Anna is Baptized

How sad but true that the third baby is much harder to find time to capture in picture!  Though I'd say there's no shortage of love or time spent talking with her and holding her and playing with her... but I find it much harder to take those extra few minutes to actually get out the camera, or even to get up and get my phone, if we're enjoying each other's company.  

 

But I really should get a few more of these pictures in... before she starts whining and screaming like her sister (who is fresh on my mind from a typical dinner tantrum, "I hate chili!  It's soooo disgusting!  You're a bad Mom for making this! ...two minutes later... "Yum, this is good.)  

"And He took the children in His arms, put His hands on them and blessed them." 

Mark 10:16

"Let the little children come unto Me, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." 

Luke 18:16

We were grateful Anna's godmother, Aunt Nancy could come for her baptism. 

And Grammy

And Grandma Deb.

We felt so blessed by the presence of all who could come... but my heart ached for those who couldn't, especially Dad.  I missed him terribly at this important event.  He wasn't able to be at Owen and Chloie's baptisms in Arizona, and I know he would have loved to have been here for Anna's.  My heart felt so heavy amid all the joy of the day missing that broad smile, crooked turn of his head.... standing just a little too close with a bit of coffee breath, making some ridiculous comment.  What would it have been.... "Why's she got that plug in her mouth?"  "You must be a prized milk cow?! Look at how big that girl is!" "Are we done with the pictures? Let's go."  Dad.... you are missed.

And this is how I feel sometimes too, Anna.  

I love you, my sweet girl.  Three months old tomorrow!

What Happened the Last 9 Months??

Oh my!  What has happened in our lives since my last post???  So much... Definitely too much to recount on a silly blog.  Some memories that will be forever cherished and some that will forever bring sorrow to my heart.  Gaining a daughter and saying goodbye to a Daddy would certainly sum up the highs and lows of the past nine months.  And since it is my Daddy's birthday today, I am especially thinking about him and notice the emptiness in my heart that only a Dad can fill with his laughter and love. Thank God for His hope and His promises. 

"Let us hold unwaveringly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." 

Hebrews 10:23

But what are the fun memories we stored up along the way.... 

Chloie celebrated her 4th birthday!  A fun day at the park celebrating with Austin and Nolan. 

Hmm... that doesn't look like a homemade cake.  Well, look below to see what happened to Chloie's homemade cake.  Disaster!  

Owen graduated preschool!  Wow, so glad he made it through!

Then a lot of time went by when I was too grouchy or uncomfortable or tired to simply get the camera out.... So then on July 25th along came Anna!

 

 The dreaded "let's go to the hospital" picture.  Except this time there were no contractions making me wince during the picture... more like dread because my water had broken the evening before but no contractions started.  I knew a pitocin drip was forthcoming. 

 Oh, look! Still smiling several hours into the pictocin drip... but not long after this I clung to the bed and Matt's hands pretty sure I was going to die.  But thankfully I had such great support from Matt and Melanie that I didn't die (or poop) but birthed our little 8 pound, 6 ounce Anna Lynn.

Hello, Daddy.

I'm pretty sure I was the sweatiest woman ever to have given birth... but it was all worth it.

Owen and Chloie meeting their sister for the first time.  

Happy birthday, Anna!  I had envisioned myself making a birthday cake for her while I labored at home... well, that didn't happen, but a nice store bought cake worked all the same.

As worried as we were that Chloie would hate the baby, she couldn't love her more... actually if she loved her a little less it might be helpful at times.

I'm pretty sure this bath picture looks exactly like Chloie's bath picture... or maybe every baby looks exactly the same wrapped up in a little hooded towel.

And of course, you can't forget the helpers!  Always there to help... or smother.

And then shortly after our precious new edition, I had to send my biggest baby off to kindergarten!  Thankfully, he loves his school and teacher.  

But I don't think anyone could love school as much as Chloie.  She tried to trick me into feeding her lunch two hours early so she could go to school early the first week of school.  Hearing her little songs and watching her learn are such joys to a Mommy's heart.

So there it is... the quick 9 month review of the Davis Dish!

Fall Memories

I'm technically not late in my fall post, since we are still in the season of fall... but I'd better hurry.  Already got Christmas events ready to share!

It was a slow start to the harvest season.  The kids... ok, mainly Chloie, was less than thrilled with all the maintenance and preparation that needed to be done prior to actually rolling a tractor or combine wheel.  Yes, her sour expression was seen often during these months.  We're pretty sure she's lacking the farming gene that Owen so strongly possesses.  

Ah!  The joy of leaves!  I feel so guilty for depriving my children of this simple seasonal pleasure.  We had so much fun raking, and jumping and dragging leaves all over the yard... and then raking and jumping and dragging leaves all over the yard.  

 

This year for Halloween was a bit different from last year.  We did this carving activity in our underwear (ok, just the kids were in their underwear) in the backyard.  Fall actually felt like fall this year, and we had to make our mess in the house... fully clothed.  

And by the time the 31st rolled around, it was just downright cold.  Yet, that didn't discourage our little trick-or-treaters.  They were so proud of the huge number of houses they visited... which this year added up to about 8.

Happy Birthday, Daddy and Grandpa!  They got to celebrate for the first time together in many years.  Daddy turned 33.  Wow, he is getting very old!  It doesn't matter that I was born the same year a few weeks later.  He has more gray hair...

And finally, some harvest time!  Seems like it will never get done, but it always does.  We all had a great time harvesting our corn.

The weeks of harvest look like they're wearing on poor Chloie.  But Matt looks great!

A not-so-nice surprise... remnants of a little fire in our field.

Well, the harvest is done.  Now it's time to start tearing out old fences and sawing up some trees.  Matt has high ambitions for cleaning up his land before next spring.  And the whole family can help!

Owen's Birthday

 Just two months later...

Well, my little baby turned 5!  As I'm sure every mother must think... Wow! That went fast.  His birthday ended up being one of the hottest days of the year, but that didn't deter the little jumpers or keep us from enjoying the company of wonderful family.  The kids spent most of the day sweating it out in the monster truck bounce house, which I failed to get a picture of.  I'll blame it on being distracted from all the sweating.  Of course, we felt right at home since every birthday before this was celebrated in Arizona with plenty of sweaty kids and steamy parents.

Thanks for the semi, Grammy and Grandpa Meyer!  It continues to be a big hit... even though Owen has many semis, they are all used in different ways.

Grandma Peggy and Great Grandma Firsich!

And of course Aunt Emily would bring the biggest truck found on the shelves of any toy store.

A very weird pose with his cousin buddy, Austin... but cute nonetheless (said only the mother).

Missed my cake decorating, beer drinking Arizona friend on this cake.  I didn't think it looked so ugly the day of the party.  Again, must have been the sweat making my eyes go fuzzy.  Whew, it is quite the ugly cake!  I remember it tasting much better than it looks here.  Hopefully that part remains true.

Happy birthday, my sweet little Odie.... I thank God for you, my special little gift.  Challenging at times, but dearly loving too.  You are my little farmer and worker.  Always interested, always asking questions, always thinking... and most of the time pushing the limits.  

I pray the year ahead is full of many blessings on your little, special life.  

My Babies Go to Preschool

Well, my babies are off to gain a little independence today.  Owen started preschool yesterday.  He fretted and fussed all morning, claiming to be scared and needing me to stay.  All the way to the school, he persisted that he would need me to stay in the classroom with him.  

But as he made his way to the classroom door, one of his teachers greeted him with a big smile.  Owen suddenly turned to me with the biggest hug and said I could go.  It was awesome to see him embrace a new challenge.  Owen's favorite part of his first day of school:  "Recess!  All the boys chased all the girls, and we could shout and scream!"  I guess some things never change....

This morning he was a big help to his little sister who started preschool today.  Riding in the car, Owen asked Chloie, "Are you still feeling scared, Chloie?"  

"Yes, a little bit," Chloie replied.

Owen shouts, "Mom good news!  Chloie isn't so scared anymore!"

And she wasn't.  She tried to hold on for a minute when we met her teacher at the door but walked in without a tear or a fuss.  I was the overprotective parent peering through the windows to see how she was doing after I left, and she was sitting working on a coloring page.  Not the least bit worried about me.  

Summer Lovin'

Summer continues to bring many weekend trips to the farm.  Watching our corn grow... so beautifully this year, cutting down trees and helping our parents on their farms has kept us busy and fulfilled.  There's just something rewarding about working hard and seeing the fruits of our labors.  It fits us so well.  The kids, who are notorious for being needy, dependent little creatures, become so easily amused and easy to manage when we spend a day wood chipping on the farm.  

Little personalities continue to grow.  Sometimes so sweet.... sometimes something other than sweet surfaces.  But I have to step back and remember that I get crabby and irritable and pray for an extra dose of the Holy Spirit to get me through those moments so that I can enjoy the very next one that may be so sweet.

Like a little Chloie pose in the grass.

Or a breakout crazy dance.... Hmm... these do look an awful lot like my kids here.  Slightly obnoxious, bad dance moves, a little sweat pouring off.  Oh, yes, these are my offspring for sure.

Owen is a little thinker.  He's had some trouble handling church.  After one particularly difficult Sunday, I asked Owen in exasperation, "Why do you have to be so difficult?"  A mother should know better than to ask this questions, right?  Regardless it was out of my mouth with a quick answer from Owen.  "I don't know. I guess God just made me silly."  Silly.... not quite the word I would have used that day.  But thanks to God, Mass times have gotten much better over the past weeks.  We'll take one little blessing at a time!

Finally got that field Honda's been promising to sell us for the past 18 months.  We were so thrilled we decided to go out and buy a Honda van to go with our Honda field.

Finally, my babies love to play together.  Sometimes I can't believe how much I can accomplish in a day's time with both kids awake all day long.  I came downstairs today with these two playing, "Mom and Dad" as they called it.  Sleeping with their "babies."  They were the ones that asked me to take their pictures so they could see just how cute they were.

And I just couldn't resist these silly, slightly out of focus pictures.  They capture their little personalities that I love so dearly.