My First Granna Selfie

We're so happy that Izaak has been able to take time from work and spend the next week or two at home with BreAnne and Bella. Today, however, he had to go to work and they called for me to come stay with Bre. The happy family got to go home today and settle in.  I was happy to keep Bella content so Bre could shower and nap. 

My First Granna Selfie

See? I'm as cool as all the 40 yo grandmas ::snort:: 

 It appears I'm keeping with a 12 hour schedule....here is Bella at 36 hours. 

And if you happen to see me around town, I HAVE started an album on my phone....Granna's Brag Book. I have a photo or two of Dakota - and he's been quite patient with me! BUT I wouldn't even ASK him to lay still and let me take oodles of photos. I do have one of him on our laps! 

Arielle Rocks

Last summer this baby girl left home and moved to Oregon and New Hope Christian College. It was a year of many firsts: first time to live away from home, first rental home, first job, first time to attend school outside of home. 

We are so proud of her. She's done well. She's worked two jobs, maintained a 4.0 GPA and was awarded two scholarships for the upcoming school year. Not bad for an 18 year old - or a 50 year old for that matter.  Way to go Arielle! 

Bella Meets The Sibs (some of them)

(No, I do not plan to blog Bella's life in 12 hour increments!)

Michael and I got home at about 0600. We napped for a few hours and then got up and put in a full day of school. BreZaak suggested the Siblings come meet their new niece at 4 p.m.

This day has been eagerly anticipated, and I know Josiah, Jamin, Jared and Larissa are eagerly looking for their chance to meet Bella in person as well.

Our only glitch was losing Arielle somewhere in the giant hospital - she found us! LOL

Ah, sweet Bella. 

 Izaak made the introductions....

The moment I've been waiting for. Granna has Bella in her arms. 

Alas, I needed to share.  

Bella and Aunt Krista

Bella and Aunt Arielle

Bella and Uncle Nolan

 Do you catch what has Arielle enthralled? 

Such a perfect foot....

Look at her curly hair

Bella, Aunt Stacia nailed it! You ARE the cutest baby, ever. 

Bella was just 12 hours old in these photos...amazing.  We will leave the little family to rest and bond....but are so happy to have had these minutes.

Here at 9 p.m. I can hardly believe it is still the same day which began with the arrival of Bella.

Note: Alex chose not to hold Bella. That is fine. He loves her, and I have no doubt they will interact with each other on their own terms. LOL I should have taken a photo of him anyway. My bad. 

Bella's Arrival

"For this child (we) prayed and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him. So I have also dedicated (her) to the Lord. And he worshiped the Lord there. " I Sam 1:27, 28

Isabella Michelle (Consecrated to God, Righteous One)
April 12, 2016
0400
6 lbs
18 inches

PERFECTION!

My heart is full as I sit to write Bella's entry into our family's blog. I can't help but reflect on the joy and grief of Baby Faith (Unquestioning belief and complete trust in God) and Baby Jesse's (God exists; a gift from God) brief lives. We are so very thankful they were a part of our family and for the lessons they taught in their short lives.....and today....we CELEBRATE the arrival of Bella to our family. As my friend, Claudia, wrote, "Welcome, sweet baby. You have been covered in prayer!"

Stacia has said three things for months; 1. BreZaak are having a girl, 2. She will be the cutest baby EVER and 3. She will be born on 12 April.  Today the baby count says "Baby" and Bella was indeed born in the very early hours of 12 April. Stacia says she nailed it on all three counts. That she did.

We converged on Riverbend around 6 p.m. last night. We were excited and only wondered if we'd meet Bella on the 11th - or on her due date - the 12th.  We were in high spirits.

Michael, Bre, Izaak 

De'Etta, Bre, Izaak 

Bre and Dakota (Izaak's son)

The men and Bre

 If you live in this area and you are looking for an OB/GYN, I highly recommend Dr. Williams. 

Bre is a labor champ. It was magical to breathe with her and Izaak through the contractions.  As the night wore on, we began to wear down.....

 Leah, our first nurse, predicted Bella would be born at 0400 - at 1:00 when they said, "Are you ready to have a baby?" I assumed she was off by a few hours - but she nailed it. The last stage of labor took three exhausting hours.

Bre has Bella in her arms! 

Izaak led us in a prayer of thanksgiving, and then, Michael and I took Dakota home. 

Dakota and Izaak 

Yep - a magical evening. We were thankful to be part of BreZaak's support team for Bella's arrival. 

Monday in the Caboose

Into every Full Timing life - repairs will come. Today was a good day for Michael to fix the toilet seal.....When you live in a tiny house any project like this takes over your whole residence.  All is working well now...hope to avoid this job for a bit of time. Note - we are peeling off the buckling contact paper on all the "wood work" so we can paint.  It's a harder project than we imagined.

This is the last week of our Tapestry of Grace subjects. All the doubling up during our extended stay at Beale Fam Camp paid off. We'll continue to work on language arts and some science through the summer...maybe start a new year of math too.....but we'll drastically cut back on school time after this week. Keep your noses to the grindstone - Gherkins.

It's been a productive Monday. 

Questions

"Do you want to be healed?" 

"Do you want to change?" 

Good questions to ponder today from Pastor John. 

We went out to lunch after church with Krista and Barbara (a lady from the church). It was inexpensive, it was Chinese and it was yummy. 

Michael had a skype session with JaRissa. The kids and I watched/listened to a movie in the van. 

We went over to Krista and Arielle's with Cory, Mom, Dad and Lorri for ice cream. 

"Who is taller?" 

Another burning question from the day. Look at this....Stacia is about 1/2 an inch shorter than Krista. 

Satisfying Saturday

Our days are full when we are in Oregon. We had a plan in CA - everyone knew where we were and those who wanted to see us would let us know, and we'd find a time. That plan worked well and is working in spades in OR, as well.  Sherri, my sister-in-law, suggested we meet for coffee at 0730 in Creswell. We enjoyed an hour and a half of hot drinks and visiting. She stopped in at The Caboose and picked Stacia up at 0900 and then went on to pick up Harmony (her granddaughter, Stacia's "cousin") at 0930. Harmony didn't know Stacia was spending the day with them, and it sounds like it was a very pleasant surprise.  Stacia enjoys playing with Harmony - the younger sister she doesn't have. I didn't take any pictures of cousin time.

Michael and I got a few things done at The Caboose, and then we went over to Will and Sherri's and visited for an hour before coming home with Stacia.

Cory, Arielle's guy, stopped by and we spent a couple of hours getting to know each other better. While four of us visited, these two played, "The Game."

We headed over to the parks along the river when Arielle got off work. BreZaak decided to join us - I wondered if a nice walk in nature along the river would encourage Bella to come investigate the wider world. Meanwhile, Krista was at a rousing party and got a great core workout in too. ::wink::

F - Cory, Arielle, Stacia
B - Alex, Michael, Nolan, Bre, Bella, Izaak

39 weeks, 5 days and counting....

We used to play on this whale when I was a kid back in the 1960's. There are photos of the kids on the whale here from 2014. 

left to right - Alex, Nolan, Stacia, Arielle, Cory 

BreZaak and Bella

Me....

Arielle and Cory 

Another full day.  Getting closer to Bella's birthday every day.