I've been at the Okla-home for nearly four weeks now. It's been one of the sweetest times of my life, waiting for and then greeting our little preemie granddaughter, Ava June. Wasn't it just yesterday that I was posting her parents' wedding pictures and making sure CJ had all the kitchen stuff she needed? And now they're a family of three...a perfect little family with a perfect little girl that doctors predicted shouldn't be here yet and certainly shouldn't have been strong or well enough to come home yet. We've been reminded that God uses doctors but He doesn't consult them on timing. On my way home from the hospital on Friday, knowing that Ava was just a couple of hours behind me, I was flooded with the praise chorus: 




Don't know why that particular one flooded my heart, but it's exactly what I'm thinking and feeling this weekend...


This week I made the prediction, on Facebook, that the winner of the next election and the next president of the United States will be my state's governor, Rick Perry. I am a far cry from endorsing him, but I just feel it in my bones. That said, I'm growing increasingly interested in Michele Bachmann, a woman for whom I have tremendous respect. I don't know that she has the money or the backing to go the distance, but I'd be willing to bet that she has a future.


Yes to Hobby Lobby. LOVE that store. I'm glad to have one close to my house, but the one in Midwest City OK is the best one I've ever been in! And while I'm not one of those who will never shop on a Sunday, you gotta love a company that still has the courage to stay CLOSED on Sundays. 


While I've been in Oklahoma, I've crocheted two baby blankets...one for Ava and one for Van. It's been a long time since I crocheted, and it was nice to have something to do to help pass the hours in the hospital as we waited for Ava to be released. Now I think I shall make one for Savannah, slightly larger since she's almost 1!


I'm also venturing into another area from which I've been absent for a long time...I'm going to make curtains for Ava's room. This would have been standard operating procedure for me a few years back, but it's been so long that I may have to re-teach myself to thread the machine! 


During my long drives in the past three weeks, I finished A Patriot's History of the United States and Song of Saigon. Both were excellent listens. Echoing my previous recommendation of the former, let me add two points: 1) It's very long. But then the history of the US is, well, long. If you get the audio version and the thought of 50+ hours is daunting, choose the 2X speed. The narrator reads slowly enough that even at double speed it's perfectly understandable. It takes a few minutes of getting used to, but it really helped me to have this option. 2) If you really think you can't get through it all this summer, listen to the second half. We've all gotten much more misinformation about history in the 20th century than in the first few, so a review of the 20th from a non-leftist position will be extremely valuable if you got, as I did, the public school version.


Thoroughly enjoyed watching, via Netflix, the 4-episode Daniel Deronda.


I'll be returning home on Tuesday, with just enough time to do laundry, repack, and stock our van with enough groceries to get us through our one-week stay in Red River, New Mexico. We always enjoy the cool respite from the south Texas heat and the time to do absolutely nothing but rest and visit (well yes, and cook!). This year there will be more than 40 of us congregating in the little mountain motel--I can hardly wait to get going!


Okay, time to pay attention to the littlest Snippet...here are some favorite moments from the past three weeks. Hope your week is fabulous!

This was the very first time CJ got to hold her little one, 24 hours after delivery.

Labels: Babies, Books, Grandparenting, Homemaking, Homeschooling, Political Observation, Sundays, TV, Vacations

On June 5, CJ gave birth to little Ava June, weighing in at 3lbs 4oz at 32 weeks gestation. She has lived her short life so far in the NICU at OU Children's Hospital in Oklahoma City. When I knew that CJ was either going to deliver right away or be on bedrest for several weeks, I drove up from San Antonio to move in with them and do whatever I could, and I'm still here. So many of you are and have been praying for Ava since before her birth, and I can't tell you how much that means to me. Many others have helped CJ and Tony with food and drinks, preemie clothes, offers of places to stay, gift cards for the extra expenses...thank you so much. You've been "angels unawares."


If you'd like to follow Amazing Ava's Adventures, let me know and I'll add you to her Facebook page where you'll see updates and more pictures.

Ava, just moments old, being wheeled out of the delivery room on her way to the NICU

CJ was under general anesthesia, so just minutes after she woke, Tony shows her the video of the birth

Ava's first evening

24 hours after birth, Ava finally gets to be held by her mommy

First day of being dressed in real clothes, a reward for reaching the 1500 gram milestone

Granny gets to hold Ava

First, the two mommies who didn't know they'd be delivering cousins ten days apart!

Tummy views, 30 and 40 weeks

This was pretty much the position for the whole labor

You'd think we were watching a movie, huh?

Minutes after Donovan's birth, but he wasn't named until several hours later

Welcome, little one!

Janet weighs the little guy

Okay, something about this picture reminds me of the Scarecrow, The  Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion! The uncles were not present for the birth but were admitted minutes afterward to greet the newest male in the family.

Six Slaughter kids!

Two very different births...one very faithful God. Praise God, from Whom ALL blessings flow!

Labels: Babies, Grandkids

Yes, he's in the net, getting the official weigh-in. At 7 pounds, 8 oz., he's definitely in the Bantamweight class  :-)

Labels: Babies, Family, Grandkids, Kids

Well, the Snippets are back after a two-week hiatus. I had a wonderful vacation in Hawaii with Lyric, and two nights at her house in California on either side of the Hawaii week. While in Hawaii we took a short cruise, read books on the sand, shopped for clothes and jewelry, got a little too much sun, and had unbelievably good evening here. I returned on Monday, refreshed and ready to take on summer  :-)


During the past couple of weeks, I finished up reading Nurture Shock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, Words that Work by Frank Luntz, and Poke the Box by Seth Godin. All three were excellent and are on my "Recommended" list. (Links are in the sidebar.)


Watching Herman Cain. Closely. Would still like to be "wowed" by someone I hadn't even thought of yet.


Ever signed the paperwork to enter a clinical trial of a drug? It's worse than buying a house!


This weekend I purchased two new vacuum cleaners. Have I told you about our vacuum curse? Yeah, I thought so. And no, I'm not divulging what brands I bought until I know if I'm going to keep them. After a week of research I'm convinced that there are no good brands. And I'm disgusted with Consumer Reports for highly rating brands that actual real-life users end up hating. What's up with that? If it turns on the first time and doesn't start smoking, it's Recommended?


So Kristen and children are with us as we wait for SlaughterBaby's arrival. Due date is Tuesday, and no sign of anything yet...but we're ready!


And yesterday, Aubrey and Cori gave a lovely baby shower for CJ and her little Ava LongenBaby, wherein we ate way too many delicious carbs and oohed and aahed over the sweetest little baby things ever. We still have a couple of months until we get to meet Ava...she'll be born on July 19th in Oklahoma City.


Are you watching The Voice? I love the concept even if some of the personalities really annoy me. 


Tonight I'm going to make a list of the things I want to accomplish this summer. We're going to be doing so much traveling that I need to be very purposeful and organized about the things I want to do. The last two years I haven't done very well on that score and my intentions were, for the most part, never realized. See, I do really well with New Years resolutions...I just don't do well with summer.


Congrats and goodbye to our dear friend Nicole, who graduated yesterday with her BSN and will be leaving, along with her family, to reside in the great northwest. We love you!


Have a great week!

Labels: Babies, Books, Political Observation, Sundays, Vacations

Today I'm giving top billing to my little snippet of a granddaughter, just two days old! Savannah Joy Welty was born on Friday night in Virginia, the third baby for my third baby :-) Siblings Erin and Judah and Aunt Beth welcomed her home yesterday. Congrats to Caleb and Annie, proud Dad and Mom...Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Now of course it wouldn't do to have a grandbaby that I haven't seen! Not for more than a few days! So I am going to take a break from school and wedding planning and make a trek east. I haven't traveled at all since the latest chapter in my orthopedic saga, so it's definitely going to be a challenge and I wouldn't mind your prayers. I will leave here Thursday morning and stay with the Weltys for six days. I'm just about as excited about seeing Erin and Jude as the new little one. Miss them all terribly!

And speaking of wedding planning, we are moving right along. Sometimes I want it to S-L-O-W down...not because I'm afraid we won't get it all done, but just because I'm in no hurry to see my sweet CJ move away. Since I know that in some ways she IS in a hurry, I'll refrain from attempting to bend time...

Häagen Dazs Caramel Cone. Thank you.

Someday I'm going to Machu Picchu. If they have to take me in a wheelchair. But first, cruise to Alaska. Not in the same week.

So this week I got my shoes back from the orthotic shop after a very long wait. And wouldn't you know, they don't work. Evidently the measurements were off, and the darn things are too tall. Now I limp in reverse. So back to the drawing board. And I won't have them for my trip.

Friday night, while our granddaughter was being born, we were attending a benefit concert for Voice of the Martyrs. Shelley and friends sang in the choir, performing some beautiful "early" music. She also sang in a quintet, pictured below (Shelley is second from right). The evening was beautifully put together...entertaining, inspiring and convicting all in one lovely presentation. And of course, Shelley did beautifully :-)

(photo shamelessly lifted from Robin M.)

Congrats to our dear friends Greg and Candace, expecting baby #9 in March. They've caught up with us!

Next Sunday I'll be in Virginia cuddling a little one, so the Snippets will be on vacation...have a great week!

Labels: Babies, Food, Grandkids, Music, Sundays, Weddings

If you read the article below on the moral life of babies, you may be interested to read Al Mohler's take, both on the methodologies of the study and the implications for worldview...

The Moral Life of Babies (and the Ideological Life of Adults)

Labels: Babies, Science, Social Observation

Attention: If you have a baby, are expecting a baby, or are a lover of babies, get yourself a big mug of coffee or a tall glass of sweet tea and read this admittedly long but delightfully informative article on the development of the moral life of babies. Despite the evolutionary explanations, you'll get a peek into the mind of the God who makes baby humans :-)

The Moral Life of Babies

Labels: Babies, Science, Social Observation

It's finally here! We are in Hawaii, in a 10th floor room in Waikiki, enjoying all the sights, sounds, and foods of one of our favorite places. This place makes me smile, as does having some alone time with The Papa. Thank you, God, for providing this time!

What a sweet morning we had, visiting with our old MCC church family in Mililani. Don't get to see them nearly often enough, but thoroughly enjoyed worshiping and sharing the Lord's Supper with them today. Heaven is gonna be so great...

Are you keeping up with the humongous "ClimateGate" scandal? Such delicious vindication for the non-crazy scientists who've been beating their heads against a brick wall since the 80's.

This week, I'm reading The Courage to Be Protestant by David Wells. Terrific material, but oh, how I wish that Wells could either really write or find a good editor. I've done as much cringing as cheering. It's one of those I'm almost embarrassed to recommend.

I love Hawaiian music. Old stuff, new stuff, even the cheesy stuff.

I read a newspaper two days in a row. Last time that happened? Oh probably in the 80's somewhere. But hey, they were free outside our door, and besides, Hawaiian politics are so very entertaining and not something you're likely to run across except in island newspapers.

No, I'm still not through Christmas shopping. I'm not stressing about it...there was a day when I'd get panicked about being less than a month from Christmas and still having to get out and face the daily increasing crowds. But there's not much of a crowd on my keyboard, and no trouble at all finding parking :-)

And last but not least, a big CONGRATULATIONS to Annie, daughter #3, and her wonderful husband Caleb: they are expecting #3 of their own in July! We're thrilled, as we've been known to love a baby or two in our lives. God continues to increase our numbers and decrease the number of vacation spots that can hold us all!

Labels: Babies, Books, Family, Holidays, Music, Political Observation, Science, Social Observation, Sundays, Vacations

Reading Al Mohler's blog this morning I could hardly believe my eyes. He cites the latest issue of The Economist and its proclamation that the population "problem" is "solving itself". How?

Well, in large part because of draconian measures that China and other countries have taken, measures that include mass sterilization, forced abortions the toleration of female infanticide. While staying a millimeter away from putting its stamp of approval on these tactics, The Economist proclaims that "it has worked" and is benefitting all of us by making maternity wards almost obsolete in some places.

I couldn't help but be reminded of this verse:


And just think, if it weren't for many of us families who have more than 2.1 children, the world would be an even cleaner, more educated, more enlightened, more sophisticated place where the few people left could enjoy life without pollution, hunger, global warming, crime, disease....and grandbabies.

Falling Fertility Makes for Happy Economists

Labels: Babies, Social Observation, Theater of the Absurd

(Nov. 5) -- From their very first days, the cries of newborns already bear the mark of the language their parents speak, scientists now find.

French newborns tend to cry with rising melody patterns, slowly increasing in pitch from the beginning to the end, whereas German newborns seem to prefer falling melody patterns, findings that are both consistent with differences between the languages.

This suggests infants begin picking up elements of language in the womb, long before their first babble or coo.

Labels: Babies, Sanctity of Life, Science

Right now most people who are thinking of vaccinations are thinking flu, either seasonal or H1N1 or both. But here's a study that applies to all infant vaccinations...who knew?

Giving babies Tylenol to prevent fever when they get childhood vaccinations may backfire and make the shots a little less effective, surprising new research suggests.

It is the first major study to tie reduced immunity to the use of fever-lowering medicines. Although the effect was small and the vast majority of kids still got enough protection from vaccines, the results make "a compelling case" against routinely giving Tylenol right after vaccination, say doctors from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Giving babies Tylenol may blunt vaccines' effects

Labels: Babies, Health, Science

UPDATE: 1.6 million cribs now recalled.

Massive Crib Recall After Two Infant Deaths

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And speaking of purchases for baby...check your nursery for these:

Infant Death Prompts Recall of Convertible Cribs by Playkids USA; Crib Poses Entrapment and Suffocation Hazards

I understand that another death associated with this crib has come to light just in the few days since this article was written.

Labels: Babies

If you're one who's been around me since the baby days or you've ever asked me for baby advice, you'll remember that I never have bought into the whole "Back to Sleep" campaign for prevention of SIDS. Yes, there are some apparently well-designed studies that show a correlation between SIDS and babies who were not sleeping on their backs, but I don't believe it's that simple. A correlation does not a cause make. There are still no good answers about SIDS, and still no consensus on whether it even is, in fact, a "syndrome" in the classically understood sense. I tend to think it's more of a "none of the above" catchall category, and I believe that one day we will discover something unexpected and counterintuitive about it--perhaps like the discovery of the role of H. pylori bacteria in peptic ulcers. I have a gut feeling that when we find out the real culprit (if indeed there is one culprit and not a whole collection of things) we're going to be very surprised.

Nevertheless, there are from time to time some other fascinating correlations. Today, this news:

CHICAGO (AP) - Using a fan to circulate air seemed to lower the risk of sudden infant death syndrome in a study of nearly 500 babies, researchers reported Monday.

Placing babies on their backs to sleep is the best advice for preventing SIDS, a still mysterious cause of death. Experts also recommend a firm mattress, removing toys and pillows from cribs, and keeping infants from getting too warm.

"The baby's sleeping environment really matters," said study senior author Dr. De-Kun Li of the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif. "This seems to suggest that by improving room ventilation we can further reduce risk."

How about that--a fan might be a baby lifesaver! (Some of us already know it's an adult lifesaver!) Plug that thing in!

Fan use linked to lower risk of sudden baby death

Labels: Babies, Health

Asian food day at church is my second favorite, right after Brunch day.

A week from today we'll have all of our family, minus one, here together again. The Slaughters and all the Weltys but Caleb will drive in next week to spend two weeks here--happy days! We've got a long list of things to do and another spreadsheet for meals and events and parties and HOPE activities, and we're looking forward to a wonderful time.

I have this thing about geraniums. I adore them. Right now my deck is full of them and I find myself going out to check on them constantly. This year we've got some kind of bug that is attacking them so they're not always happy and they need my TLC. But I'm happy to oblige them.

We have gas at $3.18! (Two years ago who'd have thought we'd be clapping?)

If you're one of the ones who wants to leave church feeling uplifted, don't go on the Sodom and Gomorrah sermon day. But if you want to contemplate God's mercy, it would be the right day.

Full disclosure on my latest book: I've put World Without End in the "Books Finished..." column in my sidebar. I did not finish it. I got through half of it and that is so much volume that I felt I deserved to have it listed. But as I mentioned before, the explicit sensuality was oppressive and I knew I could not keep assaulting my mind and soul with garbage just so I could say I'd finished it. It just about finished me! It's one thing to understand how the elements of prostitution, rape, orgies, homosexuality, and adultery shaped and were shaped by the medieval mind, and quite another to be subjected to the nauseating (or, some would say, titillating) details of those elements. (Oh, and I'm aware that simply describing this aspect of the book could lead some to read it out of curiosity. But I'm counting on the fact that readers of THIS blog are not going to be spurred to read anything that Granny calls "titillating." LOL) I've moved on to The Great Gatsby.

Most of your driving is probably finished for a few months, but if you're planning a car trip you will want to take advantage of a new site that calculates the gas cost for you. You enter the origin and destination and the make and model of your vehicle, and it will give you an estimate based on average gas prices on that route. Terrific! Cost To Drive

If you have a PC rather than a Mac and you're using Firefox, which IMO you should be, do go upgrade to Firefox 3. It really does make a difference. And get the colored tabs :-)

Nope, no politics today. I'm taking a break. I'm on overload.

Congrats to Shannon and Tiffany and Mystery Mom, all expecting babies in June!

And here ends the first October Sunday snippets. Time for a nap................

Labels: Babies, Books, Church, Family, Food, Technology

Welcome news in my book!

Oh Baby! Births Set Record in 2007

Labels: Babies, Social Observation

This is just wrong on so many levels...

59-Year-Old Mom, 72-Year-Old Dad Abandon IVF 'Wrong Sex' Twins


hat tip: trish

Labels: Babies, Social Observation

I'm not going to have any more under-6month-old babies, but many of you will. I'm glad that God protected us from so many things that weren't known when our children were little, and here's one this morning that I wouldn't have suspected when our pediatricians told us to give our babies water:

Drinking Water Can Lead to Seizures in Babies

Labels: Babies, Health

When I first saw this story last night, I was sure that by this morning I'd be hearing a flood of doctors and researchers debunking it or saying no one should be changing their behavior on the basis of this study.

On the contrary, today it's being taken very seriously. There are questions--are the effects really because of radiation or because of other factors as yet untested? In any case it's going to be very interesting to see how it plays out; when behaviors are very entrenched there's usually a concerted effort to make them "okay" rather than change the behavior. If I were still having babies I'd have a very hard time with this one, but I don't think I could ignore it, either.

So...stay tuned.

Warning: Using a mobile phone while pregnant can seriously damage your baby

Labels: Babies, News, Technology

Run Crawl over to Tiffany's new blog and offer her some advice about her Longenbottoms!

Labels: Babies, Blogstuff

Do go read my friend Dee Dee's sweet post about her little Luke, who would've turned 9 this week...

God is Good, All the Time

Labels: Babies, Devotional, Memories