The beginning of Lent and 7 months

I've been thinking for the last couple of weeks about what I'd do to mark the Lenten season.  I wanted to do something other than give up sweets --my default practice almost every year since 1992.  Yes, it is a sacrifice (more so than I like to admit) but in the end I don't know that it ever really brings me anywhere in my relationship with God.  While doing some reading about less traditional ways to observe Lent, I found an article about  "cultivating a life of gratitude".   The idea of focusing on the things around me for which I am thankful seems to me the perfect way to see God's hand in my daily life.  For the next 40 days, I'm going to post daily about something I am thankful for.  I imagine they'll range from expected to unusual, big to small.. but I know for sure they're all thanks to God.

The perfect way to begin is with our beautiful baby Lucy, who just so happens to be 7 months old today!

This is how she wakes up. Sweet and happy.

7 month stats:

Weight/Length- Unsure but she is growing.  

Teeth-  She has 2 pearly whites on the bottom.

Dimple- Still there.

Hair- Red but sparse!

Tricks- Sitting for a few moments, she is really getting the hang of it, just today she realized that if she slowly turns her head she doesn't fall over.  And this one is hot off the press...she is able to get up on all fours.  EEK!

                                        Sorry for the blurry shot but I was about to pass out.

Footwear is overrated

That is if you ask Lucy Baum.  She has been the master of sock removal for some months now.  This morning I decided to give her a challenge....baby shoes.  It took her all of a minute and a half to show those shoes who was boss.  She found they make a great teething toy.

Happy National Pancake Day!

Yum!  

oops correction!

Baby Lucy is 16 pounds 8 ounces!  Somebody was typing a little too fast last night!   Thanks for those eagle eyes watching me :)!!

Lulu and all of her ounces!  Plus a good shot of that dimple!

Zero and a half

Our sweet Lucy is six months today, or as her sisters are saying, she's zero and a half!

6 month stats

Weight- 16 lb. 4 oz. ...she has exactly doubled her birthweight...there is something about this girl and numbers-
Born 8.9.10, weighed 8 pounds 4 ounces, on 2.9.11 (2+9=11) her half birthday, she doubled her weight.

Length - 27 inches

Eyes- Hazel

Hair- Red, but a different shade than Emma's,  a lot more brown

Dimples- 1 on her cheek, 1 on each elbow and several on her thighs

Teeth- 2 pushing through on the bottom

Favorites- Jumping in her exersaucer, batting at toys, grabbing the spoon out of your hand while feeding her and gagging herself, laughing at everything her sisters do, rolling over and over, making the world a better place....well, at least my world!

She is the definition of cool......

About 10 minutes into the game last night Ellie and I lost interest.  We left the game to Kevin and Emma and wandered upstairs to read.  Ellie asked if we could watch Barney instead because "it reminds me of when I was a little kid".  I was caught off guard, not by the Barney request but by the realization that Ellie isn't a little kid.  It seems that according to Ellie,  once you're 5 you're a big kid and that's "cool".  Yea, I said that is so (NOT!) cool.  She began telling me about other cool things. Namely Charlie, her godfather Jay's girlfriend.  They visited from New York City this weekend.   Ellie has determined that she has good style, which she does.  Picture multiple earrings, funky red glasses, a nose ring, understated, vintage clothes, you get the picture--cool.  My mind raced forward 20 years...oh my.  As if to snap me out of my daze she said "but mom, tongue rings are not cool".  My knees were weak, TONGUE rings?!  She then did a perfect imitation of a pierced tongue talking person.  Seems her swimming teacher has a tongue piercing which makes her hard to understand.   No, no, no,no tongue piercings are not cool I assured her.

 Every time I turn around Ellie is doing or saying something that I want to capture and never forget. Thursday morning as we drove down the street, she asked me why there were so many Christmas lights up.  I stopped the van and looked up in the sky where I noticed the beauty in the trees as the sun shined down on the ice covered limbs.  It looked like a million little lights shining.  I explained to her what was going on and watched as her grin grew and grew until her face was shining just like those trees.  I sat and watched her, tears brimming.  Later I wished I'd had the sense to get my phone out and capture the moment.  But really, I know I never could have.   I've replayed that moment over and over in hopes I'll remember it forever and ever.  On Friday we heard a song with a deep male, gospel voice.  When the song finished she said "mama, was that God?".   I love the thought that God is so real to her that she can picture him up in Heaven recording a CD.  Little kid, big kid, something in between, whatever the case, they don't come any cooler.

Her favorite color is zebra print.  

The Big One

It looked like we were in for the biggest storm of recent memory.   Outside, the temperature was bitterly cold with a biting wind,  the inside reading was nearly the same.  Patience was thin, tempers were flared and by 8:30 I was wondering how we'd survive, especially if we really did have a blizzard.  I didn't even want to think about what might happen if we lost electricity.  With a baby who needed a nap, a husband who had to work from home (and he really did have to work darnit) and two kids about to explode I had to think quick.  I scurried around and threw out an idea for turning our house into a weather station, complete with taped hourly reports.  The kids loved the idea and immediately began planning.  I disappeared upstairs to put the baby down and when I returned things were in full swing at Weather Station 123.  With our focus diverted,  I watched the weather inside change.  Moods were lifted and each hour ticked by with such fury that we barely had time to guzzle down our hot coca before it was time to tape the next edition of our weather cast. We carried on for most of the day, several reports were posted and several were not...due to technical difficulties.  At the end of the day I realized we had stopped the big storm from coming.  Oh, maybe not the blizzard that veered a bit more north than was expected, but the one that was brewing right here under our roof.


                    After a long day of reporting the crew let loose with a crazy dance contest.