What’s it like having three kids?

We get that question a lot with our little family of five.  (We also get smiles and looks of incredulity.)

In general, it’s busy and we get tired of taking care of children.  But, that question and answer really has nothing to do with why we have kids at all much less three.  So…

Why do we have kids? 

We believe that God created our bodies with fertility on purpose and since we decided to be married we should be willing to accept the “gifts” that God gives us.

Do we like having kids?

In a lot of ways we do.  They force us to learn to work together and they help us build character that we may not have built otherwise (e.g. patience).  They keep us from being bored and from wondering what God wants us to be doing right now.  (It’s pretty clear…mostly raise children.)  Do I (Kris) really like it most of the time?  No.  Honestly, it would be so much easier not to.  I get so tired of being at home and of doing kid things.  But, I know that God has called me (and Ryan) to this task of raising children and that’s a good feeling.

For me it’s not about having three kids versus one or two.  It’s really about having kids at all. 

Two years old

Glory is now 2 years old as of Friday May 23.  Here is a peek into her party.

Here’s Kalvary at her second birthday in June ‘06.

One month old

Malachi is now one month old as of Wednesday.  All of these pictures were taken on Wednesday.

Here’s a picture of Glory at one month old.

And here’s one of Kalvary.

So who does Malachi look like?

4 weeks ago today

So he’s not as quiet and laid back as we were led to believe.  In the past few days, Malachi has been doing a lot more crying and screaming especially during nap time and right before bed.  Swaddling helps and so does holding him upright and bouncing him.  I think I’ll be able to help it some by feeding him slightly less often and by burping him about 3 times at each feeding.  I can hear him swallowing air when he nurses, so I know that’s part of the problem.  All this to confirm that I really don’t enjoy the tiny baby stage and much prefer my children once they are mobile.  Here’s to hoping that the next few months go by quickly! 

Ok, that first part was Kris,  this is Ryan, adding two pictures from Malachi’s baby dedication.  We took four family pictures.  The first one is actually the first one taken  and the best.  The second one is the fourth picture and the most funny.  Make sure to note Kris and Glory’s identical stare and Ryan’s look of exasperation.  Kalvary looked pretty photogenic in every picture we took.  Odd for her actually.

 

(More pictures to come after his one month “birthday.”)

Thank you WEEC staff!!!

We were ambitious and spent our day going to garage sales and then the zoo, all thanks to a generous baby gift from the staff at WEEC where Ryan works.  We were able to buy a car seat, lots of kid’s clothes, 2 kid’s chairs, an awesome doll house and a year’s membership to the zoo for our family.  Thanks for such an amazing gift, Everyone! 

The amazing husband

Yes, he’s holding all three.

Ode to Special People

Okay so it’s not going to actually be an ode, but the people are still special.

This is the nurse technician that’s been at all three of my births.  She’s the best thing about Madison County Hospital especially since they don’t have a midwife any more.

My mom is super special!  She was here to take care of the girls while I was in the hospital and then she stayed for almost 2 weeks to help out.  She cooked tons of food and did tons of laundry while she was here.  Thanks, Mom!

The other special person is my sister Deb.  She lives in Oregon and can’t come see us, but we got an awesome package in the mail today!  The girls were thrilled and so was I!  Thanks so much, Deb!

And, here’s the expected pictures of the baby.  (Notice the very Baptist/Mennonite part.)

A picture is worth a thousand words.

They better be, after writing a paper and a sermon this week, I’m plum out.