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Our Birth Story

2010-12-02T14:24:00.004-05:00

Abigail Grace Roland has arrived!

Our turkey baby was born on Thanksgiving morning, November 25th, at 2:44am, weighing 6lbs. 9oz. and was 20 inches long.

Since a number of people have asked to hear our birth story, I thought I would share it on here. We are so thankful to the Lord for a healthy delivery and baby! We could not be more grateful!

Tuesday, November 23^rd, I went for my 40 week appointment with my midwife and was 2cm dilated and 70% effaced. She stretched me to 3cm and we went home. Around dinnertime I started complaining of cramping. After a few hours of that I realized that they were coming frequently and began timing them. I didn’t think it was labor because it did not include back pain but when I contacted my doula, she felt that I was in early labor. As we continued to time these early contractions they continued to stay fairly frequent. By eleven o’clock they had backed off to 6 minutes apart so we went to bed. Throughout the night they slowed to about 10 minutes apart. They lasted all through the night and I hardly slept a wink. They continued on all Wednesday sporadically and by the afternoon had picked back up to approximately 4-6 minutes apart. After two hours of this we started getting ready to go to the hospital, since I was group B positive. My doula thought that it would be wise for me to go on in and get checked by my midwife at the hospital and believed that I might be able to relax a little more in order for my labor to progress.

We arrived at Clark at 6pm and were admitted. When my midwife checked me I was only 3cm and 90% effaced. I was disappointed to have been in labor for 24 hours and with still so little progression. I was encouraged to use pitocin to help my labor progress. It was a long hard decision for Kyle and I because I was afraid I would not be able to continue naturally if I used pitocin. However, we finally decided to use it after they encouraged me that many women use pitocin and are able to deliver without an epidural. They started my drip at 9pm and we waited around for the contractions to intensify. The hospital only had one telemetry monitor and another natural delivery was using it so we were stuck to the area right around my hospital bed, which meant no walking the halls or using the laboring tub.

At 11pm, my midwife came in and said she was going home. It’d been a crazy busy night there at the hospital and she didn’t feel that much else would be going on in the near future. She said she could break my water but after considering it, I decided against it because I was so exhausted and was afraid I didn’t have the energy to progress quickly. So she left the hospital. We all were planning on me just resting and slowly progressing through the night. I laid down in bed to try to rest and soon my contractions began to pick up. I quickly moved into active labor and soon after told Kyle that I didn’t think I could do it without an epidural. (Looking back I realize that was transition!) He quickly reminded me that it was not an option (which I had asked him before labor to tell me when I doubted myself). When my nurse came in and saw me in active labor, she turned off the pitocin.

At 1am I needed to go to the bathroom so I got up and went to sit down. On my first contraction on the toilet I suddenly felt the urge to push and then a slight burning sensation. When I told Kyle and my doula, they both got wide-eyed and looked at each other. On my second contraction, I felt the same thing and Kyle asked my doula to have the nurse to come check me. (I had not been checked since we first came to the hospital at 6pm!) I was basically complete with a little lip of cervix left. My water broke when she checked and she quickly said that she didn’t want me pushing on the toilet and they called for my midwife to come back to the hospital. Once back in bed, they told me not to push until my midwife had arrived. That was hard and I honestly did little pushes just to follow my body. When my midwife arrived about 1:20am, I started pushing. I pushed for about an hour and a half and little Abigail Grace Roland was born at 2:44am, Thursday, Thanksgiving morning! Kyle got to catch her and cut the cord. :-)

I was exhausted and overwhelmed by how quickly everything went at the end but so grateful to the Lord that active labor and transition were short because I was so tired and it was so intense. Kyle and my Doula were AMAZING and great supports throughout the entire process. I couldn’t have done it naturally without Kyle’s persistent encouragement and support!

I’m so glad we made the choice to stay at the hospital that night and use the pitocin! It’s wonderful to have little Abigail here with us, healthy and strong. We have thoroughly enjoyed being a family of three and are so grateful for our little bundle of pink joy!

Happy Due Date Day - 40 Weeks - Baby Roland

2010-11-23T22:08:00.000-05:00

Hello and Goodbye Due Date! Yes, I have now joined that wonderful statistic of first time moms whose baby's come late! :-) We have been excitedly awaiting Miss Roland's due date but have also been trying to prepare our minds for this possibility of her going late. Now that it is reality, we are looking forward again with excitement to wait out her arrival.

She was strong and healthy today at our Midwife's checkup and we are so grateful for that. Next week, if I make it to 41 weeks, we have a sono scheduled to check my fluid levels and a baby stress test scheduled to make sure she is handling the extra wait ok.

How far along: 40 Weeks

Baby Size: Approx. 7 pounds!

Dilated: 3 cm

Effaced: 70%

Station: 0

Mucus Plug: Lost!

Bloody Show: Not yet.

Baby Movements: She continues to be a night owl, enjoying her active time usually somewhere between 10:30pm-12:30am!

Sleep: On the whole, still really good! Praise the Lord!

Symptoms: Lots of cramps, pressure, lower back pain, hip pain, sharp leg pains, etc... I've definitely had a few contractions, as my body is trying it out, but nothing that has progressed into full blown labor.

What I'm looking forward to: Seeing what our little girl looks like and bringing her home to our house and being a family of three!

Week 39 - Baby Girl Roland

2010-11-19T16:57:00.002-05:00

So, as I sit here writing, my little baby ticker at the top of the page says we have 4 days left until our due date. I'll have to be honest, I didn't think I was going to last this long here recently. However, the Lord knows best and our little bundle of pink joy is taking her time before entering our world. I am grateful though that she is getting this extra time because I know she will be better developed, hopefully a better eater, better sleeper, etc... So it's worth her taking her time since it helps once she is out.

I have been warned by a number of friends to not expect her to come early, but to plan for her to come late, and then if she arrives early, it's a surprise and exciting. Well... I sadly fell into the trap of hoping for an early baby and I sure have paid for it! These last two weeks have been so hard waiting... and waiting... and waiting... and I know it could still be two more weeks! Last night I finally cracked and had a huge emotional pity-party and breakdown... full of frustration, impatience, and questioning God's timing for my baby to come. As I laid in my bed crying, I remembered that I have to trust God and asked again for patience to wait for our little girl. God is the One who breathed life into this precious child and He is the One who has ordained her days and the timing of her birth. Who am I to question that? This child is the Lord's, not mine. Even in child birthing, I have to relinquish my feeling of "rights" to have her come at a certain time and rest in the Lord to bring about that timing. Thankfully, God's grace is sufficient and He continues to prove Himself faithful, even in the little things! I am so thankful that I can entrust our baby girl to Him!

So, as we quickly approach our due date on this coming Tuesday, November 23rd, we look forward with excitement to meeting our daughter, whenever that may be. Not much is changing as far as progression, so we continue to wait for her to progress. :-)

How far along: 39 Weeks

Baby Size: Approx. 7 pounds!

Dilated: 1 cm

Effaced: 70%

Station: 0

Mucus Plug: Lost!

Bloody Show: Not yet.

Baby Movements: She continues to be an active mover late at night. I can't wait to see her active in person! As I feel her little bum hunch up on one side of my tummy, or feel her knee sticking out of my belly, or her hands moving, I wonder what she will look like doing that when I can see those movements with my eyes.

Food Cravings: Sweet things

Sleep: I have had a few great nights where I only get up once or twice and sleep for many hours... and then other nights, similar to last night, when I'm up 5 times making trips to the bathroom and tossing and turning throughout the night. However, I think my body has gotten fairly used to being awake off and on and I've gotten better about falling back to sleep. Praise the Lord!

Symptoms: New this past week is lower back pressure and soreness. Yay! One step closer! One day I had over 4 hours of braxton hicks contractions and I thought it might possibly be the beginnings of early labor, but is suddenly just stopped. Then I went a couple days without hardly any contractions at all.

What I'm looking forward to: Need I say?? :-)

Maternity Photo Shoot

2010-11-09T14:18:00.000-05:00

Last week... at almost 37 weeks, a sweet friend of ours did a little photo shoot for us so that we could get a few pictures together, as a couple, before our little bundle of pink joy arrives. Here they are:

Sweet kisses for his daughter!

Sweet kisses for his wife!

Yes, this belly and baby are huge!

I do not remember what he was saying here, but I love his expression with my questioning glance back up at him! haha... Look at how that belly hangs low! My goodness!

He is such a joy to me! I could not ask for a better husband! I love him so dearly!

Week 38 - Baby Roland

2010-11-09T14:02:00.001-05:00

I'm sorry I missed my 37 week update! These last two weeks seem to have just flown by. This week, however, will hopefully be very restful as we continue to further prepare for our daughter's arrival. Her diaper bag is packed and our hospital bags are getting there. Haha...

This past week, at 37 weeks and 4 days, I had my weekly midwife appointment and received my first exam to determine if I'm progressing towards Baby's birth day. Below, you'll see what we found out!

How far along: 38 Weeks

Baby Size: Approx. 7 pounds! (Kyle and I both weighed 7+ pounds when we were born so I'm assuming she'll also weigh in at 7+ pounds!)

Dilated: 1 cm

Effaced: 60-70%

Mucus Plug: Lost!

Bloody Show: Not yet.

Baby Changes: No real changes. She's mainly just plumping up and her lungs and brain are continuing to grow.

Baby Movements: She certainly is tight on space these days! In fact, when I went in for my appointment this past week, my midwife hooked me up to a fetal monitor to track her movements to make sure she was ok because she hadn't been moving much for a couple of days. She was fine, however, and now she's been moving like normal at night and off and on throughout the day. I'm being extra careful to tune in to her movements during the day to make sure she is fine.

Food Cravings: Well, I just finished off two rounds of tuna fish salad and crackers for lunch... does that count? It was so good! (Of course, I only buy low-mercury tuna... in case anyway is about to hurry to the comment section to tell me not to eat tuna while pregnant. It's really fine, as long as you buy low-mercury! haha...)

Sleep: The last couple of nights I've been sleeping really well actually! Kinda surprising because that is the complaint of most women near the end. I'm certainly grateful for it though and hope it continues!

Symptoms: Lots of hip soreness with some pains down my legs. However, my chiropractor has been amazing at helping me with this! I so look forward to my adjustment every week!

Highlight: Loosing my mucus plug after finding out that we are actually starting to efface and dilate! It still doesn't tell us when she will be here or how long the wait will be, but it's fun to know that my body is at least progressing!

What I'm looking forward to: Being past the delivery! haha...

Yesterday, I set up a little baby nook by my side of our bed to use the first little while after we return from the hospital. I have her pack'n play next to me, with a stack of bins for her diapers/wipes, swaddle blankets, and newborn clothes, plus a little bookshelf that holds not only my books and Bible to read while nursing, but also a few blankets, burp cloths, etc... I brought our glider from her nursery in as well so I can have the privacy and comfort of feeding her in our bedroom. It will make for easy feedings at night, too, I hope!

(haha... and yes, the brown towel in the glider is there just in case my water breaks while we're laboring at home!) I sure have enjoyed rocking in the glider since having it in our room! It's so peaceful, right before crawling into bed!

Creamy Corn Chowder

2010-11-01T14:50:00.000-04:00

I've been searching the web for new fall recipes to try for our November meal plan. I wanted to add a lot of soups to help keep our budget low this month and easy. Here is a great little tutorial for a Corn Chowder that looks super yummy! I'm making it for dinner tonight and making just a couple changes. Since our family does not like a lot of spice in our food, I am eliminating the jalapeno pepper. Also, because we are dairy free, I am replacing the cows milk with coconut milk. Should be yummy!

Watch the Video of how to make it!

Recipe Link

Yummy Apple Crisp!

2010-10-30T10:00:00.000-04:00

When the month of October hit, so did my cravings for apples! I tried making an apple pie, apple oatmeal muffins, and this apple crisp. The crisp quickly won itself a spot in my "holiday baking favorites" list. (It's not an official list, just kept in my mind! haha... I should write it down!)

I found the recipe online and of course tweaked it just a hair to meet our dietary / allergy needs. You can find the original recipe at GlutenFreeMommy.

Apple Layer

7 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced (I prefer to do half granny smith and half with a sweeter apple, like gala.)
A little bit of lemon juice for apples

Streusel Topping

1 stick of butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 cups gluten-free oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Directions

In a 9x13 baking dish, layer the sliced apples and toss with lemon juice. In a medium bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon and oats. Cut in butter until the mixture is crumbly. Add in almonds and mix well. Spread this mixture on top of the apples.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 40-45 minutes.

*** I've also just recently tried this recipe replacing peaches for the apples. It was great and a hit with our guests! Omit the lemon juice and place four 14.5 oz. cans of drained peaches in bottom of pan and spread streusel topping over them. I also omitted about half of the cinnamon in the mixture as well. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Spice Muffins - G/F D/F

2010-10-29T10:00:00.003-04:00

The other day I had a partial can of pumpkin puree sitting in my fridge that I needed to use up so I looked online for a festive pumpkin muffin recipe that I could try. I came across this recipe on Food.com and was not disappointed! It came out yummy and moist!

Link to the original recipe here.

2 1/2 cups Gluten Free Pantry All Purpose Flour
3/4 cup coconut flour
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree
1 tsp. salt
1 cup oil (can mix half butter / half oil)

2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup brown sugar or sucanat
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup milk (I used Almond Milk)
2 Tbps. Pumpkin pie spice
4 eggs

Topping:
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans and almonds)
1/2 cup brown sugar or sucanat

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together all dry ingredients in large bowl. Mix together wet ingredients in separate bowl, then combine both bowls. Mix until smooth. Line 12 muffin tins with papers.* Pour batter into muffin tins. Sprinkle topping on muffins; pat down into batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

*This recipe makes a bunch of batter. I actually had enough left over after the 12 muffins to make two small loaves!

Christmas Is Around the Corner

2010-10-28T13:19:00.001-04:00

Photo Credit

Even though it's just the end of October, my mind is already racing on our preparation and celebration of Christmas this year. Granted, I love Christmas and the whole upcoming holiday season, but this year, we get to celebrate our baby girl's first Christmas! I understand that she won't remember a thing about it, being only about 4 weeks old, but we will remember it and I want it to be a great celebration for us as a family; a new family... the Kyle Roland Family. :-)

However, as I prepare our Christmas gift list, begin to think about decorations, compile our Christmas card addresses, etc... I find myself getting so caught up into the business of Christmas that I realize I am at risk of forgetting the whole reason behind Christmas. More than the presents, the family memories, the lights and sounds, the smells and warmth of Christmas, I want to impact our daughter with the Gospel message of Christ coming to our earth as our Savior and the valuable gift that He offers to us! This far outweighs any other thing we can give her this year. So, even if that comes in the form of reading to her little ears about the Christmas story and telling her of the wonders of our Savior as we sit around our tree, or describing to her the manger scene on our table, or looking at our lights and explaining to her that Christ is the light of the world, I want to be intentional this Christmas season!

Here is a video I ran across on the GirlTalk blog that they posted a couple years ago. It's a helpful reminder to focus on Christ at Christmas. Enjoy!

Week 36 - Baby Roland

2010-10-28T13:08:00.001-04:00

Photo Credit

How far along: 36 Weeks

Baby Size: 6 pounds!

Baby Changes: She is continuing to practice her breathing rhythms by inhaling and exhaling the amniotic fluids around her. This is preparing her little lungs to handle air in just a few short weeks! She is still head down, praise the Lord, and she is riding low! My midwife, doula, and chiropractor (who is also a doula) are all very pleased with our baby's progression, position, and overall health.

Baby Movements: Have you ever sat down and bent over, with a full stomach, and felt your ribs dig into something? You know, that bony feeling if you rub over your ribs with your hands? Well, that's kinda what it feels like when our little girl moves. She's so big and bony now. haha! I can feel her little bottom and legs moving about in my tummy as she turns from side to side. Not to mention her little head as it turns and adjusts! It's fun to watch one side of my tummy be all "puffed up" and be able to feel her little back lying on that side. Then a few minutes later, her back is on the other side of my tummy. haha!

Food Cravings: Slightly burnt toast! Yup! I do not know why it tastes better with a little black on it... but that's how I've been making my gluten free toast this week! Add a little butter and raw honey on top... mmmmmmmmmm... so good!

Sleep: With the exception of multiple trips to the bathroom some nights, sleep has been decent this week. Some nights better than others, but overall, it's not been too bad! Yay!

Symptoms: This past week it's been exciting to notice new changes as my body continues to prepare for our little girl's arrival! Her head is low into my pelvis, but not engaged yet. I've had increased pains in my legs and increased Braxton Hicks. Not just the crampy ones now, but also the kind that tighten your stomach up into a rock! I can really tell a difference in my contractions when I've "over done it" that day. My feet have be swollen a little bit this week, but I've been quick to try to lie down and add more protein to my diet. I've also noticed that I've been really thirsty this week.

Highlight: Ok, so my whole pregnancy I've been waiting to get an "outie" belly button. However, I have been disappointed that my belly has not cooperated with me! This past week though, I've noticed that my little "half-outie" has started showing some. haha... So, I was pretty excited about that!

What I'm looking forward to: Having this little girl!!!!!

Fall in the Ville

2010-10-24T17:47:00.000-04:00

Fall has been peaking its head in off and on over the last month but we're hoping it's finally here to stay! I absolutely LOVE the fall season! It brings on cool weather, beautiful foliage, yummy baking, fall flavored coffee, and the excitement of the upcoming holidays!

I wanted to capture some of the trees before they lost their color so the other day, as I drove around town, I snapped pictures. Here are a few...

Can I live on this street? Ah... simply gorgeous!

Church Baby Shower

2010-10-19T12:44:00.000-04:00

The ladies from our church community group were so sweet and threw us a fantastic baby shower for little Miss Roland. We were so very blessed by everyone's generosity and encouragement towards us. We feel so supported and loved!

Here are a few pictures from the shower:

The lovely food and table that the hostesses prepared for us. Everything was so yummy and girly! Loved it!

The sweet women who showered us with love and gifts!

Miss Roland's first piggy bank! Such a cute idea!

Enjoying opening the gifts...

A beautiful blanket that a friend from Eastman, Georgia made for our baby girl.

One of the blankets and the hats that Mama Roland made for Baby Girl! She did such an amazing job on them and the colors are perfect!

Another adorable hat that a sweet friend made for our baby. I love the colors and the cute little flower on the front!

Jenny, one of my lovely hostesses!

Becky, a sweet friend and precious hostesses...

Karen opened her home for my shower and was a terrific hostess!

Also, there was a fourth hostess, Lydia Kiddy, who is not pictured. All four of these ladies were such a blessing to me and I'm so thankful for all of their hard work and time that they put into my shower! Thank you so much sweet friends!

I'm one excited and happy Mama! Can't wait to meet this little treasure who is growing inside of me!

Family Time...

2010-10-19T12:22:00.000-04:00

Kyle's parents came in town this past weekend to spend some time with us and hang out. His Mama was able to attend my baby shower with me that my church community group threw for us. We were so blessed to have his parents with us for a couple days!

I love this picture of Kyle and his parents! It's so good of all three of them!

Kyle and I with Baby Roland at almost 35 weeks!

Mama and I

The Roland men showing some love to sweet little Miss Roland!

Great family shot! So cute!

Week 35 - Baby Roland

2010-10-19T11:18:00.000-04:00

How far along: 35 Weeks

Baby Size: Approximately 5 1/2 pounds!

Baby Changes: She's still working hard to gain weight as her brain and lungs continue their development.

Baby Movements: She's not moving around much these days, however she still makes her presence know with little nudges and pressure on Mama's bladder!

Food Cravings: Still craving chicken, which is odd because I couldn't hardly stand it for most of my pregnancy! Now beef tends to turn my stomach. So funny how we change!

Sleep: Most nights I have been able to get a decent amount of sleep this past week, however, the last two nights I've been up at least 4-5 times each night to go to the bathroom. (I'm wondering if she's dropped? I need to ask next time I'm at my Midwife's appointment.)

Symptoms: Definitely still having crampy Braxton Hicks and yesterday I had one that was pretty intense. I've also begun to get shooting pains in my legs; mainly in my upper thighs which makes me wonder if she is hitting some nerve. I think it's ligament pain though.

Highlight: This week a highlight was definitely getting to be blessed by a wonderful baby shower that my church community group threw for me. It's such a blessing to be supported by friends and family and to get to rejoice in the birth of our little girl with them!

What I'm looking forward to: Watching Kyle hold his baby girl! He's so tall and handsome and will be so precious holding our wee little one! :-)

Week 33 - Baby Girl Roland

2010-10-06T14:54:00.000-04:00

How far along: 33 Weeks

Baby Size: About 4 1/2 pounds and around 19 inches long (Her length won't be changing much now, depending on how long she already is).

Baby Changes: Not too much new this week, however, her nails should now be long enough to come to the end of her fingers. Looks like we'll have our first nail clipping session soon after she arrives! :-)

Baby Movements: Our baby girl is still moving now and then but mostly just sleeping and staying all snug and warm in her little womb. Due to her size I can now feel bony limbs as they graze across my belly. It's really fun to lay down with my hand on my belly and be able to feel her kick me and roll over in my belly. Thankfully, she is head down for the moment and we are praying that she stays that way.

Food Cravings: Apples and anything "fallish" :-)

Sleep: What's that?

Symptoms: Instead of listing off a long list again, let's just say I'm so grateful to be carrying our baby and for the grace that God has given us to be parents! No matter how many aches, pains, or sleepless nights, it is totally worth it to have our baby girl with us very soon!

Highlight: Feeling our child move!

What I miss: Seeing my feet! haha...

What I'm looking forward to: Holding this sweet baby who is growing inside me! Haha... you'll laugh but I found myself last night sitting in the glider in her nursery rocking and thinking about holding her and what it'll be like and how I wonder what she'll look like. I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Thank you for you continued prayers for our sweet baby girl and myself as we near the delivery day. So many things can still happen but we are trusting our mighty God to keep our baby safe and for a safe delivery. :-)

Week 32 - Baby Girl Roland

2010-09-29T12:45:00.003-04:00

How far along: 32 Weeks

Baby Size: Almost 4 pounds and 19 inches long!

Baby Changes: Her little body is working to finish up all the last minute preparations to come out. Her digestive system is ready for her to start feeding, her skin is beginning to look like ours, and her body is continually putting on weight. Yay!

Baby Movements: As she works on establishing sleeping routines, some days she moves a lot and some days she doesn't move much. However, when she does move, it is becoming increasingly more common for her to have sudden bursts of energy where she seems to be going crazy inside! haha...

Food Cravings: Granola and chicken (not together, of course!)

Sleep: This hasn't changed much from last week. I still rarely sleep through the night and my body is becoming more accustomed to being awake late and tossing and turning all night.

Symptoms: Back pain/soreness, hip soreness (due to them beginning to expand for the birth), intense soreness and pain on my left ribcage (thanks to her lovely knees, feet, and bottom!), overall tiredness. However, I am grateful that this means she is growing and that my body is continuing to get ready for her birth! :-)

Highlight: Watching my belly grow and expand! *Note: this is the only time in my life that I can enjoy watching my belly grow! haha...*

What I miss: Having days that are ache and pain-free! haha...

What I'm looking forward to: Being a family of three! It is beginning to settle in that she is our daughter and that we have the awesome privilege of training her in the ways of the Lord and how to be a godly young woman. What a high calling but what an awesome gift from God!

This is what I feel like some days! haha!

Fun Preggo Photos

2010-09-25T13:52:00.000-04:00

Last night some sweet friends of ours had us and another couple over for dinner. All three of us wives are pregnant with our first babies and we're all due close to each other. We're also all planning to, Lord willing, do natural births and are taking Bradley classes. It's been so much fun being pregnant together and having that in common to chat about. We were really interested in watching the documentary "The Business of Being Born" which is about natural birthing, so while our hubbies grilled outside and hung out, we watched the movie. It was informative and interesting!

Afterwards we did a little fun photo shoot of our baby bellies! Emily (in the pink shirt) is due the week before us with a little girl. She is 32 weeks along. I'm 31 weeks along. Kendall (in the green shirt) is due in January with a little boy and is 23 weeks along.

We are all so excited about being Mommys!

Looking at our sweet, precious girls...

Our babies are due a week apart and have the exact same name!!! So fun! :-)

Week 31 - Baby Roland

2010-09-21T13:57:00.001-04:00

How far along: 31 Weeks

Baby Size: A little over 3 pounds and 18 inches long!

Baby Changes: She is working to pack on a little fat under her skin as she plumps up for her birth-day! Her brain and organs are also continuing to grow and mature to be able to function properly in the "real world."

Baby Movements: She is definitely a little mover at times! I'm beginning to notice her hitting and punching new places she's never been in before. I think it's showing that she is running out of space and is looking for every square inch of wiggle room! ha!

Food Cravings: Gluten free / Dairy free Cinnamon Sugar Donuts. I know... so unhealthy, but hey, what pregnancy craving is usually healthy??

Sleep: Hit or miss. My body seems to think it is a nocturnal owl some nights!

Symptoms: Fatigue, "crampy" braxton hicks, soreness/ real discomfort in my tummy, indigestion.

Highlight: I felt a sore knot in my lower stomach the other day when I woke up and was concerned about it. I mentioned it to my midwife at my appointment yesterday and she said it was probably her fist. Yay! I can just imagine her doing the Superman pose with her arm outstretched and her hand curled into a fist... ready to come out of this womb!

This week also marked a change in my clothes. Many of my shirts that I've been wearing the whole pregnancy have suddenly gone from tight to very tight... it's amazing what the difference of a week can make!

What I miss: Being able to go for a run in the nice cool fall weather!

What I'm looking forward to: Rocking our baby girl in our new glider in the nursery!

Helpful Pregnancy Links

2010-09-15T08:00:00.002-04:00

As we've been gearing up for our, Lord-willing, natural delivery of our sweet little girl, I've been pulling together articles to read and things to stock my "Labor Notebook" that I will take to the hospital with me. It will have things like extra copies of our birth plan in it, so the nurses know exactly what we are signing off on for me and the baby, concerning things like medication and shots, and what things we are saying "no" to.

In the back of my notebook, however, I plan to have a section for helpful birth and postpartum reading. I've been sent or found some great articles online that have been encouraging for me and so I thought I would pass them along.

Preparatory Resources for a Natural Pregnancy and Birth

Healthy Natural Pregnancy: Preparing for Labor

Homemade Natural Postpartum Care Kit

Natural Thrush Remedies for Breastfeeding

Homemade Natural Diaper Cream Lotion

Random Nursing Tips

Breastfeeding First Aid Kit

30 Weeks - Baby Girl Roland

2010-09-14T16:23:00.000-04:00

So yesterday, as Kyle and I were walking around Wal-Mart, waiting on his truck's oil change, I couldn't help but take a picture next to these pumpkins. Baby Roland is looking like she's close to this size now! Yay!

In order to make blogging easier on me, as we continue through these last few weeks, I'm going to copy a friend's idea (hope you don't mind, Megan) and hit more of the highlights of the pregnancy each week. So, here we go...

How far along: 30 Weeks

Baby Size: Approx. 3 pounds and 17 inches long! (and boy is that weight beginning to be noticed as I carry her around!)

Baby Changes: Her hair is getting thicker and her eye lashes longer. She looks very similar to what she will look like when she comes out... just a little thinner. Her body is also learning to regulate it's own temperature now.

Baby Movements: I've felt her have hiccups a couple times now. She also tends to "jump" as she is startled or awakened. I will suddenly feel her hitting 2-3 spots at once, low and high in my tummy. It's like she suddenly jolts and her arms and legs go flying! Her movements are becoming less frequent, as her space is getting cramped, but they are getting stronger.

Food Cravings: Smoothies and bananas

Sleep: Becoming difficult and having really weird, creepy dreams!

Symptoms: Fatigue, neck/shoulder aching, braxton hicks, soreness/tightness in my expanding tummy, indigestion.

Highlight: Baby Girl kicked her Daddy's back for the first time while Mommy was snuggled up next to him in bed!

What I miss: Being able to go from a sitting or lying position to standing without my body aching or groaning!

What I'm looking forward to: Seeing our baby for the first time and being able to comfort her as her mother.

29 Weeks - Baby Roland

2010-09-09T18:54:00.007-04:00

So the days have come where I am officially thinking in terms of "weeks left" rather than "weeks I've come." (11 weeks left, btw...) Being pregnant is a joy but I can't wait to meet our daughter and have her here! The anticipation is mounting as the days draw closer! We've spent many hours working on her nursery, getting it painted, and sewing a few things, like curtains and pillows. Here's a sneak peak of the color of her room:

Kyle working away...

Yes, I painted as well, but no worries. It was low VOC paint...

Hopefully we will have time to finish if off soon. Most everything is ready, I just need to get decorations up on the walls and get our glider. More pictures to come soon...

How Baby Girl Roland is growing this week:

Baby Center says:

Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. To meet his increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because his bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

Baby Fit says:

His eyes are becoming more sensitive and might be able to notice when you are sitting in the sun or reading by a bright light. As baby grows, conditions in the uterus become a little cramped, so there isn't quite as much room to kick those tiny legs or wave those teeny arms. Therefore, you may feel a little less movement now, but that's normal.

What to Expect says:
How big is your baby this week? She weighs nearly three pounds now and measures about 17 inches. Though she's getting pretty close to her birth length, she still has to chub out a bit. In fact, over the next 11 weeks, she'll more than double — or even come close to tripling — her weight. And as she grows and the room in your womb gets tighter, you'll be less likely to feel those big kicks and more likely to get poked by an elbow or jabbed by a knee.

Highlights of this new trimester:

I'm beginning to notice Braxton Hicks. Yay! While I have to watch these carefully so they do not turn into preterm labor, Braxton Hicks are actually exciting because it's showing me that my body is truly preparing for the birth of our baby. The count down is closing in as we near the end! A lot of women say that their Braxton Hicks feel like their tummy is tightening and releasing. Some have pain, some don't. Others, like myself, have Braxton Hicks lower and they feel like menstrual cramps. However, I also have the tightening of my abdomen as well but don't notice them as often.

Also, last night after community group, the girls were standing around talking and I noticed for the first time that I could actually feel a body part of our child up at my left rib cage! We're not sure if it was a knee or a heal, but it was a cute little round bone that was sticking out! I was so excited!

Another aspect of this trimester that I have really begun to notice the last couple of weeks is how much more tired I am getting! It seems like my body knew right about the time I hit 28 weeks that it was time to be getting more sleep. I don't think I realized how great the 2nd trimester was until I hit the 3rd! haha... But I still can't complain because, with the exception of being really tired and worn out, the pregnancy is still going really well and for that we are very grateful!

Our birthing class is going really well and we're loving the friendships that we are making there. It's so exciting to be around other pregnant Mamas and Daddys and to be able to chat with them about pregnancy stuff!

We met with our Doula this past Saturday and it went great! When she left our home, we both felt very comfortable with her and were encouraged. I now have a sign up on my refrigerator of "If You Think You're In Labor" and "When to go to the Hospital." This will be something I can review as we draw close to the due date and I have to determine between these Braxton Hicks and the true early stages of labor. When we do go into labor, after the first couple of hours (or so, depending), we will call our Doula and she will come to our home, helping us through the labor until we reach about 7-8 centimeters. Then, once we're there (potentially 7-10 hours?), we'll all pile in the car to head to the hospital to work through transition and to deliver this baby. We are so thrilled to have our Doula be apart of our birthing experience and are grateful for the support that she will offer.

Well, I need to continue to study for class. Thank you for your continued prayers for Baby and Mommy! They are much needed and appreciated. Have a great week!

28 Weeks - Welcome to the Third Trimester!!!

2010-08-31T13:38:00.000-04:00

Even though each trimester is unique and exciting as our little baby grows and develops, I think I am more excited about this third trimester than any other! Knowing that the pregnancy end is in sight and that we will be meeting our sweet little baby girl as the grand finale, is so encouraging and exciting! All of the nausea, aches, pains, ligament stretching, heart burn, etc... will all be worth it when our baby is in our arms! We continue to pray that God will keep her healthy and safe. To be added to our prayer list now is that she will begin to settle in head down, in preparation for birth. I am feeling a lot more movement in my upper stomach and soreness in my ribcage, so I wouldn't be surprised if those are her little feet kicking away!

Here is what "What to Expect When Your Expecting" says about our baby this week:

Your baby is settling into the proper position for birth, with his head facing downward (toward your body's nearest exit!). Your little work in progress is now about 2.5 pounds and almost 16 inches long. He's busy adding new skills such as blinking to an already impressive repertoire of tricks like coughing, sucking, hiccuping, and taking practice breaths. Your baby's sleep now includes the REM (rapid eye movement) phase — and that means he could be dreaming already (what do you suppose he's dreaming about?). Though his lungs are nearly fully mature (so both of you might breathe a little easier if he were born now), your baby still has plenty of growing to do.

Baby Fit is similar:

Your little angel is still little, between 2 and 2.5 pounds (0.9 to 1.1 kg) and 15 to 16 inches (38 to 40 cm) long. Your baby is actually a little "chubbier" than before. That's because the number of fat cells she has is increasing, filling out the skin from underneath. Eyebrows and eyelashes are also growing, and the hair on her head is getting longer. This is also an important time for your baby's brain development.

Your weight is climbing, too! During this month, you may begin to experience Braxton Hicks contractions--a kind of "dress rehearsal" for labor that isn't dangerous for you or baby. They occur when the uterus hardens and relaxes. Because your growing baby is putting more pressure on your pelvis, your ankles and feet may swell, your legs may cramp, and as your growing uterus bears down on your bladder, you may once again feel the need to urinate more often. And don't be alarmed if you start to feel out of breath; it's just baby pushing on your diaphragm.

The thought of having only 12 weeks left really helps to make this delivery and pregnancy so much more real and close now. As we continue in our birthing class and as I continue to read Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way, I am becoming more convinced that having a natural delivery is really what I want for my birthing experience. I'm not completely against an epidural if it is medically necessary, but I will be requesting on my birth plan that the nurses not even offer me any pain medication unless I ask for it. This will keep me from being as tempted to give in to meds. Women have been doing this for thousands of years without medication and I hope to do the same. We are thankful to have a wonderful new friend as our Doula who will be helping Kyle to coach me through the labor and delivery. She will be able to come to our home while I'm in the first stage of labor; helping me to breathe through and work through early labor. My goal is to not go to the hospital until we are close to transition so that most of the uncomfortable labor will be done in the comfort and privacy of our home, not in a noisy hospital. Then, once we are admitted to the hospital, hopefully transition will happen quickly and then it will be only a few more hours until little Miss Roland makes her presence.

It is amazing to read how God has so amazingly created a woman's body to go through this "labor of love" for her children. It will be the hardest work that I will ever do, but the reward is so great! I cannot wait to feel the joy of holding my own baby in my arms and to watch Kyle hold her and the pride of being a daddy fill his face and heart! Thankfully, our hospital gives us many options on our birth plan and Kyle can choose to be apart of the delivery process (hopefully catch the baby?) and to cut the umbilical cord. We also have the option to give our baby her first bath and to have immediate contact with her and nursing before she will be cleaned up and all the procedures are done. This is so important for the baby to not be immediately taken away from the mother because she needs that initial bonding time to start breastfeeding and to be able to hear the comfort of my heartbeat as she lays on me. This will help her transition into this new little world she is apart of.

We cannot be more thrilled and excited about this pregnancy drawing to a close! We are trusting the Lord as He continues to grow our little baby and are expectantly waiting to see how this new little life changes our world. I know that we will grow so much as we learn to be parents and that we will make many mistakes. Yet, this further shows us our need for our Savior and His grace in our everyday lives. We have no hope apart from Christ, even in pregnancy, labor, delivery, and parenting. We are so thankful that our hope can rest in the One who gives hope and the One who supplies our needs.

Week 27 - Baby Roland

2010-08-24T14:21:00.000-04:00

Well, our Baby Girl is growing away! She is now about 2 pounds! Just think of your tummy carrying around 2 pounds of butter everyday and that'll make your back ache just thinking about it! haha... She has been pretty active most days this week. I now don't feel her moving in just one place all the time... I'll feel movement in multiple places at once. The other night her nudge was high on my left side and low on my right side. It was like she was stretched all the way across my tummy, looking for more room. My guess is that she was aimed head down. (Do you ever wonder if they get dizzy from laying upside down all the time? I wonder when equilibrium sets in?)

Here's what Baby Center says about Miss Roland:

This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

Baby Fit says:

As growth continues, your baby weighs in at over 2 pounds (1 kg). And because his body is more developed, measurement no longer goes from rump to crown, but from head to toe--about 15 inches (38cm)! Your baby can suck his thumb now, which is actually a good thing! It helps calm him, while also helping to strengthen jaw muscles and encourage the suckling reflex. Your baby can even cry now, but you won't be able to hear him.

Your baby's eyelids are starting to open, and he can actually open and close his eyes while in the womb.

It is interesting that the weights and measurements tend to vary per website you look at. However, everything is just estimated since every baby is unique and different.

So, on another note, I'm afraid that the pregnancy waddle is beginning to set in for me. Some days I notice it more than others and I can feel me sway as I trudge down the hallway at school. It's like my legs have suddenly gotten heavier and farther apart, or something. Kind of weird but I guess it's my hips desperately trying to balance the extra weight and pressure from the baby. My back continues to ache every day, yet being able to go to the chiropractor every two weeks has been tremendously helpful!

This Friday, August 27, I go to the midwife's office for my glucose test where they will test me for gestational diabetes. I will be shocked if I have diabetes, since I've struggled just to keep my blood sugars up during the pregnancy. However, I will be praying that the test returns negative! I don't want to be seen as a high risk pregnancy! That could complicate my desires for a natural birth.

Our birthing classes are going really well! Our teacher is great and I'm becoming more comfortable with the birthing process as I read about how to relax my body during contractions in order to help my body work through them instead of fighting against them. We are learning various stretching/relaxing poses that we are practicing for the birth. I know this is random, but the other day, I hit my leg really hard on something metal and formed an immediate bloody bruise and knot on my leg. I fell to the floor wincing in pain and suddenly it hit me that this was the perfect time to practice for labor. So I immediately began to focusing on relaxing my body and breathing. I was amazed at my almost instant relief from pain as I relaxed. Instead of cramping up... I allowed my body to just hang and I was quickly back up on my feet, moving around. Just to see in a very small way the effects of relaxing through pain gave me great hope for labor! I know it's a completely different type of pain, but still, the mental process is similar. :-)

On Saturday a good friend of mine had her baby. It was so great to be able to go up to the hospital, hold him, and talk with her about her birth. It makes it so much more real for me when I'm holding a newborn. I got excited at the thought that in just a few months Kyle and I will be holding our own little newborn. As Kyle held our friend's baby, I loved watching him talk to the baby. He is going to be such a wonderful Daddy! (He was pretty darn cute standing so tall and holding such a small wee one, I have to admit! hehe...)

I hope ya'll have a great week. I better return to studying for school!

26 Weeks - Baby "English Cucumber" Roland

2010-08-17T13:44:00.001-04:00

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These past two weeks have flown by so incredibly fast! I feel like I blogged recently, yet it was two weeks ago! My goodness! Well, my energy has amazingly increased these last couple of weeks. Kyle and I have spent the last two out of three weekends painting our nursery and living room. Then this past week I started taking one class at Boyce College, here at Southern Seminary. I was nervous about starting a class this far into the pregnancy, but my professor is great and willing to work with me, and finals will be the week before she is due. So we're giving it a shot. Kyle started class this week at Southern and is continuing to keep up with his full-time job on campus. I'm so proud of him and how hard he works for our family!

Well, here's what BabyCenter says about our little Baby Girl this week:

The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel.

Baby Fit says:

A pattern similar to life outside the womb is starting to develop. You may notice a distinct wake-sleep cycle, where periods of activity alternate with quiet times on a regular basis. Your baby's senses are coming into full bloom. She can't see yet, but she can hear, taste and feel, and her brainwave patterns are similar to those of a newborn. If your health care provider listens your baby's heartbeat now, he or she may notice a skipped beat, which is a condition known as an arrhythmia. Often this is normal and disappears as the heart matures. If it's still present when you are ready to deliver, a fetal heart rate monitor can detect any signs of distress.

Baby Roland is definitely setting up a pretty good wake/sleep pattern so it was interesting to read about that this week. She is like her Mama... NOT a morning person... so she is usually pretty quiet in the mornings. But then she tends to come alive in the afternoon, pressing, kicking, punching, and flipping/turning. Late afternoons she naps again and then her evenings are spent in similar activities. Around bedtime, she wakes back up or rouses enough to let me know she is still there and needs more room. Thankfully, she has not been too busy during the middle of the night yet. At least she hasn't woken me. However, I did notice last night (around 4:30am) that when I got up to use the restroom, she was awake after I got back to bed. But only a little and then she quickly started her peaceful slumber again. (Thank you, Baby!)

I think it's interesting what Baby Fit says about me for this week. It is so true:

Two thirds of your pregnancy is over, and you're really starting to feel the backaches, leg cramps and headaches more frequently as pressure within your pelvis builds. You'll continue to gain weight at the rate of about one pound (.45 kg) per week. As your baby grows, your uterus pushes up towards your ribs, which may feel sore. As uterine muscles stretch, you may occasionally feel a "stitch" in your side, similar to what happens when you run. But it won't be long now. Rest up, stay off your feet when you can, and get ready to be a mom!

Yes, I am definitely feeling the backaches, pressure, soreness around my ribs, etc... as this little girl grows. In fact, as of last night, I've really noticed an increase in my discomfort when I sit up straight for any length of time. I was trying to study last night on a couch at the library on campus next to Kyle and by the end I was almost laying down because I had to keep stretching out. By the end of this semester (or even in a couple weeks) I may be laying flat to study! This should be interesting!

I am also noticing even more how quickly I get out of breath and I'm like a snail when I walk up stairs! haha... However, it's been excellent for me to be up on campus three to four days a week because it forces me to get exercise as I walk all over campus and up and down stairs. This is one deciding factor for me in taking this class... it makes me exercise by just getting out! :-)

My blood sugar does not seem to drop quite as low anymore, but after spending a couple weeks charting my protein levels every day for my birthing class instructor, I am sadly still falling below the required 100 grams per day! It's so hard to eat enough good, healthy protein! At least I'm not bottoming out like I was a few weeks ago. We'll see what my instructor says tonight at birthing class when I turn in my protein sheet. :-/

Well, sadly, now that I am a student again, I must spend time reading and studying. Hope you all have a wonderful week! Hopefully I can update sooner than two weeks next time. :-D I'll try to get some more baby bump pictures to show on here as well.

24 Weeks - Baby "Corn Cob" Roland

2010-08-03T11:09:00.000-04:00

Our sweet little girl is now weighing in at over a pound! We had our 6 month appointment today with our midwife and everything looks great. Praise the Lord! When the midwife placed the device on my belly to hear her heartbeat, she promptly kicked it! haha! We all smiled at our daughter's personality already coming out! haha... something else she likes to kick is the mattress beneath me when I'm trying to sleep. When I lay on my side, some nights she starts kicking/punching at whatever is in her way! She obviously doesn't like to be disturbed from her nice comfy quarters! hehe...

Here is what Baby Center is saying about her for this week:

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

I asked my midwife today where we were going from here... meaning, what will be changing/happening in appointments from here on out. Well, for starters, I have to go in three weeks for my glucose testing (yay! :-/) to make sure I don't have gestational diabetes (which I'm almost positive I don't have... since I've had a hard time just keeping my blood sugars up throughout this pregnancy!). Then, after that appointment, I will start going to the midwife every two weeks. Going more frequently will really start to make things feel more real. She made sure I was taking a birthing class and said that would be helpful for me and I'll probably try to get a tour of the hospital scheduled in then next month or two. This will be good for Kyle and I to know what procedures to expect when we first walk in.

Well... that's all that is new this month.

Simplifying Babyhood

2010-07-29T20:39:00.000-04:00

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As I mentioned the other day, I am excited about trying to keep our nursery and nursery items simple for our baby. While I'm having so much fun decorating her room, when it comes to accessories, normal baby "needs," and the usual paraphernalia that baby stores try to sell, my husband and I are seeking to make wise decisions on what all is exactly necessary. I have been working on making my own list of baby "needs" to get for our daughter. Now somethings are totally based on the parent's personalities... for sure! However, I find it helpful to see what others who have gone before me see as essential.

I came across this post by Stephanie at KeeperoftheHome that she did as a guest post on SimpleMom. I was so excited as I read through her post because almost everything she listed is exactly what I would LOVE to have and is on my list!!! Check out her list here.

I'm sure I'll be posting my official list sometime in the near future. I need to finish it first. Of course, I'm sure once our daughter is here there will probably be things I will add/change on that list. :-)

Now... on a light-hearted note... baby wearing may not be for all of us! hehe...

Photo Credit

Back to the Basics - 2

2010-07-29T19:50:00.003-04:00

While doing a little more research on meal planning during the wee hours this morning.. thanks to being pregnant... I came across a few more helpful links that I wanted to add to yesterday's post.

Stephanie over at KeeperoftheHome has totally inspired me! Here are some posts she has done:

Favorite Recipe Lists

21 Meals

Creating a Homemaking Binder

I spent many hours today pulling together our "21 Meals," a month's worth of menus, and I'm almost completed with our grocery lists for the month. I have one list for meat that I will buy at the beginning of the month (and also grains), and then four weekly grocery lists that will be for the veggies and fruit corresponding to that week's menu. I am so excited to see how the month of August works for us. As I mentioned yesterday, we are paid at the beginning of every month, so I believe this system will work beautifully for us!

I have kept my menu planning simple since I'm pregnant and our life is about to get busy as the school semester starts back up. (My husband is in seminary and I am actually hoping to take a class as well this fall.) In order to cut costs, I have one night a week set aside as breakfast foods (eggs, pancakes, etc...), one night a week as soups (mainly vegetarian), and one night as "fun foods" like homemade pizza, spaghetti, burgers, etc... This will allow us to have healthy homemade "comfort foods" as well as keep the budget smaller.

My husband offered to laminate my monthly meal plan for our fridge. It will be perfect because I can use a dry erase marker on it if I need to make any changes or keep track of where I am. Yay!

Enjoy working on your own menu planning!

Back to the Basics

2010-07-28T15:28:00.002-04:00

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So, let me be honest... I've struggled more with food and food prep since being pregnant than ever before in my life! As of January (right before we got pregnant), our family changed to receiving paychecks once a month verses every two weeks. These two things coupled together, have proven to increase my struggle and fight to fix real food on a cheap budget for my family. Also, with the increased need for me to eat more consistently due to being pregnant (high in protein) and both my husband's desire and mine to have healthy, yet yummy snacks around the house to munch on, I've been at a loss as to how to meet these needs and desires.

However, with the realization that in about 4 months my whole world will be changing for the rest of my life, with the addition of our first baby, I realize I've got to get my act together and figure out how to plan out a months worth of food and menus... on a slim budget. It can certainly be done... but it's been so incredibly hard for me to wrap my head around!!! To the point that for the last few months, I've partially given up even trying. Sad to say! Yet, when I look at other young moms, they seem to be able to pull this off... including making necessary changes for their family's allergies and dietary restraints. What does it take??? A lot of planning, dedication, and willingness to be patient as you work it out for your own family.

So... this post is not about how I'm going to do it... but rather some resources that I've found while seeking how to plan out a month food budget (plus a few fun resources I found while searching). Hope this is helpful to the rest of you. Enjoy!

A look at Some Basics:

Passionate Homemaking - Grocery Budget - This is very helpful because she breaks everything down to what she buys from each store and food co-op each month. I'm still trying to figure that out as we are members of a food buying club as well.

Keeper of the Home - Grocery Budget

Week of Meal Ideas (Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner) - from Keeper of the Home's Real Food Makeovers. Here is another family Makeover with helpful ideas, especially when trying to get your hubby to eat more real foods and less processed foods.

I'm sure I've seen this before, but I just came back across Passionate Homemaking's Natural Living 101 Resource List on various things like: soaking/sprouting grains, soaking methods for the dairy intolerant, guide to natural sweeteners, coconut oil benefits, soy, natural skin care products, plus many, many more links.

I've always been scared to trying soaking (except for the soaked/baked oatmeal that I make) because of my dairy/wheat intolerances. How do you soak a store bought mix of gluten free baking flour?

Soaked Spelt/Rye Sourdough Bread - While this sourdough recipe is not gluten free, it is wheat free. Interestingly enough, I've been able to eat spelt flour crackers before, so I'm hoping to try making spelt sourdough bread, in hopes that my body will accept it. How wonderful would that be to find a cheaper bread to make at home that both Kyle and I can eat!

Easy Breakfast Ideas from Scratch

Recipe for canning pickles... something I eventually want to try!

Info on Why Not to Eat Soy products! (Something us diary intolerant people find hard to do when so many dairy free foods in stores are full of soy! Another reason to make things from scratch!)

Monday Missions Checklist - ok, this is the first time I've seen this list (you may already be familiar with it) but I literally thought "WOW" as I read through her links included on this post. If you're looking for how/where to start with sustainable living/eating healthfully, definitely check out her links here.

Well... this should keep me busy for a while! I've got a lot of planning to do... hopefully it won't be too long before I'm able to post about it.

Oh the Simple Things In Life...

2010-07-27T15:21:00.000-04:00

It's so easy to get caught up in the day to day events of life that we sometimes loose focus of just spending time quietly together as a couple. Of course, we have some quiet evenings around the house, but there are still always things asking to be done. Dishes after dinner, picking up, laundry that just came out of the dryer, or even the temptation to just veg in front of a movie, etc...

This past week, Kyle worked a number of late nights at work and was exhausted. I decided to text him during his last long day and ask him what he desired to do that night, giving a few ideas that came to mind. I was thrilled when he picked the option of going to the Ohio waterfront for a picnic dinner. I was so excited and spent the afternoon making pasta salad, cutting a fresh watermelon, making homemade cookies, etc... to take on our picnic. We found some swings that overlooked the water and bridges and just enjoyed sitting, swinging, eating, and chatting. It was a perfect date night and way to relax!

There is just something about learning to enjoy and treasure the simple things in life that is so refreshing! I am so grateful for a husband who enjoys the same! I love him so dearly and am so blessed to have him as my husband, the father to our baby girl, and the spiritual leader in our home.

23 Weeks - Baby "Mango" Roland

2010-07-27T15:02:00.000-04:00

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Ok... let's just face it... it's getting hard to call our baby girl by a fruit! hahaha... it just seems weird now and she honestly feels a lot bigger than a large mango! She is about 11 inches long from head to foot and weighs about one pound (this is where they come up with the mango theory!). She is truly looking like a "real baby" now as her face is fully formed and her body continues to fatten up. Supposedly she is now able to dream as her body can fall into the deep, REM sleep. One must wonder what she is dreaming about though! haha... Maybe meeting her Mommy and Daddy one day? :-)

It's been so exciting over the last couple of weeks to finally feel her kicking everyday! Usually it's when I lay down and always at night when I got to bed. However, the last couple of days I have begun to feel her moving around throughout the day too. Two nights ago, Kyle had the awesome experience of finally being able to, for sure, feel her move. His eyes got so wide and excited when he realized that he was actually feeling his daughter! Most of her movements are still fairly moderate but every once in a while I get a big jab or kick! haha... She must be doing her exercises then! Or maybe she is kicking at the umbilical cord. Haha...

Every time we walk into Target or BabiesRUs it's so hard to not grab a ton of stuff for her. Yet, I am continuing to learn patience and discernment when looking at baby items. Our daughter does not truly need everything that the store solicits. It's actually been fun as we are seeking to decide the top priority things that must be purchased for her. Also, it has been so amazing to watch the Lord provide many "hand-me-downs" for her. We are so grateful for everyone's generosity and have no problem teaching our daughter from birth how to live frugally.

One of my desires for her and her nursery is to have a number of her toys either be homemade or "sustainable" (wooden / non-toxic). I'm sure she'll have plastic toys too, but I just think it's a great way to teach her to appreciate simple things even as a baby. I'd love for her to have cloth dolls... cloth/crocheted balls and blocks, wooden blocks/food/etc... I sometimes just want to cringe at all the flashy, showy toys that stores market for young children. They are not only feeding on the child's natural desire for more, but they are helping to plant in them the idea and mentality that more is better and better is that specific item that calls to them from the shelf! Whatever happened to having a few good "old fashioned" toys?

When I was a child, my parents and grandfather built for me a wooden kitchen set. It has a stove, sink, fridge and freezer. Along with that is a table and two chairs. (Note: no microwave... which is usually standard in today's kid "kitchens" I believe!) I absolutely LOVED it and spent many hours playing "house" with all my dolls and those kitchen toys. I am so grateful that we saved that. As soon as my daughter is old enough, I can't wait to take that kitchen set down from my grandparent's attic and place it in her room. Hopefully she will have as many good memories as I do of playing house. I truly believe that my many hours of playing "mommy" to dolls, cooking in my "kitchen," and teaching "school" was what helped lay the foundation for my life calling as a wife and mother. I could not be more grateful to my parents for instilling these values and habits in my life at an early age. They encouraged me to grow in the ways of a woman and to cherish and develop femininity. We plan to do the same for our daughter!

Ok, I will stop digressing on my soap box. :-)

Creating a nursery has begun finally. We've had her crib for a while and the changing table and chest we have collected along the way. Now I'm busy with making curtains, pillows (for decor, not for her to sleep on... in case your heart just stopped!), dust ruffle for her crib, etc... After years of sewing lessons as a child/teen, I am finally able to use what I learned for my own child! Yay! Of course, I must admit the 20+ phone calls I make to my mom while trying to figure out the fabric, dimensions, etc... for everything. (Did I mention that was phone calls per day??? It feels that way at least!) To my Mothers chagrin, I am not a measuring type of person when it comes to sewing. Yes, I do measure some, but I have a hard time with the small details (it's probably my sinful lack of patience, to be honest! ha!). So she comes to my rescue, helping me think through everything! Thank you so much, Mom!!! Your granddaughter will appreciate you even more when her curtains hang straight and even! ha!

Most of her nursery fabric came from a great little fabric store in Texas called the Cabbage Rose. While I'm not ready to disclose her nursery to the internet world yet, here is a sampling of one fabric I ordered online to match the others.

More to come soon...

It's A GIRL!!!

2010-07-18T23:14:00.001-04:00

On July 6th, at 20 weeks, we went to our midwife and got our ultrasound on our baby. We were thrilled to find out that it is a GIRL! I totally thought that it might be a boy, however, Kyle was pretty set for most of the pregnancy that it was a girl. He was right! Daddy instinct! :-) The midwife said she is perfect and healthy. Praise the Lord!

Ever since that day we have not stopped thinking "pink"! Haha... it's so hard to walk into a store and not walk out with something pink in our hand. It's definitely teaching us discipline! (Although we don't always make it out empty handed.)

The morning after our ultrasound I flew to Texas to visit my family for a week. It was a wonderful visit and we all throughly enjoyed talking about the baby. Some friends of mine who I grew up with threw me a shower for our baby and then some friends from my church threw us a shower. We are so grateful for their encouragement and support of our baby girl! It is so much fun rejoicing in a new life! The Lord has been so very gracious!

We are now over halfway through our pregnancy and are continuing to pray for our little one. We have been talking a lot about names and are pretty sure we've settled on the name we want to use, but I don't think we'll be completely settled until we see her face and say her name.

Here's our Baby Girl front on. Her head is on the right side with her little hand and arm up by the left side of her face. She has a little pointy chin and then her torso underneath.

Here's a great picture of her from the side. Her head is on the right side with her face pointing down. Then her little spine and rib cage to the left with her little legs curled up underneath her.

Here's her little foot!

18 Weeks - Baby "Sweet Potato" Roland

2010-06-25T23:44:00.000-04:00

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As week 18 quickly passes by, I figured I had better blog about it before we pass on to the next week. This week has been very busy, but good. I am definitely learning what my body will and will not allow me to do! There have been a couple days that I have learned the hard way that I have overdone myself and not rested enough. The heat has been taking a toll on my pregnancy and energy levels so staying inside is definitely a must for most of the time. I did enjoy an afternoon at the pool with a pregnant friend and that was fun!

I am still waiting to feel the baby start moving. There is one evening that I felt a gurgling in my lower abdomen but then a burning sensation so I'm not sure if that was the baby and then a muscle spasm or what exactly. Hopefully soon our little baby will start showing himself/herself to us!

Here is what the Bump is saying about this week:

Your fetus has become amazingly mobile (at least compared to you), passing the hours yawning, hiccuping, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, sucking and swallowing. And, baby's finally big enough that you'll be able to feel those movements soon.

Baby Center says:

Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

We are so excited about the progress of our baby and continue to pray for the health and growth of him/her!

17 Weeks - Baby "Onion" Roland

2010-06-18T14:28:00.001-04:00

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Here we are at week 17! Baby and I have been feeling much better overall! I have little nausea now and the main things I'm feeling are stretching muscles. I'm not sure if I've actually felt the baby move yet, but I am beginning to notice small things in my lower abdomen where the baby is at. However, I'm still waiting for that punch or kick! haha...

Baby Center says about this week:
Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.

Baby Fit says:
This week, your baby begins to develop fat cells (also known as adipose tissue). As your baby grows, these fat cells are essential to maintaining heat production and body temperature. Right now, water makes up most of your baby's body, but by the end of your pregnancy, more than three-quarters of his or her birth weight will be fat.

Supposedly if we open the palm of our hand, our baby can "sit" in the center of it! How exciting!

Many people find out this week or next the gender of their baby but we are still waiting until week 20. I am about to go crazy with anticipation, wondering about our child! Will it be a boy? A girl? Who knows! haha... but we are so very excited for either one! At first I thought it might be a girl, but more recently I've been thinking it may be a boy. We'll just have to wait and see!

Kyle and I went paint shopping the other day and decided on nursery colors for both genders. After my sonogram appointment on July 6th, I am flying out to Texas for a week that evening to see my family and friends. While I'm gone, Kyle's plan is to paint the nursery, thus allowing most of the paint fumes to hopefully filter out before I return home. I can't wait to start fixing up the nursery, decorating, organizing, and getting everything perfect for our little bundle of joy!

Mommy Update: I've been feeling pretty good this week, just sleeping A LOT! On Wednesday, I literally slept almost the entire day and then went back to bed that night and slept the whole night through! I couldn't hardly believe it! I'm assuming that the baby must be hitting a growth spurt to cause me to be so tired. I'm beginning to notice some weight gain on myself and I'm trying to not freak out! I know that I have to gain some to have a healthy baby, but it's also making me rethink some of my food cravings and realize that I need to really focus on nutrition and not just follow cravings. (Not that my cravings have been completely horrible... just not the most nutrient dense!) I'm also striving to get some exercise in each week. I know this will really help me the further along I get in the pregnancy.

That's about it! Hope ya'll have a great week!

One Year Ago Today...

2010-06-13T21:34:00.003-04:00

My husband, Kyle, and I celebrated our first year of marriage today! We are so very grateful to the Lord for bringing us together and drawing us to each other. Marriage is always a learning ground and there are so many things to learn about your spouse throughout your lifetime together, and especially in that first year as you live together. Even though I have seen so much of my own sin brought out in marriage, I can still say that being married to my husband Kyle has been even better than I could have ever imagined! God has been so gracious to grant me a husband who so uniquely fits me and I fit him. Our personalities compliment each other so well and we simply love spending every day together. I am so much more in love with him today than I was a year ago and that love only deepens and grows with each day, by God's grace!

We have really sought to focus on doing things together as a couple instead of living two separate lives in the same home. We serve together at church when able, we ride to places together, even if one has to wait on the other, we go to parties together and usually stay home when the other one is unable to go, etc... We also seek to serve each other in small and big ways. Even if that just means leaving a note on the counter, or taking out the trash, or just listening patiently while the other talks about his/her day.

However, all of this is the surface to the underlying desire in each of our hearts to honor and glorify the Lord through our marriage. We seek to serve Him by serving one another. We look to Him for our guidance and strength in our marriage and bring our prayer requests and thanksgivings to Him. He alone is sovereign and the One who created and sustains marriage. Our marriage is a reflection of Him and knowing that helps us to be careful how we walk, talk, and treat each other. We really pursue keeping a short account of sin between each other and we both take the responsibility to initiate asking forgiveness of the other one when we have wronged him/her. One thing that we have found immensely helpful in our marriage is that our church celebrates communion every Sunday morning at the end of our service. It has really helped to create a healthy pattern in our marriage of talking together at the beginning of every week and confessing any outstanding sins that need to be dealt with. We can then start our week fresh, knowing that our consciences are clear between each other.

Learning how to fulfill my role as wife has been such a joy! Kyle is so patient, kind, loving, servant-hearted, wise, discerning, and easy to please, which makes my job so much fun! Yet, there are some days that it has been hard as I have learned many lessons in being self-controlled, putting my husband's needs and wants before my own, learning to serve by keeping the home clean, learning to live as two and not on my own conditions and time-frames, and realizing the impact of my responses and moods on my husband. However, I would not give anything for the lessons that God has taught me and it causes me to only love and hold my husband so much dearer!

We are certainly not perfect, we struggle much with sin, and we know that we have a lot to learn about each other and our marriage but I am so very grateful to the Lord for the grace that He has bestowed on me by giving me such a wonderful husband and how that makes my role as wife to be so fun, fulfilling, and rewarding! I could not be more happy with the life that God has given to us and I absolutely LOVE being Mrs. Roland!

Read Kyle's post about our anniversary here.

16 Weeks - Baby "Avocado" Roland

2010-06-09T15:09:00.001-04:00

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This week our little baby is about the length of an avocado! Yay! Baby Center says:

"Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop."

I was so excited this week to find a new pregnancy website to help me through the pregnancy. I've been referring to the Bump and Baby Center, however, on the radio I heard a lady talking about how she used Baby Fit during her pregnancy. I checked it out and have really enjoyed browsing what they have to offer. They provide a meal plan and food tracker, an exercise tracker (and pictures of various exercises to do), help for future breast feeding, etc... Any of you who are reading this and expecting, check it out. It's worth the time to browse through it!

Here is a picture they offer of approximately what our baby looks like right now:

Isn't that amazing how developed he/she is??? I stand in awe of the Lord when I contemplate the true mystery of how He as Creator creates us! What wisdom He alone holds and uses in forming each individual baby. He alone knows everything about our baby... He knows the gender, the hair color, eye color, future height/weight/build, etc... all things we are dying to know now! God has already planned out our Baby's life. I pray that our child's heart will be quickly turned to the Lord and that he/she will use his/her life to honor our Savior and Creator!

At our last midwife appointment, she told us that within the next month we should start feeling the baby move. I'm excited for those first few times when we are able to determine that what I am feeling is indeed our precious little one! I also cannot wait until Kyle will be able to place his hand on my belly and feel his child move beneath his hand. He could not be a more proud Daddy at the thought of this little baby! I am so blessed to have a husband who is just as excited about the coming of our little baby as I am! He will make a wonderful Dad and I am so excited to see him hold the baby!

Mommy Update: I have been feeling pretty good this past week. I'm eating a ton and sleeping a lot, but I'm also starting to exercise. Now that I'm feeling more like myself, it has increased my desire to cook, walk, workout, and in general, enjoy life. I think I'm finally starting to feel the freedom of the second trimester. Praise the Lord!

Well, that's about it for this week!

...Thoughts on Wifely Duties...

2010-06-03T12:12:00.002-04:00

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This morning my mind has been busy pondering my role as wife and homemaker. Oh, how I love being in our home, taking care of our apartment, caring for my husband, and preparing for our coming baby! There is no job I would rather have than this one! The Lord is continually teaching me, stretching me, and showing me plenty of areas in my own life that I need to work on. Who would have ever guessed that a housewife would have to learn and grow in simple ways? Isn't it supposed to be an "easy" job? That's at least how the world tends to view it. Yet, oh how wrong that view is! Being a homemaker and housewife is a job that requires planning, preparation, perseverance, patience, and a peaceful joy in each menial, daily task! Speaking of daily tasks, the following is what the Lord has been showing me about the importance of the small things I do, or don't do, in our home.

Two days ago, I had spent the day out going to my midwife’s appointment, looking at maternity stores, getting ideas for our coming baby; I went grocery shopping for the week; I came home, baked a new recipe for dinner, and had candles burning and fresh food when Kyle walked through the door of our home after work. When my husband is greeted by a warm smile, a hot dinner, and a clean house, there is an almost immediate sense of calm and rest that comes over him. He is able to enjoy his evening at home, even if he’s had a stressful day at work.

However, yesterday, as my husband walked through the door of our home, I saw a different scenario. I noticed the sigh in his eyes and his tired quietness that spoke volumes to my heart. I was quickly convicted! Instead of having a clean home, I had spent the day working on a sewing project that I had wanted to accomplish. There was piled up laundry on the back of the couch that I had been too lazy to put away, sewing materials stacked on the kitchen table (which I did at least stack before he got home! Haha), the ironing board standing in the living room with more sewing materials on it, dishes piled in the kitchen sink from dinner the night before, and I’m in the middle of slapping some beans, lettuce, and tomatoes on corn tortillas for us to quickly eat before heading back out the door to our church community group. Now, my gracious husband is always quick to hold his tongue and not judge or critique me. He is so very understanding and compassionate. Yet, even then, a wife knows when her husband is disappointed.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I notice such a drastic difference between the two days! Granted, every day will be different and some days are busier than others. Also, there is nothing wrong with sometimes having to throw together a quick meal or work on a special project. What I did realize and learn from this is that if I had just taken about forty-five minutes before Kyle got home to pick up the living room and do the dishes; our home would have been much more welcoming and a place of rest for my husband, even if we were eating bean burritos for dinner! Yet, in my mind I had been justifying that fact that at least I was showered, with makeup on, and had stacked up the sewing stuff before he walked in! If that’s the standard I was placing on myself before my husband returned home, how sad for him!

I have been reading in a new book, “Heaven at Home: Establishing and Enjoying a Peaceful Home” by Ginger Plowman. I was reminded of the important role that I play as wife and soon-to-be-mother. She states: “The woman sets the ambiance of the home. If Mom delights in the role that God has ordained her to fill, she sets the stage for the other family members to do the same…. If Mom is uptight and stressed-out over the responsibilities and realities of life, her tension will rub off on the attitudes of her family. If she is neglectful of her everyday duties or negative about the problems that life brings her way, her attitudes will be reflected in the thoughts and actions of her husband and children.” (pg. 19)

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I think those of us as wives can tend to underestimate how much of an impact we actually have on our families. I know I do! It’s so easy to get caught up in the mundane things of life and become board with cleaning, cooking, and keeping the home (on top of countless other duties we attend to during the week). Yet, when our motivation to do these things is to first and foremost honor and glorify the Lord and secondly our husbands, what a great blessing this will be to our family! What husband would not love to come home to a wife who is peacefully fulfilling her God-ordained role and duties? Now, obviously, we are not perfect! Even Ginger Plowman says: “How do you keep your focus on making your home a haven when you need a haven too? You absolutely can’t do it in your own strength… You can do it only when you rely on the strength that Christ works in you, the love that he supplies, and the perseverance that the Holy Spirit provides.” (pgs. 39-40)

Our husbands do not seek perfection in our homes. They do not expect for everything to always be “just so.” (At least mine doesn’t. He knows that is not a reality for me. Haha…) However, they do seek a wife who is graciously, submissively, and joyfully fulfilling her role and consistently striving to keep their home in peace and order. A number of years ago, before I was ever married or close to being married, a godly, young married friend of mine encouraged me with these words when I asked about how to get everything done to please my husband. She encouraged me that not every day you are able to actually have things perfect when your husband walks through the door. However, it is wise to ask your husband what would specifically bless him the most to see as he walks in. Some husbands don’t care if the home is a little messy from kids, as long as there is a hot meal of the table. Yet some husbands would rather help prepare dinner with their wife, or play with the kids while the wife cooks, but wants a clean home when he comes in. Or there might be something else that specifically encourages a husband that he will be glad to share with his wife if she only asks.

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Knowing what blesses my husband when he comes home, a clean house, has been helpful for me to remember. I know what to work on each day and what should be my focus during the late afternoon, soon before he arrives home. Even as a child, I remember my mother would have my brother and I start picking up our rooms at 4:30 to prepare for the arrival of my dad coming home from work while Mom was busy in the kitchen cooking away. Little did I know that God was using those many years of watching my mother prepare for my dad’s arrival as a training ground for my own home and marriage!

Most importantly in all of this, as we seek to honor our husbands and to keep our homes, we must stay focused on Christ and remember that we are not doing this just for a pat on the back or to receive praise from our husbands. We are doing this to bring honor and glory to the name of Christ. Ginger Plowman says: “True beauty radiates from a woman who gracefully walks the path designed for her. To walk the path of God’s will is to show others the beauty of Christ.” (pg. 23) What could be a better picture of the bride of Christ than to see a woman in her home, joyfully fulfilling her role as she seeks to honor and please her groom and serve him with joy?

15 Weeks - Baby "Apple" Roland

2010-06-03T11:36:00.001-04:00

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We are now 15 weeks along! Praise the Lord for His continuous strength and protection over our precious little baby. On June 1st we went to our second appointment with our midwife. It went well and we got to hear our baby's heartbeat again. We were excited to hear that it had slowed down a lot since the first time we heard it, which is normal as the baby grows bigger. We were also relieved to know that I am measuring perfectly for just one baby... there had been some questions of maybe twins since I grew so quickly in the beginning.

I have been feeling much better this past week since stopping my vitamins. I think that the added iron in my new supplements was aggravating my system, causing me to get so sick. The midwife said yesterday that my iron levels are "beautiful" so I do not need to continue with extra iron. I still need to follow up with just a normal prenatal now.

This past week seems to be when I finally felt like my belly kind of "popped." People I don't know are now recognizing that I am pregnant. Yay! So the baby seems to be starting his/her growth spurt. Here's what Baby Center is saying about our little one for this week:

"Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds."

It's been fun to hear growing predictions of what gender our baby is going to be. Almost everyone here in Kentucky are emphatically saying that we are having a boy. Even the other day, at Hobby Lobby, the lady at the check out registry, upon hearing that I didn't know the gender yet, quickly gave me the once over and said: "You're having a boy!" I was shocked yet quite intrigued by her prediction, since it lines up with most of the others. A few people are still holding out for a little girl, but Kyle and I are both pretty convinced that it'll probably be a boy. Either way, we will be absolutely thrilled! :-)

14 Weeks - Baby "Lemon" Roland

2010-05-25T16:14:00.001-04:00

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...and the Second Trimester begins...

Well, this week both baby websites that I reference agree on the type of fruit that our baby is. It's a lemon. Yay! It still sounds small until you realize that our baby is approximately 3 1/2 inches long.

Here's what Baby Center says about this week:

"This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active."

Mommy Update:

This past week, week 13, I've had some interesting cases of sickness. On Thursday I got sick on the side of the road after taking some vitamins. Then Saturday, I passed out after hopping up off the couch too quickly. The rest of the day I was nauseous and throwing up. Sunday I ate mainly liquids and since then I've been trying to guard my food intake. Today, I had lunch up at the Seminary with Kyle, but had to leave shortly afterwards due to nausea and feeling like I was going to be sick again. I had taken vitamins again with a meal and then the smell of the cafe cooking food increased my nausea. It's been interesting because during my first trimester I was mainly sick during the evenings with some during the day and the last couple of weeks it's been getting better. However, this week it seems to be coming back a lot. Also, I hadn't thrown up my whole pregnancy, except the first week during a stomach bug, until this week. I guess I'm not to the "blissful honeymoon stage" of the pregnancy yet that most women enjoy.

I decided to research morning sickness during the second trimester to see if it was normal for it to increase like this after it had decreased. I found some helpful ideas to manage the sickness:

"There are things that you can do to help combat your nausea during the second trimester. You should avoid foods that are high in fats, especially foods that are high in saturated fats. You should also avoid foods that have strong smells, as the strong smells can sometimes trigger nausea. You should try to eat small, frequent meals and snacks to keep from being either too full or hungry. You can use crackers or rice cakes to help combat nausea. You might have some success, as some women have had, with motion sickness wrist bands.

In some cases, if your nausea persists into the second trimester, it can indicate a problem that isn't directly related to pregnancy. For example, many women become nauseous due to the iron content in prenatal vitamins. For others, nausea can just be a sign of dehydration. If you can identify what exactly is causing your nausea during the second trimester, you will have much better luck at combating it." - Source

Here's another link:
Nausea and vomiting in the second trimester.

Hopefully after another week or two the nausea will start going away again, but until then I'll be resting a lot and giving my body time to adjust to this growing baby. :-) It'll all be worth it when sweet Baby Roland shows up Thanksgiving week!

Here are some pictures of my growing tummy. Still not too big yet but we've really noticed my tummy firming up quite a bit this week!

13 Weeks - Baby "Peach" Roland

2010-05-19T17:25:00.003-04:00

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Looks like we have ourselves a little Georgia Peach on our hands this week! :-) (Sorry if you're a boy, sweet Baby, we won't call you a peach once you're born!) So I was amazed this week to see that our baby is almost 3 inches long! The Bump says that the average baby at this week is 2.9 inches long. Wow! Baby Center says it's the size of a medium shrimp. :-) I feel like our baby is really growing now. This is my last week to be in my first trimester (yay!!!) and I have continued to enjoy less nausea. I can't wait for it to be all gone!

To see what a baby looks like at week 13, click here.

Here's what Baby Center says for this week:

Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce.

Here's what the Bump says:

Your [baby] is forming teeth and vocal cords...savor this, their nonfunctional phase. Baby is approaching normal proportions, with his head now only one third the size of his body. And intestines are in the process of moving from the umbilical cord to baby's tummy -- much more convenient.

Mommy Update:

Well, my belly continues to grow steadily. I'm able to not only wear maternity pants (been in them since 9 weeks!) but I'm now able to wear a few maternity shirts as well. Also, I have switched from using the Whole Foods brand prenatal (that my midwife pointed out did NOT contain DHA!) to a great multi-vitamin from Shaklee called Vitalizer + Iron. It "provides the best spectrum of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, anti-aging phytonutrients, omega-3 fatty acids, and probiotics." [Shaklee's Site] This was recommended to me by a "blogger friend" who I e-mailed to ask her advice about what she takes in her pregnancies. She advised me about what her midwife has her taking. She also recommended Alfalfa from Shaklee. Not knowing what Alfalfa was good for, I asked her about it. She replied with: "Alfalfa... wow... good for so much! Helps with gentle daily detoxification, circulation, preventing nausea, suppling an abundance of trace minerals, including Vitamin K, supports the additional blood volume of a pregnant mama, prevents swelling and edema, a natural deoderizer, a natural antihistamine... aids digestion..." That was good enough for me! She also mentioned a couple others that she takes but I decided to try these first two for starters. I've been taking them this week and I'll let you know what I think about them in time, once they get in my system. So far, I love them!

As far as cravings, I'm sad to say that I've had this crazy craving for.... COKE!!! Seriously? Come on now, Baby... haha... I haven't drank coke for about 5-6 years except for random occasional times. Why the craving? I'm happy to say that I have not indulged on normal coke (although I did try an IBC root beer that didn't seem as bad... haha... it was horribly sweet with all the corn syrup... gag!) but I have tried a few of the "natural sodas" that contain no corn syrup or normal sugars. We love Steaz sparkling green tea root beer. Sounds funky but it is SO good and tastes like root beer!

Well, that's it for this week. Next Tuesday, June 1st, we go back to our midwife to check on Baby Roland. Please be praying with us that he/she will be growing just fine. We're excited to see how much we've grown and hopefully hear the heartbeat again!

12 Weeks - Baby "Plum" Roland

2010-05-13T20:54:00.003-04:00

Photo Credit

Well, here we are at the anticipated week 12 of our pregnancy journey. Most miscarriages happen within the first 12 weeks so once a mother moves past this week she can give a sigh of relief. However, this does not mean there will not be further complications, it's just that the chance of them goes down. We are continuing to pray for safety and health for our baby and are so grateful to the Lord for His mercies thus far!

Here's the update on Baby Roland for this week from Baby Center:

The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder.

Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in your baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. His face looks unquestionably human: His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over 2 inches long and weighs half an ounce.

Mommy Update: This past week (11) I have noticed a true decrease in my nausea. It started waning in week 10 but week 11 was when I really started noticing how much better I was feeling! I still have light nausea in the evenings but not as bad as a couple of weeks ago. For that I am SO very grateful! We are also noticing that my belly is starting to get firmer. That's exciting although I still look like I've way over-indulged in desserts recently! This week (12) I have started staying home as a full-time wife/mommy-to-be. I am thrilled to be home and to have these next few months to rest, plan, and prepare for our coming baby! I've enjoyed looking for fabrics to (hopefully) make nursery blankets, curtains, etc... for the baby's room and spending time day-dreaming about if our baby is a boy or girl and getting excited about the prospect of either one.

I'm beginning to think through our birthing plan and a friend has loaned me a couple books to read on the Bradley method and natural birthing. I am very excited to begin reading and gaining knowledge about this wonderful gift of bearing children that God has given women. I also realized today that any birthing classes we take need to be done this summer while Kyle is not in school because I've been told we'll have homework. :-) So, I need to get focused and start planning things out. I feel like I am still in the mode of "I have plenty of time to get things figured out closer to the birth" ... which I do have a lot of time... but it will go fast. Especially our summer!

That's it for this week! Thank you for your continued prayers as well for Baby Roland. We are so excited to see who this person will be and how he/she will serve the Lord and His kingdom!

11 Weeks - Baby "Lime" Roland

2010-05-04T20:55:00.001-04:00

Today we went for our first prenatal checkup with our midwife. We really liked her and enjoyed talking with her. She was able to answer many of our questions and calm many fears that I have been having. Although our time was cut short, due to her being called out for a birth, we appreciated her care and time as she calmly talked through birthing options and any questions we had.

The most exciting part of the visit was getting to hear our little Baby's heartbeat. At first, it sounded so fast that I was worried, but she said that is how they start out and that it was normal. Kyle and I both exchanged huge grins as we got to hear our Baby for the first time. What a special moment we will always treasure! We could not be more happy or excited about becoming parents! :-) Praise the Lord for a healthy Baby today! The Lord is so gracious!

Here is Baby Roland's heartbeat! We were able to record it! :-D

Baby Roland Heartbeat @ 11 Weeks from Michelle Roland on Vimeo.

We are having our baby at The Family Birth Place, which is a birthing center that is part of Clark Memorial Hospital in Clarksville, Indiana. The office I go to is Woman Care. It's a great place and has come highly recommended to us by multiple friends. We left with a whole bag full of helpful booklets, pregnancy magazines, coupons, etc... I was impressed! Woman Care has two Nurse/Midwifes on staff who are open to and encourage natural birthing and I was told today that all of the nurses on staff at the Family Birth Place are all trained for natural births so they can assist us. They are also open to having Doulas there and they even allow the family of the mother (including child siblings of the new baby) into the birthing room, if the mother and father so choose! What a great option! We are planning on doing a natural birth with our baby and look forward to taking childbirth classes together in the coming weeks. :-)

Well, here's an update on how Baby Roland is growing from the The Bump:

Photo Credit

"Baby's now the size of a lime! Your [baby] currently enjoys a 1:1 ratio between body and head, and has skin so transparent that blood vessels show right through it. But fingers and toes are no longer webbed, and hair follicles, tooth buds, and nail beds are forming -- setting up a significantly more attractive future."

From the Baby Center:

"Your baby, just over 1 1/2 inches long and about the size of a fig, is now almost fully formed. Her hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under her gums, and some of her bones are beginning to harden.

She's already busy kicking and stretching, and her tiny movements are so effortless they look like water ballet. These movements will become more frequent as her body grows and becomes more developed and functional. You won't feel your baby's acrobatics for another month or two — nor will you notice the hiccupping that may be happening now that her diaphragm is forming."

Mommy Update: While I'm still tired and take a nap most days my nausea hasn't been as intense this week, which I am very grateful for, but still present. This past week's main concern has been due to the soreness and pains in my stomach but my midwife and nurse reassured me today that those are probably just pains due to my muscles stretching. With this being our first pregnancy, I have a lot of growing to do! :-) It's still a struggle to cook much and most evenings I'm pretty tired out after working all day so my sweet Hubby has been picking up a lot of slack to help me in the evenings! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband who cares so much for me and our new little baby!

Well, that's it for now! I'm sure there will be more posts coming soon!

10 Weeks - Baby "Kumquat" Roland

2010-05-01T21:03:00.003-04:00

Photo Credit

So the Bump says that our baby is the size of a prune this week. Maybe this isn't the most glorious name for our baby but it does says something about what Mommy has been eating a lot of over the last couple of weeks, thanks to the pregnancy! However, when I posted a picture of a prune, I just felt so sorry for our baby! So, we're using the fruit that Baby Center goes by; a kumquat. Either way, our baby is getting longer and growing so much!

I apologize for the long delay in this post going up! This has been a busy and difficult week emotionally on me. My anxiety over the baby being ok and safe is something that I have really struggled with. I've had a lot of pains and soreness in my stomach (which my midwife's office thinks is totally normal, probably stretching) and some light cramps one day, which really scared me. However, I believe that the cramps may have been brought on because I've been really stressed about a number of things this week and have been really tired, this leading to more stress about the baby. Also, a lot of my "bloating" has gone down so I am thinner than last week, however, I'm sure that this is also normal for most women. Resting has really helped me and I plan to continue to rest and take this weekend easy! Also, continually seeking to place my trust in the Lord for the protection of our baby has been helpful and diverting my mind from it as well. There are so many things that one can worry about, yet I do believe that worry is a sin so I'm grateful that the Lord extends grace to us in these trying times!

We go to the midwife for the first time this coming Tuesday. I can't wait to see her, ask her my many questions, and make sure that our baby is still growing properly! We will get to hear the baby's heartbeat which will be so special! Sadly, our office doesn't give sonograms until 18-20 weeks so we will have to wait a little longer to actually see our baby.

Well, here is what Baby Center is saying about our little one this week:

Though he's barely the size of a kumquat — a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical portion of his development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his body rapidly grow and mature.

He's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy.

If you could take a peek inside your womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.

In other developments: Your baby's limbs can bend now. His hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. The outline of his spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord. Your baby's forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of his body. From crown to rump, he's about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, your baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.

More to come in a few days!

Birth Order Funnies

2010-04-23T15:57:00.003-04:00

Haha... so I saw this today and just had to post it!

BIRTH ORDER OF CHILDREN

1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.
2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.
3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.
_________________________________________________
Preparing for the Birth:
1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.
2nd baby: You don't bother because you remember that last time, breathing didn't' t do a thing.
3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your eighth month
_________________________________________________
The Layette:
1st baby: You pre-wash newborn's clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby's little bureau.
2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains.
3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they?
_________________________________________________
Worries:
1st baby: At the first sign of distress--a whimper, a frown--you pick up the baby.
2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.
3rd baby: You teach your three-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing
_________________________________________________
Pacifier:
1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.
2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby's bottle.
3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.
_________________________________________________
Diapering:
1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour, whether they need it or not.
2nd baby: You change their diaper every two to three hours, if needed.
3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.
_________________________________________________
Activities:
1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour.
2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.
3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.
_________________________________________________
Going Out:
1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home five times.
2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.
3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.
_________________________________________________
At Home:
1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
2nd baby: You spend a bit of everyday watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.
3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.
_________________________________________________
Swallowing Coins (a favorite):
1st child: When first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays.
2nd child: When second child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for the coin to pass.
3rd child: When third child swallows a coin you deduct it from his allowance!

9 Weeks - Baby "Olive" Roland

2010-04-20T18:10:00.004-04:00

In case you're wondering, Baby Roland is starting to make a presence! I have to admit I was elated when Kyle took these pictures this evening. We don't have a full length mirror in our apartment so it was fun to see just how big I have actually gotten.

Here's what Baby Center is saying this week:

"Your new resident is nearly an inch long and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain."

Mommy update: the nausea has definitely set in! It still comes and goes throughout the whole day but mainly rears it's head in the evenings. I have to remind myself that nausea is a good sign... that means our baby is still growing and hormones are increasing. Food aversions are also increasing and cooking has been hard to do this week... basically non-existent! I still cannot hardly stand the thought of eggs and have been drinking a lot of orange juice and cranberry-grape juice. My nose is SUPER sensitive and the slightest smell of something weird or nasty can make me nauseous! Other than that, I don't think there is anything much different from before. I still am not sleeping through the night and so I take naps when I can in the mornings. I am finally able to fit into maternity pants... yay! (Hence the pic above)

We appreciate your continued prayers for our precious little Baby Roland. We are reminded weekly of how we are unable to keep our baby healthy and strong but that his/her life is sustained by our great God. We cannot wait to hold and kiss all over our little one!

T4G in Pictures

2010-04-17T20:31:00.004-04:00

Michelle, Joshua Harris, Kyle

Andy, Kyle, Michelle

Can't visit Louisville without checking this out!

Corban, Alex, Andy, Brent, Kyle, Michelle

Corban, Alex, Brent, Brian Mock, Kyle, Andy

Havin' some fun!

Our friends from Texas at Southern Seminary's library checking out a mummy on display.

Checking out old books on display...

T4G Recap

2010-04-16T13:21:00.006-04:00

So we made it through the three days of excellent teaching from the T4G guys! We had a WONDERFUL time and are so very grateful for being able to attend. We were blessed in so many ways this week! There is so much we learned and are still trying to digest, plus we are seeking to learn how to implement it in our lives. Since Kyle is not an "official pastor" and I am not an "official pastor's wife" we are talking of ways that we can take what we learned and apply it in our own ministry context. It should not be hard because the Gospel applies to all contexts! :-)

As we ate lunch yesterday after the conference at a great sub place, Jimmy John's, with our friends from Texas, one friend asked each of us what one thing from the conference were we planning on putting into action in our lives when we returned home. As I listened to the other guys talk and reflected on the various messages that I really enjoyed, I realized that I really had two things, that in some way wrap up into one.

Thabiti Anyabwile preached an excellent session on "How Wrongly 'Engaging the Culture' Adjusts the Gospel." He pointed out that so many pastors and churches are now seeking to "engage the culture" and draw people in by becoming more like them. Yet he reminded us that we are not to be taken captive by the world but are to be captivated by Jesus Christ. In our day and age, everyone is defined by the culture they live in. Each country, state, community, etc... has their own "culture" that everyone knows them by. One excellent question he asked was: "If we are all defined by our culture, then what does it mean for us to be apart of God's people?" How does being apart of God's people define us before the world? Then he said this: "Christianity is multi-ethnic but it is not multi-cultural!" Wow! I was really captured by this comment! As the people of God, He has called us from every tribe and nation, so we are multi-ethnic. Yet, He calls us to all conform to the image of His Son... this produces a Christian culture in that we are all to be apart of. Thabiti pointed out that in the NT Paul writes to the church, not the culture. He sought to transform people by the cross and for them to become like Christ. It was through this gospel transformation that people could then make cultural judgments based on truth. In our churches, many people do not realize that they are captivated by the world and not Christ. They say they are living for Christ but really their lives show something completely different!

So the first half of my application from this week is to be careful how I walk. I want to be completely captivated by Christ and not allow all of the worldly goods to distract me from my purpose here on earth.

This brings me to the second half. We had the privilege of hearing Matt Chandler, pastor of the Village Church in Dallas, Texas come and speak about what God has been doing in his life. On Thanksgiving day, just a few months ago, he suddenly had a seizure right in front of his children. Rushing him to the hospital, his family found out that he had a tumor on his brain. They got him in for surgery that next week to remove part of his frontal lobe. He has been undergoing chemo treatments since. He was told that a person his age could live for about 2-3 years depending on everything. (Now, I don't know about ya'll, but if I was just told that I possibly had 2-3 years left to live, I would be doing some drastic rethinking of how I spend my time and energy!) Yet, through God's grace, Matt has continued to trust the Lord and continued to preach and teach and literally live before a nation of people who are watching him online as he lives out his faith and trust in God! After Matt talked for a few minutes he ended in praying. As he prayed, he lifted up each of his young children before the Lord asking that God would draw their hearts to Him and that if he died that his children's hearts would not be hardened towards God because of that. He also prayed for his wife. (I lost it! I was totally crying during this prayer, hurting for his wife, who was there listening to all of this.) He said that his wife had so much faith and trust in God that she was even encouraging him to continue his ministry and not holding him back or trying to keep him home while sick.

After Matt finished, C.J. Mahaney got up and taught on suffering and how pastors should prepare their congregations for suffering before it happens! He gave a list of book recommendations to read and have as resources for people. Then after C.J. finished, all of the T4G guys (Mohler, Dever, MacArthur, Piper, Duncan, Anyabwile, Mahaney) stood up with Chandler on stage and John Piper prayed for him, asking God to heal him, if that is His will, and to give Matt grace and peace. I was still crying and there were many grown men wiping their eyes at the end of the prayer. Afterwards, all 7,000 men and women stood up and sang "It Is Well." You should have heard the humility and gusto that this song was sung with. This verse in particular caused me to weep for Chandler and his family:

"Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,And hath shed His own blood for my soul."

As C.J. Mahaney stated about a dear friend of his who is dying, he has joy in his trial because he knows that his greatest need was already met on the cross through Jesus Christ. No earthly need will ever equal that of forgiveness and saving grace bestowed from God, our Father.

After hearing this message and being reminded that our lives here on earth are not guaranteed, I was quickly convicted about how I spend my time, thoughts, and energy throughout the day. So for my goal in applying what I have learned this week, first off I desire to release worldly expectations and desires for myself and be focused solely on Christ and the gospel. Secondly, I plan to use my time more wisely, making the most of my brief stay here on earth as I seek to live out the gospel in my marriage, home, church, and community. Now I understand this is a tall order and that I cannot do this alone in my flesh. However, I seek to be obedient to the gospel call that God has placed on my life in calling me as His child.

My first plan of action is to begin cultivating my time with God even more. Not only in the scripture I study but in the books that I read, my goal is to understand the doctrine of the cross and my need of grace more fully. One of the free books I got this week was "Dug Down Deep: Unearthing What I believe and Why It Matters" by Joshua Harris. I have started with this book and plan to read "Big Truth for Young Hearts: Teaching and Learning the Greatness of God" by Bruce Ware. This is a book focused on teaching children about the big truths of God. I bought it to help us teach our Baby Roland about God, but know that it will benefit me as well! There will be many other things that I will be seeking to do as I seek to "declutter" my life from worldly priorities and seek to focus on God, but I am encouraged that I can take these things step by step.

Here are the videos from the two sessions I have just talked about. Take time to listen to these sessions. They are so good! Be patient and give them time to buffer or else it'll be choppy. Click play and after it begins, click pause to let it buffer.

T4G 2010 -- Session 4 -- Thabiti Anyabwile from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

T4G 2010 -- Special Session -- Matt Chandler from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

Did Someone Say "Free Books?"

2010-04-13T23:04:00.000-04:00

We just got home from our first day of the Together for the Gospel conference. It's been fabulous! I'm not going to write much now because it's 11:00pm and I need sleep. But I did want to leave you with a couple pictures!

Here's my stack of free books from just tonight. Kyle has an identical stack! We've been so blessed so far!

Titles include:
The Holiness of God - R.C. Sproul
The Unquenchable Flame: Discovering the Heart of the Reformation - Michael Reeves
It is Well: Expositions on Substitutionary Atonement - Mark Dever and Michael Lawrence
The Church and the Surprising Offense of God's Love: Reintroducing the Doctrines of Church Membership and Discipline - Jonathan Leeman
He Is Not Silent - Al Mohler
Proclaiming A Cross-Centered Theology - T4G Guys
The Trellis and the Vine: The Ministry Mind-Shift That Changes Everything - Colin Marshall and Tony Payne
ESV Study Bible

Our first conference as "The Roland Family" and residence of Kentucky! :-)

8 Weeks - "Raspberry" Roland

2010-04-13T08:00:00.002-04:00

Photo Credit

This week our little baby has been growing away. He/she is now about the length/size of a Raspberry or Kidney bean.

Baby Center says:

"New this week: Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways. "

As for Mama, this past week (7) has been the first week that we have noticed my belly actually getting bigger and some of my pants are getting snug and uncomfortable. I bought my first pair of maternity shorts and they are so nice! It was fun to see the change happen so quickly in a short matter of time. I guess that accounts for our baby growing steadily. Fatigue has really begun to set in and I don't think I've slept through an entire next, except once, this whole week! Nausea still comes and goes whenever it decides too!

I've been craving orange juice this week! It's so cool and refreshing! Ahh... I still can hardly choke down eggs... blah... and I've really struggled to cook at all because hardly anything sounds good. When I do cook or we eat out, sometimes I cook or order something that sounds so good but when I get it, it tastes nothing like I thought it would! :-( Beef and fruit have been my friends. We grilled hamburgers this weekend and they were amazing!

Well, that's about it for this week.

Here's the first picture we've taken where we can see the baby bump beginning to emerge. Now, it's not a very good picture of me because I've been working in our garden... but it gives you an idea.

T4G - Together for the Gospel

2010-04-12T11:20:00.003-04:00

This week, Kyle and I have the wonderful privilege of attending the Together for the Gospel conference here in Louisville, Kentucky. Our apartment is just a few miles from the convention center and we are so excited about being able to attend and hear these great leaders and theologians who are coming to bring the Word of God to us!

The main speakers are Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, C.J. Mahaney, and Al Mohler, along with Thabiti Anyabwile, John MacArthur, John Piper, and R.C. Sproul. We have the special honor of hearing Matt Chandler as well, pastor of the Village Church in Dallas, Texas.

Breakout sessions will be held one afternoon with various speakers. Kyle and I will be attending Josh Harris' session: Dug Down Deep: Helping Others Build Their Lives on Christ-Centered Doctrine.

Check out this video about Josh Harris' new book: Dug Down Deep.

We are super excited that we have friends coming in town for this conference as well from Kyle's church in Georgia and my church in Texas. We can't wait to see them and hopefully get a chance to hang out with them some!

I'm hoping to update throughout the week on here, but we'll see how busy we stay. Please pray that my nausea stays at bay during these sessions. As I drove to work nauseous this morning I began to pray that God would keep the nausea away at least through this week!

Check out this site for some fun T4G videos.

Lastly, here is a video of some T4G participants from a couple years ago:

Our First Garden

2010-04-10T20:04:00.002-04:00

Today Kyle and I got up on this beautiful spring Saturday morning and headed downtown to check out a little gardening/seed store we had been told about. Our intention was to buy plants there then head to Home Depot for dirt (much cheaper!). Well, as we pulled up to Bunton's Seeds, we realized there was a new little "hole in the wall" organic gardening store that had opened across the street. We decided to check it out and quickly fell in love with it. We ended up buying our plants and seeds there and happily came home with a variety of herbs and veggies.

We thoroughly enjoyed planting our little garden together today. We are still in our apartment complex so we did a small raised bed that our managers built when they made their own garden. I posted pictures on facebook of the whole process, but I wanted to post the videos here.

We planted: peppers, onions, cucumbers, lettuce, cilantro, basil, parsley, and dill.

Click here for the facebook pictures.

Our First Garden from Michelle Roland on Vimeo.

Gardening Video Continued from Michelle Roland on Vimeo.

7 Weeks - "Blueberry" Roland

2010-04-08T10:05:00.001-04:00

Photo Credit

We are into pregnancy week 7 here at the Roland family home. Our baby is about 1/2 inch long and is about the size of a blueberry. His/her hands and feet are beginning to emerge from it's arms and legs that are forming. The hands and feet look more like paddles, but they are on their way to being the kissable little things we can't wait to touch and hold!

Baby Center says:

"If you could see inside your womb, you'd spot eyelid folds partially covering her peepers, which already have some color, as well as the tip of her nose and tiny veins beneath parchment-thin skin. Both hemispheres of your baby's brain are growing, and her liver is churning out red blood cells until her bone marrow forms and takes over this role. She also has an appendix and a pancreas, which will eventually produce the hormone insulin to aid in digestion. A loop in your baby's growing intestines is bulging into her umbilical cord, which now has distinct blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from her tiny body."

As for Mama, this week has been fairly good. I'm still having nausea at varying times of the day and night. No two days are exactly alike. However, it ends at nausea. No more throwing up, so far. I'm hoping it remains this way for the rest of my 1st trimester! The tiredness is definitely starting to set in now and it's getting harder to pull myself out of bed in the mornings and I'm taking at least one nap daily! Nighttime's are consistently interrupted by either nausea, the urge to go to the bathroom, or just randomly waking up.

Some of my pants are beginning to get a little snug on me. We've definitely begun to notice a little pudge in my tummy these last couple of days. We're still far from a bump... but there is growth! :-) I've been wanting to hold off from buying one of those tummy bands that you wear over your normal pants, but I may have to give in, seeing as maternity clothes still swallow me!

As to food... I'll just say this... I walked into Whole Foods yesterday to buy meat for dinner. I walked out with roasted red pepper hummus and chips, bar-b-que flavored gluten free crackers, and orange juice! haha... I laughed when I got in the car and realized how crazy that was! However, I devoured about half the hummus before dinner... it was SO good!

As you all know, I was craving eggs the last two or three weeks... now I have to almost force myself to eat them! My stomach gags at the thought of them and the smell of cooking butter. Is this normal? What happened to my craving? I still make myself eat them most days along some veggies cooked in them, because I know it's good for the baby, but my taste buds are not always very happy!

Well, that's it for now. I hope everyone has a wonderful week and I'd love to hear from ya!

Easter in Eastman

2010-04-08T09:34:00.001-04:00

This past weekend we went to see Kyle's family in Eastman, Georgia. We drove down on Friday and got in by suppertime. Then on Saturday we drove about an hour to go see his Granny in the nursing home. It was a special time to see her, talk with her, and pray with her. We are both so grateful for the legacy our grandparents are leaving us. Isn't it so beautiful to watch our grandparents stay faithful in the Lord, even to the end of their lives?

Here we are with Louise Yawn, Kyle's Mama's Mother.

After returning from the nursing home (and I laid down to rest for a few minutes) we drove about 30 minutes to a Japanese Steak house for dinner. It was so incredibly yummy!

Kyle's parents: Chris and Kay Roland.

My sweet hubby and I!

On Sunday we enjoyed seeing friends at church and chatting with people there. This was only my 4th time to attend Kyle's church but they welcomed me like family! I personally love when we "go home" to Eastman because I feel like I have friends there too! It means so much to be welcomed in by everyone! Thanks ya'll!

Here we are in our first Easter picture as a married couple! Married life is wonderful and I love celebrating holidays with my incredible husband!

To see more of our Easter pictures on facebook, click here.

6 Weeks - "Lentil Bean" Roland

2010-03-30T08:00:00.001-04:00

Photo Credit

Baby Roland is the size of a lentil bean this week. We are now 6 weeks pregnant. The major developments of this week are that the nose, mouth, and ears begin to take shape and his/her heart is beating.

Here is what Baby Center says about our baby:

"If you could see into your uterus, you'd find an oversize head and dark spots where your baby's eyes and nostrils are starting to form. His emerging ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and his arms and legs by protruding buds. His heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute — almost twice as fast as yours — and blood is beginning to course through his body. His intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to his lungs has appeared. His pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones. Right now, your baby is a quarter of an inch long, about the size of a lentil bean."

Mommy is doing well. I'm still having nausea off and on throughout the day. Mainly in the morning and usually a little bit when I crawl into bed at night. Food. Sometimes I want it, sometimes I don't. I love homemade soup right now! I also love fresh lemon/ginger herbal tea from Frontier. It's really yummy and perfect for the morning time before I can stomach any food.

There are so many things out there in books and on the web for a new mommy to read. It can be overwhelming and invoke fear in my heart when I read of things that can go wrong. I'm learning to filter what I read and to trust the Lord who has created this life and to sustain it for His glory! Waiting until we're 11 weeks along before our first midwife appointment seems like forever! However, we are again learning to trust God for His timing in all of this. By 11 weeks our baby will just be that much more formed and strong. Hopefully I will be showing a tiny bit by then as well!

We have been so blessed at how excited and supportive all of our family and friends have been. We thank you for your prayers for a healthy pregnancy and baby!

We're Pregnant!!!

2010-03-26T11:19:00.001-04:00

So on Monday of this week I posted a comment on my facebook that I was really craving eggs cooked in butter. Although I had already eaten eggs for breakfast that morning, I wanted more! Well, later that evening, I smiled and kinda laughed when I saw how many "pregnancy" type replies I got on that comment, thinking "I wish I was pregnant!" but we really didn't think we were this month. However, I started doing the math and thinking through some things and realized that there could be a possibility that we actually were pregnant. So on Tuesday, March 23, I broke out a pregnancy test early that morning and Kyle and I were elated to see that it was indeed positive! We are SO happy and excited! It was an interesting mix of emotions because we were so excited yet so humbled and amazed at God's grace to us that He would deem us ready to be parents. We had been trying for a short while to get pregnant and yet had not been able to, so I had already given up this month on being pregnant. Isn't that interesting that sometimes God brings these blessings when we least expect them?!?!

I don't think I've ever seen Kyle smile so much or be so excited as he was when we saw that pregnancy test! We were both like little kids jumping in the bathroom, hugging, kissing, and smiling (and I was crying), when we found out!

So... on Tuesday, when we took the test we were exactly 5 weeks along and our Baby Roland is due November 23, 2010. This also happens to be my Dad's birthday, which is very fun, and Kyle's birthday is November 6th... so our little Baby Boo will be right there in the mix!

On Tuesday I had some nausea off and on all day but it was relieved by me sitting down. Wednesday wasn't too bad either but still kinda the same. However, Wednesday night I work up at 1:15am starving! I grabbed some corn chips... didn't help, so I went back to the kitchen and grabbed some boiled chicken. From then on I was awake for over an hour, then off and on, until my alarm went off at 5:30! I had felt nauseous when I laid on my stomach but since I have always been a tummy sleeper, I couldn't get comfortable on my back or side.
(I can already see this is going to be a problem later on too!) Yesterday morning I woke up exhausted and feeling really sick! I called and asked if I could nanny from my home instead of going to the families home and the mother graciously brought her baby to me. However, after the baby arrived and Kyle had left for work, the throwing up started. I couldn't seem to keep anything down all morning and by mid-morning I was calling Kyle at work for help! He graciously came home and brought me some bread and stuff to drink.

I seemed to keep down a piece of bread that afternoon but when I got up off the couch about 3:45 and went to the bathroom, I quickly passed out on the toilet and Kyle came running in to find me white as a sheet. After I woke up I quickly crawled to the toilet and lost, yet again, everything in my stomach. I had absolutely no energy and we realized that I was getting dehydrated. Kyle decided to take me on into the hospital as I continued to throw up profusely. I began to fear that my next three or four months were going to look like this.

After close to four hours of waiting to see the doctor we were finally taken back and made ready. After running an EKG on my heart and a Sonogram on the baby, the doctor said that everything looked fine and that he felt I was too sick for it to just be pregnancy, this early on. He felt that I had some form of stomach bug on top of my pregnancy hormones and nausea because I was running a low (99.4) fever, and a little diarrhea. He then offered this encouraging statement: "If this is all pregnancy, you're gonna have a really hard time as your hormones increase!" Thanks Doc! haha... He proceeded to give me some liquids and Zofran to help me feel better then released me around mid-night. So I have great hopes that my "normal pregnancy nausea" will not be nearly as bad as yesterday! We'll be praying to this end at least.

Since my doctor's office does not do sonograms until you are about 18-20 weeks along, I was excited to see a sonogram last night of our baby, although all the doctor could see was the little sack it was in, seeing as our baby is now the size of an apple seed! Can you believe something that small can make someone that sick? Good grief! haha...

Well, here is a picture of my 1st baby sonogram last night. It looks kinda like my tummy is poking up, but that is actually my rib cage and my tummy is sunken beneath that since I'd been throwing up so much! :-( So there is definitely NO baby bump yet... hopefully in another couple of months though!

Praise the Lord that a healthy Mommy and Baby could go home from the hospital last night!

Our 9 Month Anniversary

2010-03-17T20:54:00.001-04:00

This past week, on March 13th, we celebrated our 9 month wedding anniversary! The Lord has blessed us immensely during our marriage and we are so grateful to Him for His work in our lives!

We celebrated the day with a wonderful date night on Saturday. We went to Applebees for dinner then went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D at a nearby movie theater. We had so much just enjoying each other's company. We are truly best friends and love doing life together!

Eczema ... is not my friend!

2010-03-16T09:31:00.002-04:00

I've struggled with dry skin my whole life. Then a few years ago I started getting a little eczema on my fingers. I dutifully went to my dermatologist and he gave me a steroid cream and told me to stop washing my hands so much. Only about twice a day! I did what he said and it went away. Yet I was only masking an underlying problem in my body.

Since then, I have come to learn about everything else that is happening within my body (allergies, adrenal fatigue, weak/leaky gut, candida, parasites, etc... the list goes on!). Eczema is one way of our body releasing toxins that are built up inside of our body. So when I was putting a steroid cream on my hands, I was covering up only outside symptoms. Now, my eczema is coming back with a passion! You may not be able to tell by my picture above that we took this morning (you can click on it to enlarge it if you wish), but it wraps it's little red and blistery bumps around my fingers, in the crevice at my thumb, around the bone by my wrist, and yesterday I spotted a couple spots on my wrist. Yes, it is spreading! It came back on my fingers a few months ago and has been spreading ever since. Thankfully, this is still considered a mild case. :-)

After trying just lotion for weeks, I finally gave in and got a steroid cream, while that helped and minimized it, it never went away. As soon as I stop using it, it comes back. Water, scents, and my food allergies really aggravate my condition! I have chosen to stay off the steroid creams! I am a believer in healing things naturally and am not fond of many of the medicinal things that doctors give us. (I'm not opposed to going to doctors for serious illnesses...cancer, diabetes, etc...) I also believe that a lot of the "help" that I have received from conventional doctors has done more to hurt my body then help it. Of course, they always gave me "immediate" relief, for which I was grateful, but the long term affects on my body have been horrible! Again, I'm not bashing all doctors or practices. Our family would not be the same without medicinal care. My Mother specifically.... who has had cancer, diabetes, cushings disease, etc.... We are very grateful for how God has used doctors to help her and heal her!

So, off my soapbox, I have been looking for natural ways to heal my eczema. A friend sent me a link to this blog post yesterday and I was so grateful! It's of a mother with a child who has had eczema for five years (since he was an infant). They also tried creams at first and then realized that they needed to heal him from the inside out. I found her information to be very helpful!

What We Did To Help Our Son's Eczema - Without Drugs

Gardening Anyone?

2010-03-12T10:51:00.000-05:00

Wanting to garden this year but are not sure how to begin? That's us! We're hoping to start a little garden this spring but haven't been sure where to start. So... I came across this blog today and thought I'd share the link for other "beginning gardeners"! I hope this blog post and the links offered below it will be helpful for you (and us!).

5 Gardening Basics for Beginners

If you have any helpful hints or tips from your garden, please feel free to share them!

Almond Mayonnaise

2010-03-11T15:07:00.000-05:00

Here is a great new recipe I tried last night for "almondaise." It is from the Body Ecology Diet book, page 252. I was a little hesitant about how it would turn out before I made it, but as soon as it was done, I was hooked!! (Including, licking spoons, fingers, etc...) Even Kyle liked it and thought it tasted like "real" mayonnaise! They say in the book that it makes for a great veggie dip as well and I agree!

So here it is:

Ingredients: (yields 1 1/2 - 2 cups)

1/2 cup raw almonds
1/2 to 3/4 cup water (I probably ended up using about 1 cup for the consistency I wanted)
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
3/4 tsp. sea salt
1 cup organic, unrefined oil (flax or pumpkin seed)
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. raw, organic apple cider vinegar

1. Cover almonds with boiling water, allow to cool slightly. Slip off skins and have all other ingredients ready.
2. Place almonds in blender or food processor and grind to a fine powder. Add half the water along with garlic powder and seasonings. Blend well, then add the remaining water to form a smooth cream.
3. With blender running low, remove insert top and drizzle in the oil in a thin stream until mixture is thick.
4. Keep blender running and add lemon juice and vinegar. Blend on low 1 minute longer to allow mixture to thicken to desired consistency.
5. Scrape into a jar with a screw top and refrigerate. This will keep 10 days - 2 weeks.

Menu Plan Mondays

2010-03-08T14:43:00.001-05:00

So I'm finally back to menu planning again. I've really reaped the benefits this last week of planning and shopping all at once, which saves me so much time, money, energy, and sanity! With me trying to cut out foods that turn into sugar in my body (in order to get rid of my Candida) this has further limited my menus. However, we are persevering and enjoying new recipes. I've also found that planning a lunch menu is helpful (although some days I'm lazy and do left-overs... which neither of us mind!) As I post this meal plan, know that we almost never stick to it strictly. It's more of a guide for me. A lot of times I'll end up switching meals to a different night. However, with our schedule being fluid during this season of life, I've found that being flexible is best.

Sunday

Lunch - Bar-B-Q Chicken (with homemade sauce) / carrot bake / okra
Dinner - Community group

Monday

Lunch - Greek Salad / Ground Beef / Cultured Veggies
Dinner - Quinoa Tabouli with Mint Garlic Dressing / Roasted Squash and Zucchini
Prep: Boil eggs, make salads for Tuesday, grill burgers

Tuesday - (class night)

Lunch - Cobb salad / turkey, hard boiled eggs, red bell peppers, almonds, etc.../ Cultured Veggies
Dinner - Grilled burgers / green beans / corn
Prep: Prepare salads for lunch

Wednesday

Lunch - Roasted Chicken / Salad / Cultured Veggies
Dinner - Scalloped potatoes / broccoli / sautéed carrots / all topped with Luscious Lemon Butter Sauce
Prep: make homemade almond mayonnaise, soak buckwheat flour

Thursday - (class night)

Lunch - Tuna fish salad lettuce wraps (using homemade almond mayonnaise) / Cultured Veggies
Dinner - Homemade buckwheat noodles / pesto sauce / steamed cauliflower and carrots

Friday

Lunch - Leftovers / salad / Cultured Veggies
Dinner - Date Night out

Saturday

Lunch - Onion pie / salad / Cultured Veggies
Dinner - leftovers / salads/ sandwich for Kyle

Most of my recipes from this week are taken out of the Body Ecology Diet book.

Coconut Water Kefir Video

2010-03-05T14:40:00.001-05:00

Also, the Body Ecology Diet website gives a great step-by-step guideline to making coconut kefir and coconut cheese.

Step-by-Step Pictures

I Finally Braved It...

2010-03-01T13:51:00.001-05:00

I made my first batch of cultured veggies, coconut kefir, and coconut "cheese" last night. It took me about 3 hours to complete, not including the dishes!

I used the Marinara-Style Cultured Veggie recipe. I also consulted glued myself to this article with step-by-step instructions and pictures. My jars turned out beautifully, just like the recipe. It's really not that hard, just a little time consuming! Now they just have to sit for 4-7 days to finish culturing.

Next came the Coconut kefir. I enlisted the help of my strong husband to crack these things!

First he bored three holes into the tops of the young coconuts for us to drain the coconut water out of. Each coconut contains about 1 1/2 cups of sweet water. It's really quite yummy. After collecting the water, I heated it slightly, then added the Body Ecology Kefir Starter. In about 4 days we will have a great tasting Coconut Kefir to drink. It is highly nutritional for our bodies, especially for those of us who have a dairy allergy and cannot drink kefir made from cow's milk.

Lastly, this was the exciting part... cracking the coconuts open to get the meat out. Thankfully, Kyle is a very patient man and proceeded to spend a while cracking open the coconuts with a screwdriver and hammer.

Here he is... patiently pounding away...

Here is the inside... look at all that yummy coconut. I scooped this out, rinsed it, and threw it in the blender with some filtered water and made a pudding / yogurt / cheese mixture (whatever you want to call it!). I then added another culture packet and allowed it to culture overnight, rewarding us this morning with a nice little coconut yogurt. The culture eats the sugar out of the mixture so those of us with Candida do not have to worry about feeding our yeast infection. Yay!

Ta Da!

Kyle cracking a coconut open from Michelle Roland on Vimeo.

***Note: Today is day 7 and I opened my veggies and they are great! Definitely a very strong onion and garlic taste, but mixed with a salad or other veggies they will make for a great, healthy addition to our meals. My Coconut Kefir however, did not turn out so good when I opened it on day 4. I think I let it sit out too long and it turned almost into a coconut vinegar. SO... next time, I'm doing only 2 days!***

Encouragement for Moms

2010-02-27T06:00:00.002-05:00

Photo Credit

I just came across this series on Covenant Life Church's website for Moms. I have yet to listen to them but I know and trust that the speakers will do an incredible job with the topics! It's not a new series but just the first time I've ever noticed it.

Hope it's encouraging for all of you Moms out there with little children, as well as all of you new moms-to-be!

Romantic Adventure Anyone?

2010-02-25T11:21:00.000-05:00

So our topic of discussion and study for this past week in my Marriage and Family class has been about romance and being a creative lover. One of my assignments is to plan a "romantic adventure and put it on the calendar." (Now this is what I call an assignment! ha!) I've been thinking and pondering various ideas and plans.

As I've been considering this, I began thinking that it might be encouraging for those of us married women (and soon to be married women) to share creative ideas and suggestions with one another. It's hard on a budget to plan fun get-aways, date nights, romantic evenings, etc... yet there are many fun things we can do for free or fairly inexpensive.

Kyle and I were encouraged before and even right after we were married to make a priority of spending at least one or two weekends or couple day retreats away each year. We enjoyed our first retreat together in November over his birthday weekend. I surprised him when I picked him up from work with our car packed to make a drive to Tennessee to stay in a friend's guest house. That was a wonderful privilege and we only had to pay the price of gas and food. We thoroughly enjoyed our time together and found it very relaxing!

Now I'm trying to decide something for the spring. I need your help ladies... I'm not very creative and love to hear the ideas of others...

So, with that in mind... please share your ideas for a romantic adventure... anything from free to more costly.

Fun Weekend...

2010-02-22T10:49:00.002-05:00

This past week has flown by! We had a great weekend with friends though. We enjoyed having a fun couple over from our church on Saturday night, plus another couple stopped by our apartment for a little while that evening as well. Then on Sunday we enjoyed lunch with some of the couples from our community group, and then Sunday night, while our husbands were at Manskool with church, we wives hung out and watched a movie together.

Four of our couples from our community group. L-R: Rolands, Coobs, Berhows, Richmonds

Eating at Qdoba - L-R: Jason and Jenny Coobs, Kristin and Zach Richmond, Mike Berhow

L-R: Becky Berhow, Trey Salter and Chelsea Ballou (about to be Mr. & Mrs. Trey Salter!), and us, Michelle and Kyle Roland.

Here are four of the six of us girls who hung out last night while our hubbies were at Manskool. It was a lot of fun to be together! Thanks to Whitney for having us over! L-R: Becky Berhow, Me, Amanda May, Whitney Miller. (Not shown: Kristin Richmond and Jennifer Farrior).

Joint Spirituality in Marriage

2010-02-12T09:07:00.003-05:00

Last night in my Marriage and Family class, Mrs. Tonya York spoke on joint spirituality in marriage. This topic is a sensitive topic because there is probably not a Christian woman who entered marriage without some form of expectation of her husband in leading their family spiritually. As Mrs. York pointed out, many of us have expectations of our husbands to be leading and initiating our family in devotions on a regular basis, to be intimately praying with us as wives, to bring up spiritual topics to talk about throughout the day.

However, she asked us to think in scripture about where we see this example worked out? What husband in scripture do we see sitting down every night to have “family devotions”? This does not mean that family devotions are a bad thing or that husbands and fathers should not initiate them. Yet, why is it that many Christian women feel that the spiritual maturity of their husbands lie in how they initiate such practices?

There are many men in scripture who had vibrant spiritual lives, served the Lord with vigilance, and loved their families, yet we do not see a specific “family devotion time” set in place. No doubt they spoke of the Lord continually with their families and taught them the ways of the Lord. We cannot forget Deuteronomy 6:4-9 which states:

“4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

We see in this passage that it is a Father (and Mother’s) job to teach their children diligently the ways of the Lord! This is not something to be taken lightly or to be shoved aside, or expected from their Sunday School teachers.

The problem is when we as wives begin to place expectations on our husbands that we then hold against him if he does not live up to them. We look away from our own personal walk with God and begin focusing on the “deficiencies” in our husband. (Of course, some of these “deficiencies” are maybe only expectations of ours, not necessarily mandates of the Lord.) We lose sight of the fact that our husband is on his own spiritual journey, one that the Holy Spirit is leading and directing. We cannot force our husbands into a mold that we have created. We as wives need to take our primary focus off what our husbands our doing with their spiritual life and look at our own walk. Are WE consistent in our times with God? Are WE consistent in prayer? Are WE consistent in teaching our children about God? Are WE consistent to bring up spiritual discourse with our families?

Mrs. York gave us a good example of how our spiritual journey as a couple should work. She said that we should both focus on our own personal relationship with the Lord and then as we each individually grow closer to God, our joint spiritual relationship will naturally begin to grow closer. It makes sense! As we begin to allow the Lord to be our primary focus our hearts and minds will be overjoyed with His grace, mercy, and love. That will eventually spill out into the way we talk, respond to situations, submit to our husbands, train our children, etc… We will more easily and readily begin to talk about what the Lord is teaching us and showing us in His word and in our daily lives. This will then promote “spiritual intimacy” with our husbands as we talk together. We cannot control our husbands; we can only control our own personal responses and decisions. As Mrs. York said, “The goal is that you get closer to God, not that your husband initiates.”

She shared with us Three Myths:

• Spiritual intimacy must be initiated by the husband.
• Spiritual intimacy is all about doing devotions together.
• Spiritual intimacy will make our relationship problem-free.

As a wife, we can with a submissive attitude and heart, initiate some spiritual dialog with our husbands. This is not to lord over them what we are learning or to come across puff-up or more spiritually mature. But in humbleness and meekness we can begin to open up and share with our husbands what God is teaching us. If your husband is not the type of man who opens up to you or leads in devotions or spiritual discourse, then maybe over time, as you open up to him, the Lord will begin to help him open up. Just be careful not to judge if it takes your husband a while to open up. We have to remember that the Lord is in charge of our husband’s spiritual maturity and growth, not us!

Our husbands can show spiritual intimacy with us when they pray for us, or when we do open up to them and they encourage us in what we are learning from scripture. One of the most encouraging things for me with my husband, Kyle, is that if I am ever struggling with something and ask him to pray for me, he is excellent about stopping right there and praying for me out loud. That is such a comfort to me when he does that and it was good to be reminded last night that that is an example of him taking the lead in spiritual matters in our home!

Spiritual intimacy, though it will affect and change our relationship as a couple, will not completely take away our sinful nature! We cannot hold to the expectation that our marriage will be perfect when… or that we will stop sinning once our husband finally steps up and leads us in our walk with the Lord… or we would pray more if our husband would just pray with us… No! We are responsible before the Lord for our own actions. We do not rest our spiritual growth on our husbands.

One of the obstacles that Mrs. York gave us to be aware of in thinking through this is that we as a couple have come from two different backgrounds. One spouse may have come from a believing home and one from a secular home. One spouse may have had a family that did “devotions” and the other spouse may have had a family that only went to church. We need to give grace to our spouse and again focus on our own relationship with the Lord and give over our expectations to God, allowing Him to work in our husband’s lives. Ultimately, wouldn’t we rather the Lord be the one to mold and shape our husbands into the godly men they should be?

Now, in case you all believe that I am not a supporter of family devotions, please do not hear me wrong! I think that family devotions can be a great and vital part of any Christian family. I believe that the husband should step up and lead his family in learning scripture, learning how to pray, learning to memorize passages, learning to read good books on doctrine, etc… However, I believe that we as American Christian Women can set our heights and standards so high for our husbands that they do not feel able to meet them. Instead of expecting our husbands to sit down at 6:00 every evening for devotion time and then being upset and disappointed if he is not able to, why don’t we look to scripture and see how scripture defines a man who loves God and is a godly husband? According to Deuteronomy, a husband should talk of the Lord throughout the day; when you sit, walk, lie down, and rise up. We should be looking for ways that our husband is initiating spiritual intimacy and praise him for it. Whenever he encourages you when you open up about your walk with God, thank him for his encouragement. Whenever he initiates praying with you or the children thank him for leading your family before the throne. Whenever he does open up about his walk, be careful to listen patiently, responding encouragingly only after he is finished, not interrupting or adding your own two cents.

Finally, Mrs. York gave some ideas to talk over with your husband, seeking to determine how it would work best for your family to grow together spiritually. For some people, it may mean that you start by just discussing the Sunday sermon over lunch on Sunday afternoon. For some couples, it may work for them to set down in the evening and read scripture together before bed. Some couples may enjoy the bond of memorizing the same scripture passage together. Also keep in mind that various seasons of life will need different goals for your family. We as women need to learn to be flexible and submissive to what our husbands deem appropriate for that particular season.

The point in all of this is not that we should not be growing together spiritually as husbands and wives, or that men should not step up and take leadership, the point is that we as wives need to accept our husbands as God has created them and gifted them, and not place them in some mold that our society has set up for them. Our husbands will grow in their courage and feeling of leadership when we humbly seek to encourage them where they are; not when we complain because they are not “leading” how we feel they should.

Ladies, let us never underestimate the power of prayer for our husbands. All of our husbands have areas to grow, just like us, and the best encouragement and support we can give them is to pray for them. Pray that God grows your husband into the man that He wants him to be, with the gifting and leadership style that He wants him to display. When are hearts our resting in the Lord to mature and grow our husbands, that is when we can truly accept our husbands just as they are… our knight in shining armor.

Snow Day Videos!

2010-02-10T10:31:00.003-05:00

Here are some videos of our fun Snow Day yesterday! We enjoyed rolling down the hill behind our apartment and then we went up to the Seminary to go sledding.

Michelle Rolling Down the Hill from Michelle Roland on Vimeo.

Kyle Rolling Down the Hill from Michelle Roland on Vimeo.

Michelle Sledding from Michelle Roland on Vimeo.

Kyle Sledding from Michelle Roland on Vimeo.

Click here to see our pictures from our snow day.

Finally!

2010-02-05T19:57:00.000-05:00

Gluten free and Dairy free have come to Starbucks!!! Look at what my eyes beheld when we walked in the door tonight:

Two Moms in the Raw - Gojiberry Granola

I have yet to try this... I'm saving it for later.

I tried these and they were decent but very crunchy and "nutty" flavored. Not bad though for a store bought GF/DF cookie.

They also had baggies of dried fruit like apples. That looked good and I think they were organic. They also had new little fruit juices that looked fun for kids. I'm so glad they have finally started carrying more allergen-free snacks! They've had the KindBars for a while, which are great, but it's nice to have variety when you're staring at a case of cupcakes, donuts, and toffee bars! :-)

Thanks Starbucks!