Lessons and Blessings

   
As I'm sitting here beside my husband, the both of us enjoying a lazy, snowy day we are also working up the mental and physical fortitude to clean up our home.  It amazes me just how quickly a house can go from clean and organized to disaster, and we don't even have a toddler yet!  The thing is, we both were struck with a nasty flu this week.  At the same time.  So things are just a tad out of sorts at our place.  But thankfully, things are slowly coming to some sense of normalcy!
    Though I'm so overwhelmed with about a million things to do to prepare for the birth, get our house ready for our baby, and hey, catch up on Thank-You notes from our wedding (Did I mention life has been crazy?), there are also several things Joel and I are thankful for and excited about!
    First of all, because Joel and I are aiming for a natural birth, there are so many things to do to in preparation; books to read, classes to attend, exercises to do; you get the idea!  One of the ways we are choosing to prevent medical interventions is to take me to our

chiropractor for weekly adjustments.  In the beginning, we were not sure how on earth we were going to afford to do this, but we both felt it was incredibly important.  We prayed about it, and long story short, God provided all of the financing in a marvelous way!  We were reminded that even when things seem hopeless, God knows exactly what we need and He will provide.  He knew before we did that this would be an issue, and was already way ahead of us.  This is one thankful couple!
    What are we excited about?  I suppose this is more exciting for me than for Joel, although I think he has been enjoying doing some of the research and shopping around with me.  Some incredibly sweet family members gave me money for my birthday (And thank you so much, you know who you are!), and I ordered what I need to make my own deodorant.   ....Did that sound strange?  Sorry, maybe that's weird to some of you BUUUUUT, it's one of many home care products I have been wanting to make myself for over a year!  This will be far healthier than anything sold on store shelves, and also more effective than the salt-stick I've tried (Too much information?  Sorry...).  Joel will even let me make some for him; his will be a more "manly" scent, of course.  Wow I am blessed to have a husband who enjoys my experimenting!
     Joel and I have learned that Elderberry Syrup is the real deal!  Being pregnant and not able to take any over-the-counter meds has been a learning experience.  While I have been slowly aiming toward a natural medicine chest anyway, pregnancy has given me the push to do away completely with pharmaceuticals.  Honestly, the natural route is much more inconvenient (especially when both you AND your spouse are too sick to do anything), but it worked SO much better!  Haven't gotten around to it yet, but I need to put together a remedy book so I have all of the recipes and what-not in one place.  I will definitely be doing things this way again in the future!  

     And this post would not be complete without saying how much I have been enjoying my baby.  His kicking thrills me, and while I cannot wait to get him into my arms, I'm also treasuring these few precious days of holding him in a way I will only get to one time ever.  He's cute though; I can just tell!  And yes, he has been insanely busy.  Is it really even possible that we're almost to the third trimester?  Time has flown!  April will be here before we know it.