I love being surprised by the gender of our babies at birth! That moment is so exhilarating and exciting.... I absolutely love the surprise. This time, though, it was my turn to lovingly submit to my hubby and let him find out the gender of our unborn baby.
And..... It's another girl!
We are thankful and excited to add a fourth princess to our very frilly family. I know that our girls will hunt, and run, and ski and rough-house, and their daddy will raise them to be tough! But, they are also our little ladies, and they love tea parties and lacy dresses and wearing mama's lip gloss. And I pray they will be tender, nurturing, and God-honoring ladies who fulfill their roles with feminine grace and strong beauty.
Praise God for little girls!
Friday, February 24, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
Options..... Or Lack of Them! :)
Before I found out that I was pregnant with our fourth baby, I had begun to sense the Lord leading me (us) to pursue a birth at home. I felt a strong desire to give birth to our next (and likely last) baby in the quiet comfort of our home.
Erik was skeptical - but he agreed to begin the process of pursuing a homebirth. He was willing to talk with the midwives (the nearest midwives practice in Rigby, ID, about 2 hours away, and have delivered many babies in Jackson) and make a decision after consulting with them. At sixteen weeks pregnant, we made the drive and met with the midwives. Erik was impressed with their competence and their caring, and so was I. Both of us felt very comfortable proceeding with their care. There was only one problem.
In the last two years, both Idaho and Wyoming have adopted a new medical and legal status for midwives. This is great! It allows midwives to carry emergency medications, oxygen and IVs -- lifelines in the case of an emergency. The only problem is that certification is a process. The Idaho midwives are working on their Wyoming certification, but they don't have it yet... and until they do, they don't want to jeopardize the process by performing home births in our state. They have a nice birthing center, but we don't want to be the ones driving during labor.
I was deeply disappointed. I fretted and researched for a week, trying to uncover any other midwives within a safe distance from our home. There are none. I finally realized that there are just very few options. We can deliver the baby ourselves, we can drive 2 hours, or we can resign ourselves to traditional medical care and a hospital birth. Please know that I think hospital births are wonderful. Doctors are a blessing - obviously! And the interventions they offer are truly sometimes necessary. We had just felt led to have this birth outside of the hospital. But, while we have had friends follow the Lord's leading and have unassisted home births, we don't sense a similar leading for our family.
After a night of tears (I know, silly, but I'm pregnant, and occasional tears are allowed), we decided to use the practice where Erik's mom works as a nurse. They have a CNM there (a midwife who does traditional hospital births) and we decided that a midwifery style of care was still our preference, even if it is still a hospital birth. We'll have our first visit next week.
During that intermittent week, I stewed over our lack of options, and then knew I had to release my heart's desire and trust that the Lord is still leading and guiding us - even though it isn't what we had originally thought He was doing in our lives. We are so thankful for this precious life, and in the end, what matters is holding and cherishing our baby. So, we receive this gift with grateful hearts, and we'll drive 15 minutes to the hospital. :)
Erik was skeptical - but he agreed to begin the process of pursuing a homebirth. He was willing to talk with the midwives (the nearest midwives practice in Rigby, ID, about 2 hours away, and have delivered many babies in Jackson) and make a decision after consulting with them. At sixteen weeks pregnant, we made the drive and met with the midwives. Erik was impressed with their competence and their caring, and so was I. Both of us felt very comfortable proceeding with their care. There was only one problem.
In the last two years, both Idaho and Wyoming have adopted a new medical and legal status for midwives. This is great! It allows midwives to carry emergency medications, oxygen and IVs -- lifelines in the case of an emergency. The only problem is that certification is a process. The Idaho midwives are working on their Wyoming certification, but they don't have it yet... and until they do, they don't want to jeopardize the process by performing home births in our state. They have a nice birthing center, but we don't want to be the ones driving during labor.
I was deeply disappointed. I fretted and researched for a week, trying to uncover any other midwives within a safe distance from our home. There are none. I finally realized that there are just very few options. We can deliver the baby ourselves, we can drive 2 hours, or we can resign ourselves to traditional medical care and a hospital birth. Please know that I think hospital births are wonderful. Doctors are a blessing - obviously! And the interventions they offer are truly sometimes necessary. We had just felt led to have this birth outside of the hospital. But, while we have had friends follow the Lord's leading and have unassisted home births, we don't sense a similar leading for our family.
After a night of tears (I know, silly, but I'm pregnant, and occasional tears are allowed), we decided to use the practice where Erik's mom works as a nurse. They have a CNM there (a midwife who does traditional hospital births) and we decided that a midwifery style of care was still our preference, even if it is still a hospital birth. We'll have our first visit next week.
During that intermittent week, I stewed over our lack of options, and then knew I had to release my heart's desire and trust that the Lord is still leading and guiding us - even though it isn't what we had originally thought He was doing in our lives. We are so thankful for this precious life, and in the end, what matters is holding and cherishing our baby. So, we receive this gift with grateful hearts, and we'll drive 15 minutes to the hospital. :)
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Happy Valentine's Day!
Many of our holiday traditions center around breakfast and the morning routine. On birthdays, there are homemade cinnamon rolls, a decorated chair, a construction paper crown, and gifts at the breakfast plate. On Christmas, the morning starts with the Christmas story, stockings, and Poteca bread with scrambled eggs. Easter includes candy trails to follow around the house before church. Valentines Day means heart shaped pancakes and handmade Valentines at the table.
This morning, the pancakes were pink and topped with strawberries. Erik dyed the scrambled eggs, too, and served strawberry milk. The girls were delighted, and there was laughing banter about whether we might turn completely pink like Pinkalicious. I don't love the story of Pinkalicious, because she is pretty disrespectful to her parents, but I have to admit, there is definitely little girl appeal to the idea of turning yourself pink by eating too many pink cupcakes (or pancakes!) :)
Don't worry. This was Erik's heaping plate, and he didn't finish it. The girls and I had slightly smaller portions. :)
This morning, the pancakes were pink and topped with strawberries. Erik dyed the scrambled eggs, too, and served strawberry milk. The girls were delighted, and there was laughing banter about whether we might turn completely pink like Pinkalicious. I don't love the story of Pinkalicious, because she is pretty disrespectful to her parents, but I have to admit, there is definitely little girl appeal to the idea of turning yourself pink by eating too many pink cupcakes (or pancakes!) :)
Don't worry. This was Erik's heaping plate, and he didn't finish it. The girls and I had slightly smaller portions. :)
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Counting Gifts
Months ago, I shared about the book 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp. It has been on the New York Times bestseller list often, so I am guessing many of you have also read it, and been so blessed by her call to radical thankfulness. I am rereading it right now. I am forgetful; I need reminders often!
In the months since reading the book, I have been challenged to constantly seek joy and thankfulness in ALL things -- no matter what I am doing or what the circumstances are. I am not faithful to record gifts daily, but I do write in my journal several times a week -- counting God's graces in the form of all the daily "messes and miracles."
It is amazing how the constant posture of thankfulness changes your outlook on the "grind" of motherhood. I am finding myself filled with simple, overwhelming pleasure in the beauty of small tasks... in things like warm laundry to fold, and dishes to scour in sudsy water, in rubbing the small of Raina's back as she tries to relax and go pee-pee in the potty, in measuring out Robitussin to soothe a little one's nighttime cough, in stirring cookie dough and setting out fancy dishes for mid-morning tea, in helping small hands make beds, or reminding a child that the fork goes on the left side of the plate.
Dishes washed and laid to dry
Chore charts to help little ones remember to take joy in their daily tasks, too!
Learning together - even when it's messy!
A washer and dryer constantly in motion
Fresh chocolate chip cookies. Actually Erik made these. :)
The other night the house was quiet. Erik was working on taxes upstairs, and I found myself cleaning the kitchen in nighttime stillness. Hands immersed in soapy water, a broom swept across a crumb-strewn floor, the hum of the dryer tossing its last load. And I just reveled in that! And then to remember moments from a busy day -- listening to my daughter read, doing a joyous "potty-dance," dancing with little girls to loud music...
The act of counting God's gifts really does make thankfulness your first response. I struggle. Of course. I get impatient, or annoyed, and I forget to be thankful for a smoothie that tumbled to the carpet, or a child squabbling - again - over something that so doesn't matter, or the girls destroying their bedroom for the third time in a day, or the pee-pee that didn't go in the potty, or the child that won't go to sleep, or, or, or....
but I am so thankful for the reminder to be thankful and how that is changing my work into worship. If you haven't read the book --- read it! :)
In the months since reading the book, I have been challenged to constantly seek joy and thankfulness in ALL things -- no matter what I am doing or what the circumstances are. I am not faithful to record gifts daily, but I do write in my journal several times a week -- counting God's graces in the form of all the daily "messes and miracles."
It is amazing how the constant posture of thankfulness changes your outlook on the "grind" of motherhood. I am finding myself filled with simple, overwhelming pleasure in the beauty of small tasks... in things like warm laundry to fold, and dishes to scour in sudsy water, in rubbing the small of Raina's back as she tries to relax and go pee-pee in the potty, in measuring out Robitussin to soothe a little one's nighttime cough, in stirring cookie dough and setting out fancy dishes for mid-morning tea, in helping small hands make beds, or reminding a child that the fork goes on the left side of the plate.
Dishes washed and laid to dry
Chore charts to help little ones remember to take joy in their daily tasks, too!
Learning together - even when it's messy!
A washer and dryer constantly in motion
Fresh chocolate chip cookies. Actually Erik made these. :)The other night the house was quiet. Erik was working on taxes upstairs, and I found myself cleaning the kitchen in nighttime stillness. Hands immersed in soapy water, a broom swept across a crumb-strewn floor, the hum of the dryer tossing its last load. And I just reveled in that! And then to remember moments from a busy day -- listening to my daughter read, doing a joyous "potty-dance," dancing with little girls to loud music...
The act of counting God's gifts really does make thankfulness your first response. I struggle. Of course. I get impatient, or annoyed, and I forget to be thankful for a smoothie that tumbled to the carpet, or a child squabbling - again - over something that so doesn't matter, or the girls destroying their bedroom for the third time in a day, or the pee-pee that didn't go in the potty, or the child that won't go to sleep, or, or, or....
but I am so thankful for the reminder to be thankful and how that is changing my work into worship. If you haven't read the book --- read it! :)
Potty Training Take 3
I have been told that potty training should get easier with each child because they watch and observe the older ones. You know what? It's not true. For our family, each child's initial training has been much more challenging than the last... simply because Mommy is not un-distracted. And neither is the child. :) With Elisa, Sadie was only two months old, and she was angel during the first intense days of training. Elisa, on the other hand, was keenly interested and involved in Sadie's training... until she got bored and decided she needed Mom's attention elsewhere. :) With Raina, this pregnant mama has been juggling morning school, discipline, cleaning, chores, and a four-week long respiratory virus along with potty training. Days 1 and 2 were virtually failures. : ) The older kids were frustrated with her lack of progress, and annoyed because we couldn't leave the house for two days! They started out so excited, but their patience waned quickly. We started late last week, and Raina is now going potty about 1/2 to 2/3 of the time without a dribble in her undies first. God is giving me grace to be patient with the slowness of it, to lower my expectations a bit, to be thankful for a dozen pairs of little undies and a wonderful sanitizing washing machine, and to cheer for all the little victories while handing out the requisite M&Ms.
I think she'll get the hang of it. :)
I think she'll get the hang of it. :)
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