Family Musings

Friday night was another great football game at Frostproof High. They beat Avon Park 35-0! Go Bulldogs! Afterwards, Charlotte and I went over to the church for the Youth Department's 5th Quarter party . For the uninitiated, it is basically a party after the football game for the kids to come and hang out and let off steam instead of hanging out in the park of loitering at the convenience store. We served hamburgers and chips and basically just made sure the youth had a safe place to be that night (until midnight at least when they had to go home). I had fun meeting more teenagers, some of whom knew who I was because I'm the "teacher with a baby" at school. Yesterday, Grandma and Grumpy came down to visit. I'd pretend they came to see all of us, but they really just came to see Charlotte and to put more pennies into her piggy banks. The first one is a very cute little piggy that is already full. And the second one is designed so we can write the dates of most of Ch...

Well, I finally did it! I managed to get our Sabin Dome website updated. It took a while just because we've been busy with Charlotte and adjusting to being back at work. No more Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer for us. :-) Go and check it out!

Oh my, what a miracle this child is! It reminds me of what a miracle all life is and what a gift from God we have been given. You can look back through my archives and learn about the stages of a child's development in the womb. Of course, none of them do the miracle justice, but God's word does. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Psalm 139.13-17 I still do not understand how some people can believe that abortion is a "choice." If it is a choice, then it is a choice to kill another human being. "If men w...

How's that for a blog title? Got your attention didn't it. That question sure got my attention when it was the title of this article. This is a fair and reasonable question and one every woman needs to address if she is going to be married and have children. I began wrestling with this idea when I was in high school, though from a completely different perspective than the one I have now. In high school I was dead set on being a career broadcaster. I was going to work in radio, and if I had my way, even own my own radio station. There would be no need to "stay at home" because I was not going to get married (I had no need for a husband, I would do it on my own thank you very much). By the time I hit my sophomore year of college, I'd decided to work as a director-type for a news program, calling the shots live. It would have been a good fit for me. But God had other plans... Bruce became a Christian that year and when we started dating it took him less than 6 months...

I am still a sucker for my cute little girl. While I should be finishing my lesson plans for this week, I shot this 30-second clip of Charlotte and the cute noises she makes half-asleep. Now, back to my lesson plans! I must teach those 8th graders how to use apostrophes to show possession.

While I am posting videos... I found this one one another blog and felt it was worthy of sharing with all of my faithful readers. It is about 3 minutes long and might seem slow at first, but it is a worthy watch. I really want to wax poetic about this video, but can't think of anything to add. I hope you enjoyed it.

Click on the thumbnail below for a fun little video of Charlotte doing a dance of love for all of you. It is my first attempt at making a JumpCut video. I promise it won't take long to watch, less than a minute actually! Scroll down to read my post about the new site if you haven't already seen it and been formally welcomed to my new home online.

Welcome to FamilyMusings.com! I am so excited to announce a new home for my little blog. I moved my blog because I wanted to take advantage of blog software upgrades from Blogger.com and I wanted an easier web address to share with my friends and family. I'll be in the process of adding widgets in the next few weeks to make it even easier for you, my reader, to follow the comings and goings of the Sabin family. I chose the name Family Musings because I really feel it encapsulated what I want this blog to be. I want it to be about my family and how much I love and cherish them through whatever circumstance we find ourselves in. This is still my journal of love for Charlotte and whatever other children might come after here, but I also want it to be a snapshot of who I am at any given point in my blogging. Also, I aspire to be more contemplative in my life, to reflect more on what is happening to me and around me. Maybe even I secretly hope that someone will one day refer to me as el...

Click to play Make your own Smilebox

Yes, you read that correctly... I turned 30 today. And you know what, apart from the arthritis that seems to have taken over my joints, the hemorrhoids, gas, and foggy memory that I am suddenly experiencing, I don't feel any different. :-) Just kidding... I don't have any of those symptoms though a certain someone suggested that life is all downhill from here. I just don't see it. I think life is great and only missing a few more hours of sleep! Today was a good day, sort of. When I woke up, I found a note from Charlotte in my kitchen wishing me a happy birthday. And, my mom came down last night to spend my birthday with me and to watch Charlotte while Bruce took me out to dinner. My mom and I had a good day visiting and took Charlotte to Wal-Mart for her 6-week photos (which is why I don't have any to post here, there won't be in until 10/10). Then, we went to Crisper's for lunch... I love their Harvest Cobb Salad! While at lunch, and after nursing Charlotte, s...

Lottie went to her 2nd football game last Friday night. I think she enjoyed it, plus she got to hang out with our friend Latrelle. The Frostproof Bulldogs beat Mulberry. Go bulldogs! Lottie had another first this weekend too... she went to the church nursery - twice! We visited Northland Community Church on Saturday night and I left her in their nursery. It was a very high-tech experience. I got a beeper (like they give out at restaurants) and stickers. One sticker for her, one for her bag, and one for me to wear to show I was authorized to pick her up. They are very security conscience, which is why I felt comfortable leaving her in the nursery of a church that is not my own. Then, on Sunday morning, Lottie went to the nursery at our church for the entire morning! She didn't cry and was actually asleep when I went to pick her up. This morning we had an unfortunate incident though... Lottie threw up on mommy. She was fussy while she was eating and I guess I know why now. She didn...

Time Magazine posted this article, "What Breastfeeding Can't Do," online and it seems to be fairly popular. Right now it is ranked #2, which I guess goes to show the fascination we have with breasts in this country, since so few people in the US actually breastfeed. I have made the decision to exclusively breastfeed Charlotte until 6 months and then to continue until she is at least 1 year old, adding solids to her diet as needed. The American Pediatric Association recommends exclusive feeding until 6 months and continued feeding until 1 year old, yet look at these statistics from the CDC . I suppose I wanted to blog about this because I didn't like the title of the article. While I agree that it is every mother's right to decide how to feed her baby, it would be silly for me to ignore how perfect breast milk is for a baby, even if it might not do the things that some people thought (i.e. prevent asthma and allergies). The headline Time chose seems to reduce th...

Monday I took Charlotte to her 1-month doctor's appointment with Dr. Eason. He looked her over and said "she's perfect!" I told him I knew that already, but it was nice to have a professional confirm it. The nurse took her vitals and we learned that Ms. Moon is now 21 1/2 inches long and 8 lb 12 oz. That means she has grown 1 1/2 inches and gained 13 oz since she was born. Her weight is perfect for her height and she is roughly in the 70th percentile of all babies. Some people have commented on her weight gain so I thought I'd explain why she is perfect. Normally, babies lose some weight their first week and gain it back during their second week. So, the real weight gain doesn't start until week three. Doctor's expect babies to gain 1/2 to 1 ounce per day, so after another 2 weeks, a baby should have gained 7-14 ounces. My Charlotte gained 13. She is right on track! Breastfed babies rule! I'm also trying to teach her sign language and she rewarded me b...

Happy 4th Week Birthday Charlotte! Today, our Charlotte Moon turned 4 weeks old. A good friend advised me to find a toy that we thought she would keep for a long time and take Charlotte's picture on it at regular intervals to track her growth. So, I took this adorable stuffed dog blanket she received as a gift from another cute little baby (thanks Eni!) and took some pictures. Here are my two favorite. Isn't our daughter beautiful? I decided to turn our photo shoot into an opportunity for some tummy time. We've been doing this a couple of times a day for the last 2 weeks and tonight was the first time she really held her head up for more than a quick second. I couldn't get a good picture of it because I was so excited for her. I thought this one though was really cute, even if her chin is resting on the dog's head just a little bit.I think the difference was that tummy time had been on the bed but tonight she was on the floor, which is harder and probably made it ea...

Wow, it sure has been a while since I posted a blog! Thanks to Tess for reminding me that there are people out there who actually read this thing. :-) I'll start with a recent photo of Charlotte. This was taken last Friday, August 31. Since I last journaled, I have lost the list I was using to track things to write about, so hopefully you won't mind settling for my random thoughts today. Sleep - I am amazed at how I can get by with so little sleep. Charlotte wakes me up about every 2 hours during the night and we spend 30-60 minutes eating each time. Bruce has to be up for work at the awful hour of 5 am so we've been going to sleep by 9:30 pm most nights. Most days I am awake and out of bed by 8 am, so I guess that translates to about 6 hours of sleep a night. Today though, when Charlotte woke up at 5:00 am to eat, I couldn't go back to sleep, so I've been up since then and haven't even felt sleepy. For someone who used to require at least 7 1/2 hours of sleep ...