peach fuzz

According to thebump.com, our littlest love is peach-sized these days. What their site says about week 13: "your fetus is forming teeth and vocal cords... savor this, their non-functional phase. Baby is approaching normal proportions, with a head now only one third the size of the body. Intestines are in the process of moving from the umbilical cord to baby's tummy. (Much more convenient.)"

Back when no one knew about this baby but us and God, I sent Jonathan an email about our then poppy seed-sized baby:

poppy seed officially counts as an em**** now. already. My, how time flies.

xoxo

{I wrote "em****" because I was trying to be secretive just in case anyone caught a glimpse of the email.}

---

Jonathan's reply made me almost panic:

It's a good thing you can't take it out and put it on the mantle or some other place in the house. That thing's tiny.

In this house, things are very frequently lost or misplaced. I forget my safe places, the places I think "oh, I'll remember I put it here." Nope. I never remember. I'm a little surprised we haven't lost one of our children. It's a good thing they're all pretty loud.

So, for a while the little one was lovingly called poppy seed and then sesame seed. A peach now? Fingerprints already? I'm already feeling this little peach bump around from time to time, and I'm loving every minute of it, especially as a distraction from the nausea.

In five weeks we'll have our ultrasound. I think this time, more than ever, it will be nerve-wracking for me to wait and hope and pray that all is ok. I can't explain why that is because my faith is stronger than during my earlier pregnancies. Maybe it's because I've learned to a fuller extent that God's ways are not my ways, but that they are always right and sovereign. Add to that that we are considering not finding out the baby's gender. Not sure if I'm that patient, but we are both very intrigued by the idea of not knowing until the birth. Time will tell if we actually do it. It's interesting how opinionated people are about us even considering it. If only they knew that may make us more prone to wait...

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart..." Jeremiah 1:5

snow day

I stole this from a friend's facebook status {because I love it}:

For He says to the snow, "Fall to the earth" and the torrential rains, His mighty torrential rains serve as his signature to all mankind, so that all men may know His work.

I love that all we have to do to see God's glory is see His hand in creation.

Ella is 3!

Ella at 2 months

That seems so absurd, really, that my little baby girl is 3 today. I'm a little upset about it honestly, but so grateful to have her in my life and excited to see her Father's will for her life unfold. So far, she is really gifted at bringing joy.

Her birthday celebration began on Saturday with a girls-only {much to Miles' chagrin} princess tea party. We enjoyed have 5 little princesses join us, along with their moms, two aunts and some other special moms. The girls watched a princess movie after their lunch while the moms, aunts, my mom and I enjoyed a nice, pretty much quiet, leisurely tea party of our own.

Today Ella, her boys {as she calls them}, and I had lunch with my mom and then headed to build-a-bear. Ella loved choosing her animal {a pink bear - no surprise there}. She chose the heart, kissed it, stepped on the stuffing pedal, and chose a Sleeping Beauty dress {and pink panties, of course}.
Tonight we had dinner with Jonathan's parents and then came home for our family presents and a birthday doughnut. Here she is wearing her Fancy Nancy dress {thanks Meme and Granddaddy!} and the princess gloves that Elijah wanted to give her.
I love these words from "Eliana's Song" by Watermark:

Baby woman, tiny in stature now
But your heart is a treasure
Little princess come follow behind me now
I am reaching for you

To mother a daughter, to look you in the eye
To know that I had everything, to walk with you in life
To give you to Jesus that He would impart
The wisdom that I'm longing for to mother your heart

There will be others to lead and to guide you girl
But only one you'll call Mother, the honor is all mine
To show you what a woman's like
I'm so glad you're mine

The tenderness of God is twirling around
In our living room tonight
Lighting up your daddy's eyes
And know that he just wants to freeze you in time

"The tenderness of God" is absolutely evident in our sweet little girl and I am forever thankful He chose to give her to us. Happy, happy birthday to my baby woman!

"The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord." Psalm 45:11