The Cat's out of the Bag!

We found out on Wednesday (1/9/08) that my "stomach bug" is actually a baby. WOW!! What a surprise. What a wonderful, wonderful surprise. So, baby Floria #4 will arrive sometime in early August. (9th or 10th) What an amazing God we serve! With all three of our older children we never had a sonogram done. So actually seeing this little one was pretty amazing. Both Bram & I cried the whole time. I think we even made the nurse cry. How precious is that. When we told the kids, they absolutely went bananas! It was so fun to watch them get excited about it. They could hardly sleep that night with excitement. Better than Christmas. The next morning they could hardly wait to get to school to tell their friends. It's been quite and exciting few days.

Reality has also set in quickly, as well. We realize that this news changes everything about who we thought we were as a family. Time for re-thinking and re-evaluating. We're confident that God has a plan and a purpose, we just don't know what on earth it could be right now. We also realize that we have nothing (did I say NOTHING) for a baby. So, I'm sure, the next few months will be filled with gathering, and shopping and buying everything baby we'll need.

So...stay tuned. The saga of this Princess is only getting more interesting with time. No telling what God will do next.

Just had to post this picture...

I love my family!

2008...To Resolve or Not to Resolve

My oldest daughter asked me the other day if I was going to make any New Years Resolutions. I told her (emphatically, I might add) "NO". I used to, but then (around mid-February) I always begin to wonder why I did it in the first place. I am quite prone to guilt and I spend the rest of the year trying to get myself on track and then beating myself up when I don't. Don't get me wrong, I think resolutions can be a good thing, if you are able to keep them AND they're realistic. I think that was my biggest problem. Too unrealistic. You know, lose 15lbs by March, exercise everyday, cook a healthy dinner for your family every night. Just to cook every night would be a HUGE thing at our house. Somehow our schedule doesn't always allow for that.

I suppose there are things I'd like to be better at in 2008, things I'd like to do more of.
~I'd like to Worship more. I really do want to spend more time worshiping Jesus and not just talking about doing it.
~I'd like to pray more in 2008. I mean really pray! Intercede for others.
~I'd like to spend more time with my children. Not just in the car going to and from school or activities, but real time with them. Playing, talking, reading, laughing, listening, snuggling. What could possibly more important than that?
~I'd like to have more conversations with my husband. Not just the kind that ask, "How was your day?", but the kind that leads to other conversations and memories and plans and the like. The kind of conversations I remember seeing (as a kid) my grandparents have sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee. I've often wondered what they were talking about...now I believe it was just about "stuff". I think they just enjoyed the sound of each others voices.

So, maybe (just maybe) these are resolutions. I'm still not so sure I believe they are...just the ramblings and hopes of a princess on a journey to be more like the King Who created her.