The pictures I promised :)

Here are the t-shirts that I made for the kids. The baby's onesie says Pixie because that is what Hailey has nicknamed her. I also included a picture of the sweater that I crocheted for Ethan. He loves it and calls it his camoflauge sweater. With the carpal tunnel pain I've been having I haven't been able to crochet any more, hopefully I'll be able to start again after the baby is on a routine.

A pregnancy update.

I thought I'd write a quick update on how things are going. It seems hard to believe that I only have 24 more days until my due date; although, if she's anything like her big sister she'll make me wait longer to meet her.

I had my midwife appointment today and everything was great. My blood pressure & weight were fine. Baby is measuring right on, has a good heartrate and is still very active. I now start weekly visits, I can't believe how fast time has gone throughout this pregnancy.

This past weekend we worked on the nursery/girl's room and got all the furniture moved around and set up. Today Matt hung the curtain rods and I was able to hang the valances so the room is officially done. Yesterday I pulled the carseat out of the attic and got that all washed. It feels nice to have things ready for her.

As for me, I'm still having issues with the carpal tunnel syndrome but it has been better this week so I've been able to get pretty good sleep. Other than feeling really large I'm actually doing well. I've been having a lot of braxton hicks and after I drink some red raspberry leaf tea I notice they get much stronger and more frequent so I'm hoping all that uterine exercise will make things more effective when it's real labor.

The kids are still very excited and have started asking when the baby is coming out of mama's belly. I made some T-shirts for them (big brother/big sister) and put them in the hospital bag. Hailey was disappointed that she had to wait until the baby is born to wear hers (they'll get them the first time they come to visit). I'll try to get pictures of the shirts and post them. I'm actually really pleased with how they came out. I had priced some online but the cheapest I could find were $15/shirt so I found some clipart online and some sayings I liked and designed my own. I was able to get the shirts for $2/each at AC Moore so for three "custom" t-shirts (I made a little sister onesie for the baby from a onesie I had) it cost me less than $5 (that's counting the ink I used from the printer, I already had the iron-on transfer paper).

A lesson in Waiting on God.

"God has a time for everything and He works in us what needs to be done to prepare us for what is ahead. Having a sense of God's timing brings the peace to wait on the Lord for it" - Stormie Omartian

The quote above is one the struck me this morning as I continue my study thru the book "The Power of a Praying Wife". So often it is easy for me to get caught up in trying to fix or change things rather than waiting on God's perfect timing and resting in the fact that He is using every situation to prepare me for what is to come next.

This theme of waiting on God is one I have noticed as I've also been reading thru the Psalms. Here are a few recent ones I've read.
Psalm 37:7 "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass"
Psalm 37:34 "Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut of, thou shalt see it"
Psalm 39:7 "And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee."
Psalm 40:1 "I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry."

Another book that I have is called "Tea Time with God" and is one that I actually keep in the bathroom. It is full of scripture and short 1-2 page stories that are a great "pick-me-up". Today's reading was entitled "Which way is up?" and the theme verse was Hebrews 13:5 "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee" The author related the story of a speedboat racer who was in a terrible accident and was thrown from his boat. When he was under water he had spun so much that he had no idea which way was up.

"He had to remain calm and wait for the buoyancy of his life vest to begin pulling him toward the surface to know where it was." "Life can put us in a tailspin at times, making us wonder, 'Which way is up?' We can lose our sense of direction and the focus which keeps us on course. How do we recover our bearings? The answer may be as simple as that discovered by the speedboat driver: Stay calm and let the 'upward pull' bring you to the surface. The upward pull in our lives is that which looks beyond our finite selves to the greater reality of God."

It is so easy to get caught up in life and all of it's demands that I forget to patiently wait on God for His timing and direction. It's easy to get impatient when things aren't going according to my timeline or to start to panic when I can't see how a situation will be resolved. What a gift though that God has given us in His Word. To remind all of us that He is in control and that we only need to rest in Him and trust in His timing for every situation.