Rachel Writes

Micah turned 30. Congrats, Micah! We love you very much. We're going to eat dessert with friends. I love Micah's humor and insight. His kindness and his honesty. He's very clever and very gentle. Hurray for Micah!

We're so blessed to have my parents visiting. I've had two thoughts this week: (1) When making hot dogs (or hot dawgs, like I almost typed) for dinner, make coleslaw too! (2) It's important to like being ourselves. Quality of life, right? God made me ME, so I should not spend time trying to be someone else. (3) I'm thankful for God's love revealed in other people's goodness, Jesus, and babies. Have a blessed week.

So I thought this picture was silly and cute. Doesn't he look like a little mer-person? Thaddeus is having a great time eating, burping, and sleeping. He's cute and I'm in love with him. The days are nice and slow. :-) My parents come this weekend. Hurray!

Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.   All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 1 Corinthians 13:12 (NLT) There's so much that I don't know. I am comforted to think that's expected. Someday I'll be a 'know it all' but so will everybody else! It won't be a contest of who knows what. It won't be about boosting my social status-- "Wow, she's so smart!"--or even being Super Mom or Super Wife or Super Woman. It'll be this great gift, a great part of being in the very presence of God. It's a mystery, a hopeful one.

Cupcake Cake by Louise I'm so grateful for wonderful friends who threw a prayer shower for me. We ate snacks, played a few games, and prayed blessings over Thaddeus and our family. Thank you, friends, for your time,food making, and care! (Oh, and for the diapers. :-) ) Holding Baby Luke My friend shows me her picture of what Tad will look like-- She gave him red hair! I loved it. A Person's A Person No Matter How Small

So Tad has arrived and we're all very glad. Here are some of our first impressions: Well, I'm pretty much thinking, "At last!" 7 hours of labor isn't much in the long run, but the last hour of pushing presented me with my challenge of the year. So, of course, I'm very glad to be holding this little guy. Whitaker was up at three asking for a drink. Surprise! The baby is here. He had many smiles and lots of kisses for me. Soj was up with the sun. I love this picture. She gave a slight gasp when she saw Thaddeus. Such pure joy. Tad looks a little bored with Dad, no? Well, ta-ta for now! Hope to keep posting from time to time in between feeding the Tad and getting on with this adventure of life.

But we do love her! Some of our neighbors graciously agreed to let us walk their dog once in awhile. Sojourner is enraptured with Mia, the fluffy puppy. (I say puppy-- she's 8(?) years old...)  Whit will give her a fleeting pat. Mom watches the kids get great exercise without feeling like a football coach-- BEFORE: "Go on the slide. Race around the playground. Okay, I'll chase a little. Keep moving!" NOW: No need for words. Just watching them run with the dog. "Sigh." of happiness