My Belly

Here it is, just last night. The picture turned out awfully dark; I'll have to see if I can get Jonathan to take some for me today.

Grace's Birthday Party

We had cake and ice cream last night for Grace's birthday - a couple days early, since we're leaving today for Kansas. Thought I'd post a few pictures. :-)

White cake with pink icing, as per Miss Grace's request:


It's hard work opening these presents!


But it's so worth it in the end. :-)

Getting Close!

We leave tomorrow for Kansas - woohoo! My hubby is convinced we won't have to wait long there till the baby comes. He might be right, but I'm trying studiously to not expect to go into labour as soon as we arrive! Besides, I'd really like to get to help out at camp for a least a few days... We'll see what the Lord has in store.

I'm feeling good; still having lots of contractions and having to listen when my body signals me to sit or lay down if I don't want to have this baby yet. ;-) I have a busy day today, so if you think of it, I'd treasure your prayers that I will be wise in my actions.

Talked to an acquaintance last night who is at opposite poles of so many spectrums from me. When she heard that we were going to Kansas so that we could have our baby with a legal midwife she asked, "And you want to use a midwife instead of a doctor because....?" with that special tone in her voice that clearly labeled us as idiots. ;-) I didn't bother to get into quality & quantity of care; into the fact that the midwives we've worked with have respected us, the parents, as wise decision-makers for our children; into 5 minute vs. 30-45 minute prenatals, etc, etc. I just said, "Well, repeated studies have shown that they have as safe and healthy results as doctors, with fewer of the interventions that can cause problems later." Brief synopsis, but I didn't get any more idiot comments. :-D

Well, anyway... I'd better get going on my tasks for the day. I hope to post pictures later of Grace's B-Day cake and such from tonight.

Here In America

Remember Me...

Kitten Cuteness

Rutherford's Hymn!

To add to my excitement today (see the first two posts of the day for reference), the Lord has given me another wonderful gift!

Background:
I first read Elizabeth Elliot's Passion and Purity when I was in my teens. It had a huge impact on my life, but it's relevence to this little tale of God's goodness has to do with a precious hymn.

Elizabeth references in Passion and Purity that Jim had memorized all 12 verses of Rutherford's Hymn. I've tried for years to find the other verses of Rutherford's Hymn, more commonly known as "Immanuel's Land" <#105 in the "black book," & #85 in the "red book" for those of you from PB backgrounds ;-)> or "The Sands of Time are Sinking." What we commonly sing of this hymn has made it one of my favorites for years, and I've longed for years to know the rest of the verses.

Today's gift:
Totally by "accident" - I found it! This page actually has 19 stanzas of a poem by Ann Ross Cousins inspired by the writings of Samuel Rutherford. I haven't even read them all thoroughly yet, but I had to post in my excitement. I hope you enjoy it!

Our Champion

I haven't posted very much here about the process, but we have been, for the 7 years (yikes, I can't believe it's been that long) that we've lived in Missouri, very involved in working to legalize midwives here.

Without even trying to make a long story short, I'm excited to announce that the Missouri legislature passed a bill this year that will legalize certified professional midwives (CPM's) in Missouri, and the Governor has stated that he fully intends to sign the bill. It's not the end of the road (the doctors have said they plan to take it to court, etc), but it is a HUGE victory, and such a thrill.

The law won't be in effect until August 28, so we will still be travelling to KS for the birth of this little one.

Here is a video interview with our champion, Sen. John Loudon. We can never thank he and his family enough for all they've done for homebirth families in Missouri:

Hallelujah, we have our hours!

Some of you have heard me state before that the one blight I see on Missouri homeschooling law (which is really one of the best in the country) is the logging requirement. It's been my biggest struggle in homeschooling, though I think I've finally found a system that is helping me keep it under control.

Anyway...
At the beginning of May, I figured up the hours we had and realized that we had an unbelievable number of hours still needed for the younger two. I've been feeling totally overwhelmed with the idea of trying to work in these impossible hours of schooling during May and June, while I'm doing some serious nesting and will be having a baby.

Yesterday, I realized that I had logged almost no "non-core" hours for most of the year. So yesterday evening, while the guys played the great railroad game 1835, I reconstructed some of the non-core hours that are a part of our weekly life (like running around outside = PE; washing dishes/helping with dinner = Home Ec, etc). I found that I actually DO have enough hours for this year at this point - for all the required loggers. Woohoo!!!

So this week is going to turn into a wrap-up week, and then we will be off school until at least the beginning of July!! Praise the Lord!

Note to self for future use: Log the Non-Core hours from the beginning of the "school year" and you will have less stress!!

"Loose Canon"

The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet with variations on Pachelbel's Canon in D. Thanks to Doug for the link!

Brown Recluse Bite Remedy

I was reminded this morning (thankfully, only virtually reminded, not reminded by any real life experience) that spider season has begun!

It makes me so sad when folks have to have surgery to remove dead tissue from brown recluse bites. Did you know that there is a simple remedy for brown recluse bites that I have seen work repeatedly??

If you're interested, I've put together a page on this free and simple remedy - Plantain, The Wonder Weed

Worth Reading

A journalist's thoughts on the documentary The Business of Being Born ... and then some.

KBC Flood Pictures

There are pictures up on the KBC website

Grace's Foot - Updated

Yesterday, this little owie looked like nothing. Today, with the red streak across the bottom of her foot, we are headed to the urgent care clinic. Apreciate your prayers! Thankfully, J is off work today.

Update - 12.55pm
We got to the urgent care place and J wanted a closer look at her foot before we actually took her back to be seen. There was no visible red line anymore! So we brought her home. Here's the picture I took after we got home a bit ago -



This morning after I'd cleaned it, I put some salve on it that a friend of ours from church makes. It has all kinds of good herbs and healing things in it, and we've seen it work well on all kinds of things. But I certainly didn't expect such dramatic results so quickly!

We've cleaned the owie again, trying to be sure there's nothing stuck in the wound, and re-bandaged it with more salve. Thanks for your prayers!

KBC Update from Linda Schrag - 12pm 5/8/07

We didn't get water in any of the houses and we thank the Lord for that. Everyone is safe and that is another praise item. There were several rescues last night and a stern lecture to some boys that decided it would be fun to go swimming in the river by Carey Park. It looks like the main building and cabins didn't get water in them either. Dale is checking on the shop and the pole barn. Eric just said that the barn out back is okay but the garden is under water. We checked out Mitchell and the water is going down. The water is moving very fast across the road so it may be washed out. We are sure water got in the building but we don't know to what extent. We were trying to figure out what was in front of the building when we realized that it is the red tractor. It is standing in about two feet of water. Dale thinks that it will be okay but he will have to wait until he can get to it to check it out. That could be several days. We are thinking that the water will go down some now that the flash flood is over but it will go up again when the river crests in a day or two. The Hawks trailer is the home we are most worried about. They are gone for the day because they are concerned about the well water and septic system. LTC begins in three weeks and we have campers in four. Pray that we won't have to replace a lot of things at Mitchell. We have a few guys living there and their personal items may be damaged. Rick Mills said that his guitar was in the chapel there. Keep us in Prayer in the coming weeks. Write if you have questions.

Update on Flooding

Update from Linda -
Just an update... The news said that it was a flash flood and that is why the water came up so fast... over two feet in 40 minutes.There is water half way up the building of Mitchell chapel across the street from Mitchell school. I have heard that there are three families that are trapped in their houses right in that area. It is very dark now and the water is moving fast. Pray for the families and those that are trying to rescue them. The water has started to come over the bank on the camp side so we are moving vehicles out of the area. Dale said that it is by the tennis courts. Keep Praying and send it on to others that have a camp connection. I could put it on the link but we are a little busy here. Love ya all!Linda

Pray for things at KBC!

We just got an email from Linda Schrag at Kansas Bible Camp. They are having some serious flooding there, and the water is not supposed to crest for TWO more days. She says the water is up to the top of the bridge, which boggles my mind. They are going to put freezers and things as high up in the shop as they can.

Please pray for this ministry and the many other folks in Kansas who are surely being affected by this flooding.

Baby Bath and other news

Our local church family had a neat surprise for us yesterday during fellowship break - A Baby Bath! It was basically a low-key baby shower with a rubber ducky theme, hence, Baby Bath. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures, because my camera (which is always in my purse) was in the work truck. But good memories! And someone had a 35mm camera that was used for pictures, so eventually we'll have some evidence. ;-)

In other pregnancy news, I hit 34 weeks tomorrow! I've been feeling pretty good lately, especially when I stay on top of getting my protein, exercise, vitamins, etc, etc. Swelling is under control, BP is fine, I'm getting used to the carpal tunnel, and my energy level overall is good. I do seem to be a little low on amniotic fluid, so I'm trying to drink even more water so baby can make more cushion for him or her self.

In other health news, we're trying traction to try to get out the knot in my neck/shoulder. Between that and the wonderful massager that J bought for me, I'm not having much of the burning from the knot that has been haunting me for the last couple months. Praise the Lord!

I find myself pretty quiet lately online and in my email groups. It's an interesting thing to me. It's not that I'm hiding, or that I don't want to communicate. It just seems important to use my energy elsewhere. So I find myself not replying to blogs and group emails on which I would usually comment, and blogging very little myself. I have tons to say, just seem to be on auto-filter. Some women nest right before going into labor; I think I nest 1-2 months beforehand. :-)

Speaking of nesting, we re-arranged and cleaned our room yesterday. Yay! Our room is very dark (wood panelling that was there when we bought the house), and I very much feel the need to lighten things up. So we re-arranged and did some cleaning, and I got out the light-colored quilt. J even said that we could go ahead and paint that dark wood panelling! Woohoo!

Why all the need to lighten and brighten? I have had, with some of our babies, a tendency to slide downhill emotionally after birth. I'm greatly aware of how much my physical environment affects me, and I'm concerned that being in a dark dreary room during those critical first couple of weeks will drag me down emotionally. The thought of being in a fresh and light room, however, lifts my spirits even now! I'm praying that I can find someone willing to come and paint for us so that J doesn't have to use his limited time off work to do it. We'll see how it works out! :-)

So that's the latest scoop from our house - how are you all?

My Bubba's Wonderful Family

I just have to show off here. And let those of you who know my beloved brother see that he and his lovely wife are alive and well.

And have fabulous kids!