Thursday, December 28, 2006

You're done now... right?

Danny is a little over two months old now. Still a little guy... only sporadically coming close to "sleeping through the night" and being on anywhere near a predictable schedule. Like all our babies, he gets cuter and cuter by the day... I'm enjoying his tinyness and at the same time, looking forward to the smiles and giggles that are still around the corner.

Many of our dear family and friends have noticed a wee bit of a trend in our lives over the last couple years and are beginning to express good-natured and loving anticipation... or concern. Eliana was three months old when we got pregnant with Michael. Michael was closer to four months old when we got pregnant with Daniel... So the big question is, "When are you going to have the next one? Are you going to wait a bit longer this time?" The "You're done now, right?" typically is only heard from those who haven't talked to us about this subject... usually strangers.
I come from a family with five children and I love and sincerely thank God for each one of my siblings. I am also thankful for parents that joyfully welcomed us into their hearts, even though the stories that surrounded many of our births were difficult, to say the least.

David has an older sister that we both love and adore, and his parents have vigilantly cared and provided for their training and upbringing in an admirable fashion.

All of that is to say that we have a good heritage of recognizing the value of children. I grieve for those of my friends and loved ones who desire children but have not yet been able to hold their own, many for different reasons. I pray for them regularly with an aching heart, but with confidence that God has a loving and good plan for their lives (Romans 8:28-29). I grieve even more for people who have been blessed with children but have never understood the value of the gifts that God gave them.

David and I, when dreaming about what our lives together, desired children, but we didn't imagine that we would have them so close together. However, after each of our children have been born so far, we have had peace and confidence in God's timing with a desire to trust Him as to when our next child will be conceived.

Our hands are full, but we are blessed, humbled, and thankful for each of these gifts from God (Psalms 127:3-5). We know that His timing is good... perfect, actually. We, in our human mindsets, could not have made a better plan. These children are not a heavy, burdensome obligation. They are wonderful, beautiful, awe-inspiring eternal souls, made in the image of a Perfect, Holy, Loving God. Our children are not perfect, but the God who first imagined and created them is! We have a tremendous responsibility to our children before God, but we are joyfully thankful that His grace is sufficient through the blood of Jesus Christ, and He will provide for all our needs (Phillipians 4:19-20).

We cannot presume to know when or if God will choose to give us another child... but we are confident in His Word, and so we know that any child that God gives us will be a blessing... one that we don't deserve but that He gives for His glory to be seen.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Free Antivirus Software

Being the cheapskate that I am, I was bummed to see that AVG's free antivirus software updates are being discontinued as of January 2007. Upon further exploration, however, I'm pleased to report that AVG is continuing to offer a free edition of its antivirus software. But if you are currently running version 7.1 you'll need to download and install the new AVG anti-virus free version 7.5.

Don't like AVG? Other free antivirus software options include Active Virus Shield, Avast, and Avira.

Only care for the best and money is no object? Try Consumer Reports' top antivirus pick BitDefender.

Elly Takes a Tumble

Video from Christmas Eve courtesy of her Minnesota Auntie.

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Merry Christmas to All!!

David is the king of weird gifts. Last year, he wanted to give fluorescent light bulbs to one and all for Christmas presents. I was able to discourage most of this, but a certain family with nine children did end up coming home to a slightly differently lighted house than they had left. This year, it's a blog. He's been wanting to start a blog forever, now. Or at least since a certain Rodney friend started his. And finally, he set a deadline. Christmas. A blog must be started by Christmas, as a Christmas gift to all our dear family and friends, who assuredly, can now rest more easy at night since David has finally started his blog. So there you have it. Merry Christmas.