What a Thursday . . . .

My SIL is in labor. I’m so excited!!! I can’t wait to hear how things go for her! I want to call and pester her on the phone all the time . . . she’s in Florida and I’m in Kansas . . . . but that would bug me. Maybe not if my labors tended to move slower, but I don’t know what’s going on, so . . . I’m just trying to be respectful. But it’s sooooo hard!

In the wide world that centers around me, my goals look like this:

• Make it until Saturday morning
• Make it until December
• Make it until December 15^th
• Make it until December 21^st, my 27^th birthday
• Make it until the first of the year

And somewhere in there is:

• For Clare to have her baby first

Her due date was the 15^th of December, mine is Jan 20^th, so it makes sense, right? So far, I’ve made it half way!

The second half is the long distance portion, though!

So far, Sunday and Monday were good days. Few contractions. Tuesday was a bit scary simply because I had contractions all day long. Some were very hard, and one woke me up from a nap! I usually don’t wake up until they are 5 minutes apart – yes, I sleep like a rock. So I took Benadryl and went to our midwife’s appointment that night.

The baby has moved up!

Well, or technically I think I was in our Jacuzzi tub and playing around and manipulated the baby back up . . . but regardless of how it happened (and I’m pretty sure it was me playing around) God has really answered a prayer here!

My midwife said she was pleased with how "in-tune" I was with my body and that I have to keep paying attention. I like it that she takes me seriously - I feel less like a paranoid, jumping-at-shadows mommy. *smile*

That’s the good news. The bad news is that I still have what seems like a long, long ways to go. So I need to keep being careful.

But then it was followed by good news again as Wednesday and today have been really good, low contraction days. Surprising, the way things went Friday and Saturday right after the baby dropped. But very, very encouraging!

I really don’t want to be waited on hand and foot for the next ump-teen days. I don’t really care if my house falls apart around me at this point, if I can just be “mommy” and change diapers and re-heat food, that’s enough for me.

So, that’s my goal. To a function a tiny bit carefully, if possible.

Jonathan is going to observe me this weekend and pass his verdict. He is a hard jury to please, let me tell you. And ya'll thought *I* was the paranoid one?

Thank you for your prayers and for thinking of us!

~Ashley~

 

For the next few weeks I’ll be sharing a bit of what we are doing for our Season of Christmas here on the homestead. How we are working to make things quieter and reflective for the Advent weeks leading up to Christmas and then how we’ll celebrate like crazy for the 12 Days of Christmas and our plans to wrap it all up with a special conclusion on Epiphany.
Let us start with week one.

Advent
This is the week of Waiting.

Be patient . . . . until the coming of the Lord. James 5:7

To celebrate this week we will:
a List things it is hard to wait for
a Write a poem, story or draw a picture about how it feels to wait
a Write out the above verse and memorize it
a Pray for others who have to wait for things they need
a Donate outgrown and gently-used holiday clothes to the local free store

This year we are making the decision to celebrate a bit differently.
Christmas is not just a day. It is a season and, as I recently learned, it has three traditional parts.
The first part is the sober, reflective, preparatory time of Advent.
Then comes Christmastide, the twelve days of celebration beginning with Christmas Day.
And thirdly is Epiphany. January 6^th. The day we celebrate the arrival of the three wise men with their special gifts for Jesus.
Each part of the season is important. Advent is the quieting of our hearts and minds, the silence and solitude, the clearing out of the old to make way for the new. Then we are quickly swept into the joy and merry making, the glorious light and rejoicing that is Christmas. Which leads us into the wondering conclusion, Epiphany, the giving of gifts to a needy world.
We are celebrating the Season of Christmas. Our little family will be spending this week and the next three weeks in Advent. Taking time to celebrate the time of waiting, the time of hoping, the time of preparing and the time of welcoming in special unique ways.
I am, right now, working on our Christmastide celebrations- something special and significant for the 12 Days of Christmas that doesn’t include pear trees and drummers drumming.
We’ve already decided that we will celebrate Epiphany by taking our boxes of non-perishables to the local food bank.
There is so much we could be doing, perhaps should be doing in the midst of this Season. But I have also come to realize that the bigger and grander, “more meaningful” I try to make things- and all at once- in one big gulp—the higher my rate of failure.
This is something I don’t want to fail at. Over the last few Christmases we’ve really changed our attitude here in our home and so this is simply the next step for us. And next year we will add something more- building on the foundation we are creating as a family.
And in the process, I hope,
Making New Traditions.
Meaningful Traditions.

I'm going to start studying this list - This would be a great list for anyone of us to apply at least some or all!  How this could improve relationships!  This comes from the Duggar Family Site

DUGGAR HOUSE GUIDELINES

1)     Always use soft words, even when you don’t feel well.

2)     Always display kind actions and joyful attitudes, even if you have been mistreated. Have the right response by quickly forgiving others in your heart even before they ask.

3)     Always be enthusiastic and look for opportunities to praise others' character.

4)     Always deflect praise and be grateful to God and others for the ways they have benefited your life.

5)     Always use manners and be respectful of others and             their belongings.

6)     Always do what is right, even when others may not, or         when no one is looking.

7)     Thank God for how He made you, for what He has given you and everything He allows you to go through.        (Romans 8:28)

8)     Don’t mock or put others down. Develop compassion   and pray for others.

9)              Never argue, complain, or blame. Quickly admit when you have done wrong and ask for forgiveness (even if you were only 10% at fault). Don't wait till you’re caught. Be sure your sins will find you out. He who covers his sin will not prosper, but he that confesses and forsakes it shall find mercy.

10)        Have a tough accountability/prayer partner to daily share your heart with and to keep you in line (your parents, spouse). The power of sin is in secrecy.

11)   Be attentive and look for ways to serve others with      sincere motives and no thought of self-gain.

12)   Think pure thoughts (Philippians 4:8, Romans 13:14).

13)   Always give a good report of others. Don't gossip!        Never tale-bear unless physical harm will come to someone. (Use Matthew 18.)

14)   Never raise a hand to hit.

15)   Never raise a foot to kick.

16)   Never raise an object to throw.

17)   Never raise a voice to yell.

18)   Never raise an eye to scowl.

19)   Use one toy/activity at a time.        Share!

20)   Do your best to keep your surroundings neat, clean and        organized.

21)   Never let the sun go down on your wrath. 

        (Don’t go to bed angry or guilty)

22)   Amendment J.O.Y. -      

        -Put Jesus first, Others second, Yourself last.

This is the mom song - all the things a mom says throughout her day!!!

Click HERE!

You ever read the Bible with a "Wow, that was incredibly dumb of them" additude?

I will never forget suddenly seeing myself in Eve and her choices a few years ago. Incredibly humbling experience!

Well, I'd be complaining right along with everyone in Exodus, too.

I dunno. You read the passages, and about manna, this wonderful, heavenly bread. And surely a few people weren't complaining, right? Some people surely fell into the routine and just "went with it". Because that's what I would do . . . .

Nah!

I think I'd be complaining along with everyone else. A diet of pure, unadulterated manna stretching out before me, drying the taste buds completely up in my mouth.

A few days ago, I was praying for each day to pass without labor. Now that I've had a few in a row, I'm impatient.  And a single hard contraction still makes me panic, of course, and flop over on my side like a whipped puppy . . . . but the inactivity is grinding on me. Terribly.

Sorry to complain. I'm just tired and irratable from . . . doing nothing. You know, don't-pick-that-sock-up-off-the-carpet or carry-your-glass-to-the-sink or labor will comence and then my baby is wisked away to the NICU. Now don't you wish you had left that dirty sock sitting there another two weeks? [insert evil laughter here]

Here is me a few weeks ago, waaay out in front and carrying baby high . . . .

And, here is me now. Even my mama asked if the reason I looked so small was because the baby dropped. Not sure if this picture does it real justice, but it's the best I have at the moment:

Baby "bump" gone. It's more like I had the baby and haven't lost my tummy yet ... hardly that I'm carrying around an increasingly larger child, still! *sigh*

I don't want to be more trouble than a I need to be. Do I really need to be waited on hand and foot? I just don't know. It would be hard to tell until I'm doing light housework and go into labor .... oops!

A few weeks of taking it easy to get us closer to full term . . . pray for me to have patience!

And perhaps my midwife might have some words of wisdom and insight tonight . . . .

~Ashley~

I can't believe that December is here! We've been very ill for the last several days. We had a lovely Thanksgiving, but that evening, I developed a high fever. At first, I was concerned with my incision (infection?) but as it turns out, it was flu. I am still running a low grade fever and feel very tired and weak. The boys are mending quickly, thank the Lord. The worst of it for them was the first 24 hours. My leg is very bruised and still swollen and painful. It's been difficult to do my daily tasks and so the boys are pitching in with laundry and such. The biopsy results have not come in, and it looks as though I will wait another week for them.

We don't have our trees up yet, which has never happened! We will start this evening with some decorating and hopefully, be ready once the weekend comes. When I'm able, I want to take a walk around the farm to gather greens for garland. I'm planning a Christmas open house for friends and neighbors next weekend, so I pray that we can get well and stay well for the festivities.There's much to be done! I am making my "to do" list. I noticed that I need to polish the silver punch bowl. It seems only yesterday, I put it away! It only comes out for Christmas, and makes things seem so special. We have a bit of snow on the ground now which only adds to the charm of the season. There is much to look forward to!

For Today

 Monday,December 1, 2008

I am hearing... some soft Christmas music.

A picture thought to share for the day...  

(Ginger folks from last year. We can't wait to make more!)

Please stop by to visit Peggy  to peek into the lives of other "Simple Women," and to read the guidelines for creating your own Daybook!