Asher's first week in photos

OK, I know you all just want to see more pictures, so I'll write about our busy and crazy first week later, but here are some our visual memories from our first week with precious Asher Clark. 

Annette Pare graciously came to our home yesterday and blessed us with photo's of our little miracle. Here is a link to her amazing blog (www.annetteparephotography.com), and if you're interested in seeing more photo's she took of Asher (which are all amazing!) let me know, I'll send you a link and password.  Thank you Annette!

announcing the anticipated arrival

Asher Clark Johnson

Welcomed on October 10, 2010 at 3:45am

Eight pounds, twenty-one inches long.

 

Taken from Jerehiah 31

"...I have loved you with an everlasting love;
...With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,
...I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
...my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the Lord.”


Asher means "happy" in Hebrew. Duet 33:24, Gen 49:20


Asher was the eighth son of Jacob, he was promised a life blessed with abundance. Fortunate; blessed; happy. He is the son of Jacob and Leah, Leah named him this after declaring her joy over having Jacobs son and that she would be called blessed. Gen 49:20 describes God's promise to Asher's heirs. His blessing for Asher was: the food of Asher shall be rich and he shall provide delicacies fit for a king (Genesis 30:13).

His middle name is Clark, a fourth generation Johnson family name; and we're honored to pass the name.

our new 'baby'

NOTICE: baby is in quotes... I just say that cuz sometimes people without kids around will call their toys or cars, etc their 'babies'.  This doesn't in ANYWAY replace or calm our joy and anticipation over our soon to arrive little son!   (no he's not out yet).  :-P

Anyway. This will be super quick 'cuz I need to run out and grab some dry cleaning.  But wanted to post pictures of our "new-to-us" ride. 

We've been looking at murano's for since about 2007 and have just been waiting for the right time to buy one. God blessed us with a good deal on this sporty (and TALLER-for taking car seats in and out) set of wheels.

And I'm so proud of  myself for installing the car seat ALL BY MYSELF. (They're sorta tricky!) 

But am SO frustrated that after all my attempts I still can't get the garage door homelink button in our car to program.  I think our garage door is old and will require two people pushing buttons at once.  Have-ta wait 'till my babe gets home.

This is me the day I got my cerclage out. SOOO happy! And the Firedaughter shirt (made by the lovely Samya) I won off of PPP's blog. -I was shocked to have won it! I love it. (I never usually win stuff). 

So I wake up this morning... and low and behold I won AGAIN!  These darling pear pillows from Pillowhappy!

predictions

update: Predictions WINNER!!!! (could you get any closer?!?!) 

 Joy said...

-10/10/10
-5:30am
-6 pounds 9ounces
-Chace (really no clue!) and no idea for middle name

And I really wish I could take his newborn photos! Sad that mn is so far away....

September 29, 2010 10:30 PM

With each passing day we grow more and more excited to meet our precious little miracle! We have guesses about when we'll meet him and other details. BUT...

We think it'd be fun to hear what YOU think.  
So, leave a comment with your predictions on:


1. What date will Little Mr. be born?
2. What time of day will it be when he's born?
3. How much will he weigh?
4. What will his name be?

Little Mr. and I at 36 weeks, 1 day (last Saturday) 

grace based

Grace based well, everything in life, I guess should be the goal.

But before all my time gets taken by Little Mr. and I'm yet another busy mom off the blog rolls... I thought I'd post this.

I was VERY helped by this "parenting book".  No, not the normal Dr. Sears, Baby Whisperer, Nursing Mothers Companion, or Happiest Kid on the Block- although all are quite helpful in their own right.  This book sets all of the "how-to's" aside for a moment and focuses on the philosophy behind what drives you as a parent, family, and child of God. It summarizes beautifully many of my underlying parenting philosophies that have been developing over the years. (Through having little sisters, watching other moms and dads, lots of nannying, and just aging). [I can't say I absolutely agree with absolutely everything, but pretty darn close].

The book is: Grace Based Parenting By: Tim Kimmel

I recommend that you read it. But here are a few highlights that stood out to me:

• pg. 5- Since how children 'turn out' is far more contingent on what is going on inside them than outside them; unnecessarily tight boundaries undermine the desire of the Holy Spirit who is working to build a sense of biblical moral resolve in their hearts. Children are free agents who need Jesus. Basically God is not interested in 'moral' or 'evangelical' children, but rather having their heart. Rules in the the head seldom move to the heart.
• pg. 19- Grace based parents spend their time entrusting themselves to Christ. They live to know God more. Their children are daily recipients of the grace these parents are enjoying from the Lord. And are especially graceful when their children are the hardest to love.   Grace has eternal appeal. It effects how goals are developed, discipline is handled, fears are processed, quarks are dealt with and our response to fears. (pg. 29)
• pg. 54- Give love when child is unappreciative, doesn't deserve it, it's inconvenient, costly to us and painful. Rom 5:6-8
• Unfortunately western parents can afford to raise children in evangelical hideaways & create a spiritual 'disneyland' for them. This works directly against the development of an empowered relationship with Christ!  Goal- to raise spiritually strong and gospel saturated children! Inside the boundaries of respect and honor there's room for our children to be the creative individuals God made them to be. -That's how Jesus 'parents' us.
• Our parenting method is empowered by our confidence in God, rather than our concerns about the messed up world we're raising our children in.  pg. 212- don't be concerned with how other parents view your children, be more concerned with how God views your children.

There are soooo many more points that are note worthy. I was really reminded at how much grace has been given to me minute by minute by my heavenly father, and how desperately I want to model that for our kids. I want to show them how the gospel is lived out in a consistent and loving way each day.

My favorite chapters, if you only have a little time, were 5, 6, 7, 9, & 10

Showers of Mercy-drops

Showers of blessing, Showers of blessing we need: Mercy-drops round us are falling, But for the showers we plead.

There shall be showers of blessing: This is the promise of love; There shall be seasons refreshing, Sent from the Savior above.

1. There shall be showers of blessing, Precious reviving again; Over the hills and the valleys, Sound of abundance of rain.
2. Now as to God we’re confessing, Now as on Jesus we call!
3. There shall be showers of blessing, If we but trust and obey; There shall be seasons refreshing, If we let God have His way.

Mercy= "a blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion" 

The last few weeks have come upon us like a refreshing shower. (sometimes rather heavy, literal, rain showers too! yesterday parts of the metro got like 5-9 inches of rain!) God has been so good to us. He has used you, our friends and family, over and over again to remind us that he loves us and does have compassion on His children.  


Honestly, it's been hard at times throughout the past year or two to feel that mercy -tangibly- we know each day comes as a new mercy (it just doesn't always feel like it to me). But God has gotten us through! 


Just in the past two weeks we've had two baby showers- each celebrating God's gift of goodness to us in allowing Little Mr. to grow so strong and long in the womb, and to one day VERY SOON to hold our precious baby boy! And on top of that Charlie changed jobs (well, officially starts on the 30th); God opened doors for him to work as an "in-house attorney" at a large local/national company. (This brings him one step closer to his career goal of becoming general counsel at a company one day).  God's timing and ways are so mysterious sometimes, and this summer has brought us nearer to to Him- through prayer and dependance, and faith building. (It wasn't fun btw, but good). 'God has had His way and now it feels like a season refreshing'- as the song above states.

Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Psalm 106:1 

Two Saturday's ago both of our families and MANY extended family members came from all over. -Iowa, Wisconsin, and the greater metro; because I am unable to go much more than 40 minutes from home (because of the cerclage). We felt so incredibly loved by their kindness and thoughtfulness, toward us and time spent with us and getting here. Elizabeth and Bridget hosted a really darling "Little Mr." shower. (I actually don't have many pictures of it... but you can go to Liz's post about it for a few more). They had the napkins folded as ties, and the cups had mustaches, and lots of really yummy food. Thanks sisters!

And then last Saturday (top left picture below) Nichole Wells, Anne Golliher and Andrea Brogle hosted a baby shower for our friends celebrating our Little Guy! These girls are precious and treasured gifts in my life. They made Charlie and I feel so blessed! -Actually everyone who came made us feel that way. THANK YOU over and over again! There were friends from college days, book club, small group, Titus 2 group, neighbors, friends from the area and even one surprise friend from California! What an amazing day. Maryann gave a wonderful devotional, and we all enjoyed yummy food. (After completing a rather disgusting baby food guessing game)... good times.

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! 1 Chronicles 16:34 

We're feeling as "ready" as new parents could. I'm 36 weeks today! I've had a few practice tummy tighteners, but nothing terribly serious yet. We're positively elated at the prospect of meeting our precious son in as soon as a few short days or weeks! Sometimes I can't believe it's all really happening. 

Taste and See That the Lord Is Good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Psalm 34:8

Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.  Psalm 147:1, 3

are there "normal" dreams?

OK, I'm thinking weird sleep and sleep patterns are a normal part of pregnancy. I've heard of crazy dreams, dreaming of your baby, etc. But I tell ya- I'm losing it. 'Cuz I've been dreaming REAL things.

-The most frustrating is the "To-do" lists or how I'll go about accomplishing a project. VERY VIVID and detailed. In the dream (apparently- cuz when i wake up nothing is done) I either write it down or do the project... so now when I wake I'm upset because can't remember the whole list of to-do's so I can write it down quick or if I did indeed just dream it. It usually comes back to me throughout the day in parts and I rush to write it down.

Dreaming fake things, or about our Little Boy or a weird list would be fine. But not the real stuff I need to do or remember, etc!

AHHHHHHHH!

As a side note, Little Mr. isn't waking me up as much these days, has definitive patters of sleeping and MEGA play/kicking time, gets the hic-up's 1-2x's per day and has gotten super big in the past week. We go for and ultrasound Friday and they'll do measurements, weight, etc.

The 29th is the day my cerclage will come out (week 36, day 4). And I'm generally off of bed rest- with the exception of lifting and exercising.  Charlie and I have started going for slow walks this week, and are starting to lengthen them. It's so great to get out and DO something again! WOW!