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!