Eagy Family Blog

Three months have already flown by since we welcomed Abigail into our lives. Like everyone always says, it’s gone by so fast. She has grown to a nice chub and has outgrown lots of clothes already. We can’t imagine life without Abigail!

Ryan and I often laugh about how we never guessed the infant would be our easiest of the three kids! Abigail is a trooper - sleeps 4 to 5 good naps during the day and great at night. She’s happy to be held, tucked into her swing (without batteries since the big kids always turn it on), carried around in the sling, on the floor…praying she doesn’t find herself the target of little feet scurrying around.

Anytime someone makes eye contact with her, she’s all smiles. And she’ll keep you smiling and talking to her for quite a while! Forget toys…Abigail is going to be like Hannah - she loves people! Especially her Papa. When Abigail is going to sleep and loses her binky, Mama has to put it back in. If Papa tries, she just wants to coo, smile and squeal at him. Her name means “Father’s Joy” - and it fits perfectly!

Abigail, you are my delight. When “I’m having a hard moment” (as Hannah has been heard to say), and I turn to pick you up, your face lights up. You grace me with smiles to the point I can’t resist smiling with you. And by doing this, my little darling, you remind me to find my strength and grace in Christ. I often forget - trying to tackle life’s bumps alone, with my own tactics and ideas. But it’s when I breathe in the breath of Christ, remember his saving sacrifice and find my peace in Him - there…aahhh…that’s where I’m the best mama I can be. Thank you, my 3 month old baby girl, for how you are a part of my sanctification in Christ.

You will always make me SMILE. I love you, sweet baby!

Gabriel, at just one and a half years old (on Friday, to be exact!), is the MAN of the house when Papa is gone.  Now this is no small job, since there are three ladies to take care of!  Each day when Papa leaves for work, one of the last things he says is “Gabe, take care of the ladies, little man!”  Gabe’s Papa is teaching him and training him, and even at his young age he is grasping bits here and there:

Gabe, open the door for Hannah, please:

And Gabriel, please offer Hannah a cookie first:

He is so sweet when it comes to helping Hannah or giving her some juice or a cracker.  Here’s Gabe after he “fixed” Hannah’s car for her.  I guess it was broken, so he came to the rescue - like every good man would do for a lady!

Chivalry may be outdated or old school in our world today, but we are trying to teach Gabriel this valuable concept.  One way to show oneself a man is to be courteous and considerate toward women.  Most likely Gabriel will be the man of his own household to lead and protect someday.

We have no clue how much he gets, but there’s no reason he can’t start learning today how to honor and respect the women in his life. And he does a GREAT job loving on the ladies!  We love you, Gabe…our little man and chivalrous knight in shining armor!

The little man, Gabriel Xander.

We are regulars at the library these days. Hannah tromps right to the children’s section, finds a book off the shelf, and sits down to read while I pick out a huge stack to take home. She’s really enjoyed one book in particular from our recent trip to the library, it’s called “Cock-A-Moo Moo.” This crazy rooster forgets how to crow but by the end, he lets out a big cock-a-doodle doo. Cute story. But BY FAR cuter told by Hannah.

So here you go. The video is about 2 1/2 minutes long - turn up the volume - and be amazed! She has almost memorized it word for word!

(Just click the black box to start the movie.)

You all know Hannah. She’s almost always smiling, laughing, giggling, being silly, grabbing your attention to watch her do some silly stunt…

Of course, she’s not always completely happy. There are moments of discipline and hurt. But this is something new. She has decided over the last couple of days (for some unknown reason) to choose to be sad and want to dwell there. Now don’t worry, she comes out of it quickly.

Since this is relatively new behavior for me, she’s teaching me a lot these past couple of days. Making me turn my eyes to the Father and His Word, pointing me to Christ and what He would do and say, and she’s (as she does every day) part of my sanctification in Christ. When she says “I’m just a little bit sad today,” I’ve got to think quickly - so we recite together, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice!” Then sing “God is so good, God is so good, God is so good, He’s so good to me.” Then sit and talk about how Jesus wants us to be happy, not grumpy.

Hannah is unbelievably good at understanding complex things for her age, and almost too good at expressing her feelings. So today I decided to give her a chance at understanding something. I told her we need to think about other people and what we can do to be nice to them and love them. She said “Like Abigail in my church class. And Eli, and Jake and Micah and Acacia. They’re silly. I like them.” I praised her for getting it. Tell you what, I’m learning to never underestimate this babe’s understanding.

Being a mama allows my kids to sanctify me moment by moment. Here’s an excerpt of a half hour of my day: how should I handle my kids who don’t quite understand sharing? when all I’ve heard for the past few minutes are whines, what’s the Christ-like way to respond? someone conked their head - am I willing to sit and give them all the love and attention they need? Mama, will you read to me? - do I want my kids to remember me as one who gave my attention to the computer and the kitchen, or to them?

What a mercy it is to raise children. They continually point me to Christ. Thanks, Hannah. Keep it up, my darling.

Hannah Elisabeth, I love you!

Don’t forget to click on our Family Photo Album to see new photos now and then. I just updated it with some new ones from July.