Four Months: Dimpled Grins

Coos, oohs, and boos abound.  Long fingers and toes wiggle and grab.  Breathy snorts announce your presence. A right eye brow that lifts and twitches as you flirt and grab attention.  Wide open, toothless grins create instant joy in our hearts. Grace, you are a treasure!  Just over a year ago, on March 16, 2011, we found out we were expecting you, and what a year this has been!  Such a perfect fit you seem to be for our family. I'm not sure why....you just are. Perhaps because God created you just for us.

We saw early on a deep knowing or wisdom behind those sparkly eyes, and it shines on.  Is that God shining through you, Little One?  Are we able to see Him so clearly through you, because you are yet so innocent and pure? ....born just 4 months ago.  

Our whole family just adores you.  Papa and I get so excited to see you as you turn to roll over....almost...but not quite yet! You rolled almost all the way over yesterday, but your left arm remained stuck underneath you.  You are so close!  You can bounce your bouncer all by yourself as you kick your legs up and down....up and down...with a little smile of amusement on your face and that twinkle in your eye. You now spend quite a bit of your awake time in your little gym, grabbing and batting the hanging jungle animals, or attempting to roll this way or that.

You are patient, yet not afraid to let us know when you need something!  We have been working on taking away your pacifier, as you had become increasingly dependent on it for calming and comfort.  As of the past week, you have found your thumb, and when you awake in a panic, in it pops!

You love to be with the family and to have attention paid to you.  When we say your name, you instantly turn and smile.  Papa brings you outside when he plays tag with your brothers and sister and sits you in your bumbo seat in the bed of his work truck. You delight in watching them run and play.

And oh how your brothers and sister love you!  Whatever grumpiness they may be working through instantly melts away when they see you, and their little faces light up. They always are asking to hold you and love helping us by bringing diapers, wipes, burp rags, and the boppy.  It's so fun to see their little hearts melting just as ours do.  They can't help but break into a big, huge smile when they are talking to you.  And you reward them with an enormous, toothless, dimpled grin.  It is so contagious!

The LORD will hold you in his hand for all to see--a splendid crown in the hand of God. Isaiah 62:3

Second Born Sons

These days, Caleb, Emet and friends spend much time "positioning" themselves via claiming various characters in popular movies:  For example, a typical Caleb led conversation goes something like this:

Caleb: "I'm Lightning McQueen.  He's the coolest.  Who are you?"
Emet: "I'm Lightning McQeen too."
Caleb: "No. Only one can be Lightning....how about you be Mater? He has jets!"

For those of you with multiple children, you will find the humor in the following exchange by our second born son Emet and his good friend Elliott....also a second born son.

Emet: "Elliott.....you can be Yoda, because he is the most powerful.  And I'll be the second most powerful."
Elliott: "No, I don't want to be the most powerful."  :-)

And so I'm reminded as a parent, how different my approach needs to be in parenting each of our children!

Life Bite: The Cheerio

Life Bite: Picking up the house before bed, I bent over, picked up a cheerio off the floor, carried it around for a while....then ate it.  Yep....that's just where I'm at these days.  :-)

Three Months: Your eyes how they twinkle, Your dimples so merry!!

Could you be any more beautiful? You are stunning! It is impossible to differentiate between your physical beauty and the beauty that shines from within.  Are we seeing a glimpse of God through you? You are yet so pure, innocent, and vulnerable; and without blemish or selfishness. Your eyes shine with a wisdom fathoms deeper than your wee age.  

Your smile is frequent now.  Every time you catch us looking at you, you break into your winning, dimpled smile.  It is contagious. We can do nothing else but stand there smiling back.  Time stands still.  You playfully lift your eyebrows, as if amused at being able to captivate us so easily.  Then your sweet toothless grin grows bigger even still....and so does ours!  Your brothers and sister love to hold you and talk to you.  You delight us all!  Not a single one of us can look at you without our faces breaking out in a smile.  

I am reminded of the description of St. Nicholas in Twas the Night Before Christmas.....fitting for our Grace Noelle: "Your eyes - how they twinkle - your dimples so merry, Your cheeks so like roses, 
your nose like a cherry." 

Coos and squeals are as common now as your breathy snorts.  When the coos and oohs become punctuated "boos", you've announced you are sleepy.  Soon you will begin to fuss.

Your hair has rubbed off in the back where you lay and turn your head from side to side.  And you've started the arching process of trying to roll over!  It will be a while before it happens, but it has begun.

Little animals in your gym swing to and fro as you reach out and bat them.  You quietly sit in your Baby Bumbo seat and watch us move around the kitchen.  Your little thumb more frequently finds its way to your mouth for chewing.  Will you suck your thumb?  Time will tell.

A Disneyland trip trained you to a pacifier, and now you don't lay down so easily at night as you once did.  Leaps and bounds forward with a few steps back....that's what this stage is all about. But, you were such a good little traveler....eating, sleeping, smiling, and watching.  And, oh how Minnie Mouse doted on you! I had several special times with you as I sat in the Baby Care Center, nursing you in the old Victorian room designed for just that purpose.....holding on to the experience I would likely only experience once on a trip to Disneyland.

You lay across my lap nursing as I type.  My wrist rests on your duck fluffy head, and I feel the softness. So sweet to know that at three months, you have never once been nourished by anything but your Mama's milk. While inside, you were nourished by my body even as your Creator knit you together in my womb. And, now that you are on the other side of my womb, you still are fully sustained by my body.  Yet clearly, you are filled to capacity with the Father's love.  That is your true nourishment.  Never forget this, Little One.  We are so like sheep who go astray, but you are now as you were meant to be....in communion with your Father and filled to the brim with His love.

Looking at you in this vulnerable stage both challenges and humbles me to the core of my very being. How can I be entrusted with the life of such a one....to nurture and care for; to guide and direct?  My prayers and what I model for you will be the primary foundation for your years ahead. What a tremendous gift and extraordinary responsibility.  It is not to be taken lightly.  Yet, I've never had a more important or fulfilling job than being a Mama to my children.


"I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life." Abraham Lincoln

Ordway Family Mission Statement

A statement of purpose.  You'll find them at all companies, colleges and organizations, but it's not a common thing for families to define themselves and their purpose.  I find this odd, since the simple task of existence pulls us in hundreds of directions simultaneously.  It makes sense that we should have a point of reference to which we can evaluate often conflicting priorities and remember our purpose.

So, here is ours.  It may change over time.  It should!  As the children get older, we'd love for them to take ownership in helping to define who we are and what we are about as a family.

As servants of the Most High God, and followers of Jesus Christ:

We, the Ordway Family will love the Lord our God with all of our heart, mind, and soul; and we will love our neighbor as ourselves. 

We will accomplish this by generously and freely sharing those things which have been entrusted into our care.

We will work together as the team God created us to be; knowing that together we are strong and effective, alone we are weak.   

We will be genuine and sincere in all of our interactions, seeking first to listen and understand before being understood.

Humility and gentleness will reign in our hearts, and the fruit of the Spirit will be evident in our words and actions.

Our home will be welcoming and filled with grace, a lighthouse in the dark, and a warm and friendly respite for all who enter its doors. 

We will seek to make others feel special and loved, allowing their beautiful hearts and souls to shine, just as God intended.

We will step forward and lead, setting an example, even when it is lonely and difficult. 

We will begin with the end in mind, for we know this world is not our eternal home.