Third Trimester & the Pixie

I canNOT believe that the third trimester is already here (I think there is debate about whether it starts at 27 or 28 weeks... either way, I'm already feeling some of the tiredness setting in)!  Little Karis continues to grow and squirm everyday.  I'm not sure if I'm carrying her much different than I did Enoch, but I do know that she is a little space hog!  She is constantly kicking and pushing her way toward more room, especially if I lean forward, slouch, or hold Enoch in my lap.  haha!


In case you're wondering, here are some stats from this pregnancy so far (I'm technically 27 weeks today):

• Karis is around 2 pounds and 14.5" long.
• I've gained around 10 pounds.
• She squirms all day on and off, and I'm starting to see little body parts push out of my stomach with some of her larger moves.

Also, as I'm sure you can tell in the above photo, I went ahead and chopped my hair back into a pixie cut again to prepare for baby Karis' arrival.  The whole long hair gig was just not my thing (at least during this phase of life) because it took too much time and work, and it was always getting pulled and/or in the way.  So I went with something short and simple.  It takes me a fraction of the time to wash it in the shower, and styling it takes 10 min max.  We'll see how this short do holds up after baby (probably the hardest part is keeping it cut often enough), but for now I'm optimistic and loving the short length!

And speaking of getting ready for Karis' arrival, I've just started working harder at getting ready for labor and delivery.  I've been thinking back to last time and setting some goals to help me better prepare this time (not that I wasn't prepared last time, but I'm just trying to learn from that experience).  More on that in a later post though!

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11 Must Read Evidences that Abortion is Killing Humans

This is an eye-opening post by John Piper {We Know They Are Killing Children - All of Us Know; 01/22/13} on the Desiring God blog.  In it, he lists 11 reasons that abortion is killing humans (as opposed to mere cells or inanimate objects).  I think that each reason is well thought through and legitimate.  I'd encourage you to go and read through each one {whether you are currently on the pro-choice or pro-life side}... there may be a few that you haven't yet considered.

I've pasted his introduction below, which is incredibly convicting to me... and saddening-ly true:

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One biblical principle of justice is that the more knowledge we have that our action is wrong, the more guilty we are, and the more deserving of punishment (Luke 12:47–48). The point of this blog post is that we know what we are doing — all America knows. We are killing children. Pro-choice and Pro-life people both know this

But before I show that, let’s clarify what the Supreme Court did forty years ago today. InRoe v. Wade the Supreme Court in effect made abortion on demand untouchable by law. The way this was done was with two steps:

One step was to say, laws may not prevent abortion, even during the full nine months, if the abortion is “to preserve the life or health of the mother.” The other step was to define “health” as “all factors — physical, emotional, psychological, familial and the woman's age — relevant to the well-being of the patient.

For forty years this has meant that any perceived stress is a legal ground for eliminating the child. We have killed fifty million babies. And what increases our guilt as a nation is that we know what we are doing. Here’s the evidence that we know we are killing children...

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Click this link or copy and paste it into your browser to read the evidence he lists.
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/we-know-they-are-killing-children-all-of-us-know

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Dog Park

Enoch and I went to the local dog park last Friday for lunch as a little treat.  We enjoyed some tBell takeout and some beautiful February weather, courtesy of our gracious Father in heaven.  I really like the layout of this dogpark because it makes watching the dogs pretty easy.  I believe it used to be a softball field because there are dugouts and concrete bleachers.  So we sat on the old bleachers to eat and then Enoch played beside them for awhile.


{This is currently one of Little Man's favorite ways to play -- investigating new things and shuffling back and forth.  He usually does a good job of staying near me, and these days he loves to point and grunt at the things he sees, hoping that I'll tell him what they are.  it's precious!}

I didn't take any pics of the dogs since all I had with me was my phone (and I didn't want to be a creeper), but while we were there we saw two german shepherds, one pit bull, one golden retriever, and a few other small mixed breeds.  Almost all of the dogs were fun, playful dogs, so Enoch really enjoyed them running around and catching frisbees.  :)  The pictures I did get (and video) are mainly of Enoch playing (the dogs were slightly old news by this point), but you if you watch the video, you'll see some dogs running around near the end.


Here's the video..  bleachers are on the right, dogs are on the left.  If you watch closely, he asks for "more" with his hands when he wants that rubber piece back, and then he says "yes ma'am" with his little head, which is one of his newest communication skills... oh yeah, and the stuff he's playing is with is just from the ground... I mean, he is a boy, right?!?!!

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Tips for: parents

Steve McCoy gave some great, practical tips for parents in his post "Advice for Parenting Young Kids" last week.  I especially appreciated his commentary under each tip.  Check it out for yourself and see which ones you can add to your parenting suitcase.   I feel like the one I'm working on now most with Enoch is first time obedience.  And two of the ones that I am adding to my suitcase for later use are the five minute rule and pre-event preparation/conversation.  Don't get me wrong though, picking is hard because there are many other good ones to choose from!!


ht: Justin Taylor

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Our Free Backyard Entertainment

Do you see him in the picture below... Look to the left... That's right, we have roughly 5 of these bad boys living in our backyard, and they just love to crack their acorns on our deck. Leaves a bit of a mess, but Enoch loves watching them (his playpen is set up in the family room with that big sliding glass door looking out onto the deck where all of the action happens)!! In fact, he has already learned the word "squirrel", and when I say it, he automatically looks out to the back deck to see them.  ;)

I probably need to be careful though about how much I encourage him with these frisky little fellers because one of my friend's little boys actually ended up grabbing hold of one when he wasn't much older than Enoch is now (you can read about it here)... And those hairy little critters certainly do have some big ole teeth on them that this mama doesn't even want to mess with...

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FFF: Baby #2 Name Reveal

24 weeks along

I am so excited to announce that we have finally chosen a name for our baby girl!  Whenever we named Enoch, we took a whole weekend off for a retreat and used part of that time to focus on choosing names.  BUT we haven't had that luxury this time around, so we've been tossing around names in our spare moments, and we were finally able to choose one last weekend. {... and I am so pumped that I just couldn't help but post this as soon as I had it typed, so that's why there's another early FFF post.}   :)

For us, one of the most important factors in choosing a name is its meaning.  We want our children's names to be full of meaning and depth, and when possible, we like for their names to have some scripture attached to them that we feel like can give our kiddos encouragement and guidance in life.  One other thing we like to do with names is choose ones that can be conversation starters... usually this means slightly unique names that come from the Bible.  Enoch's name has generated plenty of conversations throughout his little life, and I always appreciate the open door it provides into discussing faith, God, the Bible, etc. with the people who are open to talking.

As I already mentioned, Hugh and I were pretty laid back with choosing baby girl's name this time around, talking about it here and there in our free, quiet moments.  I think I felt a little bit more of a rush to choose than Hugh though because after a week or so of talking about names, I had already picked out one that we had both initially liked and was starting to call her that in my head... haha!  {As a side note, this name actually did end up being the one we chose!}  In all honesty, choosing the middle name was the hardest for us, but finally, Hugh found a Scripture passage to tie the first and middle names together that we both loved, and that's what sold us.

"Karis" written in Greek

So, without further ado, since I'm sure you're  on the edge of your seat wondering what name we have chosen, our baby girl's name is Karis Grace Medal.  {pronunciation is like "Paris" only with a strong "k" sound at the beginning.}  "Karis" means "grace" in Greek {the language the New Testament was written in}, and we both feel like grace is such a tremendous part of the gospel that we loved the idea of naming our baby girl Karis {not to mention that we both love the way it sounds and how unusual it is}.  

Now you may be wondering why we are naming our baby girl "Grace Grace" {because in essence that's what it is..}, well that was one of my biggest hang-ups too, for a while.  But Hugh kept insisting that "Grace upon grace" was a good name.  And, when he showed me this passage, I was also convinced {focus on verse 16}!!

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.  (John 1:14-16)

Well, there you go.  That's how we decided on the name Karis Grace for our second born child.  I am so thankful to have a husband who is willing to choose a name with me and who also enjoys the process as much as I do!  We are so excited to welcome little Karis into the world in May, and we'd love for you to call her Karis even now when you think, talk, or pray about her.  :)

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Hugs & Walking

As promised in my last post, here are a few videos from the past month.   The first is Enoch giving Hugh a hug.  This is pretty much one of the only times he's snuggly (as opposed to his general rowdiness), so I ask him for hugs a lot.  :)



And this one is a pretty recent walking video (maybe 1 week old).  In general, Enoch is doing a good job walking these days, but his confidence level is still slightly low (it is after all a new skill), and he isn't yet convinced that it's the most efficient way to get places, so his motivation is also slightly low.  We have instigated a new policy in the house though (in hopes of Little Guy being a proficient walker before little sister comes).... the new policy is that anytime we would normally carry Enoch somewhere, we try to let him walk beside us holding our hand (unless we are rushing out of the door).  This seems to be increasing both his motivation and confidence, as he really enjoys toddling alongside us down the hallways.  :)  He also REALLY enjoys getting to walk when we go places (like shopping), so I let him walk beside me when we are out and about sometimes too... not gonna lie, his little baby steps always pull on this mama's heart strings.  ;)

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