Its hard to believe that in only 8 weeks, Lord willing, our baby will be in our arms.    We painted our baby’s room and have everything pretty much set up and ready to go.  Yesterday, I sat down in the rocking chair in his room and just rocked and gazed out the window for a while.  I pondered this entirely new feeling… this entirely new space… and entirely unknown chapter ahead.  I kept hearing the holy spirit’s prompting…

“Be still, and know that I am God…”  Psalm 46:10

My heart and mind have been challenged tremendously during pregnancy to believe God’s promises to me.   Here are some promises that have been really sweet to meditate on over the last 7 months.

When I fear the pain and unknowns of labor and delivery, I am promised…

“fear not, for I am with you;  be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

- Isaiah 41:10

When I fear if the strengths and personality God has given me will be useful as a mother, I am commanded…

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

- Joshua 1:9 

When I have been weak and sick and unable to help with much or meet the needs of others, I am promised…

“But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, formy power is made perfect in weakness.”

 - 2 Corinthians 12:9

When I fear losing the flexibility and lifestyle of life without children, I pray for strength to believe…

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ”

- Philippians 3:7-8

When I am tempted to compare myself with other pregnant women or mama’s, I am gently rebuked…

 ”Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”

(Jesus rebuking his disciple Peter when he compared himself with his fellow disciple John)

John 21:22

That rebuke Jesus gives to Peter reminds me that he has a unique and specific purpose for me as a mother.  He’s not calling me to be someone else or to walk through someone else’s experience.  He’s calling me to be an authentic mother dependent on Jesus in my own skin, strengths and weaknesses.  What freedom there is in that! I am thankful for the truth that because of Jesus, all of God’s comforts and promises have been freely given to me!  When I finally surrender all of my anxieties and fears, I can trust in him and rest.  What I love about all these promises is the reminder that I am not alone.  I am not stepping into this new season un-helped, unequipped, or without grace.  I have been given everything I need in Christ alone to walk through a place I haven’t ever been.  That makes me excited and expectant of his help towards me in the days ahead.

This is what I’ve had in the past week… a serious itch to create!  Every once in a while, I make these crazy trips to Michael’s and wander around the store trying to find all the little pieces it takes to create something I’m inspired to make.  This week it was an earring holder frame (or whatever you call it?) and some made-with-love decorations for our baby’s walls.

I will take the liberty to show off my started- AND COMPLETED- projects!  (To complete something I start is not always a personal forte for me

Ta da!  Here they are!

These little airplanes were like 50 cents!  I bought some cheapy cheap paint and painted them… it was so much fun.  I am most proud of the paper-mache framed Initial “S.”  This one was the most messy and the most daunting.  I was truly shocked that it turned out.  I do have 2 other framed initials (first and middle), but I am not revealing them yet because his name is a surprise to be revealed on his birthday.  And the earring holder I can’t take credit for… I got the idea from my dear friends Emilie and Lydia.

Anyway, I guess in the dead of winter when its freezing out and your 7 months pregnant, its kind of nice to sit inside and be crafty.  This week my mom is coming over to make curtains with me out of some fabric I found at the salvation army!  Once you get the itch to create, its hard to stop

 Eggplant, Zucchini, and Tomato Tian

Here’s the Recipe!

My First Turkey…

Ever since Thanksgiving I have been craving more turkey.  But I’ve been a little shy about making one since it seems so complicated.  Tomorrow will be my first attempt… wish me luck

Turkey Soup

Assuming my turkey survives… I’m going to try to make broth from the bones and then make this turkey soup recipe!

The reason I’m blogging the meals I’m making is because my husband and I are working on “jobs” right now.  He’s putting primer paint on the walls in our downstairs bathroom, and my job was to “make a meal plan for the week.”  But I found I have no real system to making a meal plan, so I thought… why not just blog it… then I can have it there in front of me if I forget what I was going to make and also include the links to these recipies I am trying.  Genius, I know.

I cannot wait to feast on some turkey and mashed potato goodness!!  I’m really hoping I like the veggie dish… may have to add some secret ingredients to make it taste the way I like.  By secret ingredients, I mean butter and salt  Which is actually recommended for pregnancy… I’m ok with that!

Here I am at 31 weeks.  So 9 weeks to go!  The past month has been a whirlwind.  We flew to Chattanooga, TN for our CO National Conference, which was amazing.  That will have to be a whole other blog post.  But baby and I made it through, though I have to say we took more naps this year and skipped a few sessions.  We are getting to that point.  With only 2 months to go, I’m finding my energy getting zapped a lot more quickly!  I was so proud of my hubby, he worked so hard along with tons of other resource staff to plan and organize the entire conference.  I don’t think any of them really slept the entire week!  Its really fun to see my husband’s gifts be a blessing to so many people.  He’s a great leader, and I am so proud of his cheerful attitude even during a really physically tiring week.  At the end of the conference, we had a U of M share time with students.  One student from the U of M from Korea said that he became a Christian at conference, and that he cried when he talked to God for the first time and felt his real presence.  I don’t think there was a dry eye in the room as we rejoiced with this friend!  As we flew home, Nick said- “To hear that one student came to know Jesus, I would run myself ragged all over again.”  I’ve learned so much from my husband and the resource team.  They give so much of their time and energy, and even though a lot of it doesn’t get outward credit- they serve joyfully because by organizing and planning conferences, etc. – college students can come and be blessed by hearing the good news of the grace of God!  At 31 weeks, I am overwhelmed at the blessing our boy will have in his daddy.  And as far as the third trimester goes- CAKEWALK compared to the first.  All the little uncomfortable things feel like NOTHING compared to the first 4 months!  Being huge, tired, uncomfortable and constantly hungry is such a blessing!!!!  At least I get to be all of these things without constantly vomiting! Hallelujah!  And getting daily foot rubs from Nick- not so bad either.  :)

Happy New Year, Friends!

Here’s a pic from Christmas eve at 28 weeks!

Well, here we go!  3.5 months until I’m. a. MOM.  I can’t believe how fast this has gone by!  After eating about 20 variations of Thanksgiving dinners in the past 5 days, I’d say baby grew a bit.  At 25 weeks, I’m feeling for the most part great.  I do have about 2 hours a day of nausea and usually 1 unfortunate day a week of pukey.  But hey, its not bad at ALL compared to those first 4 months!  Baby is also kicking me like crazy.  Legitimate kicks.  Yesterday his Grandma Julie bent down and said hello, and he kicked!  Something funny is that he kicks NON STOP when we travel.  In CA a few weeks ago and this past week in WI.  Over TG, my belly was protruding with little movements from all angles around Grandma Jane and Grandpa Dick! No matter who you are, if you talk to him, he moves- I love it!  I am treasuring this season.  It is quickly going to evolve into an entire new chapter of my life, and I’m just taking it one day at a time. I’m enjoying spending lots of time with my sweet hub talking, reading, praying with him and beginning to take some birthing classes.  Its a precious time to just be still, linger in the quiet moments and wait.  I’ve also been enjoying asking my mom and Nick’s mom all about their labors and deliveries.  Consider me a sponge around experienced mama’s.   There’s so much to do in the next three months, and yet God is gently reminding me to calm my heart in a season that could otherwise be overwhelming without the peace he supplies.

“Be still, and know that I am God.”

Psalm 46:10

Love,

Katie and ???

 (We’re so excited- we have a name chosen for our BOY, but that’s going to be kept a secret until he arrives!)

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

So I grew up in the world of brothers.  That’s why I know how to make sweet snow/ice jumps in the backyard, have knees covered in scars and still feel funny curling my hair and wearing dresses.  Meet my childhood comrades.  Left: Nick.  Right: Ben.   My husband and I have been all over town trying to keep up with them this fall!  About a month ago, Ben ran the Twin Cities Marathon.  I’ll never understand what drives people to be so brutal to their body, but Ben made it look easy!   Nick and his band, “Unsound Logic,” are releasing their first album this month!   I snapped some great shots of them this fall and wanted to show them off here on my bloggity blog.  Guess you could say I am proud of them and can’t wait for them to be uncles to our little BOY soon!

Meet Nick:

Back in July, we were so excited to tell Nick and Ben of their upcoming identity change:  UNCLEHOOD.  We surprised them at their offices-( Ben works at Upsher Smith and Nick works at the Hennepin Theatre Trust)- by giving their receptionists “mystery packages” carrying shirts with their new titles:  Uncle Nick and Uncle Ben.  Once they opened the package, our secret was revealed!  We had fun visiting their workplaces and suprising them with the fun news.  This is a first time experience for them, so we made it a big deal  They are super pumped its a BOY.  Like dedicated uncles, they are coming over this week to help my hubby paint the baby room.  Can’t wait for them to have an influence in our little guy’s life.

Ingredients:

1 box Yellow Cake Mix

1 can pumpkin

1 bag chocolate chips

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2.  Mix dry cake mix (no water, eggs or oil added), pumpkin and chocolate chips into a bowl

3.  Spoon mixture into muffin tin

4.  Bake for 15 minutes

Enjoy!