Introductions

On the day we introduced our five

the morning hours passed like seconds, 

the labor moments laced with miracles and our son was here.

Our children waiting at home, arrived just a little later that day

and ran to the new recruit in the army called sweet chaos that is our life,

our love.

Oh these introductions were so noisy.

And oh, 

this dude

was wild.
His exuberance, what makes him him,

filling the room.

And this twice over big sister,

enamored.

Before our sleepy eyes, love

had blossomed even more fully.

This day is so fully precious to me, 

the morning with just my children's father,
his reassurance, his confidence, his prayers.

Then the noon hour of quiet with the newborn slumber,

resting for just the few moments of only just us against my dear husband in his arms.

 

And then the afternoon's introductions

complete,

(probably my favorite picture of them all...)
already so full with chasing and crackers and correction and cuddles.

Grandparents and their

complete adoration,

sharing snuggles.

Their baby

with his own,

dreams fulfilled.

Four generations in that room that afternoon 

Four generations of wonder at the miracles of life's newness.

Yes, these introduction moments

are some of the deepest loves of my so very blessed life.

--

Photo Credit to Willow Brandt Photography
Custom Big Sis, Big Bro, Little Bro shirts credit to 40 Winks By J Shop

Fully

I wrote a post recently, just a few weeks ago titled waiting.

For our family, the last year has held a lot of waiting, waiting for a photography endeavor to take off, 

waiting for our house to sell, waiting through the pregnancy, waiting to begin a new daily career, waiting to move, waiting through the summer heat... 

And now, these things have come to fruition and I find it way too easy to continue the waiting game.... Waiting for the weekend, waiting for nap time, waiting for meal time, waiting for the hubs to get home...waiting. 

It's not a sin, necessarily, this excitement of what's to come, but it's a slippery slope as it becomes so easy to slide into an anxious state of constant countdown

I listened to a sermon lately discussing waiting. The speaker clarified our confusion of what waiting really is. So often we see it as a passive passage of time, the purposeless in between required from one event to the next. I, for one, too often let it serve as merely a countdown, my vision for the present dimmed with my anticipation of the next. 

However, the pause is actually intended as a time of preparation, quiet work, peaceful growth, patient development. I find this so inspiring and challenging as, now, blessed enough to spend the daily more accountable for my time with my littles watching and learning from my every move, what a statement it would be to model what waiting really is. 

Investing in each experience, being present in each activity, loving the now, ready for what's to come. Using the pause to the fullest to pursue peace more completely.

Because, there are times where waiting is quiet, 

where peace is the lesson to be learned, stillness the exercise. 

And sometimes, waiting is the pursuit, the hard work, the weary patience.

And these beautiful moments are no less vital to growth than the pressing forward waiting moments, the perseverance of hope in waiting. 

None of these, however, are the mindless ticking down of seconds that too easily encompasses the waiting game I too easily find myself tempted by. 

Instead, whether its preparation or peace filling my waiting moments, 

I'm challenged today to live fully, thankful, grateful in the experience of the everyday.

I'm challenged to grasp what's offered, to live life fully.

--

Side note one: family pictures are from a little festival our church threw yesterday.

Note to mommy: September still requires sunscreen.

The verses, however, are not created by me but can be found on Pinterest.

-- 

Side note two: much of lessons being learned right now are solidified by some reading I've been doing in this book.

It's a new fav.

--

Side note three: I wrote my own first guest blog post to be shared later this week. Stay tuned.

All

Life

(morning snuggles minus one)

is  

(new favs)

all sweet here with the Frenchs.

Crusing

(a double stroller somehow becomes a triple)

as all five is starting to feel a little more normal...

See,

he kinda just fits right in, really.

Pretty much

a chill guy.

His bro-man

makes up for him in all the noise right now.

And his sis,

has got all the spunk down.

See what I mean?

And we like it like that.

All of it.

Guest

I'm featuring a guest blogger today,

another sweet momma with a precious little.

 I hope you'll follow the blog chain to check out the perspirations and inspirations of her beautiful life...

And if you're here just for her,
I hope you'll poke around at what's been new and beautiful in our life lately and stick around...

Hello! My name is Laurisa I write over at The Land of LA.

I write about my crazy life. About my marriage, my daughter, our joys and our struggles. My life is a beautiful disaster truly.  (But then whose isn’t)

Thanks Allison for letting me share here today.  Can I get a collective agreement about the beauty of her family? Just keep on making those babies Allison- they are too freaking cute. 

I have been learning the lesson of Joy & Hardship.

My daughter was born last year with a rare genetic disease. Tuberous Sclerosis. She lacks the Tumor inhibitor genes so she has heart tumors, and brain tumors- which cause seizures. (When I tell people this in person this is the point where their looks change from interest, to pity).  I assure you it really isn’t as bad as it sounds- my kid is a total joy-and sometimes a hot mess too-but mainly just a joy.

I am of the belief that life is half what you are handed and half what you make of it.  I cringe to say “if life hands you lemons, make lemonade”- in fact I HATE lemonade….but summer brew? I can get behind that.  So if life hands you lemons, grab a beer and made some summer brew. (Yeah- I drink, and I love Jesus…deal with it)

I do have a point.

I am learning that hardship does not subtract from the joy in my life. But it lives right along side of it. I think this is true with parenting in general, in life in general.  Because life is a balance of good & bad, joy & hardship.

If Emmaus has a great day, sits up well, is interactive with me, plays well, AND she has a bunch of seizures, do the seizures erase the good of the day?

Or if your kid was super sweet with their friend, shared things well, behaved well in the grocery store and then had a melt down before bed…does that ruin the whole day? 

I think we tend to give the bad more weight than the good.

I have had to learn to let the good outweigh the bad, and put very little emphasis on the bad. (sometimes, I fail and end up feeling sorry for myself- its pitiful, but I am working on dwelling on the joy, the good things!)

Then there are those days that nothing can go right. So grab your summer brew, glass of wine, or lemonade. Make your husband or friend take you out to a nice dinner, and go to bed. Wake up and try again tomorrow. 

Newness

Today is the first day of a our new three-to-one ratio around here.

And to close up our blissful two weeks of zone defense (or some may call it paternity leave),

(and we loved every minute with him)

we spent the evening with my folks,

my Papa, aunt and uncle.
 

It was low key,

or as low key as can be with five littles three and under.

Reminded me vaguely of three and a half years ago when I had my first outing with my first new babe.

It was for my Pop's birthday, and El was just ten days new.

Special as these two facets of the memory are,

the humorous retrospective part

was the lugged in stuff we came armed with. 

For a short couple hour outing just a couple minutes away, 

yes, we (okay, I) did bring a baby bed, a monitor, several options for outfit changes, a quilt, and pretty sure a thermometer on top of the diapers, wipes, changing pad, and burp cloths. 

Oh, the newness was overwhelming. 

And newness can be... I remind myself of that today

as I flounder to find our new routine,

and realize,

that, perhaps, our little life is just going to be a new level of lack thereof. 

I've got some new things in the works...a guest blogger post, recipes and a sharing of more favorite vendors, shops and artisans...Contact me if you're interested in any of these!