It's Halloween...

 ...or as we like to celebrate it, Reformation Day.  It seems like a good time to post these fun pumpkin pictures.

We didn't form any real plans to celebrate this year because of the recent birth.  Tonight the kids carved their pumpkins with Peter.  We had a simple dinner of broiled fish and roasted red potatoes.  We did mull some cider and play some Bible trivia with candy prizes.  Earlier in the day we watched the old 1953 version of Martin Luther and discussed the Reformation as well as read a bit of the biography of Athanasius in honor of All Saints Day.   We continue to learn about these Christian holidays that precluded the pagan holiday of Halloween and are making an effort to form our traditions around them.  A brief blog post by Doug Wilson several years ago that talks about this can be found here.

Bronwyn Photo Album

I thought I'd post a host of pictures from the last week and a half to show how Bronwyn is changing.  This is probably way overkill on the baby pictures, but I know I will, at least, enjoy looking  back at these.  I'm starting with the most current.  I took these first three pictures yesterday.  Bronwyn was hanging out with Samuel, as he was reading the Odyssey, after her bath.

She was so alert.

Now I'm going back to a week and a half ago.  I think she looks pretty different.  The pictures are chronological from here. 

Millie got a bee sting underneath her eye, which accounts for the funny swollen look of it.  She wants to hold Bronwyn as much as possible.

All my girls!!

Sunday afternoon nap.

This was at the end of last week.

I finally put the "going home" outfit on her for some pictures.  My sisters and myself all wore this home from the hospital in the '70's and now all of Joy's and my own children have worn it as a newborn too.

And these ones I took on Sunday after church.  She's definitely opening her eyes much wider now and having a nice lengthy alert time after each daytime feeding.  Can't wait for her to smile during one of these alert times.

Farm Field Trip

A couple of days before Bronwyn's birth, the kids and I ventured out of the house to join a homeschool field trip to our local university's livestock farm.  We pass this farm every time that we head into Morgantown from home.  It has about 900 beautiful acres that have now been surrounded by condominiums and other new construction.  It's like a big piece of rural that has slowly been engulfed by encroaching city.  West Virginia University has several farm locations in various parts of the state.  This particular location is the livestock research farm.  Above, the kids are heading over to the grain elevator at the feed station where all the food is processed for the farm's critters.  These farm buildings that we toured are all at the top of the highest hill on the farm and have such a beautiful view.

Visiting the roosters.

At the back you can see the turkeys.  They were huge and they actually had blue heads, though you can't tell from the picture.

This view is really wasted on these sheep.

The weather was perfect for this trip.  I had been nervous about my energy holding out, taking all of the kids out like this when I was SO pregnant.  It worked out beautifully.  It was such a high note to go into labor on.  We had a great "last" day together and took the happy picture that's above in the header on our porch (with the pumpkins) when we got home.

The Aftermath

There were a couple of birth photos that I didn't include in the last post.  We didn't get that many of them.  It's hard to do when the only person to take them is Peter and he's pretty distracted with me and the baby anyway.  But here is baby getting measured.  This was probably 1/2 hour to one hour after she was born.  She had been wrapped up and nursing before this.

Here is the cradle, all ready for her, except that I needed to change that blue bumper pad for the pink one.  (Same cradle that we always use that my dad designed and hand-crafted for my sisters and myself.) The beautiful blanket hanging on the corner made it's way from Oregon to be here for her, made by her Grammy. 

Home birth supplies. 

I looked for months for a used glider rocker and ottoman to buy.  For one reason or another, none of them ever worked out and I got to my due date and still didn't have one.  I really wanted one to keep in my room to nurse the baby.  I prayed and waited and finally concluded that the answer to that request must have been no, at least for now.  The week before Bronwyn was born, my friend from church found the chair in the above picture at a kids consignment sale for me for just $10!  That was such a blessing.  It was here waiting when Bronwyn arrived and we sat and used it the very first day.  It blessed me to use it, that the price was so much lower than anything else we had looked at and was so affordable for us, that my friend cared enough to look for it, purchase it and bring it to me and that the Lord cared about my desire and supplied what I wanted/needed at the right time.  Hurray!

First acquaintance.  :)

This is the birthing tub, now on the front porch and turned into the perfect place to have a tea party and read books with your little brother.  I did use the tub for part of my labor, but it was pretty short.  I didn't deliver the baby in it.  This tub was purchased by a couple of young couples at church and they share it was those who would like to use it. 

These girls, along with their family, brought us a wonderful meal the next day to help out and celebrate the arrival of Bronwyn...

...complete with a cake and sparkling cider! 

Tired daddy two days after the birth.  The picture below is the whole tired, hanging-in-there crew on Sunday.

So happy to have her here now.  These are special days.  Truly, we welcome little Bronwyn!

Baby is Here!

 Introducing our daughter, Bronwyn Elizabeth Jones!  This little girl surprised us and defied all of our predictions: a boy, not too big and probably born at night with a long labor, like most all of my others.  Everything along the way was a surprise with this one.  A short labor starting at 2 in the morning and ending at 9:55 in the morning.  Then she was a girl when we were very mentally prepared for a boy.  When the midwife weighed her, she came out at 9 lb 2 oz, matching my biggest baby previously, which was Samuel.  Everyone was startled at that.  I honestly didn't think this was one of my bigger babies.  Goes to show, you never know and God likes to keep his sovereignty before us.

 Our wonderful midwife.  What a blessing we feel it has been to have her help that has allowed us to have our last two babies at home.  I have especially felt the blessing of being at home with this birth. 

 Getting wrapped up after being weighed, measured and checked.

 Siblings getting a chance to see her.

 I took this picture this morning, when I was waking her up to feed her after several hours of sleep for the both of us.  A good night's rest that will hopefully lead to a smooth transition and recovery. 

 This was a very peaceful alert time for her.  She laid and looked around, very still and quiet for several minutes. 

And back to sleep with Dad by breakfast time.  :)