Isaiah's magic shirt

Here is Isaiah in what we call his magic shirt, so named because of its apparent inability to be outgrown. The tag says 3-6 months, but he is 16 months now and it is just starting to get too short in front.Twelve years ago, when Luke and I were two giddy newlyweds expecting our first child half a world away in Italy, we were huddled together over the sluggish internet connection in the RA office at Due Santi, doing some online shopping at Baby Gap. We weren't going to find out the baby's sex (much to the shock and horror of every Italian we tried to explain this fact to) but we decided to order this shirt and a little sweater vest "just in case." We both had a hunch baby #1 would be a boy. Then Lili was born and I packed the little shirt away, thinking, "maybe next time." 

After daughter #3 was born and I packed up her baby clothes, I almost gave the little shirt away, since I was by this time positively convinced we were going to be a family of all girls...like the Bennets, or the Marches, or the Ingalls. After all, if anyone fit the feisty, second-born-of-a-house-of-daughters mold cast by such literary greats as Lizzy, Jo, and Laura, it was my Audrey. I am still kind of hopeful/terrified that she will someday write a book about her childhood and skewer us all. But I digress.

I decided to pack the shirt away one more time just in case. So it was there in its plastic wrapper ten years later when Isaiah surprised us all by being a boy. I REALLY was convinced he was a girl, so convinced that I found it annoying in the midst of contractions that my midwife kept calling the baby " he." It just goes to show that you never know what (or who) God has in store for you. I'm still a bit surprised that, twelve years later, we have a son to put into that magic shirt, a little mischief-maker whose eyes match its particular shade of blue perfectly, and who has rolled around in the grass and ground bananas into it until it is battered and stained. I'll never be able to get rid of it, and I'll probably be pulling it out and weeping into it when Isaiah is a big stinky teenager. It will always remind me of how surprised I was when God gave me Isaiah.

And boy, was he ever worth the wait!

Closing out 2013: Christmas and California

 Christmas 2013 was a happy whirlwind. Luke's whole family was able to be together, including all seven Winterings all the way from North Carolina. It was such a blessing to be able to spend some nice quality time with all of the aunts and uncles and cousins. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: my children are so lucky to have such an amazing extended family who makes them feel so loved and cherished. I've said this before, too, and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'll say it again: I wish I took more pictures.

 Two days after Christmas, we packed up the car and set off for the California coast. It was Grandma Marceen's 90th birthday, so the whole Speier clan gathered to celebrate.

 Most of the family are based in Santa Barbara, a beautiful spot which I wish we could have had more time to explore. Uncle Kurt and Aunt Jan gave us a tour of their church, St. Athanasius. Getting to see their beautiful icons and was a highlight of the trip for me. It was amazing to see so much beauty tucked away in an unassuming building. Their community is moving to a new space, and I hope one day we can visit there as well.

We had a great time catching up with all the extended family, although we missed Aunt Brit and the Winterings.

We took a little walk on the pier before Grandma's party, and the girls tried to make a new friend.

Kateri's flip flop flew off of her foot and into the drink, a minor tragedy which caused a few tears from Kateri and me to clutch my wiggly toddler a little tighter. After the weekend festivities, we drove down to the Newport area.

 

Here is Isaiah at Little Corona. This beach is amazing. If you go at low tide, you can see so many gorgeous and interesting creatures in the tide pools. We saw sea hares, bright lavender sea urchins, starfish, anemones, and little opaleye fish. Then, after we hiked back up to the street and were chatting with Uncle Justin, Uncle Travis, and Aunt Stephanie, a little girl standing nearby pointed out a whale spouting just beyond the kelp line. The wildlife in the Pacific never ceases to amaze me...it would seem like the population density of Southern California would drive all the creatures away, but no.
All in all, the trip was a big success, and a great way to close out the year. Here's to a great 2014!