We thank Yahweh for a beautiful, peaceful birth of our little son Moshe exactly 4 weeks ago today!

I seem incapable of writing a short birth story. Although it's been weeks, I remember every detail. Most of those details make it into my story. Some do not. Use your imagination if you wish! ;)

Friday... the end of another work-filled week. Even though I'm tired, I give a hearty effort to have a productive day and be ready for a restful Sabbath.

This particular Friday, January 22, I am on my feet and busy about the house since our alarm went off at 4:50am. Our youngest child, Ruth, is turning 2 the next day, and Joshua's parents are coming for lunch at our house. Such excitement!

The children and I make a pumpkin sheet cake and a poppyseed chicken and asparagus casserole for tomorrow's birthday meal. We do our usual school work, laundry, cleaning... and everything else. By the time dinner is served and the kitchen cleaned up, I'm exhausted.

"I'm SO glad it's Sabbath!" I remark to Joshua, and he readily agrees. After playing with the kids for a while, we brush their teeth and send them off to bed. They were worn out, falling asleep quickly.

I drink several bottles of water. I must be dehydrated, because these Braxton Hicks contractions are rather strong...

I suddenly realize that I've been up for 14+ hours and haven't sat down, aside from dinnertime, a single time all day. I'm not surprised that my body feels so achey... a warm shower sounds like a good ending to the day.

As I comb my freshly-washed hair, I look at the clock. "Honey, what do you think about just heading to bed right now?"

"Well... it's only 7:15. I don't want to go to bed quite this early... How 'bout I read to you?"

Joshua and I snuggle close in our bed and he starts reading from The Promise-Plan of God by Walter Kaiser. His reading is interrupted with my questions, and I soak in explanations of systematic theology, covenant theology, and "promise plan".

But my mind is wandering. Another contraction? I really need to go drink some more water.

I go back to giving my full attention to the book, trying to comprehend what Kaiser is saying. Oy. I understand things much more quickly when I'm reading it with my own eyes!

And I'm so tired...

Hmm.

And if I am in labor, maybe I will be giving birth in the next couple hours! (Ha, ha. My previous labors have been 7 hours, 3 hours, and 85 minutes long.)

But... I'm probably not in labor.

"Tammy? Are you awake?" Joshua's voice pulls me from my fuzzy sleepyness.

"Ummm. I think... I fell asleep. Maybe we can read more tomorrow..."

I get up from the bed and head to the kitchen, drinking a bit more water.

Maybe I just need to walk around the house a little, and these silly Braxton Hicks contractions will subside. I wander between the kitchen and living room, tidying random objects and putting away the clean dishes I had washed earlier in the evening. But nothing subsides.

Rats. I am too tired to be in labor right now.

It's 9:30 pm, and Joshua puts aside his book. "Well, I'm going to bed."

It's 9:30 pm, and I'm feeling confident enough to break the news. "Ummm, Honey? I'm sorry, but I think I'm in labor right now."

Joshua's reaction is, of course, excitement! He suggests I call our midwife, and hops in the shower.

I call Charlotte, our midwife, at about 10 pm. My contractions are very regular (3-4 minutes) but not very long and I can still easily talk through them. I'm definitely in labor, but it's all so mild.

Maybe I'm one of those women who can dilate to an "8" without much pain! Wouldn't that be nice! Whee... what an easy labor.

I assure Charlotte that there's no immediate hurry to get here, but that I would like her to come soon since she lives an hour from our house. I convince Joshua to go to bed and get some sleep, telling him I will wake him when I need to.

I putter around... drinking my beloved pregnancy tea... pulling out the box of birth supplies... and getting more and more tired.

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Praise Yahweh! We have a sweet little baby boy! Moshe Paul was born at 3:59am on January 23 (Ruth's second birthday). He weighed 7 lbs 14 ounces and he's just the cutest little thing!!

Yehoshua (5) woke up when Moshe was about 45 minutes old, and his first comment upon seeing the new baby was "I missed it AGAIN!" since he also slept through Ruth's birth 2 years ago (and wishes that some day he might be awake when a baby is born at our house!).

Eliyahu (4) woke up not long later, and came to the couch where Moshe and I were resting. He asked a couple questions and then, as Joshua wasn't in the room at the time, said "Does Dad know about this??!!" :)

And Ruth (2) ...well, she wishes that her "birthday present" could be carried around like her doll baby! :)

Moshe Paul was named after Moses and Paul in the Bible. Moshe is pronounced "MOE-shay". And one of these days I'll manage to get a picture when his eyes are open!

My labor with Moshe was longer than my previous two labors, lasting over 8 hours. Very different for me mentally, even though in the end I wouldn't say it was more difficult than my 3-hour labor with Eliyahu. But I'll elaborate on all that when I type up a birth story! :)

I've been resting and enjoying Joshua's immense help with the household and other children, as he's home from work this week. Things are busy, but we're so blessed! :)

I've posted one other update during this pregnancy, back in November, and time has managed to slip by without any new pictures... until this week! :)

Here is Ruth watching me try to photograph myself, her, and the "baby belly"! :)

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I don't have a very good track record when it comes to cooking ahead.

Call it once-a-month or once-a-week, I have had grand failures and then to top it all off, Joshua and I are a little snobby when it comes to our food. (Joshua heard me say that and said "A little?! Face it, sweetie... we're really bad food snobs!")

We generally prefer most of our main dishes prepared right before eating, and most of my crock pot attempts ended with both Joshua and me saying "This could be so much better..."

However... I still wanted to join in with Crystal on her Baking Day/OAMC this week. In retrospect, today was mostly like any other day at our house, except I baked cookies instead of cleaning the bathroom.... so I guess "A day in our life" is more appropriate for a title! :)

One of the first things I did this morning was to make up some Mocha Frappuccino mixes. Joshua drinks these in the mornings, and we use unflavored whey protein in the mix to make them a little heartier.

Yehoshua helped me cook a big pot of oatmeal for breakfast. We made about 5 quarts and that will last for several breakfasts. (I re-warm the leftovers in a pan with milk... fast and creamy!) We eat oatmeal for breakfast often, since I haven't been able to keep up with making homemade granola and quality cold cereal is expensive (even at Costco!). :)

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I haven't posted any personal updates here for quite a while, so I thought I'd share a few recent photos and happenings around our house! :)

My intention has always been to include bits of our life as I have time, but recent months have found me not feeling well and taking more time to relax and sleep!! :) I appreciate everyone's understanding as this blog has frequently had to take the "back burner" as I spend my time on more important things. :)

So for those interested, here are some pictures and family notes... (read more)

The past week has seemed a blur. On the verge of fully recovering from colds, we caught the flu last Friday. It seems that "catching up" on anything, blog or email included, just hasn't been visible on the radar these past few weeks... or months!

In all, we're really doing just fine. :) As much as I haven't been available to do as much blogging as I'd like, I have been making myself available to my family. :) We're getting into a good groove with homeschooling. Dinner is on the table (usually 20 minutes late! heehee) every night, and by 9pm we're all snuggly tucked into our beds (usually). :)

I'm still waiting for that second-trimester burst of energy to kick in. I haven't posted any pregnancy updates this time (though I really should get a picture!) but if I had, they'd all be along the lines of "Just plugging along... not feeling the greatest... I was planning to do x, y, and z, but I'm falling into bed instead!" :) Joshua has stepped up to the challenge and helped with lots of meals and after-meal clean-up, and given me plenty of naps while he watched the children. Such a blessing!

This honey ginger chicken stir fry was beautiful and I liked it, though it didn't get rave reviews from the rest of the family. ;) I did save my notes and maybe eventually I'll try again with some tweaks!

I love fresh ginger, but don't have enough recipes that use it. What are your favorite ways to use fresh ginger root?

Ruth (20 months), waking from a nap

We had a great trip to visit family in Ohio! I really enjoyed not turning on a computer for 2+ weeks and I'll admit it's taking some nudging for me to get back into blogging. I am not quitting or anything, though -- so you WILL continue to hear from me regularly, once I figure out how to manage that! ;)

I wanted to give a little photo update (with Ruth-cuteness as requested -- of course!) before heading back to recipes and kitchen tips and all that. :) Read more...

Almond Jot Hot Chocolate

I kept thinking I would have time to do some updates here, but time has slipped through my fingers and we're on the verge of leaving for a 2-week trip to visit family in Ohio. There will most likely be a few updates while I'm away, but unfortunately I won't be able to host Kitchen Tip Tuesdays or the In-Season Recipe Swap while I am gone (and internet-less!). :)

Thanks for your understanding! I'll be back the 2nd week of September and can't wait to empty my camera's memory card and brain into the pages of this site! ;)

This post has been on my "to do" list for several months!

After my brothers visited us in late January (see photos from that trip here!), they had so much fun they wanted to come back to Seattle! So 8 weeks later, they were back in our living room for a fun 7-day visit! We packed in lots more fun (and even frugal) adventures and here is a photo log from their trip. :)

Pike Place Market was one of their favorite places last time, and they wanted to go there again to see more of what we had missed last time. :) We got to the parking garage at 9:28am -- any time before 9:30am the parking is $8 for (I think?) 8 or more (10?) hours. Anyway, since parking can get pricey really quick in Seattle, we just left the car there all day and walked a lot. :) The bus is free downtown BUT we country-folk couldn't figure out the routes and how to use it. Haha!

One of the shops in Pike Place Market is the Vital Tea Leaf company. As tea lovers, this place was super fun!

The Chinese ladies there sat us all down (3 adults and 3 kids!) and brewed tea for us. They brewed probably 5-6 different kinds and served them to us in thimble-sized cups. (Seriously, this is the size they use?!) They even brewed herbal infusions for the kids (no caffeine) and other kinds for us. It was fascinating to see just how they make their teas.

(L to R: Eliyahu, Tammy, Ruth, Rich, Phil, and Yehoshua)

They will do this for free for anyone interested, so if you love tea and have the time to sit and enjoy some, this is a great new cultural experience! My brothers and I enjoyed it so much, and ended up buying some teas (and a tea set) simply because we had such a blast! :)

Just a tuckered-out Baby Roo. :)

Joshua had to work during much of our fun, which is why he isn't in any of these photos! This is the children and me up in the Seattle Space Needle. Normally this is a more expensive tourist-y attraction, but my brother Phillip had gotten a good deal on a season pass package which for $30 allowed him and a guest unlimited trips, plus 4 more free tickets, free drinks, etc. So for $30 we all got to go up and it was fun!

But I personally would NOT pay the $16.50 per person it normally costs. It was somewhat crowded (even on a cool, somewhat-overcast March day!!) and considering the other "up high" options in Seattle like...

The Columbia Center. Which, when you're standing next to it on the ground, is really difficult to photograph! ;)

A couple weeks before my brothers came, we were driving through Seattle and I said "I wonder what that tallest building is. Wouldn't it be cool to go up there?!" I looked online and found out that there was an observation deck on the 75th floor and from the reviews, it sounded like lots of fun!

Basically you go in the building and on the 4th or 5th floor there is a security desk and after taking your $5 per person (I don't remember being charged for Eliyahu-3 or Ruth-1) they escort you up to the top. There are 2 sets of elevators that whisk you up about 35 floors at a time, in just a few seconds. :)

This is what some of the other skyscrapers looked like when looking out of the Columbia Center. The cars looked like matchbox cars, and the people were so tiny! It was fascinating and a beautiful view of Mt. Ranier, Lake Washington, Puget Sound, and a good deal of downtown Seattle.

My brother Rich, holding Eliyahu in front of one of the large viewing windows. It is all enclosed, and the view isn't 360 degrees, but the windows do go quite a ways around. I liked the view better than the Space Needle, personally. It was also MUCH more laid back and NOT so "tourist-y", which we loved! :)

In March, truly clear days are kinda hit and miss... this was the most we could see of Mt. Rainier that day.

My brother Phillip, holding Ruth. :)

Another fun free activity was visiting the Locks in Ballard. Since we had never seen locks before, it was interesting to us. The kids enjoyed it, too! The only cost was $2 for an hour of parking.

Eliyahu and his Doggie... always together. :)

Richard and Yehoshua. :)

We drove across the I-90 floating bridge to head out east to visit friends in Moses Lake, Washington.

A view from a rest stop near the Snoqualmie Pass.

Out in desert land! Moses Lake is dry and sandy. We went hiking near Goose Lakes in the Columbia Basin wildlife area. It was a long hike (several hours?) but we had lots of fun! :)

My long-time friend Candy, her dog Hercules, Ruth, and me. :)

Ruth isn't usually too shy. :) She had a good time on the farm!

A highlight for Yehoshua and Eliyahu was getting to ride horses! Here is Eliyahu, beaming. :)

Yehoshua loved every minute!!

My two brothers went out riding for a number of hours with Candy. Here they are in front of one of the many impressive rock formations. I also uploaded a short clip of the horses splashing in some water. :)

Yehoshua and Eliyahu rode horses again the next day (we stayed overnight). :)

And... those were most of the best pictures. :) We had a really fun time! Washington is a beautiful, diverse state and I loved getting to explore more of it! :)

I've had these photos for at least a month, but never found the time to post them. I guess part of the reason is that I didn't think anyone would really be interested in seeing our house. After all, it's just a standard apartment; nothing remarkable in my opinion although by now it does feel like "home" to us and that is enough! :)

So, due to the prompting of a few readers... here we go! :) Read more...