Come on baby...give momma a tax break!

Yup, I told all my friends to pray for the baby to come TODAY! Feel free to add to the prayer power people! And many thanks to ya' for praying!

If she comes today that'll be another $1000 bucks on my tax return in February...hey that's one of the many great reasons to have all these kids, don't ya' know!? Okay, it's only a little kick back for the $100,000 or so (hey- I really don't think it costs that much, does it?) will be spending on her throughout her time here in the house until someone marries her. No, I don't want to think about that right now...

I'm tired and ready to be done little girl, so give momma' a break, will ya'? Or maybe I should be asking God. Lord, please? I want my lungs and stomache back and a few hours of sleep a night at least. I want to be able to eat something past 3 without it sitting in my chest like a raging fire no matter how much mylanta I swallow. I want to be able to roll over in bed again without hanging on to something or someone(thanks hubby) for dear life to do it...

Okay, I'll stop complaining. Something I will miss when the baby comes are my late night talks with my seven year old staring at my bare tummy asking me where the baby's head is and where is it's behind in there, Mom? Is that the baby making your tummy roll like that, Mom? Mom, what are those weird exercises you are doing? Pelvic rocks, to get the baby to face anterior instead of posterior. Mom, what does anterior mean? Then he puts his hand on my stomache and is amazed by the baby's movement...she really kicks me to peices and we get a thrill out of watching her do her acrobats at 10 pm all snuggled up in mom's bed. Yeah, I'll definitely miss that...I'll never forget these times with my very inquisitive second grade boy. I won't be too sad, because I do believe and hope we will be here again some day!

Thank God for all these dear, precious children! Give me grace, Lord, as I embrace the responsibility of one more. I pray my children are a blessing to you, Lord, and to the world around us...making it a better place to live. May I realize the gravity of what I do everyday in my mothering. I pray for power and wisdom and I pray for all the mothers everywhere, that you would give us all grace and help us understand how important we are to the whole world!

And to all of you...happy new year and may God bless you in your calling...whatever it is!

Beautiful Kids, Bad Picture, Stupid Camera

What is up with my camera?! I could take a million pictures on all the settings from a million different angles(okay not a million, but you catch my drift!) and still get the same bad pictures! I have a Nikon Cool Pix digital camera and it stinks...it stinks or my picture taking abilities are absolutely hopeless! I'm dumping this camera and does anybody have a digital camera they love that is in the $150-200 price range? Maybe I'll be on the road to taking better pictures once I get my Christmas present! We'll see if it was the camera or me...:)

I'm Dreaming of a Cold Christmas

Yeah, it would be nice to have a little bit of the white stuff for Christmas, but highly improbable down here in sunny Florida. But I thought to myself...hey, all I want is a cold Christmas. It's been 75 degrees all week and I can't believe it. Sometimes it makes you think...is the government messing with our weather patterns or is global warming something to consider or does God just have a really good sense of humor. I think it's more likely to be God than anything else. He's so funny! There's bumble bees flying around my yard in the middle of December...I have NEVER seen that before! Have you? Then at night, the mosquitoes are out biting you to peices. Go figure!

I remember when I was a kid growing up in Connecticut and all the snow we would get some winters. All the sledding, making snowman, caves and angels and having lot's of snowball fights with my siblings. There's some really fond memories. We had this really neat back yard. Way in the back was about a thirty foot straight drop for a hill then it hit the top of our back yard where we would build a big snow bump we would use as "the jump bump". Well, if you were really brave, you would take your sled to the top of the thirty foot drop, sled down it, hit the backyard "jump bump" and fly down the rest of the yard. Sometimes the speed of the whole process flung you right into the wall of the house, but was it fun! Whenever Dad heard us hit the wall he would come out and pitch a fit. I guess he had good reason this time...I wouldn't want a hole in the wall of my house either. :)

There were also times where the snowflakes were especially big and fluffy and came down so heavy. I would go outside late at night and listen to it fall...it gives you a feeling of peace that I guess only comes from God himself. Everything in the neighborhood looked like something from another world with all the heavy snow all over it. I would sit and stare silently for quite a long time and I didn't want to leave it...

Now my kids wonder when their chance to play in all the snow is going to come. I just keep telling them...some day. If my husband keeps talking about moving to Tennessee or Wisconsin then I think their day will come if we ever decide to move. Who knows, maybe even next Christmas? Until then, we are just praying for a cold Christmas while all you folks up north dream of one that is white.

Okay, Time to Get Happy!

Just want to say Merry Christmas ahead of time!

Caught Up in My Emotions

Just thinking about...

My impending birth...we are five weeks away now and it'll be my first natural, home-birth and VBAC after three c-sections.

My Mom and Dad.

My alcoholic brother and his poor wife and children.

The blessing of all these children around me.

The goodness of God and His endless provision for my family.

My other brother, who called me for the first time in years and I found out he's not interested in trusting Jesus as Savior, but assures me he does believe in God, but not in the bible.

My poor husband at work with all the stress of taking care of seriously injured people.

My home schooling or lack there of.

How much I miss my only close family member, my sister.

My only Grandmother's health.

The beauty of my relatonship with my husband.

The freedom in Christ I feel since we left our church and all of its legalism.

All my friends and family who can't bare children.

My longing to encourage mothers everywhere...young mothers, single mothers, unsaved mothers, mothers everywhere who feel that what they do doesn't matter and unappreciated.

Not having a family that I can lean on and finding somewhere in the sadness that God is all that I need.

The bible coming alive to me more than ever.

Being in limbo concerning faithful attendance to an institutional church.

Falling in love with hospitality to families from all walks of life.

Making new friends who are passionate about Christ.

Trying to figure out a name for this baby girl...help?!

Overwhelmed by the clutter and dust that I try to battle daily.

My third brother, who can't wait to get high and stupid while he attempts to care for his three year old and hoping my nephew's mother will knock some sense into my brother.

Praying for God to perform miralces in my family He seems to do for other families.

Looking at my children and crying to God, "Why did you choose to bless me with these little souls?" I hope I don't mess them up.

Hoping my children will see their need for Jesus in their hearts and lives.

Wanting to be a better wife and falling so short, so often.

I'm just caught up in the emotion of all these thoughts swirling around in my brain...

It goes on and on...

Oh God, give me peace, knowing that you will work all things together for good for those who walk in Christ...