I spent a lot of the weekend cleaning. It was kind of wonderful actually. No, it’s not clean anymore. That sort of thing never lasts. But I’ll always have the memory. Sunday was warm, and the bees got to clean out their hives as well. There was lots of buzzing about, even from the little hive in the chicken coop. My friend Lori thought I should mention that in the first couple of weeks after Job was born, Jonny and I weren’t cooking dinner, but we were making candy for those bees. So far they are surviving, eating the fondant. (If you are new here and are curious about what I’m talking about, here’s a post that explains a bit about the bees that now live in the vacant chicken coop.)
I got out with friends on Sunday afternoon which was really, really nice. I discussed the infrequency of bathing newborns with my friend who also has a newborn. She asked how often I bathe Job, and I said, “Well, he got a bath today since I was taking him out.” We weighed Job via the weigh mom with and without baby technique, and he weighs over 13 pounds!
Another friend noted that it’s a tradition to take out the creche or nativity (I call it a nativity) on Gaudete Sunday (which was yesterday). Things felt like they were really coming together for me in that moment, as I had already been planning to pull them out that evening simply because of all the cleaning I had been doing (There was actually a place to put them!)
We nearly didn’t end up making it to Mass Sunday evening because there was a whole lot of crying going on. But then of course I was so glad that we did. Fr. R gave a great homily, reminding me to keep my expectations in check and just be grateful, and we could actually hear him because Silas slept through Mass. He mentioned hippies, comparing John the Baptist to the hippies of his childhood (in terms of the way people might have viewed him.) His mom would always tell him and his siblings to lock the doors of the car when they neared any of these “hippies” when they were out driving. Until the one day she actually told him to roll down the window. He did. He was six years old. “Tell that hippie to cut his hair and get a job!” He did! Anyway, that was good for a chuckle. Of course Silas stayed up until 11 p.m. after that evening nap.
Allright, Seth and I are working to clean out the “tupperware” cabinet and I better get back to it. I don’t own much, if any actual Tupperware, but that is what I grew up calling the cabinet where storage containers are kept. That cabinet is always a wreck. Seth is showing some promise in the organizational skills department. I hear angels singing as I type that.
(One of our Nativity sets is from Liberia, and the other is from Nova Natural.)
Christine says
You have such lovely photos of your home. Can you share where you got the wooden creche? Thanks.
Ginny says
Thanks! That’s just something super simple that Jonny put together out of some old wood. The painted wooden figures were purchased from Nova Natural.
stephinie says
baby number three (and four) got so few baths….. and i remember the assistant at the pediatricians office noting on how lovely her skin was, that that time of year (winter) she saw so much dry skin in babies. she wanted to know what i was using on her. i was a bit embarrassed to say “well, we do baby massage once a week….. and i use an apricot oil on her…. that’s it really. and she only gets a bath about once a week…..” she actually smiled and said to me, “i wish i could convince more parents that babies don’t need to be so “clean”…..
it was funny 🙂
Pamela says
Your kitty has the same coloring (though different spot placements) as my Vex! 🙂
Sonja says
Here ‘s to: Precious baby, adorable kitty, amazing bees, momentary clean homes and siblings playing together! Full home, full heart. Praying for you and yours today.
melody says
I always just take my babies into the bath with me. Probably more out of laziness then anything else. And most of the time it seems the only way that I’ll get clean. But I also tend to have a huge over-supply of milk which makes for babies that do a whole lot of spitting up, so we get gross pretty quick!
karen says
I just love Job’s sweet face! Your house was clean and mine is getting messy as each child arrives home for the holidays…I’m not complaining-yet.
Melanie says
I agree with A Little Blue Dragonfly…even in Job’s brand new pictures I saw a lot of Beatrix. I love your blog so much, Ginny. It’s always a peaceful time of my day when I visit my friend, Ginny, who doesn’t know me. Your kindred spirit in Idaho.
Sandra says
Ginny – your photos are just gorgeous in this post (they are always!). I love the ones of the kitty and I’m always amazed how much Job looks like Silas.
Alie says
Mom of seven here, and I don’t bathe babies in the first month, and after that infrequently. It began instinctively; how could the baby be dirty, I’ve wiped him down with a damp cloth (warm water infused with a tiny bit of lavender or tea tree oil). Then the more I thought about it, babies aren’t good at regulating their own body temperature, so why rob the of all that warmth by bathing. The other thing I noticed is that my babies didn’t tolerate any baby soap, event the gentle organic kind.
All that being said, I do love the first bath!
A Little Blue Dragonfly says
Is it just me, or does little Job favor big sister Beatrix? Oh, goodness, but he is beautiful, Ginny! 🙂
Annie says
Hey can you send Seth over here? 🙂 my Tupperware cabinet and spice cabinet really need help!
It’s been on my eye for weeks!
I wish I could figure out how to have my teen boys do it……:) oh well, snow day here tomorrow…guess what I will
Be doing? Pics are so cute:)
Cathy says
I love the photo of Silas, wearing a necktie and dancing with his sisters. That is just precious!
heathermama says
love those kitty pictures. <3 and your thoughts for monday. i had to laugh about the house cleaning. ahhh, the memory of having a tidy house for all of 5 minutes. hahaha especially with 6 kids, i swear the dishes, laundry and floors are never done.
Renee Anne says
I hate our tupperware cabinet. It’s always a mess. I clean and organized it when we moved into our house last February and it was a mess within a couple weeks. Then I did it again and it was a mess again. It’s mostly my fault as I’m the one that digs in there the most but, you know, I just don’t know how to keep it clean. ::sigh::
June says
I’m a LOT older than you are…my 2 boys were in high school during those hippie years and yes, they did have long hair. Someone told my mother at the time that if they had boys, they’d MAKE them cut their hair. My mother replied….my son could have hair as long as he wante. As long as he could have his hair like HE wanted, I still had my son. Her comment when Pres. Nixon had to resign because of the Watergate scandal, she said she would always remember him with good feelings because he ended the VietNam conflict so her grandsons didn’t have to go to war.
Love your post. Baby Job is growing so fast!
JuneK
Dawn says
I am a labor and delivery/mother, baby nurse on the weekends at our local hospital. When I do discharge teaching, I tell new moms, “newborns are not crawling around on the floor getting dirty”, “they only need their faces, neck (where milk drips down), hands and diaper areas washed daily with a wash cloth”. Summer babies do need washing a little more often since they may sweat.
I have to chuckle a little when a newborn is a day old and grandma is asking me for the baby tub to bathe a baby who less than 24 hours ago had his first bath.
Love the knitted socks!
Elizabeth says
As always, love your posts; how funny about the hippies; I love your home, the pictures of the cat are beautiful; hang in there; it will settle into a rhythm again; we are praying for the bees and esp yours! 🙂 Have a good evening and I pray a peaceful one!
Rosemary says
I’m glad I’m not the only person who bathes my newborns infrequently. 🙂 I figure they don’t get that dirty anyways, except for their faces!