New addition!

A month belated, but as much as I wished I had been able to write much sooner and considering all that’s been going on, I’m okay now with the belated element!  I would like to introduce to you our precious daughter, Ruth Isabelle, born on Friday, November 17th, at 7:22am, weighing 7lb 5oz. Perfect. Beautiful. Healthy. Praise God!

I took the photo this weekend when she turned one month old…there are some more below from her first month!  She’s a good baby… peaceful, a good eater, pretty reasonable with her sleep schedule and very kissable! Even so, the reality is we’re still exhausted from the demands of a newborn plus three other girls aged 4, 3 & 2 who are each adjusting to another little human in their lives (who is taking the attention of their parents somewhat from them).

And I’m still recovering from a c-section with the complication of a seroma, which has meant that for the past month I’ve had an open wound that has had to be cleaned out & dressed twice a day whilst it heals slowly from the inside out… an added demand on time, energy and strength! Mix in hormones, toddlers testing boundaries, husband and wife barely having a moment or energy to talk at any depth, and a lack of alone time to pray and seek God, and it’s definitely been a challenging month, yet the addition of this beautiful miracle and the wonder of this little life sincerely does make it all worthwhile (even if at times one loses that perspective!!)

The girls have welcomed their little sister with lots of love and cuddles and on the whole it has been a grace-filled transition:

It is fascinating to watch God create a family and to see the different characters He has given to these girls. It will be interesting over the coming months and years to see who Ruth is and what her personality is like – what a wonder!!  There is much more to write about, but sleep is calling me so for now I’m signing off and I hope that before too long we’ll be able to post again.