Hanging in there

     I know it's been a long time since I wrote, but I have tried a few times in the last few months but I was having computer issues.  Well, maybe it was me....but I blame technology.  Not a fan at times.  Well, since I last wrote, obviously lots of things have gone on.  Holidays, family time and growing time.  I still have been homeschooling my 3 year old, but it's not all that intense as far as learning goes.  I was really nervous when I started out with the homeschooling.  I felt like if my child was not a prodigy by four that I would have failed.  But the more I read and the more I talk to people I see that it doesn't matter.  And the more I let go of my desire for her to be the smartest 3 year old ever, the more I enjoyed spending the time with her.  I realized that there is only so much you can expect, and there is only so much a 3 year old should have to do.  She still needs to be a kid, and she does know the things she should (even though she sometimes acts like she doesn't).  I also saw that though she can't perfectly write each and every letter, she knows Bible stories and talks about Jesus.  She is no theologian, but my main purpose as a parent more than anything else is to make sure they know who He is, and what they do with that knowledge is up to them.  Academically she is fine, and will be fine.  But I realized I needed to also remember why I chose to do this and keep things in perspective.
      I am also growing in my middle, luckily this time not as fast as with previous pregnancies.  I am now 25 wks and 2days.  I wish I was like 10 weeks ahead, but it takes time to make a baby. : )  I do not have easy pregnancies, and this one is no different. I have had my struggles as this little one is growing inside me, but luckily the baby is fine.  It's mama that struggles, which I would prefer anyway.  I have been feeling a little discouraged and down.  But I've been doing a study in my mom's group called Raising Responsive Children.  One of the chapters talked about childbirth and how it came to be such a "pain" literally.  Because of woman's sin in the beginning, childbirth became hard and painful.  That hasn't changed much since then.  Even with all our technology and medical knowledge we women still struggle to get pregnant, to be pregnant, to carry babies, and then bring them into the world.  I saw that although I struggle and have painful experiences that God is ultimately in control of it all.  There is nothing that I am going through that other women have not gone through, and the end result is just as miraculous.  I can't wait for the baby to come, and to enjoy her as I have my first two. : )
     Here are a few pics.  They're old but I could not get them to load ever till now for some reason.

Don't tell daddy what we got him...No matter how much he begs

This is when it snowed and it was so pretty around our place