Shining through the Sorrow

My hubby and I had a very busy weekend preparing for Miss Ruby's arrival.  Yesterday we spent over four hours switching the kids' bedrooms around so that "the girls" will be sharing the larger of the two bedrooms.  (Oh em gee, I'm about to have "girls."  Plural.  More than one.) I decided to upload the pictures here on my blog to explain our thought process - Because the kids have multiple transitions coming up (new bedrooms, new baby sister coming, and Joel starting kindergarten), we decided to make the new room arrangements as soon as possible, so they had time to adjust before the next change happened.  We originally thought about putting the two oldest together, and leaving the nursery as-is for Ruby, but I was concerned about Zoe's anticipated jealousy increasing over the new baby being in her room, sleeping in her crib.  Not to mention that we'd have to make another transition of the girls moving into the larger room in about a year, anyw...

I just returned from a Women's Weekend and am feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.  Because of my short break - which gave me a chance to fellowship with awesome women, hear amazing speakers, and draw closer to my God - I have started this week with a newly renewed passion to be a better wife and momma.  And yet... there is a cloud hovering because of what this month represents. Through biblical teaching, I was reminded of so many amazing truths this weekend:  Our joy is not based on our circumstances, but on our relationship with Christ.  Somewhere along the way, "we bought into the fairy tale that our good works, plus God's great blessings , would equal a happy ever after ."  But God never promised us this.  As we endure troubles, "we long to be like the strong lighthouse, which stands strong even while the waves keep crashing upon us." We were asked, "What has to happen in our lives for us to realize our need for Jesus?  To start walking in faith...

Ah, motherhood.  The days are long, but the years fly by.  Zoe will be 21 months in a matter of days, and my days have been dragging, to put it nicely...  The time between 18 months and two years was very stressful with Joel, which made me worry about the dreaded Terrible Twos, and Tenacious Threes - but then the craziest thing happened - as soon as he turned two, and his vocabulary started to soar, he was a pleasure to be around again!  He went through Terrific Twos, Tremendous Threes, and Fabulous Fours!  I can only hope and pray that Zoe will follow that same pattern... Personality-wise, she's been pretty much the opposite of her big brother.  She's sassy, funny, and full of attitude.  She loves to make others laugh, and often makes silly faces during dinner just to get a rise out of my hubby and I.  She knows what she wants and gets terribly upset when we can't figure out what that is.  This is why I'm hoping an expanding vocab will ser...

31 Weeks with Joel 29 Weeks with Gabriel 29 Weeks with Zoe 30 Weeks with Ruby You can read about why Gabriel's bump looks so small and compact here .  You can see Comparison Shots II here , and the first round here .  Happy Wednesday, readers!  Hope the rest of your week flies by!  :)

The month of April marks FOUR YEARS since we've been dealing with the realization that we would only have our son for a short time on earth.  Four years since hearing that he was growing without his kidneys, a condition that is "incompatible with life."  Four years since we were urged to "terminate the pregnancy," since there was no chance they were wrong. After deciding to carry our pregnancy to term, my son was born alive and we were blessed with two hours with him before he passed.  The experts were right.  He wasn't with us long.  And I wouldn't change a thing.  I'm thankful for the nine months I was able to hold him close and safe, thankful I was able to meet him face to face.  I'm grateful that he is not a statistic, but a name and a person with Daddy's lips and Momma's nose. It hasn't been easy.  My grief journey over these past four years has been painful, exhausting, and completely typical.  Losing a child is a tremendous...

Good morning!  Thought I'd rest my brain this week and just write a blog updating you all on this baby.  I'll turn 29 weeks tomorrow, which makes me already in my 29th week, which is always confusing.  So, let's just say I'm seven months pregnant... Our little one continues to be very active, at all times of day.  I'm at the point where I should be doing "kick counts" to ensure that I'm feeling her move, but I've never had to stop and think "Is she moving?" cause just give it a second, and she'll move.  Truth be told, I actually wouldn't be surprised if she came out Samuel instead of Ruby.  Both times we had an ultrasound, the technicians were not 100%, and she's crazy active, just like big brother Joel was.  Good thing I'm not preparing a pink room for baby to come home to!  We haven't purged any baby/kid items yet, so no matter what - we'll be prepared with the appropriate clothing, sheets, towels, shoes, acces...