Meet Sophia Lynn Friederichs!

  

It's a girl! Last Tuesday we got to find out so much about our little baby. We looked forward to our appointment with great excitement, but also with lots of prayer. We know lots of people go into this appointment with excitement over finding out if it's a girl or a boy and we did too- it's completely natural. But we also know some people who found out their baby would not survive, some who found out their baby had significant diseases or deformities that would change their lives forever.

So we prayed a lot. We prayed for a healthy baby. We prayed for accurate information. We prayed for wisdom and peace should things not go the way we wanted them to. We also repented. We had to repent for finding joy and hope in a healthy baby, for knowing most of our wanting a healthy baby was for our convenience and selfishness. And we centered ourselves on the Lord and his will, our place in it, and our baby's place in it. We prayed that healthy or unhealthy, boy or girl, that God would capture our child's heart and take hold of its affections, that our baby would be forever changed by the gospel, that Jesus would be its greatest treasure, that it would give its life over to the God who has saved it from sin and death and condemnation. We asked God to do these things and to do them soon and to let us be a part of it.

So this is our prayer for Sophie. This is our greatest hope for her. We would love it if you would pray these things too for her and for us.

We got a great report: 7 1/2 inches long and 9 oz, she's tall and skinny. ;) Her heartbeat is strong and everything on the sonogram showed a beautiful, perfectly healthy, little girl. We also had two blood tests done for several birth defects and both came back today negative.

We are so excited every time we find out more about her. I started feeling her kick about two weeks ago and that has been such a sweet thing for me each day. I can't wait for Andy to get to feel it too, if he'll ever be patient enough to wait longer than 10 seconds for it! :) I was hoping for a girl, and was so shocked to find out she was a she! Immediately I have felt more connected to her, getting to call her by name. How sweet she is to me already! Looking forward to the days to come when we continue to learn more and more about her until we finally get to meet her face to face!

Radical Womanhood

I have read Carolyn McCulley's blog, also called Radical Womanhood and she is wonderful. So I was not surprised when one of my best friends recommended her book. In fact, it received such high praise from both my friend and her husband that I was afraid to read it. When I set up really high expectations, I usually find myself sorely disappointed. This has been an exceptional experience, in a lot of ways.

When I finished it, I couldn't wait to post it here, because I want every woman I know to read it. I want many men I know to read it too, including Andy, though I won't hold my breath on that one. ;) (I've already got him slaving away with another book!) I have been able to read him several exerpts as we lay in bed reading, and that has always prompted good questions and conversation, which was one of the many treasures this book brought me. It is hard to find good material written for women about women. I've had to get good stuff about women from men like John Piper or CJ Mahaney. This book was like a breath of fresh air. It's direct, relevent, and well researched. Carolyn's stance is rooted in a deep understanding of Scripture and the character of God. It will challenge and encourage you in many aspects of your life, particularly as a wife or mother.

The book was also so well written that it didn't read like a nonfiction. I found myself struggling to put it down. It has a great mix of historical fact, Scripture, Caroline's reasoning, and personal testimony. I frequently had to set it down so that I could mull over something or sift through where my heart was on a particular issue. On the flip side, I read part of it on a plane and had to set it down several times because people were staring at the girl who was sobbing while she read. :)

Overall, it's one of the best nonfiction books I've ever read. You will learn tons about the effects of feminism on our culture, people we share our lives with, and even ourselves. You will be able to compare your view with what God has commanded in Scripture. I hope you will be pushed to repentance as I was, and that you will be encouraged to be a radical woman of God!

Our first game of Hide and Seek

Let me start by saying I hope future games are less thrilling and more fun. Andy and I got a taste of reality at our 12 week appointment. Dr. appointments have been a fun, exciting thing to look forward to. I count down the days until the next appointment and get giddy on the drive to the doctor- it's so different than normal appointments! I love seeing the doctor because I get to learn more about our baby, this sweet thing I already love and don't know much about yet.

As the nurse comes in, she takes my blood pressure and says we're going to check the fetal heartbeat. My own heart jumps at hearing I'll get to listen to Button's (our affectionate non gender name for the time being) heartbeat again! The first machine is out of juice, so she goes to get another one. She searches, checking every part of my belly. I can tell she's starting to be concerned. I give Andy an "oh no" look. She keeps searching....searching....searching....every time we'd hear a hearbeat it would be my own slow beat. We were listening for one much faster.

After a while, she says she can't find it. I must have looked terrified, because she said, "It's ok. It's not time to worry. I'll go get the doctor and he will find the heartbeat. If he can't, we'll do a sonogram. Don't worry! If the doctor can't find it, then you can start worrying." I smile and then look at Andy with an "I don't like this- this is scary" type of look. We begin praying and waiting for the doctor.

This was a strange time for me. I found myself without the words to pray. I knew what to ask for, and I did, but I struggled to find peace. My mind kept going from petitioning the Lord to fearful questions: What will they do if they can't find a hearbeat? Will they take my baby out? I'm not ready for that! What will this mean for all the plans we're making- this will change everything. How will I cope with this? How will Andy cope with this? I was clearly not at peace. Then one single thought silenced the questions, silenced the fears, silenced my soul. The Lord, in his infinite wisdom and mercy, in the perfect time, began my baby's heart beating. And at some point, the Lord, in his infinite wisdom and mercy, in the perfect time, will stop my baby's heart from beating. This was a certain fact. It steadied me, because I trust in the Lord. I began praying a new prayer- one of thanks to the God who holds all things together, who has a plan that is for his glory and for my good, one who is never thwarted, one who reconciles and redeems. Yes, the Lord is good. He does good. If there is no heartbeat, it will be well with my soul. It has to be.

About 30 minutes later my doctor comes in and gets right to work- one thing I love about him. He starts searching....searching....searching. He finally looks at me and says he can't find it. At this point, I'm starting to get shaky. He says "bottoms off" we're going to feel around for where exactly it is and try listening for it again before we do a sonogram. As he leaves, I start to cry. By this point, Andy is as shaken as I am. I try to remember and get back to the peace I knew just a moment ago.

Minutes later he's back, finds where exactly my tilted uterus is resting (on its side, by the way) and gets the machine in the right spot. I watch him like a hawk, aching in the silence, until I hear it- fast beating. The doctor looks at me and nods his head to the beat to let me know we've got the right one. Quick beats, beautiful beats, strong, healthy beats. I come undone. Joy spills out in tears, sobs, sweat. I lay my head back and cry.

A few days later I'm telling this to my friend and saying that I can't wait until I can feel Button moving and kicking. What ease I will have when I get constant reminders of my baby's health! In wisdom, she reminded me that it's never gone. The worry is never over and something I don't have to deal with again. Her son just celebrated his one year birthday. She said as soon as they got home from the hospital she was scared to put him in the crib and would have to fight the urge to check on him every 10 minutes. After that it will be choking on food, falling off a bike, getting lost at the park, etc. It's not about being safe and clear from any harmful circumstances that brings peace. It's about having peace in the midst of every uncontrollable circumstance. It's about daily, hourly giving up your child to the care and protection of the Lord and trusting in Him to do what's best, even if what's best is unthinkable. Thank you, friend.

I've been trying to remind myself of these things over the past week. I'll be honest- sometimes that peace I felt in the doctor's office is with me. Sometimes it feels miles away. It was not a fun experience, but it was one that has taught me some early lessons that I know I'll continually learn as we head down this journey of parenthood. Thank you Lord for all you have done, for Button's heartbeat, for peace, for a willingness to relinquish control I never had in the first place. Continue to teach me your ways and lead me in the path of sanctification. Amen!

House for Sale!

This post is a little personal PR attempt. We are selling our house! We LOVE our house, and this is a bittersweet experience for us. However, we also want it to be a short lived experience. Keeping the house spotless is tiresome. :) Our realtor advised us to get the word out to friends and family, because you never know when someone you know knows someone who knows someone looking to buy a house...

Here are a few pictures. We are listed with Williams Trew. For more pictures and listing information, see their website, or realtor.com.

Please pass this info on to anyone you know who might be in the market- it's a great house!

2244 Hurley Ave. 76110

Baby Friederichs!

Hopefully you've already heard that Andy and I are having a baby! I wanted to use my blog to be able to share with you how God accomplished this in our lives, because we are so thankful!

I have always had a history of irregular cycles. Last summer we decided to ditch the pill for a few reasons: 1) I needed to know how much different I would be without the side effects of the pill I'd been taking since I was 15. 2) We wanted to see what my cycles would be like- maybe they had learned to regulate themselves, maybe not. After six months, it was clear they were not regular, and were actually getting more and more irregular the longer I was pill free. In December, I scheduled an appointment with my doctor. He looked at the chart I'd been keeping, and was not hopeful. He started me on a medication to try and wipe out my system- it was supposed act like a reboot. Then I went in for lots and lots of tests. The tests came back not so hopeful. He sent me home with a package of stuff from Fort Worth Fertility, and said we needed to ditch our schedule and start trying NOW. We cried, took the new meds he prescribed, sent Andy in for testing, and got busy!

Andy's tests came back great. The medicine I was now on three times a day made me super nauseous and tired. Another blood test later, and the doctor said he was going to put me on Clomid (a fertility drug) and then a sonogram of my ovaries. They thought I might have PCOS. All this was going to happen as soon as I got my next cycle. In the meantime, we did the only thing we could do. ;) Let me tell you- it was not easy. Gone were the days of romance, convenience, spontaneity. In fact, we didn't even try often because it wasn't quite, well, as fun as it used to be. But every time we did try, I would put my hands on my belly and plead with the Lord to open my womb, to make a baby, to give us a child. Sometimes Andy would do it to, sometimes we would do it together.

Inevitably, we knew, the end of the month would come, and we'd get an answer. We decided we would take a test right away, on the 29th day, so we wouldn't have to wait for a late period hoping it meant we were pregnant, only to find out we were just more irregular than before. I knew before the results came. I could feel it: negative. We sighed, because it meant more meds, more tests, more charting temperatures, more hoping, more desperate...but we continued on.

A week later, nothing. Two weeks later, nothing. Three weeks later, still nothing. I was reaching that point where you move from patience to anger. But I also started to hope. It went against all reason. Yes, I was 20 days late, which for some people would be a sure sign, but not for me. 20 days late didn't really mean anything for my body. Yes, I was nauseous and tired, but that didn't mean anything either- those were the side effects of the meds I was on. It was our first month to try. The average, healthy, regular 25 year old has a 20% chance of getting pregnant each month. The doctor said it could take a year, maybe longer. The first test was negative. We didn't even try enough. My temp chart looked like an EKG- we had no idea when I ovulated. It seemed impossible, yet I hoped. I told Andy, "I think I really might be pregnant." Wanting to protect me from being disappointed again, he told me I probably wasn't.

The next day at work I couldn't wait any longer. I rushed home to take a test. I sat, waiting for the results, at a point of desperation I have never felt. It was strange to feel such hope and despair at the same time, feelings of such impossibility and yet there maybe was a chance. My heart was pounding through my chest, and I didn't really realize I saw the result until tears were spilling from my eyes and I was sobbing through joy: Pregnant. I couldn't believe it and yet was sure I knew it all along. I sobbed thanks to the Lord for a long time. My face was burning, my mind was racing, and I needed to let it out. I needed to tell Andy. I couldn't wait!

Today I am 12 weeks pregnant. The nausea and exhaustion have subsided and I am being weaned from the meds that make me sick. Our baby has a strong heartbeat, is about the size of a lime, grows incredibly every day, and never ceases to remind us of God's goodness, his power, and his provision for all we need. He has accomplished more than all we asked or even hoped for. We give him all the glory!

Genesis 30:22-23 "Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. She conceived and bore a son..."

Snow Day with Berkley!

I didn't expect to hear the phone ring at 5:45 am this morning telling me school was canceled. I thought, "That's ridiculous....Texans," as I rolled over and turned off the alarm. I should have peeked outside the window first. I can't remember the last time we had this much snow in Texas! I bundled up and took Berk out to play at the park. Literally, here's how I did it: undergarments, a thin pair of socks, leggings over the socks, long janes over the leggings, then a thick pair of socks over the long janes. Then I pried my jeans on over all the layers, waddled across the house into my rain boots, then put on a long sleeve shirt, a fleece, and my winter coat. I topped it all off with a fleece hat and gloves. (I've been home for hours and I'm still wearing most of it... ;) Berkley and I had the time of our lives! He is such a sweet dog, and has been such a blessing to Andy and I. We love you Berkley!

Not happy about having to wear his Halti...

Halti is off = happy dog!

Yum- this tastes like ice cube treats!

This first video is of us reaching the park. After a 1/2 mile walk at what Berkley would consider a too-slow-pace, he was released from the leash. Here's his reaction to freedom with the snow!

After 30 minutes of running, running, and more running, we headed to the playground area. Usually when we come, we try to get Berkley to go down the slide. This time he was all too eager! He did this over and over and over again. One time he went so fast he lost his balance, and went down sideways, landing in the snow on his back. It was hilarious! Wish I could have caught it on tape...

The Brothers Karamazov

I realized that I forgot to mention that I finished The Brothers Karamazov! Just after New Years, about six months after I started it, I finished this excellent book. I first decided I wanted to read it about eight years ago after finding it on John Piper's list of "Top 50 Books You Need to Read Before You Die." It's my second book of Fyodor Dostoevsky's to read (the first was Crime and Punishment, which took me two years to complete). It's the story of three very different brothers who share a miserable excuse of a father. The oldest brother, Dmitri, is erratic, highly emotional, and impulsive. The second brother, Ivan, is a complete intellectual. The youngest, Alexey, is mild, starkly honest, and very spiritual. They represent three parts of the human being: emotion, reason, and faith. The story follows the murder of their father, and the ongoing effects of it on the three sons. It includes what many consider the best argument against the existence of God- ironic because Dostoevsky writes as a Christian saved by the blood of God himself.



Dostoevsky's books are hard to read, but they are worth it. He writes deep characters with an understanding of human nature and desire that I haven't read anywhere else. After my time in Crime and Punishment, I decided to make a character tree with each character's name and a phrase describing who they are. I did this before I started reading (my edition had a list of characters and descriptions.) It was absolutely worth the time! I found myself referring to it often. I would encourage you to do the same if you'll give the book a go- you will be glad you did!