Lydia Elise

Lydia Elise Palmer was born November 10th, 2011 at 2:41 am. She weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz. and was 20 inches long....


Okay, so our announcement is a little late considering little Miss Lydia is almost four weeks old, but when you have three children four years old and under, things don't always hardly ever happen in a timely fashion...so here we are.
The timing of my entire pregnancy has been such an amazing demonstration of God's sovereignty and faithfulness.  As if His Word isn't clear enough, He has been gently telling us over these past months, "It's okay, you can trust Me.  I'm in control, and I will always do what is best for you!"  What a sweet Savior we have.
In March, we found out we were pregnant again, and our baby, Kylie, was only 7 months old.  Nathan has always had a the-more-the-merrier outlook on our child-bearing, and so have I, I just wanted to control the timing.  Even though I knew this was such a blessing and was surrounded by mothers who struggled to conceive, I cried.  I mourned what would soon be the end of Kylie's babyhood... I wanted her to have all the time that Zach had had as "the baby".  And I was not prepared to face another 4 months of morning sickness so soon.  We were supposed to move in the summer...how was I supposed to do all the work involved with that, and still take care of our home and children if I was sick as a dog?  I didn't know how, but God did.  He provided sweet ladies to make me meals.  Their daughters (and occasionally sons) watched and loved our children.  One particularly precious girl cleaned my house on a weekly basis.  He provided friends to fellowship with, because for some strange reason, socialization helps distract from my morning sickness.  When it came time to move, almost our entire church body showed up to finish packing last minute things, load the truck, clean the house from top to bottom, and of course, care for Zach and Kylie during the process.  Someone even brought us coffee that morning!  I did absolutely nothing aside from directing the flow of traffic within the house that day...it was amazing.  It was made very clear to us during that short time, that no matter how impossible things seem, we really can "do all things through Christ who strengthens" us.  He will provide sufficient (and often much more than sufficient) means and strength for whatever plans He has for us.  And those plans are in fact "for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

I cried, once again, as we left Auburn that day, already worrying about all the changes to come, as if God had not just done amazing work before our eyes.  My morning sickness had subsided just in time for us to travel across the country, so I thought everything was in place as far as our pregnancy went.  When we went to a last minute doctor's appointment we were informed that my pregnancy was high risk, and that I may have to have a c-section.  We also found out that we were having another girl!  The house we had hoped would be waiting for us wouldn't be ready until two days before Nathan had to leave, and we were trying to find a church in practically no time at all.  Not to mention we were attempting to travel cross country with two small children, a large U-haul towing a car, and me...who hates driving long distances.  All these things weighed on my mind as we left our home.  The trip was amazing, no one got sick, the drive was uneventful, and we made some amazing memories as a family.  When we arrived in San Diego and needed to unload our U-haul, there was yet another church family ready and willing to help.  Once again, I did absolutely nothing.  Due to our house being ready "late", Nathan and I got to spend two weeks with my parents (a.k.a beach vacation with built in child care).  Once in San Diego, the Lord provided me with two other pregnant, military, christian wives for moral support through the rest of my pregnancy.  When I finally made it to my new doctor, the reason I had been high risk had completely resolved itself.  Nathan made it home almost three weeks before Lydia made her debut.  And he will not have been at work for more than two weeks straight until the middle of January.  Yes, Lord, your timing is perfect.

We now have another beautiful little girl to call our own.  Even through all my grumbling and doubting, through all my faithlessness, the Lord has shown us His perfect faithfulness.  He loves us and desires to bless us despite our failings...which are so many.  We are so thankful to have been blessed with yet another child to raise for His glory.



A few pictures from the hospital...there seem to be less with each successive child...



At home...either making cute faces...or sleeping.



Another daddy's girl:).


We are so thankful for our sweet Lydia.  Thank you, Lord, for being patient with us, and for giving us Your best for our lives, instead of allowing us to decide what is best... Your best is always better.