I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for their concern, love, and prayers over the course of our last pregnancy. We were humbled over and over again at particularly the prayer support.
This pregnancy was an amazing answer to prayer. During the entire time Melanie was pregnant, we asked God for a June birthday (full term) and a strong, healthy baby. Christina was born in June – on her due date to be exact. Hearing the nurses come through and say, “Happy Birthday, Christina” was such a joyful thing. It was a frequent reminder that her birthday was indeed in June. She was strong and healthy – all answers to prayer.
Melanie handled a very difficult labor well. The Lord blessed us with a great relationship with our care providers, all of whom shared and supported our desires for (in fact one even specialized in) an intervention-free, natural birth. However, a number of challenges arose including the baby being in distress, which culminated in a c-section.
It was amazing to be holding Christina not too long after her birth, marveling at her alertness and how well she was doing. Even as God directed events in ways we were hoping to avoid, He answered our prayers for a healthy baby!
Melanie is enjoying her best postpartum experience as she begins her recovery. Christina is doing great and is a most welcome addition to our household.
I had the privilege of being Mr. Mom for a week. It gave me a wonderful appreciation of all that Melanie accomplishes on a daily basis.
On a lighter note, I’d like to offer a parenting tip of the week. You’ll laugh, because I’m sure this is quite obvious to many of you. For years I’d struggled with how to teach the little girls to rub their hands together after getting soap on them before putting them back under the water. They tend to stick hands right into the water with no rubbing once I put soap on them. Part of it is logistics. They reach their hands out for soap and pull them back to “rub rub” them, which is where the stream of water is. Instantly, soap is rinsed off with no real skin contact. This week, all of a sudden, I realized that I could turn the water off as I squirted soap onto their hands. It works like this. Hands go into water. Then I grab the soap and turn the water off. Next I squirt soap into their hands as well as mine, “rub rub,” water back on, and rinse. Wow – so simple!
Finally, thank you for the encouragement on Abigail’s helmet. We’ve often marveled at the sharp-eyed blog readers. Yes, her helmet wasn’t adjusted correctly. I have no good excuse for that. I know how to adjust helmets; it simply hadn’t happened yet. You’ll be happy to know that her helmet is now correctly adjusted (see below picture)!
Again, thank you for the prayer support!
Love,
Nathan
“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
–Micah 6:8
Here is an idea I use with children. Have them sing ABC song or Jesus Loves Me while they scrub their hands. When song is over then they can rinse. You are a very sweet family and I am glad things are going well for you.
Thank you for this post, Nathan—and Congratulations on your precious new baby girl! 🙂 I smiled at your “soap story” and am glad you’re teaching your children the importance of good hand-washing! (seriously, some parents don’t see the importance of that healthy habit). ~ LOVE the photos you shared–such a precious family you all are. 🙂 SO glad you’re giving Melanie a helping hand—I too had an emergency C-section with my 3rd baby, and did way too much lifting too soon (resulting in hernia surgery the following year). 🙁 So continued prayers that Melanie will heal nicely and not “overdo”! 🙂 May the Lord always bless you, Melanie, and your precious blessings. Hugs from Georgia, Patti M.
Beautiful family! Abigail is beginning to look like such a big girl now.
Love the picture with new baby.
mama to 9. 12 and under.
Thanks for the update on Melanie and your little ladies. Bless you for your patience with your little ones! My prayers go out for Melanie’s recovery to be swift and comfortable. As for the handwashing trick, might I add another? Have the girls sing “Happy Birthday” twice as they soap up their little hands. That’s the proper length of time needed to wash off germs, as taught in nursing school. Bless you, and may you all have a wonderful summer–
Thanks again,
Karen N.
I will not laugh at Nathan!!!! Raising kids is a learning experience, isn’t it?
Now, who made the dress for Christina? What I can see of it, it is just darling!!! I have a lady here at work whom is expecting her first…a girl, and that may be an idea for her. I need a pattern number, ladies!!
Abby is getting so big, and I am thrilled to see her helmet on correctly. My kids are 12 and 14, and I still make them wear one…much to their chagrin, but just because their heads are harder does not mean they cannot get hurt. Is it just me, or is Abby changing again from little girl to sure enough big girl? I love watching how kids change and grow. Simply amazing and another way of God’s hand in everything!
With love and in Christ,
Lori
>>>>
Don’t know, but I’ll ask.
What a sweet family picture!!
Nathan and Melanie,
You all look wonderful, glad Melanie is recovering well. Christina is just beautiful.
Praising the Lord with you for the miracle of new life. Christina is absolutely beautiful, and she is blessed beyond measure to be welcomed into such a godly family! We will continue to lift up Melanie as she recovers and as you all adjust to having a newborn.
Praise the Lord for ALL the answers to prayer! Christina is such a precious doll baby and big newborn!
Thanks for such a great update! It’s nice to hear that everyone is doing well! Continued prayers for your family.
Annie
What a beautiful little girl! I just wanted to send you a belated congratulation! I understand how hard a labor can be and I have full compassion for Melanie as we also desired a natural birth (home birth for our first boy), but it finally ended in a C-section. And the second pregnancy ended also in a c-section. But I am so thankful for medical support and I really praise the Lord that Christina is such a healthy and beautiful little one. We continue to pray for you that the Lord may guide you and give you the wisdom to raise your little girls for His kingdom, and for them to become living testimonies of God’s power. Love from France, Elisabeth
Christina looks like a beautiful baby. I bet her sisters are just loving her to death.
Congratulations on making it through the week as Mr. Mom. Another piece of advice on washing hands: use your elbow or a towel to turn off the water. The faucet is a good germ collector because you turn it on with dirty hands. In a public restroom you can always tell who the health care providers are because they never touch the faucet or the door handle after washing their hands.
Oh the wonders of a simple solution! I often wonder why they elude us for so long. It is a joy to hear that your family is well.
Thank you for your message, Nathan. I don’t know your family personally, but you are in my thoughts and prayers and it’s always a joy to hear good news.
Thank you for the update, pictures, and handwashing tips!
We rejoice with you!
With love from NJ
Lisa and Hannah
Congratulations Nathan and Melanie of your new baby girl! My prayers are with all of you.
awww!! love the picture of baby Christina! and the family picture!! such an adorable little face!! how is she doing and Mrs. Melanie doing??
you are a very blessed man, Mr. Nathen. my father has 5 girls, no boys!
hope everybody is doing good!!
isabel
Congratulations on dear Christina. She (and the other girls) look so adorable. I appreciate you sharing your tip. I’ve struggled with this same issue and it never dawned on me to turn off the water!
Congratulations Nathan and Melanie! What a joy to share in your lives with your new additions of children!!! Christina is a beautiful baby, just like your other girls!!! Enjoy the transition to life with three little girls! 🙂
Thank you for the update.
I loved the hand washing tip too. I had two to add. One has already been mentioned, about singing a song (we sing Twinkle, twinkle) the other was that we use bars of soap as they are cheaper and there is less waste. I have discovered that if you cut them in half then they are a better size for little hands to pick up.
Nathan & Melanie:
I hope that none of the comments were too harsh with the possibility of hurting your feelings. I have made the same mistake myself. Trust me!!
The girls are growing like weeds. Enjoy them every moment!
Do you know what I love? That Nathan took responsibility when corrected about the helmet. Many people these days get very defensive when someone offers correction. Nathan realized that he had made a mistake and that the blog readers were only offering the correction out of love. A “hidden” lesson in this blog post is that when someone offers a correction it is because they care, not to put you down.