Maternity Shoot Sneak Peak!

This photo was taken by Krista Pierce of Free Spirit Photography in Pennock, MN!! She is amazing!!!

http://www.free-spirit-photography.com/blog/2012/10/jenni-and-kaleb-expecting-baby-h?fb_action_ids=10152243353915445&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210152243353915445%22%3A433693596691504%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210152243353915445%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map

Life at the Holzhauer home...

Pray fervently, boldly, selflessly, humbly, continuously and whole heartedly!

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 

1 John 5:14

"This time next year who will you be? Will you be the same person you are today"?

Things have been going pretty well the past several weeks. Baby is growing and so is mama! I have been eating tons of food! And baby has been kicking and squirming like crazy! I have been reading and watching lots of things about labor and birth. I love it all!! It has been fun to share this with Kaleb and have us grow as a couple. We are both so excited about what is to come! Kaleb has been wonderful! He is working hard and getting things in order! It is such a blessing to have him as my husband! I thank God for him all the time! He is going to be a great dad! I cannot wait to see how much fun we have as a family of 3!!


These are just some facts about the care I have been receiving with my midwife and some facts about pregnancy and labor and giving birth... Some things may seem random but they are snippets from my journal entries that I feel I should share with the world... ....:::::

It is so cool that I could feel so much love for someone I haven't met yet. This little one is such a joy to carry around!! ♥
Your baby in the womb feels what you feel!

The heart of how medicine is practiced in relation to birth is fear based. This should not be what birth is about. -More Business of Being Born.This is the most important thing I will ever do! I want to look back and know I did ALL that I could! This is a time to practice selflessness. Yeah, I may be wide awake at 4am cause baby is bouncing all around, but so what! I think I can deal with that considering the amazing miracle that is happening inside my body! I refuse to belittle this process or think about it in any other way except positively! This is a good time as any to let God change me. I have always been selfish and done things my way. This is a time to hand over the reigns during the most unbelievably special and outrageously supernatural process. I want to finish this race strong with my God by my side!

I pray this active little one is this engaged and vigorous during labor in 9 to 11 weeks!

We are women, hear us roar. Take control of your future!

~How are you feeling? Really good, just 40 pounds heavier!
~When are you due? The middle of December.
Do you know what you are having? Nope. :)
~Is the nursery all put together? Haha, no we are waiting to decorate until after baby arrives.
~Have you had any weird cravings? Nothing weird, just salty foods, milk, and anything sour (limes, lemons grapefruit).
~Who is your doctor? Hmm well, I am see
ing a Midwife. Her name is Joy Parker.
~So you are going the all natural route? Yes. :D
~Do you have names picked out? Yes, but we are keeping them secret. :)
~Are you going to breastfeed? Yes! Of course! I will be one of those "weird" moms people talk about that breastfeeds past age one!
I ♥ all of the pregnancy questions!

I am learning that baby H gets excited when in God's presence. Pretty amazing!

"We carry the pro-creative imperitive in our body. It is the culmination of the entire reason we are here, on a physical level". Alanis Morisette

"We have questions about all medicines given during labor. Baby gets the medications from the placenta. What happens to the baby when this cocktail of drugs is introduced to a brand new human?? Where is the research? We don't know what all that does. We should be curious about these questions". A Midwife, More business of being born.

"When we are pregnant, we are not sick. We are stonger. Why would it be that God would make you weaker? You are stonger". -Cindy Crawford, MBOBB.

"Due dates arent't real". More Business of Being Born.

"Midwives are hands off and more faith is involved. More faith in the natural process. Too much information takes away the mother's instincts". -Kim Williams-Paisley (Brad Paisley's wife)

There is a one baby wrestling match going on in my uterus! ♥

This 9 or 10 months is so magical and it’s so short. It is the closest thing to magic. It's God's magic! Just embrace and love the fact that people want to connect with you and be part of this amazing cycle. It will be over before you know it!

28 weeks 4 days 

Any suffering and discomfort is completely worth it. I don't think it's that big of a deal to suck it up for 9 months in order to partner with God and bring a life into this world. All of the physical changes are temporary and I view them as an honor and privilege. How dare I complain when there are plenty of women who are unable to have children. I owe it to all of them to carry this little one w
ith my head held high, even if the road gets bumpy. But seriously, how bad can the road get? We live in America. It isn't that hard to find great medical help and do research on every way to relieve certain physical problems. Women have wanted to be viewed as equal and strong. During pregnancy and childbirth is when we as a gender need to shine bright!! This is what we were created to do. It is a miraculous gift! I cannot wait to finish this race strong, praying all the way to the finish line!!

29 weeks, 1 day!

29 weeks,  1 day along! Doing laundry and pictures of cute designs on clothes!

30 weeks, 1 day!

30 weeks, 1 day!

30 weeks, 3 days!

This week (10-24-12) we bought a changing table (antique dresser) pad and car seat protector! We didn't buy a changing table, we ended up finding, well actually my mom found it, a cute dresser that is the perfect height. And it will be something we can have for years and use for many different things.. And now we have to seat protector so the back seat of the car doesn't get damaged from the carseat..

Yesterday (10-23-12), I journaled this thought: Woke up from a kick/punch and found myself praying for our son or daughter! Can't wait to do that in his/her ear!!

If I wanted an ultrasound I could have one.. If I was nervous or something. But I did my research about them and I'm not a huge fan. There is info to support that ultrasounds are linked to hearing trouble, concentration problems and sensory issues. Often during an ultrasound the tech or dr will say something like, oh the babies hiding or avoiding or running away from us.. In reality, the sound is bothersome to the bebe.

30 weeks along! This is a Seven Sling! It is stretchy and will be very comfy for the baby!!

31 weeks, 1 day!

31 w, 1 d

32 weeks along! 

6 weeks and 32 weeks!

32 weeks! 10-21-12

32 weeks!!

32 w, 2 days!

32 weeks, 2 days!

The midwife measures me (my uterus) and listens to baby's heartbeat with a special stethoscope and let's me listen. And she feels my belly to get the position. Actually, she can simply look at my belly and say how baby is positioned. Its awesome! And she taught me how to lay down and feel where the baby is, the difference between head, butt, back, arm, leg... I enjoy it a lot.

Just seeing posts on Facebook from other women that seem scared cause of information overload or the doc saying the baby is measuring big or oh no he's breach.. the fear is not good. There are studies showing that fear releases adrenaline which actually stops the cervix from dilating. Scary thought. . Someone asked me once, don't you want to know if your baby has all it's organs and arms and legs? I didn't really know how to answer. I trust baby is healthy and if there was something wrong I wouldn't want to be pregnant for 9 months worrying or told I could terminate cause I never would. We will take care of it right away if an emergent situation arises.

This will keep the baby warm during the cold cold winter!! It is  waterproof on one side and fuzzy soft on the other side!

In other news, my mom and brother have been gone two 17 days in Florida. They are helping my mom's parents figure things out. Our grandpa (my mom's dad) is in a nursing home due to low blood pressure and pneumonia. Things are stressful for them. I continually pray for them.

"We have the greatest mom we could ever want or hope for! She makes us all better. And never complains and unconditionally loves us despite how awful we are or have been. She doesn't always get the love and respect she deserves. We can always do better! By letting God be in control of who she is, she holds us all together. We need to show the utmost respect and honor to the woman who selflessly raised us; Especially now as she deals with aging stubborn parents. We owe her at least that!"

This song is amazing and has helped me through a lot of struggles! 

Praying for our Nona (Grandma) Catarina. Last week she found out she won't be driving anymore. Lord send her peace and joy despite the news. Amen.

Another thing I wanted to write about: I have been struggling since March of this year with the emotional loss of a friend. A friend I thought I would have for years to come. I was excited to help her grow closer to God and seek after Christ. But the reality is that every person has to choose their own life. I cannot force anyone to be my friend and follow Jesus. I am just not in a place where I can sit back and watch someone smoke pot and drink. I can't do it. I spent too much of my life wrapped up in worldly crap like that. I have blogged about my story before. If you are interested look back at previous posts. I am very transparent as to what I used to do when I was ignoring Jesus. I pray for this dear person because she is wonderful. She has so much love to give and she brings so many people joy. I was one of those people. I have struggled a lot with seeing that people choose and sometimes they don't choose Jesus and they don't choose being your friend. Because I don't want to waste my life anymore and I want to show people that Jesus loves them and they don't have to go searching for acceptance by doing things that harm their spirit, body and mind. Not only is consuming liquor bad for your health, it is bad for a person's soul. I want to hear a story where someone made a solid good decision while drunk. Because I know, it doesn't happen. I never made one solid choice while drinking. IT was after I quit that my life really became clear. And God became brighter and I saw Jesus for who HE IS! A wonderful Savior! I pray for my friend often. Because I want her to find joy and contentment. And be so over-joyed about life that she cannot contain herself. Because that is how I feel! I feel blessed to be given a second chance at making right decisions! I said all of this to say, that this pregnancy has really helped me get my life into even more perspective. I mean, that I was already following hard after Jesus when I became pregnant. But this experience has been of the utmost holiness. I can't fully put it in to words. The Lord, has shown me so much. He has helped me heal and see what is most important. And helped me to let things go and move on. To not hold grudges. I want to be healed of the deep hurt I felt over losing a dear friend. And Facebook makes it hard because I see that friend having tons of fun and living it up.. I just simply don't fit into her life. And unless I bend and set Jesus aside, for now, letting go of the friendship is the only option. It is beautiful how Jesus fills in the gaps and cleans up the wounds. Because they run deep and it violently hurt and caused me physical pain. But for the sake of this life growing inside of my womb, I must be calm and let God help me mend my broken heart. And He really has, I pray when I think of my friend, but I no longer blame myself for things ending. I know I did all that I could.. I just wanted a chance to love her unconditionally and be like my Savior. That is what I want to be for anyone who is seeking to follow Christ. It is getting harder and harder to do so in this world. And I love being there for other girls who need help and direction..

"We are an absolutely, self absorbed, narcistic consumer culture of immediate gratification". -Pastor Mark Driscoll

"We need God's power in our heart. We will never be free from our past until God is in our lives. God specializes in freedom. People are tired because they are trying to live life on their own power. We are not designed to live life on our own power. We try dealing with pressure without being plugged into God. People lose hope because they don't understand the purpose for their life". - Pastor Gary Grogan.

"Do not let your happiness depend on something you may lose, only upon the Beloved who will never pass away". -C.S. Lewis

Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Selah

Psalm 68:19