Big Chubby News

She is here! Reese Emily has arrived. She was born 8lbs 2oz, 21 1/2 inches long. What a big girl, what an intense but quick labor! We are blessed!

Soon I will give the birth story because I want to record details before I forget them. I do this mostly for myself since this blog is like my journal.

Meanwhile, family has the girls while I am caring for Reese and catching a few winks. Oh, and also straightening up this house...something I won't be able to stay on top of once the girls come back.

Meanwhile, my heart is bursting with happiness and thanks at our third-born daughter. Her cheeks are chubby; she even has a double chin! But the rest of her body is skinny, just like a newborn. Her hair is dark brown and her eyes are dark blue. Right now she is wearing one of the many crocheted hats I have made for her, swaddled in a blanket and lying on the couch - sleeping.

Ah. This newborn stage is delightful.

Did I mention how much I love baby Reese Emily? I just do!!

AMAZED

Wow. Every time I feel like I can't last another day with Baby Girl in my belly, I somehow do. I wake up, spend time with God, feed the girls breakfast, clean up, feed snacks, do school, feed lunch, youngest has a nap while I catch up on school and chores, prep dinner, maybe do a little crochet, eat dinner, kids to bed, relax with hubby, then go to bed. Next morning, time to do it all over again!

I am AMAZED. That though I think I can't do it, God helps me get through. I am amazed at His grace not just in this area (I mean what Mom doesn't go through the same), but grace in changing my attitude. Though my body feels sore and weak, my heart and spirit don't. He rejuvenates me with His mercies. It is exhausting to do housework. But it is never tiresome to open His Word and drink. I feel like the more my spirit hungers and is satisfied in Him, the less all the other stuff seems important.

I love the quote I heard today (paraphrased) "We often focus on what God wants us to do for Him, not who He wants us to be." Do I emit the fruit of the Spirit? Do I have less joy and peace than my unbelieving neighbors? Not just to the depth of the smile, but do they see Christ in my life? Is there a difference?

I used to dislike when speakers would ask the probing questions after their dialogue. Now I look forward to the challenging queries. They help me do what God says, not just hear. Yes, I love hearing the sermons and lectures, but I love actually getting into action, though it often catches me off guard because I immediately experience a challenge in the form of my own sinful nature. It's hard to change who we used to be.

But honestly? I look back at who I was 10 years ago, and I see change. I see less insecurity, less legalism and more of desiring God Himself. I'm sure having kids and going through trials has honed home some of that. But the work is all from His Spirit. None from me. I could never naturally just change when I want to.

The exciting thing is, He's not finished. There is more of me to change. It doesn't end until I join Jesus in heaven. "And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Phil. 1:6

And what's even more awesome, is that when Christ returns and takes us home, we will be like Him. I don't know what that all entails. But it will be beyond awesome. "But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself." Phil 3:21

Tonight is girls night IN. My two girls and I hang out, doing whatever fancies our whimsy. For Katie, it is taking every doggone item out of the sticker folder, piano prize box, and relocating said items to different areas of our home. For Brilla, it is practicing her piano. I saw her working on her homework earlier. Now I glance over to see her counting with head bobs and having perfect posture as she sits. (Do you sense a bit of mommy/teacher pride here?) I am pleased, because I did not ask her to do this, yet there she is, actually enjoying her piano time!

As for me, I choose to post quickly before bath time.

Our weekend seemed to last forever. As seen in earlier posts, it snowed up here. With Western Washington snow, however, comes the melting of snow, then refreezing, then more snow. It really is glorious until the grand finale: toppling trees and branches, no electricity in our homes, and the need to escape to a warm place. I

My in-laws were the welcoming escape. They are a bit south and experienced only a slight loss of power, which was quickly mended by the warm wood-burning stove. Which was even better mended by the power coming on 4 hours later. My sweet mother-in-law quickly greeted us with fresh-out-of-the-oven chocolate oatmeal butterscotch cookies and a hug. The perfect medicine for chilled bones! They let us share two and a half days with them. Did I mention the cousins and auntie showed up as well since their power went out? It was like a family reunion :)

Meanwhile, it was film time. We watched Ratatouille, Toy Story 3, Monsters Inc, Cars 2, Beauty & the Beast, to name a few. Grandpa Dick made a huge pot of stew for the second night of dinner. As I took in the full table and busyness, I was given a glimpse of what it would be like to live with 12 people altogether in one house.

It was a very fun mini-vacation, but might I confess, it was good to be back in our small home, with heat on, Sunday evening. Never thought I'd enjoy washing dishes and laundry as I did then.

There is still a frozen layer around us, but it is thin. And, I wouldn't mind another snow, except I would love for our electricity to stay on. And to be able to drive out of our cul-de-sac. I will just be content with a beautiful snow having passed and getting back into the rainy winter as usual.

And work on this Baby coming out! Here is hoping we see her precious face soon.

Can't Believe I Actually Want Rain

It is STILL snowy and icy out there!

I thought all this white stuff would be gone by Wednesday evening, but here we are, Friday morning. It has not snowed more, but it hasn't rained, either. I am wondering if I have the gumption to shovel out snow from our car, driveway, and cul-de-sac just to get to my chiropractic appointment. Those appointment are pretty important to me in the late stages of pregnancy. In fact, I don't remember a more back pain-free pregnancy than this one. It works!

As I sit here typing, I hear trees and branches crackling all around me. I take a quick peek out the window and realize two trees have already come down. We live in a heavily wooded area. All that heavy ice is bringing down those weak giants. Our front yard is also a menagerie of fallen limbs. I'm just hoping nothing falls on my car; what terrible timing that would be :(

Thankfully, I don't need to be anywhere, except at my midwife's if Baby comes. But my body tells me that is not happening soon.

Yesterday, my girls and Daddy got more snow time in. That Katie loves sledding. I still am amazed at hearty my 21-month old. She's the one who will fling herself at Daddy's lap for a "tackle". He taught her that, of course. A good 'ol football move. Lovely. She'll also run down the hallway and hurl herself into a pile of pillows. But even when she misses the pillows, she shakes it off and says "Owa?" for a small kiss, going right back to her attempts at crashing the cushions.

I got out for a good walk, too. It felt good to get fresh air, to get my muscles working together, even if it was to produce an unlovely waddle up the road and back. I then was content to get home, heat up some chai, read and get dinner started.

This morning, I awoke at 5:45 and could not fall back asleep. My nap earlier in the day probably caught up with me. Here it is, nearly 8:30 and I can hear the girls rising like little chipmunks.

Good morning!

Her Name

It is important for Michael and I to pick just the right name for each of our children. I'm sure you feel the same way. It takes us about 8 months to come up with "the one". They'll carry it for the rest of their lives. (Unless, in this day and age, they want to change it!)

We've finally decided on Reese Emily. Reese means "Radiant" and Emily after Mike's grandmother, who passed away several years ago.

And to commence the choice of her beautiful name, the wall letters I created for her room are finally done!

They match perfectly with her bedding. As you can see, we have a black/red/white theme going on. I'm a red-lover. Really could just do her whole room in that shade, but alas, our other two's room has red, and our bathroom is black/white/red. All in moderation, right?

I must tell you, I had a blast creating these letters from stuff around the house (as stated in my earlier post). The chalkboards were done with a little white acrylic satin paint (Martha Stewart), the chalkboards obviously were painted on, the letters were done with *surprise* chalk, the ribbon was on clearance at Michael's, and the rings are old shower curtain rings. Too cheap to hang a curtain on, but perfect for holding wall letters :)

Finishing this project was hugely important to me. Felt like the room wasn't complete without them! Now I'm just adding final touches on the walls, creating storage, and waiting for Reese to make her appearance.

Today, along with playing in the snow, I packed all our bags. Mine was the last to get done. Lavender lotion and neck pillow, check. Nursing tank, check. Warm and fuzzy socks, check. Baby can officially come now.

I am nesting like a crazy woman. Washed the windows, mopped the floor, dusted, re-decorated after putting away Christmas stuff, and re-organized the girls' room, trying to be creative with storage, grocery shopped and meal-planned. Crochet has also been calling my name. Have about 3 cute new hats done and 3 diaper covers. This poor girl's is gonna be smothered.

I've also been reading the Word so much lately. Digging deep, more than normal; just can't get enough. I'm also still finishing the audio book, Forgotten God by Francis Chan. I am seeing so many areas I fall short in, so much I need to work on, of course through the Spirit's power. But I also look back and see how far I've come. By God's grace. Jesus is incredibly patient and faithful to complete His work in me.

SNOW!!

It's snowing up here in the south Seattle area! Woohoo! We are pumped. This will probably be our only day of snow, so we're making the best of it.

See my happy girls? They are itching to get out there!

Some pics of the sledding adventure. Katie was great! No whining whatsoever (except when it was time to go in).

Up Early

Baby is kicking in the wee hours this morning. I just can't get back to sleep. I had a good prayer time, I've tried counting sheep. I've been up since 4:30 and decided to make hay and post.

Just bought chalkboard paint this week. I'm making my sweet Girl's letters for her wall. At minimum, it costs $30 for inexpensive letters at Bed, Bath and Beyond. So, I decided to get creative.

I have these real cheap framed mirrors (5 of them to be exact) from the local craft store I've been unable to use for about 3 plus years. Always stopped/started using them for an art project, but they just always seemed tacky and useless. I should have posted a before photo to show their ruggedness, but I think of those things too late.

They seemed perfect for the letter project though. I painted the frames with satin acrylic multi-purpose paint. I still didn't like the mirrored look (why did I buy them then?), so decided to cover them with chalkboard paint! Yes, you can paint glass with it. You usually have to roughen up the glass before painting, but I cheated and used the back side of the mirrors instead, which already had some kind of coating.

At this point, I was in the rhythm of things. My favorite projects are the ones that come from materials I already have.

Using some cheap chalk, decorative ribbon, a hot glue gun and old shower curtain rings, I finished off the cute, red/black/white letters.

I am excited that these little chalkboards cost me about $1 each, and the rest was stuff I had stowed away. The only expensive thing was the chalkboard paint, running at $14.97 a can. However, there is a ton left I can use on other blossoming ideas. We may have little framed chalkboards all over the house now, ha!

Now, I'm feeling a bit sleepy-eyed and will try to get more "Zzzzs".

Oh, and I promise to post a pic of the letters after they are hung on the wall!