On the Home Front....

As you may all see, we updated our family pictures! We are very thankful to Jenny Savage for taking the time to get these done for us before Anna's transplant. We had a ton of fun doing these and decided that March is way better for outdoor pictures than February....about 15 degrees better! I was grateful that the children cooperated so well and we were able to get them done in a relatively short amount of time!

Life has been a bit more on the "normal" side since getting to come back home. Okay, who am I fooling anyway? What is normal? Does normal even exist? I think that normal is just a fantasy of what our ideal life should be. So, let me start over..... life has been the same amount of busy, craziness, and interruptions as we have come to expect in our home. Oye, that doesn't sound very appealing or romantic does it? Just real. I mean what do you expect with a Dad who is a full time Pastor, a mom who is pregnant with baby number 12 and sicker than EVER, four teenagers, two pre-teens, four little kids, and one very rambunctious toddler?!! Oh I know, that toddler in the picture looks like an ANGEL doesn't she? She is sooooo adorable and sweet! And rambunctious, mischievous, ornery....you get the picture! What can I say, we have tons of fun with this crew and all 13 personalities in our home! It definitely creates a perfect place for the sanctifying work of our Heavenly Father for each of us and I wouldn't change a thing about it!

I mentioned that I am sicker than I have ever been with any of our babies. I am quite familiar with "morning sickness" and this has been much much more! It was bad enough for me to call my doctor for a prescription of Zofran. This has helped considerably! I now feel like I have regular morning sickness rather than "I'm going to die right here, right now" sickness. It is amazing that a little kumquat sized person can be the cause of such terrible sickness and the zapping of all of my energy! Maybe I'm just getting old, maybe I'm just becoming a wimp, who knows. Maybe the stress of life lately has a bit to do with the extreme difference? =) Anyway, it really doesn't matter, as this baby is worth it all! It never ceases to amaze me at how quickly a baby is formed....with every intricate detail in place, being made in the secret parts as the Bible says. At just ten weeks, our baby's vital organs are functioning! His or her little toes and fingers are already beginning to form nails and peach-fuzz hair is beginning to grow on the skin! I am looking forward to our first ultra sound when we will get a little "peek" at this new little life. I finally got a call from my OB's office to schedule our first appointment. I explained that I literally found out I was expecting the day before we found out we had less than two weeks until Anna's intake, and then after the two weeks of intake having the delay meant that I could actually schedule an appointment for me. Unfortunately, they didn't have an open slot until the 29th of this month....the day before intake begins again. I told them I just didn't think I could make it then. I have now been advised to find someone in Seattle who could see me for the months that we live in Seattle and then transfer back here when we are back. This sounds fun, but I'll talk with my husband and see what he says. No decision has been made. At this point, I am scheduled for an ultra sound for the 17th~ the week we are moving!

Yes, I said MOVING! As many of our dear church family already knows, we have found a house! Not only have we found a house, but the owner is actually willing to rent it to us (and he knows how many children we have)!! The six bedroom house I mentioned in an earlier post fell through (that's ok with me, it needed a lot of work). This is a 5 bedroom split-level house that is only 4 1/2 miles from Children's hospital. And it is move in ready! Very clean with a fenced in back yard! The house also has THREE bathrooms! Oh the bliss! Oh the joy! Oh how we may come to get used to this luxury! ;-) But then again, three bathrooms to USE means three bathrooms to CLEAN! Okay, we can learn to be content no matter how many bathrooms we have, at least we have a bathroom INSIDE our home! We are all very excited to get this opportunity! We are over joyed that God would provide us with a clean place to be together! Our 3 year old, Zeke, was ecstatic when I explained to him that us moving meant that mommy and daddy wouldn't have to leave them all home while coming back and forth! There is a relief that has washed over our entire family. This doesn't mean there won't be struggles with the schedule and balancing between Anna and the rest of the children, but it should be minimal.

Again, we thank you all for the love and support that you offer! We feel the prayers going up on our behalf and we are humbled by the donations and other helps that have been sent our way. We trust God to provide for us as needs arise! We know that God's plan for our lives may look different to us than what we might have thought it should, but His ways are higher than our ways! Any and all little (or big) bends in the road, "inconvenient" obstacles, every bump along the path, is there for God's glory! May we each remember this and take it to heart throughout life! God bless you all!