Hubby's Mad Skillz

Saturday Randy and my dad moved in the last piece of furniture Randy could build for our house...our dresser. We now only have four pieces of furniture that he hasn't replaced - our two night stands, our dining room table, and the hope chest my grandpa built. So I guess there are three pieces left for him to replace. Out the door went my little dresser I've had for about 13 years and 6 homes. It was falling apart. In came a very large dresser. So large that everything in my little old dresser fits in half of this dresser with room to spare. AND I have a jewelry drawer...no more wasted space and lost earrings. Randy and I actually share a dresser now...although he still has the closet across the hall. And we have another mostly empty dresser in the office. Know what that means??? Extra storage...my favorite!!


On a completely different topic, in case any of you were wondering at 38 weeks baby may stick straight out, but I'm still within the normal weight range...bring on the ice cream! :-)

Racing to the Finish

This is little Miss Fish's mommy Jodi at her shower on Saturday. She's six days behind me, and we're on a race to the finish. Our hubbies are trying to get us to go into labor at the same time, so they can have a diversion. :-) I think we'll give them one either way.

And yes, I do feel like a big orange sun ball in the shirt, but it's bright and springy and I like it!

36 weeks!

Okay, we're actually at 36 weeks and 5 days, but who's counting? Here's the latest belly pic. And since his room is ready for him, we might as well take the belly pics in the baby room!

This was Snow Weekend Project #3, a gift for our new little friend Miss Fish, who is due to arrive 6 days after IB. We'll see who wins this race. :-)

It was fun to make girly blocks, too! There are so many more fun girl options than there are for boys...although I have to say the little cowboys on IB's blocks were pretty fun.

Hope...Ancient Word Wednesday

Today the word has been hope. This whole week actually. My brother started it with his amazing example of hope in the Lord despite the Red River's rising waters. Last week I called to check in with him, and he sounded so weary from hours of sandbagging and working. At that point they hadn't even started to pack up their house. But there was hope in his voice. He was the one who reminded me to wrap my theology around the situation. God knew about the flood long, long ago. He knew exactly what would happen when and to whom. Jeff had hope in Romans 8:28...that God causes all things to work for the good of those He calls.

"McMama" is another amazing example of hoping in the Lord as she watches her son fight for his 5 month old life - check out her blog. Her hope is not in the doctors, her hope is in the Lord.

Hope in God rises above all the other stuff...it's like a warm comforting blanket that settles and quiets. Or an umbrella offering protection from life's torents. It brings peace. It's not hope for hope's sake. It's hope in Who God is. The sovereign God of all the universe. The God of Job 38-40.

"And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You." Psalm 39:7

Ready to Welcome Him Home...

You asked...and I'm finally answering. This weekend's snowstorm was very good for finishing IB's room. Here's his crib complete with Grandma's farm bumper and quilt!

And here's his dresser. I know you've already seen it, but this weekend we switched out the handles with a fun find at an antique store...old outdoor faucet handles! Randy rigged them up to work as perfect handles!

I was planning on painting a few pictures for his room, but I honestly didn't think it was going to happen until after he came. These paintings are Snow Day Project 1 and 2. I finished Projects 3 and 4 too, but those pictures will come soon. The sheep is the same one on the quilt and bumper. And yes, you can all laugh at the Meal Times schedule...I know I will in a couple weeks!

And this is our prayer for IB...that he would really know who God is and know Him personally to serve Him faithfully. The unimog (truck) is also repeated from the quilt and bumper.

There are a few things left to do. I need to finish his lamp shade and once he's born and we know for sure what his name is, I'll paint the letters and hang them on the wall.

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Yesterday we had our 36 week appointment. IB is making progress...only a little, but he's making some. I'm dilated 1 1/2 cm, so the process is started! YAY!

March Brings Snow Showers?

It. is still. snowing. It hasn't stopped snowing since 11 AM yesterday. We have 18" of snow in our town, and we may get another 5-8" today. So much for the 6-10" they predicted! I've never seen that much here before (not in a whole winter's worth of snow!), and Randy can't remember a blizzard like this here. There's a town west of us that has gotten 28"! Thankfully, it's just been snow and sleet though. Not far east of us, they're getting a lot of freezing rain, which means they'll be in for plenty of power outages.

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Yep, we were the adventuresome ones who left our house today around 9:30. Us and a few other big trucks testing out their snow strength. I don't have pictures of it, but we did get stuck...in the Hastings parking lot. Hastings was open, of all things! We got four movies just in case we're inside all day tomorrow, too, and then headed straight home. What a mess!

The sun came out this afternoon and the temperature is 38 degrees and really windy. The melting has started already. But with this much snow, it's going to take a few days! In case you can't tell, that's the bench, table, and Adirondack chair on our back patio. Snowman anyone?

Normally, I'd love to be out playing in this at least for a little while. Today? Let's just say that if I fell down I don't think I'd get back up and that just sounds like way too much energy to waste!

Last week it was almost 80 degree here. My peonies are coming up. Thankfully, my peas and lettuce still have their baby heads tucked in the soil. This is what my hubby is doing right now. This is only the second or third time I've heard the scrape scrape of the shovel on the driveway this winter! Oh, and the entire town shut down at 1:00. The clinic even shut down. So we're home, and I'm ready to tackle a whole list of little odd jobs while chili cooks away in the crock pot.

But all this is nothing compared to what's going on up in Fargo/Moorhead. Check out Our Lives in a Nutshell to see what my brother and his family are dealing with now. Our prayers are definitely with them!