Baby Feet

Don't you just love them?  I can't help but kiss them every time I see them.  Sammy loves them too, but he doesn't kiss them...he says "tickle, tickle, tickle."  I love my boys and I LOVE knowing that Sammy loves his little brother.  In this picture Sammy wanted to hold the baby.  When Daniel started crying, Sammy said "Baby cry"  (sounds more like baby eye).  The kids are so in love that the girls are already praying "God, please give mommy another baby in her tummy today." Guess they don't feel like taking turns holding him and want a baby for each of them. ;)

As you've probably guessed by my lack of posting, I've been keeping pretty busy these days.  When I'm not cuddling Daniel (which is most of the time), I'm helping my husband prepare for furlough.  I kept putting off working on the presentation saying "After the baby comes I'll have plenty of time since I'll mostly be resting with the baby."  Hmmm...well, now I'm wishing I hadn't put it off.  I haven't had as much free time as I thought I would have.  Finally, the presentation is finished.  Now to start packing.  I have no clue how we're going to squeeze everything into the van.  We have already had 2 meetings and have 2 more here in Maine before we head down to VA.  I would LOVE any tips you have on traveling with kids.  Any suggestions on meals on the road?  I'm not too excited about the kids having chicken nugget happy meals all of the time.

One of my top goals before we return to our home in Ukraine was to get some books.  Since we've been home I've been the winner of two blog book giveaways!  This book I recently won and it sounds excellent and just what I need; and this book, which my husband stole before I got a chance to finish it.  And for Christmas, my husband bought me a book I've been wanting called Training Your Children to Turn Out Right by David Sorenson.  I've only read 2 chapters, but it is EXCELLENT so far.  Here are a few quotes from the book...

"God's goal for our children is not just for them to stay out of trouble.  Rather, the emphasis throughout the Word of God is to train our children from their infancy to serve the Lord..."

"The one thing that will give them (our children, and us) clear victory is the Word of God."

"Psalm 119:11...'Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.' ...I believe that the thought is to so fill our minds with God's Word that it soaks down into our hearts and begins to affect every decision we make.  The result is that we will not sin against God."

I can't wait to read the rest!  It makes so much sense and already seems like one of the best child training books.  It's not a "list"of things you can do to help your children turn out right, but ONLY the Word of God.

I had so much more I wanted to share, but sleep is calling to me...hopefully it calls to Daniel as well. ;)

Daniel's Birth

Sitting on the recliner, my little boy in arms, I stared out the frost, lined window panes at the fresh snow glistening off of the bare trees.  I was imagining a perfect photo shoot with my new little guy huddled on the windowsill.  My mind started to wander (as seems to be quite common these days) to the events surrounding Daniel's birth.  I cannot think about that night without Psalm 100:1 coming to mind - Praise ye the Lord.  O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.  Looking back I realize even more just how good He was. 

Things didn't go according to my plans (when will I learn not to plan??).  To start with, of course you know, he didn't come on his due date and I had LOTS of hard prelabor.  Even though I know it wasn't realistic, because of all of the prelabor, my little dreamy mind kept picturing the baby just coming...no pain, just whoop, there's the baby.  (Hey, I've heard it happening before.)  It ended up being a very long, painful labor.  The midwife came that morning and decided to visit friends nearby until that evening...unless we called her sooner.  I had been having contractions since the day before, and even though they were still irregular, they were gradually increasing in length and strength.  I was frustrated and felt like we were getting nowhere.  Later that evening as she was on her way back over, my water broke.  About 5 minutes after she arrived, Daniel was born.  I remember feeling guilty that I was too exhausted to hold my baby.  Meanwhile, the midwife had noticed that Daniel's umbilical cord was already broken.  She, Eric and her daughter quickly worked to clamp his cord and also the one hanging from the placenta.  Her daughter put something awful tasting in my mouth while her mom worked to get Daniel, who was turning whiter by the minute, warm and breathing regularly.  Afterwards, while examining the placenta, they said that they were surprised by how short the cord was and that the placenta had torn just a little.  We are guessing that the cord broke during delivery.  We are praising the Lord that the midwife was there and that even amidst all of the "complications", God allowed everything to go so smoothly.  It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. (Psalm 118:8)

 It is taking me a little longer than usual to get back to normal, but both Daniel and I are doing well.  The Lord is good and His timing truly is perfect!

Our Miracle

Daniel Mark Curtis
Born: Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Time: 8:45 PM

Weight: 7 lbs 12 oz

Length: 21 inches

(Eric liked the color, so I thought I'd share both.)

41 Weeks

Getting Bigger

As the new year came around, my mind started to think back not only over this past year but also of our first term and started writing a post about it.  As one pastor put it, it has been some first term - full of both trials and blessings.  In a way, I can hardly believe that it was only 4 1/2 years.  Maybe I'll be able to share that with you later, but at the moment I can't seem to organize my thoughts enough to finish it.

We're still waiting for our little guy and Eric has started making walk a mile a couple times a day - up hill both ways. ;)  Besides the extra swelling, Braxton Hicks and being tired, I'm doing pretty good.  I am very ready for him to come and am afraid I can be a little more emotional these days.  It has given me more time to exercise since that was one of the things I let go when we first got back to the states.  Guess it's starting to show...

Yeah...I can't believe that I posted that, but I thought it might be good for a laugh.

God's Perfect Timing

What to write?  I wish I could excitedly announce the birth of our baby boy and show you his adorable pictures, but I guess he has decided to fatten up a little more...and he's doing a pretty good job of it.  I feel HUGE and am VERY ready for him to come.  I've thought he was coming on more than one occasion.  Especially last Sunday night.  We even started timing the contractions and they were 60 seconds long and 3-4 minutes apart.  We almost called the midwife, but decided to wait an hour and by then they had become irregular.  Talk about being disappointed.  Almost 1 week later and he is still not here!  He will be the first one who has come late, already proving that every child is different. 

God's timing is perfect, but in times like these it is hard to wait.  Thanks for your prayers and notes!