Italian Dinner with The Bug

Jeffrey’s working late in the fields tonight. There’s been snow in the air the last couple of days, so winter is chasing him. He’s so close to being done with harvest so that he can put his “farmer hours” away until it’s time to plant in the spring. We’re looking forward to him being back on a normal schedule so that we can see him at breakfast and supper, not one or the other (or neither).

Since it’s just us girls tonight, we decided to go on a fancy Italian dinner date… in our kitchen. Bug was afraid she didn’t have anything fancy enough to wear, so she just came in her diaper. But we had a great time anyway.

I learned tonight that the Bug loves selfies. Help! (See the middle photo.)

 

I took a little post-nosh video because this girl was just being too yummy. Enjoy! I’m off to throw that girl in the bathtub!

All the news that is news…

Oh, hello there. What’s that you say? It’s been way too long since the last Ravellette family update? (OK. Maybe you only said that if you are Aunt Abby.) Never fear! A new update is here!
Here’s an update to let you know what’s been going on with our little family of three. The Ravellette top-ten for the last three weeks:

1. Paige is six weeks old! Our little baby is getting to be not-so-little. By our estimation (you know, weigh yourself with the baby, weigh yourself without the baby), she’s pushing 9 pounds. She’s still just as skinny as ever, though, because she is stretching out like crazy! It seems like every day her legs and arms get longer. But, because she’s tall and skinny, she has a bit of a wardrobe problem. Newborn clothes (especially onesies) are too short to snap comfortably, but 0-3 month clothes (the next size bigger) are so big around that Paige looks like her Mommy doesn’t know how to dress her! She also has another wardrobe challenge, which brings me to highlight number two…
   

   There’s our happy, happy baby!

2. We’re finally able to use the cloth diapers! After keeping up with disposables at a whopping $25/a week (perspective – that’s a quarter of my household budget, food and all, for the week!), we’re thrilled that our Little Bug is able to fit into her adorable bumGenius Elemental diapers. For those of you who aren’t hip to the new cloth diaper trends (oh yes, there are trends in diapering), these aren’t your momma’s fold-’em-up-and-pin-’em-up diapers. These diapers, which will adjust in size with snaps to fit Paige Bug until she’s potty-trained, are as close to using convenient disposables as possible. They are one-piece diapers so there’s no worrying about separate liners or covers. As I mentioned, they’re adjustable in size (both length and waist) with their durable snaps. We bought 18 diapers for about $400. Recall that a box of 96 disposable diapers (about a week’s worth) costs 25 dollars. That means that as long as Paige Bug isn’t potty-trained by the time she’s 4 months old (umm… she won’t be), we’ll save significant money. We have an energy-efficient washer/dryer set, so the cost of cleaning them is negligible and so far we’re only having to wash diapers every two days. And, yes, they come out very clean. We took the advice of the cloth-diapering, home-improving bloggers over at Young House Love (the best, most addictive DIY blog I’ve found to date) and also purchased a bumGenius diaper sprayer that is attached to the toilet so that we can quickly and easily spray any… umm… material off of the diapers before they go in the laundry. We have yet to have a diaper come out of the wash that was stained. Something else that has yet to happen with cloth diapers? A blow out. (And trust me, Paige has given it the ole college try.) As the parent who has been pooped on 7,348% more than the other parent (oh, there have been some doozies), I’m thrilled with the extra-strong, hold-it-in-ness of the cloth diapers. Finally, as an added bonus, Paige’s diapers are really super cute.   I mean, a. dor. able. We ordered several different colors and they are just so sweet-looking! They do create a bit of a wardrobe problem (as I mentioned above) in that they make our skinny little girl have quite the big booty. Note: A baby wearing a body suit and fake jeggings over a cloth diaper booty will make you laugh until you cry (at least that was true for me). We’ve learned that coverall-jumpers, shirts + pants, or dresses are much preferable to the ever-popular body suit + legging combo when it comes to Paige’s outfits when she’s wearing cloth diapers. OK. I promise that’s all I will say about cloth diapering. For now.
   

   Coverall jumpers like this one work better than onesies and leggings with cloth diapers. Also, they’re adorable.

   

   The diapers are so cute that we just pair them up with t-shirts and skip the leggings/bloomers sometimes.
   Like I said, a. dor. able.

3. Daddy’s gone back to work. Jeffrey got three weeks off for parental leave (I told you – we are so thankful for Purdue benefits!). He made the most of that time with Paige-and-Daddy-chest-naps, helping Paige explore, and working around the house (just wait until I tell/show you all that he canned from our garden… future post!). It was hard for Jeffrey to go back to work, and it was hard for Paige and I to let him! We had grown quite accustomed to spending all day every day with him! Jeffrey truly is my best friend and we understand how to be in the same space and still give each other space. We really do work/live/play well together. Some people might think that being “cooped up” at home together for three weeks straight would have led Jeffrey and I to get a little tired of the constant together-ness, but we didn’t. We didn’t even have an argument! danae has been talking/writing a lot about enjoying each season of life in its turn (check out her great post about it over at danae: student of life), and, let me say, I am. What a fun, joyful, blessed, amazing season we’re in right now! But, I am looking forward to growing old and retiring with this guy. I can’t wait until we can both hang out at home all the time – what fun! (I mean, obviously I can wait. I’m only 26 and am not looking to retire anytime soon.) Anyway, Paige really misses Jeffrey during the day, too. She’s happy and content pretty much all the time, but she knows that something’s not right when Daddy’s not there. How do I know? Well, this baby is determined to get her quota of Daddy-time each day, no matter the cost. Since Jeffrey’s gone back to work, when he tries to put her down for the night when it’s her bedtime, this girl fights sleep to the bitter end. If you’ve ever been around small children, you’ll know what I mean when I say she has the “no, really, I’m not *yawn* sleeeeepy” look. Those big, beautiful, blue eyes are open, but boy are they ever tired, heavy, and glazed over. Paige doesn’t want to miss a minute of her Daddy-time since she doesn’t get to see him as much during the day now! But don’t let Jeffrey fool you – he’s just as determined to get as much Paige Bug time as possible at the end of the day, too. In fact, he’s quite the baby-hog in the evenings!
4. It’s Autumn! Hooray! It’s our favorite season and we’re so thrilled that football, pumpkins, apples, and chilly nights (and chili nights!) are back. In fact, we celebrated the return of Fall by taking Paige to the Apple and Popcorn Festival a couple of weekends ago in nearby Brookston, Indiana.We had never heard of it until I stumbled across someone’s Facebook post about it, so we decided to be spontaneous and check it out. It was a fun trip and we got some delicious kettle corn and yummy apple dumplings (not as good as mine, but they required far less effort), and Jeffrey even got to go to a fish fry (this was a treat for him… I was a good sport, but it’s not my thing). We had a nice family outing on a beautiful day, but I have to say, there was a disappointing lack of apples and popcorn at the Apples and Popcorn festival. It was really more of a craft bazaar. I think next year we’ll try to go earlier and catch more of the live music… and try to find where they were hiding the caramel apple booth.
   

   All dressed up for her first Apple and Popcorn Festival! As Grandma Rose said, “Cutest little apple blossom EVER.”

   

   The kettle corn at the Apple and Popcorn Festival did not disappoint. Yummy!

   

   Pit stop at the car for a diaper change.

   

   Can you tell how excited Paige was to go to the festival?! This is the excited face she wore the whole time.

5. Paige is going to church! Paige has gone to church for three Sundays and Wednesdays now. She’s even gone to LIFE group. Surprisingly, we’ve actually been getting to Sunday school more on time with Paige than we were pre-Paige! (And, in a very impressive showing, our first Sunday at church, all three of us were color coordinated. It will probably never happen that way again, but at least we can say that we had our act that together once.) We’ve got a pretty good Sunday morning routine down that starts Saturday evening with Paige’s bath. She’s done great at church. Because she’s still so young, we’ve been keeping her with us in class and service and, for the most part, keeping her in her car seat/carrier to help deter people from asking if they can hold her.   We want to avoid Paige being passed around at this point to help decrease her exposure to those early Fall colds. This has meant a couple of times where Mommy’s had to be a bad guy and say, “No, I’m sorry. You can’t hold her right now,” but for the most part people have been really great about admiring sans touching. As for how Paige is handling church outings, she has pretty consistently fake-slept through church. “What’s that?” you say. “Fake sleep?” Yep. That’s how Paige copes with outings – she fakes sleep until she’s home safe and sound with Mom and Dad. We know she’s fake sleeping because 1) Paige has distinctive breathing patterns when she’s really sleeping and 2) we catch her peeking through her beautiful eye lashes to see where she is and what’s going on from time to time, only for her to hastily close her eyes again until we’re home. We did have a bit of a hubbub this past Sunday. We walked into our Bible class about 5 minutes late (first time being late since Paige started going to church!). I took Paige out of her car seat after we sat down and gave her to Jeffrey, who looked down and saw that he had poop on his hand. First blow out in a public place! So, I had to get up (after only just having sat down) to take Paige to the Ladies’ room for a make-shift baby wipe bath and diaper change. While I was gone, Jeffrey discovered that we didn’t quite wipe all the poop off his hand before we left, so he had to get up to wash his hand. Did I mention the door to the classroom is very noisy? So Jeffrey came back to class, then Paige and I came back. Then, barely 15 minutes later, I had to take Paige to the nursery to feed her (we always plan on leaving class a few minutes early so that Paige can eat and get a fresh diaper in time to be in service). So, in case you lost count, the Ravellettes noisily interrupted class by coming and/or going through the squeaky door six times in one class period. Did I mention we go to a class of mostly older people who probably haven’t had to worry about young children disrupting Bible class in years – nay – decades? It’s a good thing that everyone loves Paige!  This past week, Paige also got to spend her first snuggle time with Mr. Sam. Sam is the super-sweet, wonderful Grandpa to every child in the church and he was tickled pink to get to hold Paige. He even sang his special Swinging, Swinging song with her while, of course, swinging her! Sweet Ms. Margaret got to hold Paige, too.
   

   Daddy, Grandpa Sam, and Miss Paige Bug

   

   Mr. Sam and Paige – Swinging ‘neath the old apple tree.

   

   I wasn’t able to find an audio file of Mr. Sam’s song, but if you can read music then you should be able to see how sweet of a song it is.

6. Paige has new skills and new ways to play! Our Little Bug loves to spend a few minutes each day on her tummy. She’s a pro at holding her head up and looking around. She also tries to scoot with her little pudgy legs. She hasn’t quite figured out what to do with her arms yet, though. Paige also likes to lie on her back on her gym-mat and play with the animal toys that hang just low enough that she can reach them with her little hands. She loves to to hold on to things these days, and the rings on her elephant are at just the right height for her to grab. (Which is much preferable to grabbing Mommy’s hair in her freaky-strong baby grip.)   Paige is also becoming more of a chatterbox each day. She’s figuring out that, instead of just sighing and cooing (or crying) she can intentionally make loud and different noises. You know that she’s about to talk when she’s quiet for a moment and gets a look of concentration on her face (not entirely unlike poopy-face-Paige). Then, suddenly, she’ll let out a clear, loud “Oh!” or “Ah!” We’re not sure exactly what she’s saying, but we know it must be a funny joke, because every time she says one of these Paige-words, she smiles and smiles. She’s very proud of the funny jokes she can tell and we can’t wait to hear her next punchline! She’s also started trying to sing along with Mommy and Raffi when we sing and dance. Her favorite song to sing and dance to is Goin’ to the Zoo. Finally, Paige has a new way she can eat! Last week, Daddy gave her her first bottle. For the most part, she’ll only get bottles when she’s not with me, but we wanted to start slowly introducing them to her since there are some times coming up that she won’t be with me (e.g., when her Daddy and I go to the Michigan football game next week and when Mommy goes back to work full time).
7. Mommy’s working again. I’m not technically “back” at work yet, but I have started working from home this week for about 20 total hours a week. For the most part, Paige does really well listening to her music and playing while I work nearby. [Yesterday was not one of our better days though, because Paige was dealing with a tummy ache and she just wanted to be held. Thankfully, I didn’t have very much in the way of time-sensitive things that I had to do yesterday and I was able to hold her all day. I hate that she didn’t feel well. My normally very content and happy baby would cry (I mean really cry – tears and all – talk about breaking her Mommy’s heart!) anytime I put her down. Like I said, I hate that she felt puny, but I did not mind the extra snuggle time at all. Thankfully today she’s back to her smiley self.] In addition to working on the computer from home, I’ve also had to pop into the office a few times to print things, so Paige has come to the office with me. We’ve got two more weeks of me working from home before I go back to the office full-time on October 15. I’m not looking forward to going back because I love my time at home with Paige. I love taking singing and dance breaks during the day and being here at nap time so that I can snuggle and snooze with her. However, I am blessed to have a great job working for and with my Elmwood family, whom I love. I’m also blessed that Paige will be with me at work part of the time. And, when she’s not with me, she’ll be with Ms. Carol! My brother and sister and I were very blessed when we were growing up that, although we lived several hours from our grandparents, we had “adopted” grandparents at our church (we love you Nobe and Phyllis!) who loved and cared for us (and yes, spoiled us) just like grandparents. They’re still part of our family to this day! I’m so glad that Paige will get to spend time with Ms. Carol because I know that it will be like going to Grandma’s house during the day. So, although I’d rather just get to stay home with my Little Bug, I’m blessed to be going back to a job I love while a person I love looks after her.
   

   Paige with Nobe and Phyllis, my adopted grandparents, when they came to visit!

   

   Paige with Ms. Carol and Mr. Bill when they came to visit on her first full day at home!

8. Paige loves her bath! The last post about bath time with Paige may have left you with the impression that, at best, Paige tolerated bath time and, at worst, she thought it was cruel torture. And, that was the case. Since then, we’ve been giving Paige baths in her bath pod and she L-O-V-E loves bath time! If you’re not familiar with a bath pod, Jeffrey would tell you that it’s essentially a five-gallon bucket. While it’s a bit more sophisticated than that, I can see where it could give one that impression. Paige gets to sit upright (with a little help from a hand towel in the bottom of the tub and Mommy’s hand on her back) in the pod and the warm water comes up to her little armpits. She smiles for her whole bath! Her favorite part is still getting her hair washed but that’s no surprise because, really, what girl doesn’t love to have a nice scalp massage? We’ll try to take an updated bath video soon!
9. Paige sleeps (and sleeps… and sleeps) at night! One of the first questions that people always ask us when they see us is some variation on “How’s Paige sleeping?” or “Are you guys getting any sleep?” The short answers are “Like a pro!” and “Yep!” Paige only gets up once during the night for a fresh diaper and a mid-night snack. Yep – just once! Her first block is usually between 6 and 8 hours and her second block is usually 3-4 hours. The only trick is getting her to go to sleep for the night in the first place because, as I mentioned above, she likes to fight sleep to stare at Daddy. But, we seem to be getting better and better at a routine that helps her go to sleep quickly and she’s usually in bed for the night around 9 p.m. She’s even doing a good job taking a nap in the early afternoon and, for the most part (minus a few cat naps) staying awake for the rest of the day. The only time that we really have trouble getting her to go down at night is if she’s been held a lot during the day. She sleeps hard when people hold and cradle her, so it’s no surprise that on those nights after she’s been held a lot, she’s really not all that tired. But, we’re doing good at making sure that she has the appropriate amount of awake time during the day so that days and nights don’t get switched around in our house!
10. Paige’s newborn photos are ready! The amazingly talented Beth W. who took our maternity photos stopped by La Maison before Paige was two weeks old to snap some newborn pictures of her. She did a great job (no surprise there!) and we’re thrilled to have these great photos of Paige! If you’re in the Lafayette-area and are willing to barter for family photos, Beth does wonderful work and is just a wonderful, light-filled person to know! I’d be more than happy to get you in touch with her. You can click here to see all of Paige’s newborn photos.

So that’s all the news that is news in the Ravellette house. Hopefully I can stay more on the ball so that it’s not another 3 weeks until we update you on life within our house.

For now, please keep our little family in your prayers. Also, we’d be honored to pray for you and your family – let us know how we can pray for you!

Grace and peace,

Rachel

Quick Update – 3 Weeks Old!

It’s hard to believe, but Paige is officially three weeks old! Here are a few quick updates on how she’s growing and changing:

This is Paige’s “I’m-older-and-wiser-now” face. She’s three weeks old already!

Getting Bigger!

Paige had her two-week check-up earlier this week. She’s now 7 lbs, 15.5 oz and 20 inches long. Mom and Dad think that the new 3/4 inch is all in those long, skinny, kicky legs! Dr. Mulder says that Paige’s head control and neck strength are at a level that he’d expect to see by two months, so she’s getting quite strong for a little girl!

The most visible sign of Paige growing is her hair! When she was born, her hair didn’t reach her ears and now we brush it behind her ears. This girl is going to need a hair-cut before she can crawl, at this rate!

 

New Skills!

Paige has started to respond to some of the frequent kiss attacks from Daddy and Mommy with her priceless, toothless smile. She’s also started to “talk” more. She’s not cooing yet, but she’s recently discovered that she can make little sigh noises and sometimes we’re sure she’s just sighing to hear herself sigh. It’s pretty precious.

Paige is starting to have a lot more awake time during the day and it’s a lot of fun to see her discover ways to play and interact. She loves to sit up with the help of her Boppy and look around the living room (she loves our brightly colored living room walls). She also likes laying on her back on her play gym and looking at the different toys and patterns. Her favorite toy is a small stuffed cow rattle that can make different “crinkly” noises. She loves to lay on Mommy’s lap and follow the cow with her eyes.

She turns her head to respond to different sounds – especially Daddy or Mommy talking. Finally, she’s a rock star at studying people’s faces – especially ours – and also does really well tracking things with her eyes and by turning her head!

 

New Experiences!

This week, Paige enjoyed her first Michigan Football game (she enjoyed it because she went to bed before it got really ugly) during her first play date with her friend Joel (it was his first U of M game, too!).

Thanks to Uncle Matt, Paige was able to sport some awesome “Wolverine Baby” fan gear (along with her ducky PJs) for her first U of M football game! Go Blue!

Paige also took her first trip to Mommy’s office at church, the BMV (we lead a glamorous life), and Meijer for grocery shopping. She’s getting all geared up for her first Sunday at church this week!
Paige also had her first professional photo shoot last week. Sweet Beth W. (who did an excellent job on our maternity photos) came by our house to snuggle with Paige and take some newborn photos of her. We’ll share them with you when they’re all ready, but for now please enjoy this awesome preview picture that Beth posted for us.

 

New Likes!

Early last week, we finally introduced the paci to Paige. She does really well with it. She doesn’t depend on it and she doesn’t have to have it all the time, but it is a good soother for her when she gets fussy (which is usually only when she has a bit of a gurgle-y belly). She really likes to hold on to the paci and she even likes to pull it out – but she needs to grow in motor skills a bit to master putting the paci back in. She tends to get a bit frantic when she pulls it out but can’t get it back!

In case you thought our growing baby wasn’t still tiny, please note the pacifier that looks like it’s eating her face!

Paige has also discovered that she really likes Raffi and the Pastoral Symphony from Handel’s Messiah. Raffi for play time, Handel for nap time.

Finally, Paige really likes the new way that Daddy swaddles her with her arms out. Just like Mommy, Paige prefers to sleep with her arms above her head.

 

Sleeping Update

A lot of you have been asking about how Paige is sleeping and the short answer is, she’s doing great! Paige consistently gives us two, four-hour blocks each night (four hours from start of feeding to start of feeding) and usually adds on another three-hour block in the morning. Our only struggle is getting her to start her night earlier – she’s a bit of a night owl. We’re getting better, though. Instead of 1 a.m., we’re now averaging about 10 p.m.

We’ve developed a bedtime routine of putting Paige in her PJs about 2 hours before we want her to go down. Then, she gets her last feeding about an hour before bedtime and then about a half-hour of snuggle time on Daddy’s chest. For almost a week, she’s been sleeping in her room instead of in the pack-n-play bassinet in our room and she’s sleeping much better now that she’s in her crib. (It makes Mommy a little sad to have her that far away, but I’m adjusting.)

 

We continue to be amazed by the way that Paige changes each day. One thing hasn’t changed – the way Mommy and Daddy love Paige more and more each day!
Grace and peace,

Rachel

Splish Splash!

Time for some squeaky-clean adorableness from our little Paige-Bug!

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Paige’s first bath at home was not a pleasant experience for her. She was pretty sure that she was being wrongly punished for another person’s crime. Mom and Dad learned two important lessons from that first bath: 1) don’t wake Paige to bathe her – wait until she’s already alert and awake and then introduce bath time and 2) don’t bathe Paige on an empty stomach – a milk drunk baby is much more amenable to a bath.
By bath number two, Paige only screamed for half the bath. By bath number three, Paige didn’t cry at all – in fact she seemed to be relaxed by the process!

If you’d like to see Paige’s first bath, check out the video below. Disclaimer: This video is almost 20 minutes long and the Bug screamed for almost the whole bath. However, we thought that Paige-Bug’s grandparents would appreciate any video of her, even if she’s unhappy in the video.

Grace and peace,
Rachel

Count Your Blessings, Name Them One By One

We have been so overwhelmed with blessings lately. I mean, we’ve been overwhelmed with blessings our whole lives, but I guess lately we’ve been overwhelmed with an acute awareness of our blessings.

In quiet times when I stop to pray and to thank God for these blessings, that time itself becomes a blessing to me that lifts my spirit, especially when I think that even without these blessings, dayenu – it would have been sufficient. Counting my many blessings, naming them one by one, is an act encourages me. Perhaps sharing some of those blessings with you could encourage you. If nothing else, I hope that you will take some time today to sit in a quiet place and thank God for your blessings. Name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done! (And you’re welcome for getting that song stuck in your head – it’s been in mine for days!)

Paige Esther Ravellette!

Our beautiful, beautiful baby! We just can’t get enough of her.

Our sweet baby is a beautiful answer to so many prayers – our prayers and the prayers of others. Paige is healthy and growing beautifully. She’s an incredibly happy, content, and easy-going baby. When she fusses, if a new diaper and a meal doesn’t satisfy her, a few minutes cozying up on Daddy’s chest is all it takes for all to be right in her world again! She has fun awake and alert times each day during which she loves to explore. She’s a pro-sleeper who gives us between 6 and 8 hours of sleep a night with only one interruption. (Now, if we could just get the little night owl to start her nights before midnight!) She’s a great eater and does awesome with her feeding schedule during the day.

We love her contented-baby sighs, sleepy-baby coos, and busy-baby grunts. We love that we can watch the way she moves and kicks and say, “Yep! We know those kicks!” because it’s just the way she moved every night before bed before she was born! She’s already started to smile a bit when Mommy and Daddy attack her yummy baby face with kisses. Her lovely strawberry-blonde hair is almost magical. It’s growing fast and in some light it’s as richly red as her Daddy’s beard and in other light it’s as blonde as can be. She has incredible head and neck control for a baby who is so young. She already rolls up on her side anytime she can. She loves to sleep on her right side just like her Daddy, with her arms above her head, just like her Mommy. Jeffrey and I love being Daddy and Mommy to our precious Paige. It’s hard for us to remember what our life was like before Paige was here!

Jeffrey David Ravellette!

I can’t be thankful enough for my sweet husband. He’s a natural caretaker. For most of my pregnancy, Jeffrey bore the brunt of housework and cooking. He came to all the pre-baby classes at the hospital with me, which became invaluable to us. It means so much that he was at the birthing classes, newborn care class, infant CPR class, and breastfeeding class to hear the information with me, instead of me just passing on information to him. He could not have been more supportive through the entire pregnancy journey! His caretaking has not stopped now that Paige is here. Jeffrey is a great Daddy who is like the baby-whisperer. He’s can always calm Paige when a diaper and meal won’t cut it. He gets up for every feeding to make sure that Paige and I have everything we need. He can wrap Paige up in a swaddle that’s like a perfect cocoon (so much so, that Mommy started calling Paige her little Glow-worm). He knows just how to hold her to make her tummy feel better when she’s gassy.

So thankful for my wonderful husband – Paige’s awesome Daddy! Also, he’s pretty handsome, too.

But Jeffrey doesn’t just take great care of Paige, he still takes great care of me. Recovering from giving birth is not something I had given much thought to pre-Paige, but it’s serious business. I don’t know what I would have done without Jeffrey. I couldn’t stand, sit, lie down, or get up without help for the first couple of days. I couldn’t carry Paige or pick her up out of her crib. I’ve never felt so utterly helpless, but thankfully I have a wonderful helpmate. At one less-than-glamorous moment of helping me and caring for me, Jeffrey said, “You know, when you’re a teenager you think you know what ‘love’ is, but you’re not even close. This is love.” And he’s right. Real love in a marriage is demonstrated and strengthened in the less-than-glamorous moments like when one spouse can’t care for him or herself. Jeffrey not only cares for me physically, he also is wonderful about sitting with me and talking about important things and not important things, big things and small things, serious things and funny things. He spoils me rotten. Case in point – after we came home from the hospital, I mentioned how I missed the wide array of on-demand fresh fruit at the hospital. I asked Jeffrey to get some oranges and peaches when he went to the grocery store and he came back with the entire produce section!

“Peaches and oranges” = Peaches, oranges, nectarines, plums, apples, grapes, and pineapple. Jeffrey definitely spoils his girls!

I couldn’t be more thankful for my wonderful husband.  It truly makes me wonder how people can parent alone. I’ve always tried to keep my friends who are single parents or whose spouses are not able to be as involved as they’d like in my prayers, but now those prayers are more urgent and have more fervor behind them. Take a moment to pray for parents who are parenting alone today. I don’t know where I’d be without Jeffrey!

Our Families

It’s a true blessing to us that our family members love on Paige while allowing Jeffrey and I to figure out how we’ll parent. Neither Jeffrey nor I would respond well to our decisions with Paige being constantly questioned or second-guessed. We’re fortunate that our family members are supportive and loving without being critical.

Our Elmwood Family

What a blessing our church family is! Since the day we got home from the hospital, we have been inundated with cards and meals. Oh the meals! We haven’t cooked since we’ve been home – someone from our church family has brought us a delicious meal every day, and we still have another two weeks of meals to look forward to! The prayers and kindness of our sweet church family are precious to us. Our Elmwood family members have opened their homes to our visiting family so that they may stay with them. Others have helped us in ways that they probably don’t even realize. Our Elmwood family certainly keeps me busy writing thank you notes! But even so, I don’t think we could thank them enough.

I’m thankful that my job now is to serve the Body of Christ at Elmwood every day. Right now, I’m thankful for eight weeks at home with my sweet girl. I can already see how difficult it is going to be for me to give up that home time and go back to work. But, I’m thankful that I work with and for my dear brothers and sisters in Christ and that I love my work, otherwise it would be even more difficult to return!

Our Elmwood family is a major reason that we decided to stay in Lafayette (even before Jeffrey had a better job) instead of pursuing our original plan of heading back to Nashville when I finished with my work at Purdue. We have not regretted our decision to stay. We’re so thankful for our family in Christ all over the world, but especially our Elmwood Family!

Purdue Benefits

Jeffrey gets three whole weeks of parental leave! Paige and I are so thankful to have him home with us for some sweet family bonding time as we adjust to life with our newborn.

Dr. Mulder

Dr. Mulder has been our family doctor for a couple of years, and now he’s Paige’s doctor, too. He’s a wonderful doctor who cares for us very holistically – he’s never just prescribed us medicine without first thoroughly considering other options. He cared for me throughout a scare with a five-week migraine last fall and did a great job following up with different test results and the neurologist to whom he referred me. Jeffrey and I trust him a great deal, and so we’re so glad that he’s Paige’s primary physician.  He’s already proven how wonderful he’ll be with her. He visited the hospital twice to see Paige before we went home. He answered our questions and answered questions we didn’t know we had yet. But, best of all, he showed love for our sweet baby. Dr. Mulder is an unashamed Christ-follower. What a blessing when your baby’s doctor holds her up, looks at her and says, “We serve an amazing Lord!” We’re so thankful for Dr. Mulder!

We’re glad to have Dr. Mulder on Team Paige!

Antibiotics

To all women who may someday be moms: Nursing is initially uncomfortable, but it should never be excruciating. Seek medical attention if you pass “uncomfortable” into the land of pain. Don’t wait until you need antibiotics.

iBabyLog

Great iPhone app! We’ve been told it’s because we’re first time parents that we keep obsessive track of Paige’s inputs and outputs. Oh, well! This app makes it super easy to keep an accurate record.

YouVersion

While we’re talking apps, this one is great! I really enjoy the quiet time I get while nursing Paige for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that I’m able to read. I’m using one of the reading plans on YouVersion – the Bible in 90 days – to keep a focus in my reading. It’s been a real blessing to me to spend so much time in Bible each day.

There are so many more blessings that are helping us through each day, so stay tuned for more blessing lists. Again, I urge you to make your own list of blessings today. I’d love for you to share them with me, if you don’t mind, so that I may be encouraged by your blessings, too!

 

Grace and peace,

Rachel

 

Rest in safety, Little Bug

In Paige’s first week of life, we took more than 500 pictures of our sweet little girl. We just can’t get enough of her adorable face, baby stretches, cuddly wiggles, and countless expressions! We photograph her when she’s awake and exploring, and we photograph her when she’s sleeping.

Oh, my! Is there anything more peaceful and joyful than a contently sleeping baby? Here’s a taste of our sweet, sleeping girl. The only thing missing is the tiny sighs and yummy baby smell.

No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice.
My body rests in safety.

– Psalm 16:9, NLT

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“This time last week…”

Last Wednesday night, Jeffrey and I began starting sentences with, “This time last week…” after it hit us that Paige’s one-week birthday was just hours away. Paige’s birth story is, we think, really neat (pretty much the best story these new parents have ever heard!), even though it turned out to be nothing like what we expected! (Although, according to what many of you have told us, things turning out differently than we expect or plan will be theme of our journey through parenthood!) In case you’re interested, here is the story of Paige’s birth.

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Wednesday, August 15, 2012

With Paige’s due date, August 18, just days away, Jeffrey and I met again at 2600 Ferry Street for another doctor’s appointment. Let me be clear: I. Was. Miserable. I had a pretty easy pregnancy overall, but the one pregnancy symptom that I had that got absolutely stinkin’ out of control was swelling. I was retaining water like crazy. It didn’t matter how long I sat with my feet up, how bland and sodium-less my food was, or how much water I drank to try to “flush” extra fluid out – I just kept retaining more and more and more water. Just when I thought that I had reached critical mass, my body would find a new way to swell. This swelling, at one point, caused me to gain nearly 20 pounds in water weight (as a point of reference, a gallon of water weighs 8.35 pounds) in just two weeks.

Up to this point, however, while the swelling made me uncomfortable and more-than-puffy, it hadn’t posed any threats to my well-being or to Baby Rave’s. For my whole life, my blood pressure has always been on the very low end of normal, sometimes even lower than normal, and that trend carried on without missing a beat through pregnancy. Last Wednesday, however, after finding out that I had gained yet another 7 pounds (almost another gallon!) of weight, we also found out that my blood pressure had suddenly spiked from the low end of normal to slightly higher-than-normal in only a week. If you want to raise your OB’s eyebrow and cause some concern, that’s a surefire way to do it.

Before my doctor even examined me for labor progress, she saw the additional weight gain and new BP reading and said, “Well, what are your thoughts on timing for delivery?”

“Huh?” we said.

“I’m not OK with your blood pressure readings today. I don’t want to risk your blood pressure raising any more. I want to induce you and I’d prefer to be the doctor checking you since I know your history – not one of the other doctors in the practice. The only days I’m on call in the near future are tomorrow, Tuesday – which is already completely booked – and then not again until the 25^th, and I don’t want you to go that long. Are you OK with being induced tomorrow?”

Talk about a reality check! Jeffrey and I did some quick eye-contact communicating and answered, “Yes!”

Whoa. Suddenly this obsessive planner who had reluctantly accepted that you can’t plan for the day and time that your baby comes had an appointment to have a baby! I didn’t know what to do with myself!

My doctor told us to check in at the hospital at 7:30 in the morning, she’d examine me at 8 a.m. and then start Pitocin.

Jeffrey had to head back to work to tie up just a couple of stray loose ends. We both called our family members to let them know. I stopped by work to print out and sign my August time card. The whole time I was wondering, “How on earth am I going to pass the time until 7:30?!”

I started obsessing about strange things. My hair! My ruddy bangs! I didn’t want my hair to be in the way during labor! It needed to be tightly braided, stat! So I went to the mall, popped into a salon and paid to have my hair washed and braided. Call me crazy, but at that point, the state of my hair was my most serious and urgent concern.

Then, I went home to clean my house. That’d be a good way to burn a few hours of nervous energy, right? Oops. It was already clean. I mean, I had already really cleaned it. Like dust-the-walls-and-ceilings clean. Now what was I going to do?!

Jeffrey was busy mowing the lawn. I packed up our dog, Lucy’s, things and then Shaun and danae came over to pick her up. That was the ticket! Time spent with friends goes by quickly. We had a great time visiting with the Casteels. They even helped me carbo-load before the big day on some Fazoli’s pasta and breadsticks! Jeffrey and I so enjoyed a laidback evening with them.

After Shaun and danae left, Jeffrey went back outside to finish the lawn and I did what cleaning I could by straightening up the kitchen and doing the little bit of laundry we had. When Jeffrey finished outside, he went to work putting the finishing touches on the china cabinet in Baby Rave’s nursery. It was about 10 o’clock and, mercifully, I was sleepy. I went to bed, expecting Jeffrey to soon follow me.

He didn’t.

Apparently the dad-to-be was even more wired than the mom-to-be! He stayed up until almost 2 a.m. because he couldn’t sleep!

Introducing Paige Esther Ravellette!

We’re so happy to introduce you to our sweet Baby Rave, Paige Esther Ravellette!

Paige under the lights – minutes after birth and she’s already perfectly pink!

Paige was born at 4:58 p.m. on Thursday, August 16, 2012 in Labor and Delivery Room 2 at IU Health Arnett Hospital in Lafayette, Indiana. Paige weighed 7 lbs, 13 ounces and was 19 ¼ inches long. Stay tuned for Paige’s birth story!

To show what a good sport I am, I’ll set my self-consciousness aside and share our first photo as a family of three!

This is my new favorite picture of all time! I can’t even look at it some times because it just melts my heart – my two favorite people together!

Grace and peace,

Rachel

Maternity Photos

Near the end of June, we were blessed to be able to have some maternity photos taken by the incredibly-talented, super-fun Beth W. Beth and I had one class together during my last semester of grad school and I’m so thankful that I had the opportunity to meet her! She has such a heart for honoring Christ and loving others and she’s a super bright light to be around.

Beth loves to bless others with her gifts – including photography (we bartered Greyhouse coffee for maternity and soon-to-be forthcoming newborn photos). She is great to work with. I hate having my picture taken on a good day. Add to the mix oppressive summer heat and pregnancy swelling, and you would think it would be a recipe for me to hate maternity photos, right? Wrong. Beth did an awesome job making me feel comfortable and she is very skilled at posing (although nothing felt “pose-y” to me) people in flattering ways. We had a blast with Beth and we’re so glad that we have these photos as one of the ways we can remember this exciting time in our life.

If you’re looking for someone to take high-quality photos of your family in the Lafayette-area, I’d be only too thrilled to recommend Beth to you and get you in contact with her!
Grace and peace,

Rachel

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Meet Baby Rave!

We are thrilled to share with you these photos and videos from our 20-week ultrasound on April 4, 2012. We’ll be even more thrilled when we can start sharing photos and videos of our full-term baby after she’s born!

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