The cutest little baby face!

I took a few more pictures of Brendan over the weekend.
Brendan had a little bit of a cold, with a stuffy nose and a pathetic little cough ... doesn't he look so sweet sleeping? He IS sweet, sleeping or awake!
I really enjoy watching Dylan love on this little fellow ...
And look at the contrast between their hands!
But absolutely his favorite person is his mama. If he is the slightest bit fussy and is handed over to Kelly, he settles right down ... perhaps it's because he always gets a good meal from her ~ but he knows her voice and her touch and definitely favors her. I love watching him drift off to sleep after she has fed him, so completely contented.
Doesn't he have the cutest little baby face?!!

"You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to know!" Psalm 139:5-6

First gifts for Brendan

Dylan and Kelly have a favorite baby store located in Eastown, called "Hopscotch." They registered gifts for baby Brendan there, so yesterday I went over to check out their registry. I love buying baby gifts no matter what, but even more especially for my grandbabies. I almost never buy clothing because ... I like toys better! Besides, Brendan has received so many beautiful outfits. Kelly's friends have knitted sweaters and crocheted amazing hats. He has homemade blankets and buntings galore. But can a baby ever have enough toys?!!

There was some pretty unique stuff on this registry! Since Dylan has a fascination with languages, and has studied quite a few of them, he had baby Brendan registered for Greek blocks, German blocks, French blocks, and even hieroglyphic blocks! The hieroglyphic ones were on clearance yesterday, and I had tucked them under my arm thinking that I might just perhaps purchase them ... but I kept looking and looking at the indecipherable scribble all over the blocks and I just could NOT buy them! So I settled on the plain old boring ENGLISH blocks instead.

This is Brendan listening to me explain that there are wonderful surprises inside of this totally recyclable cloth bag ...
I think my favorite gift (and I hope it becomes Brendan's too) is this cloth covering (on the left of the picture above) for a 12" balloon ~ let me explain! There is an opening in this cloth covering, the balloon is inserted, inflated, and then tucked inside, making a kind of beach ball that is completely washable. And when the balloon gets old, you just replace it with another one. How easy is that? And see the little wooden spinner top? We got it spinning for Brendan and he seemed to enjoy watching it go around, although it's difficult to say if he could really focus his eyes yet.
And ... what baby gift would be complete without FINGER PUPPETS?!!! A duck, pig, and frog made out of velour! :)
But the very best part of the visit was getting to hold Brendan, cuddle up with him, and just enjoy looking at his precious face. He decidedly does NOT like to be where he cannot SEE everything ... so if he is held UP, he stays pretty contented.
But I finally had to give him back to the parents ... he follows their voices, and definitely adores them.
Isn't this beautiful of Kelly?

Brendan definitely knows his mama's voice. I think she is his favorite!
I love this hat! It has a matching bunting too. It was so sweet to watch him drift off to sleep while sucking on my finger.

More pictures later ...

More of baby Brendan ...

This is the beginning of a huge yawn from baby Brendan ...
I haven't seen Brendan since last Thursday because I've had one of those contagious head colds that are going around. I took these pictures of him that day and since I miss him tonight, I've decided to post them.
I wish I'd gotten a better picture of this owl hat Brendan is wearing. One of Kelly's friends knitted it for him. This picture of Dylan and Brendan is so sweet ~ he is sucking on Dylan's finger to keep him satisfied between feedings. Dylan and Kelly are pretty thrilled with their little one. They can hardly keep their eyes off him; but he is SO sweet, I do not blame them.
Hope to see you this weekend, Brendan!

Perfect in every way ...

Ten fingers, ten long toes, softness and sweetness ... Brendan Andrew is perfect in every way. He was born early this morning at 1:30 a.m. in the quietness of Dylan and Kelly's apartment ~ an "at home" birth that was very well planned. He was delivered by a mid-wife, and Kelly was assisted by two of her doula friends.Brendan (meaning "Prince" ) weighed seven pounds and six ounces and measured twenty inches.
I got to meet and hold him this evening, and it was a sweet and wonderful time. To hold a little grandson so fresh from God ~ what a miracle!

"Christ is the one through whom God created everything
in heaven and earth.
He made the things we can see
and the things we can't see --
kings [and little "Princes"], kingdoms,
rulers, and authorities.
Everything [and every one]
has been created through Him
and for Him." Colossians 1:16

For Grandpa and Grandma Hand ...

I was recently in El Paso visiting Jesse, Diana and the children. I really didn't take many pictures while I was there, but I wanted to share a few that I did take with Grandpa and Grandma Hand. It's been two full years since they've seen their grandchildren ... so these pictures and the narrative are for you, Larry and Judy.

When I arrived on December 6, there was actually SNOW on the ground in El Paso and absolutely NO SNOW in Grand Rapids. How unusual!
This is Christopher putting together his Kre-O transformer building toy. In the past, Christopher has requested transformers for his birthday, but they seem to break rather easily and then he is frustrated. So I found these Kre-O building sets, and he was rather pleased to build it all by himself.
We also marker-colored hand puppets together one afternoon ... they were wonderfully inexpensive (49 cents) at Michaels ...
Matthew is six-and-a-half now and was SO happy to sit around the table and do just about anything that was suggested! We did a lot of building and coloring and the usual fun stuff. I love his smile in this picture.
I was happily able to attend Emma's school Christmas program. Not all of the classes were involved in performing. Chris's second grade, as well as Matthew's first grade class, were not included this year. This is Emma and her friend, April, performing "Deck the Halls."
This is Emma working on making some necklaces from a kit I found (again at Michael's). She was so pleased to receive it too. I loved watching her choose her designs and put everything together.
We got Jesse involved helping us build. When I was shopping for the kids, I had picked out an Erector set for each of the boys, and the boxes described the process as being easy enough for a seven-year-old to build ... but none of us were able to accomplish the project until we pulled Jesse into the mix ... and he was finally able to figure out the directions for us!

It was actually too cold to enjoy playing outside very much ~ which was such a surprise for me, based on the last time I was at the playgound in September and it was SO hot that week! But we did wander on down to the playground and hang out there for awhile at least.

I enjoyed going to school with the kids every day, eating breakfast and lunch with them, and attending their classes. They have really great teachers! It was really fun to walk into their classes and recognize their classmates (and even remember their unusual names: Alaric, Adonai, Tommarian, Cheyanne, etc.) and join in on their school day.
Emma has been benefiting from a great class that meets throughout the week, targeting reading and phonics, and tackling dyslexia and other difficulties. I loved meeting her teacher for this class. Above, is an assignment Emma did for her regular class. Each student had to write a little bit about themselves. Her teacher had each child's essay hanging in the hallway. I realize the spelling isn't 100% accurate, but it is so much improved from even a few months ago. I love how Emma tells everyone that the enjoys learning verses from the Bible, and I also love that she mentions Michigan.
This is my last view of the Franklin Mountains as my plane made its assent. I was blessed to be delayed long enough in Dallas on the way home to take a voluntary "bump" of that flight. I received a travel voucher for my next trip as a result ... how wonderful!

A warm October day in Muskegon ...

I had the opportunity to spend 24 hours at Lake Michigan back in mid-October. It was 80 degrees, with a light breeze, and people were sunbathing and still swimming in the lake that weekend. I took lots of pictures, but I think these are the prettiest ... This was the first time in my life that I had been able to actually walk on this pier ~ it's private property (the Coast Guard owns it) , and on all of the other trips I've made out here, it has been closed to the public. I was so glad to finally get to stand here, as close as I wanted to this lovely little lighthouse, and take all of the pictures I wanted.

Time Out ...

BLESSINGS (by Laura Story)

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?

What if the trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

And all the while You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?

And what if the trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst
This world can't satisfy?

And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise?

I'm writing to say that I am taking a time out. There have been many months of heart ache and trial in my personal life and so I need to step back from ... everything. This little insignificant blog is really nothing but a journal of love for my family, but keeping it up necessitates time and a small amount of creativity that I feel too drained to accomplish for now. So all of you dear family folk who have birthdays and anniversaries in the near future, please do not have your feelings hurt that I am not posting special pictures or greetings.

Thank you to the person who brought this song, "Blessings," to my attention yesterday. I had never even heard of the writer before or the song, but it has brought me deep comfort and encouragement.

"You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment You know where I am." Psalm 139.3