Ruth Anne

Hello to all!
Our much awaited treasure is finally here!! Now there is finally something good about the day they call "Halloween" too....our little daughter's birthday! :) YAY! Yes, as most of you have probably heard through the grapevine, the Lord  has given us a little girl. <3
The birth was a very pleasant experience and everything went very well! We were able to have her at home like we wanted to. The Lord was gracious in all of it. He directed just as we asked! (Just like with Simeon's birth) :) 
Ruth Anne Stewart was born at 1:34am on October 31st. She weighed 8lbs 6oz and was about 20.5 inches long. The entire labor (hard, active labor) lasted only 1 hour! What a difference it was compared to Simeon's birth!! :)
Here is Ruth's birth story for any of you that might be interested.
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Earlier in the day (Oct. 30th) I had a doctor appointment. We found out that I was 6 centimeters dilated and 80% effaced. My doctor said that she's only ever had one other person that was that far dilated and not in labor. :)  Yay for me! -- She predicted that this would be a fast labor...perhaps not even enough time to get to the hospital. I was kind of glad to hear that. :) Yet, I was prepared for a much longer labor. - I'm one to not want to get my hopes up.
Throughout the rest of the day I had some stronger contractions but nothing that hurt at all. Later that evening Chad and I watched an old movie and I continued to have contractions throughout. I was thinking in the back of my mind that "tonight is going to be the night."
Our movie ended at about midnight and we went to bed. That's when the hard contractions started and I knew I wasn't going to get any sleep so I got up to help things along and wait. - I didn't have to wait long. I told Chad that this was it and that we better get the bed ready. We put the plastic under the sheets, got all our things ready to go, lit our "birthing lamp" (an old oil lamp which Simeon was born to....lamp light is much more soothing than 60 watt bulbs) :) and let the contractions do their work.
I decided that I wanted to try a slightly different technique for dealing with the labor pains, so I decided to sing songs through all of them. This worked very well for me and created a rather calm ambiance. I sang and Chad made some final preperations. We really had no idea how quickly things were progressing.
We had decided that we would like for my mom to be there for the birth but didn't want to wake her too soon in case it was going to be a while, so, we waited. (my Mom was already here at our house staying with us for a while as my Dad was in California)  The contractions got more intense so I asked Chad to get the birthing ball from the basement for me. By this time it was about 1:15 or 1:20am. By the time Chad returned, I was in more pain than I can remember ever having before in my life and knew that the time of birth for my child was at hand. I told him to go get Mom. He quickly went to alert my mom that "things are starting to happen" (apparently he wasn't quite aware of how far along things were :) ). As he was gone waking my Mother, my body built up a massive contraction that decided it was going to push my baby out, Chad or no Chad. I tried my very best to hold the baby in there until Chad returned. He walked through the door just in time as the baby was making her appearance. I informed him that the baby was coming out as he came in the bedroom. He seemed surprised, looked and exclaimed "Oh goodness!" With a gentle, careful push, out came the head. Chad checked for a cord and saw none so I continued to let the body emerge when Chad suddenly informed me to wait because now he saw a cord. It was a little tricky trying to stop the body from continuing long enough for him to slip the cord over the head, but we all managed just fine and out came our beautiful daughter. When Chad told me it was a girl I said "Really?" I was delighted.
Within a few minutes of Ruth's birth, my Mom appeared on the scene.  She was quite surprised to say the least. She had no idea how quickly the baby was coming since Chad didn't either and only said "things are starting to happen" rather than "the baby will be born within 5 minutes" :)  Haha...oh well. The look on Mom's face was priceless.
Ruth was so calm when she came. She hardly cried. After a little while I turned her over and rubbed her back till she started crying cause I didn't know for sure if she was breathing ok or not. Of course she was fine, just content. (One of the meanings of the name Ruth is "satisfied".)
All was very well and we were so happy to have this precious child finally here! I had gone 3 days past my "due date" and was pretty eager to meet this little one. I am so amazed by the miracle of life that God has designed! This little child is growing so precisely in the womb and is so perfect when she comes out. She knows how to cry, breath and eat without having to ever do it before or be taught it! The whole process is a miracle....praise God and thanks be to Him!
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It's been about a week and a half now since her birth and I have been feeling great since day 1! (Very different from after Simeon's birth) I haven't been getting a whole lot of sleep yet, but still all is well. :)
Thanks to you all for the prayers and gifts, etc. We are so thankful for each of you!
Chad, Simeon, Ruth and I are all going to be leaving for Michigan in a week for about a week and a half. Chad will have to be traveling a bit for work again and I've decided that I would rather the children and I go this time while we can, rather than being here without him for that long. I just get too lonely when he is away for that amount of time. :(       ---That's a good sign, right? :) haha
Anyway, here is our new little one.
Blessings to you and your families. We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

For now...

Hello to all!

I've been wanting to post all the new happenings around here for those of you that are, for some reason, interested. :)  But I just haven't found the time somehow. :(  So, I will just tell of the more important part of things.

Yes, I am still pregnant. :)  Yay for me! Although, I am quite eager to meet this lil one who is, at the moment, playing banjo on my ribs. :) haha   All is going well with the pregnancy. My body seems to be following the same pattern that it did with Simeon, so that's interesting. If it continues to do so, I should have this baby this week....but we all know how those things go. Knowing me and the Lord's sense of humor,  :)  I'll probably go a week over my due date! HAHA

We've been trying to work with Simeon so that its not a total shock when the baby does come, but that's not been working quite as great as we were hoping. He is still VERY attatched to me....which is quite sweet but hopefully he doesn't take his jealousy out on the baby when he/she arrives! : /

I love the little miracles of pregnancy and childbirth! It's very exciting...even though it can be trying and tiring at times. I was pondering the miracle of love last night. God gives me moments of overwhelming love for this one that I've never even met, seen or spoken with... and yet, I love him/her more than I can express at times. I think that is amazing! Does that happen in 'normal' life?

One blessing in this 'pre-term labor' thing is that Chad has been able to stay home since it all started. He had 3 trips planned for late September and early October but cancelled it all when we were advised to do so by our doctor. Now he has been able to do his work from home for the last 2 months rather than travelling! Yay! That's always so nice to have him home! The bad news though, is that he will have to make up for lost time after baby comes. :(  It's hard to think about all the travelling starting again and me having 2 babies to care for myself! :(  So lonely when he's gone! I know the Lord will give grace as always though.

We've been very busy with the building of our new home in Palo. My brothers are making progress on it and Chad has been helping and keeping busy with it a lot lately. Things are going a bit slower than we were hoping, but going very well still. It's a lot of work for my 2 brothers!! It's a very big house and we aren't the only people they are working for right now! Busy, busy.

It's hard to believe that it's going to be November soon!!! YIKES! Here comes the cold winter....and the 'sick season'. -Something that I am NOT looking forward to with a new baby! :(

Well, that's all for now. Hopefully I will be posting pictures of our new baby very soon!!! :D
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for us! We pray for you.

~Jen

~ A New Chapter in Life ~

It has been quite a time since I last wrote on my blog. I will do my best to quickly review what has happened since Simeon's birthday in March. :)

We have purchased a farm with 80 acres and a 100+ year old home....and the best part...a beautiful, huge barn! :) YAY! The whole transaction took a while to finally come to a close but all in all I am excited about raising our family there. We hope to teach them many good values, including a good work ethic as we all care for the farm and animals together as a family. -- We are already getting started on getting animals. We have purchased a miniature pony for Simeon from my sister's daughters and bought a puppy a few days ago too. :) Also, 3 horses came along with the farm. Two of them are old and un-rideable (which we are giving away soon) and the other we will be keeping who is very old... but rideable. :) Next year and the coming years we hope to add other animals! We are also hoping to buy our own haying equipment in the coming year or two because most all of our land is hay land which is currently being hayed buy a neighborhood fella who splits the hay with us. --Works nice for us for now!
The house itself is a little different story. It needs lots of updating and TLC. The more we take it apart, the more we see needs to be done. We just hope and pray that it comes together again OK and somewhat quickly. -But saying as Chad and I will be doing most of the work as we find the time, it may take a long time to get the 'old house' looking good.
There's a newer addition on the house that is in pretty good shape though and we've hired my brothers to do some work on that part so that we can get half of the house 'livable' quickly so that we can move in to the newer part before the summer is gone. I am hoping that all works out as planned and on schedule!! (fingers crossed) :) 

We are working on our house in town here as well. We are completely finishing the basement for that added 'selling perk'. --Hopefully it works.-- After all is said and done, this house will have gone from 2 bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths and about 1100 sq. ft. to a 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 baths and about 2200 sq. ft.! We are adding an office and family room besides the 2 bedrooms and bathroom. Lots of work and time! We are on the home stretch to completing it though. Just some sheetrock, mud and taping, painting and carpeting to do. Its hard to be this close and have no time to do things. :(  Frustrating cause we need to get it up for sale soon! -- Maybe you could keep this all in prayer..? :)

Besides keeping up the 2 yards and gardens at both houses and working on things here and there when we can, Chad is busy (as usual) with work and I with 'wife and mother life'...and now Houston, our puppy. Betwixt all that, its hard to find a lot of extra time to get things done. Perhaps we need to learn to budget time better...? After we sell this house in town, we won't be quite as busy and should have a little extra time each day to work on the farm house. --Besides, it'll be much nicer and easier when we don't have to drive the hour round trip to do stuff at the farm.

Anyway, enough with the busyness. We are all doing well. Simeon is growing SO FAST!! He is still quite partial to crawling rather than walking but I think that is just fine with me when it comes to keeping up with him. :)  He knows HOW to walk, but just doesn't see that its a better way to get around quite yet. :)  In his own time....
He seems to be constantly teething ever since he's been 3 or 4 months old! He doesn't do very well with it either. He and pain are definitely NOT friends in the least! I'm kinda hoping that this next baby will be a better sleeper and teether than Simeon! :)
Simeon LOVES to be outside. As long as he is outside, he is a happy lil man! (He gets that from me!) :)  He LOVES water! Drinking it, bathing in it, swimming in it, splashing in it....you name it. I'm definitely thankful that he drinks it so well. He's probably only had juice (diluted) a handful of times in his life. I decided early on not to introduce him to the sweetness of juice till he was older than a year or ever.....I think it has paid off! :) -- Although he likes water so much that he tries to drink it whenever he can, whether its in puddles, his bath or the puppy's water! (YUCK!)  So, I have to keep a close eye on him when it comes to water. :) 
Example: There's a tiny little hole in our concrete step outside. Its about the size of my finger tip; but whenever it rains and water collects in there, Simeon HAS to play in it and then he bends his body over, sticks out his tongue and tries to drink it! HAHA....I've been able to stop him every time so far but I think it is so funny that he tries to lap it up from that tiny little hole! :) ---That's just one of many such like stories I could tell you about his love for water. :)

Chad is, like I said, keeping busy with work and working on our 2 places when possible. He's been able to cut down on his work travel - which is a real answer to prayer!- He's enjoying being a father to Simeon and is looking forward to our new little one expected in October. He also seems to really enjoy Houston as well! :)  I think Chad is pretty excited about getting to experience farm life too! I think we are both pretty eager to get out there and settle into our new life.

I feel fat and tired! HAHA  I usually feel much bigger than I am but Chad says that I'm still in that "is she pregnant, or does she just have a gut?" stage. HAHA...that's the worst stage! I'm guessing that within the next month you will definitely be able to tell I'm preggo without a doubt.
Things are going well with it. Other than feeling tired a lot and having the normal aches and pains and having to wear these hot compressions socks all day, I feel pretty good. Early on I was nauseated all day long and had to eat all the time. I had the appetite of 3 grown men combined and craved nothing good....all junk food or fast food! This was not a good thing cause I ended up gaining MUCH more than I should've. But I guess I can try to comfort myself with the fact that I started out 20 lbs under my normal weight. :)  Does that justify it all?? :) HAHA  I like to think so.

Anyway, I should sign off now and give your aching eyeballs a rest. If I would write more often, I wouldn't have to write so much at a time and scare you all away with the novels! :)

I hope you all are well and would really like to hear from any of you!

Greetings from the Stewarts!

SIMEON JOSEPH - A Year Gone By

Sunday, March 24th, we celebrated our son, Simeon's 1st birthday. I can't believe it's been a year already! It just doesn't seem possible that the time flew by that quickly! (Although I seem to be the only one who thinks that) :) 

I think I've said this before, but I don't mind saying it again, I am so blessed to have been able to be with him practically every waking moment. I have been here to cherish every little milestone. I love it and am thankful to God for that opportunity and great privilege!

This last month or 2 have been full of little 'milestones' with Simeon, it seems. He now is starting to try to talk alot more. There is hardly a quiet moment around him! He LOVES to talk. He says "ball" "nana" (for banana...one of his favorite foods!) "num-num" (for food) "mama" "dada" "buh" (for bird) and he's said a couple of times what sounded very clearly like "night-night" (for when he's going to bed). So it seems he's mastering the consonants B and N. :)  He also recognizes many words and will point to the objects when you say them. He's a real cutie! He waves hello and goodbye, likes to try to sing sometimes, enjoys music, reading books and as usual, loves bathtime! Chad seems to enjoy Simeon more and more these days...now that Simeon and he can communicate a little and laugh and play together. It's pretty cute!
Simeon isn't walking yet, but that is just fine with me! I think I'm not quite ready for that milestone! He seems to be growing up too fast the way it is...I don't need to see him walking around everywhere too! : /

Simeon has continued to use the potty from time to time and I think he is starting to catch on to what it all means. :) We haven't gone into it extensively yet because it seems we are constantly on the go with Chad's work...and I just don't feel quite ready. I've been reading a little on potty training and was surprised to discover that at least 50% of children worldwide are potty trained by the time they are 12 months. (Simeon's age) In India and China, babies are usually potty trained at an average age of 6 months. Everywhere else in the world (except the U.S.) children are trained by 24 months. It seems that only the United States waits for the children to "be ready and decide when they want to be trained". The result is usually between the ages of 2 and 4 years. Hmm...interesting. I also learned that the age of potty trained children in our country especially extended with the introduction of disposable diapers, since the child can't feel when he/she is wet as well as with cloth. Anyway, enough about potty training for now. :) Back to something more interesting.

At Simeon's birthday, the last present that he opened was a "Big Brother" t-shirt. This is how we announced the coming of our second child! Yes, I am pregnant....about 10 weeks along! We are very excited and thankful for the Lord's good timing. Simeon and baby #2 will be 19 months apart. I think that will be a great spacing! :)  -- Apparently the Lord thought so too. :)
In other news, we are looking to perhaps sell our house this spring/summer and maybe buy a farm in the country. Chad and I are both more than ready to get out of town! :) (Please keep this endeavor in prayer! :))  We both have the same desire of raising our children on a farm where they can learn to work hard and appreciate the real things of value in life. --None of this Nintendo and Ipad stuff! : /  YUCK!

Chad has had a very busy schedule lately with LOTS of traveling. He has been working on a very large project in Michigan that demands most of his time. He was there for a 3 week stretch just recently...that was a long haul! He is home for about a week and off to MI again. Also he has a trip to Chile coming up in a couple weeks, then Brazil. We are hoping that this all settles down in May! Simeon seems to really react when Chad isn't home nowadays. He gets much more clingy to me and more crabby. It's always a welcome thing when Chad comes home...for all of us, in many ways! :)

I have been having a lot of morning sickness again with this baby. Most of the day (especially mornings) I feel nauseous, dizzy and weak. I NEED to be eating something at least every one to two hours or I get sick. I told Chad that if this keeps up much longer I might get quite fat! :) (not just baby fat either!). This ickiness lasted about 4 months with Simeon so, hopefully I am more than half way done with it! :)

Infinity is in South Carolina visiting family. Between her schedules and Chad's traveling all the time, we haven't seen much of her lately. Like I said, hopefully this will all tame down in May. - -  She has started softball practice. The practices are indoors but when it comes time for games, which is supposed to be in a week or so, I'm not sure how they are supposed to play when there is still so much snow on the ground! haha. I guess they are hoping it melts very soon. :) It'll need to or they'll be getting some really good exercise trudging through the snow! :)  -- Infinity will need continued prayer. Please pray for her to make wise choices and that she would desire a real relationship with God!

That is all I have to share right now. Scroll down to see pictures of Simeon on his b-day! He's getting so big! :)

We hope you are all well. We love to hear from you about how you and your families are! Drop us a line if you have the time!
Blessings

A Song in the Night

Hello friends! I just wanted to share a song with you today. It's a song by Don Francisco. I was listening to it while washing dishes today and it really spoke to me and met me where I was at. -- The Lord communicates in many different ways! :) -- I'm so thankful for that!

~~HE STILL LOVES YOU~~

 

When the world outside's been closing in around you

And the way from here is more than you can see

When the day's been more than you've had strength to handle

When a man is more than you know how to be

 

When the ones you love are trapped in lies and sorrow

And you just can't lift the weight that holds them there

When your friends have gone and left you empty handed

And the loneliness is just too much to bear

 

He still loves you, He's just waiting

For your struggles and your strategies to end

He's been beside you, every long and weary mile

If you'll just let Him lead the way, He'll be your friend

 

When at last you're tired of trying to be a Christian

And you've seen the end of all that you can do

When you realize how little you're worth without Him

He'll still be reaching out with love to you

 

He still loves you, He's just waiting

For your struggles and your strategies to end

He's been beside you every long and weary mile

If you'll just let Him lead the way, He'll be your friend

 

His love never ends!

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When we get our eyes off of Christ and His power and promises, the world does seem to close in on us--so quickly.

 

I can get so narrow sighted and not be able to see much of anything other than the one problem that my mind is focused on. It's said that women can be great multi-taskers but when we take our eyes off Christ and the prize, our multi-tasking goes out the window. As we cannot serve both God and man...we cannot focus on God and the world and our problems at the same time. So, when we seem to get near/narrow sighted, lets turn our head away from that and look again to Christ. ---I know that this is easier said than done but the more we excercise this, the easier it gets!

 

I like the chorus of this song....so true and simple. I like how it says "He's just waiting for your struggles and your strategies to end." Oh how I strategize! Always trying to ''figure out'' what's wrong and how I can try harder next time to fix it, etc. It reminds me of a phrase that is found in Proverbs several times: "There's a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is destruction" and the well known verse that says "lean not on thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowlege Him and He shall direct thy path." Our ways may seem right and even brilliant or clever, but in the end we are not all wise and all knowing and usually we are wrong about things when WE try to figure and understand things without the wisdom of God. God knows all things, so why not leave the 'fixing' up to Him? --It's so much easier and more plesant when we do! :)

 

I also really liked the part of the chorus that says "He's been beside you every long and weary mile." Today when I heard that, the thought occured to me that it's not only long and weary for us, but I think it must be long and tiresome for God. -To prove Himself time and time again, just to see us fall and struggle again and again. How disheartening, I'd think. When I thought of it that way, instead of thinking its just ME struggling and growing weary, I was more thankful to my Father for being so long-suffering with me! Even though He has to teach me the same things again and again, He never grows too tired. What a Rock to rest upon! What a fortress to be able to run to and hide in! Praise Him - He is so good to us!

 

Thank you for reading my jumbles of thoughts and words. I hope you have found even a small amount of encouragement in this.

 

Carry on friends. Stand steadfast in Him! He is our strength and song!
Please keep us in your prayers, we need them in a few different areas!

Update from the Stewart household : )

Has it really been that long since I've written on here!!? Oh dear! Well then, I should have plenty to say! :) -- But where to begin??

It's hard for me to come to grips with the fact that Simeon is going to be a year old soon! I cannot express how fast that time seems to have gone. It was like the blink of an eye. What a joy it has been to see him grow and develop like he has...by leaps and bounds. I thank God that I have the blessed oppurtunity to stay at home and drink it all in. I heard his first laugh, his first word (mama) :). I got to watch him sit up, scoot, pull himself up on furniture and now crawl...all for the very first time. I got to comfort him in his times of sickness. Every time before bed, whether for naps or night time, I read him books and sing to him while I rock him. I've been able to cherish each moment and thank God for them cause I never know if I'll have another moment. Our lives are so unpredictable...so delicate. We don't know what tomorrow brings, or if it will even come. --- God was right (of course!) Children are a blessing and a heritage from the Lord.
Simeon is now just over 10 months old, he has 5 teeth (almost 6) is crawling EVERYWHERE, walking around with assistance of furniture, walls, toys etc. and getting quite the little sense of humor. He is usually very happy and is usually laughing or squeaking about something. He has gotten over his need to be by mommy all the time and has become rather independent. He likes to crawl around the house looking for new things to discover. He is pretty obedient when he is told 'NO' and knows the consequences of deciding to disobey. He is a sweet boy who grabs the attention of people all the time when in public.

Motherhood has definatley changed me. Now instead of talking about my latest traveling adventure or my dream of going here and there and doing great things, I talk about cloth diapers, nursing, discipline, what Simeon has been up to lately, schedules, cleaning the house, making meals, etc, etc. Its rather funny to me how such a little guy can make such a huge difference! :) haha  Its great.

So I suppose I should write a little about what we have been doing and how the rest of the family is (other than Simeon) :) 
Chad keeps very busy with work. He shuts himself in the basement all day so that he can concentrate better. -We are working on finishing the basement up and making him an office down there. - If he's not working from home  he's traveling. Most of the travel lately has been to the U.P. of Michigan where he, I and Simeon all go and stay for 1 1/2 to 2 weeks at a time in a small rental cabin. Its cozy and accomadating for the most part but gets kind of lonely when Chad works alot. Simeon and I don't have phone or car so we do our best to occupy ourselves with something else.  --- Other than the Michigan trips there are some Canada, Chile, Brazil and other U.S. travels in the plans for this year. Most of which I don't think Simeon and I will be going on. Air travel is, as always, rather expensive. ----- Otherwise Chad is doing well. He recently has been buying tools for himself and has been having a desire to make things, fix things and finish our basement. Now he just needs to 'buy' himself some time :)
Infinity is growing so fast! Between her and Simeon...yikes! Time flies! Fin will be 14 in just a few days. She is in 8th grade and is now beginning what is commonly known as the 'teen years'; complete with peer pressure, friends as NUMERO UNO, drama, cliques, and if you ask me...downright scarriness!! She doesn't spend much time with us here, but the little time we do have her we do what we can and take advantage of that time to talk to her about important things and share with her truth and love from God's Word. She will need MUCH prayer in the years to come--as all children do. Hearing about the things that go on in school and things that her friends are doing and experiencing at this tender age, is catastrophic. Children in this world need to be better cared for by their parents and other elders. There seems to be such a lack of (as the Bible says) "natural affection". Its so sad. Its nice to know that at least Infinity has that love in her life and most importantly, has godly influence in her life. Too many children are without both.
I keep busy with what I call 'wife life' -- and now I suppose 'mommy life'. :)  Most of the time it seems I am cleaning or playing with Simeon. From time to time I buy and sell on Ebay as well. I try to keep in touch with "the outside world" by calling family and talking on the phone a bit. I go visit folks when I can but sometimes I suddenly remember that other people have lives...they don't all just sit and play with their children and clean. :) haha --- A shocking discovery!
Lately I have been thinking about the need to learn useful skills and the need to teach them to others. Skills such as gardening, canning, knitting/sewing, cloth diapering, making cheese, butter, etc ...skills and knowledge that were so basic not too long ago. This, I think, is essential to a happy, healthy life. I have been desiring these things and would love to start sharing my experiences and little knowledge with others....and learning SO MUCH MORE! -- This cloth diapering journey has been so great! I have loved every moment of it and have not once wished I did disposables. I think more people need to learn about this! And I would love to be the one to teach them!! :) I have been tossing around the idea of having classes/workshops for cloth diapering. A place where folks can come and learn about the ease, health and economics of it. A place to get familiar with the jungle of options and varieties out there for diapering. I know I only have 10+ months of experience, but ya gotta start somewhere, right?? :) I feel equally as passionate about other things such as GOD, natural childbirth, breastfeeding, basic living off the land, etc...but lets not open those cans now. I've done enough typing for now and should sign off. :)

I hope to be more diligent with my ambitions and sharing them with you on here! :)
I do hope you are all doing very well and keeping healthy in these 'sick months'!
Have a wonderful day!!!

~~ A verse for the time ~~

"Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace and things wherewith one may edify another." 

 Romans 14:19