If you came to my house today

You'd see that my geraniums are blooming... again.

Hello, second trimester!

I try not to be too concerned about how I look like I'm more like 25 weeks pregnant than 13, but this is my third baby and I only have 5 feet and one inch of height to work with so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the comments from the peanut gallery started today in full force. It was amazing.

However, I'm parading my pregnant pooch and I'm proud of it.

I can't wait to meet this baby.

And I think if it's a girl I might have to include Hope in her name in some way. I would have a hard time even starting to describe the myriad of ways that we're dealing with death right now. I just can't even begin to go into all of it, but like I told my sister tonight, if I didn't know Jesus, it would be pretty ugly right now. And depressing.

I need a little Hope.

Don't we all?

The intruder

Because you asked, Melissa....

I pulled up to the house on Friday morning only to find a furry creature sunning himself on the windowsill of my bedroom.

Great. I really had a busy day lined up and this little guy ruined my plans for a shower, among other things.

However, overall, I'm grateful for all this little rodent taught me.

So, because I know you want to know, here's the list:

1. Animal control and all other pest control services wash their hands of squirrels. I don't know why they discriminate, but they do. No help there.
2. You can get some really amusing although largely unhelpful advice when you solicit it on Facebook via a frantic status update (VexCon?, squirrel stew).
3. It's kind of fun to call your best friend and kind of screech about it. I mean, when your days kind of run together sometimes like mine do, a squirrel in your house can kind of ruin your day, but also add a little excitement.
4. I am completely and utterly inept at the business of pest control. I may like the "Brown Squirrel" song, but I don't ever want to get anywhere near them as they shake their bushy tails.
5. Never, and I mean never, underestimate what Jack Chaney can do with his hard hat, safety goggles, and a broom. If only I had a picture of that part of our Friday afternoon excitement...

Singing bird, flowing fountains

Kathy, one of my most faithful encouragers and recent traveler to the top of a Hawaiian volcano (isn't this picture amazing?), sent me an email on Thursday letting me know that I and the hymn "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee" were on her heart and mind.

Of all the lyrics, "singing bird and flowing fountain call us to rejoice in Thee" really stuck out to me.

Call me crazy, but all I could think about were my two kids. My singing bird? Anna Grace. My flowing fountain? Zeke's victory in potty training. He doesn't wear diapers- ever. Not even at night. It's amazing and wonderful. I'm thankful for flowing fountains of urine. Is that weird?

I guess I just have the mind of a mother.

But I'm dead serious. It causes me to rejoice in Jesus.

Not only that, but for the Father love reigning over me and Kathy- binding us together in a bond even death cannot break. I am so grateful.

Mortals, join the happy chorus, which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o’er us, brother love binds man to man.

May you find Joy today. Like my peculiar joy found at the toilet goes to show, it may be in the oddest or most ordinary place, but it's waiting for you just the same.

Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!

Picture of the Day

Proverbs 15:13 "A happy heart makes the face cheerful"

by Nora Greer

What is life really worth?

Here they are: Anna Grace and Benjamin age 5 and
Zeke and Samuel age 2.

My friend Lydia and I have been pregnant at the same time for about 80% of our gestational experiences thus far and so it has been a bit strange that we're not sharing the same physical manifestations of welcoming new life into the world this time around. In a way, I feel like I'm flying solo.

But even though she's not pregnant, she is. She's pregnant just as much as I am- waiting on the imminent adoption of her baby girl. For me, it's been a really different and almost strange experience waiting for news of Bethany's birth and I know for Lydia that it's making her a little bit crazy. At least I have a due date. She just has to wait.

Today, I was chatting with my friend and discussing the conundrum of how much money we're going to have shell out for the birth of our little Chaney. That's life with a high deductible HSA. In the midst of my schpeel, Lydia shared about what she has learned through fighting for Bethany by having to garner support and raise money for the expensive venture of taking in orphaned children.

She reminded me that Jesus told us that where our treasure is, there our heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21)

It helped me take a step back and look at the proverbial big picture. It's going to cost us- lots of time and money and energy. But what is a life worth? We will endeavor to raise this child to know and love Jesus and in turn inherit a life that will eternally glorify God. A few thousand dollars is nothing in the long run. Neither is a string of sleepless months or a few years of having to deal with toddler tantrums.

Where is my treasure? What am I investing in?

When you think about investments, you think about your return- what kind of gains you might make or what kind of losses you might sustain.

In the short term, adding little family members can seem like a loss, but I don't want to be short-sighted. The return on this investment is eternal and it's all to the end of giving your life away, in love, to the One who gave it.

Malachi 2:15 "Didn't the LORD make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard yourself; remain loyal to the wife of your youth." (NLT, emphasis mine)

For those of us in the place of being able to bring forth life, we do well to respond to the Spirit's nudges to give ourselves to the work of parenthood. But even if you're not in a place to have a baby, you're in a place to promote life. Check out Randy Bohlender's thoughts on the subject. It may not be all that comfortable and it may not make all that much sense to the world at large and admittedly even to me and my selfish tendencies, but the investment is going to pay off.

It's worth it.

Whether it's giving financially or breaking through administrative red tape or dealing with morning sickness, sometimes we just have to fight for life and know that every exhausting battle is worth it all.

Post Script: And sometimes you get your lawyer friend to pump you up for a gang-busters meeting with your OB's business office to advocate for your rights as an insurance carrying consumer. Turns out, there's lots of ways to fight for life. Thanks friends. :)

My little helper

Our little moments

Forget trick-or-treating... the party was enough!

I didn't get too many pictures of the big event because it was so bananas, but I think my little Native American birthday girl had a great time.

A few highlights of the event:

My friend Bethany has crazy-good cake-making skills. I just wish you could taste it through your computer screen. If you ever read this, my friend, thanks again! It was AMAZING!

Mario was just plain funny. That's my nephew Cavett. Anna Grace kept asking, "what's up with the belly?" I was SO glad that my both of my sisters and their families could make it.

This is the Southern Living owl that taunted me for about a day and a half. I worked so hard on him. Super cute idea with the Moon Pie and the open face Oreos and the candy corn but the problem is, they just didn't say on their stick. It may have worked in North Dakota, but not in the lovely South where the confectioner's glue warms to a humid 75 degrees. I tried, but let's face it- I'm not even close to a Martha Stewart wannabe. It's just the ugly truth. I don't think Anna Grace cared. So I shouldn't either.

The potato sack races were generally entertaining as was the pin-the-nose-on-the-pumpkin game. Crazy, but fun. Kind of the theme of the day.

Like I said, crazy but fun. I had so many more friends I wanted to invite, but I learned that you can only do so much when you have a party in your mom's front yard. I thought we did pretty well finding chairs for all 25 kids. Pretty amazing...

And I hear the Z man had a good time.

So there you have it. Anna Grace is five. Ka-stinkin-chow!

What a day.