Beautiful Beginnings~

It has been a while since Ivy was born, but things have been pretty busy, and I have not found time to sit and journal about her birth.

I was induced on the morning of August 5th at 8:30.

She was born that afternoon at 2:37.

Everything went amazingly smooth, no complications, and no complaints.

We welcomed her into our lives with love and great expectation of the joy she would bring to our family.

 

  Ethan and Ivy~ He was thrilled to finally get to hold her!

Elijah was very gentle and cautious around Ivy.
He would softly kiss her little head and smile...
 

  Baby sisters~ Emma and Ivy~

They are going to have so much fun together.

 Ivy ~ Gift of God

A piece of my heart now forever resides with her.

A view from where I sat...
 

 

 

 

Lovelies for the Lovely :) 

 

  

 

 Five is not too many.

I'm thankful for every day that I get to be a mommy.

 I am thankful to hold a newborn in my arms again.

 

 

 

Tomato Tradition~

It's summer, so that means it's time to can!

A tradition started by my mother before I was born...

One she instilled in me from as young as I can remember...

And one that I am teaching my children to love and appreciate.

~Olivia washing the tomatoes/step 1~

 

 ~Ethan boiling the tomatoes for a few minutes, then putting them into cold water to cool/step 2&3~

 

 ~cooling toms~

 

 ~Me, cutting the softened tomatoes into a pan, preparing them for cooking/step 4~

 

~Emma, just being precious, drying off a tomato after it has been washed by Livy~

 



 ~Emma's tomato~

 

~Ethan wishing he could help me cut the softened tomatoes~

 

 ~getting fresh cooling water~

 

 ~cooling toms, waiting to be cut~

 

 ~tomato love~

 

~My sweet, diligent boy, helping me stir the first "cooking" of tomatoes/step 5~

 

 ~filling the jars, with the hot, cooked tomatoes/step 6~

 

 

~removing air bubbles with a knife/step 7~

 

~add lemon and salt to filled jars for preservation/step 8~

 

~add lids, and water bathe for 40 minutes/step 9&10~

 

~discard cutting scraps, and tidy kitchen while waiting for jars to water bathe/step 11~

 

~sweet Elijah playing with his pattern blocks. He had no interest in the tomatoes~

 

~enjoy the beauty of your handy work/step 12~

 

Thank you, Mom, for teaching me the art of canning...

 

Titus 2:3-5

 

Comfy Goodness~

I am very excited about the my latest sewing project. I am making a stash of newborn fitted cloth diapers for our little gift that is due in August. Now that it is summer, and I am not homeschooling, I have plenty of time to sew! (smile).

(Inside of diaper~Infant Prefold in Indian Cotton)

I have a wonderful mentor friend who is an amazing diaper seamstress.I used her tutorial found here. She has been available to answer so many of my questions. She has made the start of my diaper sewing journey so much easier! I am hoping to make a collection of diapers as beautiful as the ones she made!

(Outside of diaper~Bamboo Velour~sand color)

I made a few trial diapers using scrap fabric. They turned out pretty well, and helped me realize things I needed to change or be aware of when I started using my good fabric. A couple days ago, I made my first real, usable cloth diaper(shown here in these pictures)! It turned out great! The fabrics are amazing, and the diaper feels so soft and snugly!

(Outside)

(This is a Bum Genius Flip Cover that I'll use over the fitted diapers)



 

I cloth diapered some with Elijah(my third child). You could say I got my feet wet with him :)

With Emma(baby number 4), I was even more inspired, and "almost" exclusively cloth diapered her.

Now, with number 5, I am to the point of "making" diapers!...wow... :)

 (Finished diaper, my kindle with my "goal" picture, and the trusty vintage Singer)

 

So Happy! :)

"The Art of Mothering"

moth·er

/ˈməT͟Hər/

Noun A woman in relation to a child or children to whom she has given birth.

Verb Bring up (a child) with care and affection: "the art of mothering".

Synonyms mama - mamma - parent - mom - ma - mum - mummy   As mine and my husband's quiver has grown over the years, I am realizing that the "giving birth" part of being a mother is probably the easiest part of all. The beauty of carrying a child inside of your body, and feeling the first little kick, and seeing your belly swell to the point of not being able to see your feet anymore is such a God given gift. After all He is at work in you in such a powerful way. His hand is upon you everyday as He knits that little one together. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. Psalm 139:13  Once you hold that precious baby in your arms for the first time, you are never the same. Your love multiplies beyond what you could ever imagine.   Then those little ones begin to grow (quickly). They begin to have new needs, new desires, new challenges, new joys. As a mother who is with her children, virtually all the time (since I home school), I get a lot of time to practice the verb of mother Bring up (a child) with care and affection: "the art of mothering". This is an enormous task, that requires dependency on the Lord for strength and help.   ...with care~ Feel concern or interest; attach importance to something: It is easy to just 'get through the day', but those little ones know whether you are really interested in what they are saying, what picture they just drew, their story, their fear. They know, and it is so important to make the effort to show them you care; that you really are interested, and see what they are trying to share with you, as important. If we make a habit of brushing them off now, and not truly listening, will they come to us when they are older? Will they feel the connection, and comfort of sharing things with Mama then? ...with affection~ A gentle feeling of fondness or liking. Physical expressions of these feelings.   These little eyes are watching us like a hawk. They do not miss a thing. They can sense joy, silliness, love, fear, frustration. My children are like sponges, and they respond to my cues. I can't hide my emotions very well, and they know it. Our children need to feel that they are liked. They need hugs, kisses, tickles. In the business of our day we need to always remember to express our love and not just assume they know we love them. Those extra kisses on the head, the random hug, or cuddle, can make all the difference in their little hearts. Keeping up with the daily demands of being a mom isn't easy for anyone. But being strong, and joyful, and not letting your stress and frustrations shine through is something I know we all need to work on. It is so important that our kids see Jesus in us; that they see the fruits of the Spirit "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control". To me, that is harder than giving birth any day :) A Mother's Influence I Took a piece of plastic clay And idly fashioned it one day, And as my fingers pressed it still, It moved and yielded to my will. I came again when days were passed; The bit of clay was hard at last, The form I gave it still it bore, But I could change that form no more! I took a piece of living clay And touched it gently day by day, And molded with my power and art A young child's soft and yielding heart. I came again when years were gone; It was a man I looked upon; That early impress still he wore, And I could change that form no more! Anon.   Some days I feel the task is too great. How can I effectively mold these precious lambs, and influence what they will be? But God is in us. He holds our hand, and says follow Me. Listen to His still, small voice. Be encouraged.You are not alone.

encouraging words

Sometimes one feels that they are missing out on something in life. They feel that if they could just do this, or be that, or go there, then they would be happy. If they could just change the way they look, or the way they act then they would be happy. Is this true? Would they be happy? Or, once they achieved whatever it is, would they just look on to the "next" thing that they wanted?

I recently looked up the word happy in the 1828 Webster's Dictionary:

Happy-Being in the enjoyment of agreeable sensations from the possession of good; enjoying pleasure from the gratification of appetites or desires. The pleasurable sensations derived from the gratification of sensual appetites render a person temporarily happy; but he only can be esteemed really and permanently happy, who enjoys peace of mind in the favor of God. To be in any degree happy, we must be free from pain both of body and of mind; to be very happy, we must be in the enjoyment of lively sensations of pleasure, either of body or mind.
Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed. Gen.30.
He found himself happiest, in communicating happiness to others.

I loved this..."he can only be esteemed really and permanently happy, who enjoys peace of mind in the favor of God"...

Wow. What a reminder of where our true happiness should lie. Where our happiness should come from.

We should not find our happiness in how "good" at our life we are.

We should not strive to be like this person, or look like her, or be that kind of wife. (Don't get me wrong, we definately need to pray and seek out ways to be the very best we can at all of our jobs as wives and mothers. But not consuming ourselves with what we aren't...what we don't have...what we feel we may never be.) We need to find our joy and contentment in the Lord. We need to be satisfied with this season of our life. We need to revel in it and never take one moment forgranted.

For like a mentor of mine said, "Be aware of the season you are in. Love it! Enjoy it! For you will only ever have it once."
`
Thank you Tara, and thank you to my dear Husband, for your encouraging words~

Teach me to understand my children...

~to patiently listen and answer all questions as best I can.

~to treat them with respect and dignity that I expect from them.

~to discipline them at the right times and for the right reasons.

~to always temper this discipline with love.

~to remember, at all times, that they are children.

~to give them the room and support they need to grow.

~to answer "yes" to all reasonable requests.

~to say "no" -even if it hurts- when it's in their best interest.

~to be a fitting model that they can both love and respect.