Saturday, September 27, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Lydia Faith is 1!
Lydia is 1 year old today! (Well, this was to be posted on the 21st!) Looking back this seems to be a good year to have behind us. (Our blogging started with www.lydiakunkel.blogspot.com) It's been one of the hardest, most challenging years of our parenting experience. I don't ever remember a child crying so hard for so long, so colicky as she was. I think it took her 4-5 months just to get used to us, then another 4 months to adjust to the world around us. A sneeze, shutting of a door, or one of those "hey Mom!"'s would set her off for an hour and a half. I remember asking God to allow us to see her smile and laugh just to be encouraged that we were doing okay with her. For 8 months she had to be nursed every 2 hours, that was tough! But as I look back I can see God's Mighty Hand and purpose working in and through our lives and that always makes any trial so worth it!
When I was 5 months pregnant the Dr. found a tumor inside my uterus the size of an orange, attached to me, but posed some serious problems if it grows and crowds out, or steals nutrients from this tiny child who we had not yet met in person.
You could see her moving around it in the ultra sound. We were to come back in 6 weeks to see what it would do and what our plan would be to deal with it. 6 weeks of waiting and wondering, and praying. We didn't talk about it mostly because there was so much unknown, too many 'what if's' to think about, and we wanted to see how God would answer our own prayers. A verse we constantly reminded ourselves of was Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." We already knew how incredibly blessed we were to have 7 healthy children and if God could use this trial in our life to draw us closer to Him, or the hearts of our children, or those around us, we were ready for whatever the Lord had for us. Now before that sounds so spiritually strong, I have to honestly say, that morning of our appointment 6 weeks later I couldn't even open my Bible. I remember thinking, what am I going to do, beg? plead? I just wanted to be ready to accept what ever the Lord had for us.
Jeff and I went in alone (left all the kids in the waiting room!) Dr. did the ultra sound right away and much to all of our amazement - the tumor was gone! GONE! Dr. was shocked and looked on the old ultra sound and said, "It was right here, and now it's gone?" He had no explanation for such. To God be the glory! We were so happy, but when it was over and I got back in the van, I just sobbed. I couldn't understand God's goodness, grace and mercy towards us. Because of sin, this is a suffering world. I felt so unworthy, but so incredibly thankful! He's still performing miracles!
I have thought about this over and over and over the past year.
it was encouraging and comforting to me during those long tiresome nights. I have played in my mind 'what if' things turned out differently. Now I can look back and see that God showed Himself evident in my life. He showed me how much He cares about me and His children. He answered our prayer! So I don't mind the sleeplessness, the nursing, the training, this child just like every other child is a gift from God Himself! And He decided to give her to us! And we are so thankful He did! May we prove ourselves worthy in raising such a blessing for His purpose and His glory! I pray we are always mindful of His goodness, of His character, and His plan, when the trials and sufferings come, and they will come! This ain't heaven yet!
Lydia weighs 20lbs, has 5 teeth, 3 on top and two on the bottom, has been walking for a month, and now can carry something along on her journey. She says, "Da,Da" and has the cutest laugh and the best slobbery kisses you can imagine!
When I was 5 months pregnant the Dr. found a tumor inside my uterus the size of an orange, attached to me, but posed some serious problems if it grows and crowds out, or steals nutrients from this tiny child who we had not yet met in person.
You could see her moving around it in the ultra sound. We were to come back in 6 weeks to see what it would do and what our plan would be to deal with it. 6 weeks of waiting and wondering, and praying. We didn't talk about it mostly because there was so much unknown, too many 'what if's' to think about, and we wanted to see how God would answer our own prayers. A verse we constantly reminded ourselves of was Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." We already knew how incredibly blessed we were to have 7 healthy children and if God could use this trial in our life to draw us closer to Him, or the hearts of our children, or those around us, we were ready for whatever the Lord had for us. Now before that sounds so spiritually strong, I have to honestly say, that morning of our appointment 6 weeks later I couldn't even open my Bible. I remember thinking, what am I going to do, beg? plead? I just wanted to be ready to accept what ever the Lord had for us.
Jeff and I went in alone (left all the kids in the waiting room!) Dr. did the ultra sound right away and much to all of our amazement - the tumor was gone! GONE! Dr. was shocked and looked on the old ultra sound and said, "It was right here, and now it's gone?" He had no explanation for such. To God be the glory! We were so happy, but when it was over and I got back in the van, I just sobbed. I couldn't understand God's goodness, grace and mercy towards us. Because of sin, this is a suffering world. I felt so unworthy, but so incredibly thankful! He's still performing miracles!
I have thought about this over and over and over the past year.
it was encouraging and comforting to me during those long tiresome nights. I have played in my mind 'what if' things turned out differently. Now I can look back and see that God showed Himself evident in my life. He showed me how much He cares about me and His children. He answered our prayer! So I don't mind the sleeplessness, the nursing, the training, this child just like every other child is a gift from God Himself! And He decided to give her to us! And we are so thankful He did! May we prove ourselves worthy in raising such a blessing for His purpose and His glory! I pray we are always mindful of His goodness, of His character, and His plan, when the trials and sufferings come, and they will come! This ain't heaven yet!
Lydia weighs 20lbs, has 5 teeth, 3 on top and two on the bottom, has been walking for a month, and now can carry something along on her journey. She says, "Da,Da" and has the cutest laugh and the best slobbery kisses you can imagine!
Monday, September 15, 2008
MOM!
I have 8 children who can say the word "Mom" 62,493 times in one day! And I never hear it the same way twice! It has several variations from 'Mommy', 'Ma!', 'Hey, Mom!', 'Mum', 'Oh Mom!', 'Ma'om', as well as intensities and volumes!!!!! There are even whines and wimpers that have my 'mother' name all over them! They have several prefixes of "Do you know where Mom...." and suffixes, "Mom, can you..." attached. But my all time favorite is, "I love you Mom!" And Ben will add, "so... much..!"
I count it a great priviledge and joy to be the mother to 8 children! I believe this position to be a blessing straight from God Himself! Easy? No! Exhausting? Yes! Challenging? Absolutely! But the opportunities to teach a child about my Lord, Jesus Christ, and to show them the amazing grace He has exhibited in my life, brings an abundant of blessings that pass ALL understanding!
Which brings to mind my favorite song: A Mother's Love
As a mother loves her child, fulfilling every need,
With her gentle touch and smile, such love is pure indeed.
So our Savior loves each one, who humbly kneels to pray,
He who asks to be God's child, will hear the Father say:
I am your God on High, I will your need supply
As in a mother's care, My love I truly share.
If you will ask of Me, I will sufficient be,
And through a mother's love, you'll learn of Me.
Only mother's voice can soothe the sorrows of the day.
She can all the pain remove in such a tender way,
God the Father hears our cry, and comforts when we pray,
All to Him, who will draw nigh will hear the Father say:
I am your God on High, I will your need supply
As in a mother's care, My love I truly share.
If you will ask of Me, I will sufficient be,
And through a mother's love, you'll learn of Me.
Oh, and it helps to have such a wonderful husband to share all of these trials and triumphs with!
~Mom
I count it a great priviledge and joy to be the mother to 8 children! I believe this position to be a blessing straight from God Himself! Easy? No! Exhausting? Yes! Challenging? Absolutely! But the opportunities to teach a child about my Lord, Jesus Christ, and to show them the amazing grace He has exhibited in my life, brings an abundant of blessings that pass ALL understanding!
Which brings to mind my favorite song: A Mother's Love
As a mother loves her child, fulfilling every need,
With her gentle touch and smile, such love is pure indeed.
So our Savior loves each one, who humbly kneels to pray,
He who asks to be God's child, will hear the Father say:
I am your God on High, I will your need supply
As in a mother's care, My love I truly share.
If you will ask of Me, I will sufficient be,
And through a mother's love, you'll learn of Me.
Only mother's voice can soothe the sorrows of the day.
She can all the pain remove in such a tender way,
God the Father hears our cry, and comforts when we pray,
All to Him, who will draw nigh will hear the Father say:
I am your God on High, I will your need supply
As in a mother's care, My love I truly share.
If you will ask of Me, I will sufficient be,
And through a mother's love, you'll learn of Me.
Oh, and it helps to have such a wonderful husband to share all of these trials and triumphs with!
~Mom
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Golden Birthday!
Today was Emily's special day - she turned 10 on the 10th! We went to the park for lunch and she got stung 6 times! That was such a bummer! But the rest of the day was wonderful and we are so blessed by our Emily!
She found 3 more caterpillars! And we successfully released one Monarch Butterfly! It was so wonderful to watch! We tagged it and then forgot to write the number down. It flew all over and we prayed that we would be able to catch it again to keep track - and our prayers were answered!
Saturday, September 6, 2008
I CHANGED THE VACUUM BAG
Ok, so the vacuum bag was full. Like, so full, when you tried to vacuum something, it would spit Rice Krispies out at you. (We were vacuuming up Rice Krispies yesterday.) So all adult male members of the family being gone, Mom calls me, Megan, to change the vacuum bag. There was, however, a problem with that; I do (note: did) not know how to change a vacuum bag. My father and brothers are the vacuum tinkers in this family, with the result being I rarely even have to use the thing. (I'm terribly blessed, I know.)
"Mom, I don't know how to change the vacuum bag."
"Well you're seventeen years old, I'd think it's high time you learned!"
Mom had a good deal of convincing me that the bag needed to be changed now, not when Dad gets home tonight. I remained unconvinced, but ended up heading to the basement to look for the 'vacuum bin'. (In a house where the male members are vacuum fanatics, you actually have a bin with replacement parts and extra bags. Strange, I know.) Now where to find the vacuum bin? It actually was in the storage room, though I did not see it at first glance; it had been moved from a green bin to a grey bin. Why, don't ask me. The vacuum bin has always been a green bin.
I run upstairs and present myself, grinning ecstatically over the vacuum bag held in my hands. "I found the vacuum bag!"
My mother's look seemed to imply she found my statement an obvious one.
I'm actually expected to put the new bag in. So I sit down and look at the vacuum. Mom has deemed me intelligent enough to complete my task without advice from other persons.
"Mom, do you know how to change a vacuum?"
"Yes, my daughter."
"So how do you do it?"
My Mother happens to be walking into the next room, and does not apparently hear me.
I look at the vacuum. It has a lever that looks as if something might happen if you twist it. I therefore twist it. A few yanks and the top panel came off. Aha! There was the old bag. I yanked the old one out. (Didn't spill it all over myself, sorry.)
My Mother walked back in the room.
"Mom, I feel like Marty!"
Mom got immense amusement out of this statement. She giggled:
"Yeah, "how'd you get to be so old without knowin' how to do nothin'?""
So I manage to get the new bag in the vacuum, put the whole thing back together, tested the finished product, and felt immensely proud of myself. As I walk into the kitchen to throw the old bag away, I noticed the trash bag was full. As I attempted to shove it down further, my Mother walks in:
"Oh yeah, you wanna take that out too?"
"Mom, I don't know how to change the vacuum bag."
"Well you're seventeen years old, I'd think it's high time you learned!"
Mom had a good deal of convincing me that the bag needed to be changed now, not when Dad gets home tonight. I remained unconvinced, but ended up heading to the basement to look for the 'vacuum bin'. (In a house where the male members are vacuum fanatics, you actually have a bin with replacement parts and extra bags. Strange, I know.) Now where to find the vacuum bin? It actually was in the storage room, though I did not see it at first glance; it had been moved from a green bin to a grey bin. Why, don't ask me. The vacuum bin has always been a green bin.
I run upstairs and present myself, grinning ecstatically over the vacuum bag held in my hands. "I found the vacuum bag!"
My mother's look seemed to imply she found my statement an obvious one.
I'm actually expected to put the new bag in. So I sit down and look at the vacuum. Mom has deemed me intelligent enough to complete my task without advice from other persons.
"Mom, do you know how to change a vacuum?"
"Yes, my daughter."
"So how do you do it?"
My Mother happens to be walking into the next room, and does not apparently hear me.
I look at the vacuum. It has a lever that looks as if something might happen if you twist it. I therefore twist it. A few yanks and the top panel came off. Aha! There was the old bag. I yanked the old one out. (Didn't spill it all over myself, sorry.)
My Mother walked back in the room.
"Mom, I feel like Marty!"
Mom got immense amusement out of this statement. She giggled:
"Yeah, "how'd you get to be so old without knowin' how to do nothin'?""
So I manage to get the new bag in the vacuum, put the whole thing back together, tested the finished product, and felt immensely proud of myself. As I walk into the kitchen to throw the old bag away, I noticed the trash bag was full. As I attempted to shove it down further, my Mother walks in:
"Oh yeah, you wanna take that out too?"
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