Apr 30, 2011 | Baby Photos, Stories
There most certainly is a lot going on around here and thank you very much for asking. There’s some news on the docket that I’d like to share but I need to get my heart and my thoughts and my words together, and finding a moment for getting all three of those together at the same time can be a bit like herding cats right now…without the scratches, I suppose.
And of course we have friends around, and as always, they have come in God’s perfect timing and I am incredibly thankful and full of run-on sentences and good cheer and fresh reasons to bake something.
Until I can herd those cats into one barrel, or crate, or metaphorical litterbox, I thought I’d share a Be Still, My Heart moment with you from yesterday.
Are you ready?
Are you sure?
Look!
Hero Hubs edited it this afternoon and I almost fainted.
Twice.
Hope you’re having a great weekend. Talk at ya soon.
xCC
Apr 19, 2011 | Baby Photos, Stories
H appy Tuesday, lads and lassies! Today crept up on me! I suppose I am trying to avoid counting down the days, knowing that our dear sweet Agnes leaves tomorrow. {Pray for me.}
While she was off gallavanting in Cape Town over the weekend, we took a little field trip to a place just off the N2 called Dassiesfontein. Remember me introducing you to the delightful and mischievous dassies of Hermanus? Well, Dassiesfontein is Afrikaans for “Dassies fountain.” Unfortunately, there was not a fountain of dassies to be seen about the place, or even a couple, but there were a plethora of other visual delights and we picked up a wee gift for Agnes, which was the mission of the adventure anyway.
However.
The magically delightful photos are not yet uploaded, cropped, tidied, blow-dried or straightened. Okay, we don’t do those last couple of things to photos, but you get the idea: they ain’t ready yet.
So if you’ll pardon the slight delay, you can look forward to getting your non-Dassied Dassiesfontein fix tomorrow. Is Travelling Wednesday okay? Just doesn’t have the same ring to it. Sigh.
In case you just showed up for some photos today, I’ve aimed not to disappoint, and arranged a fairly comparable showcase for you, in the form of a safari, no less!
In this post, you may hunt for Bears and lions. And now you may begin…
….
…
…
…
Look!
Did you see the Bear? And did you find the lions? 🙂
The Bear’s Surrogate Scottish Granny gave us this outfit when he was born, and it was one of my favourites. I was delighted to pull it out last week for Baby Brother’s enjoyment.
That’s the Bear, on the left at two months…Baby Brother on the right at six weeks! I think Baby Brother is a big boy. And fortunately, hasn’t lost as much hair.
Funny how life seems to begin and end with balding and incontinence. If I could set this post to music, the Lion King’s “Circle of Life” theme song would’ve popped up just now, when you read that last sentence. And you’d all pause and think…”I don’t get it. Oh wait, I do.” Good, we’re on the same page.
Moving swiftly on.
You’d think they were related.
Forgive me. I am finding these comparisons so. much. fun.
Hope you’ve had a great Tuesday! Hoping the delightful non-dassied Dassiesfontein will be ready for you tomorrow!
xCC
Apr 15, 2011 | Baby Photos, The Parenthood
I ‘ve been a little on the tired side this week. {Can’t figure out why!?!} I woke up this morning after a strange dream in which I’d decided to die my hair cotton candy pink and I was using a follow the dots piece of paper I’d printed out at home to cut fresh layers in my hair instead of paying to have it cut properly. Holding up a piece of paper to a section of hair, with scissors, I don’t think it was going so well right around the time I woke up.
Weird, I know.
I realised this afternoon that it has rather been a bit of time since last I updated you on the howabouts and howgoings of the newest addition to the Collie clan. Not to be confused with the newest edition, which was a book by Alexander McCall Smith called the Unbearable Lightness of Scones. It was delightful, but I digress.
When you last received a series of shots and howgoings about Baby Brother, he had just turned one month young, and I am delighted to tell you that he is a bright and chipper seven-week-old now. {Meaning I’ve resisted the urge to post photos every other day.} He enjoys being whistled to and smiled at, he is gurgling and cooing, and he seems especially interested in the movements of his big brother, the Bear. And last week he proudly tipped the scales at 6.1kgs or 13 lbs and 7 oz! I’ll let Baby Brother update you on how it’s going…
It’s been a great few weeks since I saw you last! Hi! Look how happy I am!
I got my first picture of just me with my Mom and Dad. She was teary because I was smiling so sweet.
I’ve been watching my big brother build big towers (and colour on his face!)
He likes it when I cuddle up with him in his big boy bed!
I met my Uncle Vaughan for the first time! He brought me a cool hat and I’m looking forward to wearing it!
I’ve been getting extra cuddles from Agnes since she’s leaving soon. I’m gonna miss her.
Between all the excitement around here and working on my head control, I’m pretty pooped.
Hope your weekend is getting off to a good start!
xCC
Apr 7, 2011 | Baby Photos, The Parenthood
My sister sent the Bear some delightful clothes when he was born. Really adorable stuff. And those delightful clothes are beginning to get a second go-round with Baby Brother right now. It’s a good effort at recycling to save the planet, and I’ve never heard a baby complain about what they were wearing, unless it was wet. We are loving the hand-me-downs.
One of my favourite things she sent was this onesie, sported here by the Bear at approximately Seven Weeks of Age:
As we’ve pulled clothes out for their second go-round, we’ve noticed that items that were suitable for the Bear at certain ages seem to be.. er, um… suitable for Baby Brother much sooner. {And there are several things he was actually never small enough to wear.} So we thought you might enjoy a little comparison.
Here’s the Bear swimming in the onesie in question at seven weeks, and Baby Brother, filling it out in the middle at…four.
{We don’t often take pictures of our wee ones in tears. We just had a giggle when the Bear was upset on this particular day because we thought one three-letter word had been left off the onesie. Can you guess which one?}
Last night at the dinner table, HH encouraged the Bear to eat everything on his plate because Baby Brother will be catching up soon! We’re now accepting offers for American football scholarships. Tarheels and Wolfpack need not apply. Are there rugby bursaries in SA?
xCC
P.S. Thanks again, sister, for a gift that keeps on giving! 🙂
Mar 29, 2011 | Baby Photos, The Parenthood, Travel..ling Tuesdays
We interrupt this Travelling Tuesday to bring you an important celebratory tutorial: How to Photograph a One-Month-Old.
If attempting to photograph your One-Month-Old baby, we have a few suggestions.
Don’t just put him down and set him up for the photos any old time.
Make sure he’s exactly one month old. And wait until he’s asleep.
Then he can stir in his own good timing.
He might pause and wonder “How did I get here?”
Or smile as he recognises the silly people doing goofy things to encourage some happy.
You’re likely to see enough cheer in his disposition
to allow you to grab a few good shots.
He might give you a sweet little smile
or look like he has something important to say.
Don’t be offended if he wants to stick out his tongue. He doesn’t know any better.
But grabbing the opportunity when he’s just waking up should give you a good chance to capture some happy baby-ness and nothing like that first picture up there. Our mistake is your learning opportunity.
Can you believe this baby is one month old?
xCC
P.S. Travelling Tuesday will return as regularly scheduled next week. We have some beautiful shots from Kalk Bay to share!
Mar 25, 2011 | Baby Photos, The Parenthood
Yesterday Hero Hubs took the Bear for a special adventure, just father and son. He promised the Bear ice cream and they headed into the little village beachfront area of Gordon’s Bay to get it. Although he can’t pronounce it particularly well, the Bear loves him some I-skeem, so he was stoked.
They headed out just after naptime, Bear clicked into his car seat, Dad driving, Mr. Potato Head grumbling along. (He misses going fast.) After finding a space just in front of the little ice cream shop, they hopped out and headed inside to start choosing flavours.
The Bear was keen for choc-choc…no surprise there…and they sauntered up to the counter to place their order. The young guy behind the counter in a bright coloured t-shirt said the total was ten Rand. So HH looked down at the Bear and said, “The ice cream is ten Rand, Bear Bear. Do you have ten Rand? You’re going to need ten Rand if you want ice cream. You were supposed to bring money, of course. If you don’t have it, I guess we’ll just be leaving now. I suppose we can go down to the beach and you can pick up a rock or take a shell home with you instead.”
The Bear was bewildered and completely confused, and his bright green eyes welled up with tears as he shuffled his feet out of the ice cream shop. Empty-handed and heavy-hearted, he…
OK, can I stop right there? How many of you actually believe this story? Hopefully if you know HH at all, you know that this just wouldn’t happen. He’s a good Dad, and if he promises the Bear ice cream, you’re darn tootin’ he’s going to do everything in his power to deliver on his promise. His promise will directly result in his provision, because
Good Fathers keep their promises.
Just recently, I’ve been praying for a friend who is in a tough situation. She has some life-altering decisions to make and my heart is heavy for her as she walks through this difficult time. I found myself replying to one of her emails earlier with these words:
I trust that God will gently lead you and give you peace and direction. I also trust Him to provide for you as you walk the way He leads — He will not guide you somewhere and then not provide for you there.
I stopped myself as I finished typing those words and pondered them for a bit. How often do I doubt that this is true?
I am often afraid that I’m going to make a mistake, and that the metaphorical bottom is going to fall out. I’m afraid that I’m going to take a left instead of a right at Albuquerque, and the rug of blessing and provision is going to be pulled right out from under me.
The Lord reminds me again and again that He loves me even more than I love my little ones. But somehow, that love starts slipping through my fingers, Disbelief starts creeping in, Fear starts whispering, and my mind tells me stories about what it looks like to be up the creek without a paddle.
But that is not the God I love. That is not the God I worship. That is not the way of our loving God.
My God is the loving Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep.
He’s the One who says I came that they might have life and have it to the full.
And says don’t worry about tomorrow. Consider the lilies. Look at the sparrows. Don’t you mean more to me than them?
He pointed out Himself that if asked for bread, even an imperfect, human Dad won’t give his kid a stone. And then reminded us that He’s perfect.
He may not be all about my comfort, but He is able to work things together for my good.
While reminding myself and my friend of this truth, I thought it might be something you might need to hear today, too. I am not completely sure what tomorrow looks like for any of us. But I’m choosing to remember to put my confidence in the God who knows. He’s already there, and His plans are plans to prosper, and not to harm.
So, good news! God isn’t waiting for you to take a wrong turn so He can pull the rug out from under you, either. And I think that truth tastes even better than choc-choc ice cream.
xCC
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