We are nearing the two-year report with Stefan, which is rather mind-boggling.
Our family is rejoicing at the arrival (in March) of our newest, biggest, baby! He is a dear, serious young man, somewhat fussy, and sleep has fled from our eyes, but we are thankful to God for him, and for the warm welcome extended to him by his siblings. We call him Freddy.
Freddy already thinks his big brother hung the moon.
Stefi is very gentle with little ones, for which I rejoice.
This little lady is a big sister, and pleased as punch.
We are blessed with blooms in the spring. And Choupie has the same colors.
Baby chicks will be with us soon!
As you see, it is a busy bunch. Stefan is going through a toddler-like language explosion, and can talk about chickens, bunnies, potatoes, tomatoes, and much more.
Our friends, the C family, moved into a bigger space this January after their third child came, and we are glad they have the room they need, but we do feel their absence. Families from our parish have been so kind with meals and help, and one special lady was so kind as to sit with Ana and Stefi while Freddy was being born. That was a busy evening. Praise God, though, all went well.
We are now trying to figure out a school situation for Stefan next year, meeting with the local elementary next Friday. We'll see what they say. He's come a long way, but has miles before him...
Also, we are looking at lift vans. We grew out of our minivan, and are tremendously grateful for the gift of our dear friends' 2002 Accord, which has allowed us to get around very affordably and taken some load off the trusty '06 Sienna. But we can't take everybody in one car anymore, and Mama is not in a place where she should lift Ana (or load/unload her wheelchair from the minivan). So we are looking at lift vans, then looking at our bank account, and then looking to Christ who will give us what we need, and knows it better than we do.
However, I will ask you, faithful readers, if you think a GoFundMe would be appropriate? We were grateful for your help when Stefan came home, but we also know that the most generous people often have the least money, and we always want to be generous ourselves, and not a burden to those near us (however far away they are). Thus, I welcome your counsel and ask for your prayers.
I will close with words from St John Climacus, the abbot of St Catherine's of Sinai (~6th century), whom we particularly remember this Sunday:
"The Christian is one who imitates Christ in thought, word and deed, as far as is possible for human beings, believing rightly and blamelessly in the Holy Trinity. The lover of God is he who lives in communion with all that is natural and sinless, and as far as he is able neglects nothing good." (The Ladder of Divine Ascent, s1.4, tr. Archimandrite Lazarus Moore)
In Christ, who is our life,
Papa
