Another Baby Girl on the way!

We are too excited in anticipation of another baby girl due to make her appearance on or around May 10th! Lucie is going to be a big sister! :)

She's Almost One!

Outside Expressions

Sometimes, when Lucie has been fussing, and I've tried everything, I remember that one other "something" that seems to work like a charm.
Take her OUTSIDE!
The girl will entertain herself for hours (ok, not literally) on our 3rd story apartment porch... Listening to the wind chimes, looking at them, watching the cars drive in and out of the parking lot, the wind blowing in her face...
It's amazing what a little fresh air can do. :)

Look closely and you'll see her first two teeth! Pushed them through like a champion last month!

Here are just a few more Lucie Expressions for your entertainment.



Making those funny sounds with her lips also keeps her entertained.

7.5 months old

Starting to crawl and say "DA-DA" = TOO MUCH FUN! :O)

The Weaned Child

Ok, so this is the Scripture that I have randomly flipped to numerous times in the last month! God is speaking!


Psalm 131

Lord, my heart is not haughty,
Nor my eyes lofty.
Neither do I concern myself
with great matters,
Nor with things too profound for me.

Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul,
Like a weaned child with his mother;
Like a weaned child is my soul within me.

O Israel, hope in the LORD
From this time forth and forever.


This Scripture reminds me of my relationship with Lucie. I am always laughing at her when she cries so hard because she is hungry--and I am TRYING to feed her! She's never had to wait very long to eat. She's always been fed, and she always has enough; yet she can scream as if she's never eaten in her life! Then I realize how ridiculous I must look to God, when I'm freaking out about having enough money for rent, enough food, enough clothes. And I hear my own words to Lucie echoing in my ear: "Don't I always feed you? Lucie, Mama always feeds you." And I hear God's words in my heart: "Lindsey, haven't I always provided for you? Have you ever not had enough?" And I realize that God is far less likely to withhold provision from His children than a mother from her child.

So, what IS a weaned child and how does it behave?

Well, only THREE days later, I came across the SAME Scripture again, in The Baby Book, by Dr. Sears! No coincidence here... God is DEFINITELY speaking! Here is Dr. Sears' description of a weaned child:


"In ancient writings the word "wean" meant "to ripen"--like fruit nourished to readiness, its time to leave the vine. When a child was weaned it was a festive occasion... Weaning was a joyous occasion because a weaned child was valued as a fulfilled child; a child was so filled with the basic tools of the earlier stages of development that she graduated to take on the next stage of development more independently. A child who is weaned before his time enters the next state of development more anxiously and is less prepared for its challenges and less ready for its independence. An insightful description of weaning is found in the writings of King David: 'I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child is my soul within me.' The psalmist David equates his feeling of peace and tranquility with the feeling of fulfillment that a weaned child has with his mother." ~Dr. William Sears, MD in The Baby Book p194


Therefore, a weaned child is a fulfilled child--a child who is ready to take on the next stage of development more independently.

This word spoken to me at this time is full of hope. In all the hoping and waiting and trusting and waiting on God of the past season, it's good news to hear God say that I've completed this stage of development, that I'm ready to move onto to the next stage... that I've gained the tools I've needed in the past season, and have everything I need for the next season. *Big sigh of relief!* I'm glad to know there is SOME progress being made! Praise God, His GRACE is sufficient!

Bright Spot in the Day :)

Lucie's play time this morning. She is almost 5 months old now!

Last night I held a friend's baby, only a week old and SO teeny tiny! She was close to Lucie's birth weight and I just couldn't believe Lucie was ever that small! Amazing how fast you forget, even in a short 4 months!


Lucie--1 day old.


Lucie today--4.5 months old.

This one's for Agatha, my friend in Uganda, who sent this little dress for Lucie.


Thank you Aggie!


Happy Birthday to Meme!

Love, Lindsey and Lucie Joy

A Fun Christmas Season!

This past month was full of Christmas cheer, especially with the little Lucie around to enjoy it. I'd have to say my favorite thing lately has been baking in the kitchen with Lucie. Her aunties and I had a sugar cookie decorating party Christmas Eve--Eve, and Lucie and I whipped up a bunch of dough here at the house before hand. I wore her in front of me in my sling and she watched as I mixed ingredients in bright colorful mixing bowls with wooden spoons! Her hands were waving and her feet were kicking in excitement! I even put the spoon in her hand and helped her stir and pat the dough. When I stopped patting, she would try to pat again. What fun! Here's Lucie doing a bit of "kitchen time" while watching Daddy cook omelets on CHRISTMAS MORNING:

*Picture Update*

I FINALLY found the plug for my camera so I can put some pictures on here! My dad had put it away in a drawer somewhere, not knowing what it was for. So here is an update from the last few weeks.....

"THE LOOK"
This is Lucie's already famous "look" she gives people.


AND HERE SHE IS ON HER FIRST CAR RIDE EVER!
(2 wks old)
Lu: "Hmm... this should be interesting..."

"I think I'm getting bored..."

"Actually, I think I want out of here!"
A
"Is it over yet?"


FIRST BATH
She also had her first bath at 2 wks. She didn't like it so much... :( But since then I have made a few adjustments and she is enjoying her bath better lately. Here I am comforting her after that first "traumatic" bath experience. Poor little baby...


HANDMADE
And look at this lovely dress handmade by Lu's Auntie Rachel! Too cute!


LUCIE SPARKLE THARPE
*in a bow from Mama May*


HER DADDY'S FAVE
lu laundry.....

three weeks young

Look at this little cutie!

Well...

I've got pictures on the camera that I've been wanting to post, but I can't find the right plug to get them on the computer for the life of me! I can't seem to find anything "important" these days! Papers, plugs, receipts, bills, etc... You know, the kinds of things that make the "world" go 'round.... My own world that I'm in right now is very small and very FULL and there's little time for anything else... I'm not an accomplished multi-tasker so all these new things to do with a newborn are surely keeping me busy!

In other news...

BRIAN AND I ARE MOVING INTO OUR OWN PLACE!!! Oct 7 we'll be moving into our own apartment! YEE-HAW! I'm very much looking forward to it, as Lucie moving in has made it extremely crowded in this small bedroom of ours! (I thought it was crowded before! ha!)

And for the MIRACLE RECORD...

We didn't have a bed to take to our new apartment, but we knew that somehow God would make a way for us to get one. Well, Brian was on craigslist last night and he found someone who was willing to barter for a brand new KING SIZE pillowtop bed!!! Today Brian has been painting some rooms in their house in exchange for it! THANK YOU GOD! How cool is that!?! :o)

Must run. Pray I find that plug so I can put some pictures on here! L.J. is already growing so much!!!

ta ta!

BIRTHDAY PICS

Our brother Aaron took some great shots the night lucie arrived.
Check them out here.

~BabyLu~

ONLY MINUTES OLD...

CELEBRATING HER FIRST 24 HOURS!


SHE LIKES HER DADDY.

LITTLE SCRUNCHY YUMMY CUTENESS!

Our little Lucie is here!!! We welcomed her at 12:17am on Saturday, Sept 5 (one year to the day of when we miscarried our last baby Jinja Rosemary... isn't that cool?) She weighed 7lbs 4 oz and measured 21 inches long! She is PERFECT! We like her so much! :)

T minus 12 days?

Helloooo BABY!
YES, she is STILL growing... isn't that what babies do!?!?!?!?

36 weeks!

I know what you're thinking...
"Wow, she's about to pop!"
You and the rest of everyone else...
I hear it every time I venture out into public.
Smiling faces, interested expressions... "Oh, when are you due?"
.......(my answer).........
"Oh HONEY, you're NOT gonna make it that far!"
Oh brother, here we go again.
I've already been hearing it for a month...
and I still have a month to go!!!

Whatever you may think,
about "how" I'm carrying, or how "big" my belly is,
I'm not getting my hopes up for any early showing of this little girl.
Brian and I BOTH were born more than 2 weeks past our due dates.
So I'm just hoping that she'll come ON TIME!

I did dream she was here last night though.
And today I am missing her, as if she was here but now she is gone.
You can come anytime you want, Baby Lucie.

Preparations for her arrival are dwindling down...
Now it's time for more WAITING. :o)

Check out what arrived at the front door last week!
A total surprise from Brian's Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Corky!
For me, it was like CHRISTMAS DAY!
THANK YOU SO MUCH AUNT DOROTHY!!!!!



And the weekend before that,
Mom and me and my cousin Jennifer ventured out
to Babies R Us to do some returns and get a few necessaries.
We happened upon a good price for a cute little changing table
that fits right outside the door of my room!
(name letters courtesy of Rachel Tharpe,
my fantastic shower #2 planner)



I look forward to the day when I'll get to set up all this stuff
in an actual nursery! For now, God has graciously planted some contentment in my heart,
even as I anticipate the day I'll have my own home!

I can't wait til Lucie's here!

Double Shower Weekend!

This past weekend was a BLAST! Totally wore me out--I planned to post a blog immediately but have been recovering from all the fun! :) Saturday, was my very first baby shower, and as one friend said, it is probably the first of "many more showers to come." Check out this FANTASTIC cupcake tower in all the right colors!!! And I made the punch myself--isn't it lovely!?! (Well, I did have some help from Jennifer H. after all my cherry floats were drowned by the extra ice I added!)


Me and my True Blue who did such an amazing job with the decor for the shower! It was perfect!

And Rachel came up with some fun games to play for our entertainment!

Lucie got so many cute outfits at this shower! And some very nice blankets, and other things that make a new mommy world a better place. :o) And we had some time for prayer and blessings over our family which was a beautiful. Thank you so much to all who came and to all who gave and to all who prayed!


These are the girls who helped out with my second shower on Sunday! Another fantastic shower--such fun!

And Caren made all these LOVELY cupcakes by hand! They were AMAZING. We had lots of good eats and drinks at this shower!

I am so grateful to everyone for their hard work to put these showers together, and so thankful to everyone for their generosity. Lucie Joy is one blessed little baby! And I am her blessed mama. :o)
I want to give a shout out too, to my Aunt Nellie for coming out before a busy work week and representing the fam. Thank you for coming! It really meant alot to me!

And last but not least, here I am in all my 34 week glory! Almost there! Only 6 more weeks to go!

LUCIE IS COMING!!!

* * * B A B Y C O R N E R * * *

This week I've finally been able to satisfy some of my "nesting" instincts. I've been working on getting my room ready for little Lu and I'm so grateful to my mom and Mama May for helping me to get some things set up for the baby corner. :)

My mom took me to get these great drawers for storing Lucie's clothes and a shoe organizer to save space!



I literally had to clean out my closet probably 10x in order to finally make space for both me and Brian, and now a baby! You really have to live a minimalistic life when your whole world is crammed into one bedroom! :)

Mama May then took me and got this cute little cube organizer for Lu's things, and this little table which I'll use for a night stand--I love it!



Here's the bassinet Mom found on ebay. $25! :)



Now I'm all ready for baby showers this weekend! I'm so excited!!!

And last but NOT least, THANK YOU to Meme for making THIS possible!!!





ahhh... pedicure. :)

Here's To Lucie!!!

30ks

She is growing CROWDED in there! I'm getting all kinds of pokes and jabs and it's getting harder for me to move around!!! I've definitely slowed down, and feel all kinds of aches when I get out of bed in the morning!
HELLO 3RD TRIMESTER!

Good news is: Only 9 more weeks to go!

Aren't these the cutest outfits? Mama May bought them for Lu on a shopping spree last month! :)