Convicted.

Isn't it funny how the word "convicted" has the word "convict" in it? Yes, I am a convict....perhaps an ex-con if you consider what Jesus did for me. Anyway....that's not exactly what I wanted to share today....

I was sent a very sweet e-mail from a dear friend of mine this week that totally convicted me regarding something I wrote in last post.

I stated that, "The coming months may prove to be a challenge as my pregnancies have not been easy" and my dear friend reminded me that we serve a very MIGHTY HEAVENLY FATHER that has the ability to make this pregnancy smoother and more pleasant than any other....that I should be looking with positive expectation for great things.....

She is right. This pregnancy is and will continue to be different than the other two and it will be a JOY!

God is faithful. Be blessed.

Little lives.

First came our first precious gift from the Lord.

In case you didn't know our story, we were told before we got married that Tim and I would most likely not have children. The doctors said that even if I did manage to get pregnant that the risk of miscarriage would be astronomically high.

Tim married me anyway and we prayed....and prayed....and felt strongly as though the Lord would give us children in some miraculous way.....we thought perhaps adoption....when all of our friends and sisters were having babies, we prayed harder.....then God said, "Go".

So after 6 years of marriage, we moved to the Philippines to follow God's commands.

Six months later, we found out God had placed Promise in my womb.

Amazed and unprepared, we welcomed with deep gratefulness this precious girl into our lives.

Then, I prayed again....this time I prayed the prayer of Hannah....to open my womb.....one more time....
And the Lord gave us Tobias. Our miracle boy and precious joy. Two babies in less than 3 years! What a MIGHTY GOD we serve! Two babies born overseas amidst hardship and loneliness.....our greatest treasures and joy within our most difficult years.

And now, as we heal from the past, God has surprised us with another miracle. He decided to open my womb once more for miracle baby #3! It's true.

As Tim and I celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary this year, we will also welcome our third child into the world.

Only about 6 weeks along, baby #3 is making his/her presence known with cramps, constipation, and nausea.....I am thankful for every sign.

Promise is thrilled to have a baby sister (so she has decided it MUST be) and Toby is blissfully unaware.

The coming months may prove to be a challenge as my pregnancies have not been easy, but this being our first baby in our home country surrounded by our families, we are anticipating great things.

God has a funny way of surprising us with His gifts.

We are praying for a safe and peaceful pregnancy and transition for all. Adding another into our basement suite alone will be a creative challenge....he we go!

Be blessed.

A bit of Spring in our step.....

Happy Monday to all! Tim's day off is Monday so we decided to go to our favorite local park, Mill Lake. Tim took the camera and we had a wonderful morning together. The sun was warm, the air was chilled....spring is on its way.




This is Promise's favorite place in the park. She serves "ice cream" from this little counter....not worms. The ice cream bears a strange resemblance to bark dust.
And then we came home to sweep the driveway of all the cedar needles from when Daddy and Uncle Andy took the cedars to the dump.
Big sister, Promise, always lending Toby a hand.....
And my precious boy during our daily wrestling match.....I always win...the prize?...well, it's cuddles and kisses!

Life has been busy these days. Two weeks ago, my brother, Andy, and his amazing family came up for a 5-day vacation. This is the second visit up to Canada in well over 8 years! Of course, 3 of those years were spent in the Philippines.

With 3 kids in tow, we had an incredible time together. They were a delight and Promise and Toby still talk of their cousins' visit. I will have to post some pics of all that soon....I have to steal them from Ruth's blog. :)

After a long season of sickness, Promise and Toby have been seeing a naturopath and are undergoing extreme dietary changes along with some new naturopathic meds. Already, we are noticing a decrease in Promise's belly aches and an increase in her appetite. She seems to be trying new things without as much caution and timidity as well. Her playful side is coming out more and we are delighting in seeing her spark! She LOVES to sing and the song of the year is "Somewhere out there" from the movie, "An American Tale"....which happens to be among her top 10 movies. She sings the song in the bath tub, in the car, at church....she stays in tune, too! Her second current infatuation is her "ballerina shirt". This shirt is simply a pink, long-sleeve, drop waist shirt with ruffles and a hood....but apparently to Promise, it transforms her into a Ballerina Princess. LOVE IT....except when she gets food on it and it has to be washed, which leads to tears. :)

Toby has discovered how to annoy people. He is just too cute to get angry at, but requires consistent discipline....if we turn our backs for a slight second he is into the toilet water, the trash, Promise's treasured toys, and anything else he can get his fingers into....all with a very BIG smile on his face.

His current favorite things are dogs....and balls....he will follow them without any hesitation to the ends of the earth. He says "thank you" without being asked and loves to show you his gratefulness with kisses and hugs.

We have amazing kids. I am so thankful for them. And they LOVE having daddy home. We like Mondays these days.

Be blessed.

A snowy day....oh wait...I meant 'a snowy WEEK'!

our stairs on Tuesday morning.
Promise eating the "cold"
Toby learning to walk in snow....until he couldn't! By Tuesday afternoon, he was buried and could no longer move in it!

Greetings! It has been an adventurous week! It started with a light snowfall on Friday and included a WONDERFUL visit from our friends, Amber, Kayla and Jenna. We met these three precious ladies in the Philippines about two years ago. They have been on a little bit of a visitation tour of the West before heading out on the field again. Amber is headed to India and Kayla and Jenna are headed to Sierra Leone.

We were so blessed with their company on Saturday and were so thankful they made time in their busy schedules to visit us....despite driving all the way up from Oregon and hitting snow here in Abbotsford!

Then Sunday night, the snow decided to show itself more powerful and a few more inches fell. We were able to get outside to play on Monday (Daddy's day off) as a family and even try to drive the highway towards Richmond to get Tim's camera fixed....alas, we only made it to Langley and had to turn back towards home as the snow was too thick to see through....

Tuesday, Tim had to take my van to work as his van has stinky tires on it and would likely end up in a ditch, so we cancelled two doctor's appointments and our women's bible study was cancelled....we got some time outside....it took well over 30 minutes to get the kids "suited up" for snow for less than 10 minutes of snow fun....

so, here we are, Wednesday morning and it's still snowing.... -11 degrees Celsius and the wind is blowing so hard you can only see about 5 feet in front of you. :) It's an inside day.

I measured the snow this morning.... 11 inches and still falling. The drifts get up to an upwards of 18 inches....this isn't sledding snow...Toby gets buried too fast now....and it's too dry and soft to make snowmen....

However, we did get some sledding and snowball-throwing in before the snow took its blustery, cheek-burning turn. Tomorrow is supposed to be light snow and moments of sun....then rain on Friday afternoon through Sunday....ewww....slushy and flooding?

For now, it's beautiful.

Please be praying for Tim....he is heading up to the next level of responsibility at work and with the addition of being short-staffed, he is a busy dude. He is taking on the role of assistant manager in so many areas, but still has to maintain the role of answering phones and customer relations all while interviewing for new positions. It's amazing and wonderful that they trust him with such responsibilities after only being employed there for 9 1/2 months, but it is also daunting!

Thank you for your prayers. He is doing a great job, but certainly feels inadequate....which I guess is good because it means that the Lord can be mighty in his weakness.

Be blessed.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! 2012 is sure to be rich with growth if it was anything like 2011!

Here's the last of 2011....pictured above is promise and me getting ready to blow out the candles on my birthday cake the day after Christmas....no, I am not turning 2 years old, but I did have two candles....notice that one of the candles is the number 3. I am 31. Just so there's no confusion. :)
Promise and daddy made that cake for me. And thanks to my dear friends, Arnica and Liv, I even got 3 princesses and two dwarves on my cake. :)
Yes, Promise and daddy were very careful to measure everything perfectly...and the cake was magnificent! While they made the cake, I took down all the Christmas cheer from our house....yes, the Bedford Falls cityscape was demolished and put into boxes.....the garland removed, the Christmas tree de-christmassed. Got it done in one day! WAHOO!
Christmas day yielded a grand and wild party with all the Stewart cousins pictured above. :) Micah, Hope, baby Grace, Toby, Promise, Lila and Justice played so very well together and the noise level was deafening....just the way we like it. Promise got very special pjs from Grandmastina and other precious treasures...

Toby and Promise got new slippers on Christmas Eve....they NEVER take them off....Promise is convinced they are "ballet slippers" and claims that they make her dance. :)
Just before Christmas, we got a surprise visit from Promise and Toby's favorite person in the world!....TEAGAN, babysitter-extraordinaire. She and her boyfriend, Leighton, came over for some pre-Christmas festivities....it was so much fun!
And the Monday before Christmas yielded a very precious gift....Tim's best friend, Paso, and my friend, Laurenn, and their son, Zeke, welcomed a beautiful baby girl into their lives...Amelia was born perfectly and beautifully into her daddy's waiting hands (and midwife) on the morning of the 19th. Laurenn's labor was amazing and though very difficult, Laurenn was a champ and after having a cesarian section with her first child, had many prayers answered with this normal vaginal delivery. She was a labor QUEEN!

And all the more special....I got to be her doula. :) This was my first birth since being back from the Philippines and I was so honored to be a part of it.....so grateful to take part in Laurenn and Paso's joy and thrilled to be in a birth room again.

But I was also reminded as to why I am not a practicing midwife right now! Being on-call is tough when you have two toddlers dependent on you and a hubby that work 6 days a week for 12 hours a day! And 36 hours without sleep is just not right in my world. And the muscle and back pain! I had forgotten about THAT! Sigh....perhaps midwifery is still supposed to be on the back burner for a few more years.

My parents made a surprise visit to us for New Years...Promise went ballistic and Toby was in utter shock. We had a wonderful meal together and then Toby and woke up the next morning with strep throat and the flu. So my parents became nurses for two days as they took trips to Walmart for meds and Promise out for lunch to give Toby and me some much-needed rest. They took off Sunday morning, much to our disappointment....perhaps another trip is due in the near future.

Tim is loving his job and working hard...Promise is lovely....Toby is just now getting a bit better from his awful flu/strep virus and I am seeking.

May 2012 be full of transformation from the inside out.

Be blessed.

Christmas fun....more pics!

Toby's "What'cha talkin' 'bout, mom!?" look.
Handsome 18-month boy...
And my pretty bird.
Elton John?
Foamies stick!
Promise, a true foamie artist!
Our finished gingerbread house....

Building...
Icing....

Ahhh.....the sights and sounds of Christmas.....Promise and Toby even re-enacted the Christmas story....of course Promise was Mary and Toby was (reluctantly) Joseph. The baby Jesus? Well, He was several Dora dolls. :)

I love Christmas.

Be Blessed.

Christmas!

Greetings! Sorry....things have been so hairy that I haven't had much time to sit...

In a nutshell....

Promise is no longer wearing pull-ups to bed. :)

Toby is walking....no, RUNNING everywhere....tantrums abound....as does God's mercy and grace....I am going nuts and I love my husband....

Oh, is that snow I see?

And Promise is singing Jingle Bells! Here are some pics of her very first Christmas production at church! She LOVED being on stage and sang well. I love her. And the last pic is of her in front of our very first REAL LIVE Christmas tree in 9 years of marriage! :) I like trees.

Happy Christmas, everyone and we'll update later!

Be Blessed!