Gregory is 9 years old today. Wow. How did that happen? And he is almost as tall as me already too.



We started the birthday celebration with a pile of presents.



Kurt wrapped only one present and naturally had to mess with poor Gregory. Kurt used a box from a computer game Gregory already owned so Gregory would think he got another copy of it.



Inside the box Gregory found the movie he hoped Gabrielle would get for him and a new Star Wars computer game.



I suppose I can't complain about Kurt's tricks too much since I told Gregory this gift was a bread box for his gfcf breads.



We told Gregory last year we wouldn't get him a Robosapien because we didn't like some of the noises it makes. But, Gregory loves robots so much and this is really the only cool one out right now that we could find, so we relented. Gregory was so excited.



This crazy car actually climbs the walls. Don't ask me what I was thinking.



In addition to the above, Gregory got 2 way radios (walkie-talkies) and a lego helicopter. But it was Robosapien who made it out of the box first. Gregory sure loves robots. He lost all of his robots to the hurricane last year so this is the first one that looks like a robot we have found. We had one happy birthday boy.



I think Gabrielle liked the walkie talkies because Gregory would need someone to use the second one.



I woke up sick this morning so I convinced Gregory it would be fun to decorate his own cake. He liked the idea until he discovered, as he put it, "It isn't as easy as it looks."



I ended up putting a little bit of frosting on when Gregory finished. In all, he was quite pleased with his cake.



And he even managed to blow out all of the candles! Happy Birthday Gregory!

As the weather cools down, my thoughts turn to wool. I finally figured out I can knit while holding, comforting and rocking Michael. Praise God!

Once I learned to juggle knitting and the baby at the same time, I finished my Christian Artisans knit-along socks.



Finally! These are all cotton and though they are pretty, I don't really like them. They fit okay once they are on my feet, but they barely stretch enough to get there.

I've taken up sweater knitting for my husband Kurt again too. In fact, I did quite a bit of knitting on this a couple of weeks ago at a church party. We are desperately looking for a church home here in Brewton, Alabama, and are thus attending functions as well as services when we can. Our greatest hope is that a Calvary Chapel will come to Brewton one day. Of course after the church event, I found a small mistake with which I could not live and frogged all of my work.




I started the second sleeve to this Dale sweater almost 2 weeks ago. My progress reflects my desire to start a different sweater soon. This one is pretty boring. I've already settled on a new Dale pattern for Michael.

I believe I may actually finish my Legends of the Shetland Seas stole in the near future!



I'm almost half way through the edging. The edging is the final part of this stole. I cannot believe I am this close. How many years has it been? Well, if nothing else this proves persistence really does lead to success.

Michael is growing rapidly. He is already more than 14 pounds.



Here he is at 8 weeks. Don't you just love this sweater?



Michael's sweater was a shower gift from Joanne, from Christian Artisans, who designed and knitted it. The colors look great on Michael and it is one of my favorite outfits for him.



We got Michael a new toy for Christmas. But as Michael sleeps less and less, I couldn't wait that long.



It sure didn't take him long to figure out what to do.



I guess long arms are good for batting at toys. You should see him with the teddy bear mobile over his bassinet.



Michael is now 9 weeks old.



This morning we sat in the rocking chair and enjoyed a fire in the fireplace. When I put him in the chair by himself to take his picture, he tried to rock himself. Too cute.



Sharon, from Christian Artisans, knit the adorable pumpkin hat and the felted boots came from Debra. Aren't they adorable? Michael received the cutest gifts from my Christian Artisans friends!

Kurt and the kids recently decided we needed a tree-house in our back yard.



None of them have ever built a tree house before, but they are sure having fun figuring it out as they go.



Kurt believes a tree-house should have a Tarzan rope. I reminded him we do not have health insurance. I insisted that Kurt be the first to try it out, if he had to persist with the rope idea.



It isn't so easy to pull your foot out of a rope loop and that little tree in the foreground is directly in the way.



When Kurt realized how many problems he failed to anticipate, he needed Gregory to rescue him with a ladder.



He fixed the rope so it would be closer to the ground. There will be no Tarzan leaps off the tree house platforms, but the kids still have fun swinging on it.



And when they fall, and they do, at least they are close enough to the ground to minimize the danger.

The kids are very grateful for our new house and the wonderful acreage upon which it sits. I have to believe the Lord intended this for us all along.

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!

Another quick update. The baby arrived a day before we planned thus resulting in a comedy of sorts. Right after Kurt called his parents on the west coast as they were dashing out the door to the airport (to arrange pick up details on this end), my water broke. The hospital had a record breaking day and month and in the end, a friend of mine had to pick up Kurt's parents. (Praise God this same friend, Julie, also took Gregory and Gabrielle for the day!) The hospital had 40 infants in the nursery where 7 to 10 is apparently the norm. We had to wait for hours to get into surgery for the c-section and no one would let me eat or drink.

Eventually, Michael made his way into the world by c-section on the 28th of September. He was a bit smaller than I expected, but he arrived about a week and a half before my actual due date. He was 8 pounds, 14.7 ounces, 22 inches long and had a head circumference of 36.5 centimeters. In fact his head was so large it got stuck in the c-section incision! There was no way I would have delivered him naturally since I couldn't deliver my other children with their 35 centimeter heads.

My inlaws made life much easier for me for the first couple of weeks after Michael's birth. This third week (Michael is 3 weeks today) I've been trying to heal (infected and splitting incision) while trying to adapt to our new family member. Michael is pretty fussy, which could be from all of the antibiotics I have been taking. I am praying it is not autism! He has good muscle tone and looks very healthy otherwise.

Otherwise I am slowly getting stuff unpacked so that our house is more of a home. Gregory and Gabrielle are having a unit study in health and fitness for homeschool which means they go outside and play most of the day. We are slowly working our way toward a new normal.

Just a quick update today. We are still trying to get settled into our new house. We ordered furniture from catalogs and it ended up much bigger than we expected. The house is a bit smaller than our comfort level so furniture arranging has been a big challenge. Kurt has been working long hours, 6 days per week, so much of the "getting the house together" has been left to me. Of course I am very pregnant so progress is slow. Kurt works very hard during the few hours each week he is at home. We had a bit of a problem recently when he injured his back at work a couple of weeks ago, but Kurt pushes himself anyway.

I am scheduled for a c-section birth this Thursday, September 29th. Thus, if all goes as planned, little Michael will make his entry into this world in 3 days, which my friend Pamela tells me is Michaelmas and thus very appropriate.

I have done very little, if any, fiber related stuff. Whenever I can do anything, I try to direct my energy toward getting the house together or getting ready for the baby. There is just so much to do. I look forward to the day when we are settled and once again living a "normal" life.