it's a BOY!

i went for my 16 week (4 month) checkup and ultrasound today and we found out baby #2 is a boy! pete is very excited; i am too but i was just fine with another girl. baby looks healthy and weighs about 6oz measuring at what a 17 week baby would be (i'm 16.5 wks pregnant so right on track.) i waited until now to tell the internet i was pregnant - mostly to see if i had the will power to do so, it was easier than i thought - but i am glad i finally did. so much of my everyday life obviously deals with pregnancy and sometimes it's nice to share that with others who know how it feels. i am giving this pregnancy to God's control everyday. it is so easy to let my sinful nature and satan take over my thoughts and convince me something bad will happen. i trust God and know that whatever happens, good or not, He is sovereign and will sustain me.

beautiful gift

our wonderful friend kris has painted a portrait of little jane. it came from a picture my mom took at church a few months ago. jane was about 14 months old, i'll have to check for sure. the picture is gorgeous and looks so much like jane, complete with big cheeks. kris is a gifted artist and will be entering the painting in a few "contest" type events. someday, jane will be able to have the painting and remember a time that she herself cannot remember but her precious "baby self" will always be there, in the painting. thanks so much to you kris!

november thankfulness

a few of my friends are participating in a facebook challenge to update their status daily in november with something they are thankful for. it is a lead up to thanksgiving and the purpose is to help you focus on what you are thankful for and not "other" things. while i understand we are to be thankful all the time every day of every year, it is nice to get "back on track" much like we do with new year's resolutions. so instead of facebook, i will be putting my daily thankfulness on my blog in the "snippets" section - right column at the top, if you've never seen it before.

i hope you can find encouragement from it as i know i will. maybe it will remind you of what you are blessed with and thankful for. lately, many of my friends seem to be discouraged or struggling with seeing God's plan and purpose in everything and taking it all in stride. i know i can get like that too and i will be praying this month that the hardships we face (whether real or imagined) can be faced with God's strength and not our own.

i have been thinking a lot lately about James 4. it talks about not loving the world because that makes us enemies to God and the perspective we should use when looking at our life. specifically verses 14-15:

"yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. ¹⁵Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."' esv.

discovery time at our local library

i take jane to discovery time most monday mornings. it's a story time our library does for ages 5 and under (basically if they aren't in school they are welcome.) the "teacher" reads a few stories, the kids "listen." jane just watches other kids and roams around a bit. overall she is well behaved and i think it's good for her to socialize with a variety of kids - even the not well behaved type. at the end of the stories (before we color or do a craft) there is a good bye song and bubbles! jane likes this part because she loves bubbles. i took a video last week of little jane playing with the big kids, enjoy.

interesting quote from my reading today

"un-deify the american family, and say boldly that our children are not our cause; they are given to us to train for a cause. they are given to us for a short season so that we can train them for the great causes of truth and mercy and justice in a prejudiced, pain-filled, and perishing world." - john piper

comments? i'm pretty sure i agree with that statement but there are times when i feel like my baby is my only cause and i get all wrapped up in it. i hope this will help me to keep my life balanced and remember to train her for a purpose and not just keep her safe, which sometimes is hard to do.