Being Busy

I am going to attempt to post a full month's happenings in 1 entry. Life the last several weeks has kept us very busy in a very fun sort of way. Abbigail and Phoebe had their birthday on May 5. We celebrated Phoebe's 5th birthday with a tea party at a cute little coffee shop, Cuppies and Joe. We drank pink lemonade "tea", enjoyed yummy cupcakes and listened to tea party stories. For Abbigail's birthday-the big 10!- we went to Frontier City-a local amusement park. The kids all rode on their first roller coaster. They all loved it-It looks like Forest is crying here, but he is actually having a great time. Just don't ask him about the Pirate Ship-not a good experience there. :/
We are enjoying life with a baby in the house again. Josiah has been such a wonderfully content baby. He sleeps great and seems to always have a sweet smile in exchange for a good conversation. He's 2 months old now and I just can't picture life without him!
This is a photo of Josiah in one of his favorite contraptions- his bouncy seat. And here he is in another favorite contraption- his swaddle, with one of his favorite people- Daddy.
Another big event this month was the outstanding performance of Forest and Phoebe as ring-bearer and flower girl in a good friend's wedding. Kenny preformed the ceremony for Adam and Maria. He did such a great job. Here is Forest and Phoebe at the rehearsal.

We have also had a lot of fun just for the sake of having fun.

We celebrated the coming of summer with watermelon and a pool party...

Playing at the Paseo Art Festival...Silly faces..
And tearing down the shed in the backyard!

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!

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...

Feelin' good 'bout the way I am...

I think I may finally be out of the clearing concerning morning sickness. Thank you Jesus! This time around, I have been a lot more uncomfortable- hopefully not a sign of things to come further in the pregnancy, but possibly a sign of my escalating age. I've tried to keep the promise of I Timothy 2:15 in front of me- a promise that if I will be faithful during this time of discomfort and continue to pursue holiness and love and self-control then God will use the time of affliction( light as it may be) to refine me. I'm not so sure I've done well so far, but I do have 6 more months to keep trying. But for now, I am grateful today that I have found some level of settling in my tummy!

I should have known when I started drinking pickle juice...

Without fail, every time that I have been pregnant, one of the things I crave most is pickle juice (along with soy sauce- yes, to drink, and Italian salad dressing-yes, also to drink). So when I looked at the pickle jar about a month ago and thought,"Yumm, that pickle juice looks tasty," then found myself downing some of it, I certainly should have known I was newly expecting. Yes, we have been hoping for another little one, but it really never crossed my mind at the time that I might be pregnant. I am now 9 weeks along and am pretty much living off of ramen noodles and saltine crackers- hold the pickle juice please. But, regardless of how my tummy feels these days, I and my family are very excited to be expecting the arrival of another little one into the family. So, come next March we will again be stretching out our tent stakes and making room for a sweet new baby.