~More pics of Elijah's first days!~

Here are the pics that I had promised to post. The computer I have been using to blog with will not be available to use for a few days, so when you don't hear from me, you'll know why. I've put a ton of pics on here for you to enjoy. =)
~Pastor Eisenhart and my parents visiting Elijah and I in the hospital.~~Precious little Elijah!~
~Mommy's 4th treasure from Heaven!~
~I LOVE THIS PIC...Elijah's hand holding on to Mommy's hand!~
~Aunt Nesi and Lorna picked up my neice Natasha (who stayed with me all night and all day and was a great help) Elijah and I and took us home from the hospital.

~Aunt Nesi, baby Elijah and I heading home to Laura's house.~
~The next morning Natasha and Kimberly made me a breakfast tray and brought it to me in bed. =)
~The nice breakfast tray that they made me.~
~Kimberly holding the welcoming "It's a boy" balloon that Laura tied to her mailbox.~ (There is a horse farm right across from Laura's house and a girl from our church works there. One of the horses just delivered a colt and they made up a sign saying, "IT'S A BOY! 53 LBS. 36 INCHES LONG!" The girl from our church tried HARD to get that sign to put by Laura's mailbox and my "It's a boy" balloon. All of Laura's neighbors that saw how HUGE I was before I delivered would have probably believed that sign. HA!)
~My SWEETHEART got home safely to us from Colombia! He surprised me and came in 2 hours earlier than I was expecting.~
~Showing Daddy our newest member of our family!~ =D
Phillip brought me a beautiful flower, a baby rattle, and the WORLD'S SWEETEST card that he had written for me!!~ (Also, I forgot to post a pic of the beautiful flowers that 1. our Christian Nation Church, 2. Daddy and Moma's church in Westfield (Union Friends) and 3. Grandma and Grandpa Dickinson all sent to me in the hospital!)
~Our adorable doll baby!~
~Uncle Michael, Aunt Beth and Isaiah came to see little Elijah.~
~We had a nice visit together with them and the Hausmans. Melinda Shirk brought in our yummy supper...Thanks Melinda!~
~Uncle Michael holding tiny Elijah!~
~Kimberly, Sarah, Noah and Elijah on Elijah's first Sunday. Phillip took the kids and went to church and my sister Laura stayed with Elijah and I.~
~Uncle Daryl finally gets to hold Elijah. (I didn't realize that he hadn't even held him.)

~Here I am...On the way to the hospital to have Elijah...! May 14th!
~Here I am...May 20th...6 days later...happy to be rid of that HUGE HEAVY baby bump...and THRILLED to have our Elijah where I can hold and kiss him now!!!~~May 20th...Our Church had a special Mother-Daughter Tea party and Jesus helped Elijah and I to be able to go! It was a special time to be with my 2 special daughters, and the other ladies of our church which includes my sweet sister Laura and her girls too.~
~Laura and I~
~Kimberly and Sarah, Brittany their cousin and Bryanna.~~Sarah, Darla her cousin, Anna, and Kiana.
~We had yummy food, great fellowship and an all around special time as Mother's and Daughters.~

I just took Elijah for his one week old check up and the doctor said that he looks perfectly healthy and has gained back up to his birth weight, so nursing is going great! Thank the Lord!
Elijah and my family are precious, Life is good, God is awesome, and I'm exhausted~so I'll sign off for now. =D

~This is Elijah's Mommy...with my labor story~

~My hope was to be able to go to church on Mother's Day, and then go into labor the next day or two. God granted my wish! Here are the kids and I on Mother's Day. Phillip had to go to Colombia for a week, and so we both prayed about and made the decision that He HAD to go, so God would be with me while he was gone. He bought me this nice coursage for Mother's day and he wrote me such a SWEET card!~
~My sister and I got the privilege of singing together for the special on Mother's Day morning.~
In my last post I told you that...on Tuesday I went to my midwife appointment and was measuring 50 WEEKS pregnant! That was a midwife (named Cheyanne) that I had never seen before and she was READY to induce me THAT DAY, except that I begged her to wait until Phillip came home on Saturday! Well, the next morning...Wednesday morning I got up and had early signs of labor!! (My water hadn't broken yet, and I knew that with ALL the fluid I was carrying it was too dangerous for it to break at home!) So, I jumped into the shower and Laura called my midwives office and they told me to go to Good Sam hospital. Before I left I called Phillip in Colombia, and he was getting chocked up thinking of me here and him there, but he knew that there was nothing he could do but PRAY! (And PRAY HE DID...ALL DAY LONG!!) On the way to the hospital I told Laura that if they put me on a monitor to see what my body was doing that they would see that the contractions I was having weren't really that strong and they would probably send me home. So, I told Laura that I was going to tell them that before they sent me home that they HAD to talk to my midwife Cheyanne!! Well, when I got to the hospital, GUESS WHO WAS ON DUTY? YES, you are right...it was Cheyanne! The minute she saw me she said, "We are having a baby today!" THANK THE LORD! (Though I was SAD that Phillip couldn't be with me (AND I DIDN'T KNOW HOW I WOULD LABOR WITHOUT HIM) I was sooo big and miserable that I was READY to have a baby!) ~Kimberly took this picture before I left the house heading to the hospital!~
~My dear sister Laura and Sherry Patton were a HUGE blessing to me during my labor and delivery! Thanks Ladies!!~
~My sweet parents got there about 2 hours before Elijah was born so my Moma got to be with me during labor and delivery too!~
~In labor...Waiting for Elijah to come. They started my pitocen in an IV at 3:45 PM to get Elijah to move down so that they could SAFELY break my water. At 7:30 PM they broke my water, and he was born at 9:07 PM...NO PAIN MEDS...NO EPIDURAL...just JESUS and ME!~
I know that this is probably more info then you want to hear but they said that my amniotic fluid weighed 30 lbs (and they didn't weigh it all!) I weighed about 107 or so before I got pregnant, weighed 150 the day before he was born, the fluid weighed 30 lbs, and little Elijah weighed 8 lbs. 3 oz!! ~One EXHAUSTED but HAPPY Mommy holding her ADORABLE Miracle from Jesus...Little Elijah Phillip!~
~Proud Aunt Laura with Elijah~
~Gram and Gramp praying a Prayer of THANKSGIVING that Elijah made it here safely and is perfectly healthy!~ GOD IS AWESOME!!!!
~PRECIOUS Little Elijah!~
~It is a tradition with me (as it was with my Moma) to buy our children gifts to give them when they come to the hospital to see their new sibling..so here are their gifts all ready for them to come and see Elijah!~
~Big sisters Kimberly, and Sarah, and "big" brother Noah seeing their little Elijah for the first time!! OH THE LOVE THEY HAVE FOR HIM!!~

Thanks TONS for your prayers...I couldn't have made it without them!! And Thanks also for all of your sweet comments! Elijah and I are doing well, just taking it slow these days as I'm still very tired. Thank the Lord that nursing is going good, and THAT DADDY GOT HOME FROM COLOMBIA YESTERDAY!! YEA!!! He LOVES his new little son just as much as he loves his Kimberly, Sarah, and Noah. =D
I have another post of pics to post soon!

This is Beth blogging for Heather again ;-)
Here is some pictures of Elijah Phillip and Heather.

Heather kissing her little sweet Elijah

Cute little Elijah Phillip

Elijah Phillip

Kimberly and Elijah Phillip

This is Beth~Heathers sister-in-law posting for her.

Baby surprised us all and decided that he could not wait for his Daddy to come home. Phillip was moved to tears that he could not be with Heather while she was having baby but was praying for Heather and baby all day long. Phillip was preaching when baby decided to come. So Heather got to talk to him after she had baby. Her Mama, Sister(Laura)and Sherry Patton was with her for the delivery. I'm sorry I don't have any picture to put up. As soon as we can, we will get some pictures up. They say the baby is beautiful. (OF COURSE :-))

Elijah Phillip Dickinson was born May 14, 2008 at 9:07pm. 8lbs 3oz, 20.5 inch long

~What?...you are 50 weeks pregnant!!~

A PRAISE!!! Phillip and a youth from our Christian Nation church that he took with him arrived safely in Colombia on Saturday night! God helped them and they were able to take back about 200 lbs of PACES for the ACE school there in Bogota plus other things of ours and lots of holiness Spanish books too!
Lord willing Phillip comes back to us on Saturday, May 17th, and we cannot wait!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now, for an update on baby. I'm now measuring that I'm 50 WEEKS pregnant...that would be that I'm measuring 10 weeks overdue!! Dialated to 4 cent. and they measured baby as weighing 8 lbs. 6 oz. (but those measurements could be off by 12 oz. either way! So, he could already weigh 9 lbs!!) I'm having lots of contractions and if Phillip were here we would probably have a baby THIS WEEK! However, I want to wait until Phillip comes back from Colombia (if I can) so we are scheduled to be induced to have our baby this Monday, May 19th (if baby waits that long to make his arrival!!) We cannot wait to have him in our arms! Thanks for your prayers and please pray that all will go well with Phillip (and Gary) in Colombia, with their trip home and with baby and I! THANKS!!

~TONS of pics for you to see!~

(If you have trouble seeing my pics on this post, or it takes a long time to download, I'm sorry. I'm using a different computer and didn't know how to shrink them smaller.)
~2 Saturdays ago I saw a tea room and thought it would be fun to take Laura and her 3 girls and my 2 girls and I and go to a tea room. Then I found out that the local tea room was $20.50 per person for high tea, and that their lowest priced tea was $10.95...and I decided that we would have a tea party at Laura's house. So Laura and I worked together and here is the plate of food we made for our tea party. Laura served real Russian tea that was yummy and we had a nice time for MUCH cheaper than tea room prices. =D~We made some happy girls and are still getting Thanked for our tea party that we put together for them. =)

~That evening Rob and Deanna Kennedy invited us over for a nice hot dog roast. Since it was a chilly night we all enjoyed the heat of the fire.~
~The food was yummy and the fellowship was fun, and our kids had a blast playing together!~
~My dear sister Laura and her precious family. These are the ones that are taking such SPECIAL care of our family while we are here. (Maybe you should say a prayer that God blesses them with 14 extra stars in their heavenly crown for their kindness to us. We are loving being together. =)
~Our dear friend Sherri Patton is a massage therapist and she gave me a massage and really worked on my feet and got a lot of the swelling to go away. Thanks bunches, Sherri!~
~Our kids playing with Sherri's girls.~
~Some friends gave Gram and Gramp (my parents) this turtle sandbox for their grandkids. Here my Daddy is filling it with sand for our kids to play in. Thanks, Gramp!~
~The Mother/Daughter tea that my Moma spoke in at Carthage, IN. It was a special time!~
~Our kids and Gram and Gramp filling up their water jugs at a nice spring near my parents home where they get their water.~

~Our kids and their cousin Isaiah at the park. (Notice my sweetheart Phillip on the slide behind them. Hee! Hee!~
~Michael, Beth (And baby) and Isaiah at the park!~
~Beth (my sis-in-law)and I and our baby bumps. Beth is 3 months pregnant, and I'm 9 months pregnant!~
~Our kids LOVED swinging and spinning on this tire swing. "HIGHER FASTER"! Was their cry! =D~
~Our kids and their cousin Isaiah in the tree!~
~Isaiah turned 2 and his Mommy made him a yummy cake!~
~Our fun and yummy "picnic" on the back porch with Michael, Beth, Isaiah, Beth's parents, and our family!~

~Cousins Noah and Isaiah getting scrubbed up after a long day of playing together.~

Only 17 more days until our baby is due...May 24th! Please pray...Phillip has tickets to fly to Colombia for a week this Saturday, May 10th, returning May 17th. He wants/needs to go to encourage the pastor who is filling in for us and to take a bunch of PACES to the ACE school there in Bogota. We are hoping and praying that our baby waits for his Daddy to come back to Ohio before he makes his appearance. Thanks!

~Visiting family...to keep my mind off of my swollen ankles and wanting baby to come~

THANK YOU TO EVERY ONE WHO HAS LEFT NICE COMMENTS AND HAS BEEN PRAYING FOR BABY AND I!!!
When I went to my midwife last Wednesday...I asked her how she would feel about my going to Indiana for a few days...and she said that she felt comfortable with my going. So, I left Ohio last Wednesday afternoon and went with my family to our last deputation service in Nobleville, IN. God helped us and we had a good service. Then the kids and I stayed with my dear parents on Thursday-Saturday while Phillip went to Shelbyville, IN and held a 3 day revival for the Spanish church there. God helped Phillip with his revival, and we had a lot of fun being with my parents. Also on Saturday my Moma was to speak at a Mother/Daughter tea in Carthage, IN and had invited my girls and I to join her. (My sister and her girls couldn't make it due to back and transportation problems. =( ) Moma did a beautiful job speaking and the tea was just lovely...with about 80 in attendance. On Sunday we attended Daddy and Moma's church in Westfield and helped out some with the music. Of course Moma made a yummy Sunday dinner (all of her meals were yummy =) and we decided to stay over and go to their service on Sunday night. They had some company in after church and we all enjoyed visiting together. On Monday we left there and came to visit our family, Phillip's brother Michael, his wife Beth and their 2 year old son Isaiah. Beth is also expecting another baby in November. We plan to stay here until Wednesday then go to our Christian Nation Church for Wednesday night and back to my sister Laura's house. We're having fun visiting with Michael and Beth, and our kids are enjoying playing with their cousin Isaiah.
As far as news about baby and I...things are pretty much the same. I'm walking a lot, having some contractions, but not much has changed. I needed the family time in IN and here with Michael and Beth to get my mind off of wanting baby to come. =D I have lots of pics to post when I get a chance. Again Thanks for your prayers...and please keep them up. God knows the very right time for our baby to make his appearance. =)