2 Baby updates

My baby at about 18 to 20 inches and 5 to 6 pounds, is looking plump and less wrinkly now as fat deposits fill out it's adorable form. Creases have formed around the baby's wrists and neck, and the dimples I'll soon be kissing have started to appear on the elbows and knees. With the uterine home now increasingly cramped, baby has little room for gymnastics, so I feel less vigorous kicking and more twisting and wiggling. Just like a newborn, my baby has regular periods of active sleep, deep sleep, active wakefulness and quiet wakefulness. Brain growth continues at a fantastic clip. Baby's lungs are approaching full maturity.

Am looking more and more forward to no longer being 'pregnant', and becoming a 'mommy' to this little one my husband and I have been blessed to create together. God continues to prepare me with the faith and trust that I will need to mother this child. The more I seek His perfect grace, the more I know my husband and I will be great parents. His faithfulness is enough to sustain my hopes and dreams, and His peace is enough to cover my fears and doubts.

A big congratulations to my daughter's dad and step-mom, who just had their new baby girl last night! My little girl is officially a big sister. If you feel lead, please keep them in your prayers. May God's blessing be on this new family, and may His love be revealed and received.

~Peace~

the house is still here, and I'm still in it

Am still looking around wondering how all my stuff found it's way into this house. I go to the bathroom and think, yep, that's my bath mat, that's my shower curtain, but who's bathroom is this? Yep that's my bed, my sheets, my dresser, and look, there's my clothes in that there closet, but who the hecks room is this? It's obviously still sinking in, that this is MY house. I'm not borrowing it, I'm not viewing it or testing it out, I'm not even renting it, it's mine. And there will be no strange person popping in at any time, asking us to please exit the premises, and give them back their house.
And it feels very weird, just knowing that my parents are around the corner, and my sister is down the street. They were both over today, for our first, neighborly visit. What a blessing it's going to bring to me and my family having them so close. I'm looking forward to all that God has in store.

First night

I'm about to spend my first night in my new house.
The move went so smoothly, and didn't take long at all. An hour to load up the truck, and only 45 minutes to unload. We were very blessed to have good help this morning, and they were all done before noon. Then the big pregnant and sore wife got to have a nice hour long nap, while my hubby worked hard at unpacking bits and pieces of our room, our bathroom, and the basement. Then through out the rest of the day and evening, we have had family members coming and going helping out with anything that was left. Thank you so much guys! My hubby cut and watered the front and back lawn already, as well and pulled all the weeds in the sidewalk, washed the whole outside of the house and pruned the heck out of the big pine tree in the front yard, not to mention all that he's been doing inside. He's been going hard, non-stop since 7 am this morning. I tried napping with his this afternoon but he wouldn't be quiet. He kept babbling on about all that he wants to do next. So I told him he might as well just get up and do it all, since he sure as heck wasn't capable of napping, or shutting up so that I could! I sure hope he sleeps tonight! Last night he was so excited that he didn't sleep at all. He kept poking me asking if I was awake. When the alarm went off at 6:50 I opened my eyes to see him grinning from ear to ear, so excited to start the day. So cute, of course I was not quite so enthused myself. It's been so awesome to watch him take everything on and get so much done, and to still have his complete blessing to take it easy and rest. I love him so much! But I'm off to bed, hopefully my hubby can join me, but he's still going hard upstairs. Hehe, "upstairs".....so weird.
Blessings!

So thankful for my hubby.....

I've been inspired by my sis to broadcast how amazing my hubby is, so here I go....

As many of you know, I am 35 weeks pregnant, and we're moving in one more sleep into our first home. People keep telling me that I'd better be taking it easy, and that I shouldn't be working too hard with this move. It's such a good reminder everytime I hear this, of how hard my hubby has been working to make it all easy on me. He's set up an amazingly organized packing system, so that when I'm at home ready to unpack, I won't have to search through any boxes to find something. He hasn't allowed me to lift a finger in regards to packing anything. All I've had to do is supervise, and let him know what he can throw out and what to pack. Everything is basically done, and he's done it all by himself! (minus the day that my brother-in-law and sis came to help us out, thank you so much!!) He works day and night, and has still managed to pack up our whole apartment, and keep his pregnant wife feeling loved and secure, babied and pampered. By the grace of God he's proven himself to be the most amazing husband I could ever ask for. His qualities are something to be admired, his hard work something that I look up to. It has been such a blessing to walk this out with him, and to have his blessing to take it easy on the sidelines. I can remember the day that I let go of the control of this move, and gave it over to my hubby, since that day the peace of God that passes all understanding has been filling me. It has been that peace that has brought us to the day before our move. We pray that His peace continues to be in the center of our hearts, as we watch the real work begin!

~peace~

3 sleeps!

Three more sleeps until my family and I pick up and move into our own house. I'm so amazed that God has brought us to this place, where we can experience the blessing of this new adventure together. Our apartment is no longer resembling any sort of home anymore. Boxes are lined up against all the walls, my daughter's loft bed is all disassembled, and there's one face cloth in the linen closet. Slowly but surely everything is finding it's way into a compact space to make it's way to the new house. My hubby and I are getting very excited, and can't stop talking about all the neat things we want to do as soon as we arrive. We plan to paint right away, and I can't wait! Having grown up in rental properties all my life, I've never seen anything but a white wall. Let me tell you, 22 years of built up and unused painting energy is going to make quite the statement. Stay tuned, I'll take lots of before and after pics!
Be blessed as you are, God is good, He is faithful and He is our provider.

3 things

3 things that scare me:

1. Heights
2. My daughter being lost or stolen
3. My hubby almost everytime he enters a room (I get scared very easily)

3 people that make me laugh:

1. My husband and daughter when they play together
2. My hubby, My sister, her hubby, and my mom and dad, when we get into a goofy mood, and feed off making fun of eachother
3. Jerry Seinfeld

3 things I love:

1. My new house!
2. That this pregnancy is almost over
3. That fall is coming and the heat is leaving

3 things that I hate:

1. Seeing my little girl get treated with pure disrespect, and seeing her little feelings get hurt (yes, call me a mother hen)
2. Horror movies, and the lie that many believe that it's ok to glorify satan for 2 hours through a movie that pumps your sub-conscience full of horrible images
3. Being interupted and having to repeat myself

3 things I don't understand:

1. Why I still categorize sin
2. How people can be experts on pregnancy, pregnancy weight gain, and all the many changes your body goes through and why, when they haven't ever been pregnant themselves
3. Why I was one of the few in many women who have extreme pain in their SI joint during pregnancy (although God is still teaching me lots on this one, and I'm learning very slowly but surely)

3 things on my floor:

1. A bunch of library books and movies
2. A plush chair, and a little girl sitting in it
3. Various miscellaneous items that need to be organized and packed

3 things I am doing right now:

1. Blogging when I should be showering
2. Listening to a fan and Zaboomafoo in the backround
3. Thinking of all the fun things I get to do in my new house

3 things I want to do before I die:

1. See my children grow up to love and fear the Lord
2. Travel to all the wonderful places my husband wants to take me
3. Grow to love my husbands feet (not quite there yet)

3 things I can do:

1. Waste an entire morning on this stinkin blog
2. Make a water drop noise with my mouth
3. Play the guitar sing and write music for the Lord

3 things that describe my personality:

1. Introverted
2. Likes things in order
3. Am re-energized by just being quiet and still (something my daughter and hubby can not handle)

3 things I think you should listen to:

1. The convictions of the Holy Spirit
2. The authorities placed over you, your hubby, the law, the leaders in your church
3. Anyone who by the power and wisdom of the holy spirit is correcting you in love, and holding you accountable to the truth so that you can continue to walk in the freedom of Christ

3 things I don't think you should listen to:

1. Satan's lies, that say you're not worthy of God's unconditional love, that you have no purpose, or that the God in you is not big enough to overcome your latest trial
2. Someone who's so negative all the time, that you start walking away feeling drained and heavy, someone who can complain about all that's wrong in their life, but will not make any of the changes or sacrifices God asks them to
3. The fads of our society, that say it's cool to get tattooed and pierced, and that women should dress to draw sexual attention to their bodies

3 Favorite foods:

1. Saskatoon Asian stir-fry vegetables on rice and vietemese rolls dipped in fish sauce and spicy oil
2. Crisp meat burritos and mexi fries dipped in loads of taco time hot sauce mmmmm.....
3. Steak, brushetta, and crab and artichoke dip

3 beverages I drink regularly:

1. Coffee, usually decaf
2. Water
3. Chocolate milk (my new craving)

3 shows I watch:

1. CSI
2. Seinfeld
3. Canadian Idol (my favorite gal got booted off last night) :(

Many are my plans....

Thoughts for today...

"Many are the plans in a mans heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails"

Proverbs 19:21

Have I been consulting the Lord in my everyday plans? Do I wake up eager to find out what His heart is for my day? Am I seeking out His wisdom in His word moment by moment? Am I continuously asking Him for the answer when I find myself in a situation that needs a decision?

Or, am I quick to make decision based on what I want? Do I roll out of bed and grab my breakfast, my morning coffee, check my email, read some flyers and gab on the phone for a bit before I go to God in prayer and thanksgiving? Would I rather lay in bed reading a magazine, or doing a crossword puzzle than read the word?

Unfortunately my life generally speaks the latter, fortunately, the holy spirit has been faithful in convicting me in my selfish ways. I pray that today I'd be able to commune with God throughout the day, instead of only going to Him when chaos arises or doubt hits. When I'm shaken I want to stand firm in my relationship with my Father. I want these desires to be more than good intentions. And He is faithful, His grace is sufficient. He has the almighty power to change me on the inside.

Just like King David I cry out to You

create in me a clean heart

I've greived you again

I need your release

from patterns that keep me in sin

there's only one way I can finally break free

Change me on the inside

Change me on the inside

Change me on the inside

pics to enjoy

La La La La...

My parental figures

Star Gazing...

The turtle from The NeverEnding Story

My hubby and I at Taste of Saskatchewan

The 'children' playing King of the Hill

It's all fun and games until someone break his hip....Go Dad!

My quote for the day:

"Having a child doesn't make you any more of a parent than having a piano makes you a pianist"

It takes selfless sacrifice without resentment or condition to be a real mommy and daddy.

The heat is on

It seems that as soon as my core body temperature gets too hot, there's no turning back. I've tried everything, but I still get nauseous, headaches, and ask my poor hubby, reeeeally grumpy. Cold showers just weren't doing the trick anymore, so I've shifted to cold baths. Like sitting in a paddling pool before the sun has warmed up the water, aaahhhhh. I'm thinking this will be routine until the weather starts telling me otherwise. A low of only 18 overnight. Oh my goodness, the Lord be with me..... (and also with you) ;)

He is patient, and He is faithful

My husband was ready to make babies on our wedding night. I on the other hand, pumped my body full of Depo-Provera in fear of getting pregnant. The thought of starting a family did not appeal to me at all, so I made up my mind that we were not going to have kids for at least five years into our marriage. If God or my hubby had a problem with that, they would have to suck it up. Nin, had spoken.
So a year went by and I started to notice God chipping away at my heart, softening it to the idea. Reminding me that He would never give me anything I couldn't handle, reminding me that His way was far more glorious than walking my own way, and reminding me that walking the road of being un-wed and pregnant at 16 was not His desire for me, He had given me a new beginning, to experience it His way this time. So I got to thinking, and concluded that I would submit, if we bought a house first. I knew that this was in the very near future for us, so I figured, ok God, we'll compromise. Once again, Nin, had spoken.
So we started shopping for a house. This was a very exciting time for me, as buying a house was not even a thought that entered my mind, I never thought that we would be able to be in a house that soon. I had grown up in rental properties all my life, and it wasn't until 4 years ago that my parents bought their first house. The thought of actually moving forward in that direction baffled my mind, and I was quite excited to see what God had in store for us. Finally, just before Christmas, we found a house we loved. We walked away from it with a lot to talk and pray about. When we aproached God about it, He made His answer very clear. "Stop looking for a house." Huh? He was gracious enough to repeat Himself a couple of times, to make sure we really got it, "Stop looking for a house, and stop walking in this direction." Whoa, we were stunned. But for whatever reason, and bless His name that He was so patient with us, we submitted. We layed down that house, let it go, and stop walking in the direction of buying a house. God then led us to a time of teaching us, about finances, responsibity, obedience, and building a storehouse. We walked this out with Him, and knew that His plans were greater than ours. We knew that He did in fact have a house for us, and that He would give it to us in His timing, not ours. God, had spoken.
Right after all this happened, God made it very clear that He wanted us to have a baby, now. This terrified me, because deep down, I knew that we were going to obey. So, we followed His lead, and got pregnant. I thought in the back of my mind that we would start trying, but of course, because God said now, it only took one egg. God, had spoken.
So here I am, pregnant, in a two bedroom apartment, wondering what God is doing up there. He faithfully brought me to a place of being content with staying in this apartment. He made it clear to us that He had works He wanted us to complete while we were here, people He wanted us to minister to. He led me to this post, Why do they call them apartments?, and I found much encouragement, hope and reassurance that we weren't alone. I was alright if He asked us to stay here, and since He hadn't directed us to pursue a house yet, we assumed that's what He was asking us. Then one day we got a card in the mail from my sister-in-law. She told us about this program called "Home First". It's a government program for first time home buyers, who's income falls under a certain level. We met all the requirements and qualified right away. We now had our down payment covered, and all we needed to do was find a house. God gave us the ok to start looking again, so we did.
We weren't in a big rush like before, and since I was into my second trimester already, we figured we'd take our time. We kept looking for a nice character home in the same area we were looking in before. The program we had qualified for mentioned to us that they had three properties vaccant already, but they were all on the same street, the same street as my parents, and sister and brother-in-law. My hubby and I laughed at the idea, and closed that door right away. There was no way I was living that close to my family. I love them, but that was just not in my plan. Once again, Nin had spoken.
So we shut the door on God's face, and didn't completely realize how arrogant we were being until a couple of months ago. We realized that God wasn't able to move and work if we weren't allowing Him to, so we said we would at least take a look at the properties. We viewed one, and walked out completely forgetting what street it was on. This was our house, we knew it. In the weeks to come God sealed the deal, opened all the doors that needed to be opened, dotted all our i's and crossed all our t's. We bought a house!!! Ahhhh, on my parents and sisters street! God is so unbelievable. He has shown His faithfulness is ways that I had never imagined. He gave me a house, one month before this baby will be born. Our posession date is exactly one month before my due date. Our God is not limited by time! He doesn't need to do things the way we think they should be done. He gave me the desire of my heart, because He's my daddy and He wants to bless me, and bless me and bless me. I'm so glad that God has spoken in our lives. I'm so thankful that I submitted to His plans and not my own, that He was patient with me through my disobedience, that He has greater plans for us than we do, which He has made very evident by placing us on the same street as my family. When I allow God to minister to my spirit about His heart for that street, and His heart for my family, I'm floored. I'm so excited to see what God has in store. I look over all the human plans that I made, and God prevailed over them all. I've tasted and seen that His plans are to prosper me and not to harm me. He is good, He is faithful, and He is God.
God, has spoken. Over and out.