Today is the day I finally get some baby pictures posted. I have actually taken a few pictures during the last five weeks, but have not had time to post them. Michael is pretty fussy and demands all of the attention I can possibly give to him. So with him curled up in a sling on my lap, I will finally post pictures of his first month.



When he was about 2 weeks old, we gave Michael his first bath (at home).



You can still see the red hair with which he was born. His new hair is very blond. I think he will have the same color hair I had as a child.



My inlaws stayed with us during Michael's first couple weeks of life. It was sure nice to have so much help. Here Grandma holds Michael while Gregory and Gabrielle try out the new porch furniture.



Grandpa spent a great deal of time holding the baby for me. In fact, Grandpa has been around to hold each of the children when they were first born. What a neat thing for them!



Grandma curled Gabrielle's hair which made her day. Gabrielle loves all things girly.



Gabrielle still tries to wear the dress I smocked and sewed for her a couple of years ago. This will be the last time however as it is just too small.



We enjoyed some glorious mornings out on the front porch while Grandma and Grandpa visited. I wasn't very happy with the service provided by the company from whom we purchased this porch furniture, but we sure do love the furniture itself! I've always wanted a front porch with furniture just like this. Life is good!



The children really enjoy the leisurely life of the country, especially as they enjoy "maternity leave" from homeschool.



And they love their new brother. Gabrielle loves to hold the baby (and so does Gregory).



After giving birth to Michael via c-section, my incision got infected. As a result I spent a couple of weeks on pain medication. During that time it was difficult to get a picture of Michael with his eyes open.




He slept all of the time.



He never fussed.



And I thought I would be blessed with another easy baby (like Gabrielle).



Life was good.



Even if Michael was not inclined to sleep through the night like his sister. But when I went off the pain medication, Michael woke up. At least in his case I think sleep must be cumulative because he has not slept very well since.

During the last week in October the ladies at Christian Artisans gave me an online baby shower.



We received some lovely hand made gifts including, among other things, the quilt on the left from June, the baby hat and socks from Melissa and the felted booties from Debra.



I had planned carefully so Michael would be napping. As you can see from this picture taken during the shower, my plans were a complete success.



I took the above picture this morning. Now days Michael fusses a great deal. Fortunately classical music often calms him down completely. Considering this and Michael's very long fingers, I am thinking we should replace my piano, which was lost to Hurricane Ivan last year.



Michael sure doesn't sleep for very long.



And he wants to be held constantly.

A few days ago when I woke up in the morning to give Michael his first daylight feeding, I glanced out of my window and thought I saw sheep right next to the fence which seperates our property from the neighbor's "field." We have seen cows in the distant fields, but never sheep. I've seen them three times now.



Naturally, my first thought was to find out who owned these sheep. So I introduced myself to the only neighbor around. He did not own the field, believed this was trust land and suggested I must have seen deer, not sheep. I finally convinced him I knew the difference between deer and sheep though until today I never saw them any closer than the above picture depicts.



These sheep sure are scraggy and their tales aren't docked. I don't know much about sheep, but these don't look as pretty as the one's I've seen.




I sure would like to know what breed these are! Anyone know?




It looks like the fleece is coming off of some of them.



I've heard of that with some dual coated breeds.



The other day I saw a picture of a Shetland ram that looked quite a bit like this fellow. Could these be Shetland sheep? They are dual coated.



And how can I find out who owns this field? The records still show this as trust land. I looked.



What a glorious sight for a spinner to see in the mornings. I feel so blessed. God is very good and we are so grateful for the new home he has given us.

Last night Kurt took the kids to the local high school football game. They had a great time. And as they were driving up the easement to our house, they all spotted a deer, which quickly darted into the woods. Soon after, they spotted a rabbit hopping down the easement. We sure do love country living!