Small update

Well, after some prompting from a friend, I am updating my blog a little.....I do not get on here very often because my life has changed soooo much over the past 3 months! 3 months, oh my word.....it makes me sad to think that 3 months have already passed! My baby is getting so big! She is almost 18lbs and she is sitting up and has been sleeping through the night for sometime. She tends to be a homebody and likes things done her way! She is so funny!!! I love her more than I ever thought possible. God has been so good to us. Things for our family have changed, not unlike a lot of you I am sure. We are rejoicing as we see the hand of the Lord but I must confess that I am fearful often these days. We are feeling the effects of the economy as are many of our friends and family. Kevin is working sooo hard these days and I have picked up 2 houses to clean. I am able to bring Gracelyn with me and she is content to sit in her bouncy seat...thank you Lord, that she is so good.....I find myself in limbo some these days. If not for my family and my great friends, I would be crazier than I already am!!! I know that I need to update more pictures, I will do that soon. I have been reading some good books which have helped me keep my focus. Some days are better than others but for the most part, my worst day with Gracelyn is better than my best day without her!!!!

baby pics

She is here!!!

Sorry it has been soooo long since my last post!!! For the 3 of you who follow my blog, here is a new picture and an update. On March 23, Gracelyn Anneliese Sontag came into this world via C-section weighing in at 8lbs 9oz and 21 3/4 inches long. What a joyous day!!! The whole process was great. Since having her, everything has changed!!! She is the joy of my heart and I thank God for her everyday!! Don't get me wrong, things are tough at times, but worth every minute.....she will be 2 months old on Monday and I can not believe it!!! I hope the Lord will give us more, but for now, we are relishing every moment with her. Like all new parents, we think she is the smartest most beautiful baby in the world. I never knew how great being a mom would be. Did I say it is hard? Let me make it very clear....all you hear is how wonderful it is but people forget to tell you how hard it can be!!! Did I say it is hard???? But well worth it. She is doing great.....I think she has colic because she is gassy and fussy often....I wish you could see her daddy with her. That is a sight to behold!!! He is a better father than I could have ever imagined. Did I say that I am tired???? Did I say that I love her more than I could have ever dreamed? Well, I will try to post more often now!

Anticipation!!!!

Well, I am nearing 33 weeks! I can not believe it! I feel great for the most part. The nursery is painted but not decorated, the showers are planned and the phone tree is growing, right along with my tummy! I am consumed with thoughts of delivery and meeting this blessing. My sleep is restless and my energy is gone! But, I am so excited. I know that 7 weeks is a LONG TIME but I am praying that it goes by quickly. There are many changes happening in the world at large as well as in my little "bubble". I admit that I am quite fearful about some things but, I do know that God is sovereign. We have been so blessed. I am looking forward to meeting this baby but the thought of not being pregnant is sad to me. I have enjoyed every minute of it! I can't wait to get to do it again!!!! I have been so blessed to have the wonderful encouragement of many friends and family and my doctor and nurse have been the best! I keep begging my nurse to help with the delivery but she can't, she has to stay at the doc's office! : ( There is still much to be done...but, I have to keep reminding myself that there is time! Time, Time.....I am pretty sure that I will have to deliver by c-section so, I am hoping to be able to pinpoint a time and date....is that too pushy? We still don't know the sex, but we both have a feeling! We will just have to wait and see!

More Updates

This blog is really probably more for myself than anyone else, but thanks to those of you who do check it from time to time! A lot has gone on since my last post. I have been diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes and am living through it. The Lord has been so faithful yet again to give me the courage to make it through. It is not fun but it is also not life threatening! I had an uncle die also. My dads brother. Mom and I took a whirlwind trip down to the funeral and back in a day (about 2.5 hour drive) and we also went to visit another uncle who is very sick. The day was great in that Mom and I had some good one on one time but the funeral part was by the best word that I can find, oppressive! How do you cope if you have no hope? I mean really, I struggle sometimes with coping and I DO have hope, but to live everyday not knowing, man, I just guess that I would be like the rest of the family that I am talking about. Now, do not misunderstand me, I want to have a heart for the lost and compassion on those who are seeking the Lord or who don't yet know him, but I felt as though I could not even function. I had prayed and asked several of my closest friends to pray for boldness and grace for me and the Lord did answer. Every opportunity we got, we talked about the Lord and asked questions (to God be the glory!) but, everything fell on deaf ears. Now, I know and believe that it is the Lord that changes hearts and so really we just planted more seeds, but at one point during the funeral, I literally wanted to jump up and shout "you have this all wrong" I wanted to say to the "chaplain", what Bible do you read? I was not all that emotional at the funeral in the beginning but the more the chaplain spoke, the angrier I got and then, I just lost it....I got so upset. I know that I can be dramatic but please bear with me here...at one point I looked at my mom and said "if God chose to strike us down right here, He would be justified in doing so because of the heresy that was spoken at the funeral. (I know that at any moment the Lord is justified in doing whatever He wants but just go with me on this one)....I have 2 family members that I could find that are believers....since my dad died, I have sort of lost contact with his side of the family....much to my shame, but partly because I do not "belong" there....does that make sense? I know they are my family, but I am so different now...(god forgive me for sounding "holier than thou")...I guess what I am really wondering is what do I have to lose at this point if I send them all a letter. The brave thing to do would be to call them and have a one on one phone call but the letter might be the better approach. There are not enough words nor room in this box to say all that I want to say. I walked away so convicted about so many things....and on top of that, our youth pastor is killing it with his messages on Wed nights! So, based on what he taught last night, do I have REAL FAITH? The faith like the Royal Servant who begged God to heal his son or the faith of Abraham who was pleased to follow our Lords command to sacrifice his son? Do I have the faith that the Lord can heal a broken broken family and save their dying souls? You would just have to have heard the lesson....One of the things that Tim said was that the Lord does hear our prayers but He will always deal with us on the most important issue first-spiritually! Oh Father, please deal with me in whatever way YOU see fit! You have taken me many places I did not want to go but you have never left me there alone. Thank you that you are NOT a god that I can control but rather a just and loving father who controls all things. Help me with my heart attitude and clean out the junk! Thank you Lord for who you are and how you work. I love you o lord my strength. In Jesus name...Amen

more randomness

Haven't updated in a while and thought that I would. I am 27 1/2 weeks and ready ready to meet this little lamb. I got sad the other day though thinking that pretty soon, I will not be pregnant any more....Lord willing, I will be again, but I have loved this so much! Someone commented to me that maybe the reason I love it so much is because I thought that it would never happen...maybe so, I don't know, I know others who have loved the whole pregnancy thing too! It really is amazing and I am humbled that the Lord would bless me in this way. I have been pretty tired lately and I guess that is normal. Last night in bed, Kevin and I were talking about baby names....uh, I guess that would be pretty important. We have not really gotten in a hurry about some of this stuff. I mean, in the beginning, I felt the urgent need to get the room ready and do all that fun stuff, but now, not such a big deal to me. I mean, I want to do it, but I am more concerned with the dirty base boards and cob webs that keep me up at night. I do not think my pregnancy has been "by the book" at all. I have not experienced cravings, or felt the need to nest. Maybe the nesting comes later...who knows right? Back to baby names, we are settled on a boy name, but can not find a girl name that just jumps out at us, which leads "some" to think that we will be upset if we have a girl. Let me say loud and clear that we do not care what we have as long as it is healthy!!!! That is for real! We just can't agree/decide on a girl name....and let me add that 10 o'clock at night is not the time to be thinking and talking about it with my baby daddy! : ) I can not believe how quickly the time has gone by. So far, I would not change any part of this process....and, if the Lord should bless us with more kiddos, we feel pretty sure that we will not find out the sex of them either!!! This has been the source of much controversy! Tee hee hee!!! Oh well, more later!