Oct. 25, 2008
More political stuff...
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I couldn't have said it better myself :). We are not 5 point Calvinists (and no, we aren't Armenian either -we are simply followers of Jesus :)), but we do believe that God is sovereign and that nothing can happen that He does not allow to happen. We believe that He already knows who will win this election and that He will ultimately use it for our good and His glory, even if it is Obama. All we have to do is give our vote to the type of man that the scriptures portray as a man worthy of leadership . The rest is up to God :). |
Oct. 23, 2008
Presidential Debate Tonight!
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"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost."
Sadly, many people don't seem to be aware that there are other candidates to choose from this year aside from Obama and McCain, neither of whom will be receiving our votes. You would not believe the amount of times we've heard that we "have" to vote for McCain because any other vote is a vote for Obama, the "lesser of two evils" argument. Well, the way we see it, a vote for the "lesser" of two evils is still a vote for evil and we just can't do that when there is a godly Christian man running. We will be casting our votes for Chuck Baldwin this year. Will he win? Likely not, especially because so many people who would prefer to see him win are voting out of fear for McCain instead. Even the Republican Party had to start somewhere. And if you think about it, four years under Obama with Christians constantly down on their knees in petition to God could be much more productive than four years under McCain while the majority of Christians placidly sit by thinking they have won the battle only to learn that they have lost the war as the Republican Party continues to erode our liberties one at a time. I am so saddened to see the way our country is being run :(. Our founding fathers would be horrified, and even many of them had their own issues ;). This whole bailout mess, that both McCain and Obama voted for, has just been ridiculous (Here is Chuck Baldwin's view on the bail out and see what Ron Paul had to say about it here and here)! Whatever happened to our elected officials representing the people who put them in office?! A majority (albeit small majority, but a majority nontheless) of Americans were against the bailout and yet it passed the vote anyway? That is just wrong :(. Everything the government has they first took from us, it is not theirs to spend as they choose. Are these politicians not thinking of our children and the mess they are setting them up to inherit?! O.K., taking a deep breath and moving on... ;)-- John Quincy Adams Anyway, all of that to say, there will be a debate tonight between two third party candidates. We'll likely have to catch clips of it online later as tonight has already been declared family night, but we've already decided who we're voting for ;). And on a side note, the last 48 hours or so Abbi has done GREAT!!! She's had pretty bad reflux which has aggrivated her other issues and in the last 48+ hours she has had feedings where she didn't spit up at all :)! We're praising God here :)!!! Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: ~Exodus 18:21 |
Oct. 17, 2008
Happy Little Abbi
I was finally able to catch Abbi's big grin on camera :)... She continues to gain weight very slowly but there is nothing wrong with her developmentally! She's been smiling for weeks and yesterday she turned over from her front to her back for the first (...and second...and third...etc. ) time :).She's a sweetheart :)...  |
Oct. 17, 2008
A "must see" documentary
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I have been wanting to see Demographic Winter for a long time and I was sooo excited to find the entire documentary on Google Video! This is so interesting folks!This is a secular documentary that reinforces everything that God has said about families! Marriage should be between one man and one woman for life, God hates divorce. Be fruitful and multiply. Men should leave their fathers and mothers and cleave to their wives to begin a new family unit. We should love the spouse of our youth. Women should be keepers of the home. Children are a blessing to their parents and a crown to the aged. The man at the end who admits to being a secularist shares that people of faith are the only ones who are going to survive this "demographic winter" unless we take some very politically incorrect steps, like a world wide return to patriarchy. I could go on and on but I think you get the idea ;). We need to spread this link around because the face of the world that our children will inherit is looking pretty bleak if we continue down this road. Speaking of a bleak future... On second thought, you don't want to get me started on this whole bail out mess... But here is a video link that speaks exactly to how I feel about it,,, Are Federal Bailouts Compassionate? The rest of the videos on that page are equally interesting. |
Oct. 17, 2008
Books and Babies...
Her favorite things :)... |
Sep. 20, 2008
Yet another great update on Abbi :)!
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Well, it wasn't all in my head ;). Abbi is doing great! We took her in to get her weighed yesterday and after almost two weeks of merely maintaining her weight she gained four ounces in 48 hours! The pediatrician and lactation consultant had said they would be happy with an ounce or two! When the pediatrician came in to check on her all he could say was, "Wow. That's wonderful! Wow..." over and over :). I'm taking Fenugreek, eating a ton of oatmeal, drinking a lot of water, and nursing...nursing...nursing..., does anyone have any other suggestions? They both noticed that she was a much calmer, more content little girl. She's still not having as many messy diapers a day as I think she "should" but at least she's having them! And her little tummy isn't hurting like it was. She hasn't screamed for a few days now though she still has her occasional fussy times, like all new babies. I am so thankful that we have got a plan and it's working, praise the Lord! She's sleeping peacefully in my lap right now, she's so cute :)! We got our first "Jon and Kate Plus Eight" comment the other day at the grocery store, and we only have five! We don't have cable and it has been a while since I've seen the one episode I've ever seen so I pulled up some clips online to see who we were bringing to the mind of the cashier. Bri and I got a kick out of a few things that we haven't seen other people do, like when they pulled a step stool out of their van for the little ones to get in (even I need to use the stool or get a hand from Lee to get into our 15 passenger van). For the most part though I saw NO correlation whatsoever. First of all, I've got it easy comparatively ;)!!! Mine come one at a time (though I would love to have multiples one day if the Lord willed it :)!) and I have big girls (11 and almost 7) to help! Second, Lee and I don't talk to each other in the midst of our biggest disagreements like they seem to do on a regular basis! They do appear to love each other in a way but the seemingly constant animosity would drive me insane! Whew! I loved the clip where she put one boy in time-out (for biting his brother- that would require more than a time out here...) and a minute later she looks down with an adoring grin at one of her little ones and says, "Hello :)", and then realizes it is the offender who should be in time out ;). It was interesting anyway :). My mom is taping some of the large family shows that are on cable for us, that should make for some fun family "movie" nights :). I'll keep you updated on Abbi's progress and maybe I'll get some other blogging done (like her birth story :)) now that the decibel level has gone down a little bit around here :). |
Sep. 18, 2008
Another update on Abbi!
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Abbi is doing great and has been for the last 30'ish hours :). When we took her into the pediatrician I mentioned to him that I was still really worried about the lack of messy diapers but then the nurse weighed her and she hadn't gained anything in over a week and I became really worried :(. We have never had that happen before. Of course the pediatrician was concerned as well and went to see if the lactation consultant could see us. Come to find, Abbi is a "lazy nurser with a lazy latch". She was getting "enough" to sustain her but not enough to satisfy her and give her something to grow on and because she wasn't nursing well (she was nursing a lot time-wise, just not well) my body wasn't producing well. The lactation consultant helped me figure out what I needed to do to help her latch properly and I got some herbs yesterday to help with production. I also nursed her whenever she was awake yesterday whether she was "asking" or not. Within hours she was a whole new baby. She hasn't had a crying fit since yesterday afternoon. She has had TWO messy diapers just today. We'll take her back tomorrow morning to get her weighed again, if everything is going well she should have gained an ounce or two. The lactation consultant also said that once we get things "moving along" more consistently in her tummy the gas issue will probably clear up (and it does appear to have already!).
Thank you so much for your prayers :)! God is good :)!!! |
Sep. 16, 2008
In which Abbi takes the term "Daddy's girl" a little too far...
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I have mentioned that Abbi had some nursing issues until pretty recently. She simply didn't care to nurse. Or, she would act as if she wanted to but would start screaming as soon as I would start trying to feed her and keep it up until I gave up or she fell asleep. A week ago today was Lee's first full day back at work, as in 12+ hours, open to close. Abbi nursed nicely that morning but after that first feeding of the day she refused to eat anymore. I wasn't too concerned at first, I let her go back to sleep and tried again when she woke up, still she wouldn't eat. This went on all day until eight hours later when I started panicking and Lee decided he needed to come home early to calm us both down ;). When Lee arrived home I was back in our room bawling holding a screaming Abbi, who I was sure was starving to death. Lee calmly took her, cooed at her saying, "You need to eat good for Mama", handed her to me...and she went to town. For almost an hour. I was simultaneously crying and laughing hysterically ;). You should have heard her little tummy fighting over that food. The next day she ate great for that first feeding but at the second she started in again. I called Lee and put him on speaker phone. Guess what? I kid you not, she calmed down and ate "good for Mama". It didn't work the next time but within 24 hours she was eating pretty consistently for the most part so there were no more meltdowns (of mother or baby) over meals :). Now, isn't that one for the baby book ;)?  |
Sep. 16, 2008
An Abbi update
I haven't forgotten about the promised birth story. I've also got so many sweet pictures I would love to share, like this one... and current events that I would like to blog about. Lee says that I have become obsessed by the elections (there is a third candidate you can check out... our likely candidate, Baldwin/Castle 2008 ). I have had plenty of opportunity to catch up on blogs I read and current events but I haven't had much of an opportunity for typing because my arms have been full ;). Abbi has already taught her mother much :). A few days after she was born she was crying inconsolably at about three in the morning and I finally started crying myself and exclaimed to Lee, "She's my fifth baby and I don't know what to do!", this was something I hadn't expected because our last few babies have been so relatively "easy". He calmly reminded me that she may be our fifth baby but she was our "first Abbi" ;). I've had to remind myself of that every time that those "I don't know what to do!" feelings creep up. Bri was a pretty fussy baby but looking back I think it was largely the fact that she was on formula. On top of that we just were not the parents then that we are now. Being young and unsure of our instincts we bought in to the "just let them cry" crowd, and boy did she ;). Over time she "taught" us a better way and by toddler hood we were fitting well into the attachment parenting crowd, though until recently I didn't realize there was an actual "label" to our "style" of parenting. But, back to Abbi...the poor baby is miserable :(. I thought we had made a breakthough the last couple of days but after a time of quiet she ends up screaming again. She is wetting diapers better than any baby that I can remember but she isn't having hardly any of the "other kind" of diapers. The pediatrician and the midwife both say that that can be normal for a nursing baby but it is hard for me to accept that her screaming in such discomfort can be "normal". We have another pediatrician appointment tomorrow and I am hoping that he can tell me something I can do to help her. Your prayers that if there is an issue it would be uncovered would be greatly appreciated. On the other hand, if this is truly something that she will just have to grow out of could you please pray for her mommy ;)? I am having a really hard time seeing her so sad and seemingly hurting and there is nothing I can do about it. We have tried warm baths and simithecone which helps very temporarily. You know I'm serious when I've actually given her something! I do not like to do medications unless absolutely necessary, I only took tylenol myself twice after she was born and tried to time it to where she wouldn't get any when she nursed, but she was so uncomfortable that I thought the simithecone was worth a try. Some very good news, she's doing much better at nursing!!! No real problems there at this point, yeah! In fact, nursing is often the only thing that will soothe her. I do have quite the nursing story to share but it will have to wait, it deserves it's own post ;). Anyway, just wanted to give you all an update and share my prayer request. I'll let you know what the pediatrician has to say. Before I go, here is one more of those pictures I've been wanting to share :)...  |
Sep. 16, 2008
Duggar news...
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Have you heard Joshua Duggar's big news :)? And here is a link to the new book by Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, The Duggars: 20 and Counting!: Raising One of America's Largest Families--How they Do It, that should be out this December. |