Ruby's 6 Month Slideshow

It is hard to believe, but Ruby has been in our arms for six months already (as of March 30th)! Two teeth have arrived, along with LOTS of personality and she is moments away from crawling all over the house. There is never a dull moment and although often exhausted, we feel so blessed and honored to be the parents of this little life. Here are a few pics to celebrate her six month bday:

Baby Ruby

Baby Ruby has finally arrived!! Because consistent sleep and daily routines are now a reality of the past, this update is a bit behind schedule. There are many parts to this story that are worth sharing, but for now we will just share the basics with some pics. We will give a more detailed telling of her arrival in our next email news letter (if you're not on that list, just give us your email and we will add you!). All in all, it was a miraculous experience.











Ruby's first time in clothes a couple hours after she was born. Ends up, she's not a huge fan of clothes at this stage of the game. We'll work on that:)










This is our first picture as a new family. Janny was able to deliver at the birthing center we had SO been hoping to deliver in. There's alot more to that story that we will share in the newsletter, but Janny was absolutely incredible through this. 12 hours of labor, no drugs and barely a whimper. It was a profound time of connection for us as the husband/father is expected to be the most involved support person throughout the labor. No, I never felt a contraction, but we went through them all together...lots of deep breathing and back rubs!


Being two weeks overdue, Ruby was not small baby! She was 8 pounds, 14 ounces and 21 inches long. And, like her father, she has a nice (large!) head.
















This is just the beginning...


















It was so great to have both of our parents in town when we delivered! They were able to hold Ruby within a couple hours of her arrival. Such a cool experience to have 3 generations represented. Also, it was great to have Char in the birth with Janny and I.

Movin' in as our baby gets close to movin' out!

As I have mentioned many times, Janny and I have felt great peace and conviction about our decision to join Nieucommunties. Many are thinking, "I would hope so! You are moving to a new neighborhood, getting ready to have a baby, having to seek financial partnerships and jumping into a job that will impact all aspects of your life!!" So maybe we are just crazy, but we are surely seeing God's movement and affirmation in and through all of our interactions and transition.Although it took us two more weeks than we had hoped and a delay due to a strange insect that had made our new home its old home, we have officially moved into Golden Hill. Quick story: Before we had signed any leases, we stood in the backyard of a small complex of 4 condo-like units talking to the landlord. A couple minutes later, we heard our names being called from the window of the bottom unit. It happened to be an old friend who was good buddies with two of our former students from Salinas Valley Community Church who I had gotten to know pretty well back in the Monterey area! We couldn't believe it and we soon found out that he is now married and lived right below the unit we were considering. Long story short, we decided to sign the lease, are now neighbors with this couple and have already had great interactions the other two tennants. We see this being a beautiful opportunity to share life and God's story with those we will be sharing walls with. Also, we are just across the street from a home where four Nieucommunties apprentices live and they have already brought us food and offered a bunch of help in our move. Although our place didn't meet exactly what we were hoping for stucturally, it is right in the center of Golden Hill and clearly will foster some great relationships. Thanks for praying!

Nearly everyday we are offered meals and help moving from our new church community and we continue to be overwhelmed with the welcoming support and love they offer. After 7 days of moving/unpacking, Janny can FINALLY "nest" for a couple days before we meet our baby girl!

Baby H May Have Been Stubborn, But Not As Stubborn As Mom And Dad!!

We have lots of Nieucommunities happenings to share from this past week, but all of that has been trumped by some INCREDIBLE news we got from our midwife today.

If I could show a slide show of the past 2 weeks of our lives highlighted by our endless "techniques" in getting our baby girl to flip from the breech position, it would be quite entertaining. Because breech babies aren't often delivered naturally anymore, we had until week 37 to figure out a way to get her to flip in order to avoid some extremely invasive procedures, most likely culminating in a C-Section. It has been our desire from day one to deliver naturally at a birthing center in downtown San Diego. So...we went to work!

Whether laying upside 15 minutes a day, acupuncture, chiropractic, diving to the deep end of the local pool, really weird smelling herbal teas, Janny and I have been determined to be more stubborn than our stubborn baby:) Our attempts began to seem futile lately. Most professionals we spoke with said there was a very low chance our baby would flip past 35 weeks. Although a bit bummed out, it didn't stop us from spending our evenings burning incense on Janny's pinky toes...yes, you read this right (see pic). Apparently burning mugwort herb on the pressure points on Janny's pinky toes is suppose to activate baby rotation. Oh yes, things had gotten that bad. While the incense burned, we would usually just look at each other and laugh hysterically at what our life had come to.

All that being said and having NO idea what actually worked, we went to our midwife today feeling a bit discouraged as we had reached 37 weeks and were being sent to the hospital to get a manual version (basically a last shot at rotating the baby by a quite invasive physical manipulation which only works about half the time). As the midwife started feeling around the top of Janny's belly where Baby H's head has been, she looked up and said, "I think this is her butt!" Janny and I looked at each other thinking, "this midwife must be a rookie and clearly hasn't met our stubborn baby girl." Taking us to the ultrasound room to confirm her predictions, we looked at the screen and let out a holler that nearly shattered the windows. Baby H had definitely rotated and was ready to meet the world!!

Now, instead of burning incense on Janny's pinky's or diving into every pool in San Diego County, maybe we will be able to put a bit more attention towards our transition into our new community...in anycase, thanks for your prayers!

4 Days Until We Have a New Home!!

Life is a bit chaotic in the Huckins' family at the moment as we prepare to move to our new home and new ministry in Golden Hill. Between teaching at Mt. Hermon, doctor visits, trying to find a place to live, packing up last minute stuff, meeting with close friends/family, fundraising and emotionally preparing, life is a bit of a whirlwind...but a whirlwind we are at great peace to exist within as we step into our new role.

Here are three big items where we could use support:

1. Our baby girl is now only a month (unless there are plans we aren't aware of!) from arriving into our waiting arms. Please pray that Janny has strength and gets needed rest in the midst of this move. Also, our baby is breech and needs to turn in order for us to have her naturally, which is a HUGE desire of ours.

2. We need financial partners in this new mission. Although we have great hope and peace about our new role serving the Church and God's Mission, we have a long way to go until we are financially sustainable. Thank you for those that have stepped into this story through your financial partnership! If you haven't, please consider this opportunity to share in this ministry along side of us.

3. We need a place to live. Although we have been close to finding a apartment/small house in Golden Hill, we have still not signed a lease. It is really hard to arrange from a distance, but please pray that we will locate a place that will put us in the center of our new community and where we can settle in before the birth of our child.

Thanks for sharing and please contact us if you have any questions about how to participate in this adventure!