Our little baby is 3 months old this week! My how time flies...
We did, in fact, get more snow last week, as we had hoped for since it was going to be so darn cold. It was somewhere around 6 inches, and it was beautiful:
The view from our front porch last Wednesday evening. Unreal.
On Wednesday afternoon, all 3 of us bundled up and headed outside in the 20-degree weather to play in the snow for a few minutes. Sweet Susannah could hardly open her eyes because the snow was so bright! She liked it for a few minutes, until her mean ole mommy and daddy decided we wanted to see how she would react to lying in it...
Daddy had a hard time opening his eyes, too.
POOR BABY!!
We are heading to Harrisonburg for a few days this week since Pete has a conference near there; we are pumped to spend some more time with family! Here's hoping the 3-hour trip there and the 3-hour trip back go better than last time...
And the day after we return from Harrisonburg, Uncle Eric, Aunt Lauren, Hudson, and Holland are coming in town to visit!!!!!! My exclamation points do not do our enthusiasm justice -- we are SO EXCITED to have them come spend a few days with us. I've been researching for 3 weeks things for us to do in our little, rural town without a whole lot of luck. Fingers crossed there's at least a live auction or something that pops up...
January 15th, 2014 will go down in the books as the first night Susannah Jane Acker slept through the whole night without so much as a stir. I, of course, woke up at 5 wondering if she was alive in there and proceeded to wake up every 10 minutes thereafter, anticipating her cry that never came.
Of course the very next day, Susannah was hit with a growth spurt and has been absolutely ravenous at 4:00am each day since. But we know now that she's got it in her to make it through the night, so we're looking forward to getting back to that point again soon!
Also, it is important to note that we bought some Buff Orpingtons today. They should start laying eggs by May! Here's to not buying anymore eggs to feed my "grown-ass man" husband (how he likes to refer to himself) and our growing-booty girl baby. Once we get our fruit trees and bushes planted and our spring garden started, we'll be regular locavores off our own land (and, I suppose, the land where Pete kills our meat).
Without further ado, here's a small sample of our entertainment this week.
Firstly, a video example of how Susannah's legs never stop. Think changing her diaper is easy? Think again! Think changing her diaper is super cute? Every time? Minus the poo? It sure is!
Nextly, some cute baby pics.
Heading outside for a little walk around the house with Daddy.
Tummy Time is slowly growing on us.
Susannah is becoming more and more interested in the TV when we have it on. So during the NFL playoff games last night, she and I sat away from the TV to play but close enough for me to hear what was going on. And yes, she is pants-less.
Playing in the musical gym.
Lastly, our new babies. We are now a family of 7.
That coop is a Pete Acker original, folks, that he designed and built right in the shop next to where the coop resides.
We have been so lucky that Susannah has been relatively easy during the nighttime hours. Since about 4 weeks, she's been only waking up once, and over the course of the last month, she's been extending her time between night feedings like a champ. This past Friday night, she cried for her paci at 4:05am, and that was it! No feeding! She went right back to sleep after it was popped in and slept until 7am. WOW. The next night, we had a dinner party to go to, so her schedule was a little off, but she still slept from 9:30pm until 4:15am, when she ate an early-morning breakfast and went right back to snoozing until 7:15am. Two nights in a row of 7+ hours straight?? I thought we had arrived.
Then Sunday night happened.
Bedtime at 8:30. Dreamfeed at 10:30. Should sleep until at least 4, according to new pattern that she would obviously stick to... Wakes at 1:30. Wakes at 3:00. Wakes at 5:00. Wakes at 6:00. Wakes at 6:45. Poop EVERYWHERE. Mommy picks up poop-soaked, crying Baby to remove poop-soaked swaddle and clothing only to notice these were not the only poop-soaked items. Mommy straps baby in on changing table so she can strip crib of all things soiled -- everything but the mattress itself. But if you know anything about cribs, you know that entire mattress must be removed in order to strip it of anything. Mommy wakes Daddy to share in this poopy experience so crying Baby can eat and be happy and laundry can be relocated to washing machine.
And that's how our Monday began.
Of course, in the hour of play time that followed, Susannah was cooing and smiling more than ever, so all was forgotten. I seem to remember using similar tactics with my parents as a teenager. Interesting...it's learned so young.
And now, more proof of her cuteness:
Her favorite thing to watch, second only to the ceiling fan. We play with this toy at least an hour a day.
Playing with Freddie the Firefly. I don't think she even realized she was holding on to it.
Our dinner party outfit - cute as a BUTTON
We like Susannah to be versatile, so we let her nap in random places sometimes, such as a blanket pallet on the floor.
We lost power the night it got down to 15 degrees, so Pete put Susannah inside his jacket for a while, and she could not take her eyes off the candles!
Susannah will sit in my lap and follow my fingers up and down the keys for longer than she'll do most anything else. Luckily, she isn't aware that I'm playing the one song I remember from middle school piano lessons over and over and over again...
And lastly, an adorable video of Susannah's reaction when I blow in her face:
The due date countdown: 43 days! Baby Susannah will be here before we know it, which means the following things are going on in the Acker house:
Extreme deep cleaning
Waddling, lots of waddling
Installation of safety outlets - 43, to be exact... apparently the previous owners never wanted to use extension cords. We would have gladly just bought those el cheapo outlet plugs, but ALL outlet and light switch covers had been painted over, so poor Pete has been replacing ALL of them.
Baby furniture painting and assembly, along with multiple rearrangements
Pete having to help heave me up from sitting, lying, squatting, kneeling, etc.
Crying at the drop of a hat (me, not Pete... that I know of anyway)
...Among other things. It becomes more of a reality everyday that we will have a third body to care for very soon - a month and a half, give or take a few days, Lord willing. I have been holding Matthew 6:34 close to my heart as we draw near to the big day with great anticipation: "Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself." The enemy would love for me to dwell on all the things that could potentially go wrong over the next few days, months, and years. I could very easily give into all those anxious concerns about what life will hold for us as parents or, more importantly, what life will hold for our sweet baby girl. Nobody wants that, but all - yes, all - pregnancy books address these concerns because it is SUCH a common thing for expectant mothers.
Thankfully, the Lord has reminded me over and over again that He has every detail of our future already worked out, so there's no need for my worrying. One recent reminder came last Sunday at church. We sang the well-known hymn "Because He Lives" just before the sermon, and I could hardly sing because of the emotion that was overtaking me. I know verse 1 and the chorus like the back of my hand because this was a benediction favorite of my parents' church, where I grew up going. But verse 2...oh my. I don't believe I ever remember singing it before:
How sweet to hold
A newborn baby,
And feel the pride
And joy he gives.
But greater still
The calm assurance:
This child can face
Uncertain days
Because He lives!
Granted, any song, story, or sentence that has the word "baby" or "Jesus" (or "it," or "the"...) in it makes me cry these days, but what truth! Praise the Lord: I can rest assured that Susannah is under the protection of Jesus - a protection much stronger and more reliable than what Pete or I could ever give her - as she faces each and every new day. We will still change our electrical outlets, buy a crib and carseat that meets safety regulations, not leave knives laying around on the floor... and all that other stuff that's probably in her best interest; our prayer, though, is that we can cling to the truth of God's sovereignty, knowing that we are just vessels of His protection for her and that she is ours on loan from the Father. Praise Him for entrusting us with that responsibility, and we can ALL face uncertain days because He lives!
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