Forest's Funnies

I recently remembered a cute story about Forest when he was about 4 years old...His big sister Abbigail, who was about 7 at the time, had hit him in the arm(unknown to me), so he hit her back. When I heard Abbigail cry, I started to correct Forest when he quickly blurted out, in his defense, "Well, the Bible says to do to others what they do to you. She hit me so I hit her back!!" He felt so justified. His disappointment was apparent when I explained that Jesus taught us to treat people how we want to be treated, not how they treat us. Now that he's nearly 7, he understands what Jesus taught, but he's still learning how to apply this concept to his life. I would have to be honest and say, so am I...

Josiah- A Blessing from Heaven

Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth!
Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!
-Psalm 96

Finally! Our sweet baby is here. After 9 1/2 months of pregnancy, 25 hours of tiring contractions and 4 1/2 more hours of hard labor, our baby boy, Josiah, is here. He was born at home on March 21st at 3:30 a.m. On the lower end of the scale(compared to our other babies)he weighed 8 lbs. and 5 oz. and was 20 inches long. The labor was hard work and much longer than I had hoped for, but everything was perfect in the end. I couldn't have done it without the help of Kenny- he was such a great coach. He did everything from getting me food and drinks during the labor to holding me up when I was too tired to stand. The midwives were invaluable as well. I'm so grateful to have had them be a part of this with us. Thanks Michelle and Kristen! Our great friend, Keri B helped out with the other kids, which was also a great help. I'm so glad she was here to share in the birth of our son.

All of Josiah's big sisters and especially his big brother were so excited he has finally arrived. Yesterday, I overheard Phoebe telling a friend of ours that sometimes she thinks it is a dream that he's actually here.

Kenny and I are just overwhelmed with joy about another baby, and even a son, in our home. We love the name Josiah because of the testimony in the Bible of how King Josiah restored the kingdom of Israel back to serving their God. Kenny and I have both experienced this same sort of restoration in our own lives, as we lost sight, for a time, of who Jesus was and who He was asking us to be, only to see Jesus bring us back to Himself. We are deeply grateful for His work in our life! We pray that our son, Josiah, will be one who turns others to the living God that can heal and restore.

HERE is Kenny's side of the story, written the day Josiah was born, before he had a name.

Thank you everyone who prayed for us and served us during this time. We are so thankful for your help!

It Was the Worstest Day Ever and the Bestest Day Ever

Today was the first day of Champs Camp for Abbigail, Abbiyah and Forest. Champs Camp is a day camp that our church hosts over Spring Break,where kids get a chance to play several different sports. They all had a blast and can't wait to go back tomorrow. Phoebe and I had big big plans since it was just her and I and because this will be our last chance to spend some time alone together before the baby comes. We went to the grocery store(not a part of the big big plans, but a necessary part of the day)and got locked out of my van when the alarm malfunctioned. To this Phoebe said, "This is the worstest day of my life," with a sigh. But, she got to ride on the toy truck outside the grocery store twice and have a juice pack while we waited for my heroine friend, Annie, to come rescue us. I got the alarm turned off after some extra effort and we got ourselves and the van home safely. After lunch we went to a yummy cupcake place, Sara Sara Cupcakes, and enjoyed wonderful strawberry cupcakes and chocolate milk. Phoebe then decided the day wasn't so bad after all. I thought it turned out pretty good, as well.

In the Granola Groove

This morning's creation was home-made granola and home-enhanced yogurt. I made the granola with oats(of course), walnuts, almonds and honey. I usually put dried fruit, like cranberries or raisins, in there but we were out this morning. I made the granola in my iron skillet with some oil. I like to cook granola on the stove top instead of the oven because I think it's easier and it takes less time. I also like to use my iron skillet because I am anemic and hope that some of that iron gets into the food. Anyway...I made the yogurt simply by adding thawed frozen strawberries to plain yogurt. All was yummy.

Well, yesterday was my due date and I'm still waiting for my sweet baby to get here. Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm ALWAYS late. Very late. Nearly 2 weeks late. They know this because I complain about it constantly. So, here I am blogging my complaint. Just thought I would update anyone who might not have known how far along I am. I am predicting March 20, but we'll see. I will keep posting as I make progress closer to my real due date, whenever that is...