I just got home from a night of scrapbooking with ladies from the mom's group I've been going to here in Sandy ... I am so energised and happy!! This feeling doesn't come all that often! I have so many little projects I want to do and that many more that I have started - I've been feeling rather stuck. With a new baby at home - there just isn't much time for crafty ventures as you can imagine. A group of 4 of us brought all our 'stuff' and sat and talked and worked and decided to make it a fortnightly event!! I'm so thankful for some people who want to make this a regular thing - my one little outlet and a chance to get some projects done. Woohoo!!
I just wanted to share my little piece of delight with you!!
I will admit that when I first got the phone call from a lady I met at the tree-lighting ceremony in early December, inviting me to the mom's group at her church, I was hesitant and reluctantly said I would go. I didn't think that I would keep going - but - this time on a Thursday morning has been such a blessing and encouragement to my heart. God works in ways we often don't anticipate. God is good!
Have a great night/day which ever it is for you where ever you are! Look for the blessings that are in your day - they are there!!
love,
naomi
Renatah has found her voice. She has learned that she can squeal and make all kinds of wonderful squeaky noises. She loves to make mummy and papa laugh with her wonderful new sounds.
On February 20th I had an appointment to get my 'biometrics' taken - a big word to mean the fingerprint of my right index finger, my signature and my photo. All this had already been taken for my 'change of status' to conditional resident back in December ... but this was now for my 'permission to work' card that I applied for in April '06.
On March 1st my 'permission to work' card arrived in the mail and it's validity dates are from April 27 '06 to March 10 '08. Craziness! The thing was valid a year before I actually got it - something is not quite right in their system!
All that being said I was able to go to the Social Security office and apply for my number. So it has achieved it's purpose. Now Tim can claim me as a dependant on his tax return and if something just so happens to come up - I could get a job. I won't be actively seeking anything at the moment though. I have actually been able to pick up some baby sitting here and there that is providing a little extra 'spending money' which is nice! We thank the Lord for those provisions. I don't want to leave Renatah in day care - so doing something where I can take her along is just perfect!
Thanks for your interest and prayers - we now await the infamous 'green card' which will signal my change of status to a 'conditional resident'!
Naomi
Aunty Joy,
Thank you for the SUPER CUTE bonnet and sweater you knitted for me. With my very white skin I look like a little Scandinavian baby!
The Koala has sparked my interest already!
If you drop in and checkout our latest additions - we'd love to know you did!!
Leave a little note ... it would encourage us to keep the posts coming!!! If you have anything you'd like to 'see' or 'hear' about - we take requests!!
We deeply miss our family and friends that are scattered across the globe and are so grateful for technology that helps us stay connected so easily! We're glad this blog is one way we can keep you connected with our lives!
Have a wonderful day - keep smiling!
I'm sure there's more but that's all I can think of for now ... oh ... just remembered one more ... she's now laughing without being touched!! It makes me wonder what goes on in that brain of hers - what prompts the laughter - are we really that funny looking?!
At 3 months Renatah started finding her fingers. Now they are a constant feature in her mouth.
She has started teething more intensely and thus the fingers in the mouth help channel the puddles of drool that come with the whole teething process.
She has a favourite finger - hopefully we'll catch it on camera soon so you can see!
Our little friend Violette put together this ensemble for Renatah to wear today. She loves to dress babies! Here is Violette "making a baby" out of Renatah's clothes when she came to visit at the hospital the day after she was born.
The North West of the US is known for its many months of rain. I'm learning just how true this is. It's not all that bad though - it certainly keeps life green - a welcome change from the greyness we grew up with in Manila!
After a period of wet days the sun came out on a Saturday. We took full advantage of the magnificent weather and took a trip to the park with our friends 4 kids that were staying with us over night and Shalom.
A great wooden play structure has been built in a park just up the road from our place. We should have got some more pictures but we just took this one of Poppy's first swing!!
As she lapped up the sunlight we realised that it was one of the few times since she has been born that she has actually been out in the sun - not because we keep her couped up inside all day - but because there just hasn't been that much sun since November 2nd!
We look forward to more play days at the park as Spring brings in the Summer months.
Our little Renatah is so very strong!! She can hold herself up enough to have shoulder rides with papa from time to time!!
It was so wonderful to meet my aunties when they came to visit. But I am so so so sad that they are gone. I think mumma and papa are sad too.
I love my mumma but I sure do miss my aunties. They cuddled me lots and played with me and took me on outings. Mumma says I was rather spoilt! I can't wait to see them again hopefully at Christmas time!
I loved my play times with Auntie Anita ...
and my sleepy cuddles with Auntie Karina.
We were delighted to have Karina and Anita come from warm sunny Perth to spend about 3 weeks with us. We even took them up to the snow Papa and Renatah had fun watching and staying warm.
| Renatah's talking often keeps her from crying. She will think about wanting to cry and talk herself right out of it. We love to hear her talk. Wish we understood her language better! | |
| Poppy loves to 'talk' - her gurgles and smiles light up our life!! She loves talking and smiling with papa, who had the camera ready this time! | |
Renatah is growing up and starting to 'engage' with people . . . smiles and gurgles and reaching for attention.
We have had fun 'introducing' her to our friends kids. We hope that this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!!
Adelle is the daughter of our friends Nate and Brooke. She is 6 months old here (Renatah is 10 weeks).
Tim is attempting to ensure that his daughter shares his love of football. Renatah loves hanging out with her papa over a football game!
In her first days at home Renatah was rather undecided about whether she liked baths or not. 
Renatah was so beautiful in her 'baby's first Christmas' outfit from Aunt Judy.
She did not fully understand all that went on in the celebrations of Christ's birth this day . . . but she was still spoilt by her doting family.
More pictures will come soon!
she loves 'tummy time' and is getting so strong 
it was a little hard to 'capture' but it was sure cute when it happened . . . 20 minutes of 'play' . . . we even got a laugh!!
On December 2nd we went hunting for our Christmas tree with friends from our Home Community. We found a lot on the outskirts of Sandy that was selling trees that you could cut down yourself.
On Monday Nov 27th we had our first snow of the year here in Sandy. So we got all rugged up and played outside for a bit. Renatah enjoyed a sled ride with her daddy down the hill!! But didn't enjoy her oversized outfit all that much - at least she kept warm though!
Hey Phil - recognise the coat I'm wearing!! Very handy in this weather- thanks heaps!!
Renatah hasn't decided if she likes baths or not yet - sometimes she loves them sometimes she squawks through the event.
We were using the little tub from the hospital for a few days but as you can see in this picture - it is a tad too small - so we have graduated to a larger portable bath tub.
We have found that the most successful way to calm our Poppy when she gets terribly upset is to put her in her sling.
The secret, however, is not to put the sling on - but to swing her in the sling. This quickly turns the tears into little squeaks as she calms down and soon drifts off to sleep.
Daddy figured this trick out!! It started with swinging in the carseat - but that was a bit awkward - so then we tried the sling that we are borrowing from a friend.
It works wonders!
Renatah is enjoying the cuddles of her big sister Shalom.
Shalom is 8 and a wonderfully helpful big sister to Renatah. This was their first meeting when Renatah was 10 days old.
With all the excitement of the arrival of Renatah I have overlooked letting you know how the whole 'being induced' thing went!
I was scheduled to go into hospital on Wednesday November 1st at 9pm. Earlier that evening I started with mild contractions every 7-10 minutes. It was exciting thinking that perhaps she would just come on her own.
At 10:30pm they gave me a gel to prepare for the petocin (the labour stimulating drug). I was to have the petocin 6 hours after the gel had been put in. Within an hour of having the gel contractions increased to every 1.5-2 minutes lasting for at least a minute ... it was pretty intense. At 4:30am they started the petcoin but because my labour was progressing so well they only had me on a very low dose!! That was an answer to prayer! Dialation was happening and the pain was increasing!! My Dr came in to see me and broke my water at 8:30am - I was 5 cm dialated.
We have had several requests for an explanation of Poppy's name - how we chose it and why etc. So for those who are interested but didn't ask ... here's the story.
As many couples do Tim and I talked lots about what our desires were for naming our children. Three things in particular stood out.
We wanted names that
Renatah was a name I came across when I was at university and fell in love with. It is a stong yet beautiful name ... two things that were important to me. When sharing name ideas with each other Tim didn't hesitate in adding it to the 'keep' list.
When researching what it meant, this is what we found ...
Renatah is a Latin name meaning 'reborn', its Spiritual connotation is 'quickened spirit' and a Bible verse to associate with the name is Romans 12:2 which says:
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test
and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.This is a prayer of our heart as Renatah's parents that she will grow into a child who reborn into Gods kingdom and seek after His will for her life.
Her middle names are where the importance of family relationships come in. We want to name each of our children after people in our lives that are important to us, specifically family but potentially others as well. For Renatah we chose to honor Tim's side of the family. She is named after his mom -Joan- and his grandma -Margaret- who we affectionately call Mimi. Mimi is 92 going on 93 and so we wanted to honor her while she is still with us.
We welcomed our 'lil popette' into the world on November 2nd. She was born at 12pm in Gresham Oregon. She weighed 8 lbs 4 oz and was 19 and a half inches long. Mum and baby are both doing wonderfully and settling in at home. Thank you for all the vists, calls and texts welcoming our daughter.
