Feel the awesome.
12
Jul 2010
Family of Four
Yep. That’s right, we’re pregnant!!!! We’re so grateful to God for blessing us with another baby, and growing our family to a beautiful round number. Our due date is January 6th, so I’m closing in on 15 weeks fat, I mean pregnant, with our little bundle. Of course Jeremy is rooting for a December baby for tax purposes, ha! Asher loves the idea of having a baby brother or sister, and tells the baby to grow big and strong every day. This little baby has already made himself/herself quite known by reeking some major havoc on me…seems like another feisty boy to me, but we’ll soon see!
Deciding to have another baby wasn’t an easy decision for us. Actually, it was a bit agonizing. When Asher was 10 days old we got the call from his Pediatrician telling us that Asher has Cystic Fibrosis. After many google searches and research, we got a pretty good idea of how horrible this disease really is that we were faced with, and pretty much immediately had claimed that Asher was going to be our only child. It was heartbreaking. We definitely had wanted to have more children. But, we felt like, how could we willingly put another child through all of the medications, treatments, hospitalizations, doctor’s appointments, and on top of all the physical stuff the emotional stress in dealing with having a fatal disease, peers, future spouses and Lord willing their own children, just to name a few. Jeremy and I did not know we were carriers of the gene before we had Asher, so this really was completely out of our hands. But, now we know, and we felt like we needed to be responsible.
But then we started to get to know Asher…and oh, did we fall in love. This little boy is really amazing. He’s amazingly fun and exhausting (ha!) all at the same time! He’s like a tornado and a cool, gentle breeze wrapped together! He has the best laugh, and can easily be persuaded to share it with you if you tickle his neck. Whenever he gets frustrated he says, “oh man!” and throws his head into his hand and shakes his head back and forth. He loves to dance to music, especially music with a beat and guitars because he likes to play his air guitar and shake his booty…preferably naked though, naked dancing is his favorite. He’s so curious and reminds us of this about every 30 seconds when he says, “What’s that, or what are you doing.” He loves to build towers and whenever the tower starts getting really high he says, “oh boy, oh boy, oh boy” and backs up holding his hands up in the stop position. He loves to cuddle. He loves to run. He loves to be a big boy and do things himself. He is the protector of the hummingbird feeder, and runs up to the window and bangs on it shouting, “shoo shoo birds!” if he sees anything besides a hummingbird eating. He loves babies, and is constantly saying, “ohhhh, baby so tuuut.” He loves to play hide-n-seek, but only if when it’s your turn you sit in an obvious spot, otherwise he gets scared and starts shouting, “all done, all done!” as he runs through the house in panic mode. He loves cheeseburgers and fries and apple juice. And, he loves to hug and kiss and put bandaids on owies. He’s so beautiful…
….And the decision that Jeremy and I made about only having one child became increasingly harder to cope with. How could we only have one when we have experienced so much joy and love with Asher?
So after about 2 years of us constantly talking about this decision, crying over this decision, and begging God for wisdom, we finally decided that we hate Cystic Fibrosis and we hate that Asher has to deal with it, but he is the person he is today because of it and we wouldn’t change who he is. This isn’t stopping us from praying like mad that our newest baby would be born without Cystic Fibrosis though, and we would covet your prayers as well. The numbers are pretty simple. There is a 75% chance of us having a kid that will be perfectly fine and normal…of course, that leaves us with a very real 25% chance of a second kid with CF.
We definitely have peace about the decision, and are so excited to have another baby. But, there is also this part of us that is honestly scared. We know what this disease means and what it requires to manage. Of course, we can’t predict tomorrow but do have countless examples just in the 2.5 years of Asher’s life how God has taken care of us all, and that’s what we need to remember. It is truly amazing to have peace in the midst of scary, unpredictable circumstances. It’s supernatural, and hard to explain. It’s what God has given both Jeremy and me, and we rest in that. God will provide for us, and this baby will be perfect even if he or she has CF. And, God’s plan for our lives is perfect and superior to anything we could dream up. So we have peace, and we trust God’s love for us is so great that He will hold us tight and guide us through whatever may come.
So, come on, join us on the next step of our journey and pray with us while we await the newest Olimb!
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The teamASHER Silent Auction
A Slice of Yesterday
With great pleasure I join you on this next step of your journey and pray to our Great God for the newest Olimb! Can’t wait to meet him or maybe her 🙂
Wonderfully put!!! God is sovereign and Baby Olimb with be a beautiful, blessing-filled, gift from our amazing Savior! I am so happy for you guys and will be praying every day for your amazing family!!!
We couldn’t be more thrilled for you and your family. Thank you for sharing your heart in this. We know that God works all things for good in our lives and we can hardly wait to meet his new creation.
I don’t think this post could be any more beautiful! Thanks for sharing with us. . . sharing about Asher & all the precious things that make Asher who he is. . . and thanks for sharing the decision process & journey to where you are today! We, too, are praying for this sweet little baby!!! God has great plans for him/her and we are so excited to watch those plans unfold! Congratulations to the Olimb FOUR!!!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! SO SO SO SO SOOOOOOOOOO excited for you guys! 🙂
so excited for you all. i am really encouraged by your trust in jesus as you make your plans and the lord guides your footsteps. will be praying for your hearts to have peace and comfort and for this baby to be born healthy!
SO excited for you and Asher! He’ll be an awesome big brother!!
Congrats to you and Jeremy (and Asher too)! What wonderful news! Such a refreshing and well put perspective. Asher is perfect, no matter what…just as the next Olimb will be.
what a beautiful post Rachel! You’ve painted a perfect picture of your son, I feel as though I know him now. I will be praying for your next cutie and for your peace as well…I am so thrilled you are sitting in His presence and experiencing His peace. Praying for you my cyber friend!
Beautiful boy. Such a beautiful family. You can trust in the loving kindness of the Lord. “May your children be mighty in the land. Even to the next generation, may you and your children be blessed.” Ps. 112 I love you Olimb family.
Peace only God can give is the best there is. We are so excited that Asher will be a great big brother. He is an amazing little boy. God has great plans for you all! Great post!
Such exciting news!! Congratulations Olimbs, we are thrilled for you and will certainly be praying. Thank you for sharing your heart – it was beautiful to read & I can certainly understand how you can look at your firstborn and desperately want another little miracle like them to bless your lives! Praise God for the precious creation he is knitting together in your womb!! Love you guys!
Congrats again you two! I love how you explain Asher in this story! He sounds so amazing!
Ok, waking up to all these wonderful notes was the best!!! Thank you so much for all your prayers and your love for our family!
Congratulations!!!! Tears are streaming down my cheeks as I read this beautiful post. WOW!! You are an amazing family and your faith is an example to all. We will continue to pray for the awesome Olimb family. So exciting, thanks for sharing your heart!!!
Rejoicing in your decision and God’s blessing on your addition to your precious Family! Scott and I will pray for your new bundle and for the continued support for the Olimb family. We love you guys and miss ya like crazy! Oh…BTW…you are beautiful!!!
Congrats Olimbs! That’s awesome news! Your description of Asher is beautiful – I think he may be the only little guy I have never met, but I feel like I know him so well. I am already excited to see photos of Baby Olimb and watch him/her grow. I know you will continue to be excellent at capturing and sharing this new life with all of us! I will be thinking and praying for your family. And for Jeremy – hoping for a pre-New Year’s baby. haha!
Just when I think I couldn’t love those Olimbs anymore than I already do you post such a beautiful testimony. Well said Rachel! You make me want to squeeze on that boys some more. I love you all and pray for this precious little bundle. I think her middle name should be Fay just like mind. Ha!
Congratulations you two! I’m so happy for your growing family. I can only imagine how hard a decision it was, but no matter what genes your second child ends up with they are sure to be amazing.
So beautifully said! It’s so exciting to know you are having another child…you are amazing, godly parents and Asher has so much to offer as a wonderful big brother…he will smother that baby with tons of love! Praying with you for strength and health and for all that is in store for you! YEAH!!!!!
I commit to praying for you guys. Thank you for sharing with us what God has taught you. It causes me to trust Him even more. What a beautiful miracle he has already done in your lives. Love you guys.
You all are making me cry with your sweet words!! Thank you so much!
Where did you learn to write so beautifully? Asher is so very blessed to have you two as his parents but God knew it already. We will be on this prayer journey with you all the way. Thank you for sharing your sweet Asher with us!!Can’t wait for the new Olimb to arrive………
Olimbs – what a testimony of God’s love and faithfulness in your lives! He will withhold no good thing from those He loves. We’re on this journey together. How beautiful is the Body of Christ. We’re all here for you guys and love you!!
This is such wonderful news… praying for your entire family. What a joy!
What a great post. Such a beautiful family…Asher and his wonderful parents. Can’t wait to meet the new Olimb! Thanks for sharing God’s beautiful story with us.
The Eatinger family joins you in praising God for another beautiful miracle! We will pray big, specific and daily for the newest Olimb and the rest of the Olimbs as well. We love you guys!
Congratulations! I am so happy for you & Jeremy & Asher! I am so excited for your new family member-to-be. I will definitely have you in my prayers. I can’t imagine how difficult the decision was, but you guys are so brave to embark on parenthood once more. I know you will meet your new baby with endless love and patience and bursting joy. Yay!
One day, I hope to meet you guys in person! 😀
Wonderful! So excited for you!
All I can offer Rach is a long distance hug and a HUGE HUGE HUGE CONGRATULATIONS. And of course prayers. We will pray.
Absolutely beautifully written, Rach! Asher truly is such a sweet little guy and you are so right…God made him exactly who he is…and he’s making this next little Olimb exactly who they are…what more would you want?? We are praying right along with you and are so, so excited for you guys! Love to all 4 of you!!
Beautifully written! Asher sounds like a very sweet boy. Joyfully joining you in prayer as you await the newest Olimb. Congratulations.
What can I say after all of those beautiful and encouraging words? Your family is such a blessing and we can’t wait to meet the newest member!!!
Thank you for the glimpse into the Olimb household, what joy it will be to welcome another Olimb into the clan! I can NOT wait. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” You are a BLESSED woman!