Heaven Sent

I'm taking time out of my precious "Way of Kings" reading to share a few incredibly important things going on right now.

First of all, it is amazing to have a newborn. Nuzzling those soft cheeks, cuddling with my precious baby as he sleeps--it doesn't get better than that. I feel the spirit of God more often because of Cason.

Second, my next door neighbor, Mindy, has stage 4 breast cancer and we have been praying and fasting for her family. I would love for her to have a miracle--to have all of the cancer disappear so she can raise her children without chemo and resultant pain, nausea, and fatigue. Her 8-year-old got baptized yesterday and we went to his baptism as a family. It was so touching to be with a family that needs to be a strength to each other, and is clinging to their faith. We love them very much. I wish my children were more reverent. Cason was the only well-behaved one in the bunch. Even though kids are pure, mine don't seem capable of sitting quietly and listening to talks. ANy ideas on how to help them be more reverent? It's a constant challenge.

Yesterday, we also got several surprise visitors. Secelia and Mehrl Ellseworth came by in the afternoon, and their two daughters Mary and Anna came later in the evening. They spoiled us with grapefruit, carrots, oranges, and gifts for Cason, and Anna became our spur of the moment photographer, taking family photos. I have an incredible family, both the one I grew up in, and the one I married in to, and I know I'm lucky to have them in my life.

Last, I don't think I'm sending out a Valentine this year. I know that's odd to say at the end of March, but I intended to send out a belated Valentine that served as a family newsletter and a birth announcement for Cason. I think I'm letting that thought fizzle, because there's too much on my plate to add to it intentionally. I'm not even over-scheduled, but my desire to be a good teacher, good mom and wife, and keep my house clean seems to consume the whole plate. I'll add captions to the pictures in this post and call it quits:).

My son loves making sandwiches. This was him during the week Kaly and Dave were here. I am proud of Isaac and Lucy for being capable of making their own sandwiches, and I'm willing to scrub honey and jam off my tables daily so they can keep themselves alive while I am otherwise engaged.

This isn't in the right order, but this is from the photo shoot yesterday. It's one of my favorite pictures:).

Here are the gorgeous flowers we received in the hospital from Doug's work when Cason was born. They  are the most beautiful flower arrangement I have ever had, save my bridal bouquet.

Kayla spending countless hours in my kitchen preparing food very day during her week here. She was tireless and incredible.

My precious Cason. You can see how we tuck him in at night. He is swaddled in a wrap to bind his arms, and we have a blanket rolled on one side of him (to imitate having a soft shoulder to cuddle up against) and then I drape this incredible blue blanket my mom made on top of him. He gets a little sweaty, but he only wakes up a few times a night to eat, so I'm not rocking the boat. His bedtime routine involves hanging out with me and Doug between 8-10, and getting a bath some time in there. Then, I put him down for the first time at 10.  This is the first in a series of "false alarms" where he wakes up and begins to cry a little. I come in, sooth him, sometimes feed him, put him back down. . . and he starts squawking again a little while later. I think the earliest he has ever fallen to sleep FOR REAL is 10, but it's usually around 11:30. His worst two nights, he went down at 1:30 am, after several hours of false alarms. Those weren't fun. We plan on at least an hour and a half of false alarms each night, and I just started supplementing him with two ounces of formula, hoping that will help speed along the false alarm routine. Does anyone have any brilliant ideas to help us get rid of the false alarms? What were your kids doing at 5 1/2 weeks old? As a side note, I am thankful that he lets me sleep at ngiht. I have certainly had my fair share of babies that didn't let me sleep.

Another fun family picture.

And I love this one. Anna was encouraging her to smile, and she clung to Daddy and didn't smile:).

This was my favorite jammy outfit for Cason until Doug ripped it a few days ago. He told Isaac that it was because he's the strongest man in the world--sometimes, things rip. Incidentally, Cason has worn jammies for 99.9% of his life.

This is my favorite family picture. We match so well, huh?

and another

and last but not least, me with my baby, and a present from Doug's cousins for Cason. Life is so much better with him here! It may be incredibly hard to feel like I'm getting things done, and this isn't my most meaningful semester as a teacher, but the boat's afloat, and I've got a great crew:).