I do not know why this one picture makes me so happy. Christina took it. I’ve never done months or even year pictures – I tend to choose the favorites sent to me by my kiddos since Christina was 10 & other family who are better at picture taking.
Picture of a Baby
September 19, 2023
I do not know why this one picture makes me so happy. Christina took it. A friend gave us a blanket with months on it for Laud. I’ve never done months or even year pictures – I tend to choose the favorites sent to me by my kiddos since Christina was 10 & other family who are better at picture taking. It is not my forte. (Also, I always forget)
Once Louis gave Becky the “picture phone” (in 2012 that’s all it really did was take pictures) and she discovered her love of photography. I also heard my father say, “I was never really there, I have the pictures and videos for your mom so I can relive it” a few times. I know he loves that he left us a legacy of thousands of hours of family videos and so many pictures it literally takes weeks to watch them all – all digitized too. But I wanted to be there. I wanted to be in the moment. I guess I’ve grown some, now I understand the “need” for having time stamped pictures. I still don’t take them much.
Christina fell in love with her baby brother – I knew they all would once he was born. They tote him around and play with him, change him and burp him, and argue over who gets him. Christina was more excited than I was over the blanket. She said, “and we put Pooka (Laud’s stuffy) here. Mom you have to keep that stuffy for all twelve pictures, it’s the marker.”
Yes, I will keep Laud’s special stuffy from Grandma so that you can mark the months – but Laud likes his giraffe from Mrs. Heather better. (My kiddos call the giraffe “Bestie” – well, one of the team sisters who rides the afterschool van I drive calls him “Bestie-Billy-Bob-Jo.”)
When I look at this picture I’m overloaded with emotion. Laud is still (barely, but still) wearing the girls’ favorite of his preemie outfits from Mrs. Hannah. He’s my smallest miracle! He was just over seven pounds at the time of the picture. He’s only just in newborn and 0-3 month clothes at 6 weeks! All of them are such little miracles! I’ve been so blessed to enjoy 8 of them! I have amazing friends who have blessed us with clothes, diapers, food, love, conversation, and so many things! My baby looking so peaceful and tiny on his blanket reminds me of all the blessings we have in our life. I’m so thankful for everything God has given us – especially for friends!
Once there was a little girl who
loved dogs and prayed for a little black dog.
Her mom had already agreed to take the least wanted puppy from a litter
about to happen. Her mom prayed the
puppy was black.
A few weeks later, Mom got a call – the mommy dog had shoved one baby puppy away and it needed special care. Mom said, “we’ll take it” and the tiny “runt of the litter” fluffy puppy came to her furever home. That was February 25, 2008, almost 12 years ago. And yes, other than a white spot on her tummy that grew to cover her belly and some brownish tan on her paws, the puppy was black!
Sheba with (L-to-R) Kimberly (Sheba loved snuggling on the couch), Jaquline (Sheba would sleep on the walker to keep Kimberly and Becky from “racing” the baby around!), and Thea.
Sheba became the Tart family’s
perfect dog. She loved the three little
humans who grew up with her. Kimberly
was only five months older than Sheba!
Sheba ran around, grew up, played, made doggie friends, herded chickens,
mothered lost dogs who wandered in, loved on chickens when the Tarts lived on
their farm, snuggled with baby chicks, guinea pigs, the two rabbits, and Christina’s
baby puppy, Prim.
Sheba had a wonderful doggie
life.
L-to-R: Sheba with Jaquline (Jaquline insisted Sheba loved “Snow Dogs”), Kimberly had “dressed” Sheba in a beaded necklace she made, Sheba’s favorite sleeping position on any couch.
L-to-R: Sheba in the playroom, Sheba loved the tile floor in that house!, Mom said “no more movies” and the girls couldn’t find the remote… (Sheba had it!) Sheba loved to sleep on that table for some odd reason.
(top) Sheba with puppy Primrose, (bottom)Sheba with Lady (one of our doggie friends), (right) Thea climbed up on the couch to snuggle Sheba, who was sleeping in her new, weird, favorite position.
L-to-R: Baby Lucas, Jillian, and Sheba at the end of the bed (right next to the crib), Sheba’s favorite spot in that garage (next to the food bag!), Thea rubbing Sheba (she loved her soft fur and had just learned “dog!”)
Last year she started to slow down a
bit. In December of this year, she
started feeling sick some days. The vet
said her stomach was failing. Vitamins and special food helped a little. She wasn’t able to digest all her food and
she would get skinny and we had decided once she was in pain, we would put her to
sleep. None of us wanted to lose our
Sheba. She loved being outside when it
was cool because she was bushy furry (we
teased she was an a/c dog because she slept on one of the air conditioning vents
in summer and almost refused to go outside in summer daylight!). On cooler days, she would play on our run
while we were outside. Christmas Day it
was gorgeous. Sheba said hi to both
Grandmas when they visited and ran outside almost the whole day in gentle cool
breezes. We were petting and snuggling
with her by turns. She sleeps a lot since
she’s been over 10 so when she curls down to sleep we usually let her rest. We were enjoying a Christmas campfire and
telling stories. Louis went inside to
get some water. I knew Sheba was fully
asleep when Louis stopped by her longer than just to stroke her and turned his
flashlight on. I handed Thea to Mom and
we verified that she was fully gone. I stroked her soft, fluffy coat one last
time before I wrapped her in her blanket.
The older girls came out to
help. We buried her and said goodbye to
our best furry friend. Sheba had spent
more time with me than any other dog.
She was our first family dog. My mom said, “Sheba probably found Boompa
and Aunt Mary in heaven.” Christina laughed, “oh, yes, she instantly found Aunt
Mary!” Because every time Mary would stay with us, Sheba would seek her bed out
and snuggle with her – I’d be like, “no dogs in the bed, Mary,” and she’d
giggle, wrap Sheba in a bear hug and say, “but she’s a big, fluffy stuffed
animal!” and Sheba would give us the sweet sad eyes so she’d get to sleep with
Mary. Sheba always snuggled up with
anyone who wasn’t feeling well – she always seemed to know before we did.
Kimberly said she had prayed that
Sheba would get to run loose outside, thinking of us having a fenced yard at our
new house, but Sheba had been running loose anytime she was outside lately and stayed
near the house because she didn’t feel good.
Louis set candles out on her grave
for the night. We’ve planted flowers
now. Each pet we’ve lost, we’ve buried
and planted a tree over it as a reminder. Louis called Sheba our perfect dog. That she was.
The Garden Bed we planted for Sheba
Thea’s first Christmas was Sheba’s
last. Our furry family treasure went to
heaven, “raced over the rainbow bridge” as Jillian said, after spending a full
Christmas Day with her family and “Grandmas.” It had been Sheba’s favorite
outside day, gentle cool breezes with a mild, wintery temperature where she’d
stand, face in the wind and wag that super fluffy “duster” tail. I’m going to
miss my Sheba. Two months shy of 12 full
years from her February 25th birthday – rather long for a dog. Goodbye, my sweet, lovable, playful furry
baby; I love you Sheba, run free and fast with no leash and no borders! Your
human family will miss you!
Yesterday was a day of firsts for me to watch. Theadora is just beginning to want to explore. She has this cute portable baby holder (looks like a walker, but baby just stays put in it and plays with some toys you choose to attach), you know, like a camp chair only for babies. She liked that fine for a few months – at home, outside, at work, she was happy standing there, doing squats, and playing with her turtle.
Thea in my office with her portable baby holder
Then a friend gave her a baby
bouncer. This thing is like a walker,
except it’s attached to springs on the frame and stays in one place with built
in activities and a seat that spins 360 degrees! Epic.
Thea loves it. When we get home,
that’s what she wants! Christina
introduced her to the drum set – and Thea loves that too. Banging on stuff with both hands is now a bonafide
activity.
And this is the bouncer Thea loves!
Now the portable baby holder doesn’t
cut it. Thea jumps in it and makes the
whole thing move. The dogs in my office
have differing opinions on that – Faux is cautious, Beau thinks “Yippee, new
toy,” and Lily looked up at me, whined, and vacated the office.
She loves the floor too!
Thea wants the floor or the
bouncer. No in-betweens. On the floor, she’s been pretty static. She has been rolling for about three months,
but carefully, as all the floors in her environments are hard – she seems to
have figured that slow, controlled rolling is how to do that without pain. She’s been doing what I call “Superman Baby”
since about the same time, but swivels round and round in a three-foot
radius. I could put her on her blanket
and she was good – wouldn’t leave it.
Yesterday she discovered two new
things:
She grabbed the baby holder, pulled
it over to her, and pulled herself up to sit!
Mom is not ready for that!
“Spiderman Baby” aka being spread
eagle like an X, pushes up with her arms like a push-up and toes to feet with a
shove and rockets about a foot at a time forward! Mom is really not ready for that!
Mom is not ready for Thea to be mobile! I thought this as my mind replied, “were you ready for Christina to fly? Drive? How about Becky taking college classes? Kimberly flipping around in gym? Jaquline wearing high-heels? Jillian making lunch? Lucas finally tying his own shoes?” Everything in life is a next level. I love baby mode aka infant level, but also enjoy watching them grow and mature. I enjoy being a part of their fantastic lives.
Thea just jumped from infant level to mobile baby level – watch out world! (Or, maybe just watch out house.)
She is fascinated with
everything. If it moves, she giggles at
it and wants to chase it. If it makes a
sound, she wants to chase it. If it is
in the possession of an older sibling, she wants to touch it. If it looks fluffy or new (as in she wasn’t looking at it ten seconds
ago), she wants to chase it.
For her, “chase” means raise her arms and legs like in a superman hold and shove her body forward, sideways, or backward on her tummy. I’ve seen my other six babies, remember several siblings as babies, and have had numerous little nieces and nephews over – she is the first to do this type of scoot. (But then, each one has their own unique movement method!)
Theadora in my office
Maybe she has figured out that on
hard floors (her entire environment)
this type of movement makes the blanket travel with her.
She has learned to roll – has been
doing both of these movements since about 3 months (but she rarely wants to go anywhere, so it’s like “surprise! I want to
move at this second!” she loves to do the unexpected).
Lucas will get on one side of her,
giggle, and roll away. She will giggle
and follow. Monkey see, monkey do! He calls this game “rolling the ball” – I’m
literally making her bassinet when I hear, “Mom! Look!
I’m rolling a ball!” accompanied with a river of giggles from both Lucas
and Thea. He’s rolling in front of Thea
and she’s following him all the way across the bed. He rolls off the end of the bed (a fall of about 9 inches) and I’m about
to jump into protect-baby-from-floor-barrier when he puts both hands on Thea’s
tummy to keep her from rolling the last flip and says, “can’t go that way, I
can fall off but you can’t yet ‘cause your head isn’t done yet.”
Lucas is her protector, her shield from
danger, her loving big brother – and the one who leads her into most new (scary
for us!) adventures, like rolling non-stop or eating something new – “Look,
Mom! She likes ice cream!” (*facepalm
in my brain* but at least it’s Daddy’s homemade vanilla soft serve) next
line is “No, Baby Thea, only big boys can eat cones, you can just taste the ice
cream.” He’s letting her “taste” like we
do, tapping one finger on the food and putting it on her tongue.
That backfired with the sweet
potatoes.
Oh, yes, nice story:
A cute 3-month-old goes with her
family to Grandma’s favorite restaurant for a celebration. She’s the epitome of baby cuteness in her
Sunday best. Everyone is being so
well-behaved. Mom is having sweet potato (all the others have had sweet potato
as a first food) and lets baby taste it.
BABY TURNS INTO VELOCIRAPTOR!
She starts jumping forward, grabbing
at the table, mom’s fork, mom’s hair, anything to get back to the sweet
potato! Mom thinks she’s had enough
after a few tastes, but NO! Sweet little
cuteness erupts into a full blown literal tantrum! She flings herself back in frustration and
screams! Daddy thinks this is funny. (Everyone
else is bug-eyed, is she really throwing a fit?) Daddy says, “watch this”
and gives her a small taste on the end of a spoon. Thea sees the spoon coming, instantly stops
fussing, alligator tears evaporate, and she grabs the spoon with both hands and
shoves it into her mouth. Once she
sucked it dry, she looks up at Daddy with pleading eyes and babbles in what-adults-can’t-understand
to mean “more please?” He fed her a
little more to keep the peace.
Lucas was even spellbound watching Thea, his
sweet, tiny, fragile-looking baby sister toss her baby fit. Mommy took this excellent opportunity to
mention quietly that wasn’t very nice.
He says, “I don’t like that screaming.” To which I answer, “we feel just
like you do now when you drop yourself on the floor and start kicking.” (Doesn’t happen often, but it’s been a thing
since I started working.) “Oh.” I think gears are turning in his brain.
I’ve been working on two projects for each of my children. One was a crocheted blanket for each – king size, crafted from their favorites in a pattern they chose. I’ve only completed one. The second is about 15 rows from completion, but I haven’t worked on it since Thea was born. It took me 17 months for the first half of Christina’s, but during one superbowl at Louis’ dad’s house, I completed the other half! So I’m fast, but it will likely be the next week I have off – and then I’ll start on the third of seven.
The second was started in December 2016. It looks like a simple book, right?
Actually, I started a journal for Christina.
It tells family stories, I write my Bible study notes, discuss issues, and write my prayers. I tell “her story” from my perspective starting from the last page moving forward. I saved the fourteen pages in between this story and my “journal” for family. I am going to ask women in our family to write encouragement and blessing to her in their own hand in the journal before I pass it on to her.
I’ve got a central core of stories I will have in each journal – all will be slightly different because I never write the same exact words each time.
I want to write all the wisdom I’ve heard in stories from my grandmothers, mothers, fathers, and mentors in a way my children can read them when they choose. Maybe they will be encouraged, challenged, or just smile realizing that they are not alone in a struggle they feel slightly too proud or too embarrassed to ask for help about. I try to relay life and our journey in these bits. I manage to write at least once a week and direct most of my writing as if I’m talking to her. This also helps me to process my thoughts. I also have a required study day if I forget. (Which, yes, sometimes I read without studying, but at least once a week I remember to write my study!)
Such a simple little book. It holds our family memories, stories, and encouragement for a young woman. (I need to get busy on Becky’s as they are growing up too quickly for me!)
The girls shifted their beds around so that the Playroom is now the sleeping quarters for Kimberly, Jaquline, and Jillian and the Barracks is sleeping quarters for Christina, Becky, and Primrose. This shift was so that the barbies, legos, and small toys like polly pockets and art stuff could be in the Playroom while the Barracks holds all of the toddler toys that cannot fit in a child’s mouth.
They are planning for Thea to be running around already. (Mommy is not ready just yet!I plan on being in Baby Stage a little longer!)
Lucas was bunking with Christina. But then we got a toddler bed! It needed some repair (but a few wooden dowels and extra bolts made a solid fix!) and we had to dig around for toddler bed sheets, but now Lucas has a big boy bed!
Sheba thinks this is her spot to share with Lucas.
Lucas was so excited to have his Star Wars blanket on his very own big boy bed! Last year, he didn’t want anything to do with a special trundle bed so we gave it away.
As we grow, sometimes the things we brushed away turn into the things we love ~ strange thoughts, I know. But that’s what goes through my head when I watch my little love snuggle into his big boy bed under his blanket; he has grown just a little more independent.
