Make a Smilebox photobook

Let it snow...

Snow is so much fun when you have nothing to do. Max and I both had the day off today! We were supposed to have Tony and Laura and the kids over for a christmas party, however, considering the weather, they decided not to come. So... We introduced KayLynn to snow. We had fun all day.

Max showing KayLynn the snow.
Oh...and Max bought me hot coco. You can't have snow without hot coco.




Isn't she so beautiful?? Those eyes...

Our snow angels!

Where does all the love come from?

"If I had had her always I do not see how I could be more fond of her. And do people call it living who never had any children? Here is a sweet fragrant mouth to kiss; here are two more feet to make music with their pattering about my nursery. Here is a soul to train for God, and the body in which it dwells is worthy at all cost, since it is the abode of a kingly tenant. I may see less of friends, but I have gained one dearer than them all." ~Elizabeth Prentiss

As I watched a movie today where the baby was sick, I cried and thanked the Lord for my healthy little girl. What a heartbreaking thing to watch your child suffer. We have some friends whose son was born premature and he is in the hospital. Please keep them in your prayers as they visit him and work withe doctors to help him get stronger and come home.

Thank the Lord for your children.

The Lord works in mysterious ways. Last night I went to the grocery store to finish up some Thanksgiving dinner shopping. As I was walking toward the potatoes a woman walked into me. Let me just tell you she was this tiny little thing – maybe about the same as Kjerste Whaley. She was very sorry – in fact she would not stop apologizing. She was worried that KayLynn was hurt. After trying to convince her that we were both fine and extricating myself from her KayLynn and I continues shopping. We ran into this woman probably five times in different aisles. The last time she finally asked to see the baby (who is “so adorable…look at those eyes!”), and told me that she is pregnant. This is her third, her first being 14 years old and the send, ten years old. She then told me that she was thinking about not keeping the baby. I could not believe that someone would be so bold as to tell a complete stranger that they were thinking of killing their unborn child because it really was not convenient. We talked for a while, and she told me all of her reasons for not wanting this child… “It’s so hard, “…“I already had my children,”…“I am so old (30 for those of you wondering),”…”I’m just not sure I can do it again.” It was so hard for me not to just be appalled. I realized that the Lord probably put my cart in her way for a reason. Well – no probably about it – HE DID IT. I told her what a blessing children are no matter what the timing. I told her how surprised and scared we were when we got pregnant. I am not sure that she listened to what I had to say, but I am praying for her – that maybe the Lord will work in heart to keep this child of hers. Please pray for her with me.

OK, so it took me a while to get back to posting. Last week was a really hard week for us int he LeFebvre household. I was complaining in my heart about what else the Lord could do to us. I was also saying that it seems like every time we get a handle on things, the Lord says, "Oh yeah..." and then yet another thing goes wrong. These days it seems like it always affects the pocket book! But then Aunt Tam told me that I should be thankful that though it seems to happen all at once, the Lord does wait until we can financially handle each thing. And that is something to be happy about. In fact, I have to say, that through all the hard things that happened this last week, I became more in love with my husband. He was so patient, taking each thing in turn. He was sweet to me, and playful with KayLynn. I could not have asked for a better man in my life. So, thank you honey!!

KayLynn is growing by leaps and bounds lately and I cannot believe that she is so big. I will share some photos at the end of this blog.

Kaeley, Tristan, KayLynn and I went to the Picture People on Thursday to get pictures of the kids. Oh my they are cute! I am so thankful for the free 8x10s they keep sending me. I got some pictures of the betrothed together - and it was perfect. Tristan was wearing all blue and KayLynn all pink!! We had fun tegether, although Tristan did show Kaeley that it does not matter how sweet and cue they are when no one is looking. They will always be the opposite when people are watching you. Actually KayLynn proved this very thing as wel. She was talking and smiling at the camera girl (Melissa) and then as soon as she tried to take a picture would fuss! Aren't our children amazing picures of ourselves!!

Yeah I found my finger!


Daddy is sooo comfortable.


Enjoying the Washington rain with Mommy.


Rice Cereal...No!


Oranges...Yes!


Baby KayLynn with the mean lady who gave her shots!!!


The lovebirds (cause parents always get what they want, right?!?!)


Tristan, isn't he cute? Just two weeks old.


Kaeley and Tristan

As I sit here next to my naked squirmy child, I wonder what I did before i had her. We all grow up knowing that the Lord gives us amazing gifts, although we rarely remember that. If my husband was not a daily reminder of this fact, my daughter is. I am so thankful to the Lord for the place in my heart she has filled.

We had her 4 month appointment Thursday. My little piggy weighs 14 pounds, 1.5 ounces. The nurse measured her at 26 inches - both the doc and I are a little sceptical. I showed the doc some red skin, behind the ears, under the armpits, and in her chubby thighs. I was pretty sure that it is because, like her mother and father, she has sensitive skin. The doctor confirmed this thought and due to her sensitive skin, he told me to let her have more naked time!

My daughter is yelling at me, I will have to come back to this post!!

Yesterday she was born - Tomorrow she will be married!

KayLynn is now big enough to sit in her high chair - and since she is always wanting to sit up, we leave her in it when we clean the house! She really likes being able to look around and see everything that is going on.


Speaking of sitting up, last night Max and I went to Red Robin. This is the first time that she has watched us eat and seemed interested in it. So, we gave her a french fry to gum (she has no teeth, so that is pretty much all she can do). She really went to work on it. Of course, Max was scared because he thought she was going to choke, so he made me stop. So, though I don't have a picture (because I am a horrible mom!), her first real food was french fry.

Aunt Mandy just can't help but buy things for KayLynn. This weekend she got a Christmas hat.


She loves the spotlight!! Oh yes, KayLynn can be screaming, but when she sees the red light of the camera(for red eye), flash on her face, she laughs. I am not the only one to see this, Max and Granny Tam have now both seen it. So the photos below were supposed to be showing how upset she got the other night when we made her have belly time, however...



By the way this entire post has been done one-handed since the aforementioned child is sleeping in my arms!

Our night with Marty

Max's parents bought Max and I tickets to see The Great Martin Short. We had a great evening. Shari watched KayLynn, while we went out. We started the night at the Wine Merchants in Stadium District, Tacoma. We had the next two red wines on the list, and a plate of amazing salamis and cheeses. Then we walked to the Pantages and saw the show. It was soo funny. Of course, Max is way funnier!! I didn't know before Saturday that Martin Short did stand up. He went through his career - some true stories and some false, we are not sure which. He did all his known characters... Frank from Father of the Bride; Ned from The Tree Amigos; Ed Grimly from Saturday Night Live and Jiminy Glick who interviewed local improv talent Ryan Stiles (from Whos Line is it Anyway, and the Drew Carey Show). We had a great night, and to top it all off, KayLynn went right to sleep when we got home, and stayed that way for six hours!! Needless to say, a night we wont quickly forget.

Thanks Jim and Shari.

Food?????

As we mothers tend to do, I have been reading all about when to start KayLynn on food. The last time I was at the pediatrician, he said that starting 4-6 months was ok, and it was totally up to me. As I have read, I have found all kinds of opinion and research. The most recent and the one that makes the most sense to me is the one that said that you should not feed your children until they are physically able to chew and swallow. This does vary – but based on their research it said that most often children were able to put food into their mouth, chew and swallow it at 6 months. It went so far as to say that we should not feed our children pureed food. They also said that we should never put rice cereal in a bottle as it feeds so many calories so fast. If you feed them with a spoon, they learn to stop and evaluate if they are still hungry. Babies who are eating only when they are hungry will learn to eat more food than they need by being fed so many calories without stopping. Thankfully KayLynn is one of those children who only eats when she is hungry. If you put too many ounces in a bottle she will stop even when there is more food!



The article said

“She says, ‘Sound scientific research and government advice now agree that there is no longer any window of a baby's development in which they need something more than milk and less than solids.’ It appears that a baby's general development keeps pace with the development of his ability to manage food in his mouth, and to digest it. A baby who is struggling to get food into his mouth is probably not quite ready to eat it.” http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080620082924AANswZP



There are a lot of other answers on this website, but I was wondering what your thoughts and actions have been. I am more than willing to wait till six months to feed KayLynn solids if that is what is healthy for her. Another suggestion I have had is to feed her only rice cereal from 4 months to 6 month and then start solids. I appreciate your advice and would love to know what do you all think. Thanks

Free Coffee at Starbucks Day!!!

Apparently Starbucks was going to reward voters and give them a free 12oz cup of coffee. However, some bureaucracy thing happened and they cannot give it to only a select group. So instead they are offering a free cup to everyone who asks. So, go in and get your free cup today – I know I will.

Happy Halloween!

Well, last night we had fun at the harvest party! Max did standup comedy and he was so good. I was so proud of him - and the fact that he won first place! KayLynn got her face painted by Aunt Brenda at the face painting booth. I cannot believe that it is november already. It seems like we just had christmas last year, and here we are, just a few short moments from Thanksgiving.

Life seems to be a quick succession of busy nothings?

What do you think, Is Jane Austin correct?

Homework. Work. Sleep. Baby. Husband. Home. Dogs. Maybe about a few of those things, but I am pretty sure that husband and baby are not busy nothings!! Other than that, I think she is correct. Amongst the busy nothingness of life, Max and I have been trying to enjoy the little time that we spend together in the evenings before we both fall asleep each night.

Of course when Max is not home, KayLynn and I do things, like switching out her 0-3 month clothes with the 3-6 month sizes!! Here she is helping me.

The other afternoon when I got off work we took the dogs and the baby to the park. The dogs love getting out and being able to run around. KayLynn had fun too. We got her all wrapped up – hooded sweatshirt and all!



Of course, sometimes we just hang out around the house!


Since Max and I have known each other we have accepted the fact that I LOVE the holidays and he could take them or leave them. In fact, I have been looking forward to KayLynn growing up so that I can have someone to be excited with each year. BUT, the other day Max told me that he is beginning to be really excited about the holidays. He asked me if there was any music to get us in the mood! I couldn’t really think of and Halloween music, but we did make cider (Aunt Tam’s recipe!) and carve our first pumpkin as a married couple. KayLynn sat in her swing and watched. The dogs even helped by eating the inside of the pumpkin – I wasn’t totally excited about that as I wanted to cook the seeds, but oh well! We all had fun. Max tried to carve the face of a screaming baby into the pumpkin! I think it turned out ok, and even the dogs helped!





Well, we have to get ready to go to our halloween party! Pictures of our costumes whould be up this weekend!

If you have time... I was sent this

Invisible Mother......
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store.
Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'
Obviously, not.
No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all.
I'm invisible. The invisible mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?
Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated sum a cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going; she's going; she is gone!
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England.
Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in.
I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself.
I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.'
It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe.
I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:
No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.
These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it!' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place.
It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will20become.'
At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life.
It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.
I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.
The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'you're gonna love it there.'
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right.
And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Blessing after blessing

I have had the time this afternoon to read through all the blogs that I love. It has been a while since I have had enough time to sit down and read that much, so what a blessing. I love “hearing” what the Lord is doing for each of your families! And since a common theme is always thankfulness, let me just give you the top ten things that I am thankful for.

1. My husband. He takes such good care of me. Monday he sent me to Borders for an hour to relax and read (and get coffee!!!) while he watched the baby. While I was there he called me and told me to get a pedicure! As much as I hate to admit that I need anything, I have needed some “me” time. What a blessing to have a husband who knows it is important for me to be taken care of.


2. My beautiful baby girl. KayLynn is the easiest child in the world. Even when she is hard, she is easier than most. I love her more and more each day and am so thankful that the Lord entrusted her to me. Sometimes I just lay her on the bed and watch her play. I can’t even grasp the fact that she will some day grow up and leave me.


3. Baby-sitters/Aunt/Grandmothers - It is such a blessing to leave KayLynn with people who love her. My sister Mandy has been babysitting on Friday mornings before the baby goes to Tam’s house. This has been so nice. I didn’t quite realize how nice until she was gone the last two weeks and I had to be out of the house with the baby by 5:30am. Let me tell you how early that is!


4. My friend Kaeley. Kaeley is due November 3rd with her first child. Since about the middle of my pregnancy our friendship has grown. I have enjoyed getting to know her and having someone who is in a similar walk (pregnancy and motherhood) to talk with and even complain with.


5. A comfortable home. I just love my house. It is not perfect and there is still a lot that needs to be done in it – but it is mine!


6. My pink fluffy robe. When I was pregnant Shari bought it for me, and I love it. It is so soft and comfortable.


7. Other mothers (especially those of you who blog). I get such encouraging stories and advice from you all. It is a blessing to know that I am not alone in this quest.


8. A steady job. Even though I have days when I don’t want to be here – I am so happy to have such a great job.


9. Shari (Mimi). Shari has been so helpful in taking care of KayLynn sometimes more than once a week, and even going so far as coming to my house so I don’t have to get up early and helping with the dogs, food and house. From watching television, I used to think that all in-laws were horrible and that there was no way to actually enjoy them, but that is not the case. I am so thankful to have such a great mother-in-law.


10. Aunt Tam. Aunt Tam has helped me keep my head on straight through these adjusting times. I have not had the easiest adjustment time these last 3 months. She has helped me to remember what is important and to pray that the Lord gives me the desires of my heart like sleep, health, patience…


Praise the Lord for His innumerable blessings in my life. There are so many more, but not enough time to write them all down.

3 new babies

Max's family had a baby shower for his two aunts and I. They both had babies around the same time I did. Gracie is four days younger than KayLynn and Jackson is four weeks younger than the girls. We had a good time together, especially since we don't get together often.

Max, Gracie and Jackson
KayLynn and cousin Jackson
KayLynn and her new lamby

She's so big

Yesterday I weighed KayLynn at Granny Tam's house because she has a digital scale. My "Little Peanut" isn't so little anymore. She is 13 pounds. It is amazing how heavy 13 pounds can feel! Of course that car seat that I lug around isn't so light either. Anyway, she growing strong and healthy, and lately in the evenings she has been working out her lungs. let me assure you - they are strong! Here are some pics we have taken of her lately.

KayLynn playing in her crib

Playing with Mommy and Daddy

KayLynn gets a kick out of playing in the mirror! So here we all are playing.

Waking up with Daddy

Sitting on the bed while I sew.

Playing in her room

3 Months Old!!!

Today she is three months old!! I cannot even believe how big she is. The time just flies. Max keeps saying that she is not going to get any bigger, but she gets bigger and bigger each day. Some of her new things…

1. Toys. She will grab at them when they hang above her head, and shake them when she gets them in her little fingers.
2. Squealing. She gets so excited that she makes these noises which I can only describe as squealing. Yesterday we were at Kaeley’s house and KayLynn was in the basinet squealing with delight at the mobile.
3. Squirming. Now when she is playing with you, she gets really excited and squirms. I think it is her premature way of reaching to be held.
4. More laughing. She has this laugh that sounds like she is inhaling air quickly, when I try to imitate it, I start coughing! I promise that if you hear it – you too will laugh.
5. She likes to watch the dogs. If she is in her chair and the dogs are around, she will watch them playing.
6. She discovered her hands. This happened when she was with Granny Tam. She spends hours watching her hands and fingers. She will wave them and watch them go back and forth – or just worry her fingers in her lap while watching.

It is so fun seeing her learn new things almost every day. I look at newborn pictures and I just can’t believe that she was soo tiny, or that I gave birth to something which is now so big. I am sure it is pretty amazing to see your children as adults and remember that they were once in your belly, and so dependant on you.
Pictures to follow...

Nursing

For those of you who are/have/going to nurse, watch this video - very funny!

http://www.flowgo.com/funny/1784_that-nursing-feeling.html

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OK - my pitch is done, but seriously if you need a photographer, you are missing out if you don't hire Natasha!!!

Some of her amazing work!

New Winter Coat

Aunt Mandy bought KayLynn a winter coat - its a little big, but it will be great.

Play Time with Mom and Dad