Children are a gift from the Lord.

"Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him." Psalm 127:3

Pregnancy is an amazing thing, a gift. What a privilege to be called to motherhood, to be rewarded with such life. One thing our growing family has taught me is that the Lord will be glorified through us, every day. His plan far surpasses my own desires and what better way to be blessed than with a beautiful new baby. Our children will always be "God planned". 

I LOVE being pregnant. I love everything about it. Through the fatigue, the aches, the labor, I am exceedingly blessed by it. I realize there will come a day when I will be done with this season of my life, when the Lord will be satisfied with what He has cultivated. For now, I am thoroughly enjoying this precious little life, which is why I want to document it. It amazes me what little details get lost and forgotten as time passes. And because, whether easy or not, pregnancy and birth is an amazing thing that is well worth sharing! 

I want to share this journey with you. I want you to understand my thoughts and decisions as we plan our fourth home birth with a wonderful Midwife. I want you to know there are other options for you. I want you to experience this with me! 

My plan is to document each week of our pregnancy whether detailed or not, exciting or not, challenging or not. It all matters. 

I will start off with this:

We are now 9 weeks pregnant! (And if you want to know something about me, I am not a stickler for dates. We are due in "May".) Because I knew right away, I feel as if I've known forever, however we shared far sooner than our other three children. Something was telling me to just be open about it all this time. We dealt with an early miscarriage with our first pregnancy and at the time (and since) I've been so glad that was not revealed publicly, as it was very hard. Through the blessings and hurts, the Lord teaches me something every day and I trust His plan. 

Something that is so special this time around, is the interaction with my oldest two (4 and 2). They are very aware of their new baby brother or sister and LOVE him/her already! They pray for baby "Woodling" almost every night and will pull my shirt up to kiss my belly. This is my first time experiencing this, since they have never been aware prior to baby being born that it was going to happen. They just thought the giant blow up (birth) pool in the living room was a bounce house for them! They were just too little to fully understand. This time is different and I am LOVING it. Other than being tired, I have been feeling so great and I am so thankful while taking care of three other little ones. 

Next week I will work in a first "belly shot" to watch that belly grow! I must say, after carrying three babies in the span of 5 years, my body does NOT hide a baby! I feel like I'm bloating "showing" already and honestly love it. Again, I love being pregnant. 

Until next time!