Little Pumpkin

My garden isn't doing as well as last year. We have had a considerably hotter, drier summer, plus I don't have a lot of energy to brave the heat and get out and weed it too often. So, we get what we get. So far we've gotten some green beans, peppers, sugar snap peas and broccoli, plus strawberries and various herbs. The tomatoes, potatoes, black-eyed peas and cucumbers are looking pretty promising as well.

An interesting thing that has happened is that I have three healthy pumpkin plants that I didn't plant. Apparently the seeds came out of my compost pile (one of them is growing in my compost pile and climbing my neighbor's fence). This little pumpkin, which has worked its way out of the garden and into the grass, is almost ready to pick.

Meanwhile, my other "little pumpkin" continues to grow and is apparently healthy. He is moving around a lot and, other than combatting the heat, having trouble sleeping and difficulty breathing, I am feeling pretty good. I am making progress toward getting the nursery ready, and we are doing what we can to otherwise prepare for his arrival. I'm not someone who thinks we have to have everything the market has to offer for babies, but there are a lot of things they really do need, so we are thinking about all of that and trying to pull it all together. People have given us a few things, which helps a lot.

We are praying each day for this child: for his health and ours, as well as lots of wisdom so we can raise him well. We pray for his salvation, for the country and world he will grow up in, and even for the wife that he will hopefully one day have, that God will protect her from evil and prepare them for each other. We pray for our finances, that God will provide for our needs so that hopefully I won't need to work outside the home and and can focus on being a mom, especially while our son is young. We know that these things are out of our control for the most part, so it has been a lesson for us in surrendering to God and a time of growing in our faith.

I am 23-1/2 weeks along now. Some days it feels like it is flying by, and at other times, he can't get here soon enough. At any rate, the time will come when it comes, and hopefully we will be ready.

It's a . . .

Yes folks, I'm still alive and well. Life has just turned crazy on me!

We had the "big" ultrasound today. It's a boy! It appears he's healthy, except there was a small concern that one of his kidneys was bigger than the other. They didn't pinpoint it as a problem, just something to watch, so we're hoping and praying that it's NOT a problem.

He's a feisty little guy, moving around constantly, making it hard for them to get a good look at what they needed to see. I already knew this, though, as he has been kicking me regularly for the past couple of weeks!

Here's another sneak preview of what he looks like:We don't have a name picked out yet. At least the news today narrows our options. (I guess "Holly" is out -- oh well; Don didn't like it anyway.)

I can't wait to meet him personally! The due date is still officially October 17, but they said he looked a little bigger than 21 weeks, so maybe he'll be born on my birthday: 10/10/10. ( :