A mother's work

"Oh that God would give every mother a vision of the glory and splendor of the work that is given to her when a babe is placed in her bosom to be nursed and trained! Could she have but one glimpse into the future of that life as it reaches on into eternity; could she look into it’s soul to see its possibilities; could she be made to understand her own personal responsibility for the training of this child, for the development of its life, and for its destiny, –she would see that in all God’s world there is no other work so noble and so worthy of her best powers, and she would commit to no others hands the sacred and holy trust given to her.” 

-JR Miller

6 months ago

Six months ago (tomorrow) was our wedding day. I can't believe I've been married  for half a year :-)!

25 weeks

 

"Your little grower’s physical proportions are pretty much birth-ready and most of their remaining development will largely be weight gain and a ton of nervous system development.

The good news is: if your child were to be born premature, they’d likely survive without much trauma as their lungs started producing “surfactant” last week, which means their tiny respiratory system is getting stronger with each passing day.

Yes, now’s a good time for a minor sigh of relief and a quick pat on the back. All that hard work and conscientious living is really getting your child prepared for a healthy delivery.

In mobile-fetus news: your baby should be scootching slowly out of the breech position (head upright, with their butt-n-legs down by your pelvis) and start rotating around for a head-first exit through the birth canal.

If all goes well, and your little one isn't a contrary one, they'll be locked-n-loaded in the next few weeks!

Time is short (or really long, depending on who you ask) — just (still!) 14 weeks left before you can go back to being a single-resident human... with one tiny brand-spankin' new family member!"

Baby Gaga Calender

Snow

"Oh the weather outside is frightful....but the fire is so delightful....:-)" 
First winter snow in Wisconsin.

24 weeks

We've reached 24 weeks! I'm getting bigger - I can see it and feel it. Nearly every time I sit down and relax I can feel lots of kicks and movements. The other evening Hunter saw me jump and I explained that the baby was kicking me. He got a big smile on his face and said, "kicking you? That must mean it's a boy."  :-)
For the record though I'm still thinking girl - just a few more weeks and we'll know! In the meantime I'm ready to start thinking clothes, and diapers....and getting ready for this little one.

Cheese and chocolate

Some pictures of the yummy food John and I had for my birthday dinner at The Melting Pot on Saturday. Cheese and chocolate - delicious :-)!

It's a.......

...boy, girl? I don't know! Yesterday we had our ultrasound and it was one of those times where the technician could not really get a good enough look to be sure. From what we did see, we're thinking it's probably a girl, but I don't feel sure enough to go shopping for girl clothes yet. It looks like I'll be be going for mostly unisex baby stuff for now. However, most importantly, everything looked great! Our baby weighs a pound now, is growing well, has all the right parts - we're thankful! It was fun to watch 'her' wiggling, squirming, and kicking around and it surprised me that I don't feel more of those movements. Below are Babyton's first pictures. The top is my favorite - isn't he/she cute? :-)

.

True love

“The Puritan ethic of marriage was first to look not for a partner whom you do love passionately at this moment but rather for one whom you can love steadily as your best friend for life, then to proceed with God’s help to do just that.” 

 J.I. Packer

Halfway to the finish line!

"God hath my supplication heard, My pray'r received graciously."

Psalm 6:9

This post is written with a thankful heart - it's almost hard to believe after so many prayers, and waiting on the Lord that I'm a mom and am halfway through my pregnancy! Sometimes it's also hard to wrap my mind around the fact that there is a real little person in there....though little kicks and movements are helping remind me :-). All is going well, I'm happy to say that I haven't had a headache bad enough to send me to bed in two weeks, and in just one week Lord willing, we find out just who this little person is!

Bump pictures from the first 19 weeks ( I know I missed getting pictures a couple times)......

.....And what I look like today at 20 weeks. People keep telling me I'm small, but I feel huge. LOL.

South Carolina

This week I'm on my vacation in South Carolina with my family. We drove down through the night  Friday and are enjoying spending time with family, friends, worshiping with church family, enjoying WARM weather :-) and having a great time together. Pictured above is the Bonnie Blue Sc flag John bought me to fly in our yard at home and Lord willing I'll share more pictures later.....until then, hope ya'll have a great day!

Nieces and nephews

My nieces and nephews on my side of the family (I have 4 more nephews on John's side!). This picture from my sister in law reminds me so much of  pictures of my siblings and I when we were little. Six more months, Lord willing and there will be another little one in this group - does anyone think it needs another girl? :-)

Babyton and squash

I've been asked to share another 'Bump Picture' on here - here is Babyton at 15 weeks!  I'm glad to be into the second trimester with the worst of the nausea behind me. Still dealing with migraines and tiredness (which explains less frequent posts!) but we're doing well and I can't wait to find out what this little one is :-)

Our garden is all finished up - a September killing frost was a little bit of a shock to this southern girl......but anyway when all was said and done we picked 38 winter squash from 3 plants! Not bad considering we had a hot dry summer.

.So have been making lots of 'pumpkiny'/squash things lately. This yummy skillet cake was a success which was enjoyed by my family.

with whipped cream - delicious!

We've also had pumpkin muffins, one night I cubed up two of them and roasted them along with cubed potatoes, onions, chicken, and rosemary, and I really want to try this pumpkin latte recipe sometimes soon too! What are your favorite pumpkin/squash recipes?

Wedding reception

A video of our wedding reception that a good friend just sent us - enjoy :-)




John and Stefanie Cunnington's Reception from Gilbert Broyles on Vimeo.

A few favorite wedding pictures and happy memories.....

Update from Wisconsin

Today's post is a mix of random pictures and bits of news from Wisconsin. What I'm most excited about is that today I've made it to 12 weeks and have reached my second trimester!!!!! Over the past few weeks of feeling so yucky, John and I made some observations on pregnancy. Such as we figured out why husbands gain sympathy weight.....mom is craving ice cream, but with nausea can't possibly eat a whole serving....'somebody' has to help her out and eat it....;-) Then 'they' tell you that you're eating for two, but no one ever mentions the fact that you need to sleep for two, too.....I calculated that that means I should sleep for at least 18 hours a day, LOL. That might explain why I have dreams about how tired I am, and why I have to be woken up to be told it's bedtime every evening! Ok, so maybe I'm kidding....a little :-) Also exciting is starting to have bits of time where I feel like myself again, and have more energy. Babyton is doing well, and Lord willing later today I have an appointment to meet my midwife and have a prenantal.

Also exciting was getting all of our wedding pictures in the mail. It's amazing just how much of the wedding and reception passed by in a blur so it's great to have such beautiful pictures, and to be getting a DVD of the ceremony and reception :-) This is probably our favorite picture and it's definitely going to be hanging on the wall somewhere in our home. I hope to share a few more tomorrow, or one day this week.

It's cooling down quite a bit up north, it's pretty normal to wake up to temps in the 40s, and one day this week the high is only 62! This southern girl (who doesn't even own boots, and has never driven in snow) is just a little nervous about a Wisconsin winter....it will be an adventure for sure....

John and I have had fun doing a couple projects in the kitchen lately. One was attempting grilled pizza. While we had a few issues with remembering to flip the crust (I blame it on pregnancy brain;-), we did get two yummy pizzas, and some good laughs out of it which I considered a success. Some more practice should perfect our skills.....hopefully.

Here is a picture of some bread I baked yesterday -

Homemade salsa

Last weekend we made some salsa with peppers and tomatoes from our garden and I thought I would share the recipe. The only change we made is that we left out the cilantro since both of us hate it, and if I made it again I think I would add more tomatoes. We used cayenne peppers and it turned out pretty spicy (at least in my opinion!), but delicious. I just need to eat it with sour cream :-)

Ball Blue Book Salsa

• 10 cup Tomatoes; peeled and chopped
• 5 cup Green peppers; chopped
• 5 cup Onion; chopped
• 2-1/2 cup Hot peppers; chopped
• 3 Cloves garlic; minced
• 2 Tbsp Cilantro; chopped
• 1-1/4 cup Cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp Salt
• 1 tsp Hot pepper sauce; optional

Preparation:

Mix everything together in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Ladle into hot pint canning jars, put on lids and rings and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

NOTES: This uses about 6 pounds tomatoes, 2 pounds green pepper and 1 1/2 pounds onion. Depending on your tastes and how hot your peppers are, you may want to use less hot pepper. 3/4 cup finely chopped jalapeñoss, with no hot pepper sauce added, makes a mild to medium salsa.

You could also drain off some of the tomato juices before mixing everything together.

Servings: 6 pints

Fresh tomato soup recipe....

I was thankful to be feeling better yesterday so took advantage of it and had a busy day  in the garden and kitchen. We've been getting lots of red raspberries, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers to eat and put up, and I was craving some homemade granola :-) In the pot on the bottom left is homemade tomato soup - a wonderful recipe I got from my sister in law. I don't like tomato soup from a can, but this is delicious! We're having it with toasted cheese sandwiches tonight for dinner.

Fresh Tomato Soup
8 c. chopped fresh tomatoes

2 sliced onions
8 cloves garlic
4 c. chicken stock
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. flour
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 c. cream

In a stock pot over medium heat combine tomatoes, onions, garlic, & broth. Boil for about 20 minutes.
Use an immersion blender (I used a regular blender) to puree until smooth.
In a saucepan melt butter and stir in flour to make a roux - gradually whisk in tomato mixture, salt, sugar, and cream.

This and that

"Married Joy" - another collage from my friend and wonderful wedding photographer Caroline of Cornbread Photos. I love what she's done so far and can't wait to see and share more soon, Lord willing :-)

.....And this picture is my explanation for why blog posts have been less frequent lately......Babyton, now the size of a grape :-) is maybe starting to show just a little, but is making himself, herself (?????) very well known with morning all day sickness. I'm getting excited about hearing the heartbeat at my first prenatal appointment in just a couple more weeks, and to Lord willing be feeling better soon once we reach the second trimester.

For this child I prayed

"For this child I prayed. Here it was obtained by prayer......Answers of prayer may thus be humbly triumphed in, to the glory of God. Here is a living testimony for God. "I am his witness that he is gracious: for this mercy, this comfort, I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition."                                      

                                                         Matthew Henry

Cheese shopping in Wisconsin