Precious Things

It's amazing to me how the things that are the most important are sometimes the hardest things to write about. I've posted five times in the last week, and I haven't said a word about the events in my life that matter most.


On Monday, September 24, I had never experienced the loss of a grandparent. My Grandfather Morgan and my Grandma Marie Byrd died before I arrived in this world. They each left their own legacy to me, but I did not experience the pain of their passing.


Last Tuesday, September 25, my G'ma Byrd, who my G'pa had married before I was born, and who was the only G'ma Byrd I've ever had the honor of knowing personally, died in the wee hours of the morning. The grief of her passing was intense. She the first G'ma I've ever lost, but much more painful is the fact that as far as we know she resisted God until her last moment of awareness. I was going to write more about that, but can't seem to do it...


Thursday afternoon, September 27, my G'pa Byrd went home to be with Jesus. We knew that he wasn't long for this world, but I was still surprised that it was so soon. An amazing thing is that he was never consciously aware that G'ma was gone... not even that she was out of their room. And yet he was somehow released from his hanging on to take care of G'ma. Here's what I posted to EBCAlumni.net that afternoon (blogspot wouldn't let me in):

My Grandpa Byrd went home to be with Jesus this afternoon. It's amazing how differently I feel about his passing than I feel about Grandma's two days ago. While I'm sad and have shed quite a few tears, there is such peace and joy for him, knowing that he is with his Savior - no more pain, no more tears. Here's one of my favorite pictures of my G'pa and G'ma Byrd. This is on the front porch of their home in the Smoky Mountains.

My G'pa and G'ma were so very precious to me. I know that I am still processing and working through their passing, and it's probably a sign of progress that I'm finally able to write a little about it.
Here are links to their obituary pages - G'pa and G'ma Byrd. Much loved. Much missed.

What does RU-486 look like...

... in real life? Here is a pro-life woman's account.

Coming October 30th

New Eagles studio album. Woot!

More dining room renovation!

Quite a while back (maybe two years ago?), we tore out a wall between our kitchen and dining rooms, giving the area a much larger feel. We've been living with very much un"done" space ever since, however.

Last Sunday we worked on tearing out and sheetrocking one section of the wall... yay!




















Here's a shot of that wall sheetrocked (with the last coat of mud finished):















And yesterday, after the chapel work day that totally kicked my pa-tootie, Jonathan tore out the outside wall. Lovely lack of insulation, eh?
The plans for this wall (besides adding insulation) are to bring it out a few inches so that the wall is flush with the stairs, and to move the window over to the landing at the right. Not move that old window, of course, but move the window location. ;-)

More updates as we get more work done!

The truck that ran over me

I feel today as if I've been run over by a truck. Didn't even make it to church today... didn't get out of bed (except to feed Stephen) until after noon.

So here's what did me in...

Our chapel workday was yesterday, and Sue and I finally tackled the nursery (a project we've been wanting to work on for a year or so). The first thing on the agenda was stripping the wallpaper from the lower portion of the wall. Actually that was second - first was taking down the hideous drapes!

I had totally unrealistic expectations of how long everything would take, but realized that we did a great job to get the wallpaper stripped in the time we had available. Here are the "after" pictures:

Next comes paint!

I've been locked out!

I haven't been able to login to Blogger lately. I'm not sure why, because I'm logging in and out of Gmail on the same account just fine. But I can't login on the main Blogger screen. I finally got in today by leaving a comment on Katie's blog - the login to leave a comment works for me. Anyone else been having trouble lately?

This has been quite a week for me. I don't have time to write more now, but I'll "sneak" in later and post.

Health Stuff

I'm rather tardy about getting about to writing this post, but here I sit with gritted teeth, and I'm gonna get it done!

The last few months have been interesting ones for me health wise. In brief, I spent from June 2 to August 27 waiting to find out whether or not I had cervical cancer. Praise the Lord, the results came back negative (which is a big positive!). However, they did find some precancerous cells (CIN1), and I go back in six months (from the end of August) to get re-tested.

In the meantime, we'll be working on making my body the least hospitable host possible for any nastiness trying to grow. For the record, here's most of the regime that we've formulated:

**Daily Multi-vitamin/Multi-mineral supplement.

**Progesterone cream - Excess estrogen promotes cancer growth, and as I've discussed here before (and no, I haven't finished that series yet...), I discovered last year that I was waaay estrogen dominant. I've recently gone back to using the bio-identical progesterone cream to help with that.

**Liver Support - Among a myriad of other functions, the liver helps with hormone issues. I'm taking Milk Thistle and Dandelion supplements to support liver function.

**Thyroid Support - I'm taking a natural supplement to support thyroid function, as well as taking an iodine supplement (under the supervision of a qualified health practitioner) to help restore my body's iodine supply, which is critical to thyroid function.

**Topical Regime - I will also soon be starting a mostly topical regime targetting my cervix (under the supervision of the aforementioned qualified health practitioner). I'm not going to go into the details of that on this blog. :-)

**Ph Balance - I've found that my body is extremely acidic, and getting a better ph balance will help create that inhospitable environment I'm working for. This is pretty much done through food, so I'm in the process of revising my diet. And I'll admit that it's not fun. :-) But it's worth it.

I think that's all. All - Ha! By the time I get all these systems working right, I suspect that I'll be feeling better than I have in years.

This post is pretty much a sketch version of most of these issues. If you're curious, I might work on posting more details on some of them. And if you want to read about the journey from "What's that?" in labor to "There's no cancer, but..." email me at grace_and_glory@shammelle.com and I'll see about getting you access to the private blog I started for blogging about that.

And now, I must go nurse the little man!

The Green Salve Project... explained

I was cruel enough to post a picture last week on my photo blog with the title "The Green Salve Project" and then not explain a thing about it. And I know that you, my faithful 3 or 4 readers, have just been expiring from curiousity about that green salve business. So, hear I am to sate your wonder by giving you the scoop.

Last Christmas, one of the families at our chapel gave away 2 oz jars Green Salve. My friend Sue and I quickly realized it was fabulous stuff, and this spring as our 2 oz jars began to run out, we decided we had to make some ourselves. It's great for so many things! Infected owies, preventing infected owies, bug bites, rashes, acne, burns, etc, etc. I don't think we've found the end of the uses for it.

Green salve has plantain, comfrey leaf and root, red clover blossoms, vitamin E, tea tree oil, and goldenseal powder, in a base of olive oil and beeswax. If you look up all those herbs separately, you'll see why it's great for such a variety of uses.

So last Wednesday, after months of talking about it, Sue and I finally got to make our first batch of Green Salve. And it worked! We were like little girls when we got done - so excited that we'd actually done it. :-)

We got about 85 ounces out of our double batch, which should last a long time! We're planning on making some for Christmas gifts, too. Isn't it lovely?

And now, to fill the day's cuteness quota, I bring you a picture of the two adorable babies in the background:

That's Grace and Stephen. The arranged marriage contracts are still being negotiated. ;-) Just kidding, but she sure is a cutie, and she's growing up with a terrific example of a mom who is a wonderful helpmeet.

This last weekend

We spent a great weekend up at Mark Twain State Park in Stoutsville, MO, at the second annual Friends of Missouri Midwives Family Retreat. It was a fun time of fellowship, learning, and getting business done. The only bummer was Jonathan getting sick Saturday evening. He was pretty much out of it until late morning on Sunday. Thankfully, he felt better as the day went on, and was able to drive home, etc.

Here's a shot of the main building where we ate and met, with my dear friend Mary walking along. It looks like she's reading while she walks... she's good at that. ;-)

An interesting question

I was asked this question today - "Laurel, why is it important that midwives who do not have medical training to be able to deliver a baby when you can have a midwife that does have a medical background?"

Here is my answer. I thought it was worth posting here"

For one thing, I cannot have a CNM ("a midwife that does have a medical background") attend my birth in my home. CNM's can only attend home births in Missouri (or get hospital delivery privileges) if they have a collaborative practice agreement with a doctor. Only 2 CNM's have been able to accomplish that feat in Missouri; neither of them live anywhere near me.

Secondly, while Certified Professional Midwives are not trained in the medical model of birth, the Midwives Model of Care in which they are trained is an excellent model. Their training is extensive, and is specifically focused on assisting women in home births. No other certification requires training and experience with home birth, so they are the logical choice for families who decide to have their babies at home. Additionally, study after study has shown that planned homebirth with a CPM is at least as "safe" as hospital birth, with fewer of the interventions that some families wish to avoid.

We personally have had a baby in a Missouri hospital with a CNM. We appreciated the services of our CNM, but it was obvious that the hospital environment was not the birth environment for us, except in the case that we needed medical assistance. That is why we have chosen to return to Kansas for subsequent births - to legally have the assistance of a CPM in a home environment.

Those of us who are striving to legalize CPMs in Missouri seek to not judge those who chose to birth differently than we do. We simply would like to see more healthy birth options available to the families in our state, and would like for parents to be affirmed in their responsibility and ability to make well-informed decisions on behalf of their children (instead of having their rights to make those decisions limited by the state). If that choice for someone else is to go to the hospital, that's a choice that I respect.

Coverage on national Fox News

Our legal situation in concerning midwives in Missouri has been receiving national attention, and was covered last Friday on the Fox news network. I'm posting the video that a friend recorded. If there is a problem with posting it (legally, I mean), please let me know.

And in case you were wondering, I am less than thrilled that my 3 seconds on national tv is of me scowling! ;-)

New Clothes!

Thanks Papa and Mama!

This dress in blue.

And this embroidered skirt.

I'm thrilled with them both!

Nifty Linkage

I am past behind on blogging, but I have a couple of cool things I want to holler about, so I'm going to post this real quick. :-)

First of all, Saints Serving! This is a great site with free hymn recordings. For some of the hymns they have separate recordings to help you learn your parts. The downloads are all free, and I love listening. For those familiar with the black hymnal Hymns of Worship and Remembrance, many of those wonderful songs can be found on Saints Serving.

Second, on a more earthly note...
Aldi has developed an amazing meal planning/shopping site. I was floored by how easy to use and helpful it is. Check it out!

The Crazy Puffin

Lookie! A video feature on blogspot! Gotta try it out!

Know what?

I realized today that the age of digital cameras has, at least in our house, done away with the traditional lack of picture-taking of younger children. I think this boy has been photographed more than any of our other children at his age - maybe more than 2 or 3 of them combined!

But isn't he adorable?!?

By the way, the scale hit 15 pounds when I weighed him today. Wowsers!

He's found them!

The little man doesn't know what to do with his hands yet, but they keep popping up...

Freebie - A neat piece of history

Mountain of a midwife

Be Still My Soul

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,
And all is darkened in the vale of tears,
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay
From His own fullness all He takes away.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
All safe and blessèd we shall meet at last.

Be still, my soul: begin the song of praise
On earth, believing, to Thy Lord on high;
Acknowledge Him in all thy words and ways,
So shall He view thee with a well pleased eye.
Be still, my soul: the Sun of life divine
Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine.

Words: Katharina A. von Schlegel, in Neue Sammlung Geistlicher Lieder, 1752 (Stille, meine Wille, dein Jesus hilft siegen); translated from German to English by Jane L. Borthwick in Hymns from the Land of Luther, 1855.

Music: Fin­land­ia, Jean Si­bel­i­us, 1899

Be Still My Soul on Cyberhymnal

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.

Psalm 46.10

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jesus I Am Resting, Resting

Jesus, I am resting, resting, In the joy of what Thou art;

I am finding out the greatness Of Thy loving heart.

Thou hast bid me gaze upon Thee, And Thy beauty fills my soul,

For by Thy transforming power, Thou hast made me whole.

Jesus, I am resting, resting, In the joy of what Thou art;

I am finding out the greatness Of Thy loving heart.

O, how great Thy loving kindness, Vaster, broader than the sea!

O, how marvelous Thy goodness, Lavished all on me!

Yes, I rest in Thee, Belovèd, Know what wealth of grace is Thine,

Know Thy certainty of promise, And have made it mine.

Jesus, I am resting, resting, In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness Of Thy loving heart.

Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus, I behold Thee as Thou art,

And Thy love, so pure, so changeless, Satisfies my heart;

Satisfies its deepest longings, Meets, supplies its every need,

Compasseth me round with blessings: Thine is love indeed!

Jesus, I am resting, resting, In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness Of Thy loving heart.

Ever lift Thy face upon me As I work and wait for Thee;

Resting ’neath Thy smile, Lord Jesus, Earth’s dark shadows flee.

Brightness of my Father’s glory, Sunshine of my Father’s face,

Keep me ever trusting, resting, Fill me with Thy grace.

Jesus, I am resting, resting, In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness Of Thy loving heart.

Words: Jean S. Pig­ott, 1876.
Music: Tran­quil­i­ty, James Mount­ain, Hymns of Con­se­cra­tion and Faith, 1876

So hot

Today around 2.45 in Washington MO. Hottest I've seen it since we moved to Missouri in 2000.

So cute

Time with Cousins and Friends

We were blessed to get to spend time yesterday with the Blessings' Cousins from western NC. Not only that, but we got to see my long-time friend Katie from KC, and have our dear friend Georgia along for the day, and, of course, the Cousins sweet Mama Beka!

We spent a couple hours at the zoo in the morning, went to Steak and Shake for lunch, then made our way (slowly, oh so slowly, in the the hot hot heat) to the Science Center. I didn't get pics of the Science Center, as I was nursing most of our time there - it wasn't that long of a visit. ;-)

Here's a picture of the Cousins at the zoo...

Missouri families and midwives lose in court today...

I haven't talked much on this blog about our work here in Missouri to legalize midwives. I find that rather strange, as it is such a big part of our life right now. Anyway... if the following announcement raises questions for you, feel free to ask.

Cole County Judge Patricia Joyce ruled against the midwifery provision contained in HB818 today. Her final judgment in the case says that the midwifery provision is unconstitutional because it does not relate to the underlying purpose and subject of the bill - expanding health insurance coverage.

She doesn't write favorably of the practice of Certified Professional Midwives, saying:"The midwife provision broadly authorizes certain unregulated persons to provide pregnancy services without limitation," Joyce wrote. "Since the midwife provision does not relate to health insurance, and is therefore not encompassed within the title for House Bill 818, the title "relating to health insurance" is underinclusive."

Seeing some of Judge Joyce's descriptions and choices of words, one attorney reading through her judgment today commented, "It looks like she let the plaintiffs write her judgment for her and then she signed her name at the bottom." Not exactly, but her judgment seems to have a smidgen of her personal dislike for the midwifery issue showing through. We had heard some things through the rumor mill about her personal opinions on the matter, but hoped that she would review the constitutional issues in an unbiased manner in spite of her personal opinions and preconceived ideas about midwives. Her decision is disappointing, but not entirely surprising.

HOWEVER, this is not the final verdict! We intend to appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court and we feel hopeful for a eventual favorable outcome there. The MO Supreme Court has a strong precedent in recent cases of upholding whatever the legislature passes and saying, "We are not here to make laws. If the legislature passed it, and the Governor signed it, it should probably not be thrown out by us."
We have 30 days before we can file papers to appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court. During that time, we MUST raise money to cover our legal fees to continue fighting this battle as it makes it way through the court system.

If you have not already contributed to our legal expenses fund, I hope that you will consider doing so today. If you have considered it, but are financially challenged right now, I hope you will consider how you can raise some money or solicit donations, whether through a dinner party, a garage sale, a bake sale, or sending letters to your friends. Feel free to forward this email on to your friends.

All contributions should be made online at: FreeTheMidwives
Or mailed to:
Free the Midwives
PO Box 2319
Rolla, MO 65402
Contributions are not tax-deductible.

Lastly, there is a great need for the homebirth families of Missouri to speak up about this and how Judge Joyce's ruling will negatively affect their families and their access to quality, affordable healthcare. Send letters to the editor, talk to the media, blog.... Remind people that this was all about organized medicine, mad that they lost the battle in the legislature, now attempting to regain their turf and reclaim the pregnant women that they consider "their patients" in the court system.

Please go here and here and add some comments to the blog posts above about the midwifery ruling, including the statement issued by Senator Chuck Graham. I hope some of the pro-choice feminists that he claims to represent and who's life and health he claims to care so much about protecting, call him out on his statement!

Thank you, and let's keep up the fight! Never, never, ever give up!
Mary Ueland

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. - Thomas Edison

The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over the government. - Franklin D Roosevelt

Great Video

From the Kentucky Midwifery Advocacy Taskforce - fellow supporters of midwives.

A wonderful thing just happened!

Ellie helped Kate and Grace get their baths, and even helped them wash their hair. Not the cleanest hair they've ever had, but I'm excited both about her helpfulness and for the growing responsibility she's developing.

New Blog

Inspired by Tracy, I've started what is intended to a be a picture-a-day blog. I'll link to it on my sidebar soon, but in the meantime, you can find it here.

Too exciting

This morning while in the kitchen, I heard bloodcurdling screams coming from the back deck. Looking outside, I realized that they were coming from Barak, our child who rarely gets vocal about pain. But sure enough, there he is, screaming like crazy and waving his arms and legs around like ... well I don't know like what. But it was impressive.

My first thought was that he must've been stung, and sure enough, that was it. Once on his arm and once on each leg - whopper stings that looked like they drew blood.

I ran out in the yard to get some plantain and dashed back, chewing as I went. I didn't realize how many times he'd been stung, and I had to send Siah out for some more. Once I put the chewed up plantain on the stings, it was obvious the pain started to lessen, but he already had pretty impressive swelling. Within a couple hours, there were just little red bumps at the sting spots. Yay for plantain.

And yes, we had a little chat about the fact that flailing one's arms and legs like a wild thing when one has been stung by something is generally not to one's advantage. :-)

Sweet sleepy eyes

Thoughts on Gentleness

God has really been working on me lately in the area of gentleness. I find this in some ways ironic, because the following passage has long been a favorite of mine, representing some of my biggest goals...

I Peter 3.1-4
In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. Your adornment must not be merely external--braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.

A couple of weeks ago at church, I Peter 2.4 jumped out at me. Referring to Jesus, it describes Him as "a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God."

I was overwhelmed by the thought that the same expression is used of Christ as is used of the "spirit" that God desires of me. To have a gentle and quiet spirit (true beauty!) is precious in the sight of God. As Christ, our living stone, is precious in the sight of God. That wows me.

And then...

I'm reading Joyce Landorf's Richest Lady in Town right now. It's an older book that I've had for years and never read. If my family knew what I've been missing...

Landorf talks in one chapter about the whole gentleness issue, stating that she was not naturally a gentle person, and that for years she refused to even adopt gentleness as a goal. Then one day, she saw a young mother completely lose it with her children in the store. As the mother ranted and raved, and employees and patrons alike tried to clean up the rack of items the little boy had knocked over, Landorf watched him sneak his blue blanket out of his mother's bag. In the midst of the chaos and the yelling, this little boy found refuge and gentleness in his blanket. Landorf realized how sad it was that the mother was not the one to give her son gentleness. Somehow, that experience was so impactful that she begin to actively pursue gentleness. And do you know what?? That especially included gentleness with her children.

And that's when she went to meddling.

I've long pursued a gentle and quiet spirit. Folks around me have even given me feedback indicating that the Lord's making good progress with me in this area. But do you know what? They don't see me behind closed doors when my beloved Blessings have me ready to pull out my hair. And they don't see me when I fail to forgive my husband and let bitterness grow until it explodes.

I have such a long way to go.

The wonderful and encouraging thing is that I have a faithful God who is constantly working to conform me to the image of His beloved (precious!) Son. He has started a work in me, and He won't stop until He completes it.

"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." ~ Jesus~ Matthew 11.29

Template help

I just realized I still have my little ticker for Stephen Wayne at the bottom of my blog. I can't remember how I put it there or figure out how to get it out. :-) Any help?

Locks of Love

We were inspired by a friend, and Kate and Ellie decided a couple weeks ago to get their hair cut for Locks of Love. We finally got it done today, and I thought I'd share some pictures.

Before:

During:

And after:

We took them to the local cosmotology college, and think they did a nice job. The only thing that made me less than happy with it is that they took off way more than they needed on Kate's. Her ponytail is over 12" long, and they only need 10" for L o L. If the girls want to do it again, I'm taking my own ruler. Thankfully the student realized that the comb was longer than 6" and pointed it out to the teacher before they cut Ellie's hair - she didn't have the extra to spare. :-)

Big bonus - it ended up being free! Though I asked when I called if they did comp cuts for Locks and Love and they said no, she said when they got done that there would be no charge. A wonderful extra blessing.

A New Lesson

Psalm 131 has been one of my favorite sections of Scripture for many years. And just now, the Lord has reminded me that He always has new things to teach me, even from verses that I have had memorized for over a decade!

~~Psalm 131~~
O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.
Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.
O Israel, hope in the LORD
From this time forth and forever.

And my lesson for today? Verse two says, "Surely I have composed and quieted my soul..." Guess what??? That's an action! An act of the will, by God's grace and power.

More pictures!

But this time of our little man...



In the third shot, you can see his birthmark. It's not like any I've seen before. Here's a close up -

Anywhoo... he's such a sweet little fella. He's happy and is growing like a wildflower (it seems so rude to call babies weeds, don't you think?). He's around 10# now, which I'm thrilled with since he was 7# 2oz when he was born almost 7 weeks ago. God is so good, and I am so blessed!

Buz Kiefer

I was sorting through my Favorites folder today and was reminded of this photographer's work. He has some amazing pictures. His Smoky Mountain Photos gallery is my favorite, but his other galleries are impressive too. Here are a couple samples to whet your appetite:

North Carolina Trip

We got home last Saturday morning from a wonderful trip to the mountains of North Carolina. I'm never quite sure how to handle that type of thing on my blog. I mean, in general, those of you who read here are my friends, and I try not to be paranoid about "web security." At the same time, just in case some wacko is just waiting for our house to be empty (lol), I have a hard time saying ahead of time, "Hey world, we're leaving town!" So, anyway...

There was no work here, and Papa and Mama had tons of work (and a really tough job last week), so we took them up on their offer for us to come down and Jonathan work with them for a week. Shockingly enough, it ended up being mostly Papa and Jonathan working. Mama and I and our Blessings had party time! :-) And Beka and her Blessings came over for a few days and partied with us. It was so fun to see the cousins playing together and having fun. Eric even managed to drive over and play with us on Independence Day.

We left Friday morning and took our time going through Great Smoky Mountains National Park, one of our favorite spots. We did some shopping in the Pigeon Forge area (three cheers for the Pfalzgraff clearance store!), and then headed home. It was after 6pm before we left the Pigeon Forge area and started the serious driving... got home around 3am. But it was fun! :-)

Here are pictures from our trip - enjoy!

My Adorable Nieces and Nephews

Bubba and Beka's sweet children -

He's growin' good!

Yes, I know that's bad grammar. But it's my blog, right? ;-)

The little man has gained a pound over his birth weight in just over two weeks. Yay for Stephen Wayne! He's doing great. I'm overwhelmed with thankfulness on a regular basis.

Mama Byrd left yesterday evening. It was hard to see her go, but nice to know that she plans to return (with Papa!) in a few weeks. I wish I had words for how precious it was to have my sweet Mama here for the first couple weeks of Stephen Wayne's life. Thanks Papa and Mama!

Picture of the day

This is the picture I tweaked for our birth announcements (posting the version before text was added). Isn't he a cutie? :-)

Me with my littlest man

Some pictures

Not long after birth, but after both of us getting cleaned up. :-)


A sweet shot with big sis, who got to go to Kansas with us


From today's sleepy photo shoot


And a sleeping smile :-)

Stephen Wayne is here!

Guess Jonathan was right on target about us needing to get to Kansas asap. :-)

Stephen Wayne was born yesterday, June 2 (Happy Birthday, Tracy!!!!), at 2.14pm. He was 7# 2oz and 20 inches long. He is wonderfully alert and laid back. We are both doing well.

Planning to leave Monday evening to head back to Missouri. Will post more and better after we get back. With pictures, too. :-)

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!