Because Judah often looks like this between 4 and 7 pm,

we have taken to making that time our official “walk of the day”. 

 There is so much to see up in the hills!  Spring is simply glorious to behold.  Here we can look across a valley and witness the amazing transformation from worn-out brown to vibrant green.  I kid you not, it takes my breath away every day!  And, honestly, green is just such an awesome colour, especially paired with brilliant blue sky.

The other thing I LOVE about living at a summer camp is that WE HAVE HORSES.  Did you catch that?  I get to go see horses every day!  AND I even get to ride them {if I’m not pregnant, which I’m not intending to be this summer}.  Hopefully Judah learns to love horses as much as I do!

This is simply the best place I can think of to raise a family.  Can you blame us for wanting to get a start so early in our marriage?  I bet you wouldn’t be able to resist if you lived here, too. 

and then it all changed

I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends. 

Today I had the pleasure of getting together with one of my college buddies, Leah {the one in the purple outfit above.  We were dressed up for Millar’s “Bethlehem” themed Christmas banquet back in ‘08}. She wanted to come and see my little mister and give him this oh-so-fabulous homemade quilt! 

Our friendship started when she and her friend Janet {in the burnt orange outfit above} kindly invited me to watch BBC’s Pride and Prejudice and eat biscotti {with tea, of course}.  I fell in love with these witty, art-loving, God-fearing ladies immediately.  They were the kind of friends I had always hoped I would find—people who you not only get along well with, but that actually share and appreciate the things you appreciate {which turned out to be knitting, drinking tea, reading dusty books, and watching classic movies}.  Needless to say, we were skilled in the art of procrastination.

It’s crazy to think that those happy days were not even two years ago.  Although I miss them terribly, I am also very content {and excited!} to be where I am.  God has given me my very own family to love, nurture, and cherish.  My husband loves me and strives to lead our home in a way that honours the Lord.  And I have a sweet, sweet little baby boy that grows and learns more every day. 

Why don’t you just take a moment to thank God for all He has blessed you with?  I regret that I do not do it more often.

on the other hand...

In my last post I informed the world that I am no longer using this blog.  Well, I lied.  I tried out WP and, no offense, it just didn't cut it after all.  After a fun Saturday morning of tweaking my blog and using draft.blogger.com, I have finally come up with a blog design that makes my heart happy!  (I totally recommend Draft Blogger to everyone!  If you like the simplicity of Blogger, then you'll like how you can simply customize your blog without html mumbo jumbo.) Here she be!  The header image was entirely my handiwork, by-the-way.  I give credit to no one.

I really, sincerely hope that I have not lost all of my readers in this whole swap nonsense.  I will post a link on my WordPress blog to this blog to (hopefully) get everyone back on track.  I value my readers dearly!

Thanks for your patience.  Having an incredible blog design is definitely worth it.  All of you serious bloggers out there know what I mean. :)

an inside glimpse

Evidently blogging has not been on my priority list.  I’m still caught up in trying to figure out a schedule with Baby Boy.  I’m beginning to see some patterns in the day, but it’s too early to count on those.  Life with a baby is very different!  And that, my friends, is the understatement of the day.

Here’s a sample of day-to-day life in the Sawatzky house:

4:00 am-night time eating session. I have discovered that laying down to feed baby-o does not work.  Joey gets up and changes his little bum, then plops him down on the pillow in front of me.  I then spend the next 30-40 minutes trying my hardest to keep my eyes open while Joey snores on.  I then attempt to put Judah into the playard and swaddle him without stirring the pot.  Usually successful.

7:00 am-a very hungry, very grumpy Judah wakes up and makes his sentiments known.  Daddy comes in and grabs him, attempting to entertain him while Mommy takes out her retainer (yes, I will wear it for the rest of my life), uses the facilities, and happily adjusts to being awake (he he… oh, who am I kidding?)  Commence eating.

8:00 am-Daddy takes charge.  He enjoys some happy Judah smiles and pumps him full of Vitamin D. Mommy eats breakfast.

8:30 am-Mommy’s flying solo now.  The next hour and a half are spent a)enjoying more Judah smiles b)pacing the house with a disgruntled little man c)spending far too much time attempting to get Judah to sleep d)doing as much laundry, cleaning, yada yada as possible while baby snoozes.  Oh, and showering.

10:00 am-Commence eating session #3.

10:40 am-12:00 pm-this time slot is entirely dedicated to doing whatever makes Mr. Man happy.  This is of great importance if the rest of the day is going to be happy.  I prefer to spend this time in the great outdoors, but the weather is not always accommodating. In that case, we spend the time singing silly songs, sitting in bounce chairs (yes, I have my own), and looking at giraffes. Giraffes are pretty much the best thing in the world, doncha know?

12:00 pm-a.k.a. “Mommy’s break time”. Joseph is home for the next hour, and we switch off with Baby until we are both fed and happy.  Periodically, Baby decides he wants to sleep during this time.  This is obviously the desired result to all the aforementioned stimulation.

1:00 pm-chug a lug a lug.

1:40 pm-more happy baby time!  And then we ruin it all by putting him down for a nap. Don’t worry—it doesn’t take him long to fall asleep.

4:00 pm-Tasty goodness, followed by an afternoon walk. Phil&teds, I heart you.

5:30 pm-Pops is home, and we eat something nutritious.  That is to say, supper is not made by me. The following hours are quite fussy, as a rule.  Sigh.  At least there’s two of us to share the load.

7:00 pm-What? more food? Little porker. :)  This is usually followed by sleep.  Baby puts up a mighty good fight, but we win in the end.

9:30 pm-Bath time!  Oh how we love our baths.

10:00 pm-last feeding of the day.  Judah is out for the count.  And so are we.

There you have it.  That is a typical day… if there’s such a thing.  Everything written above is subject to change, of course.  And that’s the way the cookie crumbles.

Pictures later, I promise.