About that time

With just two weeks from my due date, it is about that time when friends who love me will start stalking my blog to see if there are pictures posted of Levi yet. I know that I do that with every friend who has a baby. It's like an obsession--I check the blogs multiple times a day, or I look at the web-nursery on the hospital websites to see if there is a new little picture of a friend's child. It's a lot easier when the friend has a scheduled c-section (congratulations, Mandy!). We are still hoping that he comes next week. I know my body is getting into "the mode" but I don't know if it will stay that way for a while or not :) In the meantime, please don't shoot me when I don't post for a while and then you find out that it was because I was exhausted and not because I was having a baby! :)

I will rejoice

"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in theLord, I will be joyful in God my Savior." Habakkuk 3:17-18

Wow. Powerful words, huh? Can't you just fill in the blanks and make the verses your own challenge?

"Though I get paid squat at my job and my kids wreck my house,
though I can't sleep at night and my family lives across the country,
though my friends are scattered far away and my life never slows down,
YET I WILL REJOICE IN THE LORD, I WILL BE JOYFUL IN GOD MY SAVIOR."

Yes, I'm still pregnant. Due date is three weeks from tomorrow, though I'm hoping he'll come two weeks from tomorrow (for various logistic reasons). Considering I'm almost 37 weeks pregnant with two other small kids at home, I'm doing really well. However, I've been on this ride in the amusement park of life long enough and I'm ready to get off :) he he he :)

Speaking of the son who doesn't sleep past 7am, off to start my day of mommyhood!

Dropping...

I'm really hoping that Levi has dropped a little bit. Just for kicks, I measured my waistline last Friday. I was at 42" around. Last night I was at 43". It was crazy to think that I got 1" bigger in just four days, but in looking at my profile, I think the wee one has dropped a little. Although dropping is a pretty big deal for a first pregnancy, all it means right now is that I have a harder time walking and have to go potty more often!

My due date is just four weeks from tomorrow. I had another uneventful appointment on Monday that revealed that I'm measuring "on time." So I have scatter my "to dos" over the next few weeks, hoping to have most of the important stuff done in the next 2.5 weeks. The plan is to rest (and scrapbook!) for the remaining portion of the pregnancy. I know. Shocking news that I am planning to rest. Jeremy is rubbing off on me :) I've decided to stop working the last week of August, giving me a week and half to just take care of myself and the kiddos before Levi comes. Well, approximately. Who really knows these things?

Good news for Homeschooling!!

"Home schoolers in California and their supporters are celebrating a legal decision in which the court handing down the ruling actually reversed itself.

Earlier today (Friday) the California Court of Appeal ruled that the state's education code allows parents to home school their children. That decision means parents do not have to obtain state credentials in order to home school. The court acknowledged that a state prohibition on home schooling would intrude on parents' constitutional right to direct their children's education, and that that any limit on that right would be presumed unconstitutional. Gary McCaleb, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, is pleased that the court decided parents have a constitutional right to make educational choices for their children. "Thousands of California families have educated their children through home schooling," he states. "[This decision] protects the rights of families and protects an avenue of education that has proven to benefit children time and time again."

In early March a three-judge panel of the California Court of Appeal determined that parents in the Golden State had no legal right to home school -- a ruling that one Christian attorney said would leave thousands of students subject to criminal sanctions unless reversed.

Mike Farris, chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), says today's ruling was unexpected. "We're very thrilled, not just a little bit, [and] we're surprised as well," he remarks. "To get a court to do a 180-degree reversal is a remarkable thing and we view it as a blessing from God. We're really thankful for it, and there's hundreds of thousands of home-school kids in California who are now able to breathe a sigh of relief."
Farris says groups like the Alliance Defense Fund, Liberty Counsel, HSLDA, and Focus on the Family teamed up and were armed with new information that compelled the court to uphold parents' constitutional right to educate their children at home."

The Garden update

For those interested parties, here are recent pictures of my little garden. I've learned the hard way that zucchini and squash can't be grown very well in a container. But, the tomatoes are thriving, and as long as there are no hail storms in the next few weeks (or some other kind of major catastrophy!) we should have a bumper crop of them. Jury is still out on the cucumbers. They are growing and my friend Cheryl says they look fine, but they seem to be very behind in growth. I'll keep you posted.

A month of celebrating

As most readers know, August is a big month for us. Jeremy turned 30 this past Sunday. Hannah's birthday is the 8th, my 29th birthday is the 15th, and our 7th anniversary is the 19th. To make a very long story short, Jeremy & I decided to take a little overnight trip to celebrate collective birthdays and anniversary last weekend. And to make another long story short, we ended up going to the Grand Union Hotel and scored a Junior Suite. The Grand Union was built in 1899 and was recently restored and updated. The ceilings in the room (and bathroom!) were at least 12 feet tall. We had a delicious pizza dinner (a MUST for Jeremy's birthday) and enjoyed a night with cable tv (it's the little things, right?). Thanks to Amy and Summer for watching the kids for us. It was a very theroputic getaway!

Hannah's birthday party

To my little girl, it was a fabulous day. She had balloons and cake, the only thing she asked for. A few of her friends came over to play in the pool/sandbox/playground and, as my friend Courtney pointed out, Hannah does better with smaller crowds. All of her favorite people from Montana were here, including three babysitters who are basically like surrogate aunts as well as her adopted grandmother. There was a fun cake, presents, and great weather. So, to my little girl, the party was a success. She didn't even know she was having one until after the yard was decorated and she asked me "Why do we have balloons, mommy?"

To me, it was a continuation in my Montana challenge. The crowd was not something I was expecting. One gal was on vacation, one had a suprise visit from a mother-in-law, one woke up with a sick child, one had to keep a child home for discipline issues, and another had to go out of town to visit family that day. Only two didn't RSVP. All had very good reasons, but it was still hard for me to press through the unloved feelings and the longing to have all of my best girlfriends (and their children) living right beside me like they always have (or as I've always wished they could be!). God is teaching me a lot about loving others. Unfortunately, it is taking me feeling unloved in a miriad of situations to realize what it takes to love people. It's something I've always struggled with (I'm not a very emotional person by nature) and I knew the lesson would have to be learned at some point. Doesn't make it any easier. To Becca, Christi, Jamie, Mary, Caryn, Grandma, Nenang, Jennifer, Amber, and (the list could continue) I wish you could have been there to eat sunshine cake and sing to my little girl.

Three years ago my precious little girl came into the world. (Hopefully, in four weeks my last little boy will be here!) She's a cutie, isn't she? :)