It is...

Here is the official announcement we have all been waiting for!  After months of waiting and some lack of cooperation by certain parties, we have finally learned who our new Baby is!  Today, we got to have a 4D ultrasound done.  Mommy gave last minute instructions and permission to Baby to be immodest (the only time in her life that it will be allowed, I might add), and she obeyed!  Yes, you read it right….we are having…. A GIRL!!!!  We are all looking forward to the arrival of our little 

Phebe Anne!  

Ian has had a few moments of regret that we are having a girl!  He rather woefully told me today, "But, I wanted a baby boy!"  I carefully explained that Jesus gives us what we need - not always what we want.  I further explained that Jesus knows that we must need another girl, and we can trust Him!  I also explained what a special place he (Ian) has in our family as the only boy!  He didn't look very convinced at the moment, but I think he'll be just fine.  I wish you could see the look on his face when he talks about Phebe Anne.  He gets this very gentle, thoughtful look on his face.  It is so sweet and precious to see how God is already putting gentleness into the heart of my rough little son.  He has also been very thoughtful of Phebe lately when we are riding somewhere and it is bumpy.  He'll put his hand on my tummy and very gravely inform me that if it gets too bumpy, he'll "tell them, 'Stop, bumps!'"

Martha is beside herself with excitement over having a sister!  She is still counting the weeks until Phebe gets here (11 and 1/2)!  Mommy is counting too!

Little By Little

 "Little By Little" is my theme for the next 18 weeks!  I have been trying to get something done every week for Baby!  Today we were able to get the crib, sheets, bumpers, and even a tiny pillow! We still don't know yet if the Lord will be blessing us with another boy or another girl.
Being rather non-traditional, this crib set caught my eye the other day….I love the farm!  Some of you will shake your heads in amazement at me, but I've never been a real fan of the traditional "everything pink for girls and everything blue for boys"!  Please understand, I WANT Martha and Ian to be as girlish and boyish as God made them to be!  And naturally I want Baby to be all that God has planned as well!

I had so much fun putting the crib together this morning!  Yes, I was very careful, and the kids helped me!  They were excited to have a part in putting the bed together - their part was handing me the bolts that hold it all together!  It will take some time to get used to seeing a crib in Martha's room!  Lord willing, we will get to find out next week if Martha gets to stay and share a room with Baby or we have to swap rooms and Ian will be sharing a room!  Seeing the crib is funny to me, because we never had a crib for Martha or Ian.  We were on deputation with both of them, and they got to enjoy the fun of a Pack and Play!  With Martha, we had a "Jungle Animal" theme, and with Ian, we had a "Camouflage, Hunting, Fishing" theme.
I really wasn't sure what direction I wanted to go in for Baby, but when I saw this crib set (at the same store where we bought the crib), I knew I had my answer!  I grew up in the country, and if the Lord had never called me to be a Missionary (which I am extremely happy in doing and being), I would have been happy having my own farm!  Martha and Ian are both so excited about Baby coming!  They are so full of wonderful plans that it seems at times as if they are going to burst!  I showed them a newborn diaper today to help them have some idea of just how tiny Baby will be when Baby arrives!  It was so funny to see their faces - I should have had the camera at THAT moment - as their little minds tried to absorb the tininess of Baby!  Almost every day Martha will ask me when Baby is coming - April is Sooooo far away when you are 4 years old!  She and Ian both love to give Baby hugs and kisses - several times a day, and always at night before bed!

 So here is my farm….I have a garden on my front porch for my field of crops, but the most important crop I am cultivating at this point in my life is not my plants on the porch….it is the two "tender plants" (Isaiah 53:2a) God has already given me and the one that is coming in April!