I loved the idea a friend had of preparing meals ahead of time and freezing them before her baby was due. I am hoping in the next couple of weeks I’ll be able to do that and get a good week’s worth of food in the freezer so we’ll all have something delicious and healthy to eat. My problem though is I don’t know what kind of meals, or foods will freeze well, and how to go about freezing them. So if you have any recipes or even meal ideas and tips on how to freeze them I’d greatly appreciate the help. Like, do I need to go buy foil pans to freeze stuff in, or use plastic freezer bags or can I use my tupperware?

Then when I get all the meals planned out that we’ll do I’ll have to start calling up some youth girls to come help watch Hannah so I can go grocery shopping and do the cooking without having Hannah hanging on to me the whole time I’m in the kitchen.

Tomorrow is the 1st, which means time to do our budget, and I have all sorts of stuff in my head that we need to put in the budget to prepare for our little boy coming. I can’t believe we’ll be holding our new little bundle of joy in maybe less than a month!

I love hanging out with girls. Which, if asked in junior high or high school, I wouldn’t have ever thought that I would prefer to hang out with girls. But now, I love it! It’s just fun to be girly and talk about random stuff that only girls really get. Especially the way that topics flow, which was actually a topic in and of itself tonight. Today I got to go out to Caribou with a friend, which I really needed and enjoyed, and after that I couldn’t imagine staying in the house for the rest of the night, so I asked Tim last minute and changed my evening plans of staying at home with Hannah, to going to the senior high small groups with her for the evening. And I’m glad I did! There were mostly girls there tonight, so it was fun catching up on people’s lives and having girl chat. Pretty sure I was an effective form or birth control for the few that were asking questions about labor and delivery.

I’m really looking forward to helping out with the senior high again this year. The summer break has been nice, but I miss my weekly encounters with our youth girls. I’m also really looking forward to our church’s Love & Respect class that will be starting up soon. There are a few couples we know who are going to attend, and it’ll be so much fun to get to know them better and have a time of hanging out with others in our same stage of life.

Hannah turned one year old, two weeks ago tomorrow. We had a nice party with good friends and family. She is such a joy to be around, constantly making me laugh and wearing me out. (Oh! And Hannah finally got her first tooth! A day after she turned one, and then tooth 2 and 3 came in later that week. So far we’re still at 3, but her teeth are a little too sharp for me to spend much time searching anymore.)

So after turning one, Hannah’s schedule has kept me guessing. Some days she is more than ready for a morning and afternoon nap. Other times she is exhausted and wanting nothing but a nap right before lunch, but then sleeps very little to wake up hungry and think she doesn’t need another nap even though she is totally exhausted. And then there are days like today when I have Tim at home to help me deal with a fussy baby in the morning just to stretch her until after lunch time so she can at least get one good nap, which made a happier baby the rest of the day (for the most part) as long as we were outside or in public.

I have to confess, that I’m one of those people who uses middle names when they get frustrated with someone. It’s hard to stay frustrated or get angry at something Hannah does when I say her middle name, Love. As soon as I say “Love” I stop, think about why we gave her that name based on God’s love and one of the fruits of the Spirit. Then I’m able to put myself in check.

For a while now I’ve liked the idea of using the fruits of the Spirit for middle names if God blessed me with a daughter or more. I’ve thought of using patience for a name. Tim and I have joked about how hard that would be when getting on to our kids. But after Love has actually stopped me in my tracks and made me think of why I’m actually getting worked up, I’m thinking patience wouldn’t be too bad for a middle name.

But now we’re having a boy, and I don’t think the fruits of the Spirit really fit well for a middle name for a boy. We’re 5.5 weeks out from the due date, and have yet to think of a good middle name for Ezekiel. I want something “normal” that he could use if he really ends up disliking Ezekiel or Zeke. I’d like to use a boy name that means “joy” but so far of what I’ve found those names are even more different than Zeke. Oh well, eventually we’ll figure something out right?

Baby Boy Schmoyer is due in 6 weeks. I can’t remember the last time I’ve ever been so stressed. Maybe when I was pregnant with Hannah and I had anxiety about becoming a mom. But I was also super excited and not totally stressed out. This time I really haven’t had time to think about being a mom of 2, we’ve had plenty other events going on that are keeping me stressed and my mind off of how life is going to be after this baby is born.

But with that stress I fear that I am going to hurt the health of Baby Boy, and that makes me feel even worst. Today I wasn’t hungry at all for dinner with so much worry on my mind. I know the baby needs nourishment, but I just don’t feel like eating when I’m truly upset. I have luckily slept really well the last 2 nights, which I’ve needed ’cause I haven’t been able to nap well, which I also need. I actually went a full 5 hours last night with uninterrupted sleep with either getting uncomfortable and tossing and turning, or needing to tend to my full bladder. I was surprised to notice I hadn’t moved since I laid down. I still woke up with a headache from lack of sleep and everything else. I just need to relax.

On top of worrying about how Baby Boy is developing with my emotional state not stable right now, I have been hard on myself with parenting Hannah. She is luckily such a good baby, and loves to sleep well into the morning, but I feel bad starting our mornings around 9 ’cause I need the rest, and mornings are just slow around here right now at the end of this pregnancy. I’ve also found myself to be a huge softy when Hannah gets upset. I don’t want her to be upset while I’m struggling with stuff, so she has been getting away with way more than she normally would if I was feeling up to par.

I’ve tried to hold strong for Tim so he doesn’t have me to uphold also as he gets things ready for youth group small groups to kick off in the fall. He has a lot on his plate, I don’t want to be an added item. I do have to say that I am very blessed to be his wife. He is so good at comforting and uplifting me during this wacky pregnancy hormone driven, stress induced time.

My dad has been a huge help the last couple weeks with things too. It’s nice to have him to talk to. And spending time reading my Bible has helped a lot also. I keep my Bible in plain site so I see it several times a day to make sure I spend some time reading. Honestly though, the last few days it’s been more of a discipline to read. I don’t feel like picking it up and reading, but am glad I did when I’m through.

Please keep me, Tim, Hannah and Baby Boy in your prayers. I’m really hoping things will calm down and I’ll be able to relax sometime soon through the rest of this pregnancy. Baby Boy is feeling really big and isn’t so comfortable when he moves, and I have over a month left. I can’t stop thinking how much better things would be with this pregnancy if all this stress would just go away.

A line that I wrote in our follow-up letter after our Mexico missions trip keeps on coming back to me in all of this. I wrote it talking about a totally different subject, but God keeps on reminding me that it applies to life right now …

“It’s so awesome to see God’s hand in everything, knowing what will happen before we even have a thought.”

I don’t know what the outcome is going to be, and that’s okay. I’m very glad that God is God, and not me. And knowing that God is in control and not me is way more reassuring than if I was supposed to be the one in control.

Friday Tim and I had a day long date in Minneapolis while waiting for Hannah and my mom to fly in for the week. We ended our date with a trip to an ice cream shop recommended by Tim’s friend. They had special cones covered in chocolate rolled in candy bars, which were delicious! We told mom about it and she said she’s never seen cones done like that, so when Tim and I went grocery shopping I decided to pick up stuff to make some special cones for our ice cream. I think we may have one cone left in our freezer, they sure went fast, and were fun to make!

Here’s what you do:

Buy waffle cones, chocolate dipping sauce that you would use for making chocolate covered strawberries or whatever, and whatever candy bars or nuts, or whatever you’d like to roll your cones in.

Go ahead and crush whatever treats you want before melting your chocolate, then dip the cone in your chocolate, covering about half the cone, roll the cone in your candy, then sit it on a wax paper covered pan to put in your freezer to harden the cones. Eat and enjoy!

We had a wonderful trip and got home at 2:30 this morning. Hannah is still at my parent’s in Texas and will be flying home with my mom on Friday. I miss my little girl, but it’s nice to have some recovery time before jumping right back in to being a mom. Baby boy is keeping me in my mom phase enough for now. Traveling to Mexico was fine, but I feel like Baby Boy grew a ton over the week, and traveling home was not comfortable at all. I’m glad we don’t have any big plans until the holidays, ’cause I’m planning on staying put for a little while. My ankles and legs were so swollen by the time we got home this morning that my socks had cut in to them. Ouch! After getting a few hours of sleep they were still a little swollen, but my afternoon nap helped a ton!

Tim and I stayed in an amazing house while in Mexico, with our friend Zoe from Texas. Our hostess Diana was amazing, I really enjoyed getting to know and spend time with her. You can find Diana in the picture to the left of me in the pink striped shirt. She came to the church every day to help out with VBS, and was at almost every event we had. The Pastor of the church was wonderful. You can see his heart for his congregation and community, and it shines through his wife too.

I’m thankful that during the trip I didn’t compare what we were doing in Mexico to what we did in Haiti. On our first full day in Mexico we had a women’s tea and had a time of worship through music which brought me back to my love of Mexico, the culture, and how God has used Mexico in my life. I love the discipleship training we got in Haiti and our debriefing every day. And both of those things make it hard for me to compare the two trips. I’m curious about what a trip to Mexico with AIM would be like. Today though I have been comparing our time in Haiti and our time in Mexico and how everything went, especially the attitudes of the people on the trip. I probably wont end up blogging about it, but picking some people’s brains instead.

I’m still way behind on blogging, not blogging about specific events that took place in Haiti yet. I need to do that and now blog about Mexico. It’ll take time, but I’ll get some done.

I didn’t have time to do a real post, so here’s some quick thoughts on my iPod touch before I go to bed for a couple hours, and then head out for Mexico.

We’re meeting at the church at 1:30am to leave by 2am to get to the airport with everyone in plenty of time. We have a one hour layover in Houston where my parents will hopefully be through security and at our gate to pick up Hannah, then off to the gate for our flight to Mexico where we’ll meet Zoe and take off!

Prayer requests:
safe travel to the airport, flying and driving to Morelos, Mexico.
Tim’s health, that his throat will heal quickly from the antibiotics and his cough will go away so he can sleep well.
Healing for me. Today I started getting a sharp pain in my tailbone with every step I take, which kept getting worst and worst as the day went on. I think I figured out why the pain started, because Thursday I sliced my heal pretty good, which hurt to walk on, so I haven’t put much pressure on my right foot since then, and the pain I have in my tail bone now is on the left side probably from all the pressure I’ve been putting on it.
For Hannah to travel well and do well leaving with my parents.
For Tim and I not to miss Hannah too much, and be able to focus on what God wants us to do in Mexico.
That our hearts and those we come in contact will be open to the love and work of Christ.
That my parents will get through security in the morning to get Hannah.
That Zoe will jump right in and become a natural part of our group.
That we all keep God’s plans first and remember that we are going to Mexico to share Christ, and put our personal agendas aside.

Here’s a list of everyone going to pray for:
Zoe, our friend from Texas
Steve
Jennie
Libby
Dave
Brook
Kristi
Tayler
Tony
Lee
Colin
Nathan
Mickey
Liz
Patti
Tim
Dana

Oh, and keep my mom and dad in your prayers, that they will have the energy to keep up with their very active granddaughter.

We have 5 more full days until we leave for Mexico, and I still haven’t given an update on our vacation time in Texas with the Waymans and Wisconsin with the Schmoyers. That’s still probably going to have to wait, especially now that I’m realizing we leave in only 5 days, that doesn’t seem long at all to get everything in place!

We sent our support letters for financial help and prayers. Please start praying now if you haven’t already! Last night we had our last meeting before heading out to Mexico. I left feeling better, but feeling like there are some loose ends that still need to be tied up. I started working on some of them last night after Hannah and Tim had gone to bed. I can’t remember when the last time was that I was the last one up, but only ’til 11, Tim hasn’t been feeling well, so that’s how he beat me to bed. Pray for his health, he’s functional, but still not feeling well, and we need him well for the trip.

Specific prayers…

I need to call my health insurance and see if I am covered in Mexico, if not then I need to get some traveler’s health insurance. Anyone have any recommendations you’ve used? Our travel agent said he would get some info to me yesterday about it, but I’m still empty handed and thinking I’ll do something on my own. I’ve never gotten health insurance for a missions trip before, but I’m thinking since I’ll be 10 weeks out from Baby Boy’s due date, this might be the time to look in to it.

Tim’s health. He’s had a sore throat, and yesterday had the chills when our house was hot. He’s just not himself.

Organization for everyone leading different areas of ministry we are doing in Mexico, that everything will come together and we will all trust God to do that, and not depend on our own strength, ’cause that just wont work.

Communication. We have some more questions that need to be answered by our contact person for the missions trip. Pray that we get those answers tomorrow (Thursday) so that will ease our minds and we can better plan what money we will need while in Mexico. Also that transportation from the airport in Mexico City to where we are staying will get organized and figured out if it’s not already… we’re not sure.

Relaxation and joy. Pray that we will all be at ease with what God has planned before, during and after this trip. God knows all that is going to happen, and has everything under control. We just need to relax and enjoy God’s amazing plans.

Rest for me. I’ve already been totally exhausted in this 3rd trimester. I think it’s been a mix between staying home with Hannah all day, nesting getting ready for Baby Boy and getting things prepared for Mexico. Luckily I’ve been able to take a good nap every day in the morning when Hannah goes down for hers. I do need to start making myself go to sleep earlier at night. Like, I should be in bed right now.

Praises!!!…

I heard back from the doctor’s office and I do not have gestational diabetes, and don’t have to go in for the 3 hour glucose test to figure that out! That is such a huge sigh of relief. I had to go though the 3 hour test with Hannah, and didn’t have gestational diabetes with her either, but luckily this time they were able to tell from the 1 hour test I took. Yay!

I was able to get through to Continental Airlines and put Hannah on my ticket flying from MSP to IAH as a lap child so my parents will have an easier time getting through security to pick her up to spend the week with them while we’re gone.

Ooookay, that’s it for now.

Thanks for the prayers.

We have been really busy with vacations and life is staying busy for the rest of the month and then some. We were in Texas for a week, came home for 3 days and left for Wisconsin for a week. I’ll post pictures later about those trips. Tomorrow we’re celebrating the 4th with Tim’s siblings down near the cities, then we have 2 weeks before we leave for Mexico. As much as I’ve enjoyed this summer so far, I’m looking forward to settling down.

Baby Boy should be about 2.5 pounds right now, and that feels about right. He is an active baby, and Tim and I enjoy feeling his kicks. I did a small baby registry at Target for Baby Boy. I’m not sure what the rules are with baby showers and gifts when you have 2 babies so close in age, but I figured since we’re having a boy this time I’d go ahead and register. It was more for fun for me. The main thing I’m wanting is the Baby Trend Double Sit and Stand stroller. We have one on the registry. I’ve been keeping my eye on craigslist for one, but so far no luck on buying one there. I was very tempted to put stuff on the registry that we’ll need for Hannah like a new carseat and at some point a little potty, and booster chair for the table, but I held back.

Hannah is doing great. She has weaned herself off of the bottle before 11 months. After putting up with several fits while I try to give her a bed time bottle, then putting her milk into a sippy cup instead and having a happy girl, we’ve switched completely to sippy cups. Hannah is now a fast crawler and loves to walk with her toy or holding on to someone’s hands. I spent some time searching on craigslist for walking wings to help her learn to walk and save my back now that I’m already in the 3rd trimester with Baby Boy. I can’t believe how soon we’ll be a family of 4!

Hannah turned 10 months today and is learning and growing by leaps and bounds. Here’s a fun little video of the past couple weeks.