Galations 2:20-21

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly." Galations 2:20-21

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

16 Weeks

Wow, I can't believe I am already 16 weeks along in my pregnancy. I get these weekly pregnancy updates via email on things like what will be happening to my body and baby. This week they informed me I'm entering my 5th month! I guess I just wasn't paying attention. My belly is definitely getting bigger, but people who don't know still may not think I'm pregnant. I'm starting to feeling these strange flutters and am convinced it is the baby.

Here are two belly shots (not the greatest).
12 weeks and 16 weeks.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Important Things


I really do hate politics. I'm not really a fan of talking about politics all the time, however I do believe there are very important issues that need to be discussed. The issue of abortion is one of these. Liberals and Conservatives have been debating and fighting this issue for years, but for me this isn't just some "political issue." This is life and death.

I'm not going to go into all the medical technicalities of what they consider to be person and all of that. There are some things that are just common sense that we can talk about plainly.

My husband and I are pregnant with our second child. We had a miscarriage back in October of '08. We lost the baby at 10 weeks (6 weeks in size) and it was a devastating loss for us. That baby was our baby at the point of conception until it left us. My body was going through many changes with the morning sickness, swollen breasts, increased trips to the bathroom, bloated tummy. I was pregnant. There was a baby growing inside of me! I believe I will meet that little one someday after this life. Even though we didn't choose to have our baby taken away, I just can't comprehend how someone could. And now, the good Lord has blessed us with another pregnancy and being almost 16 weeks into it really makes me think about these things. Being pregnant is one (if not the only one) of the most amazing experiences in my life and I believe most women would agree. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I believe most abortions are done out of plain old selfishness. Yes, it is scary and maybe not always so convenient, but is that really reason enough to take a life? You know, what's really funny to me is that the same people who are "pro-choice" are the same people who are "anti-gun"......hhhhmmmm

I mean if you really think about it, people don't ask a women who is expecting how their fetus is doing, they ask her how her BABY is doing.

The video I posted above (thanks mom) is devastating to me. My heart just breaks for those little ones. They need a voice. We need to be their voice for them. When is this debate going to stop being about Life and Choice and start being about Life and Death?

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made . . . your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be" (Ps 139: 13-16)

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Earth Day Birthday

My birthday falls on Earth Day, April 22nd every year. We didn't do a whole lot to celebrate Earth Day, but we did plant three trees a couple weeks ago. Does that count for anything?

These last couple birthdays have been hard for me. I really hate getting older. Everything seems to be shouting it out to me, too. My youngest sister is a Freshman in high school, I have another sister getting married this year, I'm pregnant with our first baby. Don't get me wrong, these are all great things. I'm just feeling....OLD. I guess it could have something to do with all these crazy pregnancy hormones too.

My youngest sister and I took a little afternoon walk along the river yesterday. It was beautiful day and being outside always makes me feel better. And so does candy, so we made a stop by our cute local candy store. I love that place. They have a good selection of nostalgic candy that really brings you back to your childhood.
Youngest and Oldest
Gosling in Row
Cute little fuzzies
My hubby came home early from work to spend some extra time with me. I really do love him and he's so good about making me feel better about my age. We went out for dinner to Olive Garden. We had a gift card to use up there (thanks Nicole & Adam). After that we went on a little hunt for an area rug that I've been wanting for our living room. We ended our search at home on the internet. I don't know why we bother shopping sometimes.

Enjoy the beautiful weather today!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Nesting Phase


My husband has declared that I am going through my nesting phase in this pregnancy. I thought maybe it was too early, but after my readings I found it usually starts to happen at around month 5. I'm on week 15. Boy, have these past few weeks gone by fast.

Just the beginning:
We are a one-car family in the suburbs, so I don't do a lot of shopping during the day. My parents went on a local getaway for a couple days, so I was able to use my mom's car yesterday. I guess you can say I took advantage of it. I started my adventure by going to the local paint store to get some Low VOC paint for our apartment upstairs. New tenant moves in May 1st. I then went Target and finally found a TV stand on clearance for the 42'' TV my husband won from a raffle a couple months ago. I also purchased new bedding for our bed. We moved into the bigger bedroom earlier this year. It has this blue carpet that just wasn't working with our old bedding. I then proceeded to do some major grocery shopping. I'm getting in the mood to cook again, so life is getting more normal for the hubby.My Little Setback:
After dinner, I was determined to put the TV stand together myself. Uuummm yeah, the instructions were ridiculous and I just couldn't figure them out...or maybe I'm just stupid :) It didn't take long for me to call for help. So, Byron and I did it "together." He may or may not have done most of the work.
Let the Craziness Begin:
Since we have this new big TV in our living room, we had to do a little furniture re-arranging. Moving the old TV and desk out of that room. We decided to put the desk in our bedroom, so we had to move the bookshelf out of our room, move the dressers around in our room (those things are HEAVY), move over the bed, and then we were able to bring in the desk. Oh, and when I say "we" I mean my wonderful husband moved all that furniture around.

I guess I can see why Byron is convinced I'm going through my nesting phase. Especially since after ALL THAT I was telling him how I'd really like to start re-organizing the cabinets and drawers in the kitchen and then cleaning out our "utility" closet. Ha. Well...that will all have to wait. Today I paint!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

National TEA Party Day

National TEA (taxed enough already) Party Day is
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009.



Are you ready to take back America?
Find a rally near you here.

Garden...here we come

I finally got some exercise on Saturday. Wasn't it just a beautiful weekend? Our three apple trees were delivered last week, so it was time to plant them. Byron put a lot of work into those babies. Digging holes, putting in irrigation systems for them, putting on weed barriers, mulching, and staking them to the ground. They look great and he did a really nice job. He won't let me take pictures yet because he under-estimated how much mulch he would need and wants to get some more.

We took a break and went on a ride to our local big box store to purchase a rototiller. When we returned home, B continued to plant the trees and I tilled our 25'x25' garden. I also weeded the strawberry patch and cut back our asparagus plants. After getting out of my exercise routine the past couple months I was pretty sore the next day. Although, it felt great to be outside. I can't wait to start planting and spend more time in the garden.

Pictures to come....

Monday, April 13, 2009

Resurrection Day


Easter has always been my most favorite holiday of them all. Of course, I have the more superficial reasons, like the warming spring weather (57 yesterday!), the spring dresses (I love wearing skirts when I can), the Easter baskets in the morning when I was a child. Oh, how I really do miss those!

Those things aside, Easter is when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Friday evening we attended the Good Friday service at our church to remember and reflect on Christ's sacrifice on the cross for our sins. Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." John 2:19 Sunday we celebrated Jesus' raising up from the dead.

Jesus, thank you for suffering for me, for my sins. Thank you for sacrificing your life for the sake of my life.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Maundy Thursday


Monday Thursday, Maundy Thursday? What does this word "Maundy" mean? The word "Maundy" comes form the Latin word 'command'. This refers to the command that Jesus gave his disciples during the Passover meal (The Last Supper) in John 13:3-17 to love and serve one another. Jesus demonstrated this by washing the disciples' feet. Not only do we observe this day for this command, but this is also the day Jesus instituted 'The Lord's Supper" or "Communion."

May we all remember the example of humility Jesus gave us and try to live our lives as He did even during His last days on earth.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Mondays....they aren't all that bad



Yesterday was my husband's birthday. Love you, my handsome! He took the day off from work and we had our second appointment with the midwife scheduled that day too.

We started the day off by heading to our appointment. Everything went well. Checked for heart tones. 150 bpm. Looks good.

We stopped for a nice "brunch" at some random pancake house on the way home. Yummy buttermilk pancakes....I could go for some of those right about now.

We also made a stop to the library. Byron picked up a book, Husband Coached Childbirth, to get a head start on the Bradley class we are taking starting in July. The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth "stress the importance of Healthy Baby, Healthy Mother, and Healthy Families."


We picked up a movie from the library too, the 1968 film Planet of the Apes. I remember watching these movies as a child and after learning that husband hasn't seen them, I've been wanting to rewatch them. I'm not usually into sci-fi movies, but I enjoy these films.



When we returned home I took a super long nap. It's amazing how tired this alien makes me. As I napped, Byron did a little online shopping and purchased his birthday present, a juicer. He's been on this vitamin kick for the past month and has really wanted to get into juicing. He's pretty excited about it. He also relaxed by starting his new book.

After I woke from my nap, we messed around with the seedlings in the basement and then proceeded to eat and watch our movie.

We had a pretty enjoyable and relaxing day together.