December 2012
Dear family
& friends,
As I look about me this fine
evening, I cannot help but feel tired.
It’s not that I’ve physically exerted myself; on the contrary, I’ve been
sitting most of the day. It could be the
general lack of sleep that comes with a newborn, but that’s certainly not the
whole story. The lights shining from the
Christmas tree and the stockings hanging from the mantle give quite a cozy
feeling to the place, but the picture doesn’t stop there.
Scattered across the floor is a strange
assortment of mismatched toys relocated with love by Hosea. The dining room table is piled with bins and
what appears to be complete randomness by my well-meaning husband. Shrieks and squeals are regularly escaping
from the girls’ room down the hall, where I imagine all sorts of creativity and
imaginative play are forming a scene that only the producers themselves can
fully appreciate. And here, in my arms,
lies the newest member of our family, born October 10, engaged in an activity
somewhere between eating and sleeping.
For
better or for worse, being a breastfeeding mother forces me to sit down and
take a break frequently. My house may
suffer for it, but I love this special time with my babies. Avelina is my fifth child, and I still marvel
over the tiny fingers and toes and consider myself one of the most blessed
people in the entire world whenever I kiss one of these soft, little
cheeks. Her only hobbies at this time
are nursing, sleeping and fussing at me if ever I dare to lay her down, but how
precious is this fragile creature to me!
Many people have asked about Hosea’s adjustment to having a little sister. Honestly, I can’t say he seems to have
noticed all that much! When he does pay
her attention it requires careful oversight by an adult, as he’s a rather
heavy-handed guy. We’re thrilled to
report that he is finally showing signs of some basic receptive language, but
he still has yet to understand “gentle.”
Physically, 2-year-old Hosea has made some great strides this year. He has been learning to use a walker in
therapy, and he is now able to attempt a few independent steps so long as he
has his ankle braces on. On a day-to-day
basis, his primary mode of mobility is knee-walking. All of the tests from last year were, in
essence, negative, so we still don’t have a more specific diagnosis. I suggested “Hosea Syndrome” to the
geneticist, who said it may very well take the discovery and recognition of
some new, rare disorder to finally be able to give a medical explanation for
Hosea’s challenges. (Methinks I should
try my odds in Vegas!) We will continue
to follow-up with the specialists, but we’ve decided to take a small break from
all of that until spring.
With
two little ones not walking, I am extra grateful for the help of our oldest
three children. They are each eager to
hold Avelina, and they play well with Hosea and often feed him for me. Even 4-year-old Anastasia has proven herself
a big helper and often likes to bring me breakfast in bed. Her gentle temperament and sweet smiles are a
blessed start to my busy days. For now,
Anastasia is learning her letters and often enjoys listening to a story or
following along during Eliana’s history lesson, but I plan to start a phonics
curriculum with her in January. She is
very excited about it and asks me nearly every day if she can do school, too!
Six-year-old Evangeline is in first
grade this year and brings an admirable positivity to our school room. Her cheerful attitude and responsiveness to
praise make her a joy to teach. Her
wonderment and happiness in everyday things is such a beautiful, classic
picture of childhood, and her creativity often impresses me. She recently lost her first tooth and
successfully stopped sucking her thumb.
We are very proud of her for giving up such a hard-to-break habit!
Eliana is eight years old now and in
the third grade. Her favorite subject is
history, in which she is currently studying Rome, Greece, and the New
Testament. Earlier this year, Eliana
enjoyed playing soccer in our neighborhood league. (Evangeline also played, but
it clearly did not hold her interest this year.) Our home is often blessed with Eliana’s ever
improving piano skills, and our little musician especially delights in being
our accompanist. It is a joy to watch
her grow into a young lady more and more every day.
As our children are getting older,
so are we! Chris and I both hit a new
decade this year. Turning 30 didn’t feel
nearly as strange as the reminder that I had not already passed this
milestone! As for major events, Chris
and I managed to stay on the continent all year and lay low. He continues to teach computational fluid
dynamics (Just smile and nod—I do!) at the Air Force Institute of Technology,
and I was still attending births and teaching childbirth classes through May,
at which point I took an early maternity leave to focus on my own baby and
upcoming birth. We did manage to have
some unexpected excitement in April, when we discovered some major water damage
in our home due to a small, previously undetected leak, and over the summer,
when the Air Force sent Chris to Montgomery, Alabama, for some training for 2
months. We quickly jumped back into
school once that was behind us, and I’m in shock that a semester has already
gone by!
It’s
been another busy year of love and growth.
The sights and sounds around me tonight do represent a good deal of work
to be done, but far more importantly and dearly, they represent a beautiful
life that I am blessed to call my own.
Thank you for being a part of that life, and let us together give thanks
to God, from whom all blessings flow!
Merry
Christmas,
Jennifer,
for the Martins
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