Behind the name Silas Matthew...

When we went to the hospital we had a boy's name picked out and a girl's name picked out. James for boy, Charlotte for girl. Then our baby boy was born and we both said "he doesn't look like a James." Throughout this pregnancy, I loved the name Silas but Spencer always said "I don't love it." But after our boy was born, Spencer said "he looks like a Silas." Then he opened his Bible to the book of Acts and we decided that our boy was definitely Silas.

We chose the name Silas based on Paul's fellow missionary from the book of Acts in the Bible. Silas was a leader among the men of the early church and he was chosen by Paul to serve alongside him encouraging and strengthening others. Silas risked his life for the name of Jesus Christ.

In Acts 16 Paul and Silas were in prison together. Despite their circumstances, they spent their time in prison praying and singing hymns to God. God used Paul and Silas to bring the jailer and his entire family to know Him. 

We hope and pray that our Silas will grow to have many of the same characteristics as Silas from the book of Acts. We pray that he will be bold in his faith, that he will be an encouragement to others, and that he will find joy in all circumstances.

Silas gets his middle name from my brother Matthew. All of our kids love their uncle Matthew, and he is very loved and respected by Spencer and I as well. And so our son is named Silas Matthew Lafleur.

Although labour was quick with baby Silas, it was not a smooth delivery. On Saturday evening I went to the hospital to get induced. The doctors decided to induce me because they suspected that baby was getting big. We wanted to avoid another emergency c-section and decided it would be best to get baby out before he gained more weight.

After breaking my water and giving me a dose of oxytocin, not much was happening. Then at 9pm I got another dose of oxytocin and went into full on labour. Things progressed quickly and at 10:40 it was time to start pushing. Baby Silas had gotten into a bad position and did not want to turn to face the right way. Dr. Busletta had to spin him several times (the picture above is actually of her fingernail marks from when she had to spin his head around). She held him so he would face down and then on his way into this world, his shoulder got stuck. He had severe shoulder dystocia. Thankfully our nurse was amazing and was able to press on my stomach and dislodge his shoulder. Shoulder dystocia is quite serious and I'm thankful I didn't fully understand what the results of it could be while we were in the moment. Amongst all of this spinning and dislodging, baby Silas also got his umbilical cord wrapped (loosely) around his neck. 

Thankfully our boy entered the world unharmed (except for a few small scratches and a sore shoulder). We are so thankful to God for the way He orchestrated this delivery. Dr. Busletta and our nurse, Rachel, were truly amazing and we know God placed them with us for a purpose.

Silas has been getting lots of snuggles from his big sisters.

Silas' first bath at home.

On Saturday we took our 5 to Crescent Beach.

The other day the Martens came over for a visit. Baby Bennett looks very big next to Silas.

The Reeds and the Teeters got us these awesome Big Sister, Big Brother, and Little Brother shirts. Thank-you!!

Peter wants Silas to be ready to play cars and hockey. He often drives cars on Silas' head, or tries handing him a hockey stick.

And our van is officially full. 3 girls in the back, 2 boys in the middle.

Silas Matthew Lafleur

Silas Matthew Lafleur entered this world on March 12th at 11:03 pm. 8 lbs 11 oz. 

He is an answer to prayer and a gift from God. More details on the story of his arrival and why we chose his name will be coming soon. For now we wanted to share some pictures...

The proud father of two sons :)

The proud mother of 5 littles.

Our kids on their way to the hospital to meet their new brother.

Introducing Silas to his siblings...

Big sister, Ella.

Big sister, Juliette.

Big sister, Karis.

Big brother, Peter.

Kisses from Peter.

Veteran big sister.

Proud Grandpa Rob.

Loving friends, Sean and Miriam.

Loving friends, Serenity and Moriah.

Silas' first bath.

Famous car seat picture. Each one of our babies came home from the hospital in this gender neutral sleeper.

I'm not sure if Peter fully realizes what is going on yet. But I do know that he will be very thankful for what took place on March 12th for years to come. And so will we!

Violin

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Homeschool Days

We are switching gears from our focus on Canada. We are now into an animal theme for our read alouds. We selected a pile of books that have animals as the main characters, and we have switched our table around. Our table now displays animal facts, a map of where different animals live, and pictures of animals. Between seeing what is displayed on our table, listening to the books, and looking things up in the encyclopedia, the girls learn incredible amounts. It is such a cozy and fun way to learn and we love it.

Peter loves dogs. So Ella has been showing him all the different breeds of dogs in our "D" encyclopedia.

And Karis has been showing Peter where different animals live.

People often ask me "what do you do with Peter and Karis while you are homeschooling?" And the answer is they are part of it. They listen along, play on the floor, are taught by their older siblings, have their own focussed story times, interrupt things often, test their mother's patience, etc. Overall, it just works for us. For the majority of the day we are all together. Figuring things out, exploring things, resolving things... the togetherness plays a major role in the beauty of this life.

And if all else fails, Peter loves to play at the kitchen sink.

We are very happy with our math program this year. We are using Saxon math. The manipulatives are great and add a lot to our learning. And, yes, Juliette is often dressed like this during math. Math comes right after a little break and play time... so often a princess or a fairy comes back to the table.

Ella's love language is gifts. She has always loved to give things to others. From an early age she would come to church with handfuls of cards to hand out, or sometimes even ziploc bags full of random paper scraps. 

These days she loves to leave notes and verses under Momma and Dadda's pillows. It is a pretty awesome way to end the day for us!

The girls wrote some verses to put in frames for their bedroom.

And our Spring Break from homeschooling is approaching. We have decided that we will take our 2 week Spring Break starting when baby arrives. And maybe a few days off beforehand too, since this Momma is slowing down a little :)

French

For the past 4 and a half years, the Werdal family has joined us a weekly French class. Last week we had our last French class. We are going to be taking a break for baby Lafleur to arrive. I will miss seeing these smiling faces in our home each week. They have blessed us greatly and they have deeply inspired me with the way they live their lives.

When Ella and Juliette were very little, I started tutoring Sophie and Penny in French. At the time homeschooling was not at all on my radar. I had all kinds of stereotypes of what I thought homeschooling was about. But then I met the Werdals and my whole thinking of homeschooling was rearranged. And here we are!