Dear Annika - you're one!

Dear little Annika,

It is SUCH a gift to be writing this birthday letter. I thought my baby days were long behind me... but the Lord knew our (not so little!) family wasn't complete without you. What a wonderful journey this has been. From the moment we found out you were on your way, we have cherished every moment. You are truly loved... I'm not sure there's ever been such a doted on baby. Your big siblings are all besotted and would do anything for you. You reward them well - with funny faces, giddy giggles and beaming toothy grins. It is a joy to have you as part of our family, and it is a privilege to find myself taking this Mama ride for the fifth time round.

Dear Elias - you're 7!

Dear Li-Li,

Our super flexible, football-loving, Harry-Potter-mad bundle of fun. You are sweet natured, sensitive and kind bundled up in a flurry of activity and boyish mischief. You are the epitome of an oxymoron - gentle, yet wild - fun, yet serious - cuddly, yet active... you have ridiculous depths to your brain and often startle your Papa and I with the kind of questions you come out with.

You surprised us with an early arrival 7 years ago (6 weeks early - eek!) and you've been surprising us ever since!

Dear Heidi - you're 11!

Dear Heidi,

HAPPY 11TH BIRTHDAY! Hard to believe our two biggest girls are now well into double digits. How the years fly! It makes me more determined than ever to make the most of every minute. Having Annika now, and dressing her in some of your clothes, it feels like those days were yesterday - and yet a lifetime ago. Time is a funny thing.

One month of Annika!

One month of our Annika Beth!

Growing up too quick // An adventure with my biggest girl!

I love trawling back through the history of these posts... I started blogging shortly after Ava was born... there are treasure troves of memories here that I'm so thankful to have - moments recorded in word and picture that would have been long forgotten had I not been marking all those memories on this blog. These days our children love to pour over the posts and laugh at the comedy moments. I'm so glad to have it.

And on Wednesday we hit another milestone as my biggest girl did something that, in my mind at least, catapulted her right into the "really growing up now" category.

Can you spot the difference?!

12 highlights of 2023!

2023 - where to begin?

It's been a busy year - with so many highlights I couldn't possibly share them all - not mentioned are our crazy weekend round trip to Norway which involved cancelled flights, last minute glam hotel stays, getting to Dave's cousin's wedding by the skin of our teeth, aquarium receptions and flights home in the cockpit! Then there were the theatre trips - Wicked, The King and I (totally underrated but fabulous!), To Kill a Mockingbird, and of course the Junior Theatre Festival itself. Also let's not forget the countless small moments that make up the memories - library books in front of the (fake Netflix) fire, the boys coming in from football covered in mud and smelling of fresh air and grass, time with dear friends, Bible studies and good food and all the things that make up a year in the best possible way.

Preparations!

And just like that, we've hit 37 weeks. What a whirlwind of a pregnancy this has been... it has flown by - the busyness of life juggling four children, Dave's new job and my work, I suppose. I'm not complaining... though now am starting to feel like I should be more prepared than I am. The bag was half packed and that was about as far as I'd got until yesterday!

Christmas 23: The Whirlwind and The Countdown!

Advent and Christmas have been a whirlwind this year... a combination of juggling four kids' school commitments, Dave's first term at a new school, my winding down for maternity leave, a new baby in the family and counting down for our little arrival in a couple more weeks! It's been a busy season, and yet somehow, with a little bit of intention, we have managed to create space every day to build in moments of quiet to stop and remember the reason for this precious season...

Ava - you're 12!

Dear Ava,

Another year flown by - another year under our belts. As my body has been growing another little member of our family, so much of this pregnancy has felt eerily familiar to my pregnancy with you. The intense sickness, the tiredness, the teaching with a bump and snaffling ginger biscuits in the cupboard to keep the nausea at bay before facing a class of children. It feels somehow like the right kind of way to bookend our family. Our firstborn and our final. So similar in so many ways.

A shock discovery, and a blessed assurance: We have some news!

What assurance, what peace there is in knowing that we live within God's sovereign care. The discovery that our 5th little person was going to be arriving in early 2024, though a complete shock to us, was no shock to our Father in Heaven. In fact, this little person was always part of the plan - always part of our story.

Dear Jonas - you're 8!

Dear Jonas,

Along comes another year and I ask the question again...

"What would you like to do for your birthday this year Jonas?"... and I get the same old answer!

"Play football Mama!"

2022 - A Year of Transitions...

If there's ever a time to resurrect a dormant blog, then surely the new year is it! This space was so precious for so many years, and now and then I find myself returning to it... just to dive into the memories of life with very small children. Somehow remembering the physical intensity of those early years makes me appreciate the phase we are in now.

Happy 5th Birthday Elias!

 

Our Elias - 5 years old!

Our space-mad, Lego-loving, mini theologian, arms-and-legs everywhere enthusiast turned 5. It now feels official that we are out of the baby zone and into the realm of full blown kids. 

Poor Elias actually spent his birthday recovering from a bug the boys had as we travelled back from Wales on Thursday, so it turned out to be a low-key day with the family. Presents, birthday breakfast, the sharing of "what we love about Elias" around the table and a visit from the grandparents.

Happy 9th birthday our Heidi!

Dear Heidi,

Nine years old... our baby girl is definitely out of the little years now! It seems like a lifetime ago that they lifted you out, showed me your fuzzy dark head and shouted "It's a girl!"... the early days of your life were blissful. The newborn phase has always been super intense and emotional and hard... and yet somehow with you it felt easy. Perhaps the Lord allowed us that season of grace before the hard months that followed when you fell ill, but those first nine weeks were carefree and wonderful in every way.

Dear Ava - you're 10!

Dear Ava,

Well here we are... double figures! The little years lie behind you and I see now, more clearly every day, the young woman you are growing into... independent, gentle, caring, loyal and kind. The characteristics we saw beginning in those early years when you were thrown into independence so quickly... three younger siblings by the time you were five... have blossomed and grown in the loveliest of ways. You are the best of leaders to our little crew, forgiving and patient in ways I have often felt I could learn from, and all of your siblings love you to bits. Your sister, perhaps, is your biggest fan and I'm so thankful to God for the relationship you two have (even though I need to remind myself of this when you're in the middle of a full scale bicker!)

Dear Jonas - you're 6!

Happy birthday Jonas!

Six years old! Our little adventurer! The glue to our gang! You are such a joy, Jonas, and despite your relentless winding up of your siblings, you are the one who everyone always goes to for a giggle. We have loved celebrating you today... it literally feels like yesterday that they lifted you out, this giant of a baby, and said "it's a boy!" - in that moment I was thrown into the whirlwind of little boys and its has been a joy to ride the wave with you and your brother!

Dear Elias - you're 4!

Our little Elias,

Not so little anymore! How are you FOUR already? This really blows my mind - that the teeny tiny little bundle that we held in that dark ICU ward with bleeps and beeps sounding all around us has grown into this strong, sociable, charismatic little man! 

Dear Heidi - you're 8!

Happy Birthday Heidi girl!

Our creative, exuberant, home-loving girl is eight! Of all of our children, you were the one I thought would get away without a "lockdown" birthday, but I was wrong! Hard to believe your seventh birthday Narnia party was one of the last things we did before things got serious with Covid last year!

And yet here we are, a full year later. And this year it has been a joy to get to spend more time with you. You are passionate and enthusiastic and have grown up so much this year. Getting to teach you and learn alongside all of you this year has been so fascinating for me, and seeing your creative streak grow and develop has been so much fun. 

Dear Elias - off to Preschool!

Oh my boy... my baby boy! (I know you would deny that's what you are, but I'm afraid that's what you'll always be to me!)

It's perhaps testimony to the busyness of life right now that it's taken me until half term to write this post... as usual I'm playing catch up on my blog, but I couldn't let this milestone go without writing a little something for it!

Dear Ava - you're 9!

 

Our sweet Ava M,

How, oh how are you nine?! One year from double figures. Half way to adulthood. It feels like the years are flying away from me... that holding you in my arms and singing "Kleiner Schatz" while rocking you before I laid you down to sleep was only a moment ago! You were recalling yesterday the one memory you have from Nursery - when you were caught hiding under the table because you didn't want to do what you had been asked to. I never knew that before, and yet those days of meandering up to that little nursery class with your little friends feels like it was only yesterday.

And yet I feel SO incredibly privileged. In the midst of this worldwide pandemic that we find ourselves in, I feel like I've got to know YOU so much better over the past six months. I knew little mini you so very well, and though its been intense at times with all of you at home, it has been such a joy to get to know the more grown-up you so very well too - perhaps to a degree that I would never had the privilege of having had all this not happened.