7 Weeks

With a new baby, a common question is; Who does the baby look like? I can never tell. The Mister always says, they look like themselves.  What do you think?  

Here are each of the babies at 7 weeks old.  

It's a Boy!

On June 6, 2014 at 2:13pm our family was blessed with another little boy. 
We welcomed him with open arms and joyful hearts.

We did not know the gender of this baby, which made his birthday a fun surprise!  The Mister and I were both convinced the baby was a boy, and so he is.  He came into this world slowly and quickly, I don't know which- it was a little of both. I had contractions for a little over 24 hours before I was convinced he was really coming, but once my body got all synced up, he came right out.  We arrived at the hospital around 1pm and our boy was born at 2:13pm. Around 12:15 I sent a text to some friends and family saying, "Headed to hospital, may be a while before baby comes, but doc suggested we go." I really did think it would be more than a few hours before the baby came.  But around 1:30 my body kicked into high gear and the baby descended and came out without too much hassle.  (don't get me wrong it is still labor and still painful, just short.)  We were blessed to have our dear friend, Stacy Stavlund, with us from 4 am through the birth and she stayed with us after to help us welcome our sweet little son.  Stacy was a gentle spirit in the midst of the confusion of child birth.

Since we didn't know the gender, we didn't work too hard on solidifying a name before baby was born. However, we had a girl's name and not a boy's name.  We had a number of great options that we could not agree on.  But we finally came around to Simeon Markus.  I love the story of Simeon in the New Testament.  I love the description of him, and his purpose, I love that it says the Holy Spirit was on him, and we have hope for this little boy that he will be filled with the Spirit and that he will always be in tune with where Jesus reveals himself.  Markus is the Mister's middle name and it was given to him because it is a family name.

^{25 "}Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. ²⁶ It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. ²⁷ Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, ²⁸ Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
    you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation,
³¹     which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and the glory of your people Israel.”

³³ The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. ³⁴ Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, ³⁵ so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”  Luke 2:25-35

Simeon has been with us now for 11 weeks.  The 'big kids' (as I have taken to calling them) adore their little baby brother.  And we are all settling in well.  Simeon is a peaceful baby and seems to take after his momma in his need for sleep, quiet, and time alone.  We are so happy this little one was put in our family.