Random Stuff

I was tagged on facebook to list 25 random things about myself. I've done a few 5 or 7 item lists here already, but I thought I'd go ahead and share my list of 25. Some are probably repeats, but it was fun to do. :-)

1. God's incredible mercy and grace still leave me amazed every day

2. I don't like peanuts. I don't like chocolate MnMs. However, I love peanut MnMs

3. I love my house. I used to get the urge to househunt every few months, but now I am really content where I am

4. I hate decluttering. Just the thought makes my heart race and me feel jittery. I'm terrible at it. My garage is proof of it.

5. I adore my husband. He is awesome! I could go on and on... he's just the best.

6. My mom tells me I've always said I wanted 5 boys when I grew up. I wonder if that will come true?

7. I am really very shy, until you get to know me. Then I talk too much.

8. I love, love, love homeschooling and being at home with my children. I couldn't stand it if I had to miss their milestones, struggles, and accomplishments, even small ones.

9. I am finding it really difficult to come up with 25 random things. I'm pretty transparent to all who know me, so its not like there's anything new to share.

10. I have lived in 8 different states, and moved many more times than that.

11. I am very sensitive to light. During the day, I need LOTS of it. I don't know how I survived Northern Winters for so long.

12. I never thought I would say this, but I really enjoy living in the South.

13. Even though I hate decluttering, I hate clutter. What a dilemma!

14. I wish I were more feminine - that "meek and quiet spirit" thing does not come easily for me.

15. Too much noise overwhelms me. I think God gave me a houseful of boys to help me in that area!

16. I love brown. And blue. But brown the most.

17. I really enjoy being physically active, but often have trouble making that a priority in my day... there are so many other things to get done.

18. 7 more to go. 7 is a nice number, but my favorite number is 3. Its like an "E" backwards... "E" for "Erin", of course

19. I think I use smilies and exclamation points too much when I write.

20. Perfectionism is a mixture of a really great attribute and a really detrimental one. Ask me how I know.

21. I absolutely believe in absolute truth

22. I am adamantly pro-life. If I had a "cause", that would be it, hands-down. That was the very first thing the Lord changed in my heart. I used to be adamantly pro-choice.

23. I never liked babies when I was growing up. Another area the Lord changed in my heart, obviously!

24. I am a math nerd. I love numbers, budgeting, etc. But I also love to read and learn through good literature.

25. I love God. That sounds so simple, but there's way more to it than that. He is everything to me.

Fireproof

Remember the movie Fireproof I reviewed a few months ago? Great news! It is now out on DVD for buying or renting! To celebrate the release of this excellent marriage movie, Vision Forum is offering a promotion. Not only do they have everything they offer on sale, but with every order over $100, you get a FREE copy of Fireproof - the Special Collector's Edition DVD! This edition includes outtakes, a Bible Study, and a behind the scenes look at the making of the movie. Let me tell you, it is easy to find enough items you'll like that will add up to $100, and the sale prices make it all the more fun to shop ;-) If you want to check it out, click on the banner below! But hurry, the promotion ends January 31!

A Child's Song

I admit it, we love the Wee Sing Bible Song CDs. Even me! They're fun and cheerful, which helps everyone get into a good attitude while we work. The songs are short which makes them easy to memorize, too. There's one song on the Wee Sing More Bible Songs CD that I had never consciously listened to, but overheard Joel singing it the other day. Since then, its been stuck in my head, but in a good way ;-)

Whenever I am feeling weary and as if I am about to fall into the sin of looking more at myself than God or others, I sing this song outloud. It helps me remember that I am here to give of myself, even in the small ways that are easy to neglect.

Give Said the Little Stream

Give said the little stream
Give, oh give
Give, oh give
Give said the little stream
As it hurried down the hill
I'm small I know but wherever I go
The grass grows greener still

Give said the little rain
Give, oh give
Give, oh give
Give said the little rain
As it fell upon the flowers
I'll raise their weary heads again
As it fell upon the flowers

Singing, singing all the day
Give away, oh give away
Singing, singing all the day
Give, oh give away

Give what is in your heart
Give away, Give away
Give what is in your heart
And your heart will ever live

Laugh when you're filled with joy
Laugh away, laugh away
Laugh when you're filled with joy
For laughing's giving too

Give all you've got to give
Give away, give away
Give all you've got to give

Sing when your heart is full
Sing away, sing away
Sing when your heart is full
For singing's giving too

It also reminds me of "The Water Song" from Hind's Feet on High Places:

The Water Song
by Hannah Hurnard

Come, oh come, let us away,
Lower, lower every day,
Oh, what joy it is to race
Down to find the lowest place.
This the dearest law we know -
"It is happy to go low."
Sweetest urge and sweetest will,
"Let us go down lower still."
Hear the summons night and day
Calling us to come away.
From the heights we leap and flow,
To the valleys down below.
Always answering to the call,
To the lowest place of all.
Sweetest urge, and sweetest pain,
To go low and rise again.

And I am reminded of Christ, who gave everything... and know that He gives me the strength to give everything, too. Through Him, I know that to give is the sweetest gain.

...walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us...
Ephesians 5:2

9 Weeks to Go

I am officially in the single digits as I count down the weeks until this baby's due date!! Of course, due dates can be fickle, so its always an estimation! It is incredible to me how quickly this pregnancy has gone by. I think with each one it goes faster, and then babyhood goes faster as well - everyone is growing up so quickly!

I am so thankful for this life growing inside of me. This pregnancy has not been the easiest (I am starting to feel OLD!) but there have not been any major complications, either, so I really have no room to complain, only room for gratitude toward the Creator of all life who has blessed me in this way.

Being the planner that I am, I am already preparing in small ways. I have done an inventory of all of my newborn cloth diapers (a teeny tiny bum in a soft cushy diaper is the most adorable thing!), and am thankful to find that I have plenty. Nathan has been moved out of the nursery into the "big boy room" and is doing great. I have gotten out my big exercise ball to sit on while at the computer to help stretch my hips and pelvis, or to put my feet up on when needed. Soon I will start drinking Red Raspberry Leaf Tea, as well as starting Evening Primrose Oil, both of which I have taken at the end of every pregnancy and I believe have helped my body be more prepared when labor begins.

My brain is definitely in "nesting" mode, although my body has not caught up yet! My thoughts have been spinning on how to reorganize under the sink, the laundry room, decorate the baby's room, so on and so on, lol! But most days I am thankful just to get school, chores, and meals done, and still have some energy to spend time with Michael after the boys are in bed. Hopefully a good nesting energy spurt will come before labor begins. My midwife put me on an iron supplement because I have been slightly anemic, and those seem to be helping with my energy.

Ultimately, though, I am leaning on the Lord. He has shown me glimpses of just how weak I am, and then revealed to me how much I hate weakness when I see it within myself! But hating my weakness does me no good, for it is only futile attempts at being self-sufficient, which get me nowhere, and do nothing to glorify Him. More and more, I wake up to start my day and have a deeper understanding of how much I need Him, and how sufficient He really is. And I am so, so thankful!

The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him." The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the person who seeks Him.

Lamentations 3:22-25

Hard to believe, but this is the first belly picture I have of this entire pregnancy! Usually I take one every few weeks just to document how things are changing! I do have a few random pictures of me throughout the past few months, but no specific belly shots. Here I am, bump and all, courtesy of our aspiring photographer, Isaac :-)

An Award!

I've never gotten a blog award before, so I was so excited to stop by Marcy and Scott's blog and see this beautiful one waiting for me! One of the joys of receiving an award is the fun of passing it on, so here's a few ladies who also deserve it (it was hard to narrow this down, I have SO many favorites)! Thank you, Marcy!

• Manda at Lambs in His Arms
• Stephanie at Cherishing My Days
• Crystal at Serving God and Family
• Meghann at The Jones Family
• Tonya at The Kissack Chronicles
  

No Words

Lately I haven't had any words to share... but lots of songs in my heart. Here's one of them:

Jesus Paid it All

I hear the Savior say,
Thy strength indeed is small!
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all

Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

Lord, now indeed I find
Thy power, and Thine alone,
Can change the leper's spots
And melt the heart of stone

Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

For nothing good have I
Where-by Thy grace to claim
I'll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calvary's Lamb

Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete
Jesus died my soul to save
My lips shall still repeat

Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

Wordless Wednesday - 4 Years of Joel!

(aka: the longest slide show ever!)

Happy 4th Birthday, Joel!

Midwives Deliver

My thanks to Mrs. Parunak at Pursuing Titus 2 and Christine at Lily of the Valley for bringing this article to my attention! The LA Times published this article about the health care crisis that is happening in America among its pregnant women. How refreshing to see something like this in main stream media! Here is the entire article, I highlighted the parts that stood out most to me.

Some healthcare trivia: In the United States, what is the No. 1 reason people are admitted to the hospital? Not diabetes, not heart attack, not stroke. The answer is something that isn't even a disease: childbirth.

Not only is childbirth the most common reason for a hospital stay -- more than 4 million American women give birth each year -- it costs the country far more than any other health condition. Six of the 15 most frequent hospital procedures billed to private insurers and Medicaid are maternity-related. The nation's maternity bill totaled $86 billion in 2006, nearly half of which was picked up by taxpayers.

But cost hasn't translated into quality. We spend more than double per capita on childbirth than other industrialized countries, yet our rates of pre-term birth, newborn death and maternal death rank us dismally in comparison. Last month, the March of Dimes gave the country a "D" on its prematurity report card; California got a "C," but 18 other states and the District of Columbia, where 15.9% of babies are born too early, failed entirely.

The U.S. ranks 41st among industrialized nations in maternal mortality. And there are unconscionable racial disparities: African American mothers are three times more likely to die in childbirth than white mothers.

In short, we are overspending and under-serving women and families. If the United States is serious about health reform, we need to begin, well, at the beginning.

The problem is not access to care; it is the care itself. As a new joint report by the Milbank Memorial Fund, the Reforming States Group and Childbirth Connection makes clear, American maternity wards are not following evidence-based best practices. They are inducing and speeding up far too many labors and reaching too quickly for the scalpel: Nearly one-third of births are now by caesarean section, more than twice what the World Health Organization has documented is a safe rate. In fact, the report found that the most common billable maternity procedures -- continuous electronic fetal monitoring, for instance -- have no clear benefit when used routinely.

The most cost-effective, health-promoting maternity care for normal, healthy women is midwife led and out of hospital. Hospitals charge from $7,000 to $16,000, depending on the type and complexity of the birth. The average birth-center fee is only $1,600 because high-tech medical intervention is rarely applied and stays are shorter. This model of care is not just cheaper; decades of medical research show that it's better. Mother and baby are more likely to have a normal, vaginal birth; less likely to experience trauma, such as a bad vaginal tear or a surgical delivery; and more likely to breast feed. In other words, less is actually more.

The Obama administration could save the country billions by overhauling the American way of birth.

Consider Washington, where a state review of licensed midwives (just 100 in practice) found that they saved the state an estimated $2.7 million over two years. One reason for the savings is that midwives prevent costly caesarean surgeries: 11.9% of midwifery patients in Washington ended up with C-sections, compared with 24% of low-risk women in traditional obstetric care.

Currently, just 1% of women nationwide get midwife-led care outside a hospital setting. Imagine the savings if that number jumped to 10% or even 30%. Imagine if hospitals started promoting best practices: giving women one-on-one, continuous support, promoting movement and water immersion for pain relief, and reducing the use of labor stimulants and labor induction. The C-section rate would plummet, as would related infections, hemorrhages, neonatal intensive care admissions and deaths. And the country could save some serious cash. The joint Milbank report conservatively estimates savings of $2.5 billion a year if the caesarean rate were brought down to 15%.

To be frank, the U.S. maternity care system needs to be turned upside down. Midwives should be caring for the majority of pregnant women, and physicians should continue to handle high-risk cases, complications and emergencies. This is the division of labor, so to speak, that you find in the countries that spend less but get more.

In those countries, a persistent public health concern is a midwife shortage. In the U.S., we don't have similar regard for midwives or their model of care. Hospitals frequently shut down nurse-midwifery practices because they don't bring in enough revenue. And although certified nurse midwives are eligible providers under federal Medicaid law and mandated for reimbursement, certified professional midwives -- who are trained in out-of-hospital birth care -- are not. In several state legislatures, they are fighting simply to be licensed, legal healthcare providers. (Californians are lucky -- certified professional midwives are licensed, and Medi-Cal covers out-of-hospital birth.)

Barack Obama could be, among so many other firsts, the first birth-friendly president. How about a Midwife Corps to recruit and train the thousands of new midwives we'll need? How about federal funding to create hundreds of new birth centers? How about an ad campaign to educate women about optimal birth?

America needs better birth care, and midwives can deliver it.

Jennifer Block is the author of "Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care."