Cross Stitch Nesting

As I scrubbed the baseboards on my hands and knees of our entire house a few days ago, I thought, "Wait a minute... this isn't me at ALL."  I think I'm beginning to taste the first sporadic  stages of nesting.  

Just in time for this current obsession, I received a huge box in the mail from my mother containing the most beautiful cross stitch quilt (also a dear baby sling that my she sewed for Raspberry and me).  Oomah, my grandmother, created this treasured piece of art and it has officially begun it's heirloom-journey through future generations.  

I love the idea of passing this precious item on to my daughter or daughter-in-law one day.  I was able to happily nest away the morning as I meticulously laid it out on our guest bed.  Here it is!

The last photo shows Oomah's signature and the date, making it a true piece of art.  Love it!

       

Untrue Gospel

I found this video on Leah Milan's blog. Changed my entire day and 

hopefully my heart and mind permanently.

All Stinky Politics Aside...

I've made it known before that I'm a sucker for Daddies and their little girls.  Our new president is no exception.  No matter how much I cringe at some of his policies, I am so thrilled at how affectionate he his with his family.  I don't want to be cynical and just assume that it's a tactical ploy to appear approachable to the American public;  I want to believe that he just simply loves the heck out of his beautiful women.  

That's all... I'm just glad he's showing Daddies out there that it's important and okay to kiss and love on your girls. 

Baby Update

As I've said before, I think my ticker above is a little ahead of where I actually am in gestation.  However, after being measured at the doctor, it may not be as far ahead as I thought.  We have our first ultrasound on February 5.  I can't believe it, but we should be able to tell the gender by then!  

I feel sad sometimes that it's taken me this long to get my "pregnancy caretaker" ducks in a row, but at the same time we get to know (hopefully) what our baby is the first time we see him/her.  We visited 2 different midwife birthing centers and were very pleased with both, but we preferred the second.  Through fighting and planning and stressing we probably would have been able to eventually get our insurance to pay for it but I still was not feeling 100% peace about the whole thing.  

After much research, I really felt like a birthing center would be a whole lot more conducive to the birth that I wanted to have - this post explains a little more.  I was still glancing at hospitals in the area, but didn't really like the options they offered.  However, while we were in Florida, my mom noticed that Greer Memorial (the brand new Allen Bennett Hospital) had jet whirlpool tubs that mothers could labor in... that caught my attention.  

When we got home, I set up a tour and began to chat with my doula friend, Angel.  I asked her if she knew of a family doctor that would help me birth naturally.  OBs are great, but they're traditionally only for high risk pregnancies and tend to be a whole lot more expensive - not to mention they're usually part of a large practice with rotating OBs and I wouldn't have a personal relationship with only one doctor.  Angel recommended Dr. Stafford and so I immediately made an appointment to meet him.  After I got off the phone, I thought, "Oh, wait... he probably doesn't deliver at Greer Memorial."  So I called back and asked... you guessed it - the receptionist replied, "Dr. Stafford only delivers at Greer Memorial."  

HOLY PROVIDENCE, BATMAN!!  What in the world are the chances that the random family doctor that I want would ONLY deliver at the awesome hospital where I wanted to deliver?!  I ask you...

So Jim and I went to meet Dr. Stafford last Wednesday.  He was awesome.  He told us that he was "the best of both worlds... the closest you'll get to a midwife, but he couldn't do anything about his gender".  I also told him that I did NOT want a c-section unless it was life or death.  His response?  "I don't want you to have a c-section!  I don't get paid if you have one!"  I really liked him.  We talked for a long time about the birth that I wanted and he was extremely positive, but realistic.  He's delivered hundreds of babies naturally and has a very low c-section rate.    

By the way, at the tour of Greer Memorial I was very impressed, too, with the freedom that I will have to move around, eat, drink, labor where I want, have the baby given to me immediately after birth, no IV, plus the awesome jet tubs (I'm excited about that part, can't you tell?).

Come June 22-ish, I'm ready for all of my plans and back-up plans to go flying out the window but for now I'm hopeful and prayful that God is positioning us to shoot for a healthy and natural (albeit, excruciating) delivery of our little Raspberry.  

Sheesh!  What in the world have we gotten ourselves into?!  I can't wait.   

Maranatha - Come, Lord Jesus.

Lately, through many different avenues, the Lord has been teaching me about the hope of the Eternal that is in Him.  The overflowing, eternal life that Jesus gives begins NOW, not when I die.  The kingdom of heaven is here AND is coming... Jim could give a much more in-depth dissertation on this :)   

My girls' Bible study has looked at this in depth and I've seem to come across the "new heavens and the new earth" again and again in the past 6 months or so.  It is so beautiful and comforting to know that there is more.  That all the beautiful, wonderful things here on earth are but shadows of the True substance to come.      

My heart is still troubled, though.  Bloodshed is still a fact.  Children are still killing and are still dying.  War is still raging.  

For some reason, God chose Israel as His people.  I believe that this is the Church, including me.  Ultimately, believers are Israel, grafted in by God's grace (Gal. 3.28) ... but what ABOUT all this nonsense in the Gaza strip?     

It is right and good to look forward to the hope that we have - but not to neglect the present.  Today was given for some reason.  Today should be a striving for compassion and plodding for peace.  Not only for the Middle East, but for Africa, Asia, South America... and for brothers or spouses or families that cannot find peace. 

But, it remains:  One sweet day Jesus will bring restoration.  He will bring shalom and all things will be new and right and good and full.  So I suppose with all my questions and heartache I can still cry out and pray, "Maranatha!!  Come, Lord Jesus!"  

Encouraging and Humbling

I greatly look up to this "blog stranger" as an amazing mother, wife, and woman of God.  She lives across the continent, but it just shows how the Body of Christ knows no geographical bounds.  

This post about balancing priorities moved me to tears.  Good stuff.

Tintoretto, Jacopo Robusti - Christ in the House of Martha and Mary, 1570-75

A little fatter?? Maybe??

I'm trying SO hard not to be impatient with my lack of baby belly.  The baby ticker above is pretty liberal... I think I'm more like 15 1/2-ish weeks.  So here's little Raspberry (supposedly the size of an avocado now, but it will always be Raspberry to me).  

Please humor me and tell me that I look pregnant :)

Jim told me to look serious in the last one... that's how I look serious.  

Whew!

We're finally home!  

Jim and I just had the best Christmas break in all of Christmas break history.  We locked the door to our little home on Dec. 23, 2008 and didn't unlock it until we returned on Jan. 3, 2009.  Instead of telling you all about it, I'll just share some of my favorite photos from our vacation (from our new camera - thanks Dad and Mom Thompson!!)

An awesome time with Jim's side of the family in Columbia:

Flying to West Palm Beach!!

Back to Camden for Joy and Randall's wedding:

And then finally home just in time to start back to work!  Yesterday I was laid up in bed with flu-like symptoms... I think as a result of all this crazy, yet wonderful traveling.  Thankfully, I'm feeling so much better today and ready to get back in the groove of life.  Happy New Year, everyone!