Week 16, 17, 18

We are humbled and excited to be expecting our ninth child in September!

God has blessed us with a baby.  

We have comfort in the truth that God is over this pregnancy.

God is sovereign.

The first trimester brought the expected exhaustion,

but now that we're into the second trimester, the energy is back.

Starting at 17 weeks, I've been blessed to feel lots of little flutters and movement - so amazing!

We began working with our midwife early.
With my history of pre-term labor, our goal is to keep things as calm as possible starting early:
this means some dietary changes, lots of nutritional supplements, and natural progesterone lotion.
A higher than average pregnancy weight-gain (35-50 pounds) has seemed to help too . . .
so I'm doing my best to gain!

Gaining in the first trimester was really hard (I didn't) -
It was hard to get enough calories to support weight gain while I was still nursing Maclaren.
Now that Maclaren has been weened (2 weeks ago), I'm sure the weight gain will be no problem :)
I'm already measuring big!

The kids are all so thrilled to welcome a new baby to our family.
They're constantly asking "how many days til the new baby?"
and constantly comment "your belly is even bigger than this morning!"

I love sharing this joy of expecting!
Such a blessing.

2 years ago . . .

We arrived home with our two newest family members.

What a blessing!

LBL

This past weekend, we met with three other Cub Scout families for three days of camping at Land Between the Lakes.  Temperatures dropped before our arrival, but we're getting to be experts at tent sleeping in 30-degree weather.  Fortunately, the days were gorgeous! We are grateful for the opportunity to bring our boys up around other men of Faith and scouting (as it stands today) is a great place to accomplish this.

The seven Cub Scouts each earned their Junior Ranger badge for completing the Junior Ranger program over the weekend.  Together we hiked the Hematite Lake trail, visited the Nature Center, and took advantage of the special free programs at the Golden Pond Planetarium on National Astronomy Day.

We had a perfect hike for the boys - plenty of nature (frogs, turtles, giant worms, minnows, geese, heron, moths, butterflies, a bright and loud male Cardinal, a few beaver dams), plus experience building bridges to cross the flooded portions of the trail. 

All of the National Parks, National Recreation Areas (of which Land Between the Lakes is one), and  National Military Parks have a Junior Ranger program.  The kids each complete activities according to their age and that are relevant to the park.  The LBL program includes learning about how animals use trees, the abundant life around the waterways, and how humans lived in the area 150 years ago.  All of our Cub Scouts earned their Junior Ranger patches!

Late on Saturday night Hiwot surprised us with a distress call from the tent...she had lost her first tooth!  We were warm by the fire, so we asked her to clean it off and zip it up in her pocket for the night.    :)

17 years

17 years ago, we had our first date: April 19, 1996

Mike was 16, with a brand new drivers license

Amy was 15, was incredibly shy and had never been out on a Friday night

We saw a late movie, "Mr. Holland's Opus", and broke curfew 

(the movie was longer than we anticipated, sorry mom!)

That began our relationship  

(although it would take a bit longer for Amy to have enough nerve to actually talk)

-dating through High School

-engaged through College

-married in 2002

We grew up together.

 I am so thankful God brought us together at such a young age.

I am so thankful for the time we've enjoyed.

We've spent more than half of our lives together : )

Wrist

18 months post surgery, and praise God, things are looking good!

October 2011, Davis had a Green Banks Transfer (Flexor carpi ulnaris tendon transfer) of the tendon on his right wrist to release the tight tendon pulling his hand down and to the right (a symptom of his mild Cerebral Palsy) and transferring it from the palm side to the back, to pull up the hand.  

After his surgery, Davis worked hard with an occupational therapist for 9 months and 

we check in with his surgeon periodically.

At this most recent visit, his surgeon is thrilled with the results and progress Davis has made.

We're amazed each time we see him using his right hand - it's a miracle!  

Praise God!

His wrist is straight, he can hold his hand flat, his wrist is strong, he can use his hand.

Davis still has a tendency to fold his hand in like before, but really that's a good sign.

There are no longer tendons pulling the wrist in, so he is only holding his hand down out of habit.

One common problem after this type of surgery is for the moved tendon to tighten on the back of the wrist, causing the hand to be pulled back (as opposed to it formerly being pulled in), which would require a second surgery to loosen the tendon.  The fact that Davis has nearly full range of motion and can still hold his hand in a bent in position means that this tendon hasn't tightened! 

We'll check in with the surgeon again next year, but everything looks great.

His surgeon's orders: Play, play, play!

(I think we can handle that :)

We are thankful for God's protection over our son.

We are thankful for the skilled hands of the surgeon.

We are thankful for the support of our therapist.

Our son Davis was fearfully and wonderfully made. 

 He's our miracle boy!

Spring Swim

 It starts out with wading in for creature finds . . . 

(minnows, turtles, frogs)

Then, before we know it, the kids have changed into swimsuits and are splashing and swimming . . . 

. . . in April . . . 

 We are so thankful for warm weather, extra rain, and a lake in our own backyard

Welcome Spring!

First Catches

Hendrick, our nature-boy, looks forward to Spring . . . and critter catching!

This past week, our creature totals (so far): 15 toads, 2 adult red-eared sliders, 2 snapping turtles, 1 baby red-eared slider, and countless minnows.

He has converted our old plastic baby pool into a critter home and is currently working hard to create a turtle habitat in the yard: digging pools and securing the outer walls.  He's trying to eliminate all possible escape routes, turtles can be pretty agile and limber when motivated.
A few of the caught fish ended up in our indoor tank : )

Thankfully this is providing wonderful motivation for completing indoor schoolwork each day - He can't wait to get outside to tend to his critters! 

But truthfully, this is incredibly rich and valuable learning time, right in our very own backyard. 

Hendrick was just saying today how thankful he is for God's creation : )

Praises to Him

Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; 

Speak of all His wonders. 

1 Chronicles 16:9

Fort Donelson

We have spent the past several weeks studying the War between the States - we wrap up our Civil War history unit this week.  We have been taking advantage of local National Battlefields to help make our studies more tangible.  

Two weeks ago, we ventured up to Fort Donelson National Battlefield.  We were all surprised to learn that Donelson was an earthworks fort.  The troops would have wintered in small log structures or tents within the large circle of earthen walls.  There are miles of trenches surrounding the fort.  The cannons were lined up overlooking the river. 

After moving on from Fort Henry, Union and Confederate forces converged at Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River in Tennessee in mid-February, 1862.  The Union Ironclad fleet began firing and were forced to retreat from the 11 cannons on the Fort Donelson batteries.  Despite early celebration by the confederate troops, General Grant immediately launched an aggressive counterattack by land.  The next day, confederate troops were forced to surrender the fort to Grant, earning Ulysses S. Grant the nickname  "Unconditional Surrender" Grant. 

With the capture of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, the North had won its first big victory of the war. 

After this victory, Grant's troops traveled south to Shiloh. 

Three of our boys, along with a friend, all earned the Jr. Ranger Badge during our day-trip to the fort.  Hendrick is working towards the Junior Civil War Historian Patch - which he can attain after earning a Jr. Ranger Badge at three Civil War National Battlefields . . . two down, one more to go.  We are planning to visit Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park in May : )

Mammoth Cave

In mid-March, a group of nearly 40, Cub Scouts and families, braving a forecast of cold temperatures and rain, ventured to Mammoth Caves for a weekend of camping.  We are so blessed to have this amazing geological wonder and National Park within a 3 hour drive of our town.  With the focus of scouting this year to "disciple our boys through high-adventure" - this was a perfect place to give our boys a high-adventure experience.

We arrived on Friday evening, setting up our neighborhood of tents over two group campsites.  The next morning, 25 kids and adults ventured into the Cave - 2 hour and 2 miles of exploration in the world's largest known cave system.  The boys were thrilled to experience "Fat Man's Misery," "Tall Man's Misery," and the "Bottomless Pit." For the majority of the brave spelunkers, this was their first cave experience - what an adventure!

After lunch and play at the campsite, the group trekked out on an above-ground hike.  We took the River Styx Spring Trail: 1/2 mile downhill, past the Historic Cave Entrance, to the Green River, then 1/2 mile up the steep trail, past the River Styx, to Sunset Point.  It was amazing how fast these little ones scales the bluffs - they have incredible amounts of energy! 

That evening, with an intimidating forecast of thunderstorms, the majority of the group packed up, while three of us braved the stormy night . . . it only took 4 days for our tents and sleeping bags to fully dry out after this adventure!

It was a fantastically successful adventure with our kiddos and the Cub Scouts. 

Sweet Hiwot, just an hour before we were scheduled to lead the caravan to Mammoth Cave, flipped her bike off the edge of our driveway.  While she, fortunately, didn't need stitches on her split lip, she did knock her front tooth back and had a horrible swollen lip the entire camping trip.  She was uncomfortable and had a lot of trouble eating, but was such a trooper for the entire weekend.  Thankfully it has since healed beautifully, and we even managed to move her tooth back to a more normal position.

Messy Face

Hey mom, look what I figured out . . . 

 I can drink from my sippy cup!

I might have a messy face, but I sure am cute : ) 

Maclaren, 14 months old