A little thought and encouragment for the day:

Proverbs 11:25 "Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered."

Each and every day we have opportunity to 'water' others through our words. A little encouragment can go a long way; not only for the one you aim it toward, but for yourself also. May God be glorified through us.

Good day!

Talk About Timing...

What are the chances?? I haven't visited my blog since my last post...that just happens to be a year ago today! WOW! How's that for ... ummm....timing or whatever it is. :)
And even MORE amazing is the fact that I am again making pickles. That is a little weird that its been exactly a year to the day. Hmm. I a very remarkable fellow. :)  You'd think I'm a creature of habit or something, but I assure you that I am not. I wish sometimes that I was more so.
Anyway, this is mostly a note/post for myself since I'm pretty sure people have given up on me at this point saying as it has been an entire year since I've even been on here. I can almost hear my own typing 'voice' echoing back to my own ears...hollow and lonely sounding. Is anyone out there??
If you care to hear from or about me and my little life lately, feel free to drop a line :)

Who knew that the sound of jar lids 'popping' (sealing) could be so exciting!? It's as if my insides are singing praises at the little sounds. It's the sound of achievement.
Here's a little picture of my pickles I'm doing tonight. (sorry the picture is so low quality, I had to use my computer camera) Its after 2:00am, I should be in bed but I choose to sit here and listen to my lids sing my praises instead as I'm singing God's praises for His blessing me with this food and the opportunity to make these...even if it is two in the morning! :)

Little canning tip for you all:
Did you know that you can sterilize your canning jars in the oven rather than having to boil them? I hated boiling them! It was such a mess and seemed to take forever since it took up my burners I needed for canning! So, I searched for a better way and found this. I've been doing it for years now and it has not failed me yet. Its easy, clean, and much less stressful and hot!

• Preheat your oven to 225 degrees.
• Wash your jars in hot soapy water and drip dry or wipe dry with a non-linty, clean towel.
• Place your clean jars on a cookie sheet, right side up. (Or you could place them directly on the oven rack but just be careful not to bump them together much...or at all...to lessen the chance of cracking)
• Close the oven and set your timer for 20 minutes. Do not open the oven till the 20 minutes is complete.
• Remove jars and be careful, again, not to bump them together too much.
• Your jars are now sanitized! :) ---wasn't that so much easier!?? You're welcome :)

Happy day to you all! :)

Greetings beloved!

Yes, time has escaped me again. Six months has passed quickly...but not effortlessly. Much has been happening, as you could probably guess. I will wade through the latest events of our little farm life. :)  There are many joys and trials alike, but the joys always seem to far outweigh the trials here. I can only give glory to God for all He has given to us. He is more than good....He is Life and Love itself!

Late February brought us our first calf on the farm. A few weeks ahead of her 'due date' our cow Dolly gave birth to a little heifer calf. She was so cute! She looked just like a baby buffalo..haha...and still does, sort of. :)  She is so furry! (She's a Scottish Highlander, for those of you who might know that breed)
Other baby animals followed including some batches of chicks that our terrific broody hens decided to hatch! :) I love baby chicks...they are so cute! Our dairy cow Minnie had her calf last month and milking is in full swing again! We also have a fresh litter of kittens (which I am strangely pleased about...although we plan on spaying our cats soon after this). We have a few more batches of chicks ready to hatch within a week --those dear broody hens :).  We also acquired two dogs for all those nights that Chad is away. They are excellent watch dogs!  So, you see, we have a regular little hobby farm growing...and loving it! Oh yes, and our pigs...can't forget them...they are going to be delicious! :)

Chad's work has continued in the same fashion that it has for quite some time now. Very predictable and steady. However, his current project is nearing its end and we've been catching wind of other possible projects over time. Australia, Omen, China, etc. All of them needing a long-term stay. Thankfully, as an answer to prayer, God brought a perfect project our way...working locally, about 20 minutes from home, on a project that should stretch about a year! It isn't entirely final yet that he is getting it, but very near finality. We will know soon. That surely will be an answer to prayer! I am excited at the prospect of having my husband home each night! Please keep the success of  this project in your prayers when you think of it!

Our free days have been packed full of projects; about every kind you can think of when you live on a farm and live in an unfinished home. There are very few idle days it seems. We haven't been able to 'enjoy' the summer like most people might think of, but we are enjoying working and improving things. Even more than that though, I especially enjoy getting to work side by side with my husband on these projects. I can hardly convey the joy and satisfaction it brings me to accomplish things with him. I feel that it adds to our one-ness. The work is typically hard and labor intensive...all the better! :)  I have been finding myself breathing thanks to God from time to time for such a hard working and loving man! There are so many things I have come to love about my husband. Sometimes I find myself feeling unworthy of what God has given me in this new life of mine...this husband, these children, this farm and experiences that I have desired to give my family since I was a child. Now, I see that God has answered so many of my prayers. I marvel.
No, I don't see my life as all roses and butterflies every day, but when I can clear my head of all the muddle, and look through my Spiritual eyes (so to speak), when I come to God in humility, He gives me a "joy unspeakable and full of glory". I'm reminded of the song that says:
"Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace"
So true!

I would like to share some exciting news with you all. We are so happy to announce that I am carrying our 3rd child! We were so excited to learn of its new little life inside me! We had been hoping for this child for nearly a year! God's timing is always perfect though, and we praise Him! The pregnancy has been going very well - other than some normal morning sickness, tiredness and me looking far more pregnant than I am! We decided to announce earlier than planned because of my stomach that began to protrude and was difficult to hide! We announced to our families at 9 weeks. I am now 13 weeks. Almost into my 2nd trimester! Yay! We are expecting baby sometime in the beginning half of February. :)

 I think Simeon and Ruth are a little happy about the coming baby. Simeon is hoping for a boy! :)  Maybe he's thinking little sisters aren't working out for him...haha! He has already become a bit protective over the baby. When he sits on my lap, he makes sure he's not squishing the lil one. When Ruth is climbing all over me and stepping on my tummy, Simeon is quick to scold her and tell her to get off. :)  I hope they really enjoy the lil one when he/she comes! We watch a little video about the baby each week. I tell them how big baby is and what is new with him/her. The video has a little ultrasound video of a baby at the same stage. They love seeing and hearing the updates!

All else is well. The gardens are growing well and canning season has begun! I've done beets and pickles so far and will have more pickling cukes coming than I will know what to do with! So, if any of you want to make some pickles...let me know! :)  Although Chad has other thoughts...thoughts of many, many pickles for he and the children to eat in the next couple years! Haha!
I am hoping for a very heavy yeild of tomatoes, this year especially! Our plants are loaded so, Lord willing, all will turn out well there. We are also hoping to find lots and lots of organic apples from somewhere for applesauce. We only have a crab apple tree, so its nice to find other sweeter apples to balance out the tartness! Last year we got boxes of apples from my uncle's friend...what a blessing that was! My uncle even picked them for us!! :)

I hope all is well with each of you. Please "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness". I feel the days are drawing short and near. We need to arm ourselves against the wiles of the devil and stand with and in Christ!

Blessings and love in Him
~Jen

Has it truly been a whole year since I've written an update!!??!? How can that be possible!? That puts a whole new life to the term 'time flies'! I'm really quite amazed...and slightly ashamed. :(  How could I neglect this for that long!?? Well, anyway, lets let that go and move on.

As you may be guessing, there have been many changes in the last year. I will do my utmost to go through them somewhat quickly as not to bore you all with a novel's worth of writing. :)

I really can't remember all the way back to when I last wrote, but I will begin at where my memory works best.  -- A few things about Ruth's development would be that she probably won an award for slowest baby at rolling over! She didn't roll over till she was nearly 7 months! haha Oh well. Everyone tried to blame her cloth diapers, but I don't think so cause Simeon was rolling at 4 months. :)   She started eating solids at 10 months - which took her a while to get accustomed to them - and from there, she packed on the pounds! She went from looking so petite and feminine to looking like someone put a bowling ball in her tummy...thus, not very feminine! ;)

We really enjoyed last summer and I felt like I tried to take full advantage of outdoor opportunities. We went to the parks countless times, where the children could swing for hours if I'd let them! We went on lots of walks and bike rides with our trailer in tow for Simeon to ride in. He loves that trailer and we look forward to lots more use this coming summer!! I had a modest garden - due to the thought that I'd have a garden in the country too and not thinking that we were going to be staying in town all summer. As it turned out, I didn't get to have a garden in the country and we DID stay in town all summer! Haha...Well, at least I planted the bare necessities like beans, peas, lettuce, beets, zucchini, peppers and best of all...tomatoes!! Tomatoes are a real staple around here for canned salsa, canned tomatoes, pasta/pizza sauce and eating raw. Mmmmm. I found out that I didn't plant enough and will have to plant twice as much or more this year cause I'm already almost out of sauce AND I'm down to my last jar of canned tomatoes! YIPES! I'm really looking forward to this year of gardening but I also know it will be challenging because I'll be breaking new ground and it always takes a year or two to get the soil nice and conditioned. However, we have been taking every opportunity to fertilize the ground with scraps, manure, milk, and whatever else we can think of. I hope we don't over do it! :)

Now, perhaps some of you don't know that we've moved and are confused by my talk in previous paragraph. Well, let me fill you in. :)  We put our house up for sale in late summer/ early fall. The day the realtor listed it, a person inquired about it, came to look at it a day or so later, came again and made an offer. Within the first week, I think, the house was sold! Talk about good timing and answered prayers! THANK YOU, LORD! By the time everything was sorted out and settled on, we had about 2 weeks to move! Crunch time begins....our house in the country that was being built, was not ready and not able to be lived in. But, with a little pressure my brothers rose to the challenge and we had our hands quite full with getting 10 years worth of accumulation (the length that Chad had lived in that house...4 of which included me) to go through and pack up! I would try to comfort my hubby by reminding him that I am from a family of great procrastinators and we'd be able to get it all done. In the end, he was very surprised we did! ---Who cares if we were finishing up at the house in town till 2am the night before closing?? ;)   -Just making the best use of our time. :)

Beginning the second week of September, we were officially country folk! Complete with beautiful, big barn and silo...not to mention tractor and hay equipment with hay being made in the fields! Phew! We don't waste time around here! :D  --However, we must give credit where credit is due. If it weren't for the help of my selfless family members, we would not have been out of our house in time, nor would we have the haying equipment or making hay, NOR would we even have this lovely house we are in now! God has really blessed us in many ways! --My brother Jer was the one to push for the haying equipment. Through discussions and prayer and debate, we've worked out a nice family situation to do a type of share-farming with the equipment and hay yields. The experience has been challenging, fun and rewarding in ways...definitely has helped to create memories too! :)
Now, with all this hay, we NEED animals to eat it, right? ;)  Chad agreed that I could, as a birthday present from him to me, buy myself a horse within a certain budget! I began to do my bargain shopping and soon found TWO horses within that budget! They've turned out to be great! I especially have been impressed with the horse I found for Chad! He is such a laid back, 'gentle giant' kind of guy whom anyone could ride...if they aren't afraid of heights! :)  So, with those two and boarding my sister's 3 horses and (of course) a pony for Simeon...we soon had 6 horses on our farm!
In early November we bought 27 chickens and a dairy cow...a week later we got a young heifer beef cow and about a month later, we got a second beef cow who was also bred! ---Like I said, we don't waste much time. -- Oh yes, and lets not forget our 2 loveable barn kitties! (Ruthie's favorite) <3
This new life for us, we've all been enjoying! We've been milking everyday since we first got our Jersey cow, Minnie and had been enjoying that. We just decided to dry her up though and have been also enjoying NOT having to milk every day! :)  We decided to dry her up a month earlier than planned due to Chad's work. We are hoping to travel with him for a couple months before Minnie has her calf in the summer; for when that happens, nobody is going ANYWHERE!

Now, unto our little children. First of all, they aren't so very little anymore! :(  Simeon is going to be 3 next month and Ruth is about 15 months! Simeon is, as my Dad continually says, 2 going on 8. :)  Yep, it sure is easy to forget that he's still only 2 when you are having a full, intelligent, perfectly comprehendable conversation with him! He's "smart as a whip", as the phrase goes. He really surprises me with things he says, understands, and accomplishes. He's a kind boy that seems to have a soft heart. He does struggle with controlling his aggression at times but he has really come a long way in the last few months...especially when it comes to Ruth. He used to have such a hard time with her. He couldn't stand to let her have any toys and had a problem with hitting her...but now a lot of that has been replaced with sharing voluntarily, reading books to her, holding her hand and taking her somewhere to see something and giving her random hugs and kisses as he says "watch Mommy" or "Take a picture of this". HAHAHA! That one REALLY makes me laugh! I must get the camera out more when they are 'getting along'. :)  He also has been delighting me with his manners. He's usually quite diligent about saying please and thank you but he goes beyond the usual 'good manners' and says things like. "Thank you, thank you Mommy for giving me some, that was nice of you." Or various other sentences like that. His sincerity absolutely warms my heart some times and I feel a smile of gratitude grow across my face. Gratitude to God for this precious gift He gave to us. Gratitude to my husband and myself for deciding together on how to raise our children and demand -and now can expect- that 'little extra' from our children. Gratitude to Simeon for being willing to learn, and genuinely loving and respectful. Of course none of us are perfect and yes, we may not ALWAYS be sweet and respectful...but the point is we try and in the end, we expect that from each other.

Ruth. Ruth is a character! She is "Goofy Roofy". She is so diverse and delightful...that's how I'd describe her. One moment she is sweet with hugs and kisses galore and the next she is sassy with a major attitude and stubborn streak running up and down her! Never a dull moment with that lil one! She probably makes me laugh more than most people I know! Especially at night! When she gets tired...much like her mama...she gets SO GOOFY! Almost like a little ritual, each night when I am singing them songs before bed, she will be going all over in her crib! Popping up and down in an ultra fast Peek-A-Boo fashion, flopping on her belly, putting her face up and down in her pillow about 50 times a minute, rocking back and forth on her knees and abruptly flopping over with arms and legs flailing - all the while making some kind of humorous noise! I try, for Simeon's sake who is being told its bed time and time to be quite, I TRY to keep from bursting out in laughter...but I just can't help it...really, I try! When that happens, its like she got her big pay-off and kicks it into high gear! Which, in turn, has me and Simeon laughing so hard! UGH! That silly lil girl! she really is SO FUNNY sometimes! --Now, to her 'darker side'. :)  She also has her mama's stubborn streak. Must be that German in me ;)  That streak has its challenges but she is also proving to have a soft heart...for which I am grateful!  --She began walking in early December at 13 months old and picked up on it like a real pro! She didn't really have those traditional practice falls all the time. When she decided to walk, she, like her brother, took off like it had been an every day occurrence! Now she's about 15 months and about a week ago I decided to put her on the potty chair when I spotted her 'pushing'. I didn't feel mentally ready to potty train her, but I wanted to just see what she'd do. Simeon was 15 months when I trained him for the final time so I was curious about her. She went, we celebrated, and after that she started asking to sit on it at least a couple times every day since. Almost every time she sits on it, she goes. Yesterday her diaper was dry most of the day with only 2 little 'wets'. She has really surprised me with this! I wish I felt more mentally ready for this; I'd run with it and be getting her up 2 or 3 times every night and controlling her water, etc. like I did with Simeon. But unfortunately I just haven't done so. I hope it doesn't backfire on me! :/

Lastly and quickly... since the post has gone MUCH longer than I originally wanted! Chad and I are doing well, enjoying eachother, enjoying being parents and...yep, you guessed it, keeping busy. :)  Chad's been quite busy with his work and I with farm duties and wife and mama duties. The morning animal chores typically take over an hour and another 30-45 mins at night. Some mornings, when Chad is gone, I come in from ''chores'' and I feel like I'm ready for a nap, but instead am just starting the morning with hungry kids that are still in their PJ's. So, God grants strength and carries me through the day on His wings of grace!
Chad has been traveling a very consistent and predictable schedule lately (which is very unusual since we've been married). Its been good and not so good. Good because at least there's expectations and a set schedule that we can work around. Not so good because he seems to be gone a lot because of its consistency. It's half of one month and a week out of the next...half of the next month and a week out of the next and so on. When he's home he still has work to do for them...but thankfully, not a lot. We are hoping to go with this coming week and the 2 weeks in March...from there, we'll see.

Well, I do hope I didn't type you all to sleep! That was a lot....but as you can see....there has been a lot going on in the last year!
Thank you for reading and caring...it really means a lot to me!
I pray you have a blessed year this year full of love, laughter, trials and triumphs!
May the grace of God be upon each one of you; and may you know His victorious life and unfailing love each day!

~Jennifer

Lil' Update! :)

Hello to all!
I just wanted to give a quick little shout out to whomever may want to hear. :)


Things are going well here. Our children are growing like little weeds...except they are good lil' weeds that I love. :)  -Ruth seems to have had a growth spurt suddenly because yesterday (literally) she was wearing 3-6 months clothes just fine; now today I've discovered that 6 months clothes barely fit her!!! YIKES! Also, she is beginning to discover that she has hands that she can (somewhat) control AND she's also found a new best friend today...herself in the mirror!! :D  YAY! I sat and watched her for about 15 minutes while she talked to herself and spit bubbles and gurgled at herself. It was all quite adorable; then suddenly it all came to an abrupt halt when she seemed to disagree with something she said to herself and suddenly became a bit aggitated. --Sometimes she reminds me of me...like mother like daughter. ;)


Simeon is taking on the big brother role just fine! He enjoys trying to play with Ruth on her jungle gym and giving her toys. -Sometimes they accidently hit her in the head, but it's really the thought that counts, right? He can get a little carried away at times with rocking her in her carseat or bouncing her in her bouncer (it's a good thing she has good neck muscles!) but a gentle reminder, that he needs to be gentle, is usually all he needs to regain control. Again, it's the thought that counts!
Simeon has really become quite the little helper around the house! He enjoys helping me with all sorts of household chores such as loading and unloading the washer and dryer, cleaning out the lint trap (a newly discovered delight), vacuuming, dusting and one of his very favorites is putting away the dishes. He knows where every dish and kitchen utensil goes! Amazing! I don't think Chad even knows that!! :D --He's quite the little guy, that Simeon! Oh yes, and of course he always has to clean up his own messes such as toys that he likes to strewn all about the house and his multitude of books that he seems to "read" daily!
Of course he has his little bouts of "naughtiness" that needs daily correction, but all in all, WE think he's a pretty good boy...but then again, we could be bias. ;)


When I write on here, I feel somewhat like a broken record player when the subject turns to Chad. I'm always saying that he is very busy, aren't I? Well, here it comes again.....Chad's been quite busy lately! :)  Haha! What can I say? He's just a hard working man. :)  Truly though, he has been quite busy this month. He has been working for his job, Metso (for whom he is out of the country right now) and also working on our heating system for our new house...which has been taking a lot of his time! Although, the system is really starting to all come together now and it all, I might add, looks very professional! Good job Dear! It will be a great relief for him when that is finally done! It's definitely been a learning process!


I have been fairly busy as well. I'm a wife and mother. :)  I keep somewhat occupied with the wifely/motherly duties but I do look forward to getting in the country and having animals and landscape to tend to as well! I have so missed that in my life! I'm hoping to have chickens and horses and cattle in the future...and perhaps a small flock of sheep! :D  Then I will be REALLY busy!! I suppose I should be cherishing these more laid-back days while I can! Hmm....never thought of it like that before... :) Once we are "farmers", we wont have too many laid-back days any more!


That then, brings us to the subject of our house...
It's a work in progress! Things had been put on hold for a while due to a wait on the heating system, but now that's almost done and we have a couple of propane heaters in there keeping it nice and cozy for my brothers; things are picking up once again! We are really shooting for a move in date of late April to early May, but we shall see how things go! All in the Lord's timing I suppose.
Please keep in prayer the selling of this house that we are in now. It isn't on the market yet but we are hoping to get the final touches on the remodeling done next month and get it for sale in March sometime. Hoping, hoping.....


Thank you for taking the time to read this little update! We greatly appreciate your thoughts and prayers for us and our endeavors! Please feel free to drop us a note sometime! :)


Blessings in our Christ,
Jenny, for the Stewart family   **Please note that I have a new email address: jen.stewart@zoho.com


Ps. I tried posting pictures but it wouldn't work for some reason. I will try again later!

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!

_______________________________________________________________

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

My favorite cloth diaper blog/website is having a ton of giveaways this month and I am trying very hard to get one! :)  The link is this: http://allaboutclothdiapers
 and/or http://allaboutclothdiapers.com/the-biggest-giveaway-event-starts-on-monday
Wish me the best! :D  It'd be so exciting to win something!

Ahh...life

Oh the little joys of life! The seemingly mundane, positively monotonous activities that repeat, repeat, repeat.... Ya, well you get what I'm saying. :) But somehow there is a strange comfort in the mundane. Like...knowing just what is going to happen at 10:35 am tomorrow morning. Haha..no, it's not that monotonous around here....not quite. :)

Ok, that was a strange way to start my newest post, wasn't it? -- So, Things around here definatly do have some sort of schedule most of the time. There is a thing out of the ordinary here and there. Most of my days consist of me and my 'little man' (thats what we call Simeon most of the time) hanging out together and once in a while visiting relatives. Chad has been busy with work alot lately, and I don't have a whole lot of hope that it will slow down any time soon. As he says, this is the norm. Hmm...well, whatever. That's ok I guess.

I think of Simeon as my little buddy/companion these days. He is such a joy! He is so happy and absolutely ADORABLE---but don't tell him...we don't want him getting an ego or something. ;) He is getting huge! Some of the names my family (lovingly) call him are 'Farm Boy, Butterball, Chunk, Fat (in a good way :) ) Beast...etc I think you get the drift that he is growing. :) He is over 17 lbs now and he is only 3 1/2 mos old. --Like I like to remind folks, "he's all muscle!" :D

We will be leaving on our annual family vacation soon. I hope it will be super duper fun! Just pray all the traveling doesn't take too much of a toll on Little Man. He's pretty use to traveling I think. I joke that he spends half his life in the car. He does spend a lot of time in his carseat for sure. You know me... :)

We had a wonderful time with Joe and Becky and their adorable and very entertaining little crew of daughters over the 4th of July week! They got to be in our area for about 4 days or so. The whole fam was together each day and had a wonderful time! We all had to go into detox afterward though. Too much crazy activity I think! So many kids!! It was great though! :)

I just sold my beloved horse of 10 years. Sad, but also a good thing. He went to a great home and I get to see him whenever I want (pretty much). The Lord really answered prayers for that whole thing. I love how He delights to show Himself faithful in the, oh so small, things! First off, the lady that bought him was great! So nice and understanding. Secondly, the day they were coming to get him was a beautiful, warm day but when they were about halfway here, it started thundering and lightning and POURING rain! -they were coming from WI.-  Also, on top of all this, the last time someone tried to put Star in a trailer it didn't go so well. (I wasn't there so maybe he just needed me) :) . Anyway, I suggested to Jess and Kora that maybe we should all be praying that the weather clears and Star (my horse) loads well. So throughout the time we were waiting for the people to arrive with the trailer we were all praying. Kora was confident that everything would work out cause "God says that He will answer our prayers". So true. He does delight in the little things. They arrived shortly after the weather miraculously -and in spite of the forcast of thunderstorms all day- cleared up and sun shone bright. Star walked right in after me in the big, loud trailer and they were off again with no problems! WOW! Thanks be to God! haha--just funny how things like this happen. It helps build and encourage not only my faith, but the faith of Jess' children as well. I'm sure they will remember that answer to prayer for a while. I'm reminded of when I was their age and would pray with 'the faith of a child'. So precious in God's sight!

Well, that's all for now. I hope you all are well! Carry on. :)

Changing Times

Someone recently said to me, "What happened to the Jenny I knew?".
Oh how these last 2 years seem to have changed me! I sat and recalled different things, friends, times, laughs, trials...and yes, I see I have been shaped into a slightly different person now. Marriage and now a child of my own...how time goes by so quickly and shapes us with it's wearing. I'm not so sure it's a bad thing to be changed by these events...it's just sometimes a difficult thing; but we rejoice in the hope of God conforming us into what He desires for us. My goals and dreams years ago are definatly different from what they are today but I see that we cannot cling to what once dreamed of 'once upon a time' but rather be soft to the changes that the Lord may want to make in us instead of stubbornly clinging to the (perhaps) selfish dreams and ambitions.
Being a mother has been quite a blessing!--as well as being a wife and now parent with my husband. God has been working lately to open our eyes to some things and the result, so far, has been good. We are praying that He will continue to work with us and to show us clearly, His will for our lives forward. I am excited to see what is in the future for Chad and I and our little family. We hope for great things to be accomplished!
Simeon Joseph is growing so fast!! It's almost sad to see- I almost wish we could make time go a little slower, but we are excited also for him to grow and develop more. Chad can't wait till he is walking and talking. He enjoys playing with him now though. :) They have some fun times together and some adorable laughs too. :)  It's fun to watch.
Simeon is 15lbs already and 25 inches long! He loves his bath times the most and also enjoys being outside. We were given a great stroller for one of our babyshowers and have been using it as much as possible. It's wonderful! We are thankful!
Chad's work has really picked up lately. He is working quite a lot and traveling. He will be going out to Utah next week again. It's nice when Simeon and I can go with, but when he is this small it is a little harder. Hopefully we can go with more when Simeon is older.
Infinty is enjoying her little brother. She thinks he's pretty adorable (which is true) :) She had softball this year again and did well. She also is growing up fast! She will be 14 on her next birthday! Crazy! We continue to be in prayer for her salvation and also for the continued adjustment to this new life of ours. Your prayers, of course, are so very appreciated.
We hope all is well with all of you and would LOVE to hear from you!
Blessings to all of you from the Stewart Family! <3

He's here!

Greetings to all!

As most of you probably know by now, Chad and I have been blessed by the Lord with the birth of our son, Simeon Joseph. He is a healthy, handsom, baby who is growing rapidly! :)

We had been in prayer about his birth ever since we found out that this little miracle was starting to form in my womb. We wanted to be able to give birth to this little one at home - whether with a midwife or without - but we were just praying for the Lord's leading in whichever way would be best. We knew He knew. :) After many attempts to find a midwife, we gave up, taking it from the Lord that one wouldn't be necessary. So the only options left were home with just Chad and I, or the hospital. I, from the beginning had a great peace about having my child at home...and so did Chad after a little while. I think this was the working of the Lord. :)

When the time came to give birth, neither of us had any doubts that we should stay at home. Labor started after a night of burning fields at our property in Palo. (For this reason, my dad nicknamed Simeon 'Smokey' cause I was starting and putting out fires all night and running around in the fields! :D I'm sure I was quite the sight at 41 weeks pregnant) - Labor started at 2:30 that night, and after 6 hours of back labor, our precious son was given to us by God. Praise Him- He does all things well! He gave much strength during that time...our prayers were answered. Simeon Joseph was born in our own house, as an answer to prayer. Chad did such a wonderful job in aiding in the labor and delivery....and yes, he caught him successfully! :) He weighed 9lbs 9oz. and was 20.5 inches long. Everything went so well...and fast! What a wonderful experience! Let us praise his Creator!

We have had so many visitors since his birth a week ago...what a blessing! Thanks to all of you for prayers, thoughts, visits, gifts and food!- we so appreciate everything!

With thanksgiving,

Chad and Jenny...and Simeon :)

Ever Nearer

Baby is due to come in about 3 1/2 more weeks! I can't believe the time is here already! --well, almost here. Our last doctor appointment showed that things are right on track and that my body is beginning to prepare for labor. My guess is 3 weeks from now I will be having baby...but no one really knows but God. :)  We continue to toss name ideas around but probably won't settle on one till baby is here and we can see him.
I, of course, feel much bigger these days and it is getting a bit harder to do things, but all in all things are going pretty well. I am getting more excited about cloth diapering as the time draws near. I think it will go well! I have been purchasing some last minute things as I see need for them. Hopefully when all is said and done, we will be quite prepared in supplies. :)  I am also looking forward to the whole labor experience...strangely enough. :) I think it will be quite the experience :D

I have had the desire to read through the Old Testament again so I've started reading to Chad every night. I hope we keep it up. I love to read together with my hubby...especially the Bible. It is fun to discuss things as they come to our attention when we read them instead of trying to remember what you wanted to talk about/discuss later.
I feel like I say this ALOT, but the Lord is continually teaching and showing us things. Perhaps its good that I say that alot, because it is good to be taught by our Lord. :)  Although the more He works with me...the more I see how much work still needs to be done! Good thing we have such a patient Father! I long to be more like Him and less like me!


We appreciate your continued prayers in all areas of our lives here in northern Minnesota. Please be in prayer for the Body of Christ as she prepares to meet her groom!

Encourage one another.

Blessings!

Update

Greetings! The babyshower went quite well! So many people came, I was rather surprised!! A lot of my aunts from southern MN came all the way up for it...that was so great! And an old neighbor lady of ours from when I was a little girl...she is such a sweetheart. So many came from quite a ways away...what a blessing! We got all kinds of wonderful things--many thanks to all of them!!! I didn't get Chad to stay with me and open presents, but he did come up from downstairs a few times during it and stood by me...that was nice! We also got a few pictures taken together by the adorable cake! :) Everything was just great!

We are back in 'remodel' mode here at our house. We are completley re-doing a bedroom downstairs and re-painting and carpeting the baby's room that will be upstairs next to ours. Very exciting to start the ball rolling on these things so that we can be ready when little guy makes his appearance! :)  -- Which will be quite soon! I am 33 weeks now...only 7 to go (in theory). I can't believe the time is drawing so near! It seems like it all went by quite quickly. I've posted a picture of me for you all to see how we are growing. Things are continuing to go very well.

Chad is in Canada for work. He will be back in another 5 days. Having him gone is quite sad but at least tolerable -so far- this time. :)  I am trying to keep busy with things around the house like painting and cleaning and washing baby stuff. It helps to have something to do. --Chad is doing well. He is way up in NewFoundland where it is quite cold and very snowy. -although they are having a 'heat wave' right now. They are usually near -50 degrees F, Chad says,  but they aren't supposed to get too much colder than -5 degrees for the week that he is there. Chad was glad to hear that! :)

We are hoping to put our house up for sale soon. We've been talking about it for some time now but hopefully we can reach that goal soon. Please pray for the Lord to bring a buyer for us!

The Lord is continuing to do a work in our lives...like He is probably doing for you all in some way too. :)  We are eager to see what He has in store for us. We long to do His will! Please be in prayer for the work being done in and with us...and not just us, but all His people. Pray for His body! -- We keep you in prayer.

Infinity (our daughter) will be 13 next week! CRAZY! I sometimes forget that this is my second year here! Much has happened since I first became a 'Stewart'. Amazing how time goes by. Infinity is still learning to adjust to this new life -- as we all are. :) That is some of the work that the Lord is doing around here. I feel like things have been getting better and easier...I hope it's the truth instead of just wishful thinking! haha  Infinity, like so many others, needs Christ in her life. She needs His constant, His love, His life. We are able to minister to her when she is here, but the pull of the world is quite strong in her other family and all we can do is pray for her to come to God, and to be faithful to minister His life to her faithfully. Please be in prayer for that work.

We continue to be fed through the dear saints that we meet with around here- and have the wonderful oppurtunity through Christ to feed/minister to them!-   The Lord is so faithful and caring for His people! He does not leave us forsaken, but He comes to us and feeds us like a good shepherd. He is building His body and it is so good to be a part of that! We pray you are getting fellowship with other believers where you are. This is so important in our lives! Vital, really. Seek ones out and eat and drink of our Lord!

"I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him."   --(Psalms 34:1-9)

Grace and peace unto you all!

Food for Thought

What are we striving for on this earth? What is our driving ambition or force? What do you want your life to amount to and count for? What will you have to cling to when you die? What really matters--and does it matter all the time to you? Is there a void, a nagging, a lacking of something? Are you still searching and seeking or do you feel like you've found what you want? What satisfies you? What are you living for...and what should you be...do you know?

Pray for the spiritual needs of people.

Recently...

Hello! Once again it has been a while since my last posting. Life has been good... and a little busy too.

Chad's business trip went well and I survived! :) It is good to have him back!  We had a good time over the Christmas and New Year's happenings. We got together with his side of the family twice for the 'Christmas thing', and then my family for New Years' Eve and such. :)  It's always enjoyable to be around loved ones!

We went 'car shopping' for me since my car has nearly reached it's 300,000 mile mark!! :)  --just a little note: When I first bought that car (Buick Regal) I prayed that it would be a good car for me and I specifically prayed that it would make it to 300,000 miles. I praise God for answering my prayers!! I hardly put any money into that car...very minimal maintenance/repairs! What a blessing it has been for me! God is good! It just goes to show that no request is too small or seamingly 'silly' to Him if you have faith that He will do it. I just love how our God cares so much for even the smallest things! =D   --So anyway, we got another Buick Regal -- just like my old one but with about 210,000 miles less and 2 years newer. I pray that this vehicle will be a blessing like my old one. (Which, btw, went to my lil sister Jackie!) Yup...it's still running! =D

Chad and I flew to Florida on the 1st of this new year to go see Joe and Becky (my 3rd oldest brother and his wife) and thier rapidly growing family!! We just got back late last night. It was such a great time down there...but of course, all too short. :(  I hadn't seen their children for nearly 2 years!!! WOW! They are getting so grown up! We had a great time playing and talking and such. We went to the zoo together and to the beach and out to eat, etc. FUN! I wish we could see them more often. We pray that the Lord would provide a way for them to be able to move up this way soon. That'd be great! --Maybe you could pitch in some prayers too...?  =D
Also, while we were in Florida for a week, Chad and I took a few days to go down and see some of the sights. He had never been to the Everglades or Keys so we rented a car and made a little tour of the area! We camped 2 nights and had a hotel for 2 nights too. We had a great time and hope to do it again someday. The weather wasn't the most wonderful, but at least it was warmer than Minnesota! :)  Although we were down there for their 'coldest' time of the year. It actually got down in the 20's and 30's some nights! So, we didn't really get as much sun as we were hoping for, but it was still very enjoyable!! :) We did have some days in the 70's. :)

Today Chad is working on getting prepared to leave early in the morning for a trip to Pennsylvania for a couple of days for work. --He has a bit on his plate for the next month when in comes to work.

We are still searching for a person to be willing- and somewhat qualified- to deliver our baby at home for us. I talked to an interesting prospect today and we are waiting to hear back from her. I feel like this might be the one, but I won't get my hopes up too high! :) We would appreciate your prayers in this and in the fast approaching birth of our precious child! --Things are going quite well. I've been seeing a family doctor for my pre-natals up to this point and she is very pleased with how things look. (good and healthy) :)  Praise the Lord!  Baby is continually active and I am getting increasingly bigger! :) I read in an article, that from this point on, baby is supposed to nearly triple it's weight!! When I told Chad that, he just looked at me wide eyed like, 'you're gonna be huge!' haha! Probably...but so far everyone thinks I look pretty small. I'll have to post a newer pic to see what you all think. :)

My sisters and sisters-in-law are putting on a babyshower for me this Saturday! What a blessing! I am hoping to see some people that I don't get to see very often! I love my family. =)  The Lord has truly blessed me! --I'm not exactly looking forward to being the center of attention but that's ok..I'm sure I will survive! :) I am trying to talk my hubby into coming with me but I'm not really sure that is gonna happen. I'll just keep working on it for now. :) haha

I hope you all are doing very well. It would be good to hear from you (any of you) sometime! Blessings to you all!