rest your head

before having kids, both steve and i really wanted to be intentional about our parenting. now that we have three soon to be four kids, i find the hardest time to be intentional during the day is during our bedtime routine. i had always dreamt of singing sweet songs, declare God's promises, having a cuddle while reading stories & bringing the word of God alive for our kids. it often has the potential to be a chaotic, rush to the end of the day where all of us are exhausted & just want to pack it in for the night. i recently decided to take the bull by the horns and be a little more intentional during this time. and so while looking for songs to sing other than skinimeriky-dinky-doo, i stumbled across this beautiful lullaby.

Sleep & Dreams - Charlie Hall

Close your eyes, it's time to sleepThe day is done and it's the time to breathe and dream

I pray that bands of angels fill your room
And the songs of God would come consume you

Rest your head on hallelujahs
Rest your head on all God is
Rest your head the day is done
And now it's time to sleep

Put your mind on things above
Let your heart be filled with faith and hope and love

i feel like i need to sing this to myself every night, never mind the kids! what a fantastic way to end the day... full of peace, perspective & expectation!

this one is a keeper for sure!

chickpea power

i have never been a fan of chickpeas... until recently. i haven't introduced either of the twins to meat yet and so when looking for extra ways to get protein into their diets i have been on the hunt for new ways to present them bean, lentils & of course, chickpeas. chickpeas are an excellent dose of both fibre & protein.

here is one of our family's favourite finds... i think i'm addicted!

Parmesan Roasted Chickpeas

2 (15 ounce) cans of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed

2 tablespoons olive oil

juice from 1/2 a lemon (~ 1 1/2 tablespoons)

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup grated parmesan

After you have rinsed and drained your chickpeas, spread them out on a paper towel to dry. Allow to dry about 15 minutes. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix together olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, rosemary, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and parmesan until everything is well mixed. Add the chickpeas and gently stir to coat. You will probably have a few loose skins, just pick them off and discard.

Spread the chickpeas on a baking sheet. Make sure they aren’t too crowded; you don’t want any to overlap. Roast in the preheated oven until the chickpeas and dry and crisp, about 50-60 minutes. A few times during the roasting, open the oven and mix the ‘peas up a bit. The key is to roast them long enough so they get crispy, but not so long that they burn. Watch them closely once you hit the 50 minute mark so you can find your magic minute and have a nice, crispy, but not burnt result!

You can also try mixing it up by changing the dressing to something a little more sweet than savoury like Maple Syrup & Spice Chickpeas ( use 1/8 cup pure maple syrup, 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger instead and only cook for 20-30 minutes).

thank-you LORD!

after a long period of testing, we got our final results yesterday from both the cardiologist, geneticist, & obstetrician... we have a happy, healthy, beautiful little girl! praise God!

our God is a good God! after testing positive twice for downs syndrome, our little baby girl was totally & miraculously healed! they gave her a 95% chance of not being born healthy or alive. some people may say we narrowly escaped in that last 5%. but throughout the process, after a few encounters with the supernatural, we know she was divinely healed.

thank-you Lord for the life & health of our beautiful baby girl who will serve you all of the days of her long life! hallelujah!

(this is a very short account of one long miraculous story... i'm in the process of writing it all down but if you would like to hear more just let me know)

chocolate chip goodness

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Chickpeas

Prep: 20 minutes, Total: 31-33 minutes, Makes 2 dozen cookies

This recipe is from Jessica Seinfeld's much talked about book, "Deceptively Delicious." These are so easy and fast to make, but watch out for flying chickpeas! If using a standing mixer, partially cover the bowl with a dish towel to keep the chickpeas from flying out.

Nonstick cooking spray
1 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
3/4 cup trans fat free soft tub margarine spread (I use butter)
2 large egg whites
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 (15 ounces) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (I put them in a food processor to grind them)
2 cups (12 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips (or 1 & 1/2 cup chocolate chips and half a cup cocoa)
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
3/4 cup raisins (optional)
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

2. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the sugar and margarine with a wooden spoon or on medium speed until smooth. Beat in the egg whites and vanilla, then the chickpeas and chocolate chips. Add the flour, oats, baking soda and salt, and mix on low speed until a thick dough forms.

3. Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto the baking sheet, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart. Press gently with a fork to flatten. Bake until the cookies are golden brown and just set, 11 to 13 minutes; do not overbake. Transfer to a rack to cool.

4. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

hold onto peace

when we decided to start our family, we decided that it would be a time of peace for us. through all of the challenges of pregnancy and parenting, we have spoken & guarded peace in our home as one of our prized possessions. before we had davith, steve bought me a little wooden dove which has now sat on the window ledge of the nursery for all of our kids as a reminder that this season of having kids would be one of peace.

now pregnant with our fourth we are facing some challenges we hadn't had to face with any of our others. scary challenges. don't get me wrong, we are in faith but our feelings at times don't line up with what we know to be true. there is nothing wrong with being terrified and angry and when we are honest with the Lord it can be a wonderful strength. We need to give our feelings an appropriate outlet where we can be totally honest but then separate them from what we know. we know God is a good God, He is our Hope, He loves us, He has plans to prosper us not to harm us, He counts every tear & hears every cry, He is a very present comfort & refuge. so although we have times of overwhelming feelings, we trust & focus on what we know. feelings are real but they are also fleeting and fickle. in the end, we have faith not in what God can do for us but in who He is.

God gave me this scripture just before we began to face challenges during this pregnancy and it has preserved me throughout.

isaiah 54:10 " the mountains and hills may be removed, but My kindness shall never leave you, nor shall My covenant of peace with you ever be removed"

the key to having peace is spending time with Peace Himself. i have felt His presence so tangibly, His mighty hand there to hold like no other time in my life. we are facing some real challenges but we are facing them with a real God, the King of Peace.

so fight & hold onto peace while drinking deep from the well of salvation... He is such a good God!

declare my word

we have had rough day today after spending the better part of the day in the hospital. everything has checked out and we are so relieved, thrilled, blessed... doesn't even begin to describe it! both the baby & i are in good health and recovering smoothly at home. still some concerns to get ironed out, but we are encouraged by faith.

for whatever reason, i have found it difficult to believe that God would be so good as to give me a fourth totally healthy, happy, beautiful baby after already blessing me with so much. i feel so greedy expecting His goodness & blessings. so i came to this seemingly simple revelation. God is good all the time. His goodness doesn't have a limit or boundaries or consequences. it is boundless, abundant & excessive. i could never do anything to earn His loving kindness nor could i ever thank Him enough.

another revelation that became flesh to me today was the importance of declaring God's word. the doctors gave some pretty terrible forecasts today and then the word of the Lord came to us... who's report are you going to trust? it's not that doctor's are bad people, they just tell you what they see. there is nothing wrong with that... it just isn't in line with God's supernatural plan, that's all. i had printed out these scriptures a while ago to pray over the kids before they went to sleep. but today i am going to declare them over this beautiful baby as the promises of God that they are and i will continue to pray them over this baby once i am cuddling it safely in my arms.

psalm 91:9-16

Our children have made the Most High their dwelling place. No harm will befall them; no disaster will come near their tents. For He will give His angles charge over them to guard them in all their ways. They will carry them so that our children do not dash their foot against a stone. They will tread upon the lion and the cobra; they will trample them underfoot. Because our children love You, You will deliver them, You will set them on high. They will call upon You and You will answer them, You will be with them in trouble, You will deliver them and honor them and with long life You will satisfy them and show them Your salvation.

psalm 103:2-5

Thank you Lord that our children won’t forget His benefits. You forgive all their sins and heal all their diseases. You redeem their lives form the pit, and crown them with love and compassion. You satisfy their souls with good things so that their youth is renewed like the eagles.

isaiah 24:13.14 and 17

All our children shall be taught by the Lord and great will be their peace, their health, safety, protection and prosperity. In righteousness they will be established. Tyranny will be far from them; they will have nothing to fear. Terror will be far removed; it will not come near them. No weapon

formed against them will prosper.

and some extra additions to this list for today...

This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. 1 John 5:14-15

Luke 17 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

God is so abundantly, excessively, limitlessly & powerfully good! so i'm going to stick that in my pipe and smoke it! thank-you Lord!

the power of raw goat's milk

after recently finding out i was pregnant, my breast milk supply suddenly diminished. i had breast fed davith until he was 13 months while pregnant with the twins and was attempting to do the same with the twins. i can still nurs
e them quite effectively, or to where they feel satisfied, but when i need to pump to leave milk for a babysitter, i am fresh outta luck. i usually only need to pump one feed a week so i didn't really want to start an expensive formula.

and then i remembered some advice a good friend had given me while in the hospital with the twins. she suggested that if i was having difficulty nursing them to supplement with goat's milk. i recently began to research a little bit more and here is what i found:

" Most of us know that almost all commercially produced cow's milk based formulas are pretty nasty (think high fructose corn syrup, mono and diglycerides, inositol, choline bitartrate, sodium ascorbate, alpha tocophyeryl acetate, naicinamide, calcum pantothenate, riboflavin, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, folic acid, phylloquinone, etc.), and soy based formulas are not a lot better (children receiving soy formula as their only food take in the same estrogenic equivilant as 5 hormonal birth control pills per day.) But we also know that not everyone is able to or desires to breastfeed, so what can be an alternative? Afterhuman breastmilk, what is best?

Unlike cow's milk, which takes hours to digest, goat’s milk takes just 20 minutes to digest due to smaller fat molecules (about one fifth the size of the molecules in cow's milk.) Goat’s milk is also alkaline, like human breastmilk, whereas cows milk is acidic. It has higher evolved carotene (Vitamin A) which is preformed and easily absorbable, does not form phlegm in the body, is easier on the gut and liver, is more easily absorbable by the brain and body due to lower levels of cholesterol, and is milder in taste (though in my own experience, goats milk tastes stronger the longer you leave it- you can taste a difference even the day after it's been milked.)

Goat's milk is so readily digested by infants that in a number of cases that, where the breast milk supply has been inadequate, full strength, unsweetened goat's milk can be given as an alternative. Studies have found that infants of working mothers have thrived on a midday feed of goat's milk, welcoming the return to mother's milk at the other feeds. This may not be the ideal, but the alternative use of cow's milk preparations have often resulted in refusal of the breast at the next mealtime.

Human breast is best, and after that it’s just about what feels good and works for you and your babe. " Doula Right Thing, blog

i wholehearted believe that you need to decide what is best for you and your family. i just thought this was a really neat alternative and so far it has worked really well with the twins. you can introduce goat's milk as early as baby's first feed. i was also surprised how accessible goat's milk is. i just picked up a carton of organic homogenized goat milk at loblaws in the health food section. so take what blesses you and ignore the rest! i just love finding little tid bits of information at exactly the right time so i thought i would share.