Quote from Forum Archives on July 29, 2005, 11:01 am

Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>

Hello friends!

 

Thank you all for your kind prayers and encouraging notes.  I was pretty discouraged on Tuesday evening coming home from the hospital, but I am feeling much better now, and have gotten some good rest in body and spirit.  Many people ask us if the birth process isn't "old hat" by now after nine times.  No, it is not.  Thad and I are both quick to reply that each one is SO different, and that we can't take anything for granted from one time to the next.  That has certainly proved true this week!  Not to mention that there is a certain amount of amnesia that sets in after each birth so that I can't even accurately remember what happened last time...  I still feel like a rookie!

 

As you have probably guessed by now, baby girl still has not come.  I saw one of my midwives, Kathy Rudolf, yesterday, and she said there has been absolutely no progress.  She has given me until next Thursday to go into labor on my own, and then there will be another induction attempt.  If there are any problems before then, she may make this earlier.  Meanwhile, I am on a regimen of pregnancy herbs (which I had already been taking) and homeopathic remedies to see if we can give things a natural nudge.

 

I found a little poem by Amy Carmichael that amused me.  I don't think she wrote it in the context of waiting for a baby (she never gave birth, though she mothered countless orphans) but it somehow related to the topic anyway:

 

Bud of Joy

by Amy Carmichael, 19th century missionary to India

from her book Toward Jerusalem

 

Come, bud of joy, the driving rain

  That all thy young, green leaves doth wet,

Is but a minister of gain

  To that which in thy heart is set.

Come forth, my bud; awake and see

How good thy Gardener is to thee.

 

And pass, my bud, to perfect flower,

  Dread not the blast of bitter wind;

Thy Maker doth command its power;

  It knoweth not to be unkind,

Haste thee, my flower; unfold and see

How good they Gardener is to thee.

 

 

OK, little flower bud, out with you!  It's really not all that bad out here!  You've got a mommy, daddy, six sisters, three brothers, and a grandma waiting at home for you!  (Too bad Grandma is not a permanent fixture around here!)

 

I am spending a little of this extra time doing a few more things to prepare for the start of school on August 15.  I made sure to order our curriculum ahead of time, and now I am looking through it seeing what we will do then.  I also need to get a dozen three-ring notebooks from Sam's Club today.  They have the kind with the clear display pockets on the covers and spines, which makes labeling and decorating them very easy.

 

I am really quite impressed with the Adventures in My Father's World package I ordered for my 1st and 3rd grade boys.  It is very well laid out, with daily lesson plans and all the core resources included.  It also uses some library books.  The basic package of Adventures in My Father's World covers Bible, U.S. History & Geography, literature, and science.  The deluxe package adds in music, art and other goodies, but I only ordered a la carte from that. You can check it out at http://www.mfwbooks.com/

 

Lydia, who is starting 5th grade, has taken charge of her own educational destiny this year.  She gathered up all of the available resources for Ancient History and literature, and scheduled out how long she is going to spend on each time period and book for this next semester.  She is so psyched about it that it makes me laugh.  She insists that during her unit on Ancient Greece she is going to read Plato's Republic (which is college level stuff), in addition to Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.  More power to her!  I am clueless on all three!  To her credit, Lydia should do just fine, as she is already quite used to classic literature.  Rachel (14) and Joanna (12) have been very good about planning out their lessons, too -- just a little less intensely!

 

Julia, 16, is trying to get all set up with her dual enrollment classes at Valencia Community College.  This has been a challenge to schedule around her other tutorial classes in Geometry and Anatomy at church, as well as basketball practice and games.  We've still got to figure out transportation issues, too.   Mary, 18, is already registered for her classes at UCF, thankfully.

 

I know this is going to be a whirlwind home school year with a newborn, two preschoolers, three elementary, one middle school, two high school, and one full-time college student.  Oy!  I still remember many years ago asking a veteran home school mom what to do with my two year old while I was teaching the older two and taking care of a baby.  She said, "Trust the Lord, and this stage will soon pass." Ha!  It's been 12 years without a break in the toddler/two stage, and we're not out of it yet!  But the "trust the Lord" part is still very good advice.  We've made it this far by his good grace!

 

I'll keep you all posted on birth progress.   As I mentioned before, I will have one of the girls send out the next issue of the Hope Chest when the baby is born, as it will include her birth announcement.

 

Blessings,

Virginia Knowles

www.TheHopeChest.net

 

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