A Day of Togetherness and Berry Picking

On a beautifully bright and sunny Friday morning, we drove towards Redberry Farm in George for a few hours of  enjoying one another's company and watching the younger girls play and pick strawberries...

This proved to be a fabulous opportunity for capturing some sweet moments with little Caleb and I am delighted to be sharing them with you.  I am sure you would like to see the rest of our family cuddling their baby brother close!

^ Caleb wasn't so keen on this hat, adorable as it may be...but maybe not quite his style...

 Now, you must forgive me, but I simply had to share all these pictures with you...they are the first of Caleb and I and they are very special indeed...I would like to print one out for a frame next to my bed.  Caleb is my little buddy and I adore him.  You see those plump baby cheeks of his?  Well, they are kissed throughout the day and not only by me...all his sisters love him to bits!

 

^ There are almost 19 and a half years between my brother and I...

 Now for the most precious pictures of all...  You can imagine how special it must have been for Mom to cuddle her little boy close and capture the moment in a photograph.  We praise the Lord for His grace and mercy in allowing Mom to recover from such a difficult operation in so little time.  Caleb is now eight weeks old and although my mother is still having to be extremely careful and does experience discomfort yet, God has been gracious and our hearts are truly thankful.

 ^ Kisses for Caleb...

^ Such a wonderful moment...Baby Caleb with his mommy and daddy. 

^ Daddy with his little boy...

 ^ And with his little girl, Sofia.  Sofia is almost five and is smitten with her baby brother - although at first she declared she didn't want a brother but rather a sister, she has absolutely changed her mind since then and thinks Caleb is the ''tootest''.  {{smiles}}

 

^ Nancy and little Caleb...there are sixteen and a half years between them.

~

Even though we do in fact grow our own strawberries, ours have not yet given us fruit this season as they are a different variety to those at the berry farm...  We needed some fresh berries and although they weren't quite so delicious as homegrown, it was a lovely treat for the girls to pick a little bowl for themselves...

^ Gabrielle...

 ^ Rebekah {7} with her harvest of berries...

 

 ^ Gabrielle {9} with her bowl of berries...

^ Beth {11} in the berry fields...I long for a big berry field such as this one!  Just think, my jam making pot would be filled everyday with seasonal goodness!

 

^ Sofia {4} opted for a horse ride instead...she is a natural horsewoman...

She has no fear of horses - how I would love to have a horse and teach her to ride!

~

And so a special morning came to an end.  Now that holidays have arrived and my dad is home for a couple weeks, we will be making more of an effort to go out as a family and make memories together...  {{smiles}}

Wishing each of you a delightful new week!

Caleb at One Month...

Good morning dear friends...oh, I have missed writing and visiting with each of you, but as you can well imagine, I have been far too occupied with this little boy at present ~ I am cherishing each moment and treasuring them in my heart...  {{smiles}}  

I know you are all very eager to see how sweet Master Caleb has grown since my last post...on Sunday he celebrated his one month milestone...how time does fly!

Unlike most novelties, this one has yet to wear off...Caleb is even more adorable and cuddly than before and what a joy it is to have him start interacting with us...

His first smiles have been met with joy and delight from us all and he has been praised for holding up his head and ''talking'' to us in his precious baby way...

~

Yesterday little Caleb was the centre of attention yet again and my camera shutter went clickety-click for a good twenty minutes or so while I attempted to capture him and his gorgeous blue eyes before he wanted something more to fill his tummy...

 

It is so wonderfully special seeing Caleb's little personality unfold...he is so gentle and calm and quite unlike the other girls when they were babies.  He seldom cries and fusses only occasionally when he is in genuine discomfort.  Being such a big baby, Caleb spends more than half his day filling his not-so-little tummy and the rest of the time he is content to lie sleeping in our arms.  He is not too partial to his cot, beautifully decorated as it may be - he prefers the arms of his mom and sisters and daddy in the evenings - we have discovered he relaxes and often falls alseep when we sway gently to soft music, preferably instrumental.  This suits us very well for we love music dearly and it would appear sweet Caleb has a love for it as well...

^ "I call this my roar!"

 ^ My, what big eyes you have...

 It is incredible to see such a small baby boy lift himself up and look about as if he were already two months old...  He had not one ounce of fat on him at birth and has only now developed a double-chin and some gorgeous fat rolls around his thighs.  Oh, but he is growing and getting heavier every day - our arms are a testament to that!  {{smiles}}

 

Caleb is quite advanced and strong and moved past the newborn stage by the end of those first ten days!  Now the fun really starts...there is not a moment that he is not wanted by any one of us and I would be lying if I said we weren't fighting over whose turn it is for a cuddle...

He is the sweetest gift and a beautiful miracle...not a day goes by that I don't look upon his precious, perfectly formed face and praise Jesus for the gift of life...my little brother whom I love so dearly  I feel as if my heart might burst.

I would also like to extend sincerest thanks on behalf of our family for the wonderful blessings of prayers, cards, gifts, words of encouragement and concern that showered us before, during and after baby Caleb's entrance to the world...even now you all continue to be a precious blessing to us!

My dear mother made very slow progress after her difficult C-section, but praise the Lord, she is beginning to heal properly at last!  It has been an extremely frightening, painful road for us as a family and it is such a relief to see her making steady progress now and starting to feel a little bit more back to normal...  

She carried Caleb just over 40 weeks and only when he was weighed a few hours after birth did we realise what a big boy our small mother was carrying...where she put him all that time no one can tell!  Oh, I admire her so much and pray that someday should the Lord see fit, I might display as much strength and courage as she has through the births of each of her children...

I am hoping that in the next few weeks we will have some family photographs taken...{{smiles}}

Enjoy this last beautiful day of the month of May, dear readers...I hope to resume regular writing and visiting very soon, but in the meanwhile, please know that I think of each of you every day - how special to have so many dear friends to share with and be inspired by!

With much love and blessings,

Kelly-Anne

Caleb is Two Weeks Old....

 "What an amazing miracle – the birth of a child!

We stand in awe – and God has a smile!

He’s created a life that’s never lived before.

A life that is special, unique, with gifts galore.”

~ Verse from the poem, Whence Came This Child? By Nancy Campbell

~

 Little Caleb Courage, who was born into our family on the 29^th of April 2016, is now two weeks old and the delight and joy of our lives!

This baby boy is loved and kissed and cuddled so much by his sisters and oh!  We are cherishing each precious moment with him…

Ah!  Already his dear little face has changed and he has begun to interact with us…

 “We fancy that God can only manage His world by big battalions abroad,

When all the while He is doing it by beautiful babies at home.

When a wrong wants a righting, or a truth wants preaching, or a continent

Wants opening, God sends a baby into the world to do it.

That is why long, long ago, a Babe was born in Bethlehem.”

~ Frank Boreham

Yesterday the light was shining so perfectly into the room and Caleb was so content after a comforting bath, that I had to capture some sweet moments with my camera…I am sure you will agree that he looks too adorable for words in these baby outfits…how about this one below?  {{Smiles}}

“Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord:  and the fruit of the womb is his reward.”

~ Psalm 127:3  

Aww…there is something so beautiful and special about a baby, wouldn’t you agree…?  

Blessings,
Kelly-Anne

~ Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them... ~

Caleb Courage

 

^ Cuddles with Rebekah

^This is one proud big sister...Sofia has fallen in love with her baby brother...

~

We are completely smitten with the newest member of our family...this precious boy has been cuddled by his sisters from the moment he arrived home last night...  

I had the wonderful privilege of having him sleep on my chest from bedtime till about 1 o' clock this morning, and I will forever treasure those sweet hours in my heart...  

My little brother...little Caleb...oh, I give the Lord all the praise and glory for this incredible gift!

My mother is convalecsing in the comfort of her own home and we are very grateful for this...she is doing much better now and we continue to pray for a swift recovery and complete healing over her body.  I am incredibly blessed to have such a mother as I have...she is someone whom I look up to and I pray that someday I may display as much courage as she has during this time...

~

I want to thank each and every one of my dear readers for the prayers and love shown to our family over the past few months, and especially during the last few days...  Your words of encouragement have been very precious to me and oh!  How I wish you could all meet Caleb Courage in person...do enjoy the many photographs I have to share...  I am hoping to do a proper newborn photoshoot this coming week...look out for that!

With blessings and joy,

Kelly~Anne

The Nursery Reveal...

Welcome, friends...I know you are all very eager to meet our precious little brother...

We continue to excitedly anticipate his arrival and pray for a safe delivery, and in the meantime, there is a special place I would like to show you...

It is something we have been working on for the past few weeks, and although more or less finished, I know we will continue to add new handmade items and decorations here and there...

This is the first baby boy to be welcomed into our family, and we are so delighted to be using reds and blues instead of pinks and whites this time around!  It is a whole new experience, to be sure!

The theme for our baby boy's ''corner'' is sea, and we have used all our favourite fabrics...  We actually spotted them at a material shop over a year ago, long before we knew we would even have a baby boy, and we purchased some for heartmade items... 

Well, when we discovered that after six girls there would indeed be a BOY joining our home, we just knew these gorgeous sea-themed fabrics would make the perfect nursery items...and we were right!  {{Smiles}}

It has been absolutely splendid being able to sew baby things once again, and this is the first time I have been quite so involved...  Despite having almost no budget to work with, it has been amazing to watch everything come slowly together, and to see how one can create such lovely things with only a few supplies and a whole lot of love.

Baby's nursery (not sharing his name quite yet...) is simply a small corner in my parents' bedroom, but it is a special one...  My dad painted the walls white and put up a shelf with knobs underneath to hold the few decorations we wanted to put up, and he also repainted the cupboards that we had painted pink back when Rebekah was born...(see here)

I made the curtains and cot frill from white calico and trimmed them with red gingham.  I also hand-stitched a red running stitch along the bottom for extra handmade charm.

The decorations are simple as well, but they match the sea-theme beautifully!  When we decided to use these fabrics, I just knew I wanted to make a whale softie or two for Baby's cot!  I have subsequently made a couple more for my shoppe (see here)...

I covered ever so many wooden hangers in coordinating fabrics...I used the red check, blue bubble, light blue and navy blue star as well as the main fabrics, the whales and boats.  My mom knitted a few covers as well using moss and plain knit stitch (not pictures).

 

These hangers turned out fabulously and prevent the baby clothes from catching on the wood...they also look much better than plastic ones, wouldn't you agree?

I made a ribbon taggy ball with fabric remnants (similar also available in my Etsy shoppe) for Baby to play with later on...for now it looks sweet up on the shelf!

One of my first projects was actually this mini bunting... The red bias ties in beautifully with the red gingham on the curtains and in the quilt.

This big traditional jointed teddy bear actually had a spot on our market stall before us girls decided he should be given to our baby brother instead.  And doesn't he look ever so cheerful up there?

 

Nancy re-painted and re-covered the wooden box we used for both Rebekah and Sofia.  It was looking a little tired and well...a little too pink!  She used the whale fabric for the inner and strong hessian twine for the cord.

I made these two little drawstring bags, but Nancy did the crocheting of the edges and strings...so gorgeous, don't you think?  The one little bag contains cotton wool balls and the other, baby socks...maybe I will make one or two more for some other baby goodies...or perhaps a larger one for laundry. 

 

Now for my favourite part...the quilt!  This was the last item on my list of things to make...

 I didn't intend to make it quite so big, but we had a duvet inner from Sofia's camp cot, so I decided to make the quilt into an actual duvet cover which can be used for a good two or three years, that way we didn't have to use bias on the edges or pay for fancy top stitching to be done...

I had great hopes of doing a quilt design such as a 'Yellow Brick Road', but after much consideration, Mom and I decided the fabric designs were really too busy for anything too intricate.  Plus, I also saw some adorable simple block quilts on Pinterest...and so I made my piece (pun intended) with a block quilt - I absolutely love how it turned out...

  

I spliced denim in between the quilting fabrics as I wanted to use it on the edges and as the backing of the duvet.  This worked remarkably well and added a very ''boyish'' feel to the quilt!  Wish I could sleep under it...looks so cosy, doesn't it?!  {{smiles}}

Nancy created a beautiful boat picture with fabric scraps and buttons, and I used fabric scraps to quilt the sides and make a lovely cushion...

Lastly, we found a few adorable wooden decor items at a local gift shop.  The anchor and boat hooks, as well as the little boat picture frame form a collection of sea-themed decor...

...I have forgotten to tell you a little about this special wooden cot...it was in fact my dad's cot when he was a baby...and then it was mine...  A few of my sisters used it as newborns too, and hopefully Baby will use it for his future little ones.  It is a stunning wooden cot, and is in great condition...all it required was a lick of paint!

...And so we come to the end of our tour of the nursery.  Ah, I can't tell you how eager we are to see this little boy face to face.  What will he look like...?  Will he have darker hair like Rebekah did as a baby...?  Or will he be fair like the rest of us at birth?

One thing I do know for certain...this little one will be welcomed into this world with so much love and joy...

He has six delighted older sisters who prayed for him to join their family for years and who talk to him in utero each day...

As I shared in this post, we did not think we would be at this place in life again after my mom miscarried three babies in a row at 12 weeks.  Those past trials and seasons of sadness make this time a time of great jubilee and rejoicing for us as a family and as children of God. 

Here are some ''before'' pictures...

 The nursery ''corner'' ~ before 

Gabrielle helping to fill in cracks in the wall...


 Beth filling in cracks in the wall...how happy they were to give Dad a hand!

~

As I write tears fill my eyes as I think of the graciousness of God - that He chose to answer this prayer leaves me in absolute awe.  

 He is our loving Father, but many times His answer is not what we are looking for...replies such as these are difficult to bear and are often met with great frustration and sorrow on our parts.   

But He is with us through our grieving and I believe He weeps with us in our pain...

Thus, we are humbled that the Lord would see fit to bring yet another life into our family, and we pray that this child will go forth and be a light unto the nations for the glory of God!

~

Dear friends, I am so glad you could join me for a peek into our baby's nursery...hopefully my next post will be a birth announcement!  Thank you for your prayers, your love and for sharing our joy - it means so much to us, and we are delighted that this baby will be greeted with such gladness!

Many blessings on the rest of your week...