-fellowship
-snuggles with Nadia
-chatting with Leila while she drew on her magnadoodle…she’s so precious and loving!
-liberty wanting to take care of me when I’m tired and just need to lie down
-spending the past week/weekend with hubby/daddy before he leaves on his first week of work (new job)…we sure will miss him!
-the way Jonathan can make the girls laugh and laugh and laugh
-salad
-good books
-naps (for mama)
-hugs
-3 little girls giggling in the tub
-the Psalms
-dinner cooked by my hubby…steak fajitas…yum!
-snuggles with Nadia
-library book sales
-sunshine
-hugs
-kisses from Liberty
-Leila’s smiles
-grace
-yarn
-phone call from my sister
-little girls with glue sticks and craft projects at library story time
-prayer
Yikes! I’m already getting behind on this! But for the record, we went out of town yesterday and again today…busy!
-a 4wd vehicle (which is why we went out of town…to purchase said vehicle)
-the sound of Nadia playing with her dolls…super cute!
-the sweetness of Leila
-watching Liberty learning new things and then make connections in the outside world
-broccoli and veggie dip (yes, this is a current pregnancy craving)
-almost 13 weeks of pregnancy…learning this babe has developed fingerprints…amazing!
-snow covered mountains against a blue sky…there’s just something so peaceful about that
-knowing I will see my Dad again some day…I’m missing him so much lately
-girls who were troopers riding in the car so so much the last two days
-grace
-kisses from precious little girls
-a clean (for the moment) house
-a husband who is less stressed
-cloth diapers…they look so cute on those little bottoms and they save money!
-heat
-music
-watching the girls play in the snow (don’t worry…we were only going out to the van in this pic…I really do bundle them up when they go out to really play, like this morning).
-Jesus
I’ve seen this going around and thought I’d jump in…
Today I am thankful for…
-a great visit with a sweet friend today
-safety on our drive home on nasty roads
-3 precious girls who keep me laughing
-a husband who kept me calm when my van couldn’t get up any hills to get home tonight
-the beautiful abundance of snow on the ground
-taking a week off of school just for fun (& because this mama is tired and we are ahead)
-raw broccoli with veggie dip
-the precious baby growing inside of me…12 weeks along now!
-girls playing in cowboy boots
-hugs
-old hymns
-Jesus
Try reading this out loud to yourself and really let the words sink in…I cannot do it without crying…I cannot grasp that kind of amazing love…
Like verse 3…it says the Lord is intimately acquainted with all our ways…
And verse 5… “You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me.”
And verse 7…how we can never be away from the Lord’s presence…
And verses 11 & 12…how even when we think the darkness is overwhelming and everything is dark, nothing is dark to the Lord (can you imagine?!)…
And verses 13 & 14…how He formed us in the womb…each one of us…how we are fearfully and wonderfully made…wow!
And verse 16…how the Lord knows the number of our days even before we are born…
And so on…it’s an amazing Psalm to let your heart and mind dwell on…
I still can hardly believe baby #4 is rapidly growing in my womb. (Really, this is precious babe #5, as we miscarried a baby between Leila & Nadia). Feeling so blessed. This new baby will be a change for us…the first baby born away from both sides of the family. There is the biggest gap in ages between our children with this baby. Libbs & Leila are 17 months apart, Leila & Nadia 16 months apart…and now this baby will be a whopping 3 years younger than Nadia! I wonder what that will be like : ).
And the biggest change will be the birth plan. We are planning a home birth this time around. I have been wanting to try a water birth ever since I had Liberty…and now I am getting my chance. We are feeling confident about our decision at this point. I am 8 1/2 weeks pregnant right now and we met with our midwives and doula for the first time today. They are great. My doula is a friend of mine here…she’s an OB nurse at the hospital as well and she just had her first baby (at home) in July. One of the midwives is my doula’s mother. Both midwives live about 2 hours from us…but that doesn’t really worry me because my friend & doula lives just minutes from us and she has delivered babies before. I am looking forward to attempting a water birth. And I’m excited about the opportunity to give birth in my own comfortable environment. (Lest you be worried about complications…which so far I haven’t had any complicated pregnancies or deliveries…the hospital is RIGHT behind our house!!). I also have another good friend here who had a home birth in August (a vbac, actually). Anyway…I’m really excited about this opportunity. Another plus…a home birth is wayyyy less expensive than a hospital birth AND our insurance will cover a big part of it. Woo hoo!
So far I am feeling pretty good. I am super super tired…but that’s probably not surprising since I have 3 little ones to care for and we are homeschooling…and there’s a baby growing inside of me. I feel nauseous on and off, but haven’t actually gotten sick yet. I especially feel nauseous after eating. Haven’t had a ton of cravings, but I have been craving salads…but not with lettuce…just fresh spinach. Yum! This is weird for me b/c with the girls I always craved junk, junk and more junk. I hope this keeps up. I have a hard time cooking dinner lately b/c nothing sounds good, haha! I want to try to start putting my dinners together before lunch…b/c after that I am wiped out.
The girls are really excited…especially Liberty. She’s really hoping for a brother. She loves to look at the pregnancy sections of the human body books we have and she tells everyone she can about the baby in mommy’s belly. Official due date from the midwives: May 12, 2012. Weird fact about that…all of my pregnancies have gone 7 or 8 days past my due date. 7 days past my current due date is May 19, 2012…the day my dad passed away in 2010. Mixed feelings there.
Anyway…here are a few pics of the girlies…
And a verse that has really been sticking with me lately…so much comfort and peace in this…speaking of Christ…
“He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
Colossians 1:17 (NASB)
