Ziba? Zeevah??  and Ali-what?? Ha ha ha… We’ve had quite the reactions to our daughters name.  We love it… but it may take people a while to grasp it, and we don’t mind. Ziva’s name has special meaning to us, and since everyone asks I thought I’d write an explanation as to how she got her name.

It’s kinda long and complicated… so bear with me… but then by now, ya’ll should know to grab coffee when sitting down to read anything written by me~! Ha ha ha…

Ziva (pronounce Zee-vah) is Hebrew for Bright or Radiant (the feminized version)
Alethea (pronounced Al-lee-thee-ah) is Greek for Truth

Our family website is RadiantChristians.com after Psalms 34:5 “Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered in shame”

And Sam’s life verse is Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” when read in context (especially starting with 25) the verse is about how trustworthy our Lord is… we will be provided for, just not maybe in the way WE want things to always pan out… but He is in control none the less!

My life verse is Philippians 4:6&7  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

…and so for us, her name reminds us that the most radiant truth of all… we have nothing to worry about as the Lord will always be there to take care of us! 

Since our marriage, Sam and I have been on some life roller coaster rides!  Never really having financial stability, making a move back to the U.S. off of the mission field with no money to ship our stuff home with and no jobs to go home too (and no work experience within the U.S. for Sam)… but through everything the Lord has provided, and provided well.

Initially we just liked the name Ziva, then loved it when we found out the meaning… (it’s actually a name we found off the t.v. show NCIS~!)

Part of what put me on the process for a meaningful name for Ziva is because of her due date.  See, Ziva was due on the date that Sam and I lost our first baby.  That day used to be a sad day for me every year, it was something to dread, and at first it made me fearful for Ziva’s safe arrival… but as the weeks went on the date became a date to look forward to, he replaced my sorrow with gladness He cared enough about me, to take that sad day from me… He doesn’t choose to do it for everything, but it just felt like He did that for me in this case.  It’s been a year of being shown time and time again that the Lord is Good and Faithful and we have nothing to fear, though I stress and fear all of the time, because in my earthly self I want life to be painless… but it just never is painless. With this year being a year to reflect on all of that, it just seemed fitting that we would name our daughter a name that is a milestone of sorts for solidifying that in my faith. 

Sam and I feel so blessed and privileged to be in His care and to be blessed with a new daughter.  (We don’t take our ability to become parents lightly, many of our family and friends are not so blessed, so we are truly thankful). 

Ziva will be a constant reminder that even in times of trouble we have nothing to fear because Our Father is there, in control… it may not all turn out the way we wish it to, he’s not a “Santa god” but His love for us is deep and wide and though sometimes we must go through dark times, He is always there with us through it all. 

That our friends and family, is how our daughter got her name. Ziva Alethea, Radiant Truth

Wow, it’s taken me forever to blog the arrival of our newest daughter Ziva Alethea. She was four days past her due date in her arrival! But she arrived much faster than her sister!

Monday morning I went to the midwife and my water broke at 9:45 a.m.  I was soooo excited because we have been waiting so long it seemed for her arrival.  Since I was having so many early contractions and we were concerned she was going to come early, it felt like she was much later than she was.  I was in no hurry to get to the hospital because I was thinking labor was going to take quite some time.  (With Vienna it was hard contractions for 14 hours and pushing for a solid 3 hours).  So we took about 30-40 minutes to get to the hospital.  But by the time we got to the hospital things were really rolling!!  We got settled into our room, and the midwife got an epidural ordered up for me… while the nurse tried to start an I.V. This took the longest and was the most unsuccesful part of the whole experience! You should see the bruises on the back of both of my hands!  Eventually she asked the anesthesiologist to put the I.V. port in which he did quite quickly despite that pregnancy makes my veins roll.  This guy was great! He had that epidural in within TEN MINUTES!! (as opposed to the hour it took the other guy when I had Vienna!) If you have a baby at the Silverton Hospital, try to get your epidural while Mr. Rod is working!!!  THANK YOU SIR!!  While he was swabbing my back for the epidural, I was already in “I wanna push” mode!!  (and was pushing a little bit without telling anyone!  Yeah, this delivery progressed QUICKLY!

Why is this baby not in my arms?  I’m sooo tired… Today is her due date, it would be nice if she came today.  I’m just not good at waiting for things… and since we had such early contractions where they thought she would come real soon and now it’s drug out to her due date… it just feels like it’s never going to happen without intervention, and that’s got me a touch… depressed? frustrated? irritated? panicky? all of the above?

What’s the deal? Does my body just not know what its supposed to do?  After my water broke with Vienna they had to induce me with pitocin because labor didn’t start on it’s own.  Now it seems it’s figured out how to contract, but still doesn’t know how to go into labor… Would I have been one of those ladies to die back in the days before medicine is what it is today? Would my body ever figure it out?  I’m not trying to complain, I am thankful to the Lord that He has blessed us with the ability to have children and to have them in a day and age where we have modern medicine to take care of them and keep them (and me) alive

I’m just way too pregnant and way too hormonal to cope today… I’m ready to have my body back so I can move around the house without waddling and without feeling like i’m going to fall flat on my face It’s pretty comical to watch me actually …. I”M HUGE! and I carry all out front of myself so the baby really feels heavy!! My lower back is not happy about it!!

Just finished talking with my friend Kimma via Yahoo IM.  Kim is in Latvia.  I LOVE having IM!!   She talked me down out of my frustration, and once again I am doing better…. still going to post this, but at least I can end it with a … she will be here soon (aren’t good friends just WONDERFUL BLESSINGS FROM ABOVE!?!?!)

My Husband is the best!!

Yep, he’s the best!!!!  The poor man has had to deal with a first and most of the second trimester of this pregnancy with a puking wife!!! He stepped up to the plate and did all the diaper changes (to keep me from extra pukes) he did the dishes, he just helped out with everything.  Then we had about two weeks where I could do stuff  ha ha ha… then the third trimester kicked in with the aches and pains and inability to pick up Vienna.  Then came along the early contractions that exhausted me, that kept me from doing anything hardly at all for two weeks so I spent most of my time at my mom’s house.  All the while Sam took care of making the money, and taking care of things around the house too! 
Today I am due… and this little baby STILL doesn’t want to come out… Yesterday I spent the day at my mom’s house (because I tried to do stuff around the house in the morning and over did it) and Sam not only did all his work, but he cycled through all of the laundry for me so that all I had to do this morning was fold and put away!  HE’S SUPERMAN!!  Such a trooper!!
I LOVE YOU BABE!!! YOU’RE THE BEST!!!