Hi Bean Sprout!

No, Bean Sprout wasn't born today, but we saw him on a computer screen. Yes, I said HIM, because Bean Sprout is a BOY! Hurrah!

He was kicking and punching as the ultrasound technician did her measurements. He wasn't cooperating for her: He was breech (head up, feet down) and facing my spine, so she couldn't see everything clearly - his spine was always in the way. Most of the time he had his ankles crossed and his left hand up by his face. She was able to see everything, it just took a lot longer than if he had been head down and facing up out of my belly.

Everything measured almost exactly on schedule - 19 weeks 3 days. amazing.

And Everything looked healthy, no potential problems at all. Praise God!!

Joshua, Joel and I are ecstatic about having a boy! Rachel is somewhat disappointed it's not a girl, but, knowing her, I think she'll get over it quite quickly. Especially when she gets to hold her new baby brother! And of course Madelynn has no clue.

So thank you for your prayers for Bean Sprout and for us as a family. We so do appreciate them.

Freshly Baked

So I (Renee) am on the long adventure of cutting out preservatives and high fructose corn syrup out of my diet and mostly out of my family's diet. It's harder than I thought. But I think we've made some progress.

One of the ways we have accomplished part of this task is by making wheat bread again. Since Rachel was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in January 2009, we have not had a speck of wheat flour in the house. Why? There is a huge risk of cross contamination. Rachel has zero tolerance for gluten, and that means a single crumb of wheat bread could give her a miserable 24-36 hours.

But! Now that I am comfortable with preparing and maintaining a gluten free diet for my daughter, I am now comfortable with the thought of having wheat flour in the house. After a friend gave me a recipe for kneadless bread, I bought wheat flour and tried out the recipe. It was so great and so easy! So now we have homemade bread for everyone! And since it is kneadless, there is a very low risk for flour getting into the air and onto other cooking surfaces!! Yea!

A Good Read

I recently finished a book a friend loaned to me. It is titled "First We Have Coffee, and then we talk" written by Margaret Jensen.

It is a wonderful non-fiction book, probably directed more towards a feminine audience. Margaret is a great storyteller and in this specific book she writes about growing up and giving a focus upon the most influential person in her life: her mother. Margaret's mother is a faithful servant to God and the way she raises her children is so encouraging. You see the patience and love she has for her husband, the way she reacts to problems in life, and her simple obedience to God. I highly recommend this book. I believe it's out of print, but it looks like it is still available.

Summer So Far

What a beautiful summer it has been! The kids and I have enjoyed watching the flowers in our garden grow and learning the names of new wild flowers. The whole family has also enjoyed lots of berry picking: strawberries, june berries (service berries or saskatoons), blueberries (big thanks to Nina and Papa!), raspberries, currants, and chokecherries. Lots of these we turned into jam, jelly, and syrup. Some of the blueberries we froze whole for later. Joel and I canned peaches for the first time and just this week Nana (Joel's mom) and I pickled some cucumbers (sweet dill). That also being my first time, so I'm thankful Nana was there to help and give me suggestions.

In the next month or two (depending on frost) I hope to make some Rose hip jam, Mountain Ash jelly, dry chives and mint leaves from the garden, and learn to grow lettuce indoors. I'm also on the hunt for a grinder for making pickle relish.

The family finally did some hiking a few weeks ago:

Madelynn is walking officially now. It's been great fun seeing her learn and succeed in this milestone. She is still small for her age, but is healthy and developing just fine.

Nana and Grampa are here visiting with us this week. It's been great to have them here. The last time we saw them was October of last year for Canadian Thanksgiving. Right now they are out camping with Joshua for two nights. I have the girls here with me and we actually went to the library!

Please pray for us as we are coming up to some major decisions that will affect where we will live for the winter and decisions that will affect Joel's career. We want what God wants, we just aren't sure what that is yet.

Madelynn Is Walking!