Thankful Thursday - Extra Edition

Sometimes I feel like I must be such a huge burden on God with my many constant needs. Somehow though, He always comes through. This week we’re facing some incredible obstacles financially. I won’t say that we’ve never been in this tight of a spot before, but it’s rarely been this bad. Nick’s work has been unusually slow, and we’re staring down the barrel of several pay-it-this-week-or-it-will-go-against-your-credit bills, among them the car payment, the house payment, and the electric bill. We just don’t have the money to pay them all. I have to remember though, God is bigger than all of our problems. He knows our needs, and His pockets are certainly deeper than ours. I’m not afraid to post this here, because I know that His promises are real, and He has promised to provide for us. With that in mind, I want to go ahead and do my next Thankful Thursday, early for once!

ABCs of Gratitude:

• Italian Ice – okay, this one is kind of silly, but the one and only thing I’ve craved with this pregnancy are Lindy’s Orange Italian Ices. I’m eating one right now, and it is soooo good!

• Innocence – It is such a privilege for me to be able to be home with my children, and I just drink in the innocence in them. I feel like I missed out on a lot of the baby years with Morgan. Even though I only worked part time until she was four, I was still away from home for parts of 4 days every week, and they just change so fast at this age.
• Ice Cream – right now one of Daisy’s favorite things to say is “Eye-keem, Mommy?” It’s cute enough to get me to share those precious Italian Ices with her.
• Insurance – I am so incredibly grateful that we have medical insurance right now. Although I’m having a serious issue with our homeowner’s insurance! Out of the blue they decided (after ten years with them!) that they don’t want to renew our policy. This wasn’t precipitated by anything on our part, but rather by new policies on acceptable home value set out by management. Apparently our home doesn’t meet their minimum replacement value threshold. Or actually it does, since our agent sent over updated numbers, but they then decided that because our roof has never been replaced (even though it’s in decent shape), we’re too much of a risk. Very frustrating since the next cheapest company is going to take our annual premium from $425 to $788. Plus we have to get new car insurance because it’s with the same company. But even this is a blessing, because I have to believe that God is guiding us away from them for some reason, so I’m trusting Him to lead us to a good company with good rates!
• Income – I’m so blessed to have a husband who was willing to be prayerful and follow God’s leading about going to a single-income lifestyle. It’s never been easy, but it has been rewarding, and the gift Nick has given me and the kids in allowing us this time together is priceless!

Recent Blessings:

• Okay, first the big one: my dad had his heart cath test and it came back with absolutely no blockage! I don’t know if the stress tests showed false positives or if God just removed the blockage, but I am very, very grateful! They’ve put him on some new blood pressure medications, and we continue to pray that he won’t have any further episodes.
• Today I was so stressed out about everything from money to the insurance issues to housework. I went out to get the mail and found a package from Nick’s sister K in Texas. It was full of precious little clothes for the new baby, and even a couple of outfits for Daisy! It was just what I needed to brighten my day! The things she sent the baby are soooo precious, and I can’t wait to get them on him. Included was this outfit (minus the bib), and I think I want to bring him home from the hospital in it!

• Daisy has been ridiculously cute the last few days. She’s started saying so much stuff! My favorites include “Yokay, Sissie?” (Are you okay, Sissy?) – said during the many occasions Morgan pretends to fall down to entertain her. “Pimmy-uh, pimmy –uh!” (Pick me up, pick me up!) – made even cuter by the come-here hand gestures. “Hin me a nanana” (Hand me a banana) – about eighty times a day! I had to cut her off after four the other day! “Hin me baby” (Hand me the baby) – said whenever she drops her baby doll. Today she was reaching for a scented rice bag and said “Hin me smell, Mommy!” Maybe the best was today when she said “Hin me book”, and when I handed it to her, “Good job, Mama!” She will also, if lying between me and Nick, put one arm around each of our necks and hug us both at once. Today I was scolding Morgan for something, and Daisy climbed up on the couch between us, put an arm around each of our necks, said “Guys…”, and pulled us in for a group hug. It was pretty hard to stay upset at anybody after that!
• Besides getting the clothes from K today, Nick also brought home a huge garbage bag full of baby boy clothes from a guy he works with.
• One big blessing is that even though we don’t have the money we need right now for bills, we do have most of the stuff we need for day to day living. We have plenty of diapers, wipes, dish and laundry detergent, fabric softener (actually I’m trying a homemade recipe right now, and it seems to work great), toothpaste, toilet paper, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, Tums (life or death for a pregnant woman with crazy heartburn!), etc. And we may be a bit sparse on meat for the next few weeks, but we have enough for a few days anyway, and plenty of rice and beans for after that! The only things we should absolutely have to come up with are milk and bread and maybe butter.
• Wednesday as I was driving home from lunch with Nick this metal plate about 6 inches by six inches and maybe a quarter of an inch thick came bouncing down the interstate right at my car. There was no place I could go, and it hit the bumper and put a pretty nasty gash in it. Unfortunately the insurance company (them again!) will count it as an at-fault collision and charge us a $500 deductible if we want to report it. Honestly, we’ve never had so much as a hint of a problem with them in 10 years time, and suddenly all this stuff! I’ve never heard of a company that will count road debris as an at-fault collision! But the blessing here is that it didn’t hit higher up on the car and bounce up into my windshield. I honestly think it would have caused a very serious wreck if it had done so. It definitely would have cracked the windshield, if not broken all the way through it. Or if it had hit the road and bounced up under the car it could have done some serious damage mechanically.
• While there’s not been any real mention of DD lately, Nick has at least (at my request) given me one room a day to focus on for the last few days. I could really use some stress relief, or even some motivational help, but I’ll take what he can give.

And because my “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” online profile changed weeks a few hours after I wrote the last post, here’s the new one. I’m actually 20 weeks and 1 day, but since that means I’ve just completed my 20th week of pregnancy, it gives me the info for week 21.

Week 21 of Pregnancy: Baby's Taste Buds Develop

At about seven inches in length and almost 11 ounces in weight, your baby is about the size of a large banana. There's still a great deal of room in your womb — though your tenant will soon begin to feel cramped, so be prepared!

At about seven inches in length and almost 11 ounces in weight, your baby is about the size of a large banana.
By 21 weeks pregnant, your baby swallows at least several ounces of amniotic fluid each day —  not only for hydration and nutrition, but also to practice swallowing and digesting — skills your baby will need as soon as he or she arrives in your arms. And keep this in mind: The taste of the amniotic fluid differs from day to day depending on what you've eaten (spicy enchilada one day, sweet carrots another). And that smorgasbord of tastes won't be lost on your baby. That's because your little one has very developed taste buds already. In fact, researchers have noted that babies who were exposed to certain tastes in utero via the amniotic fluid were more eager to eat foods with that same taste after birth. Want your baby to eat his or her broccoli later?  Eat yours now!
Your developing baby still has a great deal of room in your womb — though like anyone who lives in one space for a long time, this tenant will soon begin to feel cramped. Until those uterine walls start closing in, however, there's plenty of space for twisting, turning, and even an occasional somersault (so that's what you were feeling last night!). 

With all that belly dancing going on, it's hard to believe your baby gets any sleep at all. But believe it or not, your fetus sleeps as much as a newborn, perhaps 12 to 14 hours per day! (Now if only you could get some sleep!)

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