Thoroughly Blessed

Week in Review

2012-01-27T10:00:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures of the kids this week:

My joyful and so very helpful one! She loves to be funny and cute.

SISTERS! :)


This was his first exposure to finger paint. I missed getting the photo of when he started finger painting his hair green and blue--he got tired of it fast and Emma started crying at that same time.


Gabe playing with puzzles. He is so enthusiastic and really wants my attention and help with things right now.

Well, these are actually from the last two weeks but this just shows you how much Emma has already changed and filled out. She is precious and sweet! Her is starting to have more awake time after certain feedings, mostly in the late afternoon/evening hours. She has had some fussier times the last couple of days but i wouldn't trade it. :)

We went for a walk the other day and were approached by a man with a camera and newspaper badge who wanted to take a picture of Olivia riding her scooter. He said it might or might not be in the paper sometime over the next few days and, sure enough, it was there the very next day on page 2!

Beach Trip

2012-01-24T06:00:00.000-05:00

Yes, we went to the beach in JANUARY (can you say extra windy, cold, and short days?) and with a NEWBORN (1 week old). But my in-laws graciously offered Jeremy work and they offered us a place to stay so we wouldn't be without daddy for the nights he was down there working. It was not crowded. We did get some sunshine and it is a mild winter so far this year. And the ocean is a beautiful part of God's creation and I am blessed that I got to experience it. It has been several years since I have been down to the beach. The kids enjoyed picking up seashells. Olivia loved the clear view of the stars we got at night. And she couldn't believe how big and loud the ocean was.


The sunrise view from our room.

This is our most adventurous child and here are some wounds he received on the trip to prove it.

Ezra and Emma

2012-01-19T14:00:00.001-05:00

Ezra just loves to look and point and say. "Hi Baby!" :-) It's too cute.

Olivia's Missing Tooth

2012-01-18T10:00:00.000-05:00

Olivia lost her other front tooth, followed by one on the bottom a few days later and the effect was quite comical. She now speaks with a slight lisp that gets quite exaggerated when she knows it's funny or cute.

She got a letter from the "Tooth Fairy" thanking her for the tooth and telling her to take good care of her teeth.

More Family Visits

2012-01-17T12:00:00.000-05:00

Grandpa and Grandma drove up for a visit to meet Emma.

A Breakthough for Olivia!

2012-01-16T20:00:00.000-05:00

For quite some time now, I've been trying to get O to do the monkey bars at the playground, but she's always been too scared. This time, though, she was willing to try and, though she panicked a little, did great!

Ezra's Run

2012-01-15T16:00:00.000-05:00

Ezra is getting into running now, probably because he has to to keep up with the other two! His run is so cute! I said it reminded me of Winnie the Pooh.

Fun at the Park

2012-01-14T16:00:00.000-05:00

We took the kids across the street when we had a really nice day last week.

O and Gabe took a break and played I Spy with the clouds.

The kids loved rolling down the hill.

Had to chase Ezra down a couple of times when he wanted to run off by himself.

Gabe just loves investigating new things.

We're home!

2012-01-12T20:39:00.002-05:00

Actually, we got home yesterday, but I just got around to posting these couple of pictures...:)

The kids are all excited to have Emma home with us. You almost can't beat Olivia off her with a stick. :) Gabe likes to see her and Ezra just points and says, "Baby!"

It didn't take her long to figure out how to suck on her fingers/thumb.

Emma first night was actually pretty good. She is eating very well and sleeping for decent stretches. Rebecca got up with her at 4 and 6 this morning, but Emma feeds when she's laying down, so that makes it easier.

Mom and Dad with Emma

2012-01-10T21:41:00.000-05:00

Family Visits

2012-01-10T10:21:00.001-05:00

It's a Girl!!!

2012-01-10T04:09:00.002-05:00

Emma Lee Sarine

1/10/2012 3:11am

7lbs 4.4oz and 19.5in long

It's Baby Time!!!

2012-01-10T01:58:00.003-05:00

Ok, we're officially starting the process of bringing Baby 4 into the world! I will be updating this blog every so often, probably once per hour unless something significant happens.

Contractions started at about 3am on the 9th about an hour apart, but they didn't change much until around 3pm. From then on, they got to be more like 30-45 minutes apart. We brought the kids to Nana and Pop-pop's around 6 while Rebecca and Nana went for pedicures. Stayed in Summerfield until around 8:30 and then headed back home. By then, contractions were only 10 minutes apart, but weren't very long. My friend, Jimmy, came over to watch the BCS Championship football game while Rebecca talked on the phone with friends and puttered around on Facebook. After the game, the contractions really started getting more intense and closer together. This is where we'll start the timeline:

1/10/2012 12:30am - Contraction lasted 2 full minutes and was only 5 minutes after the previous. Called Tanya (our midwife) and let her know things were progressing. She said to hang out for a couple hours and see if they subside or progress.

1:30am - Contractions are pretty intense now. Rebecca's having to breath through them. They're varying in spacing between 5 and 10 minutes, but are consistently 1.5 to 2 minutes long.

2:00am - She's nauseous now. Called Tanya and updated her. She said to head on in to the hospital, so we're on our way!

2:30am - at the hospital. checking in.

2:54am - back in triage. 8cm. nurse runs off to call midwife. water just broke. nurse runs back in.

3:05am - wheeling us into the delivery room

3:06am - Rebecca really needs to push! (she is still standing, barely makes it into the bed and sort of sideways) Tanya has not made it to hospital yet.

A Moment To Capture

2012-01-07T16:48:00.001-05:00

Waiting on Our Newest Little One

2012-01-07T16:46:00.001-05:00

The Littlest One has decided to keep us waiting. We have had tons of warm-up contractions and some periods of false labor. But 4 Baby remains warm inside of mama. Rebecca was 39 weeks 4 days when she went into labor with Olivia, 38 weeks 3 days with Gabe, and 39 weeks with Ezra.

Fun With Cousins, Part 2 - The Park

2012-01-03T09:00:00.001-05:00

We met up with the cousins at Lake Daniels Park for some fun times.

Olivia loves to climb trees

Gabe and Ezra kept pretending they were running in the swings

One thing we love about this park is all the toys that are just left out there for anyone to use. The kids particularly love this one.

Mama trying to put herself into labor.

Daddy takes his turn.

Yet another tree for Olivia. I think she's half squirrel

Ezra and the other kids love bouncing on this one.

Max headed down the slide backwards.

Gabe makes a go at it.

and once he's down, he wants to climb up the rock wall to go again. Pop-pop helped him.

Pop-pop and Max in the sandbox.

Ezra taking his turn on the slide.

Fun With Cousins, Part 1

2012-01-01T17:30:00.001-05:00

My sister, Danielle, her husband Rudy and their twins, Max and Vivi, are in town for a couple of weeks over the holidays and we're getting to spend some time goofing around with all the kiddos.

Ezra using Rudy's head for a test track

Max, Vivi and Olivia played "Pile on Mommy/Aunt DD"

Ezra playing the Dirty Diaper blues.

Olivia, Aunt DD and Vivi.

Gabe attacking through the Rainbow Tunnel.

Our Favorite Light Display

2012-01-01T00:00:00.001-05:00

Here are the lights we went to see along ridgeway drive this year. I think we went through 4 times at the kid's request. Each year, it seems like they get bigger and higher! There were some that had to be 70 feet in the air or more!

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Candlemaking

2011-12-29T09:30:00.000-05:00

Olivia got to make candles at home last week. We had some candle making supplies from trying it out just after Rebecca and I got married. Olivia made two candles layered in different colors to give as gifts.

This was inspired after a trip to The NC Candle Factory a few weeks ago. Olivia said this was like being on the show How Its Made. She had lots of questions for our guide but seemed to like the color/scent room and the burn room the best.

And these lights remind us of the True Light and that we are to reflect that light.

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”John 8:12

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so thatthey may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16

I then used the leftover wax to make something I've been wanting to try for a while: homemade firestarters

I had a bunch of oak shavings from a candleholder I made and so I put them in the egg crate and poured the hot wax into each egg holder. Once they dried, they worked great. :)

Hanukkah - The Feast of Dedication

2011-12-27T17:36:00.002-05:00

We've been celebrating Hanukkah this week. No, no, we aren't Jewish. :) (Although, we do love the Jewish people. And we believe in a Hebrew God and Messiah.) What an amazing story and celebration. It is a story of standing up to religious persecution, of God doing amazing miracles, lighting lights to remind us of those things as well as the TRUE light of the World, being able to worship God and study the Bible freely. Thank you God for your light and miracles in our lives!

A simple candle holder based on the Hanukkah Menorah. Just a simple piece of oak with holes drilled in it. The candles are actually nothing but olive oil with wire wicks. The lampstand or Menorah in the Temple (only 6 lights) was oil burning. And one of the miracles of Hanukkah surrounds the provisions of 8 days of oil from just 1 day's supply.

We took Olivia and the boys to a storytime at the library where they got to hear traditional stories, recipes, play the dreidel game and songs.

Ezra found himself a little chair that was just right for him. I seriously considered stealing it because he looked so cute in it.

Rebecca also found a great resource called Jonathan's story by Heidi Cooper at www.torahfamilyliving.com. We read a part of it each day and did the suggested activities (bible reading, marching with our instruments praising God with the Psalms, the Songs of Moses and Miriam, and our own made up songs, praying blessings over the children and how God would one day use their little lives, making a family crest together, and reenacting the battle between the Jews and the Greeks--just to name a few) Also, we have been using Robin Sampson's A Family Guide to the Biblical Holidays which is another great resource. We have generally been having a good time as a family and with friends. We had dinner and then hot chocolate and cookies. We tried our hands at making latkes.

One craft that O really enjoyed doing was making a family crest with 4 things we think are important. She picked (from top left clockwise): God's Word (in the form of a scroll), our family, the Cross, and God's creation.

Wondering why we would celebrate? Well, it has been a process but this article will is a pretty good introduction to the reasons.

Family Visits

2011-12-25T21:39:00.000-05:00

This week, we went to visit both sides of Rebecca's family: the Fenskes in Durham and the Baldwins in Concord.

On Friday, we got to go visit with Rebecca's mom's family in Durham and see her Uncle Charlie, Aunt Nancy and cousin Sarah. Also got to see Grandma Jean and Grandpa Bill, but for some dumb reason, I didn't get a picture of them....

Then on Saturday, we went and had lunch with the Baldwin side down at Aunt Bethany and Uncle Phil's in Concord.

The kids getting some help from Hunter, Matthew and Great-grandpa.

The 5 Baldwin Cousins. The last time they were all together was at our wedding in 2000!

4 Generations of Baldwins.

We had a wonderful time at both places and we hope to be able to see everyone again soon!

Olivia's Dance

2011-12-23T17:00:00.000-05:00

At our church's Christmas service, Olivia did the dance she's been rehearsing for the past few months. She did such a great job! Thank you, Lauren, for working with her each week. :)

Olivia also got to show us some of the tap moves she's been practicing.

Olivia was also very proud of the mani/pedi that mommy gave her before the dance. :)

Potty training

2011-12-22T23:02:00.000-05:00

Gabe has been potty training this week and we've had some success. He's just like me though, in that he needs something to do while he's sitting there.

Family Baking Day

2011-12-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

We had Daddy home today. We spent a good bit of the day in the kitchen. Cookies, Brownies, and Bread...

Week 37!

2011-12-20T21:51:00.004-05:00

Well, Rebecca's reached week 37 She asked how she looked in the picture and my response was, "like Alfred Hitchcock." She didn't find that very funny...