It’s taken time and who knows when I’ll get back to this space again {at some point I promise I will}, but on April 25 we welcomed our beautiful Baby Z into the world. William was born at 9:08 a.m weighing 7.4 lbs and measuring 20.5 inches long. He is simply wonderful and mom and dad are deeply in love with this little gift from God. As we adjust to being a family I’m pretty sure my presence in this space will be quite sporadic so in the mean time, here are some pics of our sweet Will ;-)

His precious little hand gripping my night gown.

Loving the car seat.

Resting with dad.

"Mom, put the camera down."

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We got a great laugh out of it :-) Can you believe how big my tummy is? That’s because you’re taking up pretty much all the real estate in there.

It is pretty incredible that you are still in my tummy at the moment. In fact, when I tell people some of our stats, they’re pretty amazed you’re still in there and that I have been walking around this way for a few weeks. I’m pretty amazed too! Check this out:

Stats:

• Head down
• 6 cm dilated
• 100% effaced
• Estimated baby weight: 7 lbs. {a week ago!}

Looking forward to meeting you Sweet One! Feel free to make your debut anytime :-)

Love you!

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I thrive on routine. I need to be busy to stay motivated. I get energy from keeping a full schedule and serving others {especially my husband}. The busier I am the better I seem to do.

Eight weeks ago yesterday all that was removed from my life.

Yesterday morning was the first morning I woke-up at the same time as my husband and when I heard the cord of the iron being plugged into the wall I realized I had forgotten to iron his favorite pants. It might seem silly, but I really wanted to iron his pants for him. It has been weeks of not doing anything for anyone else, let alone him, and this was a small thing I could do. I rolled out of bed {because at nine months pregnant you really can only roll} and found him, hugged him and asked if I could iron his pants. He of course was happy to let me do it as it meant he could get ready faster and therefore be at work earlier.

I ironed his pants and made him coffee. And it was wonderful. I mean seriously wonderful. For the first time in eight weeks I felt normal. I was a wife again. I love being Mr. Z’s Mrs. God made this role for me.

When I was first put on bed rest I thought I would take advantage of this time and blog away {among other things}. Simply write and write and write. But if you’ve visited this space with any sort of frequency you know that’s not the case. I manage to bang out the weekly pregnancy milestone entries, but other than that there isn’t really any consistency. There are a variety of reasons for that from not being able to get into a comfortable enough position to even want to attempt to type to frankly, being in a mood where it is simply better to keep my thoughts between me and God. To state the obvious, these last eight weeks have been less than productive.

At the recommendation of a friend I listened to a sermon by Holy Furtik. It is appropriately titled:

“If I have to wait, I’m gonna get to work”

It’s a part of Elevation Church’s newest series, The Waiting Room. Ridiculously appropriate for me huh? {And I’m sure many of you out there as well.} I wish I could say I turned this eight-week waiting room into a workroom, but frankly that’s just not the case. I know none of this time will be wasted as God promises He uses everything for His purposes, but as I listened to this sermon today I knew in my heart there are some serious lessons I need to take into this next season of life.

The phrase “change the waiting room into a work room” was weaved throughout the sermon. And while I don’t feel that’s exactly what I have done these past eight weeks, it is something I must consider in the future and for the remainder of this time.

We are all works in progress and Lord knows this work {pointing at myself} will be in progress until the day I meet my Messiah. Ruth Bell Graham, Billy Graham’s wife, used to say that when she died she wanted her headstone to read:

“End of construction. Thank you for your patience.”

How appropriate.

God’s mercies are new every morning and He has never expected us to be perfect, but He does desire us to be teachable and humbly submitted to Him. After all, we are flawed human beings purposed to bring Him glory. Only He is perfect. But He wants us to seek Him, know Him and allow Him to make us more like Jesus.

So as I near Baby Z’s due date and wait on this little one I’m reflecting on the season where life was put on pause, looking for what God was trying to teach, how He was trying to use me and seeking to be better at it in the future.

Holly brought up three ways to turn your waiting room into a workroom:

1. Resist the urge to complain and fill your situation with praise.
2. Preoccupy yourself with fulfilling God’s purpose rather than escaping your problem/situation.
3. Realize that our detours are often God’s destinations.

I’ll be looking at these questions in light of this season, pondering where I may have put them into play and where I could’ve done better. Hoping to learn for the next time I find myself in a place of pause.

Perhaps this is something you’ve dealt with to? Wondering when life will move on—beyond the current situation you find yourself in?

You might be interested in the sermon too :-)

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We’re now waiting for you to make your debut {well we have really been waiting for a long time, but now there is a greater sense of relief}. We of course want to meet you so very badly but mommy and daddy could also use some time to recoup from this busy tax season. We want to be in the best shape possible before we welcome you into this world.

Your room is almost completely finished; we just have a few more little touches before I can say it is totally ready. Y0ur Mome, Pop and daddy helped to get your room to where it is and I think it looks incredible! I can’t wait to show it to you and see your little self in there :-)

Hopefully we will meet you soon. We love you so very much!

PS. Your daddy was home early enough to take this pic.

Do you think mommy was just a little happy to have him home?

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Lately I’ve come across a few blog entries and articles on motherhood that I thought I would share in this space. I found them all encouraging in one way or another. Enjoy!

This blog entry from the Gypsy Mama is a huge blessing for new moms, young moms and moms who just need to be reassured, it’s going to be okay.

I really appreciate the balance in this blog entry from the blog Passionate Homemaking. I felt like she addressed the two major camps of parenting (baby-wise and attachment) with grace and respect for both “sides.” It’s quite a comforting read for this soon-to-be-mom.

I LOVE Pinterest and if you’ve read my blog for any amount of time you probably noticed that. But this article from the Power of Moms on simply being what your children need rather than what Pinterest or any other social site might tell you you need to be is a great and needed reminder for many of us.

This blog entry from Desiring God a while ago, is a wonderful reminder of what our “job” really means.

And this article, well the author was married one year to the day before Mr. Z and I tied the knot and she has a little three month old girl. I might kinda feel like we have a lot in common so her raw and honest yet positive and hopeful outlook on this new season was a huge blessing of a read for me :-)

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I find I’m in an interesting state spiritually and emotionally these days. I am so thankful that our God saw it fit to keep Baby Z inside and as I go through Beth Moore’s study on the book of James {which I highly recommend} I am doing my best to consider it pure joy as we face this trial of bed rest and limited mobility. As of last week I was allowed to walk around more and who knows, maybe the doc will tell me tomorrow—when I go for my weekly visit—that I can do even more {going to church this weekend was wonderful!}. But I am ready for a change, to begin this new season of life. Waking up every day for seven weeks wondering if today is the day we’ll welcome our little one into the world can be quite trying.

Yesterday a dear friend who has been such a blessing to me during this time, visiting multiple times, said something that I hadn’t considered. She said, “I can’t wait to see how God uses all that you have learned about preemies and bed rest. That’s going to be exciting!” And you know what, she is so right. In my natural tendency to look at my immediate situation and get frustrated I lost sight of the fact that nothing is wasted with God and He will use this time for His purposes. My personality type finds this incredibly comforting :-)

For now we continue to wait and praise God for His many, many blessings during this time. I know there will come a time {hopefully soon} when I look back on bed rest and miss the ability to sleep, even if I wake-up every 90 minutes to adjust, and sit around spending time with my parents, in-laws, friends and even my sister who came to visit!

Can’t wait to meet you Baby Z!

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We hopped {well as best as a pregnant lady who has been on bed rest for six weeks can hop} into the car giddy with excitement. It was the first time in six-plus weeks that the Mr. and I were out of the four walls of our home together. We were on our way to see friends that might as well be family, worship our God and be “normal.” It was one of the greatest Easter gifts I could have ever asked for.

In my most recent doctor’s visit I begged to go to church on this very special day. And although she seemed a little hesitant, she allowed me to venture out to my home away from home.

When we walked through the doors the worship music washed over me and I was overjoyed. Oh how I had been missing this so very much. The sense of joy for all that this resurrection day means and the expectancy of our God moving was tangible.  The church had just been through a whirlwind season of preparation and execution of one of the most incredible Easter performances {put on something like nine times!} I have ever seen. I missed it this year of course, but the utter joy from being a part of God moving through the production was evident in the staff and the members who were a part of it. Say what you will, but the Holy Spirit can be contagious and boy was it yesterday!

I didn’t realize how much I missed it all until we walked in the doors and got to our seats and I could just soak it all in. I stood for a few moments, eyes closed and tears welling up, thanking God for these incredible gifts: our little one still in my womb, my rock steady husband, a church that LOVES Jesus and the ability to celebrate my Savior.

I’ve heard many people say they love God and hate the church. And there are parts of me that understand those statements. Especially if you’ve been burned by church members before {I certainly have}. But that’s the beauty of church, it’s made up of flawed, not-even-close-to-perfect people. Yet God can use it to do His work and minister to us if we humbly submit to Him and acknowledge that without Him, we are incapable of being all that we can be.

Yesterday was a vivid reminder to me that we miss a beautiful and tangible piece of our God when we neglect being a part of a church body. When our soul feels dry His church can help to bring us back to life. When we can’t seem to muster up the thanksgiving we know we should feel in our hearts, being in His presence amongst His body can help manifest the thanksgiving we have wanted to express but seemed to have lost. When we feel far from Him, we can walk through the doors of His church and the distance is no longer there.

I don’t know if this post is intended for someone in particular or perhaps just for me to get what’s been on my mind and in my heart in writing. But if you feel like I have and have been burned in that past like I have been, don’t let that stand in your way to walk through the doors of His church in the near future. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. Sometimes we need to walk through the doors of the church and join in the fellowship of believers to know that we know that we know that we aren’t as far from Him as we thought.

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You stayed put throughout last week and today marks 35 weeks! You are pretty much “in the clear” from all that we can tell and now if you come the chances of you needing to go to the NICU are extremely slim. Your dad and I are pretty happy parents :-)

I must admit though, I am torn right now. I know it would be best for you and for your dad for you to hold out two more weeks until tax day comes and goes, as your daddy is an accountant and will be back to normal business hours at that point. That day also marks 37 weeks, which is technically full term. But sweet one, momma is getting pretty tired of this sitting around stuff. Now don’t get me wrong, I am EXTREMELY grateful that our faithful Father in heaven has seen fit to keep you inside this long—EXTREMELY—but boy has sitting around gotten old.

I had my weekly doctor’s appointment yesterday and we did get the okay from the doctor to walk around some. I might have asked her if we could walk down the street to Starbucks and she might not have liked that idea, but now I can do things like get my own water and stand to take my shower if I feel up to it. This is a big deal kiddo ;-)

So we wait to meet you and boy are we eager!

Love you sweet one!

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2. Link back here and invite others to join.

3. Go a little overboard in encouraging the writer who linked up before you

Are you ready? What are you waiting for?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

GIFT

From time to time I’ve heard women say that motherhood is a gift, especially since I have been pregnant. And indeed it is. It is a gift to become a mother. But I think it is just as much a gift to have a mother.

It has been five weeks now that my mom has been with me virtually everyday while I am on bed rest. She was at the hospital everyday for the three weeks I was there and has been with me everyday since I have been home {for the past two weeks}. She takes me to my doctor’s appointments, cleans my house, does my laundry, cooks for me and essentially helps keep me sane.

She is such a gift. A HUGE gift. An irreplaceable gift.

As I watch her I see what I hope to be. Selfless, sacrificial, giving, loving, funny and simply beautiful.

Motherhood is a gift to the woman who becomes a mom, and just as much a gift to the one who is born to the mother.

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We have made it to 34 weeks! Today we had our weekly outing to the doctors’ office. Momma was excited to wear normal clothes ;-) your heartbeat is strong as always and you continue to move around a lot.

We have some big news from today’s visit; the doctor told me that it is very possible you will make your debut in the next few days {momma is more dilated now}. In fact, she told me that she is on-call this weekend at the hospital and wouldn’t be surprised if she delivered you {I really like this doctor so I wouldn’t be disappointed}.

Thankfully you are still head down and we are praying you stay that way. And since we only live 20 minutes from the hospital we’re still at home and should be just fine.

There was a period of time since we began this process where I was quite nervous about you entering this world early, but I believe our God has prepared me as best as possible. He has cared for both you and I {and your daddy} in wonderful ways and I know He will continue to do so.

If you arrive before next Tuesday you will head to the NICU, but don’t worry we will be right behind you. If you are born after next Tuesday it is possible you will not have to go to the NICU. Either way sweet one, we are confident in our God and the way He has knit you in my womb. Even the doctors say you are a strong baby! I already knew this as your kicks and punches are strong!

We love you so much sweet one and cannot wait to meet you as soon as God allows.

Propped up on the chaise lounge ;-)

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