This table has seen a lot. It was one of the first pieces of furniture my parents bought when they began their journey together. I bumped my head on the table edges as I learned to walk, I bet. My little brother’s high chair was pulled up to this table and we all sat around and watched him try to stuff Cheerios into his mouth for the first time. I blew out the candles on my 16th birthday cake at this table.

At some point, it had 8 or so chairs. We’re down to three now. The rest have all fallen apart and busted. (And I remember every single time my Mom and Dad warned me about leaning back in the chair and breaking it. They are definitely breaking now!)

I’m a habitual person. I like for things to be the same. I always put my babies in a high chair at the table around their first birthdy. Then, around 18 months old they graduate to a booster seat and the high chair is put back out in the shed. And a little after their second birthday, we put away the booster seat for the next kid. I’ve used the same high chair and booster seat every single time.

I love how the seating arrangements around our table change. It’s like a hanging baby mobile… you know those things you hang over the crib for them to gaze at. Generally, at each meal we all sit in the same place. Arwen and Charis sit on the piano bench (since we are lacking several chairs), Ezra at one end in his booster seat and Brent at the other. I sit across from the girls. We still have another leaf that we can add to make room for more people.

Today our table changed. Ezra is ready to graduate out of the booster seat. We won’t talk about what was stuck to the chair under the booster seat when we removed it. Now, Ezra and Arwen share the bench.

And Charis now sits in the chair that once held Ezra’s booster seat (once Brent was done scrubbing it out).

Evie hangs out in her beloved swing for now, but soon we’ll be dusting off the high chair and making room for her too.

“Blessed is every one who fears the Lord,

Who walks in His ways.

When you eat the labor of your hands,

You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine

In the very heart of your house,

Your children like olive plants

All around your table.

Behold, thus shall the man be blessed

Who fears the Lord.

- Psalm 128:1-4