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Gender Reveal for Baby Number 6

September 23, 2017

Yesterday I finally had my level 2 ultrasound appointment. A few weeks ago I found out that some results from my first ultrasound raised some red flags so my midwife wanted a more in depth ultrasound done to find out if there was anything going on that we needed to know about.

And of course, the kids (ok ok…myself as well) wanted to find out the gender.

I arrived early but surprisingly didn’t have to wait long to get in. The ultrasound took a while because baby wasn’t cooperating to give the tech all of the pictures she needed for a good while. This makes 5/6 pregnancies in which the ultrasound tech asked me to go pee in order to get better photos. Which is why I don’t go out of my way to have an uncomfortable full bladder any more.

After the ultrasound was done I had to do some more waiting while the Dr. reviewed the images. This time there was a fair bit of waiting involved; long enough to get a few rows done on the hat I’m knitting for my daughter (the pattern is called Quick Ombre Hat, available for free on Ravelry.)

knit hat

 

The baby is looking perfectly healthy; the Dr. had no concerns at all. So after a few more errands, I headed home with gender reveal plans for the kids. You can see the results below.

gender reveal baby #6

 

As you can see, team blue is gaining another member! A couple of the kids were initially disappointed as they were all hoping and praying for a girl but that’s already fading and they had a blast finding out.

Thank you for all the prayers!

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Filed Under: Family, Kids, ParentingTagged: gender reveal, knitting, pregnancy

When I Realized I Wasn’t a Very Safe Parent

October 4, 2016

Every good parent wants to keep their children safe. We don’t fill the crib with soft fluffy things. We keep medicines up high, and cleaning supplies locked up. We buckle up car seats. Gates and cabinet locks appear when babies start to become mobile, and we hold hands when crossing a parking lot or street. When we found out about my son’s food allergies, we became a nut-free house and we read food labels carefully before giving him anything.

But I’m realizing, sadly, that I’m not as good at keeping my children’s hearts protected as I am their bodies.

I’m sinful, and prone to becoming frustrated and overwhelmed easily. I get grouchy and I grumble, I get snappy and loud.

I react instead of respond.

And often, my reaction is worse than the offense I’m reacting to. I want my children to come to me with difficulties or problems, but I’m realizing that they very well might not see me as a safe person to come to, lest they get in trouble.

And if they feel like they can’t come to be with something as minor as an accident in the bathroom or a spill in the kitchen, they most definitely won’t feel safe coming to be in 5 or 10 years with the much bigger problems that teens and young adults these days often face.

The Bible has a lot to say about acting in anger. Here are just a few verses.

19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear,slow to speak, slow to anger

-James 1:19

A hot-tempered man stirs up strife,
    but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.

-Proverbs 15:18

11 A fool gives full vent to his spirit,
    but a wise man quietly holds it back.

-Provers 29:11

 

The Bible also has a few things to say about being slow to anger, and forgiveness. Of giving grace. Being patient.

 

A soft answer turns away wrath,
    but a harsh word stirs up anger.

-Proverbs 15:1

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
    Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

-Psalm 37:8

4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

-Ephesians 6:4

6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

-Colossians 4:6

 

I want to be a safe place for my children to come to when they’re struggling. I want my first concern to be for their heart, not for my floors or mental chore list. A mess they make lasts only a few minutes, but my words and reactions will last in their hearts for a lot longer.

And to be straight out with it, when I blow things out of proportion and get snappy, I’m sinning. A harsh word stirs up anger; do not provoke your children to anger.

Bring them up in the discipline of the Lord. How does God deal with my repeated mistakes? With love and grace and forgiveness. That needs to be my goal.

I need to store these verses in my heart. I need to stop before I react. I need to repent and ask forgiveness when I slip, so that my kids will realize that I know it’s not OK, and that I’m trying.

 

Do you struggle with a tendency to react out of anger or frustration, instead of responding with patience and grace? How do you work toward making a habit of responding to circumstances in a more humble way? I’d love to hear from you!

 

 

 

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Filed Under: Christian Living, Family, Kids, Parenting, Raising a ChildTagged: anger

Book Review: Believe Storybook

September 9, 2015

believe storybook

Believe Storybook: Think, Act, Be Like Jesus

Edited by Randy Frazee, with Laurie Lazzaro Knowlton. Illustrated by Steve Adams
Published by Zondervan

 

Book Description

Presented by bestselling author and pastor Randy Frazee, the Believe Storybook shows children how they can think, act, and be more like Jesus. With 60 old and new testament stories from the Bible that showcase the themes, combined with captivating and dramatic illustrations by Steve Adams, children and adults alike will be inspired to become more like their savior and the person they were meant to be.

My Thoughts

I am very impressed with the Believe Storybook. It’s a large book with nice, thick pages and simple yet beautiful illustrations. There are 10 chapters for each of the three categories, Think, Act, and Be like Jesus.

Each chapter has a key word or phrase (such as Compassion, Stewardship, Offering my Time), a short introduction to the topic (called the Key Question), and an Old Testament and New Testament reference and story. After the Old Testament story is a The Jump to Jesus discussion which discusses how the Old Testament points r relates to Christ in some way. After the New Testament story is The Jesus Answer, which explains to the children how what they’ve learned can help them be more like Jesus. There is also a key idea (ex. I offer my time to help God’s plan) and a Script verse that relates to the topic.

I really look forward to using the Believe Storybook in our homeschool this year. It’s simple enough that my 4 year old will be able to follow along, and maybe my 2 year old as well, but not baby-boring in any way for my older children. It will be a great resource to help children learn how they can apply Biblical lessons to their own lives, and easy enough to read that young readers could read it on their own. I think this book would be great for any elementary aged child.

 

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book for review from the Book Look Bloggers program. I was not obligated to provide a positive review.

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Filed Under: Christian Books, Homeschool, Parenting, Raising a Child

Malachi’s Birth Story: A Birth That Didn’t Go Quite As We Had Planned

August 20, 2015

It’s been over a week since Malachi was born, and I’m finally sitting down to write up his birth story! Labour was very quick so there isn’t too much to tell really, but I thought that maybe his story could maybe encourage others, as we weren’t able to do the birth we’d planned.

On August 9th, around 10:30pm, I was laying in bed trying to sleep when I felt the strangest sensation…a thump *pop* in my pelvic area. And then the gush. I hopped clumsily rolled out of bed and grabbed whatever I could reach to try to avoid a mess on the bed and floor. My sudden movement woke up up husband and I told him my water broke. This was the first time in any of my pregnancies that my water broke on its own so this was brand new to me.

I noticed that the fluid was a bit yellow tinged and asked my husband if he thought that was normal; I’d never looked before. He said he thought maybe so, but wasn’t sure. It was hard to tell the true colour against a coloured floor.

We went downstairs and Louis called the midwife while I went to the bathroom to get cleaned up a bit. The midwife said that it sounded like there could be meconium so she was going to come by and check. Contractions hadn’t started yet so we just started getting things ready for either a home or hospital birth. We let our neighbour know that we might need her to come if we were sent to the hospital and waited.

My midwife arrived shortly after 11 and contractions were just starting. She listened to the baby’s heart rate, which was good, and confirmed that there was definitely meconium in the fluid.

There went our ideal home birth plan.

We let our neighbour know that we did indeed need her to come, and within about 10 minutes we were on our way. Thankfully our hospital is close; less than a 15 minute drive. I truly feel for anyone who has had to be in a car during labour for any amount of time, especially for those who need to drive an hour or more. So uncomfortable, and I wasn’t even very hard labour yet.

I’m not sure what time it was when we got to the hospital. Probably somewhere around 11:30 or 11:45. I went straight to the bathroom and ended up spending most of my labour in there, with my body cleaning itself out. Labour progressed very quickly with contractions only a minute or two apart and very painful. After a while my midwife checked my cervix and said I was about 6 or 7cm. I felt very discouraged; it was so intense and I really didn’t want to have to deal with it for a lot longer.

Thankfully, God had other plans. Maybe 2 or 3 contractions later  they were more than I could handle quietly; I only get to that point when I’m pretty much ready to push. My midwife had me go to the bed (with the meconium being present, she wanted to make sure it would be easy to take care of the baby if he was struggling in any way once he was born) and next contraction, I was pushing. I think it was only a few minutes and a few pushes before Malachi came into the world, screaming and healthy. He was born at 12:43 AM on August 10, less than an hour and forty-five minute since contractions started and sharing a birthday with my mom, his grandma.

when a birth doesn't go as planned

He went up on my chest immediately and after the cord stopped pulsing, I cut the cord for the first time in any of my pregnancies. I had no tearing, just swelling, and Malachi was doing fine. He latched on to nurse without difficulties; in fact, I had a harder time with it as I was still too sore to sit or lie comfortably.

We had to stay in hospital for 3 hours after the birth to be monitored before we could leave, so I got some rest while Daddy got some bonding time with his new son.

when a birth doesn't go as planned

 

As soon as we could, we were headed out and on our way home.

Well, almost.

We got to the parking lot and discovered that the pay gate wasn’t working. We paid, and the arm didn’t move. So that set us back about 10 minutes while the ER staff tried to free us.

Then we got home to discover we were locked out. We hadn’t thought to grab our house keys and our neighbour had locked all of the doors before settling to sleep on our futon. But eventually we were in our home again, with our neighbour (who is like an adopted Oma to the kids) snuggled and cuddled Malachi. We were home by 4:30.

We went to bed for a couple of hours before the kids got up to discover that Tobi’s prayers had been answered (he’d prayed for the baby to come that night before bed) and that they had a new baby brother!

They were so eager and squirmy to meet him that I couldn’t get a clear photo.

when a birth doesn't go as planned

 

Josiah and Gabriel especially can’t give him enough kisses.

when a birth doesn't go as planned

And Tobi is loving being a biggest brother once again.

when a birth doesn't go as planned

There were several things I’d been praying about regarding labour and delivery throughout the entire pregnancy. Some things were answered with a ‘yes’, other things were answered with an “I have other plans.”

I’m thankful that even though the birth didn’t go quite as we’d planned and hoped for, it wasn’t traumatic in any way like many women experience. I was still able to deliver naturally, there were no complications, and we were home before the kids woke up. But we still had to deal with the sudden unknown if there would be problems because of the meconium, with having to leave our children in the middle of the night without knowing if we would be home before they woke, and with having to trust that God’s plan might be different from ours, but He sees the big picture and He will take care of the details to get us through.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

Anything that happens in life, that jumps out at us unexpectedly, is only a surprise to us. God isn’t surprised by it! And He’s got his own plans already set in place to deal with these situations.

People have asked me before what advice I’d give to someone preparing for her first labour and delivery and usually I say something along the lines of “Have a plan, but be prepared to be flexible about it.”  Malachi’s birth was a great reminder to take my own advice!

This has turned out a lot longer than I expected, so if you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading! And all of this to say, welcome to the world Malachi! May the Lord bless you and guide you through all of your days.

Malachi Jacob

7lbs 15 oz.

19″ long

August 10, 2015

when a birth doesn't go as planned

when a birth doesn't go as planned

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Filed Under: Encouragement, Family, Kids, Parenting, Pregnancy, Raising a ChildTagged: birth story, delivery, trusting God

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