Thankful

Thankful.

 

I certainly have much for which to be thankful.

 

Four amazing children with tender hearts and energetic spirits.

 

A strong, growing marriage with a creative, passionate man that loves and follows God.

 

Most importantly, God who leads us into all sorts of unfamiliar territory and gives us the strength and courage to follow Him.

 

And so we celebrated Thanksgiving with gusto.  With pumpkin cheese pie, savory turkey, cranberry sauce, sweet yams, cornbread stuffing, and mashed potatoes.  With family game time and long conversations.

 

Thanksgiving activities haven't been the only things keeping us busy in my absence from this blog.

 

We have been homeschooling a lot and making great progress in the Beast's reading skills.

 

We have been planning up a storm for Christmas and getting all the gift shopping done.

 

We have officially left our church home of eight years and have been visiting other churches to see where God wants us to serve.

 

The Nerd has been fervently looking for a new job and has been up late every night, studying and practicing for long interviews and steeling himself against the disappointment of rejection.

 

And we have much to look forward to in the next month.

 

We get to spend the weekend with our close friends at the coast, children playing and adults enjoying meaningful conversations and time away from life's pressures.

 

Baby Girl is turning one year old; so of course we will be celebrating with much joy at a very pink party.

 

The kids and I will be making ornaments and focusing our attentions on the One we really celebrate at Christmas time by doing our Truth in the Tinsel activities along with our advent calendar.

 

We will be celebrating Christmas!  Enough said.

 

We will hopefully soon be settled in a new church home.

 

God is so good.  He is so faithful.

 

And we are thankful.

Twelve Weeks

Woohoo! I am officially at the end of my first trimester. :)

The Baby: Little Sprout is doing well with a heart rate of 166 beats a minute. Now the size of a lime, the little one is starting to make sucking movements with its mouth, and all of the reflexes are beginning to work. Little Sprout had a first photo session today. :)

I saw this picture and fell in love. Again. I am always amazed at how much love I have to give all the littles in my life.

Me: I am doing fantastic! Morning sickness is quickly fading out of the picture, and to be honest, I am breathing a big sigh of relief that the first trimester is over. I am trying not to worry over picking up big objects (i.e. The Beast) or doing more strenuous tasks. I am also trying to get to the gym at least three or four times a week, so as to justify the giant bowl of ice cream I had last night. Or the nachos I had at 1:00 in the morning a few days ago. Or. . . well, you get the picture.

Siblings: They still seem excited at the idea of a new little one entering our lives come Christmas time. I am thankful for a grandma who can come by and watch them so I can go to doctors' appointments without terrorizing the ob-gyn's office. The Beast asked me yesterday if he could talk to the baby. He rubbed my belly, saying, "Hi, baby!. You are so cute!" Then he looked up at me and said, "Your turn, Momma! Say hi to the french fries!" as he lifted up his shirt.

The Plans: Since it is officially garage sale season around here, I am on the lookout for a baby swing and/or bouncy seat for Little Sprout as well as some other necessary baby items. As soon as we find out the gender of Little Sprout, I will be piling up the clothes, blankets, bibs, etc. as well.

And that's it for this week. I am looking forward to moving into the second trimester! :)