Monday, February 4

Happy February!!


Just thought I'd write a little update on the fam and let you all know what we are up to here. I am almost 32 wks. pregnant now with our little Gabriel James. 

I can't wait for him to get here!!!! Well, I sorta can. :) I still have a few things to get done before he arrives. We are setting up the nursery area in our room this wk. And next wk, I'm planning to do the 3-day potty training with Addy.


She's already been introduced to the potty. But firmly tells me, "Uh-uh...no!" when I ask if she wants to use it. :) I'm afraid I have my work cut out for me AGAIN!!!


So... moving on from bodily functions....

We had a fantastic holiday season as I hope you all did as well. Here's the kids making Christmas cookies:


And... I do believe that's flour in Benjamin's ear there...  ha


We decided against doing the "Santa thing" with our kids. Don't worry- if you give my children a piece of chocolate shaped like Santa Claus, I will NOT freak out :O) We just talk about Santa like we do Mickey Mouse- reminding Ben that's He's pretend. We are trying to establish some healthy rules to keep us grounded when it comes to Christmas. It's so important to make Jesus' birth the center of attention, so we sang the "Happy Birthday" song to Jesus quite a lot in December. We also made ourselves a rule a few years ago that we would not exceed 3 gifts per child on any given year. That was hard this year- but no less enjoyable for the kids on Christmas morning!

We went on a field trip to the zoo last week with their cousin Kara:




Some of the things Benjamin is currently learning in school:
letter sounds
complex shapes & number of sides they have
counting to 50
to identify states on the US map

 Here's the craft from our "Eagle" themed day:

HERE is the template to this craft


On a different note, Nick FINALLY got on day shift!!!! Hold on just a sec while I shout GLORY HALLELUJAH!!! We've been waiting almost 5 years for this change and I'm loving it!! Finally... normal bedtimes for us and the kids, and I get to see my hubby during weekday daylight hours!! Yippee!!!


So... here's what's been happening with me personally over the last 6 months or so:

God has been so good and so faithful to us. I had a long period of severe morning sickness this time around, (even worse than the last 2 times) and then we had a huge scare around the 3 month mark. I started bleeding heavily and cramping. Having experienced 3 miscarriages in the past, I was CERTAIN that was what was going on. 

When it all stopped and nothing happened, I went in for an ultrasound and we found out that my placenta was just very close to my cervix. It wasn't previa, and the tech didn't see any tears.... so I went on bed rest for awhile just to be safe. We've had 2 ultrasounds since and everything has looked great, except for the fact that the placenta hasn't really moved away. BUT, most of the uterus growing happens towards the end, so we're hoping it has grown upwards by now. We'll have another look in a few wks.

During the 3 or 4 days when I thought I was losing the baby, the peace God gave me was so astounding. I knew I had made a break through spiritually after the 3rd miscarriage I experienced, and this was a little bit of a test for my faith. But, I know that I passed. Even though my heart was breaking, I was able to speak praises to God and say, "Lord, even if you let me lose this child, YOU ARE STILL GOOD." 

Sometimes those words are very difficult to say when you feel like something dear is being ripped away from you. But as soon as I surrendered and spoke those words, that incredible peace that passes all understanding flooded over me. I didn't feel depressed or oppressed. I was grieving, yes. But I had shut the door in the enemy's face. He couldn't lie to me while I was speaking those words. I feel like God has shown me something so huge through these experiences of loss and near loss. I don't want to ever forget the lesson. Praising God is powerful!!!

I'm so grateful that everything turned out fine and we'll have another baby boy in a short time! I've been catching up on scrap booking lately (finally got Benjamin's album done) and this page of my labor with Ben gets me so excited for Gabriel's birth!!


We'll be going to the same birth center again this time. Although, I'm thinking of turning to home births from now on since my birth center most likely will not be accepting my insurance any longer.

Bringing a new little life into the world is one of those miracles that nothing else really compares to. I'm getting excited just blogging about it!! :o)
Can't wait to meet baby Gabe!


1 comment:

Annette Honeycutt said...

Yay for HOMEBIRTHS! They totally rock! :)
I totally get you on the whole Santa thing- we do the same exact thing. Santa is a character just like the Disney Characters is what we tell our kids. We do the fun festivities of Christmas always trying to remember the reason for the season. WE also focused a lot this past Christmas on doing things for OTHERS! Christmas has become WAY too commercialized. Our gift giving this year to the kids was focused on things they could do together. And everything had to have some sort of educational focus/purpose.
So excited for you getting close to birth! AND for the whole day shift! I can't imagine Kevin not being on a day shift job! lol