8 months

Keeping the stats updated:

How we roll at eight months old.

 And what we realized she can now do:

The Bumbo from Katy Kirkwood on Vimeo.



I'm really going to have to keep a close eye on her.....I'm pretty sure the creative solutions will only increase from here.

T is for Tiger, U is for Underwear down in the dryer

Bedtime For Francis. Image courtesy of Amazon

Does it ever strike you as uncanny the way Satan knows our exact fears? I'm thinking about it this morning because I was up until 1:30 last night afraid of the dark.

Quite seriously.

John was gone on business and the dishwasher was making a ton of noise and what if someone broke in and I couldn't hear them and they hurt Abigail?
I never heard any noises, but I was afraid of the possibility. I know that God works all for our good, that all  He allows is for a purpose... but I don't want that purpose to include someone breaking into my house. So I fear.
I also know that the devil likes to high-jack our thoughts, that every idea which goes through my head does not need to be taken out an analyzed because my flesh and the devil try to throw a lot of unhealthy thoughts my way.
But at 1 o'clock in the night, when John's gone, it's difficult to calm my fast heartbeat and take hold of that truth; even quoting scripture out loud (my method of corralling wild thoughts) doesn't always help.

In the light of this morning I was recalling how the dark has always been hard for me. As a kid I used to sleep very still in the very middle of the bed, feet curled up Indian-style so no monsters could chop off my legs or arms by reaching over the side of the bed.

Honestly.
 I would even set up all my stuffed animals around me as a barrier....or sleep with a bear on top of myself so if a robber stabbed me in the middle of the night the stuffed bear would slow him down.....and I was not super young, at least 10. I knew it was all in my head. But the head is such a powerful place. It took lots of practice to learn how to claim the promises of the Scripture to calm my heart.

When I was an adult, living in an apartment by myself for the first time I had to learn that lesson all over again. Noises are A LOT scarier when there's no one else in the house. Since being married I thought I was 'over' the fear that keeps one awake. But last night made me realize I'm going to have to learn this lesson in a deeper way.
Now, when I'm alone in the dark, I wonder:
"why did we put our child in a room with windows, someone could jimmy them open?!" and
"why we don't have a guard dog or at least a guard cockatoo?" or
"why didn't I leave all the lights in the house on?"  

I'm going to have to trust the Lord to hold not only me, but my children in His hands. That feels hard in the middle of the night: I've read Reader's Digest survivor stories, I know people's houses get broken into when they're there....it could (albeit ever so unlikely, that doesn't really matter at 2am) happen to us. And I have to, as strange as this may sound, be okay with that possibility. Do I really believe Psalms 27 when David says "Though an army besiege me my heart will not fear"? That's a tall order. No fear. That's what God calls me to. "Fear not, for I am with you." If He says "Fear not" that has to be possible through the Holy Spirit. He doesn't ask us for things He won't, through Christ, provide for.
And I want that; especially at 2 am.

 "There is a tiger in my room,' said Frances.
'Did he bite you?' said Father.
'No,' said Frances.
'Did he scratch you?' said Mother.
'No,' said Frances.
'Then he is a friendly tiger,' said Father. 'He will not hurt you. Go back to sleep."

Book Review #1

Something Missing  is wonderfully quirky. A professional thief with neurotically planned days who steals things he thinks no one will miss.....so he can steal from them repeatedly.  

Matthew Dicks is my favorite new author (not to be confused with my 'new favorite author' That's still Elizabeth Goudge.)

He was witty, surprised me, touched me and made me believe in his incredibly unique main character. Couldn't ask for more. Plus, it's short. A weekend read that is well worth it. Fingers crossed that his second book is just as lovable. 

Keeping Up Appearances, my Mrs. Bucket ( Bou-quet) moments

In my mind I'm a wonderful hostess. I love having people over; I enjoy cooking and setting a nice table; I have pretty aprons and I've read G.R.I.T.S. at least once all the way through.....what more could one need?

Book Club is at my house tonight.
On my to-do list:

• Put the house in order.....honestly. We've acquired a new couch ( thanks Brookers!) and are rearranging the front rooms to accommodate a crowd of 25 that will start coming every Wednesday night. But, colors and styles are NOT coordinating like I want so I hadn't yet made a good faith effort to make everything work.
• Pick a menu.  This I love. It makes me feel genteel and Junior League as I sit down to consider what sounds fun, special and not incredibly difficult. On the menu tonight: Plum Tart, Java Cupcakes and Watermelon Salad. Sounds delish right?
• Cook
• Shower ( I forget to do this frequently so it had to be added to the list for the well-being of everyone)
• Clean up all the messes I made during the day
• Dry my car out.  I left the sunroof cracked last night, just in time to catch an epic storm
• Appear perfect by the time everyone arrives

 I dearly want to look perfect so my friends will think I'm a fantabulous hostess. But, the Holy Spirit knows this and prefers me to be more concerned with their well-being than my appearance. He's awfully good at using entertaining to keep me in check.

  There weren't quite enough muffin tins. No problem, I'm creative, I'll load a baking dish with the wrappers so the cupcakes will stay upright. I knew it wouldn't be perfect but figured it was worth a shot.
Here's what I got:

They honestly look like poo brownies.

 Then the Plum Tart spilled over and I had to change pans halfway through.

Sigh. So I'll thank the Lord for reminding me to keep my attitude straight, pile a ton of frosting on the poo-shaped cupcakes, put a big spoon and bowls by the Plum Soup and thank Him that the people coming over will love me anyway.

Up to something

The realization that Abigail could pull up came on Thursday when I heard her happily jabbering in her room, came in and caught her doing this:

She likes being in her crib a lot more now :o)

7 months old

  You know, it's been harder to find entertaining things to write than I anticipated. It's been since, hmm, 2006 maybe?....that I've regularly written anything for mass consumption and even then it was maybe once a month or so.....this desire to write once a week has proven too much for my creative juices. So I've settled for, let's see, about twice a month? Or maybe twice every 6 weeks....

  Mostly, I find it difficult to carve out a block of writing time. I figured on using most of the minutes I waste on surfing the web, to write a blog.....but nope, doesn't work like that. I'm not frittering away quite as much time on the internet, but finding thirty minutes to sit down and think through a post hasn't happened. I'll keep working on it though because I know I miss seeing all of you regularly and hopefully you miss us too ( I know you miss Abigail, that's a given :o).

Without further rambling,  here is her 7 month picture:

I think she's fallen in love with the camera, she really puts on a show whenever I bring it out. :o)

Plus, she cracks herself up.

Things she can do at 7ish months:
     -Crawl. She doesn't rush off across the floor, but neither have I seen her belly flop in at least a week.
     - Eat food. This has truthfully been a slow process, she's interested in a couple of bites but not a lot more. I've started grinding most things and that helps (thanks Mom for the new blender/grinder!)                     
                   Her current favorites are: meat, of any kind, but especially beef.
                                                         eggs, scrambled.
                                                         hot cereal all mushed up.
                                                         not bananas.

   - Pull to standing! She figured it out last Thursday and now 45% of her days are now spent doing this. She thinks it's great fun even though 50% of her time standing is actually spent on the floor crying because she knocked her noggin' on the way down. The pain is apparently worth it.

   - Jabber in consonants. This girl loves to talk ( surprise, surprise?) and if i could capture it on film I would, but she clams up when I pull out the video camera. She can say the 'dada' and 'mama' sounds but she doesn't associate them with us; at least that we can figure. And the 'mama' only comes out when she's whining. :o)

 My favorite trick she has is clapping. Which she does a lot, even while standing (which results in another knock to the noggin') and has a huge smile on her face the whole time. She'll clap her hands together or whatever she happens to be holding in them; I love it.

Amy, the blocks are a winner!