"But as for me and my house..."

It's amazing how sometimes the simplest things reveal the most about God...

Several nights ago I put Raychel down in her crib after a late night feeding. I believe she was still pretty awake and at that point she was not proficient in putting her self to sleep. We had to get up early the next morning to leave for our trip to Sandpoint so the whole family needed to get some good quality shut-eye. The nervous mother in me anticipated a fussing RJ, a tired husband and a fabulous headache the next day. As I laid down in bed, sure enough, I heard her start herself up. She wasn't in distress, just making some of those early fussing noises and I could tell that she was going to keep going right into Screamville.

So I prayed. God has put it on my heart, whenever she is crying and I know she is okay, to pray that she feels safe somehow and that she knows she is loved and protected. So I prayed this prayer as the monitor lit up with little coos and grunts. I asked God to help her drift to sleep, to let her know somehow that He's with her. I hardly noticed that her noises died down.

Blue-'Berry

I am typing this with my darling little girl asleep next to me with her hands sweetly and gracefully balled up next to her face, one holding her chin. She has a content look on her face and every now and then a smile spreads under her button nose. She is a miracle. She is everything that is right with this world. She is God's message of hope and abundant affection. She is my beloved and anticipated Raychel Joye whom I have adored since long before I was a mother, a wife, a fiance or a girlfriend. She is my daughter.

I wanted to write this for a few reasons. One being that I am a writer at heart and it would be strange for me not to record it somewhere. Another being that I know I am not alone and I want others to know that they are also not alone. I was not prepared for the "Baby Blues" and I think that if I had read others' accounts and gotten an idea of what might happen it would have been helpful. The most significant reason however is to brag a little about my God. :)

Darling Girl

Nestled in the South Hill among large, beautiful, old homes is a collection of brilliant gardens called Manito Park. There are five in all and the three we have visited are nothing short of magical. My favorite so far is the Perennial Garden. I feel like I am in a dream when I am there - the colors are incredible, butterflies and bees circle around, birds provide a sweet serenade... It is heavenly. It fit Raychel Joye quite well. I'm so glad that Kaleb was there also - she is going to love her uncle so so much. Click "read more" to see the photos.

First [non-herbal] Bath

She loved it! Not much else to say; behold the cuteness! 

The Birth Story

Disclosure: This is a fairly detailed account of Raychel's birth. If you don't want to know, don't read. :)

Raychel Joye Sedberry joined this crazy world on July 18, 2011 at 6:24 in the morning at Dayspring in Hayden, Idaho (she's our little spud). She weighed 8 pounds and 12 ounces and measured 21 inches long. She also had a full head of hair!

As she is lying here on the bed next to me, making adorable faces, I am just in complete amazement by her... I seriously can't even concentrate on writing this. It's taken me like an hour to get this far. She just keeps doing cute things!

 My dear friend Megan (who was a bridesmaid in our wedding) quilted this gorgeous quilt for Raychel... She began working on it way back in November/December when we found out we were pregnant. It's themed on Narnia and it is absolutely perfect... Not only does it match the nursery precisely, but it's so well made that I know it will last for generations. And it's colors and design fit little Raychel Joye so well (don't ask me how). THANK YOU, Megan... This gift means so very much and just blew us away.


Click "Read More" to see the pictures!

Unity

On Sunday Justin (one of the leaders at Emmaus) spoke on Ephesians 4:1-16. He focused us on the unity Paul encourages. He told a hypothetical story about the 2 blind men that Jesus healed meeting one another after Jesus' ascension. They are excited to have found one another and begin to talk about it. One describes excitedly how Jesus answered his cry and commended his faith and then he could see! The other guy looks a little confused and corrects him saying that the first man must have meant to say

Pampered Chef

Gabe did a Pampered Chef party last weekend and I photographed it! :) It was really fun and he did a great job showing. Plus we had awesome food and got to meet new people while hanging out with friends. Perfect way to spend a Saturday morning!

When All the Love in the World is Right Here Among Us

I can say it over and over again, but the truth in God's ridiculous love doesn't weaken: His love is not reasonable... Not to say He's not a god of reason, but that He defies it for us. I love the moments when a song gets stuck in my head or I see a bit of grace somewhere unexpected or I hear a word from a brother or sister and my wandering mind is miraculously focused. In those moments the clearest thing to me, so far above my views on any theological quandary, is that my sweet and terrifying God is sweetly and

Allelujah

Once again in church, during worship, my thoughts wandered a bit... My passion lacked and I prayed for focus, for humility, for less of myself and more of Jesus. Then as we began singing "Lead Me to the Cross" my prayer was answered. It carried into "All Creatures of Our God and King" as I was once again led to reflect on this baby - this small (and growing) creature of the King's for whom He died. And not only died, but endured temptation, severe persecution, betrayal, mockery, disappointment, fear...

Growing Together

Our first attempt at a garden! Gabe has been preparing and has done just an amazing job. When we moved into this house the backyard was just a mess of brush, garbage, bamboo... It seemed impossible to me, but Gabe somehow - even with all of his schoolwork (which is just insane) and other duties - whipped that yard into shape! We now have 2 full beds and another spot cleared out. We also have a compost going. My husband is amazing! 

Baby Berry's Newest Gear!

Another surprise!! My mom and Vickie sent us the playard!! It's also made by Chicco (pronounced, I have learned, KEE-ko) and it rocks!! Thank you, Grandmas for the awesome playard!! It's so hard to believe that in just a few months we'll have a little one to put in here. Whew!

A Huge Surprise!

So my mom has been hinting behind knowing, excited smiles that *something* would be coming in the mail for us. We didn't know what it could be, but our biggest, most stretched guess wasn't even in the ballpark. The UPS truck came by and when I saw her carrying the box up to the porch I was just shocked. The travel system I have been practically drooling over since December when I picked it out from among about 20 similar travel systems was on the box. And it is in the color I actually wanted, but couldn't register for (and since we're buying off the registry because of the post-shower discount, figured I couldn't get) because it wasn't available. So we now have a stroller and car seat!! 

An Attempt to Lift His Name High

"For this very heart you have shaped for your pleasure, purposed to lift your name high."

(Brooke Fraser, "Lord of Lords")

God is King. He rules over Heaven and earth, over life and death, over peace and chaos. He reigns over the nations and their leaders. He reigns over fear, over worry, over hopeless situations. He reigns over rest and sleep and enjoyment. He is the King of the mountains and valleys, all of nature bows to His sovereignty. He doesn't need a crown, but the sunrise can serve that purpose. He doesn't need a throne, though the one described in the Bible is nothing short of majestic. He doesn't need our recognition, He is

Gabe chewing one of my disgusting prenatal vitamins. Yes, chewing it. Ew.

Baby Bump

Weekly Baby Bump Photos

35 weeks + 4 days

33 weeks + 3 days

Narnia Nursery

So when Mom saw the glider she (and Gabe) banned me from buying anything else off the registry until after the shower in May (which I am stoked for - can't wait to go baby shopping!). Instead I will focus on the decorations. Our theme is Narnia after the books Gabe and I grew up loving with the Message of God's love that we live by. So we took a trip to Michael's to get our first batch of decorations.

My glider. It's heavenly. :o)

"My love is mad, without motive, as Your love is, too."

This is a Romanian poem, translated to English by the author, a preacher who was imprisoned during the communist rule in Romania. He describes the time of authorship as a time when he felt Satan's presence in his cell. After being kidnapped, kept away from his wife and son who had no idea where he was, tortured to recant his faith, with no end in sight, he wrestled with doubt and accusations against Christ. He felt abandoned by God and taunted by Satan. He wrote this poem (it doesn't look like a poem in

Dreaming Ahead

I spend a lot of time making sure that I don't come across too ignorant - I know I'm ignorant and I know there is plenty about motherhood that I will not even come close to understanding until I'm in the middle of it. I don't want to offend any current mothers or burn any mommy bridges before I cross them so I won't ever claim to know more than I do. However, in my caution, I am also ridiculously excited. Over the moon excited. I'm as ready as I'll ever be and I can't help but focus on the things to come - most

A I-Shouldn't-Be-Awake-Right-Now Vent

So there are a plethora of things "they" do not tell you about pregnancy. Not only will you find out on your own, but when you do you will be utterly freaked out because you are about 83% positive that it is abnormal and your baby is going to end up with some bizarre complication. 93% if said symptom is discovered in the middle of the night when you're disoriented.

I won't make a list, but to any of you non-pregnant ladies out there, feel free to ask when you do get your BFP (big fat positive - evidently there is a whole dictionary of acronyms just for pregnant women) and I will do my best to tell you all the things that are totally normal and never discussed. Of course, one of those things is the fact that you completely lose random portions of your memory so you'll have to forgive me if I leave a lot out. 8-/

Bad Baby Pie

So during the worship time at church a couple weeks ago we sang the song that goes,
"Crucified, laid behind a stone. You lived to die, rejected and alone. Like a rose, trampled on the ground You took the fall and thought of me above all."

When I sing those words I can't help but put myself in the "me" position and reflect on how Jesus

Baby Beat

We heard the baby's heartbeat today (video below). It wasn't the magical experience I guess I thought it would be, but it was beautiful. I was a bit distracted at the time, but later I thought back on it and it just... amazed me... It's overwhelming. We only got to hear it for about 15 seconds (I seriously thought it was only 5 when I was recounting it) which was just not long enough. After she took the doppler away I sort of missed him (or her). Obviously he's in there and I get to be with him all the time, but usually there is

Pregnancy Survey

So I feel I have thoroughly exhausted my facebook friends with pregnancy things and if I have not, I believe a Pregnancy Survey would do it so I am posting one here. In search of one I found this in one of the search result headlines on google: "Baby Berry in the Belly." My Baby Berry? No. Someone else is going around referring to their own bundle of joy by the same (quite original, I thought) term of endearment! So now I am annoyed. Because I suppose I honestly thought that in the history of the world nobody, despite the copious amount of surnames which include "berry," had thought of such an adorable moniker.

Your name?

Krysann SedBERRY.

Baby 'Berry

We just found out a few days ago that we are pregnant - and we have 3 First Response Pregnancy Tests to back us up! Being the weekend, I haven't scheduled any appointments yet so maybe that is why this still feels so unreal. Or maybe it's because it's been just the two of us for so long. Even when Gabe has been deployed, we've been a team, a unit. It's been Gabe and Krysann, uninterrupted (but enhanced with Sam and George), for going on five years - seven when you count our courtship.