my baby's existence to be known and acknowledged and mourned, not just by Jeff but by all those who knew us.  I was really having a lot of very jolly thoughts during those days, wasn't I??  ;-)

We've already posted one video from the night we told our kids about the new sibling on the way; but in addition to that one that was filmed by Jeff on his phone, here is the one I was taking on our old camera.  Such an important event couldn't be trusted to be recorded by just one device (especially one as unreliable as that old camera)!  ;-)

Even though I posted that on January 23, it was actually January 18 when that video was taken; but again, I was in no hurry to share our precious, precious news with a wider audience.  It was my cherished secret.  But of course, once we did share the news, we received many happy congratulatory messages (especially on Facebook); so then I was glad that we had told people and felt a little silly for holding the news back at all!  ;-)

Here is the puzzle I had made for the kids to put together to find out the exciting news.  :)

And here is a photo of me that I took on January 11 when I was 5 weeks pregnant.

Because we hadn't told the kids yet, I couldn't ask one of them to snap a photo of me, nor could I have Jeff take one when the kids were around.  So late one night, I propped the camera up on the desk and used the self-timer to take this one, which isn't a great picture, but at least it's something.  You could say I was starting to show already, or you could say that what I was actually showing was the lack of self-control during the holidays that I confessed to in this blog post!  ;-)  Either way, I knew that, Lord willing, I was about to get a whole lot bigger, and I might as well take a picture so I could look back when I was at my biggest and marvel at how small, by comparison, I had been then!  ;-)

Sure enough, if you could see me now, you would notice that there's a whole lot more of me than there was back on January 11!  What a blessing this kind of growth is!  :)

Wordless Wednesday {Moriah and the Daffodils}

An Unexpected Way to Feel Rich

Every spring when the weather warms, an army of ants begins to invade my kitchen, prompting me to clean out my food storage cupboards and make sure anything that might be enticing to an ant is safely sealed in jars or plastic bags (although plastic bags can be iffy, depending on how aggressive the army happens to be that year!).  I DO NOT LIKE THE ANTS; but if it helps motivate me to clean a neglected area, I suppose I can give thanks for that.  ;-)

 One night last week, I had taken everything out of my spice shelves; and while I was at it, I decided to organize and alphabetize my seasonings again.  If I were the only one who ever cooked in my kitchen, this isn't a project I would ever need to do because they would stay in alphabetical order!  ;-)  But Moriah, in particular, loves to pull random spices out of the cupboard when she's standing on a chair, "helping" me cook; and of course she doesn't know anything about putting spices back in alphabetical order!  But she'll learn someday.  ;-)

 When I managed to get all the jars neatly in a row, I discovered, to my genuine astonishment, that the line stretched from one end of my table to the other, and even had to curl around a bit at one end.  And I don't exactly have a short table!  I didn't realize I had so many seasonings; but there they all were -- from Allspice (ground and whole) and Alum to Turmeric and Za'atar.

 As I've studied history with my boys during the last few years, I've been reminded of how incredibly precious various spices were in different times and places.  Even salt, which is so common and so cheap now, used to be valuable enough to be used as currency.  Imagine getting paid in salt!  :)  And speaking of imagining...

Can you imagine what people from ancient times would think if they could see the contents of my spice cupboard?  Can you imagine how wealthy they would think I must be to afford such extravagant luxury?  Can you imagine how their tastebuds would pop if they could sample the food I prepare with these seasonings?  What if we took some chicken and prepared a portion of it as Chicken Korma with curry...and another part as Chicken Parmesan with plenty of garlic...and another as Sweet and Sour Chicken with fresh ginger and pineapple...and how about Chicken Enchiladas with jalapenos...and there would have to be good ol' southern BBQ Chicken, too...and my country roots would insist on some old-fashioned Chicken & Dumplings with a generous sprinkling of parsley and black pepper.  Can you even imagine?

I couldn't.  Thinking about what their reaction might be like made me feel rich--absolutely, positively, I-have-more-than-I-deserve RICH!

I'm grateful to live in a time and place in which I can have a whole shelf full of delicious spices...

...even if my bank account says I'm definitely not rich!  ;-)

Peach Tree & Other Springtime Delights

On a night when I have many *important* things that I could blog about - birthdays, a concert, other extracurricular activities, etc. - I find that all I have the heart for is scribbling a quick post about, of all things, our peach tree.  I'd really rather go hide in a cave and fall asleep; but before I get my wish, I decided to find a bit of beauty to share.  I think these pictures will suffice.  :)

We haven't yet had our peach tree for a whole year; but so far, so good.  It isn't dead yet.  ;-)  It's been delightful to see the beautiful blossoms come out on it this spring - our first spring in which we get to watch our own peach tree bud.  New life is beautiful.

 

We took these pictures yesterday as we enjoyed the pleasure of a warm Saturday evening outside.  I was 18 weeks, 6 days pregnant; and Tobin was my photographer.

And then I watched Moriah on the trampoline and wished for the enthusiasm and lightness and buoyancy and joy that she has!

Next spring, it will be my turn to jump and twirl on the trampoline.  ;-)

David Is a Decade! {Sneak Peek}

Just a peek tonight at one of the joyful parts of this oh-so-special day for David.

 The birthday boy got a bike!!  :)

We love our 10-year-old so very much!

This by the Door...

...can only mean one thing:  Jason is here.

And who is Jason?  Why, he's the little five-year-old son of our next-door neighbors.  Yes, the Old Order Mennonite ones.  He was born a month before Shav; and within the last year or two, he and Tobin have become particularly close, and Shav usually--but not always--tags along on their adventures, too.

Out of respect for the Old Order beliefs, I never rarely take pictures of Jason (well, OK, I snapped a couple photos of him on Easter, but it was from far away, and you can hardly tell it's him in that trio of little boys ;-) -- those photos are pretty far down in that Easter post, just after the ones of Jeff and the boys burning brush in our garden).  But a couple days ago, when I spotted his boots with its traditional Old Order hat perched on top by our front door, I decided that would be a good way to commemorate these years when either Jason or my boys cross the lane (Buggy Boulevard, my dad calls it) virtually every day to visit each other and have all sorts of fun together.

Josiah confessed to me the other day that he wonders what kind of effect Tobin and Shav will have on Jason as they grow up, and he hopes the Fisher boys won't pull Jason away from the Old Order church but fears they might.  In return, I confessed to him that I had had those exact thoughts when he and David were the little Fisher boys who often played with Jason's big sisters!

So far, neither they nor us have converted to the other's style of worship; but during the nearly 10 years we've lived beside each other, our respect for and appreciation of each other has only continued to grow.  May it ever be so!

And may there be many more times when that cute little hat, worn by that cute little blonde-headed boy, appears at my front door!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday {Let's Go Fly a Kite ♫}

Josiah is smiling...

 ...so this is obviously before the kite got stuck in our tallest pine tree.

We got it down, sparing its life so it can fly again--hopefully, more safely--on another beautiful, windy day.  :)

Now She Is Three! :) {Morning Edition}

If life would only slow down for a little while, I might have a chance at getting caught up--both in life and in blogging!  But no, special events as well as ordinary-but-wonderful days keep coming (imagine that!), one right after the other, forcing me to pick and choose what I focus on.

Well, tonight is her night.  :)

Moriah celebrated her third birthday last Thursday; and every time I have a child who turns three, I'm reminded what a HUGE birthday that is!   When a child turns two, he or she is probably vaguely mindful that something is special about that day and that the special thing has to do with himself or herself; but by three, children know that this is A BIG DEAL and are able to anticipate the event for days and weeks, as well as look back on the event and verbalize what they remember about it.  When a child turns three, he or she is aware!

Quite a long time ago, I had spotted this dress in a thrift store; and when I peeked inside to find the label, I discovered that it was handmade.  I snatched it up and brought it home, saving it for when my own little daughter turned three and could wear it.  About a week before Moriah's birthday, I got it out of the closet and hung it up in her room so she could see it and look forward to wearing it on her big day.  As if she needed any more anticipation!!  ;-)

Because I wanted Moriah's dress to stay clean all day so she could wear it for her birthday supper, I helped her put on her apron before we started our big project of the morning: making her cake--a strawberry one, like she had been requesting for weeks.  While I was getting things ready to begin, Moriah was doing one of her favorite things when I cook with her: reaching into the spice cabinet, grabbing the plastic bottles, and unscrewing the lid so she could smell what is inside.  :)

After we got the spices put back in their cabinet, our first step for the cake was mashing some fresh strawberries (or "straw-bay-bys," as Moriah calls them, although sometimes she adds extra syllables and calls them "straw-bay-bay-bay-bay-bys").  :)

These matching aprons were a sweet gift from Gail, a guest in our home back in February of 2014; and I think of her every time I wear mine.  :)

Moriah was quite happy to help me make the cake, and I was happy to do it with her.  I even neglected my regular homeschool activities that morning, just so I could take my time making the cake with her--because as you know, cooking with the "help" of a three-year-old is guaranteed to add extra time to the process!  ;-)

The kitchen helper always gets to lick the spoon, and Moriah was delighted to do so.  :)

I thought she was adorable and just couldn't get enough of the sight of her, busy at work.  :)

The boys and I got a good chuckle when we saw the April 9 page in our page-a-day Mary Engelbreit calendar (which I love!).  How appropriate that on Moriah's birthday, a queen bee would be pictured, because yes, our little girl does like to try to run the show sometimes!  ;-)

Moriah certainly takes after her big brothers in their love of climbing and jumping and other "risky" behaviors.

This is the kind of stuff that makes Jeff's hair turn gray.  ;-)

"I'm flying!"  :)

Ready to do it again?  Yes!!  :)

The boys had emptied all the dirty clothes out of our laundry chute and were having fun climbing up into it.  

Little Miss couldn't let the boys have all the fun, now could she?  ;-)

In case you can't tell from the pictures, this birthday morning with Moriah was pure joy.  I relaxed and focused on what was most important, the boys enjoyed the time off from school and played happily, and our love for Moriah caused us to delight in her and to relish each bit of her anticipation and excitement that her birthday was finally here.  It was the perfect birthday morning.

After lunch and a nap, the celebration continued, but that will have to wait for the Evening Edition birthday blog post!!  :)