Name: Parker Jeffrey
Proud Parents: Marty (my bro) and Kristi
When: 8:05am, February 27, 2009
Where: Other end of the country, but we’re really excited anyway!
Stats: 7lbs 9oz, 19.25 inches, Blonde hair (so they say), Firstborn

Isn’t he CUTE! Congratulations Brother & Sister, we love you!

Our sweet baby girl turned a whole year old yesterday. I really don’t know when I blinked.

One year ago day before yesterday I was ordered to “take it easy” for a few days, because of some preterm labor. I followed the doctor’s orders, but on Saturday afternoon, an hour or so after my husband finished clearing a foot of snow from our driveway, I felt my water break, and he rushed everyone into the car to head to the hospital. We called some dear friends, who met us there and took our older children home with them, and about two hours later our new daughter arrived in the world.

Miriam Elizabeth was born 6 weeks early, and weighed 4lbs 13oz. We’d waited until her arrival to find out her gender, and my pregnancy had been so “easy,” that I really thought she would be a boy, since I’d had simple pregnancies with her brothers. Chris preferred the name Abigail for a daughter, Miriam was my top pick. I thought we were going to use Abigail, but when the nurse asked her name, he said “Miriam Elizabeth.” Between coming a month and a half early, welcoming a beautiful little daughter, and being surprised with the choice of name, her whole arrival felt a little surreal. I lay awake for a while that night, thinking about how wonderful and strange it was to have my little girl lying in the nursery (she needed the extra heat of the incubator) …could she really be here?

She really was, and we spent Sunday getting to know her a bit, with some good cuddles, and I began pumping milk for her. Monday morning was different, though. The nurses told me that Miriam had vomited the tiny bit of milk they’d tried to feed her, and some tests were needed. After a couple of x-rays, our family pediatrician called the nursery to tell me that we needed further expertise, and would have to transfer to a hospital in Boston. I called Chris, who had gone home to be with our children. He called our dear friends back, met me at the local hospital, and we drove together to Boston Children’s hospital, where Miriam and I would spend the next 6 weeks.

Miriam had a birth defect called duodenal atresia: her duodenum was not connected to the rest of her intestines. She had surgery when she was four days old to connect them, and spent the next several weeks healing and recovering. We were covered in prayer and thankful to God that he allowed us to hold our sweet baby girl in our arms.

Miriam has grown into a delightful baby who is the apple of our entire family’s eye. She is cuddly and kissable and gives her smiles generously. There are frequent “discussions” over whose turn it is to hold her, since she’s just so much fun.

Here are a few pictures from our year of joy with the daughter who fills in our “six pack” of children. Enjoy the cuteness!

The First Six Months (Click on picture for first slideshow):

Six Months to One Year (Click for second slideshow):

In general, I’m not a sports fan. Our family will occasionally (once or twice a year) tune in a football game, and we enjoy the once-yearly free tickets from my husband’s company to see the Celtics, but overall we have more important ways to spend our time. When I was growing up homeschooled in the 1980’s and 90’s, there weren’t a lot of options for playing organized sports available. My brother and I were on our local swim team, which was great exercise, and a shoe-in to a good job in high school as a lifeguard & swim instructor, but I will admit to some sneaking jealousy listening to my husband’s tales of his volleyball exploits.

Fast forward 20 years, and my current homeschooled children could potentially be involved in just about any sport you can imagine. I hear the pickings are a little slimmer at the high school level, but we’re still a few years from that. However, finding the balance between family time, exercise, and the family wallet is still a critical concern! One of the dads in our support group has run a soccer clinic in the late spring for the last few years;  that’s always a joy. My own manly man is planning a volleyball class for our homescchool Co-op next year, hooray! Maybe I’ll join…. Summer holds lots of time for biking and hiking, with trips to the beach and/or pool thrown in for good measure. And in the chill of winter, besides the sledding and snow-fort building,  there is Upward.

If you’ve never heard of Upward Basketball, it’s an organization dedicated to using the game of basketball to encourage children in not only learning the sport but also applying Scripture to a part of life not often thought of as “spiritual”: competition. Devotionals during each practice and game and weekly memory verses are designed to draw the participants closer to the God we serve. While any program has its quirks and flaws, we have found the Upward program run by the community church close to our home to have more benefits than drawbacks. Our children look forward to it all year, and have learned some great skills, besides burning off excess energy in the cold New England winter months. Chris has alternated years coaching Rebecca and Andrew’s teams, and now, since this is Lydia’s first year to play, he’s over at the church gym working to teach a giggling gaggle of 1st and 2nd grade girls to dribble and shoot every week. Pray for that dedicated guy!

It’s great to watch a child who could barely control the ball at the beginning of the season make their first basket in a game by the end. Brings a whole new level of interest to the game! Three months of mid-week practices and Saturday games entertaining 3 pre-schoolers on the sidelines (which are just 3 feet from the painted border of the court) is enough to give the kids a taste of organized sports and cameraderie, and to remind me why we don’t need to fill the calendar with them all year.

Go Team!

Here are a few pictures from recent games; Rebecca and Andrew were the photographers, as my hands are busy enough with Timothy & Miriam, no space for a camera!

….and holding down the sidelines….

For the 2 or 3 of you out there who read this blog (LOL) I’ve not forgotten you, have just been busy, busy lately and haven’t taken the time to finish some of the drafts I’ve got on hold; i.e. insert the pictures and etc.

The next couple of days are pretty crazy too, as I’m doing some major housework, but I plan to put up some new posts soon. Stuff on the kiddo’s basketball, a book review of a recent read, a fun project I completed (haven’t sewn “just for fun” in a while) and more.

For now, just a quick run-down-update (is that an oxymoron?) on the fam:

Chris: Installed coat, hat, backpack, glove etc. shelves & hooks in downstairs hall. Also made himself a loooong list of other household projects. What a guy.

Heather: Loving on & training babies, sorting & storing children’s clothes, working toward a cleaner house.

Rebecca: Teaching herself “Fur Elise” on the electronic keyboard, and doing quite well!

Andrew: Excelling in Upward basketball (full post to come) and also making a pair of slippers for his mama (isn’t he sweet?)

Lydia: Continuing to learn to read, and taking off with it. Also memorized Psalm 23 this week.

Bethany: Excited about the prospect of moving out of Mom & Dad’s room and into her “own.” (Shared with her two older sisters!)

Timothy: Enjoying the mini basketball hoop we have hooked to the door of our bedroom. That kid’s got an arm!

Miriam: Pulling up on her crib and smiling, about to turn 1 in just a few days!

All: Recovering from a medium/mild cold, and enjoying working together on home and studies.

You see, one of his favorite things is gone. My beloved husband adores lengthy tresses on his wife and daughters. Far beyond preference, he’s needed to consider long and hard the couple of times I’ve donated some hair to Locks of Love, and is always thrilled when it’s grown back out. His favorite haircut for me is a minimal trim off the ends, in the hope that it will be completely unnoticable. I love that he enjoys my hair, and am happy to wear it the way he likes.

However, it does make certain childhood mistakes rather hard on him. Specifically the one that seems to affect most children at some point. Experimentation with scissors.

Nearly seven years ago, our first family mishap occured. Rebecca (age 4) trimmed off both sides of her hair at chin length, and her bangs at scalp level. She was quite upset after I informed her that no, she would not be able to “tape it back on.” Daddy was too. But it grew, and even with a Locks of Love donation four years ago, is down to her waist these days. She’s learning to braid it herself, and is having lots of fun experimenting on her hair and Lydia’s.

Lydia’s blonde waves appear to have made it past the danger zone. She heeded the many warnings that “scissors are only for paper” and has only had her bangs and split ends trimmed over the course of her six years.

We thought we’d kept the message going strong with our younger children. It must not have been ingrained quite deeply enough, though, because yesterday, I came in the room to find that a twisty brown 5 inch tuft of hair was sitting on the kitchen floor. Bethany (age 4) had succumbed to the desire to see what scissors could do to her curly locks. I called Daddy at work so he could begin the grieving process before coming home to a shock, and went to get the haircut kit from the bathroom.

Thankfully, Bethany’s adventures with scissors were not quite as aggressive as those of her older sister a few years ago. She only cut it about chin length on her right side, so I was able to even it out all the way around without too much trouble. I pulled out my Curly Girl book and carefully followed the advice on getting an attractive cut on my own curly girl.
There were a few tears as she realized the magnitude of her “crime,” because she likes her long hair too, but then we got down to business.


I snipped “with the curl,” making sure to follow the natural curve of her hair, so that she would wind up with an even look overall.
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And the final results: I think she looks like she did a couple of years ago, rather like Shirley Temple. She’s happy with it too, and it will be easy to care for, fewer snarls with shorter hair. But Daddy is sad for the curls that were, even though he knows that they will eventually come back.
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P.S. For those who look at the pictures in full screen, the little scrape next to her eye is leftover from a run-in with Timothy & some K’Nex a few days ago, not from scissors, thankfully!

That’s right, our sweet little Miriam is sitting up all on her own! She doesn’t get there by herself, but once up, she stays that way for quite a while before she gets tired and flops back over.

She and I had a nice little photo session this evening, me with my arm holding the camera draped over the folding crib, and Miriam giving me all the sweet smiles any mama could ask for.

As I type, we’re playing “Fetch” with her favorite rattle. She’s dropping, I’m fetching….I don’t usually play this game more than once with my children, but it is preferable to “Who Can Touch the Spacebar the Fastest.” Especially since Miriam often wins that one!

Note to Grandmas: Can you squint and see the two adorable teeth on the bottom? Aren’t they precious? My baby girl is growing up so fast!

I’m beginning to suspect she will have dark, smooth hair like Andrew, rather than the curls some of our other children have had as babies. Her eyes are definitely turning quite hazel, which puts the children’s eye color stats at 2 blue, 3 hazel and 1 brown. God is so creative!

Isn’t she nearly too cute for words? Not that I’m biased or anything….

I know the context of this verse is not babies, but it seems to fit here:

So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 1 Corinthians 3:7

We are so abundantly blessed to be entrusted with these precious souls for a season, however long it is.

A plethora of ideas for posts on this blog have flitted through my brain in the past few weeks, and I nary a one of them have I recorded. “Must establish the tone first.” “Does this fit the context of my ideas for the blog?” In essence, too much perfectionism.

I want this place to be a compilation of big and little thoughts and events, kinda like my life, I guess. It’s amazing to me how the fabric of living is made up of such an array of happenings and memories. Some of the smallest interactions are remembered for a life time, and other “big” things may be forgotten.

Whatever the days hold around our home, they are rarely boring. I decided to try a pattern for a crocheted kitchen sponge this morning during the children’s independent schoolwork. Pattern here, and while I was looking at the instructions & brushing up my rusty crochet skills, my children began to cackle and I looked up to find this:

To his credit, Timothy did try to take the yarn back off while I was detangling him, and he left it alone the rest of the day! Of course, that could be because he spent an enormous amount of time fussing about his nap instead of sleeping through it… but I got some great cuddles later! And I also made 2 kitchen sponges while I was waiting for him to obey and go to sleep, so I’ll get to test and see if I like them. Oh yes, and the yarn was all free, I asked for some on our local Freecycle list and got some generous donations! We’re having fun making lots of projects around here lately.

Introductions are always important, and since even I can’t always keep our family’s names straight…I figure a “cheat sheet” for family & friends who might read this blog could be useful.

Ages are, of course, subject to change. Names are not, though everyone’s pretty much resigned to being called by the wrong one periodically (the main reason we don’t have pets, there are already enough names in the mix!)

Chris: aka “Dad.” 30-something handsome genius who loves his God and family beyond the limit.

Heather: the Mom in the family and writer of this blog, though I do reserve the right to allow other family members “guest posts” now and then, especially when they write something really cool.

Rebecca: our firstborn, a quiet, gracious daughter, newly turned 11, who loves music, arts and crafts, and all things feminine and frilly. She is often my right arm in helping to keep our household flowing. God sure knew what he was doing when he brought her to our family 9 months and 10 days after our wedding!

Andrew: our oldest son, age 9. He is tall for his age and outgoing, and so strangers often assume he’s the oldest child or his sister’s twin. Andrew is naturally athletic, and also loves to read and make up imaginary dramas. He’s been learning to cook breakfast lately, like his Daddy. I’m very spoiled to have so many excellent chefs in the house.

Lydia: age 6. We like to say our sweet little girl learned to talk “early, and often.” No matter the subject, she has something fun to say about it. Lydia’s learning to read, and is enjoying her older sister’s braiding experiments on her long blonde hair. She always has a hug or encouraging “I love you Mama” to share.

Bethany: age 4. Our little “firecracker” girl has been opinionated about her preferences from the start. She loves to “do school” right alongside her older siblings, and her curls and dimples mean that total strangers find her requests hard to resist. She loves to snuggle up with a storybook for some cuddle time. Me too.

Timothy: age 2. After a long line of “kids that look like Mama” Timothy arrived, the spittin’ image of his father. Got his personality too, with a very strong will that we have the joyous challenge of training up in righteousness as best we can. It’s turned out well in Daddy, so I know there’s hope! He’s adding new words to his vocabulary daily. It’s fascinating to see what’s going on inside his head.

Miriam: age 8 months. A reminder to us that God’s mercies are new every morning. Miriam arrived 6 weeks premature, probably because of a birth defect we didn’t discover until after she was born. She had surgery to connect her duodenum to the rest of her intestines at 4 days old, and we are reminded every day when we look at her that life is precious, and in the hands of our gracious Father to do with as He wills.

Almost always said with a smile. Almost always said at least three times when I take our family out to run errands. I guess families with six children aren’t as common as they used to be, but I’m sure blessed to have mine! (I always smile secretly when I get this comment and I “only” have a couple of children with me. Once after several such encounters, one of my children finally asked “Mom, why do people keep saying that? Can’t they think of anything else to say?”

How to respond? Well to the person usually: “Yes, full of blessings!” “I wouldn’t have it any other way!” or “And it’s so much fun!” You see, I want to witness to others (and to my children!) that they are precious gifts from the Lord, and I don’t take them lightly. Even in those less than stellar moments when we’re grating on each other’s nerves, I’m thrilled to have them and truly wouldn’t want my life right now to be any other way.

I’m starting this blog for a few reasons. To celebrate some of the joys and struggles of our family. To share with family and friends far away if they so choose. To preserve my fragile memory – there’s lots to think about around here! To be more purposeful in family record keeping as we strive to become a family that better glorifies God.

While most of my focus will center around happenings in our home, I may also throw in some fun tips, recipes and links along the way. After all, the things we enjoy and that tickle our funny bone just might bring a smile to someone else’s face, too!

As with all my life, anything good here is from the Lord. It is only by His grace that I enjoy the abundant blessings He has given. It is a very rich, and yes, FULL life.