God's precious gifts

I liked this section of a book I read awhile back. In context a woman is concerned and asking what she and her husband would have to offer a child if they were to have one -


We are at a farm-house. Everything is plain, but neat and nice. I asked Mrs. Brown, our hostess; the other day, if she did not envy me my four little ones; she smiled, said they were the best children she ever saw, and that it was well to have a family if you have means to start them in the world; for her part, she lived from, hand to mouth as it was, and was sure she could never stand the worry and care of a house full of young ones.

"But the worry and care is only half the story," I said. "The other half is pure joy and delight."

"Perhaps so, to people that are well-to-do," she replied; "but to poor folks, driven to death as we are, it's another thing. I was telling him yesterday what a mercy it was there wasn't any young ones round under my feet, and I could take city boarders, and help work off the mortgage on the farm."

"And what did your husband say to that?"

"Well, he said we were young and hearty, and there was no such tearing hurry about the mortgage and that he'd give his right hand to have a couple of boys like yours."

'Well,' says I, supposing you had a pack of, 'em, what have you got to give 'em?' '

 'Jest exactly what my father and mother gave me,' says he; 'two hands to earn their bread with, and a welcome you could have heard from Dan to Beersheba.

"I like to hear that!" I said. "And I hope many such welcomes will resound in this house. Suppose money does come in while little goes-out; suppose you get possession of the whole farm; what then? Who will enjoy it with you? Who will you leave it to when you die? And in your old age who will care for you?"

"You seem awful earnest," she said.

"Yes, I am in earnest. I want to see little children adorning every home, as flowers adorn every meadow and every wayside. I want to see them welcomed to the homes they enter, to see their parents grow less and less selfish, and more and more loving, because they have come. I want to see God's precious gifts accepted, not frowned upon and refused."

Stepping Heavenward

An update in pictures

I haven't shared a bump picture on here in awhile.....so here is one I took today at 28 weeks, then I put it alongside another of me in the same outfit taken at 20 weeks. Just look at how the bump is growing! I feel very big and pregnant. The baby is doing well, kicks all the time and we can sometimes see kicks from the outside now :-)

We've been getting lots of snow - so far up to 22 inches this winter. I'm trying to get used to highs that never seem to climb out of the 20s....and sometimes don't even go so high as 20.

Snow.

My husband snowblowing.

I'm also trying to get used to driving on white roads.......I drive slowwwwwly.....:-)

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.