A Summer of Firsts and a Two Month Old

Abigail turned two months old on the 6th. There really isn't much new to report. She's two months old, i.e. she doesn't do a whole lot. But she is as cute and sweet as ever. She is still sleeping like a champ, and is officially sleeping through the night. For just about every night this week, she's packed in about 9 hours of sleep per night. That's kind of unheard of, isn't it? Even Isabel, my best sleeper as an infant, didn't start sleeping through the night until she was three months old. We are very thankful that Abby Jean is such a sweet, laid back little girl. I wish she'd start giving lessons to the other whacked-out three.

Isabel, the 5 year old and the oldest of our brood, is getting ready to start Kindergarten in just one week! I was worried with the birth of Abigail in June that we were going to be pretty homebound thus giving us a very uneventful summer. It ain't easy getting out with all four. But so far, we've managed to keep ourselves pretty busy. We've visited the library several times, providing us with hours of book reading--which has led us to a major milestone for Miss Isabel. She's reading all by herself. We knew she was starting to recognize certain words, thanks to her experience in K4. But give her just about any simple sentence, and she can read it. Any simple word, and she sounds it out like a pro. The other night, she read me Green Eggs and Ham without me having to read it to her first. I am so proud of her!

Isabel and Jo have also taken some swim lessons this summer. They both love the water. They are jumping in and splashing around like little fish. Which leads us to our next major milestone--Isabel has learned how to swim. She jumps in and will swim to Ren. She is so proud of herself. We're quite proud of her, too.

I can't believe I have a 5 year old! And a very smart and talented one at that!

More Stronger

This, ladies and gentlemen, is my pastor. Jealous?

One Month Milestones

Miss Abigail Jean turned 1 month old on July 6th. I can't believe a month has already gone by. It really has been a blur. I can truly say that this has been the hardest and most tiring work I've ever done. I've never been so busy and so tired! Yet, Abigail is still the sweetest, most easy-going, sleepy little laid back baby that ever was. She is content no matter what we do with her. She's happy just to sleep, eat, and hang out. She hardly ever cries. She truly is a joy. We all love her so much.

She had her 1 month check-up today, and the doctor said she's doing great. She's already 10 lbs and 14 oz. She's been smiling at us since she was 10 days old; the earliest any of my babies have smiled. And lately she's been trying to talk to us. She still likes to sleep quite a bit during the day, and she's even sleeping some good long stretches at night time. Every time I look at her I am reminded of God's goodness and grace.

It's the other three that cause me to question...

Hee hee. Not really.

Surrendering to My Fatness

There's an old saying that "every baby comes with a loaf of bread under his arm." Now if that were true, that would make for quite an awkward delivery. Epidural or not. However, it is a fact that with every baby born at Fusion Church also arrives an amazing array of diligently scheduled home cooked meals to the lucky family. I've been able to witness (and taste) this miracle firsthand with my last three children. The other night, a wonderful couple, Aimee & Jose Gonzalez, from our church offered to bring us dinner, even though we'd already consumed our regularly scheduled three weeks' worth of good graces. From what I understand, Jose (who's Cuban) is the cook, and Aimee (who's originally from Venezuela) delivers the meals with her lovely personality and smile.

Well last night Aimee brought us Arroz con Pollo (chicken with rice), steamed veggies, and homemade flan. It couldn't have come at a better time, since Ren has been working late quite a bit lately. So not having to worry about the added stress of dinner, with 4 kids, without Ren's help was a godsend. Suffice it to say, I was also able to enjoy the majority of by myself. The Arroz con Pollo was a great dinner last night, and tonight. And the flan...Well, it's been good all day.

Let me just state for the record, that I'm not typically the biggest flan fan. But this flan? I'm not quite sure what Jose puts in it. But if anything can be wonderful, beautiful, and evil all at the same time, I may have discovered it. The only thing better would be Pocket Flan, but only if it were guaranteed to be this good. Something, however, tells me it wouldn't.

I never used to be a big sweets person. I could live without them. Now, however, it seems that I am living solely on them. Particularly with this flan. I, honest to goodness, woke up at 3:00 AM, due to a certain one-month old, and could not go back to sleep until I had more of this sticky, sweet, gooey, confectionery curse. I never imagined myself as one of those people you see in commercials padding down into the kitchen and furtively rummaging through the refrigerator in the middle of the night in search of a snack. But last night, I was that pathetic person.

And guess what I had for breakfast this morning? Flan.

Snack? You guessed it!

What I'm about to eat after I finish this post? Oh yeah.

At first I thought there might be something wrong with me. But after speaking with my mother, who also is familiar with Jose and The Flan, I was relieved to find that I wasn't alone. I can honestly say that I've singlehandedly eaten the entire plate of flan myself. I can also say that I, at this point in my life, lack the inner resources to fight it. I used to be thin. Back when I was in college, teaching aerobics, before kids, and...twenty freakin' four. But I am starting to wonder if maybe this is how I'll be living from now on. Quite frankly, I am enjoying myself too much to do anything about it!

Yahoo for flan!