Baptism

Thinking of Seth's baptism has made me think back about my own decision to be baptized in The Book of Mormon it the prophet Alma witnessing to the people of the coming of their Savior Jesus Christ said:

"And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;

 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—

 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?" (Mosiah 18:8-10)

And although I count myself as one of the most imperfect of my Heavenly Father's creations this is my desire, to follow my Savior and forgive as he does, to serve others and to grow my testimony and seek to be as He sees that I am capable of being.  I would think this is the true desire of every Christian (whether 8 or 100+).  My gratitude for the miracle of forgiveness offered through Jesus' atonement is beyond measure and continues to grow. And also my gratitude for my membership in His restored church.  I look forward to the future and seeing our collection of baptismal pictures grow as, I hope, each children gain testimonies of Jesus Christ and desire to follow Him into the waters of baptism.

Chris age 8

Mandy age 23

Kaatlin age 8

Nathanael age 8

 

Seth's Choice

Seth turned 8 this last March and made the important decision to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We are all very pleased with his decision for "We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for thegift of the Holy Ghost." from the 13 Articles of Faith (a statement of our beliefs as members of the LDS church).
We were all very blessed and excited to have many of our family and friends to share in this special day. Seth is an extraordinary guy, who unfortunately hides much of this from the casual observer because of his shyness.
He also had the special privilege of being the third person ever baptized in the Yelm, WA LDS buildings baptismal font.

Little Miss Ruth

You've just got to love those squishy cheeks.

RSV

Our poor little Ruth found herself in the hospital for a second time in her 3 month life.  This time she had RSV and received a 6 day 5 night stay at St. Peter's hospital along with an IV and oxygen. 
Saturday, March 12th Ruth woke with a tiny bit of a boogery nose and by Sunday night she was wheezing, flaring her nostrils on and off, breathing rapidly and her chest was retracting.  We took her into the emergency room late Sunday night but seeing her oxygen saturation was 99% and her breathing rate had decreased we decided she just had a mild case. She slept well that night, although Mom not so much. 
Monday we tried to get into see the doctor but for the first time in 13 years of experience we had a hard time of it, since our regular doctor was out of town and they were sort staffed.  We made a late afternoon appointment but ended up taking her into the ER before that time.   After a breathing treatment, nose suctioning, chest x-ray and some oxygen she was admitted (to my relief).  
Ruth received excellent care. Her only really sad day was hen she needed IV fluids because she wasn't nursing well and was becoming dehydrated.  Poor baby received three pokes, hand foot and finally second foot did the charm.  But after several hours on fluids she perked up and was feeling much better.
The following Saturday we headed home, with a suction machine (for nose cleaning) and albuteral for the wheezing.  She had been off oxygen for 24 hours and was on the up swing.  Through it all Ruth was a happy, charming,smiley, cooing little baby.  We were very grateful I could stay with her and really appreciated our families for all they did and for Chris who didn't bat his eyes at staying home all week getting everyone to all their activities and holding down the fort.
Ruth isn't 100% yet, she now has an ear infection,  but is so much better. 

Ruth holding her IV tubing.  She became quite good and reaching out and grabbing all the things put in her face during her stay.

Our beautiful view.  It was fun to see the rains come sweeping through and watch the people scurry for cover.

In a way I was pretty lucky to get to spend so much time reading, singing, talking to and playing with this adorable little lady. 

Sweet Smile

Not Ruth's full smile but pretty close.  She's so cute:)

Miss Ruth's 6 week pics

Ruth had her picture taken on Monday.  She was so happy and alert.  I was really happy with how they turned out. She is such a sweet little baby.  She is sleeping wonderfully for about a 6 hour stretch at night.  She is happy all day and has truly been really easy on all of us.  We all really love this precious little girl!

 

 

big and small

I love looking back on pictures like these of the babies with the older sibling.  Benjamin looks so big and Ruth so small.

Cub Scout fun & a Dragon Cake

 

Nathanael's Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet was yesterday.  We had a great time visiting with other families, eating burgers and hot dogs, and watching the funniest skits.  Benjamin even participated, along with all the other children, in the Webelo's skit and was hilarious jumping around the stage while riding a giant stuffed horse. Nathanael's dragon cake was given the Grand Prize and voted something like Most scaly or firey cake.  He was super proud and excited especially since last years cake didn't get much praise.  

One Month Old

In one month Ruth has...

• had first Christmas
• had her first bath(loved it especially hair washing)

• been held

• went to church
• slept, slept and slept some more
  
• was held some more

• had some tummy/play time
• went to piano lessons
• had 2 week check up and was above her birth weigh:)
• got some serious baby acne
  
• was held some more

• was held again
• had first ear infections
• first cough
• first personal overnight stay in hospital
• gained more than a pound
  

• first beautiful recover
• first precious smiles
• was happy and sweet and seriously cute through it all.
  
• oh, and she was held some more.

Baby Ruth

Our little Ruth Mary Cheney, she shares her first name with her Granny and middle name with her Great-Grandmas all on mom's side, was born December 23rd, 2010 at 5:03 am. She weighed in at a respectable 8 lbs 7 oz and 20 in long. Thanks to Chris' mom who came over in the middle of the night to watch the kids we could wake the kids with the good news that yes indeed Baby Ruth would be joining us for Christmas. Everything went really well with her delivery and we were able to be out of the hospital 12 hours after her birth everyone healthy and happy. Grammie, Mandy's mom, was able to be there for her birth and give Ruth her first little bath and hair washing like she has been able to do with the majority of her Grandbabies, super special to us:)
After dropping us off at home Chris went to pick up the rest of the kids from his parent's. They were all really excited to meet their new baby sister, especially Benjamin. Everyone patiently waited their turn to hold her, it was a really sweet special time.
Christmas Eve we were all able to spend time celebrating Christmas with Mandy's family and share Ruth around. We even headed up to Sumner to see Great-Grandma Swartz and share our little Ruthie with her. We feel so lucky that our children have been able to get to know some of their Great-Grandparents:)
Christmas we spent at home and the kids were so excited to see that Santa even brought something for Ruth. Here is a picture of Ruth with her needlepoint stocking, which Mandy finish the night before she was born.
Chris' parents were able to come by the house later, here is a cute picture of Grandma Cheney with all our girls.
We are all really enjoying the special spirit that is in our home with the arrival of Ruth. It seems a little easier to be nice to one another and everyone has been so patient with Mom and Dad as we make adjustments to life with a newborn.
Ruth is a real pleasure and we all think our Baby Ruth is pretty sweet:)
Ruth at 12 days old.