I'm so in love. . .

The video recording malfunctioned during today's appointment with the specialist so we have this great new photo for now. Can you see why I'm so in love? As I type this, our new little guy makes me well aware of his presence as always with constant kicks, rolls, and hiccups. I love those reminders of our precious new life. I will say that we have pretty much decided on a name but realize there is plenty of time left in which we might change our minds:)

Doc said the baby is growing extremely well and on track and is surrounded by a slight excess of amniotic fluid. Basically he said that just means there is room for twins in there and is just what happens after a woman's womb has held this many other little lives. We cannot thank God enough for the good report each month so far and for blessing us with His children. They are truly the richest, most joyful blessing aside from the gift of salvation through Christ.

"Stock-Up Saturdays"

I thought I'd share with you a new venture of mine: "Stock-Up Saturdays." Because homemade things are so much healthier and cheaper but not as easy to have in a pinch, I made a list of those foods to make in bulk on Saturdays. Things like homemade whole wheat tortillas, cinnamon raisin bread, dough for pot pies and quiches, cooked beans (from dried), hummus, burger buns, dinner rolls, and these types of items that I would love to just open up and find on hand in my freezer! So for the first Saturday, we went with tortillas. Conventional whole wheat tortillas at standard grocers have things like high-fructose corn syrup and/or hydrogenated oils in them and the ones at the natural foods store are over $3 for 10. So for a third of the cost, we made a few dozen to freeze. We don't have a tortilla press or anything professional, but if we went out and bought that we wouldn't really be saving money anyway, right?! If you would like the recipe, the link I used is here:

http://chezannies.blogspot.com/2008/07/ho-made-whole-wheat-tortillas-its.html

It has a video with great tips for rolling out the tortillas without a press. If you're going to try this yourself, I will warn you that when you do a bulk attempt, it is very time consuming the first time around. I think next time, with Vince's help again, we'll have it done in half the time. I will definitely be doing it again!


For dinner that evening, we used a pound of dried pinto beans (under $1) to make homemade refried beans. (Of course, those did take some prep ahead of time.) With about $1.50 worth of homemade tortillas and some toppings, our family of six had a taco dinner for under $6. (And there is a small bowl of leftovers in the fridge!) I've created an entire list of dinners for a family of 6 for $6 or less that I'll share on this blog in the future. Stay tuned. . .

Weather & The Creator

We've been studying weather for science and decided to make rainsticks. Of course, we didn't have any empty cardboard tubes, so we now have tube-less rolls of Christmas wrapping paper in the attic:) Paper towel rolls would have worked but the longer ones are so much more fun!

We filled our tubes with rolled up brown paper bags to create the filter for our rice. With paper and duct tape on each end to prevent rice from being found all over the house, the kids went to town decorating with stickers and markers. Whenever the kids do projects with markers that are going to be handled a lot, it seems their hands get covered in marker stains every time they play with it. So this time we covered the decorated tubes with clear contact paper. Voila!

We discussed how people that don't believe in God would often conduct dances and rituals to try and make the rains come and fall on their crops. We talked about how even when we know and love God, we sometimes have a tendency to try and do things on our own without acknowledging God first. On each rainstick, we wrote the verse:

"Sing to the Lord and give thanks to Him. He covers the sky with clouds. He supplies the earth with rain. He makes grass grow on the hills." (Psalm 147:7a & 8)

The truth planted in our hearts today is that God is the one in charge. He's not just some dictator that makes things happen for amusement. He is a perfectly loving Father that makes things happen for good, because He can't be or do something He isn't. We can either put our complete trust in Him or try (unsuccessfully) to make things happen our own way. (I wonder each day if I'll ever stop going back and forth between those two extremes in this life:) Proverbs 16:9 says,

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."

Proverbs 19:21 also says,

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."

Isn't it comforting to know that God already lovingly has each day planned out for us and all we need to do is live it, enjoy it, and thank Him for it?!

Baby Update-20 weeks

Today was our appointment with the perinatologist. We were referred to the specialist because I have always been high-risk (for preterm labor, preeclampsia, etc.) and our last ultrasound showed what looked like an irregular mass inside the womb. Today's 4-D Ultrasound showed us that we have nothing to worry about! There were no more tumors or anything irregular and the baby is in perfect health. It seems I am at least a week farther along than we estimated so our due date is May 20th. (In the picture below, you can see the baby's hand and arm against the side of his face on the left side of the picture.)

Oh, yeah, and "it" is a "he!" Yes, a fourth boy with sweet little Faith stuck smack dab in the middle! She admits she wanted a sister but is so excited to be a big sister again. She's happy that she'll be old enough to change diapers and do so much more to help out. She also likes that our Mommy-and-Faith Girl Time will remain the special time for just the two of us girls.

The specialist had me schedule a follow-up visit with him in three weeks where he said if we bring in a blank DVD, he can record a video of the baby for us during that checkup. Technology is pretty cool, huh? (Some of it anyway:) This way, the fifth baby isn't going to be one of those younger siblings that doesn't even get a baby book! No names are on the list yet, so we'll gladly take suggestions. Of course, if you know us, you know we like strong and uncommon names, preferably Biblical in origin. God has made it very obvious that He has a very sure plan and future for this child, so it would be nice if we could find a way to remind this child of that in his name.

Thank you everyone for your prayers; they have definitely been answered thus far. My heart is overwhelmed with gratitude for God that He is graciously giving us so many of His precious, wonderfully healthy, little ones. It is our prayer that this baby continues to grow healthy and strong and that we will once again be blessed with a safe and natural delivery when the time comes. Of course, we'll be posting plenty of updates before then!