Give and Take

When you are a new Mama, you make many choices, that are simultaneously selfless and selfish; it's called the 'give and take.'



You must give up your comfort and non-painful self to even endure pregnancy, labor, and birth. But! You get to take in the miracle and joy of feeling that baby inside you for months and months, and then feeling him/her emerge from your body, and then, best of all, feeling that sweet babe in your arms and at your breast for the first time. The giving is worth the taking.



You must give up hours and hours of much needed sleep as you settle into life with a newborn. But! You get to take in all those snuggles and cuddles, that, let's face it, will not last forever, and in fact will dwindle in frequency much quicker than any Mama would choose. This is one of the most painful 'gives,' but all those late night snuggles, rocking sessions and dances somehow make it bearable and worth it.



You must give up some semblance of control over your own body, as you learn to nurse your sweet babe. He or she will seem to be forever at your breast, trying to learn this sweet art of nursing. But! You get to take in the glory of sustaining another life with your own milk. It is truly amazing, rewarding, and well worth it!



You must give up your old life to make room for this new life. Old habits, hobbies, even your old rythym with your spouse, may have to change, be adjusted. But! You get to take in the wonder of having a child, of having had created another human with your spouse and welcoming him or her into your home, into your life - forever. Giving up the old, to welcome the new, definitely worth it.



You must give up your child to the LORD. This is most definitely the hardest 'give,' but the most necessary. As you fall more and more in love with your child, you begin to dream of his or her future. You begin to worry over his or her well-being. You may even begin to fear losing this precious child. Sometimes, as you check to make sure your babe is still breathing for the hundreth time, the fear of the future may consume you. But, if you choose to submit to the Lord's will for your child's life, before you even know what that will is, and if you choose to give your child back to the Lord, acknowledging that this child is first HIS, then you will get to take in the peace that passes all understanding. Until you fully give up your child to the Lord, you will never take in this peace, that as a parent is so necessary if you want to live a life of joy and peace and no -fear, with your child. This give is most definitley the scariest one, because, if you offer your child to the Lord, what if He takes you up on it? But, until you offer your child and surrender your supposed-control over his or her life, you will not have any peace. That peace, which makes you the best parent and witness to your child, is worth the giving, even if it's painful. Look to the Father. He's well aquainted with the giving of a child to take in the peace (in His case, peace for the whole world).



So, I dedicate this post of give and take to my dear sister, Jeni. She is learning all of this as I type. I pray God's peace over her household, especially during this season of infancy. She is already an amazing Mom, and I can't wait to see her continue to develop into the Mama God wants her to be for Cora.



Love you Jeni.



Ruthie :)

Calling all prayer warriors

Please be praying especially hard for Stellan tonight. Go to http://www.mycharmingkids.net for Jennifer's updates. He's almost exactly 2 months younger than Riley, so all of this is so close to my heart. His Mommy and Daddy love the Lord and so that really makes us family, in the Kingdom of God. This whole ordeal has just been breaking my heart. Please pray friends, please pray.

While you're at it, keep my sister and BIL in your prayers. Tonight will be the second night home, and, well, if you've ever had a newborn, you know how hard those first weeks are, especially the nights. I miss Cora so much already. Let's look at another cute picture of her! Okay, let's look at two. :)

We love the "I surrender" sleep pose!

What do you think is going through Riley's mind???

Ruthie :)

We're home

The kiddos and I arrived home this evening. Jeni, David and Cora were discharged from the hospital this afternoon, and we were able to welcome them home and visit for a bit before hititng the road.

The nurses sent sweet Cora home with a little bow in her hair! Too cute! I got to hold her and change her diaper. I miss her already. Please pray that Jeni and David are able to get ample sleep as they adjust to being "Mommy" and "Daddy." David's Mom is going to stay this week with them, so I'm so thankful they'll have her there to help out.

My favorite part of today was seeing my hubby walk through the door about 1 1/2 hours after we had gotten home. Riley was still awake and he 'talked' and cooed and giggled with his daddy for a good long time (Soph was already in bed, sound asleep). I'm looking forward to cuddling with my hubby tonight.

I have more thoughts to share on what I just experienced, that is, sharing in the adventure of the birth of Cora... but I must get to bed. I'll leave you with a cute picute!

Cousins = Forever Friends

She's Here!

David - Proud Daddy to sweet Cora!

What a beautiful Mama!

What a precious miracle!

After 21 hours of a lot of hard work, Jeni and David welcomed Cora Ann into this world!   She was born at 12:30am on Friday, the 27, 2009.  She weighed in at 7 lbs, 12.5 oz and was 20 1/2 in. long.  She has a lot of longish brown hair.  She's totally adorable and is nursing like a champ for my sister!!!  

I had the privilege of acting as an additional labor support person for Jeni.  Along with David, we did our best to support her for those long hours of labor!  Jeni did amazing.  I am so proud of her and in awe of her strength.  David was an excellent partner for Jeni and is one proud Papa!  

It was amazing to see my first niece born.  It's so neat how I so naturally am in love with this little girl.  It's not the same love as I have for my kids, per say, but it's also nothing like how I feel for any other child.  I cherish her and fell in love with her immediately!  I am so thankful to be her Aunt Ruthie.  

Jeni is sore - obviously.  And we're all pretty tired - Jeni and David, most of all.  Please pray for healing for Jeni as she recups from a long labor and delivery of her first baby.  Pray that nursing continues to go well.  Pray, of course, that their transition to home, with a baby, will go smoothly.  They are all healthy and for that we are so thankful.  

Ruthie  :)

Please be on your knees

Click here to read the most recent update on Stellan. He's not doing well. Please pray. Thank you!

Ruthie

Here she comes!!!!

I will be on my way up to Michigan to be a labor support (doula) to my sister and brother-in-law as they work hard to labor towards and deliver their baby girl!!!! My mom is going up with me, along with Riley and Sophia. We'll be leaving at 3:30 this afternoon, and Jeni is supposed to start the induction process tonight at 6. Mom will be watching the kids at Jeni and David's house while they and myself, are at the hospital. Jamie has to work, so he won't be able to join us at this time.



Please pray for safety as my Mom, the kids and I drive the 3 or so hours it takes to get to my sister's.



Please pray for strength for Jeni as she will be working hard once she's induced, for who knows how many hours.



Please pray that David can be just the right support for his wife, and that God would sustain him through this process too!



Please pray that I would be a good doula for Jeni and David. I'm so privileged to get to play this role for them and I need prayer as I've never done this before!



Please pray, most of all, for the health and safety of Jeni and Baby Girl Hardin - whose name will finally (well, I know it :) hehe) get to be revealed soon!!!



I'll call Jamie with the good news and then he can put up a post for me.



Thank you for praying.



Ruthie :)

Which one did she watch?

I took a nap this morning while Riley slept. I let Sophia watch a movie while her brother and I napped. That movie was Bambi. She'd never seen it before, and was very excited to watch it. I was so tired, I sort of forgot/chose to forget that there were some sad/scary parts and maybe I shouldn't let her watch it alone, at least not the first time. What can I say? I'm an awesome Mom. :)

Anyways, when I was awoken from my very deep nap, to "Mom, Bambi is over and Riley is awake." I, of course, thought Sophia was saying, "Grammy is over and Riley is awake." WHAT! GRAMMY IS OVER! DOES THAT MEAN AUNT JENI IS IN LABOR AND WE'RE HEADING TO MICHIGAN NOW??? (that was what was screaming in my head as I was in my just barely awake stupor) Oh, wait, Bambi is over, NOT Grammy! Jeni is not in labor. All is well. Whew. Okay.

So, this conversation happened shortly after...

Me: Did you like "Bambi?"
Sophia: YES! But... there were some scary parts in it.
Me: And some sad parts, right?
Sophia: No.
Me: Didn't Bambi's Mom die?
Sophia: No.
Me: Oh, was it Bambi's Dad that died?
Sophia: No, nobody died.
Me: Oh. Did you wish I'd been with you to watch the movie?
Sophia: No.

Didn't some deer die?????

On another Sophia note... She just drew something while I was typing this post and was attempting to hang it up...

Sophia: Mom, I can't get this to hang on the umbilical board.
Me: That's bulletin board sweetie.
Sophia: Oh, okay.

[Okay, you can get back to your TV show now Paul. :) ]


Ruthie :)

If you have a moment

Could you please keep, or start, praying for a sweet baby boy, only a couple months younger than Riley, named Stellan? He's fighting for his life and the updates over at MckMama's blog have been hard to read. Click here for the most recent update, which was almost 4 hours ago.

As I was playing with Riley tonight and tickling him and hearing his sweet giggle and watching him grin and smile from ear to ear, my heart broke over Stellan being so sick and all the other babies out there who are suffering from illness.

My prayer is of course for healing, but also that God's power and glory would be shown though this crisis. Join me in praying, won't you?

Ruthie

Please pray for Baby Stellan and His Mom, Jennifer. Click here to see her post on what's going on... Basically, Stellan has gone into the heart condition (SVT, which means his heart is racing at like 300 bpm) he contracted in the womb, that was supposed to kill him, that God healed him of. Needless to say this is scary. I don't know this family personally, but really enjoy reading Jennifer's blog. She's a great writer, awesome photograper, and keeps me laughing and inspired as I do this thing called motherhood.

Last night, I could not sleep. Riley wouldn't settle and so of course I couldn't sleep. I started checking blogs to read around 1/1:30am. I checked up on MckMama and read her tweets (her short little message updates on the left sidebar of her blog). This got me praying. I wasn't able to get back to sleep until almost 6am! God kept urging me to pray that whole time for Stellan. Upon checking her blog this morning, and seeing the timing of her updates and the events, isn't it cool how those are all the exact times God had me (and I bet lots of others) praying?!?! Anyways, even though I don't know this family, it often feels like I do and I'm confident I was led to to this blog so I could join thousands of others in prayer for sweet Stellan, for such a time as this.

May God be glorified through all of this and may He heal this sweet boy. Please join me in praying!

Ruthie

All Boy

Though Riley is closer to his 7 month mark, yesterday was his "6 month" appointment with the pediatrician. He is weighing in at 17 lbs, 2 oz and is 27 1/4 inches long! He was only 20 1/2 in. at birth. That growth in length is really incredible to me. He is in the 40th percentile for weight and the 75th for height.

Though Riley has got some killer cheeks, he really isn't all that roly poly. In fact, he doesn't really have rolls. He's not skinny per say, and he's certainly solid, just no rolls. His arms, legs and abdomen do have defined muscle. I think he looks like he could be a little boxer. He is so strong!

There are two recent things I've noticed Riley doing, that Sophia never did as a baby. First is the canopy thing on his carseat. It moves so you can position it just so to protect the baby's face from the sun. When we're in the car, Riley is facing backwards, so I usually have the canopy thing centered to cover /protect his face. Well, if he can get his little feet or hands to it, and well, he can, he pulls it down right away. There is no keeping it up. I don't remember Sophia ever even touching it.

The other thing is the bumper in the crib. Sophia never messed with that. Riley on the other hand, is constantly pulling it down to look out and chewing on it.

Riley has a very laid back disposition. He is quite patient and seems to go with the flow rather nicely. I think he'll be a good sibling complement to his sister.

It's fun seeing his personality and boyish characteristics develop as he grows. God has truly blessed Jamie and me with two wonderful, albeit different, children!

Ruthie :)

What's in a name

Now that Riley is sleeping in his crib and sharing a room with his sister, Sophia takes her afternoon rest in our room, you know, so that Riley actually has a chance to stay asleep during his afternoon nap. You see, I tried having her quietly rest in her own bed while he slept in his crib, but... that only lasted one day. Sophia successfully woke him up - twice, once by singing loudly, I believe, and the second time, because she was pretending to be a monkey, and let's face it, monkeys are loud!

So, today Jamie came home for his lunch break while she was resting. I was on the couch, resting myself. Out comes Soph, because she heard Jamie come in the door. Her face was all shiny and goopy looking. Apparantly, she'd smeared my chapstick all over her forehead, eyebrows and cheeks. Jamie kindly dealt with that one, and came out laughing because while he was dealing with it, Sophia asked him if he thought it was cool that she'd also smeared my chapstick all down her leg and onto her foot.

Nice. Now, you might think I immediately threw that chapstick away. You'd be mistaken. I have a habit folks, a bad one. Yes, my name is Ruthie Abrusci, and I'm a chapstickaholic. I have no back up tubes right now, so, I've resorted to using the tainted one. Pitiful, I know.


At dinner tonight, Sophia and I were talking about our names. I was telling her how I used to be Ruthie Reynolds and how one day when she got married she would no longer be Sophia Abrusci, but would take the last name of her husband. This is the conversation that immediately ensued...

Me: So, one day you won't be Sophia Abrusci, but you'll take the last name of your husband.

Sophia (bells going off in her head): Mom, what is Joseph's last name?

Me: Montieth

Sophia: So, I'll be Sophia Montieth!!!

Me: Why do you want to marry Joseph, Sophia?

Sophia: Because, he's my friend.

Me: What do you think will make Joseph a good husband?

Sophia: Well, I know that he buys me a lot of jewelry.

End of conversation, enough said! :)

(FYI - Joseph is the 5 yr. old son of some very dear friends of ours. He bought her play jewelry when Riley was born and they played wedding. She's held strong now for quite some time that she's going to marry him...)

Ruthie :)

Signs of Spring

Beautiful dispositions

Walks with no coats or hats (photo by Sophia)

Blue skies, or as Sophia likes to call this one,
"phone wires." (photo by Sophia)

Flowers growing (photo by Sophia)

Green growth (photo by Sophia)

_________________________________________


Riley's first adventure in the backyard swing!

In and Out

Let me start with this; Riley is okay. Now let's continue... we spent last night at Children's Hospital.

Here's what happened, from the beginning...

Riley has had a cold, with a lot of congestion and sinus drainage for the past 10 days or so. Friday night was really rough. He was so stuffed up he just couldn't get settled into sleep. Jamie and I got very little sleep and Riley only finally settled down sleeping on my chest with me sitting propped up in our bed.

Saturday morning, Riley nursed, ate breakfast and took his morning nap like usual. He seemed his normal self, in spite of our rough night and his cold. After he woke up from his morning nap at 11 am, something changed. He is usually rearing to nurse and then eat lunch. He refused to nurse and became very lethargic and limp. All of a sudden he started gagging/choking and he threw up a bunch of mucous.

He did this 2 or 3 more times before I really got concerned and called Jamie at work. He called our pediatrician and we got an appointment for Riley at 11:40am, last one available for the day. Thank the Lord they were open on Saturday and that they had an opening. While we were rushing around to get dressed (Soph and I were still lounging in our pjs) and get out the door to the doctor, Riley threw up again, but this time the mucous was yellow.

Jamie left work to come get us and take us to the doctor. Riley threw up yellow mucous again in the car on the way to the doc. Our pediatrician did an exam and found Riley's ears to be infected and his lungs to not be clear. I was praying that he'd do the gagging/choking throw up in front of the doctor so she'd see what was going on. The Lord was so good and just as the exam was ending and we were discussing going home and what antibiotic options there were, Riley threw up big time and it was a lot of yellowish-green mucous. Immediately the pediatrician changed her tune and acted much more concerned. She said the throw up looked like bile and was concerned about Riley being dehydrated, since he was still refusing to nurse and by this point had thrown up about 6 or 7 times. She was also worried that he was developing bronchitis or pneumonia. She recommended we drive up north to the children's hospital.

Jamie called his boss to let her know he wouldn't be back to work and we ran home to grab a few things since the children's hospital is an hour from our town and the ped. had implied Riley might be admitted. Thankfully, both of our parents live in the city where we were headed. Jamie's parents were going to meet us at the ER to get Sophia so she could hang out with them at their house.

Riley threw up one more time just as we were arriving at the hospital, around 2pm. We were quickly taken to an room in the ER and seen by a resident. The plan was to get Riley hooked up to some IV fluids, draw his blood to run some lab tests and do a chest and abdominal xray. The main concerns were to keep him from getting further dehydrated, to rule out pneumonia and bronchitis and to rule out a bowel blockage - which was a possible cause for the bile throw up.
Riley was still refusing to nurse and was so lethargic. Jamie's parents soon arrived and stuck around for awhile. When the resident came in to examine Riley he looked up at her and totally started flirting with her. :) We were so happy to see him have some expression and smile!
He did so great through getting his blood drawn, the IV put in, getting fluids and getting his xrays done. He hardly cried and seemed to tolerate it all very well. Shortly after they started his IV fluids he started to perk up and nursed, which was a huge answer to prayer!

The dr. said he'd have to be admitted if he didn't start nursing. So, I was very hopeful we'd get to go home. His results started to come in and all his labs were fine except his white blood cells were elevated, due to the ear infections. His xrays showed no pneumonia, bronchitis or bowel blockage.

Unfortunetly, the dr. was still concerned about Riley not getting dehydrated and also wanted to do a more thourough test (an upper GI) to completly rule out a bowel blockage - which is obviously serious and can only be repaired with surgery. Due to all of this he wanted Riley admitted for the night for observation.

So, somewhere around 5:30/6 pm, we headed up to a room on the unit. Sophia had long been gone to spend the day/night with Jamie's parents. We are so thankful for them! We got settled pretty quickly upstairs in our room. Riley nursed some more and even ate some baby food! My parents came to visit around 8pm, which was a great encouragement. The radiologist had to come in for some other test, so they were planning on squeezing in Riley's Upper GI at 10pm.
Riley fell asleep sometime even before my parents came for a visit. He slept great and then woke right up around 10pm when it was time to go downstairs for his test. Jamie and I were both able to go and be with him. He had to drink some barium from a bottle while they xrayed him so they could watch it work through his anatomy. This would confirm or rule out any issues with his bowel. Thankfully all was well! No problems with his bowel. Huge answer to prayer.

We headed back upstairs to get settled for the night. Riley nursed and fell back to sleep. I settled into the "o so comfy" vinyl couch while Jamie had to cozy up on the rocking chair. Jamie seemed to saw logs pretty good, but I only slept on and off. Around 4 am Riley woke up to nurse and so I told Jamie to get on the couch. I didn't anticipate being able to sleep anyways, so I nursed and rocked Riley. I didn't fall back to sleep until later that morning, around 9 or 10am when I was able to get a little nap.

The doctors felt really good about Riley's progress and wanted to slowly wean him off his IV fluids and said as long as he kept nursing we should be able to leave by the afternoon. He had been started on antibiotics the day before and there is a chance he'll have to have a second round of them when this one is over since his cold has hung on so long. We'll see what his ped. says when we go for a follow-up in a few days.

Basically Riley has a bad cold with ear infections. He was throwing up, either because he got some sort of tummy bug, or (which is what Jamie and I think) he was throwing up because of all the sinus drainage.

He continued to nurse and eat all day, though not with nearly his normal appetite. In the early afternoon they took him off the IV fluids. My parents dropped lunch off for us- Thank You Mom and Dad! Sophia was taken well care of with Jamie's Mom and Dad - Thank You!

Riley was having a lot of fun practicing his attempts at crawling in his crib and even got a bath! He won the hearts of all the nurses; they all oohed and aahed over his big eyes!

We finally got discharged and got to leave around 4 pm. Jamie was scheduled to have today off, which was another huge blessing, and his boss is letting him switch shifts with a coworker so he can have tomorrow off too. Riley continues to eat, but not as much as normal. We can tell he's feeling better, but still not 100%. We are spending the night with his parents tonight and then will hang out some with my parents tomorrow. We're so thankful for the support and help so we can get rested up from our crazy last couple of days.

God is so good and was with us each step of the way. He protected Riley and we're so thankful we were sent to the hospital where he received such excellent care and was kept from getting any more dehydrated or sick. Some of you - mainly family, were aware of what was going on... thank you for your prayers!

Needless to say, we're looking forward to Spring and sunshine and health!

Here are some pics of our adventure. You should have seen Soph gently kissing and hugging her brother when we were reunited today. She missed him so much! As we stayed in the hospital last night I just prayed for all the babies and children who don't get to go home after one night. Please pray for them if you think of it.

Riley's little hand that had the IV. They cover it up really well so he couldn't pick at it, though he sure tried!

Mommy and Riley, hanging out in the ER, waiting to go upstairs.

Daddy, going crazy from being in the little ER room for so long.

Riley's hospital room, cute isn't it? :) See Jamie peeking out?

Riley's name outside his room.

Is that a crib, or a mini-jail cell?? :)

Daddy and Riley looking out from the window in our hosptial room.

Ruthie :)

Love Overflowing

I went out on a mommy date with a good friend of mine tonight and was sent this text message while out.

"I love you Mommy. Have a safe trip. I will see you soon when I wake up in the morning. I love you so much that my heart overflows."

I then get a follow-up text with Jamie telling me that the first one was a direct quote from Sophia, and that she said afterwards it was "from 1 Ephesians 1:5." :)

She thinks her heart is overflowing with love, she has no idea! My heart is done and flooded. I love you sweet Sophia!

Ruthie :)

What's your roost flavor?

Here's a fun site on found via a blog I read every day, Brandi and Boys.

Go to http://www.sproost.com/ and take the style quiz. I did, and it was fun! I found their assessment of my style to be spot on! I am mostly Arts and Crafts, and they define that as:

Arts & Crafts
You tend to prefer simple to ornate and natural materials over man-made. Warm tones found in wood and brass make you feel comfortable, and good craftsmanship excites you like nothing else.
You enjoy patterns that highlight our natural surroundings such as plants and trees. You prefer rectilinear forms and straight lines, however you love to find intricate details (ooooh, stained glass!) where you least expect it.

I could not have explained my style/decorating preferences any more articulately! I can't wait to waste, ahem, I mean, spend more of my time exploring this site. Have fun!

What's your style?

Ruthie :)

Impending Death

Me: Sophia, if you don't obey me right now, you will not get any lunch and will go to have your nap right away hungry.

Sophia: And then I will go and die!

I convinced her she wouldn't die by missing one meal, but she wasn't convinced. Thankfully we didn't have to find out who was right... she obeyed. :)

A bit of Chinese beauty

The beautiful calligraphy hanging that graces our bedroom wall was done for us as a special gift, by the husband of one of our good friends, Dolly. Dolly is a seminary student here in town and is from China. Her husband, who we'll call John, is a seminary professor in Bejing, China, and continues to reside there while Dolly studies here in the U.S. Dolly and John have a sweet daugther, who is in the second grade. She is here in the States with her Mom. John recently had the opportunity to come visit his lovely wife and daughter for about a month.

We had the privilage of meeting him on two occasions. He presented us with this beautiful gift. Along with his name, it says, "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.'" John 14:6

So, clearly, I should be exercising more, but that's a whole nother post! :) Let's just focus on our friends, Dolly and John!

Loving on our son.


Can't leave out the daughter!

John was so cute with Riley. He was a total natural and I'm sure is a great Daddy to his daughter!

You can tell he's the Daddy to a daugter! He was so kind to our kiddos. Though he didn't know much English, love transcends language, and this was clearly demonstrated towards our kids.

Ruthie :)

To be meaningful

Jamie and I have the tradition of only exchanging one gift from each person to each person in our little family at Christmas. The reason we started this was two-fold. First, we wanted a practical way to keep the meaning of Christmas and focus off of "giving/getting" and on Jesus' birthday. Second, we wanted the gifts that we did give and receive to have purpose and meaning. Since I only get to get Jamie and each of my kids one gift each, it forces me to really make it count, to make it meaningful.
I've been wanting to share with you all, my dear blog readers, what Jamie got me this year for Christmas. It was, by far, my favorite gift, and the reason is, it was just so dag on meaningful.

Back at Thanksgiving, I wrote this post about a radio program Jamie and I had listened to. It was all about being thankful for the thorns in your life. This prayer, by 19th Century preacher, George Matheson, really spoke to both of us:

Dear God, I have never thanked You for my thorns. I’ve thanked You a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach me the glory of the cross I bear. Teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have climbed closer to You along the path of pain. And show me that through my tears, the colors of Your rainbow look much more brilliant.

Well, fast forward a month to Christmas morning. Jamie brings out my gift. This is the first thing I notice... thorns.

I then see the fullness of the first part of my gift. Isn't it stunning?

Along with the vase of four, roseless, thorn-filled long stems, came a wrapped gift and a note of explanation. Jamie explained that in an effort for us to remember the message of being thankful for our thorns, which if you remember my Thanksgiving post, the top most thorn for us is our four miscarriages, he picked four thorny stems from our own rose bush and put them in the beautiful vase. Each stem represents one of our children who are in heaven. I love how he took something as dead and ugly as thorny stems (which is a great picture of how each miscarriage felt!) and displayed them in such a way to make them beautiful, breathtaking even (which is what God has done through our miscarriages). The wrapped gift was to also be a reminder... of the roses in our life. You can probably guess who those are! :) Our roses...

I have never been so touched by a gift before. We have displayed these items in our bedroom and they are a constant reminder of the beauty that can come from the thorns in our life, if we allow God to work His redeeming miracles in us. Thorns do represent pain, but thorns don't just come alone, they are accompanied by roses!

Here is the full display in our room. Isn't it stunning? I just love looking at it. The third piece to the display, the chinese calligraphy piece, I'll explain tomorrow!

Again, I ask, what are the throns in your life? If you'd like to leave a comment, I commit to praying over you and your thorns this very day.

Ruthie

Full House

Last week at this time, our little abode was bursting at the seams with houseguests! My dear friend, A (whom I've known since I was 8 and grew up with in Africa), and her four children, and my other dear friend, S (whom I met sometime in jr. high through A), and her two children, came to spend a few days with us last week. They arrived last Monday night, and left last Friday morning. It was a full and fun week!

We took our little, two-bedroom (well, 3 if you consider Shirmy's room, but we didn't really use her room, since, you know, she lives there... :) ) home, which usually houses Jamie, myself, Soph, Riley and Shirmy, quite comfortably, and added two more adults and 6 more children!

Here's the sleeping breakdown:
A and kids in the kids' room. A slept in Soph's bed, her baby girl slept in Riley's crib and the other 3 kids "camped out" in sleeping bags on the floor. A's kids are 1, almost 3, 5 and 6 1/2. They were kinda packed in like sardines, but they seemed to sleep okay and still have a good time.

S and her two kids, ages 1 1/2 and almost 3, slept in Jamie's and my room.

Jamie and I slept on the pull-out couch each night. Sophia would fall asleep in the hallway on the floor (which she thought was great fun, and continues to ask to do this each night), then when the adults hit the sack we'd move her to our smaller couch for the rest of the night. Riley fell asleep in his pack-in-play in our bedroom with S's two kiddos, then we'd move him into the hallway spot after the adults went to bed.

So, there was a lot of moving around, but it all worked and it was worth it to have my friends here! Thanks for putting up with the tight quarters, A and S!!!

Some highlights of the week...

Tuesday Jamie was at work. All moms and kids piled into two vehicles and hit the local mall to play in the food court, then we headed to Target. Everyone did remarkably well for such an outing and we had a lot of fun! While at Target Sophia and A's oldest, N, came with me and Riley. Sophia really has no idea who Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus is, but last summer was given a Hannah Montana sticker at the dentist, and has since recognized her when we're out if she sees her face on "stuff." Well, Soph and N were browsing the girls' clothing section and Sophia excitedly exclaimed to N, "Look N! Hannah Banana!" Told you she really has no idea who this really is. :)

Wednesday Jamie had the day off. Our friends J and S, who we homeschool with, came over for school in the morning. Jamie took all the kids, except the three youngest (so that's 7 kids, ages almost 3 to 6!) out to the backyard for recess. That was impressive enough... but it gets better!

Later that afternoon, around naptime, my amazing husband, let A, S and me get out of the house, without ANY children, for a few hours. That's right, my lone hubby, stayed at home with EIGHT children - 6 mos. to 6 yrs. - so my friends and I could go have a coffee date, Walmart run and take a trip to the local Goodwill. How does he love me??? Let me count the ways... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8! :) He did awesome, it really didn't even frazzle or phase him.

A's birthday was Thursday, and the kids threw her a little bday party upon our return Wednesday afternoon. They had decorated with balloons and were all hiding when we got back to yell, "Surprise!" So cute.

Thursday we kind of laid low. Did a lot of playing out in our backyard and A and S started packing up for their departure Friday morning. After all the kids went to bed, we adults watched, "Dan in Real Life." A and S had both seen. Jamie and I loved it!!! If you've never seen it, it's a great movie.

They all left by 5:15 am Friday morning and were home by early afternoon. What great and true friends I have. They encouraged and blessed me and I'm so thankful for them!!!

Ruthie :)

A few shots from our week 'o fun...

Jamie and all the kids at recess.

Soph and N.

Fun on the tire swing!

E, so close to walking all on her own!

Swinging good time!

No real reason

I've been looking for a clever reason to post this picture of my daughter. I'm tired and not feeling super creative... so, I'm just going to post it! I could get lost in her eyes. I imagine someday a young man will too, but let's not think about that! :)

Have a blessed Sunday. I can't wait to share about my week with friends. Here's a brain teaser: 2 bedroom house, family of four already residing plus visitors for four nights, including two adults and six children... where could we all have possibly slept??? Puzzled?

Ruthie :)

A bit of our fun

Friends

Well, my dear friends and their children will be arriving within an hour or so, and since we'll be adding 2 mommies and 6 children to our roost... I may be away from my blog until after their visit. Have a great week and I'm sure I'll have all sorts of stories to share.

Ruthie :)