Forever Mine

"When my peaceful bow appears, painted on the watery clouds,
It's to dissipate thy fears, lest the earth should be o'erflowed.
Tis an emblem too of grace, of my covenant love a sign,
Though the mountains leave their place, thou shall be forever mine."
-John Newton

Eva Louise, Child of the Covenant

Eva Louise

Wow, I know this is so late in the game, but I have three children under the age of four right now, so sitting down at the computer really never happens.  So, without further ado, I would like to introduce Eva Louise Magee.  She was born December 18, 2012 (almost 6 weeks ago, Ha!).  Eva came into the world four days after her due date but right on time.  It was by far the easiest and least stressful of all my deliveries.  She is beautiful, sweet and extremely cuddly.  The child never (I mean NEVER) wants to be put down, which I love most of the time.  This time around I'm trying to just enjoy these newborn days where nothing seems to get done and I and my house are generally a mess.  These days are short and they are a blessing.  Soon I'm sure she will be galavanting with her full-of-life brother and sister.  

The first time I held Eva girl

In the nursery.  What a beauty!

Our first, and to date, only picture as a family of five

With Mommy and Daddy the night she was born

This is seriously the only way I get any sleep at all.  I don't mind at all.  For now.  

Merry Christmas From Els

No Santa Clause

We love Christmas music.  And by love, I mean, we start listening to it on November 1st.  Fortunately for us, there are lots of good sources for free Christmas music out there.  We recently downloaded Fiction Family's Holiday EP from Noisetrade, an incredible site for discovering music (and frequently getting it for free).  All this to say, I can really relate to the first song.  The gist is "I don't need no Santa Clause, I just want my baby here with me!  C'mon Eva, we're ready to meet you babe!

The Image

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or rulers or dominions or authorities-all things were created through him and for him.

Colossians 1:15 & 16

On Lists

We are in the season of lists here.  Listing blessings, food to buy, food to prepare, gifts to give, tasks to accomplish before Eva arrives.  I have this little yellow legal notebook that I've been carrying around with me for just that purpose, because, let's just be honest here, if it isn't written down, it doesn't happen.  There are just too many thoughts elbowing one another for room in my head.  So, this got me thinking, since I seem to just pop by here every so often, I would list some highlights of life so that the "to blog" thought can have a seat and be quiet for a while.

B sent in his "where we want to go next list" to his monitor this week.  It makes me all excited and nervous at the same time.  I've already had nightmares about one duty station in particular.  We are really looking forward to getting back into a Marine Corps community again.

That said, we are REALLY enjoying all of the down time that being in school around the holidays affords him.  We realize that we live in a fantasy world right now.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, I really don't know how I would have swung this pregnancy without all he's done around here since July.

Fall has finally come to Macon.  We've actually had some downright cold days.  It seems as if we did not move to one of the outer layers of the sun after all.

One of the only things that I can say that I truly love about being 36 and a half weeks pregnant is that I can consider walking exercise.  I'm trying to walk every day.  Although, I look forward to the day that I'm running again, I want to relish this lazy (to me) time also.

Muh will be two years old in less than a week.  When did that happen?  He is still the sweetest little boy that God put on the planet, however, we have been getting a good taste of the "twos" from him for about a month now.  (aka-Mealtimes are NO FUN at our house.)  Also, he is in love with football.  The child won't watch cartoons for more than two seconds, but he will sit mesmerized by the TV if a football game is playing.  Crazy.

Indelible Grace has a new album out and I cannot even begin to explain to you how good it is.  "Joy Beyond the Sorrow" is it's name.  All I can say is get it, listen, repeat.

Els is a "real princess" all the time these days.  A real one, Mommy.

That's about all I can think of for now.  I am incredibly thankful for the life we are living.  It is ever changing, but we know He who holds the future and that is enough.

Also, our BFFs came to visit from Beaufort last week!  It was so good for our souls, even if not for our sleeping!

Dyed Wool

We live in Middle Georgia.  Fairs are big here, and when I say big, I mean BIG.  The granddaddy of them all is the yearly Georgia National Fair in Perry.  (Don't ask me how it can be both a state and national fair, I don't pretend to understand.  There are just some things about this place you have to accept and move on without much thought.)  There are rides, games, exhibits, farm animals, exotic animals, pig races, tractors, and plenty of fried food for everyone.

B could not believe that I had never been to a state fair before, so two weekends ago, we went to the national (state) fair and it did not disappoint.  The kids rode ponies, held baby chicks, drank complementary chocolate milk, and lunched on corn dogs.  By far the favorite part of the day for all of us was the animals.  Cows, pigs, chickens, a tortoise, ring-tailed lemurs, sea lions, etc, etc.  And sheep.

One of our favorite movies is Babe.  It's amazing.  I don't mind at all when Els' chooses it to watch.  If you've never had the privilege of seeing it, it's pretty much about a pig who wants to be a sheep dog.  There is a scene where Babe the pig helps round up all of the sheep for shearing.  Last time we watched the movie, Els was very inquisitive about what was happening during this part.  I tried the best I could to explain to her about sheep haircuts and wool and how we use it to make sweaters and socks. So, imagine our delight when the sheep farmers had a display of wool, how it's spun, and even several examples of colored wool.  Els looked at the different colors and said, "Mommy, I've never seen a pink sheep before.  That's silly."  I then went on to explain to her that we use dye to make the whitish brown wool different colors.  End of discussion.

Until when, a few days later, out of the blue, she says to B in a matter-of-fact tone, "You know, Daddy, when sheep die they just fall over and turn pink or purple."

Die.  Dye.  Literal going on 4-year-olds.

Petting farm animals is the best!

Muh riding Lil' Bit

30 or maybe 31 weeks pregnant.  I fit right in, walking around, corn dog in hand.

Els and I rode the "Agri-Lift," or Ride in the Sky as she called it.

Miller loves tractors, 4 wheelers, pretty much anything on wheels.

Here are a few pictures from the day.