Blessings Abound!

Our fourth child has arrived!  Celia Marie was born on Wednesday, September 19, 2012.  She came in to this world after only 4 hours of labor at 10:30 in the morning!  A little peanut at 7lbs 4oz and 18inches long (our shortest one yet!).  I am feeling wonderful and Celia is nursing like she's been doing it forever - such a blessing!

The three older kids came up yesterday with grandma and papa to meet their new sister.  There were three very different reactions!  Abram (being only 15 months) has no clue what is going on, he just wanted lots of hugs and kisses from mommy.  Amelia (almost 4) said she would hold Celia once she came home but was quick to offer her lots of hugs and kisses and was constantly making sure she had all the stuff (paci, blanket, lovie etc).  Sophia on the other hand, the little mother of the bunch (our 2nd born and 2 and a half year old) ran right in the room, wanted to hold Celia right away, gave lots of hugs and kiss, asked about her diapers, and where her diaper bag was and said she was ready to take her home now.  It was so precious to me to see them all interact with one another!  We'll see how things go when I go home with Celia in another day!

I am writing this from my hospital bed... waiting for the nurse to bring me my precious little girl!  Words cannot describe how elated I feel to not be pregnant anymore.  But besides that, I feel so much joy in my heart as I think of the blessings God has given me. Four beautiful blessings in fact.  Each of them precious.  Each of them unique.  Each of them fearfully and wonderfully made.

When I was expecting our first a dear friend and very wise woman told me, "instead of dreading those midnight feedings with baby, use them to pray over your child."  ("it'll help you stay awake too!").  So that's what I did, I started praying over my kids when I was up with them at night.  Last night (or early this morning really) when the nurse brought me Celia, she did not want to eat, in fact they had to wake her up so I could feed her because it had been so long since "dinner."  So we prayed together, I thanked God for bringing her into our family and asked for wisdom and patience, among other things.  What a sweet, sweet time it was together, just me, my baby and my Heavenly Father.  She finally ate and we both settled back in to a restful sleep.  Now, I'm not going to lie to you, I love my sleep, in fact I require lots of sleep.  So for me to say that I really look forward to many more midnight feedings wouldn't be completely true, but the opportunity that it allows me is a gift that I do cherish.  I don't have tons of uninterrupted time in my life with the kiddos running around, so to me, for the few months that a baby wakes at night to eat, that is just another blessing God has bestowed upon me.  A chance to run to Him, to cling to Him for strength, and wisdom, a chance to lift my children up to Him in prayer.  And what an amazing blessing it is.

Baby, has arrived and is ready for breakfast!  May God bless you this day, and may you find joy in all your circumstances!

*Pictures coming later today!