Wednesday, November 26, 2008

23 Days and Counting...Down!

Have you looked at my baby ticker lately? Take a minute and scroll down...looking to your left for the 2 babies floating in the womb.

Go ahead.

Obey.


I'm waiting.

Did you see that? 23 days (as of Nov. 26) to go! The babies are moving around like crazy. I can look down at my belly and see body parts doing the bump in there! It's hard to believe that by Christmas, Lord willing, we will have 3 children. Boy, did we catch up with some our friends very quickly. Their names are Mariah (she still needs a middle name) and Maxwell Eddie. It has been such a joy and privelege to carry them. I thank God for giving me the joy of bearing children. What a delight and honor.

The other night at our Thanksgiving service a man shared that he delivered their 7th child at home because the midwife did not make it in time! You all know my husband is quite the businessman, right? He got the mic and said, "Scott, they are charging us $10,000 to deliver these babies, can we cut a deal?" The church went into an uproar! Afterwards, someone told me that I gave Eddie the evil eye...oops!


Seriously though, we are having to pay out of pocket for this pregnancy. We have medical insurance (which we pay nearly $400 monthly for) but we did not sign up for maternity benefits when we got the policy. We had just had Halley and weren't "planning" to get pregnant for awhile. Since this pregnancy, our thoughts on "planning" pregnancies has changed. We believe that God is sovereign over the womb. It's not to us to determine how big our small our family will be. God knows what's best. He declares in His Word that children are a blessing from Him and that the fruit of the womb is a reward. We don't think that we should say, "No,God don't give me any more blessings. We are going to use "wisdom" and cut off the blessings that you want to give us." The world sees children as a bother, a hindrance to your career, and anything but a blessing. But as Christians, we know that Christ is opposed to the world (He is on the extreme end of the spectrum to what the world says)..."feed your enemies, bless those who curse you, the first will be last, the greatest among you is your servant, etc." To give control of this area of our lives over to the Lord is a huge step of faith for us. After all, I was just a few days late picking up my pills and we got pregnant...with twins! But we trust that our God truly knows what is best. We want to have an open hand to His will for our lives.

As for Halley's thoughts on the babies...she doesn't have much of a clue what's going on! When asked where are the babies, she does lift up my shirt and point to my belly. And she knows that we have been keeping her out of the nursery, but I don't think she knows why! She is a great helper...really. She carries her stool to the sink to help wash dishes and to the washer and dryer to help with the laundry. She loves to get the clothes out of the dryer and put them on the couch and even tries to help me fold them. When I get the broom, she immediately gets the dustpan. She helps to vaccuum. My parents bought her an iron and ironing board, so she does that as well! What a domestic diva! I hope this continues when the babies come. She is going to the potty on her own these days...#1 and #2!!! Praise the Lord. She wears panties all day and has not had an accident in a couple of days. Even in the church nursery she has used the potty. I am so thankful to the Lord for this! My goal was to have her potty trained before the twins arrived. She has met and exceeded the goal! We are still working on her staying dry at night. She just turned 2 on Nov. 7, so I really believe her progress is excellent. I just hope she won't regress when they get here.

Well, keep praying for us. I'm having Braxton Hicks contractions...especially at night. We are shooting for Dec. 19 to become a party of 5!

Monday, November 24, 2008

Common Ground Montgomery

My friends, Nicole and Delta serve with an inner city ministry called Common Ground Montgomery. I have witnessed so many great things as a result of God using them and their families in the lives of people living in West Montgomery. It has been a joy to be a small part of joining with them in the Lord's work. Here is a video that someone made about the ministry.

Body Parts

Being a part of the Body of Christ is such a blessing. I have been so encouraged by my friends in Montgomery. They are like family and make living in BAMA an easier pill to swallow. Last Thursday was a wonderful day surrounded by friends. Here's a snipet of an e-mail that I sent to my friend Keisha telling her about my day:

Yesterday, was a fun day for me. Me and Brie met Sylvia and her boys at the mall. We let the kiddies take a train ride...we thought it would be cute. Of course Brie started crying, so Champ started too! The conductor had to stop the ride and let them off! Next time, I'll keep my $2 in my pocket and we'll just look at the train! We came home and took a nap. Then Brittany Wright came over. She's like you...my single friend who lives around the corner who always comes over. We have become pretty close. Then Nyema and the girls came over before picking up Zuriel from school. Then Delta and Nicole stopped by for a few minutes to bring baby Max some boy clothes. Then Chas and Ashley came over and along with Brittany, they put up my Christmas tree! It's so pretty. I have bronze and gold on it this year. It just puts me in a happy mood to look at the tree. I will take some pics and upload them. Then, I went to dinner with a friend from church. What a day.

What a blessing to have such wonderful friends. My parents comment quite often about the friends that we have here. They are amazed with how we serve and take care of one another.

I want my frineds to know how very thankful I am for them. They are a real blessing and truly exemply love in action!


Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Honey...It's Time!

No, not time to have the twins...time to update my blog! Gotcha!! So much has gone on over the last 6 weeks or so. I'll try to give you a quick run down. Let's start with family first... Eddie and I spent the whole week together last week. Just. the. two. of. us. He is working really hard on some new projects (building 3 townhouses, trying to sell houses he built earlier this year, managing rental properties, and looking at a new business venture). He's such an entrepreneur! He also has been teaching Sunday School. He is great at engaging others to join in the discussion. I really enjoy his class.


I was put on bedrest last week because the babies were growing at different rates. The boy was measuring 25% bigger than his sister. Twins should not be more that 20% different in size. Plus, I was having contractions every 3-4 minutes. We sent Brie to my parents in Atlanta, becuase who can really rest with a 2 year old?!! We prayed and prayed for the babies. When I went back this Monday, things were great. The twins are only 8% different in size now. I was taken off of bedrest and declared a low risk patient again! Oh how my heart rejoiced! I believe that the mishap last week was due to operator error on behalf of the U/S tech. She was not as skilled and I think her measurements were way off. However, God is in control (even over "mistakes"). He was testing my faith and all things worked out for His glory and my good.






Brie turned 2 on Friday! Wow! Before I went to bed last night I peeked in her room. She takes up half the toddler bed with her length now. She is becoming more verbal. Her speech is not that good, but she can definetly communicate! Everyday is an adventure with her. She mocks lots of things that we do...which is scary and funny! She loves music...anytime she hears it, she starts to sway to the music and swing her head back and forth. She loves to pray. We sing "God our Father, we thank you..." before meals. It's nothing for her to take a few bites and then say again, "Wan pray." So we do it all over again.




I've had 2 baby showers...one in Atlanta and one in Montgomery! What a blessing. Here are a few pics:


That's enough for now. Please keep us in your prayers. I am 32 1/2 weeks preggo. We are shooting for Dec. 19 for the due date. Pray that our buns stay in the oven on 400 degrees until bubbly and brown!

Monday, November 10, 2008

John Piper on the Election