Published: August 13, 2007 09:45 am         

Welcoming an addition to the family

We have had an extra full house here the last two evenings because Jacob and Emma's four children have been staying with us.

We are all excited to announce the arrival of a 5-pound, 7-ounce boy named Steven Jay to Jacob and Emma. He was born by C-section on July 30 and joins siblings Elizabeth, 10; Emma, 9; Jacob, 8; and Benjamin, 5. After five years, this is such a welcome addition to the family!

We drove to the hospital with horse and buggy tonight to meet our new nephew and cousin. He is such a cutie! Our little Kevin hesitated about welcoming Steven since this is "his" Aunt Emma. Our 3-year-old Lovina was really proud and I think she's thinking of the baby as another doll to play with.

I am glad mother and baby seem to be doing fine and plan to be dismissed tomorrow evening. My daughter Elizabeth, 13, will help Emma with household duties for a few days. I know she'll do a good job as she is a big help to me.

On Saturday, we spent the day helping Jacob and Emma on some various jobs. Kevin fell asleep on the way home after playing hard all day. Daughter Susan carried him and rocked him, and I changed his diaper and gave him back to Susan as he was still sleeping good. Shortly after that, Susan came running to me saying "something is really wrong with Kevin!"

After not knowing what do, we had a neighbor call EMS and they arrived quickly. After doing blood tests and X-rays at the hospital, they decided it was a seizure from a fever that had jumped to 106 in a hurry. The fever was caused from a viral infection.

Kevin hadn't acted sick at all, so it caught us by surprise. On Monday, I took Kevin back to the doctor for a check-up and he got a clean bill of health.

We were so scared, as we never experienced anything like this. How small we felt. We know God was with us, but would I have been strong enough in faith if things wouldn't have went the way our prayers went? We need to remember that our Heavenly Father cares for us and will never lay a heavier burden on us than we can carry. My children seem extra special this week.

Thursday, we left at 5 a.m. to attend niece Susan's wedding. I was one of the cooks, so it was a busy job. They had two delicious meals, with fried chicken on the menu.

We ended up back home shortly after 10 p.m. I didn't stay to help wash all the dishes. Joe needed to leave for work at 3:45 a.m. Friday morning so we hurried right after the wedding. We missed not having Jacob and Emma at the wedding.

I need to wrap up my writing today as I would like to can some hot peppers and pickles. My red beets are also ready. Meanwhile, here's a good recipe to use your peaches with this time of year. I made this the other night and the children really liked it!

Homemade Peach Cobbler

1/2 c. butter or margarine

2 c. sugar

1 T. baking powder

11/2 c. milk

2 c. flour

Melt butter in a 9-by-12-inch pan. Mix together sugar, baking powder, milk and flour. Pour mixture into pan and then put on peeled, sliced peaches. Bake at 325 degrees until golden brown. If desired, serve with ice cream or milk.

Lovina Eicher is Old Order Amish. She hand-writes this column from her home in southern Michigan. Anyone with cultural or cooking questions can send them to: Lovina Eicher, The Amish Cook, P.O. Box 2144, Middletown, OH 45042. Read all of her columns online at www.record-eagle.com/columns/amish.