One big happy

Well we officially have three babes in the house along with a set of wonderfully loving grandparents and a dingo-mut fox dog named Zulu. It really is beginning to feel like the Waltons around here.

After starting what I hoped was early labor last Wednesday my mom made a comment at the dinner table, "Well tomorrow we may have 7 for dinner!" Sure enough Miss Leona arrived the next morning and we were back home for dinner that evening. THIS is why I chose to give birth at a birthing center. Call me crazy but I wanted to have an un-induced, un-medicated birth so I could go home for dinner afterward.....



While appreciating the personal challenge of natural birth it is by far one of the most challenging things I've ever undertaken. I have a feeling the self-application will continue to transform my perspective on pain, suffering and all those ingenious methods God uses for His glory. God shined in my labor and carried me when I felt I could not go any further. I know my friends and family were all praying for me as well which was evident in the blessing of a rather quick delivery once things progressed.


I am in awe of experiencing another beautiful babe of God's creation and intricate design. Leona is small and delicate baby figuring out her body and space just like her older brother and sister have. It is a fascinating scene to see some of their traits in her and also see some of her own. For now she reads similar to Daniel - super gassy, eats like a horse and falls asleep virtually anywhere.

Thank you Lord for the many blessing all each of these children and bless sweet Leona as she grows.

EDD - estimated due date

Recently I read that the estimated due date is not entirely accurate in determining baby's arrival, but somehow all our hopes, planning and and expectations revolve around this day and when it passes some mom's become really discouraged. In the past I have been vastly disappointed exceeding even 38 weeks gestation and grown impatient with every additional day I remained carrying. At the end of my last pregnancy with Sophia I was really disappointed with myself for having a really rotten disposition through the last couple months.

Today I reached 40 weeks - my EDD and I don't feel anxious or disappointed...yet. I prayed a lot in this pregnancy to have some courage toward the end. I'm also more pregnant than I've ever been not having ever reached the official 40 weeks; I feel sort of accomplished in making it this far. Now it really is up to baby to let me know when she's ready. Somehow I have peace about this that I've never had before. Only took three pregnancies to find contentment...

My greatest concerns now are just to remain patient with courage to face the final birthing marathon which will also be an entirely new experience for me. I know women of every race and culture birth babies all the time and everyone's method of managing the discomfort varies. I pray that I will know what to do when the time comes, when to lay off and relax and when to gear up and be brave.

Sweet Sophia

She's brazen and the most confident little miss I've ever encountered and she's not even voicing opinions yet.....

I am regularly moved by Sophia's cheery disposition and especially on her off days. She has a way of sounding, looking and showing her sweetness that is SO feminine and I cannot take any credit. She encapsulates sugar and spice and everything nice!

The waiting game

Having exercised little patience during my last month pregnant with Sophia I have committed my entire pregnancy with Leona to a greater effort toward patience and contentment. Ask my husband and parents and they may tell you differently, but I AM trying to be cooler about this one.

At 38 weeks I feel no signs of labor only increased heaviness and the inhibition of physical strength to make life fun for my kids right now. As a result they're watching more TV/movie replays than I would prefer. Don't even ask how much we're frequenting meals out and McDees.

This pregnancy will also be different in that I have been seeing a midwife and planned to deliver at a birthing center unmedicated. Mostly because I hate being trapped at the hospital and all the opinionated nurses who tell me what I feel or how ready I am to go home. No offense to L&D and post-partum nurses, but ya'll have a professional committment to hospital procedure which is primarily developed due to liability issues that do not pertain to every birthing mother and when I bring my babe into the world I don't want to be lumped into that scenario anymore.

The idea of adding a third munchkin to our family has been alarming and uncertain, but that's pretty much how all of our children have entered our life - bringing Mommy and Daddy to the cross and seeking God's provision and wisdom. Although our family planning has been anything but, God has apparently had a plan all this time and that is reassuring to me. Really the last several years have been very much a matter of God's planning apart from mine or Adam's there's no telling what the next several more will bring. God is always present and always promising our protection with unconditional love and that is absolutely enough to calm the most uncertain of times.