Sewell Family Update

Sewell Family Update

It has been quite some time since I sent out an update on how our little family is doing. I must say that life with two small children is definitely a challenge some days, but oh how sweet it is! I am so grateful that I have the honor of staying home with Sofia and Charlotte. Don’t get me wrong, it comes with many sacrifices, but my girls are more than worth it.

Sofia will be 3 years old in May. We can hardly believe it! She is growing up so fast and is just the sweetest child. We have been doing lots of preschool stuff here at home. Since an almost 3 year old doesn’t have a long attention span, we do a few minutes of ABCs and 123s and Bible Verses each day. She loves to sing and dance, so there is lots of that during the day too. At night when we do our night time routine, after story time Sofia sings all by herself “Jesus Loves Me” and she says her own prayers. To hear a child pray to the Lord is such a sweet sound to our ears.

Sofia is also just the best big sister to Charlotte. In recent weeks she has decided that Charlotte is “her” baby. When Charlotte begins to fuss Sofia comes rushing over to make silly noises or faces to make Charlotte laugh. On car rides Charlotte will at times get a bit fussy and Sofia will immediately put on a silly show of sounds and faces. It is so sweet to hear them laughing together in the backseat.

Little Miss Charlotte is something else. It is amazing how different she is from Sofia. Charlotte is 7 months and is just the sweetest baby. She is still nursing and has solids every other day or so. She is a bit on the “wee side”, but it appears that my babies only start out plump, and then slim out fairly quickly, regardless if they are formula fed or breastfed. We have been weighing Charlotte before she nurses and after and keeping a chart of her progress. It appears that most people would have me just put her on formula to fatten her up, but that will only give her stuff that she doesn’t need and cannot in any way compare to breast milk. God’s design of His creation was just so perfect that it allows for a child to get the VERY BEST nutrition both in the womb and for however long once born. It is hard work to breastfeed a child, but the benefits are just matchless. I am so happy that I have stuck with it and that I have the best Christian women in my life to encourage me through the really rough times.

Charlotte can sit up all on her own and she is really trying hard to crawl, but can’t figure out how to go forward. Malachi says she “crawfishes” because she just scoots backwards, sometimes right under the couch! Charlotte’s first word was “momma” and she says it only when she can’t see me or just simply wants me to hold her. She still very much loves to be swaddled to go to sleep, which I think is just the sweetest thing. She has been sleeping from 1030pm to 330am and then until 630am. This means I am getting a bit more sleep at night. In order to make sure that Charlotte is getting what she need nutritionally, I am nursing her every 2 hours during the day. This doesn’t mean that she will actually nurse, but I still offer it. The longest she typically goes during the day in between feedings is about 3 hours. Some might think that it must be totally exhausting for me to nurse a 7 month old that often; it really isn’t when I think about the benefits for my child. It doesn’t bother me that Charlotte is so needy of me, in fact, isn’t that how it is supposed to be? I do not work outside of my home, and there is nothing else pressing for my time, other than Sofia, and even that isn’t a factor in reality because I am here for her 100% of the time as well. It is just the most perfect thing for a baby and there are benefits to the mother as well. I am learning the nursing drastically decreases a woman’s risk for cervical, uterine and breast cancer the longer she nurses her child/children. I have also lost most of the extra weight from being pregnant with Charlotte a lot faster than I did with Sofia because I am nursing. The entire process is just a beautiful thing that God designed so perfectly! Because of this, Charlotte does not need to have solids if she doesn’t want them. Developmentally she is far exceeding what Sofia could do at 7 months. This could be because Charlotte watches Sofia ALL day and wants to do what she is doing. The pediatrician was just so amazed that Charlotte says “momma” and actually knows what she is saying. She is just a sweet child.

Charlotte’s heart is doing well and continues to respond well to the medication she takes twice a day. She had her cardiology appointment last week and her heart functions are perfect. They have increased her dose of the medication slightly, but only because she weighs a bit more than she did 3 months ago. She did have to wear the halter monitor for 24 hours, which actually wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be. We are waiting on the results, but I am sure they will be fine.

Malachi is working hard at his job and at being a husband and father. He continues to amaze me with all that he does for me and the girls. His 33^rd birthday is on Sunday and we haven’t quite figured out exactly what we will be doing. He has been applying for government jobs and has gotten one response for a job in Virginia, but moving costs would not have been paid, so he declined the position. We are continuing to pray the Lord’s will with Malachi’s employment. The company that he works with has been just fantastic to him. The recently purchased for him a cell phone specifically for work purposes. They have discontinued outsourcing after hours IT support, and now Malachi is one of 3 people on call at any given time for after hours IT support. The company paid for the cell phone and will be paying the cell phone bill, which is very generous.

I am doing fantastic! Each day is a new day of caring for my husband, children and home. I was able to purchase some very inexpensive fabric the other day to make 3 more skirts for myself. I also have a few more dresses to make for the girls AND a very sweet friend of mine sent me some knitting needles so that I can teach myself to knit. We have been getting the house de-cluttered and that is a job in itself. You never realize how much you accumulate over 4 years until you start to go through it! Yes Malachi and I have been married for 4 years! (Dec 2008) It has been such an amazing 4 years and we are looking forward to many many more years together. We have been through so much and the Lord is continuing to mold and shape us into His image, which is a painful process at times. We are just so excited to see what the Lord does with our lives this next year. We would love to have another child, but we are waiting on the Lord for that too. We have names picked out already, which is not unusual for us at all. We love Sofia and Charlotte and they are just the sweetest blessings in our lives. Having two children, even on the rough days never sways our desire to have more children. God is good and has provided for all of our needs and we trust that He will continue to be faithful to His word.

I am still taking online courses. It is truly a labor to remain in school. The last two classes were, well, really a spiritual battle to get them accomplished. Malachi was so helpful and I could not have gotten through them without his love and encouragement. The problem with a secular education is that it is “secular” and void of the Truth. It seems that I am outnumbered all the time, and often criticized for my beliefs. It doesn’t bother me as much as I thought it would because I live to please the Lord, not a professor. I have a great GPA and will continue with school online as long as or until it affects my ability to maintain my home, marriage and care for my children. I am only doing this in case the homeschool laws change and require I have a degree in order to legally homeschool my children…either way I will trust God. In keeping up with current affairs it would not surprise me one bit if homeschooling in America were to become illegal as it is in some European countries. With our current President looking into incorporating the UN Conventions “Rights of a Child Act”, seems as though this could be a very real possibility.

We are a busy family. It seems that we literally have no extra time for anything else but for our immediate family…Sofia and Charlotte. Thus is the life of a young couple (*cough* *cough*…young…ha ha ha) with two small children. Sofia and Charlotte certainly keep my days full and busy. There is never a dull moment in the Sewell house; thus the reason that I haven’t been able to email everyone as often as before or send out pictures. In all honesty though, I would not change a thing. Molding and shaping and discipling my children in the ways of the Lord is hard work and rarely allows for rest, but in the end it will be the best reward to hear my children proclaim the name of Christ. So, if you email or call and you don’t get an answer or response right away, it is not that you are being ignored; it is simply that we are busy with our family and that we will respond as soon as we have a free moment. I am sure all those who have been where we are can certainly understand that.

We do pray that you all are doing well and thriving in Christ.

God Bless

In Christ,

The Sewell Family <><