That Sweet Thrill

Poor Bethani has not felt well the last couple of days now. She's getting in her first molar and apparently it's not going very smoothly :(. Yesterday after her nap I got her up and she was in one of those snuggle moods and didn't want to be put down, so I took advantage of the situation and rocked her for awhile. After about five minutes she leaned back, looked at me, and smiled so big :), like "my world is right now mom!"  and ran off :). As I sat there looking into her clear blue eyes for those brief moments it swept over me again, as it has a thousand times, but I still get a sweet thrill every time it happens :)...These are THE children I dreamed of while I was a little girl growing up! The children I prayed for. The children I was sure I would name after my dolls ;). The children I wondered about when I was babysitting other people's children. The children I made The List for...I will do this, won't do that, you know :). And now, praise the Lord, these are the "Children whom the Lord has given me"  Isaiah 8:18.

    Here's a touch of irony for you...a few posts ago I mentioned that I had just picked up a package of diapers for the new baby (still two months to go before the due date). Note to self- next time you pick up diapers for the child who doesn't even need them yet, pick up a package for the one who does! Luckily, Lee should be back home today before I make it through the diaper bag stash ;). Just in case, anyone have any ideas on how to get newborn sized diapers to fit a 14 month old? Haha :).

When the Going Gets Tough...

We might as well have gone out and bought a new car :). But, hopefully this time they fix the right thing. Yes, they fixed what they told us was wrong and, lo and behold, when they took it for a test drive, more transmission problems!. Unfortunately it had nothing to do with a recall like we were hoping from what they first told us, so we will be charged for the work they did and now for them to rebuild the transmission, negating the work they just did... Anyway, all will be well. Hopefully we will get the van back on Tuesday so we don't have to have the rental car for any longer than we've already paid for. A year ago this would have really hurt, but at this point it isn't beyond our control, praise the Lord! Hubby and I can even laugh about it already, sort of. You can probably tell by all of the posts I've been able to get out of draft mode that I've been trying to take it kind of easy today :). After the most recent estimate I picked up my Hidden Wisdom magazine and it came through for me yet again :). I found myself on Erin Mifflin's article where she addresses the question, when the going gets tough, the tough get going...to where?! To Jesus, of course :).

   Well, I hear thunder in the distance. I love a good rain storm when the girls and I can curl up together on the couch with a good book. Looks like it's time for literature class ;).

A Place to Lay His Head

    And Jesus saith unto him, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head." -Matthew 8:20

   This verse has been going over and over in my mind the last couple of days. We are now "officially" ready for baby :). I even bought a package of newborn size diapers while I was out yesterday just so I could tell myself I'm ready :). They are sooo little! I set up the cradle the other day and every time I go into my room and see it in all it's blueness, it becomes a little more real to me :).

  And every time I see it that verse goes through my mind and I am reminded, in a whole new way, just what Jesus gave up when he came to live among us. From "the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof" to "not where to lay his head". Thank you, Lord Jesus :)!

    To our only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen -Jude 1:25

A New Passion...

  Well, she hasn't abandoned play dough, she's just broadening her scope of interests :). Bethani's new thing is to go in her room, dump *all* of the blocks out of the basket they belong in so she can go around and collect her baby dolls in it :). She does this every time she notices the blocks are back in the basket...

See all of the blocks on the floor :) ?

 I wonder if this is how Miriam played with her baby dolls?

 Here she is in a less messy moment :)...

What a blessing to be a mommy :)!

And for those who want proof that they know more than you know... Tori was just counting and as she got up to four Bethani piped up....FIVE! We didn't even know she knew the word, let alone where it comes! She's only 14 months! With two sisters ahead of her maybe she'll be my easiest to teach yet :)!

What a Day!

Yesterday morning Lee called to say his "friend" was back. He has had a homeless guy coming and staying in his store a lot lately and he is torn between "I was thirsty and you gave me drink/entertaining angels unawares" (it is a christian bookstore), and "a man who won't work won't eat/a need to make his store a comfortable and safe place for his many female employees to work. His spirit is uncomfortable with having the guy forcibly thrown out but he hasn't been led any other way yet and it has been a source of stress all this last week.

   My yesterday consisted of very uncomfortable (read *painful*) contractions all day long. These are normal for me by 30 weeks, they were just worse from not being able to keep hydrated yesterday...it is HOT down here! On top of that I had a splitting headache and a baby who for the first time in her life (really!) wouldn't settle down for her nap, etc.

   Yesterday evening it only got *better* :). Hubby found someone who was glad to come in for some extra hours and was coming home early -with Ben & Jerry's :)- to redeem my day...and instead he got to come home and say, "I think the transmission is going" and explained his ordeal in trying to get home going 35 miles an hour the whole way!

  Then the baby decided she didn't want her supper anymore...after I had laid her down for the night...and she spewed it all over her crib, the floor, the wall, the toy box, toys, you get the picture...

   On a brighter note, Abigail Paul chose a picture my husband took of the girls for the cover picture of her Hidden Wisdom magazine! It had arrived Monday but I didn't get a chance to read her editorial until yesterday while lying down with Bethani trying to get her to nap. It was such an encouragement to me yesterday of all days! I especially enjoyed the quote she gave by Elizabeth Elliot, "And when we find ourselves most hopeless, the road most taxing, we may also find that it is then that the Risen Christ catches up to us on the way, better than our dreams, beyond all our hopes. For it is He-not His gifts, not His power, not what He can do for us, but He Himself-who comes and makes Himself known to us. And this is the one pure joy for those who sorrow. "

   Life is stressful! In many ways right now I feel like a four-year-old with her father over her showing her how to clean her room...there are little voices all around, both in my head and outside of myself saying your never going to get it clean enough, why bother even trying? Why not sit here and relax with your Magna Doodle ;)?

God is standing over me right now. He's asking me to do things that are hard, but I can't give up just because I'll never be perfect. One of these days he's going to say, "Well done good and faithful servant". No, I didn't make it to perfection in my humanness but I did what my Father asked of me, and He says that is good enough. Nothing more and nothing less.

   "But if people have doubts about whether they should eat something, they shouldn't eat it. They would be condemned for not acting in faith before God. If you do anything that you believe is not right, you are sinning."

~Romans 14:23

Mommy's Day Out!

  One of my sisters came down on Sunday and Lee watched the girls while we went out for lunch and did some shopping :). Aunt Tessa showed up with a coloring book and box of crayons for EACH girl :). Bethani has been keeping herself entertained by taking her new crayons out of the box, making a small mark with it and putting it back :). Even Bri and Tori have spent nearly all day in their new coloring books...why is it that when *I* buy a new coloring book it quickly finds it's way to the shelf with all of the others? Hmmmm.....

   Kohl's was having a great sale! Most everything I got was 70% off and everything else was 50% off. New baby shopping AND great deals, does it get any better than that?! I have to admit though that it was difficult to not get sidetracked by all of the frilly dresses :)!

Anyway, here are my spoils :)...do you see all of the BLUE?!

Big Sister-in-Training

Some for you...

and some for me...

By the way, here is the little guy she's practicing for :)...

Can't you see the family resemblance :)?

This ultrasound photo was taken at 20 weeks, we're at 30 now! Just a couple more months!