He's here!

Sooner than expected, we were able to welcome our newest son, Rafe David, into our arms! He was born at 9:09 AM on Sunday, March 6, weighing 7 lbs., 8 oz. and measuring 20 inches long. He was the earliest of my babies, born at 37 weeks and four days, but obviously none the worse for it with his healthy weight and size!

[Sweet Rafe at one day old]
Douglas took the following week off of work and I was able to have a nice lie-in with Rafe, resting from the birth, bonding, and nursing around the clock. I even had time to do some reading(!) -- I re-read Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson, which makes for very pleasant post-partum reading material.

[Three weeks old -- getting quite a bit chubbier!]
All of the older siblings are over the moon about having a baby brother to cuddle, especially Edmund. I'm constantly fielding the request: "Can I hold him?" And if one child gets a "yes," the other two will start clamoring, "I want to hold him, too!"

[All the children dressed up for Easter]
It's been a sweet three weeks of getting to know Rafe and adjusting to life with a newborn again. I've always wanted to have a spring baby, to watch our new little one growing right alongside the life that is growing and blooming outside! God is good!

[Daffodils for Rafe David]

Hello!

Wow, the time has flown since my last update. It's probably not hard to guess part of the reason behind my blog silence. I'll let pictures speak for themselves:

[L to R: 15 weeks; 21 weeks; 29 weeks; 34 weeks!]
We are really looking forward to meeting our fourth child next month! Between pregnancy and homeschooling and a camera that is dubiously working, keeping up with my blog has just become too much for me. I've decided to shut it down, although I will hopefully pop in with a birth announcement before that happens!

Thank you for following along all these years! I have met so many lovely ladies through my blog; it has been such a blessing to me! Please feel free to e-mail me at any time if you would like to keep in touch. I will miss this space but I know it's time to stretch into a new season and different priorities. May God bless each and every one of you!