My Son's Hands
Author: Kathleen Crilly

It's the middle of the nightwhen your crying comes to meand my body says "no, please, no"but my love says "Mommy's here".
I gather your tiny boyself in my tired armsand as I pull you to my warmthI smell your fragrant newnessand kiss your downy head.
The just as I did reach for youyour little balled fists rise up to my face,to my voice,to search in tender jagged thrustsand clasp whatever prey they find.
I kiss each fragile fingerand breathe a prayer on each.

May you always reach for love,may you find it always there,may you always touch in tenderness,the people in your care.
May you grasp the work of duty,may you feel the need to share.
May you hold the truth of Jesusas a torch you always bear.
May your heart reach ever upwardTo grasp the God who placed you there.

Feb 27th/28th...What can I Say???





Samuel's sleep habits are driving me nuts! He finally fell asleep at 11:30 last night. Silly me, I brushed my teeth, flossed and mouth washed, and read a little Bible before hitting the hay at 11:58pm only for Samuel to cry awake at 12:03am...well I had 5 mins sleep, except that of course I couldn't fall asleep that quickly. I'm not sure that I actually sleep any more...just have rediculous thoughts instead of dreams. Who can dream when their son wakes up ever hour?!?

Anyway, he is still precious and sweet. I managed to sneak this photo during a nap yesterday.

These were taken today during a pre-breakfast play after a late morning sleep (we got up at 10:40am-to make up for the fact that we were up every hour last night and from 7:30 to 9am).

Feb 26th, Hmmm, carrots!

Samuel has graduated to veggies...first up: carrots! Now, legend has it that Adam loved carrots so much as a child that he was orange for a short time.

Would Samuel follow in Daddy's footsteps??? I think the pictures speak for themselves!

"Nothing strange here"...Samuel has just eaten oatmeal cereal and doesn't suspect a thing!

"Oh, Daddy, you're so much fun! I don't even realize what you've just fed me!" Adam makes the cliche airplane noises while feeding Sam (it actually works!)

"Hmmm, that's weird, I wonder if I like this stuff?"

"I'm starting to think that I don't!"

"Yup, I really don't!"

"Euh! Ooh!"

"Maybe if I appear full, Daddy will stop!"

Feb 26th, Play Time with Daddy



We had another great weekend! Adam took most of Saturday off, allowing me to sleep an extra 1.5 hrs and giving Samuel some great quality play time. The morning flew by, then we went for groceries and just hung out all afternoon (we recently got cable and have quite a few channels with recently released movies). We went to church then Adam worked most of the night. Sunday, we went to the baptist church and stayed for a potluck lunch. It was nice to chat with couples our age with young families. I've met a couple of ladies over the past couple of weeks that are really great, but it was nice to have some time to get to know one another.

I didn't take any photos this weekend, but I did take a few during tonight's after supper play time...

Feb 21st, First day of Lent

Well, last night's sleep wasn't all I'd hoped for...Samuel was up every hourish to eat...but he did sleep in until 10am so we still woke up fairly rested. I'm hoping that Sammo hasn't given up sleep for lent!

Feb 20th, A Good Night's Rest!?!

I reported a while ago that Samuel rolled from back to front. Well, yesterday he decided that he loves to roll and spent most of the day rolling back to front and back again...over and over again!

Now that Samuel has mastered rolling, I can't risk him sleeping in our bed anymore [ :-( ] It's the end of cozy sleeping! But it's the beginning of good sleeping if last night was any indication!

Adam and I decided that, as hard as it is on us, we have to let Samuel cry himself to sleep if that's what it takes. So Samuel was awake 1.5 hrs in his crib, playing, crying, talking...until he was so tired that he just ate and fell asleep...for FOUR hrs in a row!!! He then woke up, ate, slept an hour, woke up, ate, slept an hour, woke up, ate, slept THREE hours, woke up, ate, slept 10 mins, woke up, TALKED HIMSELF TO SLEEP AFTER 15 MINS, slept three hours then woke up for the day!

Here's hoping for a repeat performance tonight!

Feb 18th, Family Day!!!

What a great day we had yesterday! We slept in, took the bus to church, then walked to the gardens for a picnic lunch (Adam & me) / nap (Samuel). How beautiful! And, it being the middle of Feb, we were surprized to see signs of spring!

We spent 2.5 hrs at the lab while Adam worked and Sam (who woke up on the walk) and I did our best to pass the time. We walked home, sat down for 15 mins then headed to church. On the way home, we got a pizza (to balance the green salad that we eat all week). Samuel napped through supper! Adam then worked on his review article and I knit...until Sam woke up that is...

Feb 15th, A Gift to You!

From our house to yours, happy Valentine's day...and the best gift I could give is the best one I've been given...sort of...Adam and I were given a wonderful baby boy and in return, I will give you more of his pictures :-)

Feb 13th, Hodge Podge of Pics

After a rude-smelling interuption (or should I say erruption, as in Samuel's diaper) yesterday, I didn't get to post all of the pics I had intended...so here are some more! I also recieved this one of my sweet Brendan from his Nana. Also, to commemorate Adam seeing the sun on a weekday (the first time since we arrived), here's one of my handsome hardworking hubby :-)

Feb 10th, Have Car, Will Travel

We rented a car and headed to Joshua Tree National Park with our Canadian friends...what a beautiful place! On the way there, we drove through a section of the dessert that apparently gets REALLY HOT...there were signs warning to shut off the A/C to avoid overheating your engine! Plus, there were concrete water resevoirs labelled "Radiator water, do not drink!" with signs warning "Caution: Bee activity"...Adam (the funny guy that he is) made a crack about not wanting to risk getting water for fear of the bees...I guess you had to "bee" there (ha ha).




























Anyhow, we started at the south entrance and worked our way up...stopping at Cottonwood Spring, Cholla Cactai Garden, Jumbo Rocks area, Keys View, and Oasis of Mara. The first 2 stops were in the Colorado dessert and the rest were in the Mokave dessert...very different eco systems due to differences in elevation...a very cool place that we hope to return to often! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Feb 9th, Six Months Already !?!

I think I write this each time, but I can't believe time has gone by so quickly!!! Samuel is now 6 months old! He has tried rice, barley and oatmeal...and prefers to feed himself with his spoon (probably because he chews on the spoon quite a while between spoonfulls)...he has rolled both ways, almost is sitting by himself and is sturdy when he stands (he likes standing more than sitting)...and loves to smile for the camera (how convenient!)...so on with the pictures :-)

The connection is pretty slow here, so I might as well type as they upload...Samuel has now had 2 nights in a row where he's gotten up to eat every 2 hours...so much better than every 45ish minutes that its been for the past 2 weeks...oh, when will the growth spurt end?!? I'm pretty tired, but he is so very worth it! And who needs to sleep anyway?














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