Baby Update

Yesterday I went to see the doctor and I took the kids.  It's a miracle I remember anything that was said even though the kids did really well.  I am 33 weeks now and this baby girl moves a lot and is very strong.  She is head down now and my doctor thinks she will stay that way!  Last time I went to the doctor I was measuring 4 weeks ahead by the measuring tape, but now I'm only measuring 2 weeks ahead.  My doctor thinks that she is dropping down which is good.  I had an ultrasound last week and they estimated that she was 4 lb 8 oz.  My doctor said that was a little over average, but fine.  In two weeks I will start having weekly ultrasounds and non stress tests to check everything out because of the gestational diabetes.  I am excited to see her so much.  The other two I hardly got to see before birth.
I am at the stage now where I wake every 2 hours or so in the night and my back feels stretched.  Hot showers seem to help and I am trying my best to position pillows to support me, but that is a challenge. I am ready to see this new person inside of me.

His Promises

Where would we be without God's promises?  Reminded this morning.

32 weeks

Large and in charge at 32 Weeks!

Freeze Frame

I love it when you experience moments that are just so perfect you'd like to freeze frame.  They don't happen every day, but I had one today.  We were at a local pond and the weather was warm and I was in the shade and the kids were fishing and riding bikes with their Grandpa and Daddy.  I took a little stroll and breathed in the warm air and looked at the lily pads... just beautiful.

Someone talked daddy into a slushy!

Fishing.  Yesterday he caught his first fish.

Riding bikes

Zeke and Paw Paw

Gwen and Daddy

Lily pads and ripples and a cool breeze.  My kind of beauty.

Being Goofy

Turtle

We found a turtle in the field behind the house.  The kids were very excited.

Zeke and a friend at small group.

Mothers Make a Difference

These two stories came from a devotional book that I borrowed from my mom's house when I went there the last time.

*A partially deaf boy came home from school one day carrying a note from officials at the school.  The note suggested that the parents take the boy out of school, claiming that he was "too stupid to learn."
The boy's mother read the note and said, "My son Tom isn't 'too stupid to learn.' I'll teach him myself."  And so she did.
When Tom died many years later, the people of the United States of America paid tribute to him by turning off the nation's lights for one full minute.  You see, this Tom had invented the light bulb-- and not only that, but motion pictures and the record player.  In all, he had more than one thousand patents to his credit.  

** The name Albert Einstein is synonymous with that of "genius."  Many don't know, however, that Einstein was a late talker.  His parents grew quite worried about this.  Then, at supper one night, he broke his silence with a full sentence, saying, "The soup is too hot."  Overjoyed, his greatly relieved parents asked him why he hadn't spoken before.  He said, "Because up to now everything was in order."

Living In the Moment

It is interesting to see how mothering changes over time for me.  I had a conversation with my sister about how hard it is to stay in the moment in this day and age with so many distractions.  I think that is a constant struggle for every mother.  This morning I really enjoyed watching the kids play in the rain.

We moved this rosebush from the back yard to the front yard and thought it might die... but it has bounced back and I'm so happy about it.  I am really enjoying looking out my big window at these beautiful yellow roses.

In pregnancy news, I'll be 31 weeks along tomorrow.  I went to a specialist for my gestational diabetes and my blood sugars are looking very good.  My prayer is that I can go until the end controlling my sugar through diet with no medicine.  They said to not feel like a failure if I have to go on meds, but I must admit I would be very disappointed.  They said because I have gestational diabetes this time that they probably will want to deliver me in my 39th week.  If I have trouble controlling my sugar or the baby is very big they said they'd want me to deliver in my 38th week.  I'm not sure how I feel about all that, but I'm taking it day by day.  They will start monitoring the baby by ultrasound when I reach 34 weeks.  I'm looking forward to seeing the baby again by ultrasound.  This baby is strong and moves often and so I am reassured she is doing just fine.  I'll give you another belly picture soon.  I'm busy running after two others that I can barely get a photo of myself these days.

Treasures

For Gwen's birthday present I bought her a grow your own crystal set.  We really enjoyed doing it together and seeing the final product.  Isn't it pretty?

I made cole slaw for the first time this year for the 4th of July.  Isn't this cabbage pretty?  What a wonderful God we have to make such variety!

I must admit, I love fireworks and the kids had a good time watching some last night.  They were pretty much toast on the way home though.  They are both napping right now for once!

Singing To Gwen

Summer Memories

The other night Ben and I were at the Grammy party to celebrate the actual Grammy my choir got.  I decided I need photo ops with it.  Do I look like a grammy winner?  I think not!  Oh well :)

The weather has been so nice and the Lord has been merciful to me with a mild summer so far.  It's so beautiful in fact that you can't stay inside.  So, today we went to Deanna Rose Farmstead.  It is free and the kids love it.  Gwen spotted this turtle on a log.

Gwen and Zeke both used their own money to buy a bottle to feed the baby goats.  Zeke was looking forward to it so much and then the overenthusiastic goats scared him.

Gwen, however, loved the attention from the goats and maximized it by pulling the bottle out of their mouths and running a few feet and then choosing another goat to feed.

Zeke still wasn't too sure he liked goats.

But Gwen did.

After we had walked around for a while I sat down on a swing and watched while the kids got soaked in some misting things they had there.  I figure this is what childhood and summer is all about.

Then of course we had to use up every coin we had, so we fed the ducks.