My Beloved

I found this letter on the internet. It's promises that God gives in scripture put into a letter form to have them all in one place. I thought it was a cool reminder!

My Beloved,

You worry so. Fear not. I am always with you. I will not abandon you.
I promise to never leave you nor forsake you. I have known you always. I've watched you with love since before you were born until now. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. I've always loved you and have been there for you but you have not always noticed or understood. You don't have to hide your mistakes from me. I am intimately aquainted with all your strengths and weaknesses. Thre is nothing to be ashamed of before me, for you are my beloved. I extend to you all the forgiveness that you are willing to receive from me. I in you the perfection you cannot see in yourself as yet. People and circumstances have told you that you are far from perfection and they have broken your heart many times over.
I am saying to you that I am here to offer my comfrot and to help you with the healing of your broken heart. Again, I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you. I will stand with you even in times of trouble.

Again, I will say in my eyes you are perfect. You are loved and cherished by me. When I say I love you I am not speaking empty words void of life. Have I not sacrificed all that is precious to me for your sake? Have I not suffered untold sufferings for you? I hold you so precious and caluable that I have given up my life for your good. You are of great worth to me. I offer you life drawn out of my own. With all this do you still day I am not worthy of your trust? My beloved, if only you would believe.

I only intend good towards you. I would protect you from all that is evil. Even in all your comings and goings I would have it that you would be under my protection. I confess that I am jealous of your affections toward anyone or anything that would do less for you because I love you so. I long always to be your love above all loves. If this were so, I would gladly give you all you could ask for and more than you could imagine. I ask you to release all your struggles to me that I may give you rest. Don't worry or be so anxious. Love me and have faith in me, then I will be free to take your burdens. They you would rejoice for your load would be light and easy. As I must close this letter, beloved, I ask that you would cast all your cares upon me for I truly care for you. Life will always have difficulties and hardships, none can escape that, but together we can get through it with love, peace and joy. Even now, before all creation, I offer you my everlasting love.

I am yours my beloved,

Oh, the Weight of it all!

I blame the heat. Heat and water retention...they can make you gain lots of pregnancy weight, right? Up until now, I've kept it pretty under control, gaining only a pound or two a week. Then today, I step on the scales and watch the eyebrows of the nurse raise higher and higher. "Looks like you've reached a milestone!" she says, then keeps inching the thingy higher. The milestone was 200 pounds, by the way. The thingy finally stops at 204!!!! That's SIX pounds in one week. I couldn't have possibly eaten that much food! That's why I blame the heat :)

Some of it could have been the fact that I had just eaten lunch too...and it wasn't a small lunch. That's a whole other story in itself...I was at Rotary Lake with Brandi, Heather, and Laura, and we ate the lunches that we had packed. No problem. But THEN, this teenager comes over and offers us the rest of their Panago pepperoni pizza that they didn't finish! We had been drooling over it anyway while we ate our PBJ, so we took it :) So, in a nutshell, I blame heat, water retention and the teenager. There. I feel better.

Tegan's Baby

Practicing for her baby, holding little Sage Leask :)

Lately, Tegan is more and more sure that there is a baby in her tummy...and it's frustrating her big sister, who "gets" that baby's only grow in mommy's tummies!
The conversations are pretty cute though:
Tegan: "oooh, my baby is kicking!"

Addison: "No, Tegan, you don't have a baby in your tummy. Just mommy does!"

Tegan: "Yes, my baby's kicking!"

Addison: "No Tegan, you will only have a baby in your tummy when you are a mommy! Mom, I'm trying to explain to Tegan that there is no baby in her tummy, but she won't listen!"

Me: "It's ok Addison, she's just pretending."


Teg's pretty cute with it though...she even has Dr. Gorton wrapped around her finger!! LOL At each of my appointments, she insists on laying on the bed and getting her "baby" checked my the doctor...she even gets the doppler used on her!! And if I take too long on the exam table, she lets me know when my turn is up!

Five Weeks to Go

I will be putting pictures up in a day or two, I promise :) But for now, I just need to write! LOL
I have just over 5 weeks left until we meet our new little girl, and for some reason, the baby blues seem to be setting in already! Weird, I know...I think I'm just looking at this last month as really bittersweet.
I am so excited to meet our baby, and for that reason, this month can't go fast enough! LOL And also, once I have her, all the creaks and soreness of pregnancy will be gone...and I'll be able to bend down to pick stuff up normally again! Turning over at night won't be quite as much of a challenge...right now it's something I have to wake up for, mentally prepare for, then slowly do it! LOL It's normally a few minute procedure!
On the other side of it, I feel really really bonded to this little baby inside of me. Through all the surprises and challenges of the last year, God has used this little girl to bless and encourage me alot. Feeling her little movements (or BIG movements!) always reminds me of the wonder of God, and how he's creating her a little more perfect every day, right inside of me!
We have had great opportunities to use that exact thing to teach our girls about God. I show them pictures on the internet of how the baby is growing, and show the girls the verses in the Bible that talk about how God perfectly forms each baby. They love watching my tummy grow...and Addison has started regularly talking to her, and kissing her :) I really enjoy that, and am trying to enjoy each movement, and each hiccup, and each moment that we spend with God because of it. I know that there will be even more opportunity to teach about God and to watch her grow once she's out, but I will miss this time.
Also right now, the baby is easy to pack around!! LOL and in just over a month, I'll be joining the "3 kids in the back of a small car" club!
So, as we go through June, I am going to try to enjoy each and every minute I have with two semi-independant children, and being able to give them all my attention!
I will try to enjoy each and every movement that I get to share with the tiny person growing inside of me...the closeness that we share now :)
And I will try my best to not let my hormones get the best of me! LOL
Happy June everyone, I hope it's an amazing month for you...full of sun and fun!

Practicing for baby!

Our beloved kitty ran away a couple months ago. We waited for a few weeks, hoping she would return, but she never did. I'm not a huge pet fan, but I really loved her...she was a sweet cat, and really pretty!

A few weeks ago, Addison really started asking if Dora would ever come back, and we had to tell her the truth...probably not.

But we figured that maybe it would be good to get her a new kitten! So, we got Shimmer. Addison is hooked. She's such a good mommy to Shimmer, and now, the kitty even sleeps well when Addison holds her like a baby!

But there was a problem...Tegan was getting a little jealous. Sooooo, one day, Daniel told Tegan that we would look for a kitty for her too! LOL

We found her in FSJ, and gave Tegan the liberty to name her. After turning down all of our suggestions, she dubbed her "Ms. Kitty"!

They are super cute kitties, and they love to play!

The baby cradle at the top is their favorite toy :) 

Welcome to the family Ms. Kitty and Shimmer!!!!