Dear Friends and Family,
Welcome to the new year- one month in! And, top it off- we’re finally getting an update out to you! “Never put off today what could have been done a month or two ago.” I know, I know- you’re hyperventilating (use the envelope to breath) because you had given up on us by now. (By the way, if you don’t like to read a book, skip to the back page right now, read our closing and call it good. Otherwise, stick this on the back of your toilet and enjoy one paragraph per bathroom visit. You should be able to read through it with this method within a week without too much brain strain.) J Anyway, our calendars have changed to 2012, and here we are, already 1/12 of the way through. We mark the days, weeks and months, while in reality, we have simply completed a speck within the temporary mode of time, amongst the vast expanse of eternity. Within eternity, we have the order created by God- all of the various rotations within the solar system to mark days, years and seasons. It is so easy to get caught up in day-to-day life, become concerned over the political atmosphere in our country and world, and become very lateral in our view of life. How good to have a God of order and not chaos, as those who would deny the account of creation as presented in Genesis. Our viewpoint must be vertical if we are to know His “peace that passes understanding.”
2011- here and gone- and in our family, we are looking with hope to what God has in store for 2012. Our mass communication system (i.e. emails) has experienced a few- ahem- “glitches.” No guarantees as to whether it will be up and running consistently during the next year. If the “timeliness” of this letter is any indication- don’t hold your breath! Who knows- maybe we’ll become super-organized and attain higher level of functioning again… but with four little ones running around (okay- one of them is only rolling back and forth for the moment, but that won’t last long!) life has been pretty busy, and looks to stay that way!
Anyway- January 2011 had us looking at the ultrasound image of a tiny Baxter #4. This little person made for regular trips to a group of midwives near our home. Thankfully, the practice happens to be very near our favorite library, which came in handy the day all the blood flow was to Aimee’s tummy and away from her brain. Translated: she locked the keys in the van, and had a 5-yr old, 4-yr old, and 2-yr old in tow, and a very large tummy to top things off! God oversees so many details of our lives (including our not-so-brainy moments), and this one was not excluded. The appointment was in the afternoon, so we took a short meander through an unkempt area to the library (“Don’t step on the goat-heads, children!”), and then back to the van once David came riding in on his shining white steed (aka- Jeep Cherokee) to rescue his damsel and their little ones.
February brought the opportunity to attend a small home educators convention (more of a book sale than anything) in Loveland, where we purchased our first curriculum. ‘Twas a momentous day in the Baxter household as we officially stepped into the realm of home schooling “for real.” Aimee was going to get started… and going to get started… and long story short, we started the last week
in August.
In March we planted seedlings for the summer garden. In 2010 we invested in Jiffy cups- you know- those fancy little peat moss cups for starting plants? They came with a flimsy tray system for watering, and the plants did so/so. This year, we stocked up on empty yogurt cups. They did the trick- housing our baby tomatoes and bell peppers quite nicely. The peppers apparently thought it was a great start, as they produced quite well and had about 3/4 to 1-inch woody stalks. The tomatoes… well, we had one or two volunteer heirloom tomatoes that came up on their own and did almost as well as the pre-started plants. We have a skinny garden next to the shed where most of the tomatoes are wound up a piece of twine staked in the ground and attached to the shed. These tomatoes have grown well over our heads for two summers, but haven’t been super producers. Either they don’t get enough sun, there’s too much traffic noise (hurray for a highway behind the yard), or the two-year old picked too many of them while they were green, when the mommy’s back was turned! It may have been a combination of these…
April… let’s see, what happened in April? It was a pretty calm month for our family. It marked first anniversary of the Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Program that Aimee is involved in through WIC (supporting breastfeeding moms), and the yard burst forth with a prolific harvest of dandelions. “Here Mommy- I picked these flowers for you!” It’s the thought that counts, and thankfully, that eliminates the number of seeds that can be produced, and the ones that are picked die within a day or so and are sent to their final resting spot in the garbage can. Silas and Amelie got a real kick out of taking the shop vac out into the front yard and sucking up the “sweet” little morsels out of the grass. It was all fun and games until one child pointed the hose at another child’s face. Daddy’s quick intervention prevented the loss of any eyeballs (his intervention was a good thing, since the shop vac was Daddy’s idea in the first place!). What must the neighbors think?
In May, the kids sang in their final choir concert. They had the opportunity to sing under an instructor who was also teaching them to read and write rhythm and notes. David officially became older in May, although that seems to happen to all of us on a daily basis. We took a weekend away (“our last chance before the baby comes…” was our excuse) and celebrated his birthday in Manitou Springs- staying at a historic bed and breakfast (no scary, dusty stuffed animals on the shelves) and visiting the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. One giraffe decided to check out Aimee’s hair up close, as she (must have been a female- who else would care about style?) stuck her nose into Aimee’s hair just before David snapped a picture. May also took David to China on a business trip. He discovered just how long it takes to fly over the North Pole, and just how good the driving in the U.S. really is! He spent his time working on Boeing flight simulators with a coworker.
By June Aimee was starting to feel fairly big- as Baby #4 was getting closer to making an appearance. Life continues despite the size of one’s tummy, though, and the ant hill (that’s our back yard- home to a multitude of ant colonies!) needed to be watered, which provided opportunities for the kiddos to be watered as well. They are officially of the age to appreciate running through the sprinkler, and asking to play in the kiddy pool. (They love it so much, the mommy has fielded requests on some of our nicer days in November, December, and January to fill up the pool! Apparently warmth, even warmth facilitated by being fully dressed and wearing a jacket, indicates the okay for water play.) A little clarification is required here: Silas and Amelie love water; Josiah appreciates it cautiously. That means he comes to mom at full speed and full volume (crying) when the neighbor’s sprinkler happens to loose a few drops over the fence and on to his unsuspecting head! June also ushered in a swing set- wrestled out of one yard where the kids have outgrown the set, and muscled into our backyard (thanks, Uncle Mark!)- much to the delight of our kids. It now serves as fun place to play for the older three: a fort, a picnic area, cat box (I mean- sand box), and whatever the kids decide it is on any given day. On a more serious note, David and Aimee also had the privilege of taking in the Christian Home Educators of Colorado state conference (thanks to the grandpas and grandmas- real and honorary, who made it possible by taking the kids). Again, we learned a lot and were encouraged in our goals and role as a family. One particular lesson that stood out to us was how God knows who we need in our family to mold us into the people He has made us to be (conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus). So often, as parents, we consider ourselves to be molding and shaping the lives of our children: we have to raise them right. Right? Well, yes, there are things we are called to do and accountable for as we train our children in the way they should go, but it’s important to realize the work God is doing in our own lives, through these precious lives placed in our families.
July brought the Stampede Fair and Rodeo. Silas learned how to bust some mutton (bare back sheep riding), and all of the kids experienced their first fun rides- Ferris wheel (way more scary in real life for the kids- none of them really looked like they knew what to think, but no one cried), bumper cars, and more. Silas particularly enjoyed the bumper cars, as David pushed on the “gas” and he made it a point to get as many bumps out of the ride as possible. Amelie, however, was content to snuggle up to Daddy and let him take care of all of the driving. We enjoyed local splash parks (anything where the water use doesn’t show up on our water bill is a good thing) and waited for Baby Baxter to make an appearance. No baby by Aimee’s due date- and dropping amniotic fluid levels indicated induction of labor. Labor went about as smoothly as labor can go, and Ian Matthew Baxter officially joined the family on July 28. He had trouble holding up his blood sugar by himself, and took a one-week vacation in the NICU before going home to three older siblings. Perhaps it was his way of avoiding the rough love of a 2-year old brother! Since he stabilized by one week of age, the doctor considered it a transitional issue (as he made the transition from operating under Mommy’s systems to operating on his own). That means he has had no other issues since then, does not require special follow up, and he is not at an increased risk for such issues in the future. God provided an empty room in the NICU for Aimee to stay with Ian, which made for a much easier time with breastfeeding. This week gave us a glimpse into what it is for other parents who have babies in much more serious situations requiring a NICU stay, and we praise God for how He worked so many details to provide in all aspects of our situation.
As you may have already guessed, August had a rather tumultuous start! Ian came home August 5 with a tired mommy. David had taken a week off to be home with the three kiddos, and headed back to work the following Monday. It was Mommy plus four, and the youngest of the four needed to eat, be burped, have diapers changed, and have enthusiastic affections of the siblings carefully monitored! We took it easy and didn’t do much away from the house. It was a major victory to start school at the end of the month! Thankfully, the curriculum we chose starts off very gently, and eases everyone into its full depths.
September brought a much-anticipated visit from an out-of-state auntie, and we enjoyed one last trip to the Centerra shopping area to splash around in the fountains with her. That particular outing was filled with fun and some of the revealed mysteries of parenthood. What are these mysteries, you ask? Well, if you’re a parent of young children (or can remember when your kids were little) you’ll understand! Those mysteries are the things that no one told you about before you had children of your own. Those mysteries involve things like changing your 2-year old’s unexpectedly very soiled, oozing-out-the-side diaper as he lays on the floor of the van- and as you’re trying to do mess control (mess control defined: getting dirty things properly contained in a bag while keeping your child where he’s supposed to be without soiling anything that really shouldn’t be soiled), the dirty diaper starts to roll. It’s like slow motion; you see it slowly rolling and unwrapping itself out of the corner of your eye. You only have two hands to contain this mess, so you let go of the kid and grab for the diaper… too late. Everything changes back into normal speed, and the diaper falls out onto the ground with a “splat!” Oh dear- now what to do? People don’t typically think to look for kid piles on the ground when getting in and out of their vehicles! Dog piles- maybe. Kids piles- no. Then your practical parenting brain takes over… get everything else cleaned up (kid, clothes, etc.), and then figure out the diaper lying contents out on the ground. You grab one of the extra grocery bags packed in the diaper bag (hurray for plastic!), and using the bag like a glove, you get the diaper scooped up and into the bag. Mess on the ground? Voila! Diaper wipes to the rescue! It’s getting dark, so it’s hard to tell just how much residue is left on the asphalt. You scratch your head, wondering when it’s going to rain again. That’s the problem with a semi-arid climate like Colorado- the chances of rain that night are pretty slim. Well, not much else to do except warn the people getting into the car next to you about the residue on the ground, and then you walk away, hoping that it rains… soon! After that you visit the delicious gelato shop for a treat before heading home, and there, another mystery of parenting is revealed. The two-year old tries to taste the five-year old’s gelato… and over it goes, upside down- “PLOP!” onto the floor. Sigh!!! Yes, these mysteries revealed are based off from our real life, and yes, they have been relayed in a spirit of truthfulness! We had other parenting mysteries revealed in September, as well as throughout the year. (Think brake change on vehicle, brake cleaner spray, and a two-year old… write back if you want details!). There really isn’t room in one letter for all of these episodes!
On with life and school- October, November and December came and went quickly- in a rather blurred fashion. We cleaned out the yard in October, including the sunflowers that had grown at least 7-8 feet tall during the summer. Before we cleaned out, we met the neighborhood squirrel. The kids accidentally broke a head off from one of the sunflowers, but wanted to keep it alive. We put it in container of water outside the sliding glass door to the backyard, and were surprised by a bold little squirrel who sat right outside the window, eating the seeds out of that flower. We discovered that he ate the seeds out of all of the other sunflowers as well. He must have eaten really well, as we haven’t seen any other squirrels around but him. October also brought our first snow- much to the kids’ delight. It was a worthwhile amount, like snow should be, and we’re hoping for more as January has been dry so far.
The highlight of November was a trip to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in Denver. We enjoyed a Biblically Correct Tour (BC Tours) of the Prehistoric Journey exhibit. As our tour guide noted, there is a lot of good artwork, and just a little bit of science (fossils). We found a song by Buddy Davis that describes things pretty well- “Well, there really was a world wide flood, just look at the stoney curse- with billions of dead things, buried in rock layers, laid down by water all over the earth.” We also enjoyed a health exhibit where we got to watch an interactive movie presentation of a person hiking Mount Evans, and even experienced a quick flurry of snow in the presentation gallery!
December brought the kids final choir concert. The academy which Kinderchoir was under was disbanded, so no more choir for the time being. Instead, attention and energy has been turned to swimming lessons- a big splash with Silas and Amelie. At Christmas we enjoyed time with family, which was nice as there are many we do not see very often. It seems that most of our time and energy since experiencing enlargement by one, has been focused on day-to-day functions: eat, sleep, laundry, diapers, dishes, house, school, etc! We are trying to figure out what kind of routines (not schedule) we can develop to help smooth our days. It’s pretty impressive what two adults and four children can do to one house in a one hour period! The house is small- and the mess is magnified!
Lest it fail to be mentioned, David continues on in his employment at an avionics installation business at the Greeley airport. He is given half days on a semi-regular basis, and the work environment is very unpleasant at times. We look forward to God’s provision of something different. We have seen God open several doors during the past year- but none have seemed right, or the door has been closed before we can walk through. We are thankful that this work experience has grown David’s skills, and will allow him to complete his Inspection Authorization. This is the highest certificate he can achieve as an A&P (that’s code for “airplane mechanic”), and give him greater authority in inspection and alterations of aircraft.
Congratulations- you’ve made it to the end! This writer refuses to add an additional page (yes, yes- you’re tearing up with sadness). Anyway, we hope your 2012 is off to a good start. We think of and pray for many of you!
With love in Christ,
David & Aimee Baxter ~Silas (6), Amelie (5), Josiah (2-1/2), & Ian (6 months)
For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—
all things have been created through Him and for Him.
visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—
all things have been created through Him and for Him.
Colossians 1:16
