Work In Progress

Luke's Birth Story

2011-11-26T14:34:00.005-05:00

Luke Dinkins was born October 4, 2011 at 1:05a.m. He was 7 lbs. 14 oz. and 21 inches long. Now, for the rest of the story...

Once again, we were all sick right before my due date. Will says if there is a next time, we are all going to be under quarantine 2 weeks prior to my due date, so we don't have this problem again. But even though I was thankful that the baby didn't come on time (my EDD was 9/25), after several days had passed and we were all better, I was starting to worry. My midwife Lisa Byrd (Covenant Birth Center) couldn't legally deliver past 10/9, which meant we would be on our own at home or have to go to the hospital to have the baby (the horror!) :-)

Well, we increased our walking (the weekend before he came we walked about 3 miles) and I waited. I was feeling rather anxious, but that Saturday before the baby came, God gave me such peace that all would be well-that He would make all things beautiful in His time. And then at church on Sunday morning, the song in the hymnal which was across the page from the one I was playing was, "In His Time." Just more confirmation of Who was in control of all this!

Monday morning, I finally lost the bloody show-wahoo! I was so excited. I was hopeful that labor would start soon and it did. I had a few contractions throughout the day but nothing I was timing. But around 3:45 I called Will to tell him to come home. I had just had a stronger contraction and the kids were fussy and I was starting to panic. But in the hour it took Will to get home, things had quieted down-only one more contraction and it wasn't bad. I was finishing up Ella's school for the day and wanted us to go walking right away to hopefully get the contractions going again. We only walked for about 10 minutes and I had 3 contractions in that time, so I was hopeful. But back at home I went almost an hour w/out having another contraction, so I decided to do some nipple stimulation to get things moving again. I used the breast pump and had a 40 second strong contraction, but then nothing for 15 minutes, so I pumped on the other side. Once again, I had another strong contraction followed by nothing for 15 minutes or so. I was tired of pumping and just decided I was going to leave it alone, but soon after that, the contractions started coming more consistently. And by that, I mean from around 7:00p.m. on, I had a contraction anywhere from 3-10 minutes apart lasting anywhere from 15-40 seconds in length. I called Lisa and she said to let her know if things were still progressing at 9p.m.

(Taken about 9p.m. before anyone had arrived.)

Well, they were and even though it was still inconsistent like this, with it being my 3rd, she decided to come on and I'm glad she did. She had at least an hour's drive too. I stopped writing down my contractions soon after she arrived, which was about 10:30p.m. At this point, my birth photographer Christy Gant (Studio 9 Photography) was already at the house and Lisa's apprentice Kristen arrived soon after. I was still talking and making jokes in between contractions and they were getting things set up, but by 11:45 p.m., I was definitely in the zone. No more talking and by this point, they had all moved in to the den to wait. My contractions finally did get a little more consistent-about 3-5 minutes apart and 30-75 seconds in length-let me tell you that 75 seconds about killed me AND Will since he was my birthing stool!

I used the birthing ball some in the beginning and looked at my birth affirmation cards some before things got too intense. The 3 main cards I read over and over were, "I can do this because Christ gives me strength," "All you have to do is relax and breathe-nothing else," and the Psalm 23 adaptation taken from The Jesus Storybook Bible. I wrote the following lines on a verse card and put a sheep sticker on it. It was beside me throughout the labor and I often got Will to read it to me.

Inside my heart is very quiet. As quiet as lying still in soft and green grass in a meadow by a little stream. My Shepherd knows where I am. He is here with me; He keeps me safe. He makes me strong and brave.

The part that I kept repeating over and over to myself as it started getting more intense was "My Shepherd knows where I am. He is here with me; He keeps me safe." I didn't care about feeling strong and brave; I certainly didn't-I just needed to know He was with me and would get me through it.

Once again, like at Caleb's birth, I could feel the baby moving down inside me-what a glorious feeling-truly amazing. But unlike my labor with Caleb where I dealt with contractions by leaning into the dresser and swaying from side to side, with this one, I squatted down during every contraction. It really is true that every labor is different and what worked for one might not for the next one. By the time I got to the contraction that was 75 seconds in length, I was almost on the floor because I was squatting so low.

By this time, I knew I was getting close and Will was so thankful because he had been holding my whole weight up for quite some time now. I started blowing on Ella's small pinwheel since I had heard you should blow the baby out and not push so you don't tear. I had torn with the last two and was really hoping I could avoid it with this one. I wanted to continue in the position we were in so I could help the baby out (I really wanted to catch the baby myself), but Lisa had no where to get in that position-Will was behind me and the dresser in front. I really did want someone to apply warm cloths (Lisa's soaks washcloths in ginger root that has been warming in a crock pot) to also aid in preventing tearing, so I had to change positions. She suggested hands and knees or side lying on the bed. There was no way I was moving up to the bed, so I went to hands and knees and continued blowing the pinwheel. Things were very intense at this point and I remember shouting, "It's not blowing!!!" I was blowing on the pinwheel as hard as I could, and the stinkin' thing was not turning. It was also hard to hold it and be on my hands and knees too-thankfully Lisa suggested moving the birthing ball to me, so I had that to rest my elbows on.

But all bets of blowing the baby out were off when Lisa said, "Laura, give me just a little push. " Um, excuse me, I don't know how to do little when it comes to pushing a baby out. Seriously, I've had 3 tries at this and still can't get it right. If one of you has a suggestion, please let me know! :-) So, quickly out comes the head. The baby came out to his lip and then on the next push, his hand came out right next to his head. Maybe that had something to do with my tearing-who knows? Then the baby's all out and Will says, "It a boy! You were right. I wasn't sure, but you were right all along." Will passed the baby up to me and I just hovered over him in disbelief and love. It's so hard to go from such intensity to such ecstasy in just a brief moment. But oh the relief-it was over-praise God! I said over and over, "Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus." He had helped me through it, and I was so happy to be holding my healthy baby boy.

He came out covered in vernix, so obviously he and God did know what they were doing-he needed those extra 9 days in the womb. And he looked just like Will's baby picture. The same squinty little eyes. And only 7 pounds, 14 ounces. After the birth, I looked at him many times and thought, "He is SO tiny-why was it so hard to get him out? Why did I tear with that little tiny head?" I tore a little bit less with Caleb and he was 8 lbs. 15 ounces! Lisa had even told me a few weeks prior that she was thinking that this baby may be a girl since I was measuring small and Caleb had been so much bigger. Ella heard that and her hopes of having a little sister revived.

(Lisa was doing his newborn exam. See his furrowed brow? He has this all the time unless he's sleeping. It's like he's worried we're not doing something quite right.)

Speaking of Ella, the really amazing thing about the labor was that the kids slept through the whole thing. I had expected the kids to watch the birth but I didn't know I'd have the baby in the wee hours of the morning or that they would be in such deep sleep that they wouldn't wake when they heard me pushing the baby out (this is the only time I get loud-and I think it's pretty loud). I even contemplated getting them up right after he was born, but thought, "Why wake them? They'll never be able to get back to sleep," so we just enjoyed that time with Luke ourselves and knew they would be getting a wonderful surprise in the morning.

They did know when they went to bed that I was in labor and that hopefully the baby would come soon. I'll never forget their reactions. Caleb woke first and when he came in the room he was a little perturbed to find someone in his snuggle spot. I explained to him that he had a new baby brother and he could climb across and snuggle on the other side next to Daddy. He was still half asleep so he didn't say anything but just got beside Daddy and dozed off again. Ella was a completely different story. Oh, how I wish I had the video camera ready to capture her amazement. "A baby! You had the baby? Is it a boy or a girl?" It was dark in the room and hard for her to tell. I paused a moment. How would she react? She had so wanted a sister. "It's a boy, sweetie." And her precious response? "Oh, I love him!" Then she proceeded to give him lots of snuggles and hasn't stopped since. She's a wonderful little Mama to Luke.

Looking back, the only thing I wish I had changed was getting on my hands and knees to push the baby out. If God blesses us with another little one, I won't be in that position. I just felt a disconnect to the baby when he was coming out. He was way down there it felt like-so was Will and Lisa and I was by myself with the ball. It's helpful for me to look at someone's face when it's pushing time. It calms me and keeps me steady and somewhat sane. I didn't have that with this one. And also I couldn't help thinking, "This isn't the best position for pictures!" So, I'll just stay squatting down or maybe even try another water birth if there's another little one. But still, all in all, it was a great birth and I'm so thankful to my Savior, my husband (I couldn't have done it without him!) and my birth attendants. "To God be the glory, great things He hath done."

Great time with the Fisher family!

2011-07-22T12:54:00.002-05:00

And Baby makes 5!

2011-06-27T12:03:00.004-05:00

It's been way too long since I've updated this! In January Will and I found out we were expecting our newest addition. We were both super excited as we had been trying for almost a year. I'm due September 25, so I'm 27 weeks now. It's been awesome feeling the baby move around though I must say I don't feel quite as connected w/this babe as I did w/my other 2. I think it has something to do w/the fact that I am so busy tending to the other 2, so I don't have as much chatting time w/this one. Ella is super excited about meeting her brother or sister (and especially about holding him/her-of course, she really would prefer a sister!) and Caleb gets the concept (I think), but he's started to be extra clingy lately, so I'm afraid it will be quite the adjustment for him when this one pops out. Caleb will be celebrating his 3rd b-day October 5, just 10 days after my due date. I hope to at least make that day a little special for him as much as I can. He'll need lots of extra attention, I'm sure. And it doesn't help that he decided to stop his "Me-Me" about 2 months ago; at least if he were still drinking some breastmilk, I could comfort him w/that and he could share some special time w/baby. He's stuck in that transition from baby to little boy. From wanting to do it all himself to sometimes still needing his Mommy to hold him. And that's okay-I'm in no hurry for him to grow up.

We aren't going to find out the sex of the baby-it will be a surprise once again. And so far, we have come to no agreement on girl names. I think if it's a boy, it may be Luke. We shall see. And we're planning on a homebirth once again with Lisa Byrd as our midwife, but we're still praying about it as we're open to God directing us to the birth center if He thinks that's where we need to be (it's much closer to a hospital than we are at our house.) I think this time around I won't even try for a waterbirth; Caleb's birth was fine w/out it. And it will be easier not to have to worry about setting it up. I'm glad to have had the experience with Ella's birth though.

And speaking of Ella, she just finished up her first year of homeschooling! She's now officially a 1st grader! It was a wonderful though at times trying experience. God still has much to teach me about patience. But the awesome thing is my little girl knows how to read! Her current favorite easy reader series is Henry & Mudge. I think we'll continue with Math-U-See next year, she'll continue reading books, and we'll introduce Story of the World. Science will be more nature studies outside, and we will continue reading through the Gospels and memorizing Scripture. Not sure how baby #3 and baby #2 (who is starting to take more sporadic naps) will all fit into this, but I'm sure God will give the grace we all need to get it done.

Hopefully I'll update this come October with a wonderful birth story.

21 weeks.

Caleb's 2!

2010-11-09T07:00:00.005-05:00

This month has flown by! It's been quite busy with homeschooling, playing the piano for church, and grading SATs. And...birthday celebrations, first Caleb's, then Will's. Caleb's favorite gift was his fishing rod. Will loved his homemade sour cream pound cake the best, I think. :-)

Caleb has added 2 words to his vocabulary, "probably" and "actually" and uses them correctly. "Actually, we don't eat sand. We eat snacks." Or "Probably, Daddy can fix it." Yes, son, he probably can. Oh, and he often calls Ella, "young lady." And not in such a nice tone. Hmm, wonder where he learned that? Just the other day, I heard him squeal, "That's mine, young lady!"

Ella's doing great in school. I decided to go through 100 Easy Lessons again and this time I'm more consistent-we do a lesson every day instead of one every week (like we did when she was 4). She's currently on lesson 48-woohoo! We stopped at 50 last time, so I'm excited about passing that milestone soon. Her prize for finishing 1/3 of the lessons was an afternoon at the park with a friend and Chick-Fil-A for lunch. For her next milestone-Lesson 66-she'll get a picnic w/me and Caleb at a local *free* petting zoo. She can't wait! And she's loving Math-U-See! So glad I got this. And I must say I understand math-especially place value-better by teaching her with this method. She's been building and reading 3-digit numbers and Caleb enjoys building w/her manipulatives and putting them in between his toes!

Miss Ella is getting plenty of social interaction with her homeschooling club day classes in town. She's taking an arts/crafts and tea party Bible study class. She also takes ballet and tap on another day. But her most valuable social interaction is precious time with her baby brother. Just the other day, while I was chopping veggies for lentil soup, I observed them out the window. Hand in hand, splashing in a mud puddle and both of them under her princess umbrella. Priceless. She would have so much less time and memories with Caleb were she in traditional school all day long.

And we're all loving our baskets of yummy fruit and veggies since we joined our local CSA. For a while there, I must admit, I was growing weary of eggplants; however, we just cooked some delicious mustard greens and broccoli (no cheese added!) that both children gobbled down. Awesome!

And I've been reading Crazy Love. Wow. Definitely not a book you can read quickly. In fact, I finished a little over half and had to return it to the library, so will have to check it back out again soon to finish it. It has really got me thinking about what it means to be a follower of Jesus. It really is all about loving God and serving others. That's it but yet those two commandments are the hardest for me to follow. Why is that? Do I really love Him most? More than anyone else, including my own children? Do I long for His coming? Really and truly long for Him? Am I doing the will of my Father by serving "the least of these"? Do I delight in serving others? Do I see them as God does-treasures created in His own image- or as an annoyance that I must try to fit into my schedule? Truly God has been revealing my selfishness. My heart needs to be cleaned out, renewed, restored. I've been praying Psalm 51 a lot lately, crying out to Him for He alone can rescue.

It's Been Way Too Long!

2010-08-10T06:00:00.001-05:00

I guess it's finally time for an update. My little man will be 2 soon-how crazy is that?!
He's been going to the potty consistently since 18 months, but still has a dipe on for nap and nighttime. He's diaper-free around the house-still working on him wearing underwear b/c he can't seem to get them down by himself yet. And he talks all the time; his vocabulary amazes me- I guess having a big sister helps in that area. Of course, that also means he learned the word "Mine!" super early and also the exclamation "Don't do that!" They definitely have their squabbles but when they're playing sweetly together (see pic above), I think what a joy siblings are and wish for more. The other 90% of the time, I'm pulling my hair out and swearing off any more children for good.

God has been dealing with me about the tongue. The law of kindness is usually not found on mine. Rather it's an ugly tone...often yelling, "ELLA! What did you do to your brother?" So, I've been memorizing verses in James. James 1:19-Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires." And James 1:26, "Anyone who considers himself to be religious and yet does not keep a tight reign on his tongue, deceives himself, and his religion is worthless." I'm often coming to Ella, many times during the day, asking her forgiveness for getting angry and yelling at her when I should have dealt with her transgression in a kind, calm manner. I don't want my tongue to permanently damage my children-you know it's full of deadly poison, set on fire from Hell, impossible to tame. And the worst part is Ella is imitating me in her dealings w/Caleb. That's the worst...when you finally get to hear what you sound like. I just tend to lose it when I hear Caleb screaming or crying. And why is it that I always rush to his defense and assume she is to blame? He's the baby...she must be to blame. But, of course, that's not always true. Often she just wants him to do what she wants him to do, whether he wants to or not. Instead of yelling at her, it goes much further when I calmly sit her down and explain that it's okay for Caleb to do his own thing-they can still be in the same room with each other. And we can't always get what we want (yes, I'm singing it now!), and we have to treat others how we would want to be treated. Basically it's easier to yell out in frustruation than it is to train over and over again. How sinful I am! Training in righteousness takes such work. Parenting is hard...period. So, my friends, that is what I'm struggling with now...and have been for sometime. I covet your prayers. I do love my children...I just need God every minute of every day to put a watch over my tongue. To cry out to Him before I bellow out to my children. Because they are, after all, children. They must be taught. Just like I am God's child and still am being taught. "But you're 34, Mommy!" Yes, Ella and I'm still learning to have the law of kindness on my tongue. To speak blessings and not cursings. There's a huge difference in saying, "Ella! I can't believe you did that! What were you thinking? You're a very bad girl!" And, "Sweetie, please come here. We need to talk about what you just did. That hurt your brother and God wants us to love one another, not hurt each other."
Oh, for the grace to always do the latter.

10 Years!

2009-12-24T06:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Anniversary, Honey!

Yes,we got married on Christmas Eve. I wouldn't recommend it. Not if you're a celebrate-on-the-exact- date-kind of person (like I used to be before kids). :-)
And yes, I forgot to get my bouquet back from my wonderful Maid of Honor before exiting as Mrs. William K*...but look at my face-did I seem to care? I was actually glad to be relieved of that 10 pound bundle!
Ah, and so happy to be done with the ceremony-too much stress-mostly caused by my lack of delegating. :-)
But mostly, I'd like to think that radiant smile came from within-because "I found him whom my soul loves" (Song of Solomon 3:4).

And 10 years later, honey, you're still the only one who truly gets me. The one I most need a hug from at the end of a long day. The one I love to laugh with. And the most wonderful father to our two beautiful children.

I Love You!

Beach Memory

2009-12-23T17:04:00.002-05:00

Caleb's One!

2009-11-03T01:00:00.003-05:00

My Dearest Little Man,

How has the time passed so quickly? I can still remember first holding you in my arms and telling your Daddy, "You have a son!" You have been a true delight to us every single day. Your smile is so nourishing for my soul as are your precious giggles. You have been such a happy and laid-back baby from the start.

You're still getting lots of Mommy's milk but you're also enjoying table food. Your favorite? Taco salad made with venison. And of course your favorite snack is still Cheerios. And...you're walking now! It's still more like a waddle but we're so proud of you! You're so funny; if you're trying to make a super quick getaway, you'll just drop down on all fours and take off. You can still get anywhere faster by crawling. You've also recently tried out your push car and love it. With your long legs, you have no problem getting it wherever you want to go.

And you know so many words; you're constantly amazing us. Moon, night-night, ball, dark, doll, deer, dog, many animal sounds, and lots more. And you can sign "please." Your favorite toy remains the beloved green tractor and your favorite thing to play with in Ella's room is her dollhouse. You grab the tiny wagon or horse rocker first. However, you've also recently taken a liking to the little brunette doll...or should I say her hair. Another favorite pastime is coloring with Sissy. Right now a cardboard box is working just great for that.

You have 8 teeth and weigh 25 pounds. You're quite the load to carry, especially as you'd rather be down exploring new territory now.

Happy 1st Year, Little Guy. Can't believe we've already celebrated 12 months with you. We look forward to many, many more. We love you so much dearest! We're so thankful God chose us to be your parents. We couldn't be more thrilled.

All my love,
Mommy

Busy Summer!

2009-09-01T13:06:00.003-05:00

So many events in the last 3 months! Let's see if I can get them in the correct order. First, Laurance and Kimberly had their 2nd baby boy, Joshua, at home while Jonathan slept. The midwife barely made it in time. Then I met my college roommate in Columbia for a day at Riverbank Zoo. Oh, it was so hot, but it was great to catch up with Sarah and meet her newest addition (she now has 3 girls!). And Ella really enjoyed the lorikeets eating out of her hand. Next, it was off to RI for Charles and Sarah's beautiful wedding. The most touching part was when Charles sang "Yours Forever" to Sarah after she walked down the aisle. We all enjoyed our rented 2009 Chrysler Town & Country-I could so get used to that-and getting to stop to visit with friends on the way there and back. Ella, of course, loved being a flower girl!

Soon after we got back, Jeff and Emily finally had their little baby girl, Lydia Aven. She was able to be delivered at the birthing center on the last day possible before Emily would have had to be induced! Next, came Ella's 4th b-day and then Charles and Sarah came here to visit w/the family after their honeymoon. There was the 4th picnic, having lots of playdates w/Karanena and Gracie (yay, I have a friend in town who is not a relative!) and then my b-day. The summer won't be officially over for us until we go on our annual beach trip (3 nights to Surfside) in a few weeks. When we get back, it'll probably be time to close up the pool (sigh) and then I suppose it will be back to the treadmill for exercise. However, I have located a Pilates instructor in the area who gives lessons at her home. I really want to try that out-we'll see.

My little man has 4 full teeth and 3 half ones. Confused? So are we. His first 4 came in fine by 6 months, but the next 3 started coming in around 7.5 months and are still only halfway in. In fact since 8 months, they've been at the same spot and now Caleb is fast approaching 11 months old. Not sure if something's wrong. Usually it only takes teeth 2-3 weeks to come in once they break through. I'm actually taking him to the dentist this week just so he can get a quick peek and see what he thinks. Not that there's anything that they could really do about it right now, but if it puts my mind at ease, then it's worth the trip.

Our Ella Belle has started taking dance! She actually did gymnastics this summer and is now taking ballet and tap and loves it! Just last night she put on a show in the kitchen for us. "And a tap, and a tap, and a tap, tap, tap!" She's just too cute. She said she likes tap better than ballet because "I can be loud in tap!" And of course, our sweetie is now 4! She had a princess pool party complete w/a princess castle cake. It was a homemade cake and worth saying the $40 I would've paid to buy a similar one, but let's just say you could tell it was homemade. :-) Ella was still so proud of it and that made everything okay. The kids enjoyed swimming, decorating their crowns, and waving their ~~paper towel holders~~ wands.

It was a great b-day party, but Will and I decided that for Ella's next one, we're taking the year off! It was just too much planning and stress, and I didn't get to really enjoy the day, so we're having her 5th b-day party at the lake at my parent's house. Pressure off me, yay!

Caleb is standing and cruising now. Actually he's been pulling up on things and cruising for several months now, but just in the last couple of weeks he can get to a standing position all on his own and push his walker around. I'm sure by his first birthday (how can that be coming up already?), he'll be walking. And Caleb loves to clap, for himself or others. When we were swimming the other day, Ella jumped off the diving board and I yelled, "Good job, Ella!" Immediately, Icee began clapping for her in his float. He's such a sweetheart! I was just telling my dear friend Sarah (who is due in Feb!) how I used to wonder how I'd be as a mom to a boy-I didn't even have brothers growing up to help me adjust to having a boy in the house. I even thought nursing a son might be weird. I know that's a crazy thing to think, but I did wonder about it. And then just as soon as I met him, it was as natural as could be. Not just nursing him, but loving him, getting to know him and providing for his needs. He is really my little man now. I love him to pieces and could not imagine my life without him.

Caleb likes watching deer videos w/his daddy. He says "Duh, Duh, Duh!" when he sees the deer. However, that is also now his word for any creature-such as our dogs and cats, or Ella's Raggedy Ann doll. He gets so excited and pumps his arms up and down, "Duh! Duh!" This morning, he said it while he was on our bed. I couldn't figure out why he was saying it. Then I realized he was looking at Will's deer picture; as soon as I put him on the floor, he crawled over to the chest of drawers so he could see it better. He then wanted me to lift him up to give him a closer look. Aww, just like his Daddy. I'm sure he'll be out in the woods by the time he's 2!

Ella's already asked Will about going out this year but it's just too hot to take her. He did get a hunting blind though and now that he has permission to hunt in the woods behind our house (yay!!!), she'll be accompanying him when the weather turns a little colder. Just last night when we were coming home from Ma-ma's, a big buck ran across the dirt road in front of our car. "Did you see that, Ella?" "No, Daddy." Later she said, "Daddy, what I was thinking was (she loves saying that phrase), you should have had your bow so you could get him!"

And I've been teaching Ella how to read using the How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. We're on Lesson 11 now and she is already reading "me, am, see, sat, mat," etc. She can write the words too. I'm so proud of her!

Oh, and re: extreme couponing which I referenced in my last post; I'll just say, if you're at all interested in saving some money off your groceries/dipes, etc., go to www.southernsavers.com. All the info you need is there. In a nutshell, CVS is great because of their Extra Care Bucks. A few weeks ago, they had a deal where if you bought Pampers for $9.99 you got $5.00 in ECB. There was also a $1.50 off manufacturer coupon. So basically you paid $3.49 for a jumbo bag of diapers, which is much cheaper than even the Parent's Choice diapers at Wal-Mart. Just last week, I went to CVS and spent $1 (after the ECB) for 3 Aveeno sunscreen products. Rite-Aid does single check rebates, instead of ECB. A couple weeks ago, I got Will two 45-count Zyrtec bottles for free at Rite-Aid. Grocery-wise, I save much more by shopping at Bi-lo than I ever did at Wal-mart. The key is to buy the buy one get one free products (you can just buy one-it rings up half off) and then use a coupon on top of that (coupons double up to .60 at Bi-lo). I got Will a 4-pack of Yoplait yogurts for 5 cents! It does take some time to get it all organized, and I'm still trying to simplify things, but I think I've found a new hobby! I just don't want it to get all consuming!

Well, that's all I have time for now. Who knows when I'll post again. This seems to be turning into a quarterly blog. And Facebook is not much better. Oh well, I guess occasional updates are better than never blogging/updating at all.

Here's a video of Caleb making some cute sounds.

Playing Catch Up

2009-05-28T08:01:00.000-05:00

Well, this update is long overdue! Between online grading, getting way too involved in extreme couponing (more on that in another post), and life in general, I've been too busy to sit down and post. But it's been bugging me every week that my blog is getting so outdated, so I'm finally up early and am determined to do it!

Ella has grown over 2 inches since Caleb's been born! She now looks as tall as a 3-year-old girl should. But then again, perhaps not, as she is about to turn 4! Some humorous incidents that have happened since February.... She stayed w/ Will's parents last month while I did some errands. Mom said nothing when I picked her up but several days later when she was keeping her for me to go to a homeschooling informational meeting, she said, "I need to tell you something when Ella's not listening." When we could finally talk, she said, "The other day when Ella was here she said something that really surprised me." "Oh no," I thought. Then Mom told me how Ella said proudly and loudly, "I'm a little pis*-as*." Mom was of course so shocked-where could she have learned that word and why would she be so delighted about calling herself that? Delores (the nurse who watches Ma-Ma sometimes) said, "Ms. Emily, kids just pick up things from places. My grandkids do all the time." But Mom said what she really couldn't understand is that Ella kept smiling so when she would point to herself and say it. Finally, that day that I was gone to the homeschooling meeting, Ella had pointed to something they were watching on TV and said it again and finally Mom understood. Ella was not a pis*-as*, she was a little PRINCESS. Oh, we got such a good laugh out of that one.

Another time, Will and I were explaining to Ella that nothing in this world was free, including water. She was listening intently, but suddenly spoke up. "Uh-huh, Mommy, kisses and hugs are free."

On another note, not too long ago, I was cleaning up and told Ella we needed to hurry and that I needed her help. She questioned innocently, "Who's coming over?" That's pretty bad when even my 3-year-old knows that Mama doesn't really clean unless she's expecting company.

And just this past weekend, when we were driving home from visiting at Ma-Ma's, we were talking about "why all churches have crosses on them," and she said, "Is Jesus the same as God?" I told Will he could feel free to tackle that one. But amazingly the Trinity didn't seem to faze her little mind at all. :-)

And our Ella's been drawing lots of pictures lately. Here's one she drew of Icee.

And here's what he had on when she drew it.

Now, on to Caleb. Wow-my boy is a big one. I swear, he's going to get bigger than I am before he's one! He's almost 22 lbs. and is 29.5 inches long. He's been sitting up by himself since 4.5 months and is trying his best to crawl now. He'll get up in a full push-up position, then get down and bring his legs all the way up to his bottom, push his bottom in the air, but then he just gets confused and settles back down on his tummy. Not a problem though-he can swivel anywhere he wants to go on his tummy and can inch himself forward to get fascinating objects like Ella's Thomas the Train Engine. His two bottom teeth are in (he got those by 6 months) and he's almost finished getting his top 2. Insert lots of grinding noises here! :-) I think he's trying to keep up w/Ella; she had 8 teeth by the time she was one.

Despite the discomfort he has to be feeling while teething, he continues to always have a smile. The only time he gets fussy is when he's overtired. He loves going outside and visiting w/the doggies-he giggles w/delight when they lick his hands. And we FINALLY got our pool cleared up and in swim condition-and to my total delight-Caleb loved his first time in the water. It was a little too cold for swimming, but he got in up to his waist and smiled and laughed. Other things he loves to do-bounce like crazy in his exersaucer, lick strawberries, and grab Mommy's and Ella's hair. Ella fell asleep in the car the other day and her head had fallen to the side-right w/in Caleb's reach-and he grabbed a handful out! She woke up but didn't cry; she just looked at him with a confused expression on her face!

Back to the strawberries he loves to lick and gnaw on. We recently went to a strawberry patch and Ella had fun feeding him one when we got home.

I didn't start Ella on any solids this early-she was pretty much 1 when she ate anything other than Mama's milk-save for some cheerios. That was convenient b/c she could go right to eating whatever we had-just mashed up slightly. However, Caleb has shown an interest in eating our food since 5 months! He tries to grab whatever I have in my hand. I held him off until almost 7 months and since then have let him have little tastes of things we're eating. Mainly it's at supper time when I'm trying to eat and he wants to nurse. (No, I can't do both at the same time-he's a crazy nurser and I'm a hungry Mama!) I'll give him some pieces of bread or mashed up sweet potato, etc. He still nurses every 2.5-3.5 hours and sometimes more at night. When Caleb was first born, I told Will that attachment parenting sounded so good, right, natural, to try this time around and that I wished I'd done it more w/Ella. But now that I'm still feeding Caleb 4 times at night and he won't sleep in his crib at all-even for naps-I'm wondering if he'll be sleeping w/us for the rest of his life! :-) Seriously though, I know he needs me right now, and all too soon, we'll wish he was still this little and snuggled up right beside us.

Now...other updates. Will had to take up the decking that leads to the pool b/c we had so many problems w/wasps last year. When he removed it all, he found over 40 wasp nests! We're planning on building the spot up w/more dirt and then planting grass there. Eventually we want to do a flagstone patio big enough to hold a table and chairs. We also planted a wildflower meadow in our front yard. The flowers coming up don't quite look like the seed packet picture (do they ever?) but it's still pretty. And we refinanced our house. So now we definitely can't move for at least 2 years. (Don't you love closing costs?) But I couldn't pass up the 4.375% rate for a 15-year mortgage.

(Ella took this pic-pretty good, huh?)

And several months ago, I decided to read The Shack after seeing it at Ma-Ma's house. I had heard about it but was skeptical. Mom had read it and said it was a little strange but that Dad had enjoyed a passage on forgiveness in the book. It is a work of fiction but has some awesome insights about God and how He is viewed and should be viewed. Too often, we see God as the Judge and not the Lover of our Souls. I've been feeling pretty inadequate lately about a lot of things-mainly about how do to this thing called parenting-and it was comforting to be reminded that God's plan is not for me to beat myself up w/guilt and condemnation (Romans 8:1). I sometimes forget how much our Father-our Papa-loves us. I could go on and on about the novel and take aways from it but I'd never actually publish this post. I'd just recommend pushing past any prejudgements you have about the book and reading it anyhow. I think it will provide some good discussion b/w you and your spouse, friends, etc. And hopefully some fresh dialog between you and the Lover of your soul.

Now to make you *smile*
A mini hoe down session at Laurance and Kimberly's.
(You'll need to pause my music on the sidebar first.)

Valentine's Day Treat

2009-02-16T13:56:00.007-05:00

Will came home from work Saturday to tell me Jim had called him on his cell. Since Jim and Abbie were in Sumter visiting family, they were going to stop by on their way back to Florence to visit us. My first reaction, "Are you crazy?" "This house is a wreck!" But thankfully we had an hour to prepare, and Will cleaned while I nursed the baby, took a shower (I had gone 2 days without one!), and dressed in something other than sweats.

We had a wonderful time w/Jim, Abbie, Sam and Faith. It was the first time Abbie had seen Caleb; I hadn't seen her or the kids since Sam's party. Faith has grown so much-I think she looks just like her mama w/those big, brown eyes. And her hair is getting longer; it looks like it will be curly. It was so fun watching the kiddos play together. I wish I had a video of Abbie doing ring-around-the-rosie w/them or playing "We're going on a bear hunt." And Ella loved running around the den whenever Sam shouted "Ready, Set, Go!" and then coming to an abrupt halt when he yelled, "Stop!" Later that night I used this to teach her "Red Light, Green Light" and am planning on playing this often to tire her out!

Caleb is still congested; we all were sick but we're better. It'll be 3 weeks tomorrow for him. Poor guy-I know it would help if he could just blow it all out. As it is, I'm using the bulb syringe, and of course he hates that. Please pray he'll be able to breathe properly soon. Last time we went to the doctor it was $95 for them to say, "It's a viral infection (i.e. cold); there's nothing you can do for a baby but suction." Um, thanks. He's not running a fever and is still eating well though he continues to sleep a lot between feedings. And since I wrote last, Caleb had a first-he can now roll over! And our big boy is now over 18 pounds! We also have a new nickname for him; "Wide-mouthed Frog" because this is how you'll see him most of the day

And here's a couple more of my favorite pics!

Peek-a-boo!

My Little Tigers!

Unique

2009-01-21T17:18:00.014-05:00

We were delighted to have some snow yesterday at our house! We got a dusting, about 1" but it was enough to make Ella squeal with delight! Right after breakfast we went out and helped her make a tiny snowman. The snow wouldn't pack very well because it was so powdery, but Ella was happy w/it.
She even threw her first snowballs! But after awhile, when I'd give her one to throw at me or Will, she'd say, "No, you throw it at me!" and hand it back to me. Funny girl!

As I enjoyed the snow falling down, some snowflakes landed on my gloves and jacket. Have you ever really studied one? Each one was so tiny, yet so intricate, detailed, and of course, unique. I could have stared at them all day-each one was so beautiful and different. I tried in vain to capture one with my camera.

Seeing the snowflakes reminded me of how each one of us is intricately designed by God for a unique purpose. Of course, ultimately all of us have the same purpose-to glorify God by loving Him and our neighbor. But He also has specific tasks for each of us based on our personalities and talents. I'm still asking Him to clarify mine. All I know right now is that I am to be a godly Mom to two wonderful children and a godly wife to my loving husband. And I'm still very much a work in progress.

The Truth

2009-01-10T13:07:00.015-05:00

Sometimes it's hard for me to like my toddler. It's easier to like and love a newborn because they don't disobey you yet. They still seem so perfect. And when you compare that to a willful 3-year-old, it's hard sometimes to not choose favorites. Of course, this is all a stage-soon, Caleb will begin showing his sinful nature and hopefully my dear Ella will become less willful as she learns more about the Savior who died for her. And hopefully her Mommy will spend more time in the Word so she too can become more like Jesus. I am so very much not like Him most of the time.

My Aunt Miriam, my dad's sister, passed away Tuesday. She battled with cancer for years. We attended her funeral yesterday. What was impressed upon my heart was the simple but sobering truth that she has finished impacting lives for Christ. Her time on earth is finished. And I believe she now has her reward. And this made me think. What about the lives I have before me every day-my two precious children. How am I impacting them for Christ? Will they be drawn to Christ by my actions and even more telling, by my reactions or will they be pushed away? I only have now. Life is short. And I want mine to count. The only way to do that is to invest in people-nothing else matters.

I want to be fully here. Embracing this stage of life. Thankful for this wonderful opportunity and yet awesome responsibility I have to train my children up in the ways of the Lord. To not be weary in well doing. God's pointed out some changes I need to make to this end and I ask for your prayers that I would be faithful to make them. That I would be diligent in this most serious task of child-rearing.

And we're desperate for a church family. We so need the fellowship, the ministry of the Word, and the service to others. We have visited so many different churches and are getting weary thinking we'll never find where we're supposed to be. Please pray that we will be open to His direction in this and will find a church home very soon.

Now about how much my Caleb has grown! He'll be 14 weeks tomorrow and weighs over 17 pounds now and is 26 inches long! He's in the 90th percentile (according to the World Health Organization charts) while our Ella was always in the 5th. What a difference. We call him our "Chunky Monkey." And he's lost most of his hair and no longer has his Elvis sideburns. He does have a nice, big bald spot at the back of his head though! He gets it from turning his head from side to side at night when he wants to nurse. That and wiggling all around are how he wakes me. He nurses about every 2 hours but at night sometimes let's me sleep for 3 hours at a time. It's really not so bad since he's still sleeping with us. Though even rolling over to let him latch on seems to take so much energy when you're in a deep sleep. And speaking of nursing, I LOVE my bebe au lait nursing cover. Now I can feel totally comfortable nursing even with Dad K. in the room. :-)
Caleb loves to grab things now-the burp cloth, my shirt, my hair! I literally have to pry his fingers away one by one. And he's cooing so much; he'll carry on a conversation w/anyone who will listen. "Gu", "Ge", "Caaah", "Huu-aa" are just some of the sounds he enjoys making.

And Caleb lights up whenever Ella comes near-as long as she doesn't get too close to his face. :-) He loves to laugh at her while she's jumping on the bed singing the monkey song. You know, "5 little monkeys jumping on the bed; 1 fell off and bumped his head...." She is my little helper. And I don't seem to appreciate how much she helps until a day like today when she's gone duck hunting w/her daddy. Suddenly there's no one to bring me a cloth wipe when I'm done pottying the baby or a fresh diaper. And she has had to sacrifice a lot. She was the center of our world for 3 years-and now she has to compete for time with a newborn. That would be hard on anyone. One of the changes I realize I must make is carving out segments during the day that are just "Ella and Mommy time." Even if we only get 10 minutes together before the baby cries, it will be special for her. I also just bought this book and plan to begin it soon with her. Another important change is getting to bed earlier so I can wake up before she does in order to have some time with my husband before he goes to work and some time in the Word.

Ella ready to go hunting!

Ella and Caleb (6 weeks old)

And I am practicing infant potty training with Caleb though the ultimate goal is not to potty train my baby faster than someone else. It's more about communicating with him by learning and responding to his cues. I'm able to catch most of his poops (he latches off while nursing to let me know he's ready to go) and do catch some pees after his naps. But considering the child pees about 40 times a day, I don't get most of them. I probably could if I really went diaper free-it would make me pay attention to him more when he's in the bouncy seat or whatever. But honestly, then I feel like I'd really get nothing done around here. He's still on the potty about 10 times a day and seems to enjoy going on it. We got a toddler insert that fits on the toilet and though it was a little big for him at the beginning, now it fits him just fine. The only problem is it's too awkward taking that with me when we do errands and if I try to potty him without it, he makes a fuss. Even if I sit on the potty with him. But at least he gets to use the potty at home which is where we are most of the time. And at least I know when he is ready to go by himself, he won't be afraid to use it.

Caleb at 6 weeks.

At 12 weeks-now a little pro!

I'm also using cloth diapers though I do supplement sometimes w/disposables (White Cloud brand-why I ever thought I had to have Pampers, I'll never know. These are so much cheaper and work just as well. You were right, Cil!). Kimberly let me use her Fuzzi Bunz that she used for awhile on Jonathan and I love them. I have a couple Bum Genius as well and some prefolds but prefer the Fuzzi's. There's no toilet dunking-since he's just on breast milk now, they can just go straight into the wash-even with poop on them. When he starts on solids, I'll probably invest in a toilet sprayer. And I'm using cloth wipes-why not-I just throw them into the wash with the diapers. Since Kimberly is due with her 2nd in June, I'll have to look into getting some of my own Fuzzi's soon. Unless of course, Caleb decides to walk and take himself to the potty faithfully by the time he's 8 months old. Ha!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Happy New Year!

Life With Two

2008-10-25T14:32:00.011-05:00

I'm slowly adjusting to life with 2 kids-and I thought one was hard!
:-) It must have taken me 30 minutes longer just to get out the door with both of them the other day. I kept forgetting something one of us would need. Caleb went to Grandma's and Ella to Kimberly's so I could get a much needed trim and go grocery shopping. Of course, after the haircut I had to stop at Grandma's so Caleb could nurse before I went to the grocery store. But soon the day will come when I have to take them both with me on errands-and I suppose by God's grace, I will survive.

I can't believe our Little Man will be 3 weeks tomorrow! Time is already flying by. I'm feeling great now (no more walking w/my legs together-wahoo!) and wanting to get out more. Today, we all went to a nearby farm with my MOPS group for a hayride, lunch, and pumpkin-picking. I think Ella's favorite part was petting a bunny and Caleb's? Nursing, of course. As Ella says, "Caleb is growing, growing, growing 'cause he's nursing, nursing, nursing." :-)

Ella continues to be a help by bringing diapers, wipes, etc. to me when I need it and likes to comfort "her baby" by patting and kissing his head. In fact, though most toddlers have a baby doll to play with, mine has "Spotty dog." She diapers him, wipes him, nurses him, burps him, and has tummy time w/him, just as she sees me do with Caleb.

However, I have been crying out to God for help in dealing with Ella especially when she wakes up the baby by running into the room singing at the top of her lungs. Let's just say I don't win the mom-of-the-year award for my controlled response. My verse to memorize and most importantly utilize this week is Ephesians 4:32: Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. I know I don't show Ella as much grace as God has shown and continues to show me and by His power I want to get better at that. Mainly I don't want to make mountains out of molehills-something I'm famous for. The next time she spills her juice, I'd like to not get aggravated and yell but just say, "It's okay, honey, that happens. Next time, please hold it with both hands." Please pray for me in this area. With me just completing my first week having them both by myself (Will was off the first week and my Mom came up the 2nd-such a blessing!), the hardest part was getting frustrated with Ella and therefore not enjoying the time with her as I should have.

She really is such a precious child. And I can't even tell you how much BIGGER she seems to me now that Caleb is here. Holding her in my arms now, I feel like I'm holding a 10-year-old. After giving her a bath the other night, I just kept exclaiming, "Ella, you're HUGE!" which made her laugh and laugh. But I was serious. When did her legs get so long, her hands and feet so big? She's growing up right before my eyes and I want to be right in the moment with her and not wish the time away, longing for peace and quiet.

And she's already had a big adjustment to make-no more Mommy's milk. She got her last official feeding the day before Caleb's birth. I had gotten her down to one morning feeding every other day but the week before his birth, she was doing one morning feeding every day (anything to get the baby out!). I'm so proud of her for realizing it's Caleb's turn now. She still has comfort in pinching my underarms and sucking her two fingers. :-)

As for Caleb, he's quite the grunter. He grunts in his sleep, while he's nursing, basically all the time. And poor thing is still getting so much milk as it's letting down that he can't keep up. He gulps and gulps with very loud swallows and then chokes and coughs. But he is gaining weight. We took him to get weighed at 9 days old and he was 9 lb, 5 oz. (He had lost down to 8 lb. 8 oz.) And we can just look at his tummy and tell he's doing okay. Oh, and he has sideburns-ever seen a baby with those? Our little Elvis man. He loves his Native Baby Carrier (thank you Letisha and Sarah!), his bouncy seat, and sleeping on his Daddy's chest. And he does sleep a lot; I forgot how much newborns sleep. Sometimes his feedings take an hour because he drifts in and out of sleep; I usually wake him by changing his diaper-those cold wipes sometimes do the trick. Speaking of diapers, we're on our 4th pack already-our man poops A LOT! I bought some cloth diapers (hemp-they're sooo soft) and I'm going to try those this next week and see how it goes.

And my favorite thing that he does and has done since his first day? Flash that beautiful smile-we call it his "sleepy smile;" others call them "gassy smiles." I know he is not yet smiling because of us, but it's no matter to me. I love to see it. And he's laughed in his sleep a few times too-sweet dreams, I suppose. He's had several baths now too and seems to love the water, just like his sister.

Thank you all for loving on us and praying for us.

Enjoy some of my favorite photos.

Caleb's Birth Story

2008-10-12T22:00:00.013-05:00

Giving birth is a time when I feel my Savior's presence with me in such a real way. During Ella's birth, the "wave" imagery worked until I reached transition. Then when I thought I couldn't do it any longer, I felt Jesus's presence with me and He spoke to me. "My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness." From that point until Ella came out, "My grace, my strength" become my mantra and helped me deal with the pain. With this birth, I started having some fears a couple weeks ago. I wasn't looking forward to the intensity of the contractions and was talking to God about this and playing some hymns to calm me down. That's when God let me find this hymn and I sang it repeatedly over the next couple days. I'm sure you've heard of it. It's entitled, "He giveth more grace" and the first verse reads,

He giveth more grace when the burdens are greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase.
To added affliction He addeth his mercy;
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.
Chorus
His love has no limit; His grace has no measure; His pow'r has no boundary known unto men.
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again!

Then a few days later as I was looking through an old devotional from church, I found these verses and knew God was giving them to me to claim for my birth.

Isaiah 40:28-31.
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,they will walk and not be faint.

I felt better about the upcoming birth with these reassurances. I knew I wasn't going to be alone going through it-He'd be right there beside me.

Now here's a timeline for you as Caleb's birthday approached.

9 days before Caleb's birth, Ella got a stomach virus.

8 days before his birth, I caught it. You know when you're on the toilet w/a trash can-yep, that was me-it was horrible.

7 days before, I lost my mucus plug tinged w/blood and went outside to get Will off the lawn mower believing I would start labor in a few hours, as that's exactly what happened at Ella's birth. So, he came in, we cleaned up the house and then reluctantly went to bed several hours later.

6 days before, we went walking hoping to get something started as Ella and I were fully recovered now from the virus and I was ready to meet our little one. I had a couple contractions but they petered out.

5 days before Caleb's birth, Will finally caught the dreaded virus.

4 days before, I went to see Lisa for my 39th week prenatal visit. The baby's heart rate was good (it averaged in the 140's, which by the way reinforces my theory on predicting the sex of the baby) and Lisa said from her experiences, women usually go into labor w/in 2 days of losing their plug. I was on day 3 at this point. But she also said how glad she was that I hadn't gone into labor in the last few days as she had 3 births in 5 days and had gotten hardly any rest.

3 days before-Will finally feels better.

2 days before the birth, Will went into work late because I had a couple contractions but after an hour had passed and I had no more, he went on in.

1 day before the birth, we went to Mama's house. On the way there I had 2 contractions but once we arrived they had stopped and I had nothing else the rest of the day. By this point I was feeling pretty discouraged and thinking I might just stay pregnant until November! However, I indeed was thankful that I hadn't gone into labor while we were sick.

So now, we begin the real story. I was awakened from sleep at 3:45am Sunday morning with a contraction. It was stronger than I had been having during the week. When the next one came just 5 minutes later, I knew this was finally the real thing. I woke Will up at 4am to tell him I was in labor. For the next 30 min. in between contractions, I helped him sanitize our house, clean bathrooms, doorknobs etc, as we didn't want Lisa to catch the virus we'd all had. Pretty soon, I let Will take over and began leaning into the contractions using Will's chest of drawers for support. I knew I was going to wait until 5am to call Lisa to give her some extra time to sleep but as it got closer to 5, I started really questioning whether I wanted her or anyone to come at all. What effect would it have on me to have people "invade" my labor space? I was really quite content at that point with just having Will there with me. When I mentioned this to Will, he said very emphatically, "Call her!" So I did. After explaining to her that I was 4-6 min. apart lasting about 45 seconds in length, she said she could be on her way. I hesitated, still unsure if I wanted other people coming so soon and she said I could call her back at 6 and let her know. By 6, the contractions were much more intense and this time it was me telling Will, "Call Lisa NOW!" I was afraid if I waited much longer she wouldn't get her in time (she had almost an hour's drive) and we would be doing it ourselves whether we wanted to or not.

Backing up to 5am, it was then that we decided to start getting the pool ready. I had decided on this one after reading good things about it from people who had used it for a birth. Lisa also had the aqua doula which is what I used with Ella, but I wanted something w/softer sides that I could lean on. Ella was still sleeping in our room, but I was afraid that if we started pumping it up it would awaken her, so I asked Will to move her into her room. Sometimes this works and she'll stay asleep; this time it didn't. Will tried lying down beside her to get her to go back asleep but she was still crying. Finally, I called out, "Forget it. I need you in here. She'll just have to stay awake." Ella of course was thrilled to watch the pool being blown up in our room. When having contractions at this point, I was leaning into Will's chest of drawers and counting through them. God was also bringing to my mind those wonderful reassurances. It helped to speak truth to myself, "He understands. He gives strength and power to the weak. He gives-He has no limits." After having a few intense contractions while trying to drown out Ella's babbling in the background, I asked Will to call Kimberly to come over. She had agreed to watch Ella during the labor. Since it was Sunday, Laurance could keep Jonathan at home, so she'd just have Ella to focus on. Kimberly arrived around 6:45 and Julie, Lisa's apprentice, arrived shortly after at 7am. Lisa arrived around 7:30am and after checking the baby's heart rate and my blood pressure (both fine), she and Julie got some prep work done-putting new sheets on the bed, unloading the home birthing box kit I had ordered, arranging chux pads, etc. and left me alone to labor.

Will had already begun filling the pool up but of course ran out of hot water so they began boiling water and dumping it in. After the first go at the heater Will noticed some brown stuff in the water. By the time it was full enough to use, it was pretty cloudy. Lisa later asked had we drained our water heater completely before filling up the pool. We were supposed to do this a few days before but she had forgotten to mention this to us, and thus the brown stuff was sediment from the bottom of our heater. I still decided at one point to get into the water-even if I wouldn't birth in it, I was interested to see if it would help w/the pain. I stayed in through 2 contractions but couldn't get comfortable so decided to get out. Just like with Ella's birth, the only comfortable position for me was standing up or leaning through contractions. With Ella's, I leaned into Will the entire time (before getting in the water prior to pushing), but with this one, I moved from the chest of drawers to my dresser and put 2 pillows on top of it for comfort. When I would get a contraction, Will would stand behind me and move with me-it helped so much just knowing he was right there with me. Before the contractions got too close together, I would sit/bounce on my exercise ball while waiting for the next one.

During the really intense contractions, I felt Jesus with me in such a real way. I was still counting through them-if I could just make it to 30 seconds, it would start easing up. And I felt as if He was saying "Okay, Laura, here's another one, let's count together." And we did. However, after awhile, the contractions got less intense. I remember thinking at one point, "Wow, this isn't that bad." I had prayed for a pain-free birth or at least something close to that but I guess I didn't really think it could happen. (Oh, ye of little faith!) I even got scared thinking my labor was slowing down. I felt like I had to go to the bathroom and Will came with me. It was then that I asked him to ask Lisa and Julie to leave the room. They were both sitting on the bed at that point. I think Lisa was writing some things down, but I just started feeling like I was on show or something and that maybe that was why my labor was slowing down. Lisa listened really quickly to the baby's heart rate and then left w/Julie and stayed in the kitchen.

However, as it turns out I was in transition; my labor wasn't slowing down at all. In fact, I felt the baby moving down inside me-such an amazing feeling. And I had prayed specifically that God would let me feel that this time as I didn't w/Ella. About 30 minutes later I told Will, "Call Lisa back in here; I'm feeling pushy!" Lisa came in and asked me if she could check me-she had done no checks thus far as I hadn't wanted any. I still didn't. I told her there was no way I could lie down on a bed. She said I could stand and she would just see what she could feel or I could do it myself. I let her do it. She felt my bag of waters and said, "It's bulging-when it pops, it's really going to go." I quickly said, "Don't break it!" Of course she didn't and then said from what she could tell I was about a 9 and could start pushing if I felt like that was what my body was telling me to do. The amazing thing? That check didn't hurt at all! With Ella, Amy checked me when I got to the birthing center and I was laying down. I was an 8 then but that check was excruciating.

I saw that Lisa had the birthing stool set up and decided I would try pushing on that. Kimberly had told me how good squatting felt when she was pushing and I knew from Birthing From Within, that your pelvis opens 28% wider when you are squatting versus lying flat. The one thing I definitely wanted to do differently this time around was not to be in even a semi-lying position as I had in the water with Ella (Will was supporting me from behind in the pool). I think that's why the pushing hurt so much with her-it was 54 minutes long and much more painful than the whole time I was dilating because I didn't have gravity working with me. However, when I tried using the birthing stool at first, I couldn't get comfortable and standing wasn't helping either. I was starting to panic. I even considered getting in the water again on all fours but Lisa said she'd rather the baby not be born into water that murky w/sediment floating around and thus the water birth plan was finally nixed.

Finally I had to push and the really amazing, wonderful thing this time around? No one had to tell me how to push, how long to push, when to hold my breath-I just knew. I couldn't help but push. In fact, the intensity of it was so much bigger than myself-I finally understood what people were talking about. With Ella it was as if I was making it happen; with this one, I was just letting it take over me. At first I just had small grunts and pushes. But it was during this time, that I really felt the baby move down and I was shaking my head back and forth. I was thrilled to feel it but at the same time inwardly thinking, "No, I can't do this." It helped to hear Lisa say, "It's okay, Laura, let your baby come out. You want the baby out." Then I had an intense push and my water exploded and went all over Will and Lisa. (And our carpet was completely dry afterward as we had a tarp for the pool down and an extra shower curtain liner.) Now before this Lisa had been applying a warm compress of ginger root to my perineum and it felt wonderful. I think everyone was so surprised when my water broke that she just forgot to continue that. The next push was the most surreal thing-I couldn't stop pushing though I remember Will saying, "Slow down." But Lisa said, "It's okay." Of course, had we all known what would have happened next, everyone would have been saying, "Gentle pushes, baby pushes." Because that next push after the water broke produced the baby's head. In one push-I couldn't believe it! It took me forever to get Ella's head out. It would slide down a little and them move back up. Yes it was intense but there was no ring of fire like with Ella-just pressure. I felt his head a couple times with my hand and was amazed. I didn't do this with Ella though I did see it in the mirror. I remember Lisa saying, "Okay one more push and you'll have your baby." Will said it was just amazing to see him just "hanging out" there waiting so patiently-he didn't get such a close view w/Ella b/c he was sitting behind me in the pool.

Sure enough he wriggled out with that next push and Will caught him! He said he was quite slippery as he was completely covered in vernix, even more so than Ella was. He said he thought it was a boy at first but had to take a second look-he couldn't believe it. Then he handed him to me and I said, "You have a son!" Oh, what relief I felt-that it was over, that we had survived and thrived with our home birth. That I was holding a new miracle in my arms. But at the same time it was an out-of-body experience. It didn't seem real that it was over, that this was my son. Very surreal-I felt the same way after Ella was born. Thankfully, God had given me the clarity of mind to call Ella into the room when the head "popped out" so she got to see her baby brother being born. That was really important to me and I'm so glad it worked out that way. She wasn't scared at all seeing it or the blood, etc. I had prepared her by letting her watch her own birthing video. Of course, you all know her first words, "But I wanted a baby sister!" Thankfully, she's warming up to the little guy.

Oh, speaking of videos, I had my camcorder in the room but things happened too quickly and we failed to ever set it up on a tripod, so unfortunately, Caleb has no video or pictures for that matter. :-(
I think we all were surprised with how fast it happened-Julie knew she could take pictures of the baby being born but unfortunately we didn't get any. At least she took one after he was born. I'm still on the birthing stool and Will is on the birthing ball. That's another interesting point. When I started squatting I could tell Will was uncomfortable as he had nothing to rest on. I was just much more aware of things this time around-I was in total labor land state w/Ella by the time pushing came around, but this time, I had the clarity of mind to say, "Will, go get a chair to sit on so you don't hurt your back." He found the birthing ball and used that instead. I think it helped as well that I had gotten a few hours of sleep before going into labor-with Ella I was up all night.

I moved to the bed with Caleb and he began nursing. A few minutes later (about 20 minutes after he was born) I delivered the placenta while standing-all was intact thankfully. After the cord stopped pulsating, Will cut it and we all lay in the bed and bonded with our newest miracle.

So would I do a home birth again? Absolutely. I prefer it over a birthing center because for one I don't have to drive while in labor or after labor and two I'm more relaxed in my own home. I would make it a matter of prayer though just as I did this one should we have another little one. God gave me the assurance that this was good and right for us this time around. I would want the same for each time because as we all know, each pregnancy is different and could produce different concerns. One neat thing is that Lisa had 3 births still to attend the last week in Sept. and 4 ladies due in October by the 16th. Had any of those women gone into labor when I did, we would've had to go into the birthing center (or else do it by ourselves at home) b/c she would be with them there. I had prayed God's will be done b/c if He wanted me at the birthing center, closer to the hospital (and a better one I might add), then I would want to be there. As it turned out, Lisa finished all her September deliveries by Sept. 30 and I was the first October one; I don't consider that a coincidence at all.

I most likely will use Lisa again if we have another one. I think it was just hard for me to get used to her and her way of doing things after having such a close relationship with Amy, my midwife w/Ella. However, now that I've given birth with Lisa attending, I can truly say she's wonderful and does a great job at offering competent care in a non-invasive way. She only checked the baby's heart rate about 3 times, and only the 1st time was for about 30 sec-the others were quick, 5-10 sec. checks. And she checked my blood pressure twice and did a quick check when it was time to push. But it was my call. That's another good thing about home birth-you have even more of a say so on what happens and what doesn't. After the birth, she checked me for tears and unfortunately I had somewhere b/w a 1st and 2nd degree tear at my perineum-I'm sure I got that when I pushed the baby's head out. She said the tear lay together nicely and should heal fine on its own, so of course, I opted for not going to the hospital for stitches. What I would love is for SC to change their ridiculous law about midwives being able to do everything but stitch a woman up if she needs it. Lisa knows how to do it and could in most any state but this one. Anyway, so now, like with Ella, I'm walking around the house w/my legs together-such fun.

There are a few things I would have done differently. First I would set my tripod up for the camcorder beforehand and also designate someone to take pictures and somehow make sure it happens. :-) Second, I would have drained our water heater down so that I could have gotten in the pool for pushing if I so desired. Who knows-maybe that would have helped w/the tearing. I do like though that now I have had both experiences-a water and a land birth. I think I prefer to stay on land until the pushing stage for sure. My body just can't handle contractions as well in any position but standing or leaning. But squatting in the water might be an option for pushing if we have another one. Third, I would try to remember that if I have a land birth again, someone should be applying the warm compress to my perineum at all times during pushing-it's just no fun to tear. And I would do perineal massage a couple weeks before birth. I would also try to remember that once my water goes, I need to try my hardest to go slow on the next push. Honestly, I don't know if I could have this time-I felt as if I had no control over that push when Caleb's head emerged-it just took over me.

So that's it. It really was an easier, faster labor than with Ella. 5 hours and 21 minutes versus 14. Of course, with this one, I know now that I had probably been in the beginning stages of labor for a week and when I awoke I was heading towards active labor pretty quickly. Ella's really didn't start at all until the night before she was born. I prefer Caleb's way. :-) The only downside was the tearing and the afterbirth pains. I had hardly any with Ella but tons with this one. For awhile, I was wondering if there might be another baby in there that needed to come out. They finally subsided on day 3 or 4. I've heard they get worse with each one. Fun, Fun!

We're truly blessed to have our little man and I give God all the glory for his safe and wonderful birth. Thank you all for your prayers as well!

IT'S A BOY!

2008-10-05T18:45:00.003-05:00

Caleb William arrived this morning at 9:06 am.
8 lbs. 15 oz.
22 inches
And soooo laid-back. Which is nice-so different from Ella's first day. He's cried enough to let us know that he's okay but other than that, he's been quiet. And what a champ at nursing! Also different than Ella. He latched on for one session for an hour! (switching sides in b/w)

More to come later about the actual birth story. We're all doing fine and Ella is adjusting to having a little baby brother. However, when she found out he was a boy, she said, "But I wanted a baby sister!" Maybe next time. Yet, she's already been showering him with kisses and telling him she loves him. So I suppose all will be well. :-)

Thank you all for your prayers!

And by the way, it's so hard to call him Caleb! We keep saying, "Icee!"

It's Time....

2008-10-05T04:46:00.001-05:00

.....Please pray.

Thank you!

Beach Trip

2008-09-17T05:30:00.010-05:00

We just returned from a wonderful mini-vacation (3 nights) to Surfside Beach. We planned our trip in order to be there the same time as the Fisher family whom we met last year. Ella and Casey had a ball together. Casey celebrated her 3rd birthday while we were there, and Ella was thrilled to go to her party. And Leigh, Casey's mom, is expecting her 2nd as well. She's due in January and Casey's getting a baby brother.

Here's a short video of them doing "Ring around the Rosie." Sorry for the noise in the background (I guess it's the wind/waves or just a bad videographer :-)) ,but if you listen closely, you can hear them singing. Oh, and you'll need to scroll down and pause the music first, so you can hear the video.

It was just wonderful for me to watch Ella run and play on the beach. It was important for me that we do this for her as this will be her last vacation getting all the attention-occasionally it's good to spoil your child. :-)

And yes, I was praying the whole time, "Lord, please don't let me go into labor," especially considering I had to walk 3 flights of stairs to get to our condo. Great exercise, just not when you're so close to delivery. And Will said I got some interesting looks as we took walks down the beach. I'm sure people were expecting me to double over in pain at any moment, but all went well and baby's still safe inside. :-)

Oh, by the way, I got my hair cut short. I knew I would do it when the baby came, so I figured I might as well get it done now when I had a little more time to decide on the cut and style. The choice? A layered bob. I was supposed to leave the salon looking just like Katie Holmes...okay, so no stylist can work magic. And my hair is rather wind-blown in the beach pictures, so you'll just have to wait to see what it really looks like. :-) Overall, I'm pleased though, and it's pretty easy to style, which is always a plus.

Oh, and here's my belly shot at 36 weeks.

The Perfect Place to Give Birth

2008-09-01T09:19:00.012-05:00

Will and I went to the mountains for a babymoon last weekend. It was our first time leaving Ella for 2 nights. And yes, it was harder on me than her. Especially considering that the mountain cabin is so well-equipped for kids-there are toys, books, swings, and even a huge playhouse. So, everywhere I looked, I kept thinking, "Ella would love playing with this or reading this."

There was only one time during the trip that I was glad she wasn't there. And that was when we took our "hike" to the waterfall. Actually there's a new path directly from the mountain cabin so you don't have to go through Aunt Joan and Uncle Will's yard, and it is more of a hike-especially when you're very pregnant (34 weeks). Upon arriving there and sitting on a huge rock, I felt such calm. And I was thankful there wasn't a 3-year-old vying for my attention. As I listened to the water cascading down and talked to my littlest one, I couldn't help thinking, "This would be the perfect place to give birth." When I voiced it to Will, he actually said, "You're right-how can we make this work?" Hmm...."Aunt Barbara, Uncle Langdon, can I camp out in your cabin for a few weeks-I'm planning on giving birth at the waterfall." Somehow I don't think it would fly. And I certainly won't be able to drive 5 hours once I'm in labor to birth there. So it was just a dream. A wonderful birthing dream. I just couldn't imagine feeling any pain if I was in such beautiful surroundings and hearing the falls. But I'm sure that's a dream too. I'm sure there would still be pain, though probably quite lessened. Instead, I suppose we'll settle for listening to a CD which has waterfalls and ocean sounds. :-)

Before we went to the mountains, Will had a conference in Alabama and we went with him. We were able to see Letisha, Daniel, and their 5 kids and it was such fun. Ella especially loved the Birmingham Zoo. "I saw a baby raffe and baby zebra," she'll tell you. But I think the kids had the most fun with the monkeys-I never tire of their antics either. And Ella did so well with Joshua and Caleb-usually she's terrified of older boys. Joshua would hold her hand and she went happily along. When she sees his picture now, she'll ask, "What's his name 'gain?" I'll tell her and then she'll say, "He's oldest." At their house, Ella enjoyed the steps the most-so now I know-our next house will be a 2-story and I'll have an automatic built-in toy for the kiddos. :-)

On the way back from Alabama we stayed a night with Em and Jeff. And of course Ella enjoyed seeing Benjamin and now can't stop telling everyone how he's walking now. "But sometimes he falls down, but that's otay." :-) We had a wonderful visit to Tribble Mill Park. Ella asks about going there all the time now. And she so enjoyed reading All the Place to Love to Benjamin.

This pic is blurry but I think it's so cute. As if Benjamin is saying, "Eh? Read a little louder, Ella."

Before the Alabama trip my dad, his fiancee, Marna, Marcelo and their 4 kids came up to see our house for the first time. Here's some cute pics from that visit.

Kaitlyn looks more and more like Marna, I think.

Ice cream and summertime-what could be better?

Dad and Nancy

As far as baby goes, I'm fine but just really tired and have been pretty much the whole pregnancy-so much for that boost of energy you're supposed to get during the
2nd trimester. I suppose being 4 years older and having a toddler to look after has something to do with it. I found out a few appointments ago that my blood sugar is high and hemoglobin very low (a 9-I was a 14 at 20 weeks). So, I'm watching even more carefully my sugar intake-so hard to do!, especially when I need to cut out most fruits too-and taking some food-based iron supplements. At my last visit I was up to a 10.9 for my hemoglobin but I really can't tell a difference in my energy level. I'm hoping I will have a great energy boost after the baby's born-ha!

We're still deciding on names-let's see, we've narrowed it down to 4 boy names and about 15 girl names. That's actually good-if you could have only seen my list when I started. Hopefully, in the next few weeks I can narrow the girls' names down some more and then when the baby comes, we'll just have a few to decide upon based on how the baby looks. Hmm, not sure how that will go. When Ella came out, she was quite purple, screaming very loudly and rather funny looking :-); I don't think based on that I would have decided on Ella had it not already been chosen.

Thank you all for your prayers as we prepare for our newest arrival.

Family Reunion

2008-07-28T11:46:00.004-05:00

Here are some pics from the get-together at the Mill. Will and I came late and stayed for just a couple hours as we were still getting over our sickness. Even though it wiped us out, we're glad we got to go. It was our last chance to see Dayton, Erin, and their kids before they left, and we got to visit w/Em, Jeff, and Benjamin one more time.

Also, including a couple pics of Chuck and Sarah when they came over for supper a few days later.

I'm Three!

2008-07-10T11:38:00.005-05:00

Ella celebrated her 3rd birthday the first time on Saturday June 28 for her pool party. Unfortunately, like last year, she was sick. She woke up saying her tummy hurt and by the time the party was over, she was running a slight fever. Fortunately though, there were no upset stomach "conditions" to deal with like last year. But everyone else had a wonderful time it seemed. And though she was overwhelmed w/how loud her "Happy Birthday" song was w/18 people singing it to her, she managed to blow out all 3 candles just fine. :-) And she did eat about 3 bites of a cupcake.

We enjoyed having Dayton, Erin, and their 4 kids visit a few times while they were here (including at Ella's party) and just recently got to see Chuck and his girlfriend, Sarah. Also a few days before Ella's party my beloved Sarah spent two nights w/me and helped me w/all the party plans (including a very long trip to Walmart). The night before the party, Laurance and Kimberly helped w/weed-eating and popsicle and cupcake making (guess which one did which?) :-) So, Ella's party was truly a family affair!

On Ella's actual birthday on June 30, my mom, step-dad, and grandmother came up and we grilled out again and let her blow out candles again. She was feeling better by this time but still not quite herself.

Then Will and I got sick with an awful cold/sore throat/congestion thing and I'm just now feeling more like myself. Thankfully Ella only got a small portion of our sickness. And because of this sickness I missed my own baby shower! and Ella missed having Grace over to spend the night w/her that same night. I got some consolation with Emily and Jeff bringing presents and food over later that day and visiting w/us some (I really hope we didn't get you sick!) but poor Ella won't get to see Grace again for at least 2 more years!

Enjoy the birthday photos!

Birthday Picnics

2008-06-14T12:11:00.006-05:00

Ella is totally into turning 3. She's in countdown mode now. She knows that it's June and that at the end of this month, she'll have her special day. She's been getting picnics together w/me and her animals for awhile now, but for the last couple of weeks, Ella has called them birthday picnics. Just today, she told me, "Mommy I made you a birthday picnic. Come eat your birthday food." I think she assumes we're all going to celebrate our birthdays on her special day!

We're so loving the pool. Now that it's warmer (86 degrees in the water!), we're swimming most every day. Ella's a little fish; with her floaties on, she can swim all the way to the deep end and back. And she jumps off the side of the pool into our waiting arms. Maybe she doesn't need those swim lessons at the Y after all. :-)

And, I turn 6 months tomorrow-yay! The crib bedding has arrived. I chose this pattern, as I could never find the fabric to mach the memo board I had. (Scroll down to the 3rd pic and enlarge, so you can see how it looks w/all the bedding on the crib.) And no, I didn't pay this price; thankfully, I got it used for much cheaper! Even though it doesn't match my original plan exactly, at least it's still a zoo theme in primary colors. Hopefully the green walls will get painted in a couple weeks, and I'll post a pic when it's all set up.

It's Kicking Time!

2008-05-23T21:49:00.004-05:00

I've been feeling this baby move for about 8 weeks now, but Will finally felt "him" this past Sunday when I turned 20 weeks. What joy! It really is The.Most.Amazing.Thing to feel life moving around inside of you, but it's even better when it can be shared! I'm not sure Ella has felt Icee. She always moves her hand when I try to put it in the right spot, insisting, "No, Mommy, Icee's over here." Plus, she has a tiny hand, which makes it harder. :-)

It's interesting that Will didn't feel Ella move until 24 weeks, but of course, I didn't feel Ella until about week 20. I guess the more babies you have, the earlier you feel movement b/c you know what it feels like.

But as I write that exciting news, I can't forget the heartbreaking news I heard yesterday. I'm sure you all have heard by now of Steven Curtis Chapman's 5-year-old daughter Maria who was killed Wed. night in a tragic accident. Let's lift his family up in prayer.

Children's Book Monday

2008-05-19T07:00:00.002-05:00

Dimity Duck by Jane Yolen
Illustrated by Sebastien Braun

It's so funny. Elise reviewed a different Jane Yolen book last week and I did a search for her books at my library. Only then did I realize that she is the author of one of Ella's favorite books. (Guess I don't pay much attention to details, huh?)

This is such a fun read, with winsome rhymes and adorable illustrations.

It tells about a day-in-the-life of Miss Dimity Duck.

Dimity Duck
waddles,
she toddles
out of bed.

Niddy-noddy
goes her tail
and quack!
goes her head.

After getting some breakfast, she meets her delightful friend, Frumity Frog.

Dimity Duck waddles,
she paddles to his side.

Splishy-splashy
go the two,
playing seek-and-hide.

Only the sunset can separate these two playmates and finally Dimity must blow a kiss and say goodnight to Frumity.

Then she puts on her PJs, plumps her pillows, and waddles off to bed.

Sleepy-sloppy goes her tail... (of course you have to read this part very s.l.o.w.l.y)
And snore goes her head.

I'm sure you & your toddler will love this book as we have. It's one of the few I don't mind reading over and over again. You just can't help yourself from smiling while doing so. Enjoy!

Look What We Can Do

2008-05-17T09:00:00.002-05:00

I can't believe my little girl's hair is finally long enough to do this.

She now has her own pocketbook full of ponytail holders and loves to pick out the color for the day. Just the other day, I wanted to put a pink one in her hair since she was wearing all pink. "No, Mommy, wanna wear purple one. Purple is my favorite." And today she told me, "Know what, Mommy? I'm growing up."
Indeed you are, my precious girl.

A Birthday Bash

2008-05-16T08:00:00.002-05:00

Ella rarely sees either of my sisters' children. In fact, this is the first time she's seen Marna's 4 kids since August! This is mostly due to the fact that they were in Mexico over Christmas and when they returned, 2 them got chicken pox, followed by the flu.

So, I defintely wanted to make it down for Dylan and Kaitlyn's combined birthday party. Kaitlyn was turning 2 and Dylan had just turned 7. And wouldn't you know it, Ella and Kaitlyn are the same size, even though Ella will be 3 next month.

It took awhile, but by the end, Ella and Kaitlyn were giving each other hugs and kisses. And jumping on the trampoline together. And playing in the sandbox. And splashing on the pool steps. It was WAY too cold to actually get in and go swimming. This was 2 weeks ago and the water *may* have been 74 degrees. Of course, Marna's boys got in. I just think boys can do cold better than girls can. But Dylan did put on his flannel PJ's after getting out, though he insisted it was NOT because he was cold.

And I had to thank my sister for making more work for me. As soon as Ella saw Kaitlyn's brightly colored Dora cake, she exclaimed, "Mommy, I want that cake for my birthday, too." Now I have to try to duplicate that. I've made a vow to make all of my children's cakes. Not that I'm much of a cake baker, but it's something special I get to do once a year, so why not? And I always loved my mom's cakes. In fact, I still remember one year (I think I was turning 16) when my mom's cake flopped, so she ran out to buy one. I took one bite of it and knew it wasn't homemade. Thus, my mom was forced to bring out the falling-apart-cake and *that* was the one that got eaten!

Enjoy the sweet pics.

A Great Mother's Day

2008-05-11T18:16:00.007-05:00

I was so surprised to get a corsage at church this morning for the youngest mother. I never considered 31 that young, but apparently at the church we're visiting, it is. It's beautiful-two red roses-and it brought some sunshine to my black dress. :-)
(By the way, Emily, this is one of the dresses you gave me from Abbie and it fits perfectly! So thank you to you both!)

Ella and Icee made me the sweetest card.
Will asked Ella what she wanted to say to me and this is her reply,
"Good morning, Mommy! How are you? Happy Mother's Day, Mommy."
Then Will asked, "What do you think Icee would say?"
After saying some undecipherable words, she finally said, "Bopee."
:-)

We enjoyed some great KFC w/Will's parents and got to see Aunt Joan and Uncle Will when they brought Mama back home from dinner.

Re: this pregnancy, I think my weight has finally started to level off. After gaining 10 lbs. the first trimester, I was getting a little worried, but I haven't put on much more than that since then. And we finally decided (after much prayer and research) on the local midwife. (Well, local, meaning the one that's an hour away.) I've had one official appt. so far and it was great. I go to my first of two required doctor visits in a couple weeks.

I've also had a horrible rash since 12 weeks (which didn't itch, thankfully) all over my stomach, part of my back and my legs, but thankfully the stomach and back part are better. Hopefully the leg part will be better soon too. And the nauseau is gone and I'm getting a bit more energy. So all is going well. Praise the Lord!

Here's my recent belly shot and one of my precious little girl all sweaty from running around!

Those Curls

2008-05-11T08:00:00.001-05:00

There once was a girl who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead.
And when she was good, she was very, very good....

We all know how the rest of it goes, but since it is Mother's Day, I'm just going to reflect on the *good* part.

Swim Time!

2008-05-10T22:55:00.006-05:00

We went swimming today for the first time this year! Let's see...it only took me 20 minutes to get all the way in. Will, of course, just dived right in. But he made me feel better when, after catching his breath, he said, "Wow, it *is* cold." Yeah, that's why I'm going in
s-l-o-w-l-y. Ella only "swam" for part of the time. She had her floaties on but has not gotten the swim motion down and when you're not swimming, you, of course, get cold even more quickly. So then she became our lifeguard. Will wrapped her in towels and put her on a chair right by the steps. After being prompted on what a lifeguard might say, she began shouting things to us like, "No horseplaying!"

I so enjoyed swimming some laps but finally had to get out because I just had to go the bathroom. And you can't get back in the water after you go pee. Okay, maybe it's just me but having to pull a wet bathing suit back up is just not fun. And besides, it was time to eat. And did I mention the water was cold?
77 degrees to be exact.

But still we enjoyed ourselves.
And we're looking forward to going again soon.
Perhaps tomorrow?

Little Mama

2008-04-25T14:58:00.007-05:00

We had a wonderful time w/Em, Jeff, and Benjamin last weekend. Ella just doted on ~~Little Jeffrey~~ Benjamin the whole time; she was truly like a 2nd mama to him. She kept offering him his water bottle, even when he had his paci in his mouth. I'm not sure whether to be excited about this or not. On the one hand, it seems she'll be a good helper when Icee comes, but on the other hand she might try to help too much. I finally had to explain to her that when the baby is finally quiet, you leave him alone! :-)

Ella informed me yesterday that when the baby comes, she'll be the mommy and I'll be the big sister! She already tries to nurse her stuffed animals, so I guess she figures she can nurse the baby too.

And for those of you I haven't told yet, Ella is quite convinced there are AT LEAST 2 babies inside my tummy. Soon after she named the baby Icee, Will asked her if she wanted a brother or sister and she said, "Brother AND sister." The other one's name is Bulldozer and that one's a girl.

So, the other day, when Ella was nursing, I reminded her that when Icee pops out, he'll need lots of milk too. She said, "Icee gets this side, Ella gets this side, Bulldozer waits."
Hmm, somehow I don't think Bulldozer will like that.

Oh, and Will took Ella out fishing again and they caught some more bream and crappie. This time he took the camera.

Enjoy the pics!

Fish Fry!

2008-04-19T19:30:00.006-05:00

Will had a grand time at the mill fishing today. Ella and Laurance went w/him this afternoon and Ella caught her first fish! She helped reel the bream in and Will said she was so excited! Will also caught yellow perch, crappie, and tons more bream.

When they got home, I went out to get Ella and she was fast asleep in her car seat. I tried to gently get her out without waking her and cradled her in my arms. No such luck. She woke up and asked, "Where's Uncle Laurance?"
"He's right there, helping Daddy clean the fish."
She turned to see them and then quickly looked back at me.
"Listen," she said, completely serious, as she grabbed my chin and turned it towards her. "Wanna tell you a story."
"Wanna clean fish by myself when I'm 16."

"Okay, sweetie."

Hope this makes you smile as much as it did me; enjoy your weekend!

Those Cravings!

2008-04-18T14:08:00.005-05:00

Monday night, Will came in from work and met his salivating wife. "I have to go to Olive Garden tonight!"
"That's an hour away!"
"I know, but I've been looking all day at this coupon w/their new meal-Five Cheese Stuffed Rigatoni With Shrimp-and I just have to have it."
Let me tell you, food advertisements really work for pregnant women!

He's still amazed as we head out-"you're really going to drive that far?"
"Yep!"
And turns out, we can make it in about 48 min.

Well, we get there and I suddenly don't know if I want the Shrimp Rigatoni. My usual favorite, Chicken Alfredo suddenly sounds so delicious. What to do? Well, you get both obviously! After all, pregnant women have some leeway. I knew I couldn't eat it all, but also knew Ella and I would have a great lunch the next day.

While I stuff my face w/food-I just can't get enough-Will just smiles, especially when I tell him he's made Baby Icee very happy.
And truly it's the most content I've felt in awhile.

Olive Garden is my favorite restaurant and yet b/c of the drive, we don't get there very often. Even where we used to live, it was a good 40 min. away. So anytime I'm there, especially when I'm pregnant and have been craving it all day, I have a very good time! And can I just say, we can't understand why there's not one in every town. I mean, they're always crowded; it's not like they wouldn't make money if they decided to build one here. Maybe one of these days, we'll move to a town where there is one. (My favorite restaurant for casual fare would be Chick-Fil-A, just in case you're wondering. And that gets hit a lot more often, like once a week!)

I have to admit I felt like quite the hog as our waitress brought out my two huge plates of food. And of course after loading up on their delicious salad and breadsticks, I did have lots to take home.

But don't worry-it all got eaten the very next day! Ella and I enjoyed it for breakfast and lunch! And in case you're wondering, yes! the Shrimp Rigatoni is delicious!

First Mud Puddle

2008-04-11T07:00:00.001-05:00

This was Ella's first time playing in a mud puddle. We just got these boots for her; they're a size too big but no matter to her. She had a ball! By the time she came inside, her pants were actually falling off of her they were so wet, and she had a good 2 inches of water in her boots. But, of course, she wanted to go out again after her bath.

It wasn't really cold that day, but she wanted to wear the hat and mittens-go figure. :-)

Audrey Caroline

2008-04-09T07:00:00.002-05:00

Audrey's story and her family's testimony have had a profound impact on me. I'm sure this little baby will have a mighty legacy and point many people to the Jesus who holds her now. I am praising Him for the 2 hours she had with her parents and sisters, but my heart is aching for the family so much right now. Thank you for upholding them in prayer.

Children's Book Monday

2008-04-07T07:00:00.006-05:00

Quite often these days, Will and I have requests from Ella to tell her stories about when we were a little boy/girl. And it all started with the book I'm reviewing today.

It has been a wonderful time for us to recollect happy childhood memories. For me, I tell her about PirateLand Campground at Myrtle Beach and taking long walks on the beach at sunset w/my parents and sisters. My mom held one hand and my dad held the other. And before they even turned around to head back to our pop-up camper, I was asking to be held. A four-year-old can only walk so much after all. :-)
Or I tell her about being a skating waitress in the rec room along w/my best childhood friend (whose name also happens to be Laura). We would use ping-pong paddles for our order pads and have a blast skating under the shutter doors.

Will, of course, has slightly different stories of playing Cowboys and Indians or eating tons of watermelon with his Baba and swimming in the old pool during the summers they would visit their grandparents' farm.

I hope reading this book with your little one will prompt many childhood stories of your own.

Laura Charlotte
By Kathryn O. Galbraith
Illustrated by Floyd Cooper

It's bedtime and Laura Charlotte can't go to sleep. So she asks her mom to tell her a story, but not just any story. She wants to hear the story of Charlotte.

So her mom begins the story of her 5th birthday when she received her favorite present, an elephant her grandmother had made her from the scraps of her sewing kit.

Laura's mother named her Charlotte because she thought it "was the prettiest name in the whole world." She reminisces about their wagon rides, shared sicknesses, and even scary adventures.

One evening, Charlotte is accidentally left outside and Laura's mom braves the darkness to find her when she misses her from her bed. She finds her but a tragic thing has happened.

"I started to cry. Poor Charlotte had only one ear. Dinah, the cat, had chewed off the other."
"But it didn't matter," Laura said quickly. "Because you still loved her best."
Mama stroked Laura's hair. "No, it didn't matter. I still loved her best. And I sat right beside her while my grandmother sewed on a new flannel ear. We were both very brave."

The story continues to bring everything full circle, back to a little girl named Laura Charlotte who continues to love the little elephant today. And it brings Laura a great appreciation for her Mama, Grandmother, and Great-Grandmother.

Enjoy!

P.S. Please pray today for the Smith family, and especially little Audrey.

Secrets

2008-04-05T08:40:00.007-05:00

We woke up rejoicing today because it's Saturday and Daddy is still here (and not out hunting). This means he's making breakfast. Yum!

So, I ask, "Ella, do you want to have French toast for breakfast?"
Milkie-milk drink first, then French toast.
She begins nursing and then props herself up.
Listen, have a secret for you.
She leans in very close to my face.
Do it byself when 3 or 4.
"You'll make French toast by yourself when you're 3 or 4?"
She nods.
She goes back to nursing and then pops her head up one more time.
Or 5.

Daddy is explaining that in a little over 3 months Ella will turn 3.
Wanna be 3, no.
Wanna be 4.
Then 3.
Then 5.
"Remember, Ella, how we count, 1,2,3,4...see you have to be 3 first then 4."
No! 4 then 3.
"It doesn't work like that, Ella."
Let's check.

And, now, for one of Ella's frequently used words.
Yesternight
"Last night" is not in her vocabulary.
It's always, "Daddy did that yesternight," etc.
It's amazing to me that she came up with that; Will nor I use the word.
As it turns out, she's just kin to Shakespeare.
And how can you correct her?
It's in the dictionary, along w/yestermorning and yesterevening.
And in the Bible too (Gen. 19:34).
So, why don't you try out this "new" word today and see how many funny looks you get?

Please Pray

2008-04-04T13:46:00.003-05:00

Please pray for Audrey Caroline and her family, especially on this Monday, April 7.
To read about the beginning of their journey, go here.

Thank you.

Children's Book Monday

2008-03-31T07:00:00.008-05:00

Bumbletum
By Steve Smallman
Illustrated by Tim Warnes

This is a delightful book for toddlers! Bumbletum is a brand new toy in some lucky child's bedroom. He's "small, soft, and floppy" and his tummy is covered in stripes. When Teddy Bear asks Bumbletum what he can do, he doesn't know. Thus all the toys begin their quest to uncover Bumbletum's talent.

Milly Mouse says, "You look like a mouse." "Can you squeak like this?" Milly pushes her tummy and squeaks. But no matter how much Milly tries to make Bumbletum's tummy squeak, it just doesn't work. Then other toys take their guesses at what his special talent might be. Bumbletum finally becomes discouraged and says, "I must be a 'doesn't really do anything kind of toy.'"

Thankfully, one more toy has a plan. And as a result of this plan-turned-disaster Bumbletum discovers that he can do something important for others and rejoices, for he is "very, very special indeed!"

The pictures are so true-to-life, you'll feel like all the toys are your immediate friends. Ella requests this one again and again-in fact, I've renewed it 3 times and unfortunately have to turn it in this week. But that's great news for someone else! Enjoy!

The Nursery

2008-03-29T15:38:00.006-05:00

I recently went to a consignment sale in town and found this photo/memo board with the most ADORABLE fabric on it. It's a great vintage zoo theme. Immediately I knew this is how I wanted to decorate Icee's room. It's perfect for a boy or girl. The only problem is where to find more fabric like this??? I'm going on the hunt this coming week to fabric stores in town, hoping and praying I'll find some more. I've already scoured the internet for it w/no luck. I'd like to have the crib bumper made from this fabric and I'll just use Ella's old crib skirt w/it (it's red/white gingham, so it should look great w/this.) I'm planning on asking the very artistic Abbie to paint a mural for me on one wall (giraffes, lions, etc) to complete the look. And I'm thinking we'll paint the walls a pale or medium shade of yellow.

For those of you who frequent fabric stores, please let me know if you see this-thanks!

Easter at the Lake

2008-03-28T09:00:00.001-05:00

Saturday after the reunion, we went to the lake to spend the night w/my mom and step-dad. Ella had been looking forward to it for weeks. We went to church w/them on Sunday (I'm so excited they have a church they both enjoy going to!) and heard a wonderful cantata about our risen Christ.

During the service they also had a movie playing of Christ's ministry, and it just amazed me that when it came time for His crucifixion, no one spoke up for Him. He had healed so many, yet, everyone continued to shout "Release, Barabbas." For some reason, I had never thought about this before. Will and I talked about it later and he said he was thinking the same thing, but we had to remember that this was in Jerusalem and most of His ministry had been in surrounding cities. Word also traveled slowly in those days-it wasn't like everyone knew right away that He was being crucified. And of course I know this was God's divine plan. Even if people had tried to intervene, it would have proven useless. It just makes me more grateful for my Savior. He knew when He was healing all those people and especially when he was teaching his disciples, that they would all desert him, yet he did it anyway. And He suffered alone there for me. Unfathomable love.

Mom cooked a wonderful meal for us-ham, butterbeans (cooked in fatback-absolutely delicious but glad I don't eat that way everyday!), corn, mashed potatoes, rolls, and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Yum! Then we dyed and hid eggs and Ella had the best time.
Now you hide them, Mommy. Now Daddy. Now Grandma and Grandpa.
Sometimes she wanted to hide them with us. :-) Once she even hid them from me-in one spot-all lined up in a perfect row.

Lastly, we went on a very relaxing boat ride and Ella fell asleep in my arms (kind of tricky since she had a life jacket on-poor thing-she could hardley move w/out rolling off!). I even took a brief nap as well. And Will said again as we were driving home how much he'd love to live there. Of course, he'd be out fishing everyday.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter celebration as well-we definitely have reason to rejoice, for "He is not here; He has risen just as He said."

10-Year College Reunion

2008-03-26T11:12:00.008-05:00

It makes me feel very old to write the above title, but it is interesting that I could easily recognize most people at the reunion-I guess 10 years doesn't change you as much as you'd think. We got there a little late since we met w/my midwife first but people were still in line to eat, so we didn't miss much. It was held at the new pavilion-the roof of which was taken from the old gymnasium. They have basketball hoops there too-pretty cool.

I really enjoyed catching up w/ Sarah M., Joy, and Susanna the most, as I haven't spoken w/them since graduation. Sarah is still teaching in Puerto Rico, Joy is Editor for Kids 4 Truth, and Susanna is working full time at the Bill Rice Ranch. Of course, I also spent lots of time w/Tammi and Sarah H., but I do get to see them more frequently.

Ella had a blast playing w/Sarah's daughter Hailey. She even got her face painted (for the first time) and sat perfectly still for it (quite a feat for a toddler!). There were two sad parts to the reunion. One, of course, was telling everyone good-bye, knowing that you would not see the majority of them for another 10 years. (But Joy McCarnan did do a great job w/the memory books, so at least I can have a way to keep in touch w/many of my classmates now.) And then there was Ella's balloon. She got a red butterfly balloon and loved it. When we were talking w/Sarah H, she said suddenly, "Laura, isn't that Ella? She's running across the field." She was going as fast as her little legs could carry her, for her balloon had blown away (it was awfully windy that day). Will ran after her, scooped her up, and tried finding the balloon (which had now blown to the next soccer field). As soon as they spotted it, they saw it POP and Will said Ella cried, "No! No!" Oh, my pitiful child. Thankfully, she recovered after a few minutes.

We toured the new gym before we left-it's really something. I would have loved an indoor track when I was there! And we spoke w/Anna Grace who currently works on campus w/her husband, and she said many good changes have taken place there since we left. Stephen Jones seems to be doing a great job.

Letisha, I'm sorry you didn't get to go-I hope you'll get your memory book soon and that you'll enjoy these pics. Sorry I didn't take more; I realized about half-way through that my camera was still in the car!

Rejoicing!

2008-03-24T20:09:00.010-05:00

We met with my midwife in Greenville on Saturday and she was able to pick up the baby's heartbeat. Praise the Lord! You don't know how relieved that makes me. And as far as we can tell, there seems to be just one in there :-).

The heart rate was in the 160's. So if it continues to be that throughout the pregnancy, I won't be stocking up on any blue outfits.

I know of many who had a boy and the heart rate started out at 160's but throughout the pregnancy it fluctuated (150's, 140's, etc). BUT I think that old wive's tale proves true IF it is consistent throughout the pregnancy. In other words, if the baby's heart rate is consistenly in the 160's, you're most likely having a girl, and consistently in the 140's, a boy. 150's is anybody's guess. That's my theory anyway. Ella was in the 160's from 13 weeks until 5 min. before I pushed her out.
So....we'll see.

And here's my updated pic at 12 weeks. I've currently gained 7.5 lbs and you know what? It's really okay. I'm working out (3 days a week) and trying to eat healthy, so that's all I can do.

And by the way, I swear I've already felt our little one move several times (starting last week). Have any of you felt movement that early?

I'll post soon about my college reunion and our great Easter at the lake.

Cousins

2008-03-02T21:21:00.005-05:00

Ella and Jonathan (he turned 9 months yesterday) had a grand time Saturday. Kimberly and I took them both in the wagon for awhile, but Ella got out after only a short ride and opted to walk with us. She said Jonathan was "too heavy" leaning on her. (He's 19 lbs; she's 26).

So Relieved!

2008-02-26T21:26:00.007-05:00

I am thanking God again and again because I was finally able to hear from my midwife this evening. I emailed her 2 weeks ago and then called her and left a message w/her receptionist last week but still heard nothing. I started rereading over my email-did I say something to offend her or was she just extremely busy? Thankfully it was the latter. She's delivered 10 babies in 2 weeks, so needless to say she's been sleep-deprived and way behind on emails and calls. She put my mind at ease re: the whole crazy weight gain/bloating thing. She said she's had lots of moms to call in w/their 2nd pregnancy saying, "I must be having twins; I'm huge already." But she said that just happens to some people w/their 2nd (or 3rd)-and it's usually not twins. Also, she said w/my temps being lower at the beg. of January, I'm probably not further along. And the best news of all-she said she'd try to see me the Sat. we're up that way for my 10 year college reunion (I'm getting old!) I'm ever so glad; I'll be one day shy of 12 weeks then and am hoping we'll hear a heartbeat!

We talked a little bit about the logistics of having her as my midwife again-it is almost a 3 hour drive but she said she'd be willing to see us on Fridays (she's off on Fridays) since that is when Will could get off work early to drive me there. (I really don't like driving "long" distances by myself. I know to some of you-like Letisha-3 hours is like 30 minutes, but for me, it's long.) Obviously if I choose to go w/her, I'll have to leave at my first contraction to make sure I make it in time. With Ella I got there at 8 cm. dilated (but only had to drive 30 min. that time.) Which reminds me...I need to post Ella's birth story soon.

I plan on going w/Kimberly to see her midwife this week or next. (No, Kimberly's not pregnant; she just wants to visit her and let her see how much Jonathan has grown.) Amy recommends her too-it's just hard to switch when you so like your current midwife. And I guess my story's a little strange-most people don't bond that much with their midwife/doctor but Amy's been so much more. She runs a birthing and family wellness center so she saw Ella for well baby visits up until we moved. Any time I had questions (like the time I thought Ella had swallowed one of my B-complex vitamins), I could beep her day or night and she'd call me right back. Then there was this time that I was so thankful I had Amy. So, you see, she's more than just my midwife, she's a dear family friend. As of now, she doesn't think she could do a homebirth for me (which is what I really want) b/c she no longer has Dr. Artis's help. (She was needed back at the hospital; they had a shortage.) Perhaps she'll have help again by October and then she may be able to do it. Otherwise it would be at a birthing center again. Which is not bad at all, just not my home. Lisa, Kimberly's midwife, may be willing to do a homebirth, so I'll ask her about that. She just opened up this birthing center though, so she's moving away from homebirths.

So, all this to say, I'd appreciate your prayers as we try to make a decision in the next few weeks. Thank you all for your encouragement.

We Have Eggs!

2008-02-18T20:47:00.005-05:00

How delighted we were to find 3 eggs in the chicken house today! Penny is now offically laying again. These first eggs were more oblong than round-interesting. Hopefully she'll be making lots more soon. (Peepers doesn't seem to lay eggs; the previous owners said she laid only one egg one time.)

I Spoke Too Soon

2008-02-15T15:40:00.007-05:00

Remember how I said my bloating was better? Well, that lasted for about a day. It never completely went away, but I had some relief. Now I'm back to using a rubberband just so I can wear my jeans. I've even worn maternity pants out in public twice. Yes, you read that right. I simply CANNOT fit into my clothes anymore. And in case you need reminding, I'm only 6.5 weeks along.

I found some forums online where women have said things like, "Help me-I'm 6 weeks and look like 6 months!" Other women commented-"Been there before-it's okay-it will either a.) go away in a few weeks or b.) at least not get much worse. " One woman said she looked like 6 months around 9 weeks along but that when she truly was 6 months, she wasn't much bigger. Well, that's a relief. If my stomach keeps growing at this rate, I truly will pop by the time 6 months rolls around.

And lest you think I'm exaggerating, here's proof.

I'm not doing a lot of rejoicing over here-I stepped on the scale to find I'd already gained 4 lbs. Of what? My little lentil bean doesn't even weigh an ounce yet. Am I retaining water (even though I'm peeing quite frequently?) is it just gas (even though...okay you get the point). And no, I am not overindulging myself in sweets, etc. So, for now, I wait. Since I know there have been others to go through this (even though I don't know any personally), I'm not panicked, just a little bit upset.

I had the perfect pregnancy w/Ella-and was SOOOO looking forward to the actual pregnancy part again (the baby afterwards, of course, but some women really hate the pregnancy part-I loved it.) But I'm not enjoying this one. And I don't feel connected yet to this baby. Part of it may be my heart not letting me get connected until I know everything's okay.

And it's hard to enjoy the pregnancy when you just feel so fatandyucky. I'm okay feeling that way at 8 months, not now. And let me just add-if I was truly 4 months along and this was truly the baby showing on me, I'd be delighted and happily wearing my maternity clothes. But, alas, I can't even say I'm in my 3rd month yet. (And, by the way, I can't wait until I am officially 9 weeks, so I can say, "I'm in my 3rd month" if anyone asks. I figure I'll leave fewer mouths agape if I say that than if I say, "I'm only 9 weeks-isn't my growing tummy just beautiful?")

And lest you fear, I am still grateful for what I think is a baby growing inside me. My mom recently asked, "Laura, what if it's a tumor?" Thanks, Mom, I needed to add that to my list of worries. But no, I've taken 2 pregnancy tests and still haven't started my period-pretty sure it's a baby. Some ladies that I spoke with at MOPS yesterday said, "That's just how it is w/your 2nd-you show much more quickly." And technically this is my 3rd-but still w/Ella, I didn't need maternity clothes until 14 weeks. That's actually early for some to wear them, but I attribute that to the fact that one, I am short and my tummy has no where to go but out and two, I had indeed been pregnant before, and even though it didn't last, my uterus still knew what it meant to expand.

Here's the clincher though-if I go from wearing maternity clothes at 14 weeks w/Ella to 6 weeks with this one, then if I ever get pregnant again, I will have to start wearing them two weeks before the baby is conceived. Just thought I'd give you a heads-up.

So, my current plan is to go buy lots of cute (do those exist?) sweatpants and long shirts and wear them everywhere (not sure what to do about church attire yet). I figure if I curl my hair and make it look ever so pretty, maybe no one will notice my tummy and ask the dreaded question, "So, when are you due, dear?"

Favorite Dessert

2008-02-07T15:08:00.000-05:00

Okay, right now (at this exact moment), I'm not craving this dessert. Anything chocolate, yes. Tomorrow, however, I may have to make a trip into town for the necessary ingredients. If you enjoy banana pudding, I think you'll like this even more. It takes a little longer than the 15 min. prep time the recipe states (I don't know about you, but it takes me that long just to find and get everything out of my pantry and fridge!) but it's totally worth it! And a heads-up, the cream cheese needs to be softened and the whipped topping thawed-I always forget that part. The picture is from the magazine (Kraft Foods) where I got this recipe. It's free to subscribe.

Banana Split Cake
Prep: 15 min (or if you're like me, 45 min.)
Refrigerating time: 5 hours
Total time: Plan on 6 hours

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (I personally think that buying the crackers and then crushing them w/a rolling pin-or allowing Ella too-is much more fun and tastes bettter than buying the ready-made crumbs in the box)

1 1/4 cups sugar, divided

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

2 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened (neufchatel cheese, which has 1/3 less fat than regular cream cheese, works great, too.)

1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple, drained

6 medium bananas, divided

2 cups milk (I'm pretty sure I usually use skim milk-I'm telling you even if you make this as "healthy" for you as possible, it will still taste delicious!)

2 pkg. (4-serving size each) vanilla flavor instant pudding & pie filling (fat-free, sugar-free kind if you like)

2 cups thawed whipped topping, divided

1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Mix crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup butter; press onto bottom of 13x9 pan. Freeze for 10 min.

Beat cream cheese and remaining 1 cup sugar in bowl w/electric mixer until well blended. Carefuly spread cream cheese mixture over crust; top w/pineapple. Slice 4 of the bannas; arrange over pineapple.

Pour milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mixes. Beat w/wire whisk for 2 min. or until well blended. Stir in 1 cup whipped topping; spread over banana layer in pan. Top w/remaining whipped topping. Lastly, sprinkle w/pecans.

Refrigerate 5 hours. Just before serving, slice remaining bananas; arrange over dessert. Makes approximately 24 servings. YUMMY!

Feeling Normal Again

2008-02-06T14:44:00.000-05:00

Monday and Tuesday I felt like I was carrying around four or five bricks in my stomach-no joke. I felt 9 months pregnant (looked at least 3) and had gas, belching, indigestion, cramping. Ugghh-it was awful. I was worried at first (b/c of the cramping-sometimes it really hurt, most of the times, a dull ache-but never on just one side) but I didn't have any spotting at all. I'm only 5.5 weeks and it's questionable if a heartbeat would be detected on an ultrasound right now, so I thought it pointless to go to a new doc. Instead I opted to pray w/my hubby, rest (as much as is possible w/an active 2 year old), and forgo my exercise for a couple days.

"Chase me, Mommy." Jog? Are you kidding? I couldn't even walk at a normal rate. I was holding my tummy like a lady ready to go in labor. Not so much b/c of pain but b/c of the pressure and ever.so.full.feeling. But praise the Lord, this morning, I woke up and felt immensely better (only 1-2 bricks now). And I SOOOO enjoyed my lunch today (baked potato w/cheese, butter, sour cream, bacon crumbles, and taco meat [venison, of course]). That last part may sound weird, but that MADE the potato, let me tell you. :-) And I even worked out-still can't jog yet, just a nice walk, not even that brisk, but enough for now.

I was encouraged by Elise's comment when I checked my blog yesterday-to be thankful for every pregnancy symptom-my problem was I had none of these feelings w/Ella (at least not all at the same time), so it got me worried. I've heard every pregnancy is different-now I know.

So, I'm more hopeful that everything's okay. I'm considering scheduling an ultrasound around 8 weeks to hear the heartbeat, Lord willing, but that will mean a new doctor (and telling? the doctor, "No I really don't plan on using you, I just want this ultrasound for my peace of mind.") Not sure that will go over well. Not to mention everything's out of pocket this time (have health insurance but no maternity coverage). Then there's the question of should I have an ultrasound when it's not medically necessary? I did w/Ella-twice (1st time to put my mind at ease at 8 wks, 2nd time to find out the sex around 20 weeks)-but am now rethinking the subject. Sooo.....still not sure about that 8 week ultrasound. I might just have to be patient and wait until the midwife I choose (please pray for wisdom) can detect the heartbeat w/her doppler at around 12 weeks.

By the way, our baby's name, while in utero, is Icee. Do you like it? Ella thought of it all by herself. And "his" EDD is Oct. 6. This morning Ella kissed my tummy and said, "Feel better, Icee. Get prize. Milk prize."
Then to me, "Icee pops out, gets milk prize. First this side, then that side." :-)

Hopefully soon, I'll get around to posting some recipes, since Liz and Emily have done their fair share for awhile.

I'll probably post a dessert first....
:-)

11 Months

2008-01-30T11:35:00.000-05:00

Eleven months ago, Will and I started trying for a baby brother or sister for our dear Ella. I was sure it would happen fast-definitely within the first 3 months of trying. I suppose that's because we weren't trying for our first (I conceived our Glory Baby 3 months after we married), and we weren't trying for Ella (we had decided to wait until Dec. to try; she was conceived in October). So needless to say, I knew nothing of the struggles of infertility-or in the case now-secondary infertility. I would hear prayer requests at our Bible Study class-please pray for us to conceive-and I would, but I knew nothing of their pain. Now I can say I at least know a little of what it's like to be so disappointed month after month, to leave the bathroom with tears streaming down, knowing once again, your womb is empty. And one of the hardest things was knowing that as each month passed, Ella was going to be that much older than her sibling.

Last month, after starting again, I cried out to God. It went something like this, "God, obviously I can't do this; we've tried and tried at what I thought were all the right times. This is not going to happen unless You desire it. Only You are the Creator of life. Please open my womb again." That was my first step in surrendering.

Then this past Saturday, I was driving to a nearby town with Ella in the back seat and the tears started flowing. I had been taking my temps and saw that they were falling some right before my period was to start and knew, yet again, it wasn't going to be this month. So inwardly I cried out, asking "God, why? Why don't you want me to have another one? Don't you want a sibling for Ella? Isn't that a good thing?" And then I heard Him so clearly. "Beloved, will it be okay if all I grant you is Ella? Will you still trust that I know best if I give you no more children?" And I hesitated. And cried. And looked back at my angel through the rear view mirror. And finally,through many tears, said, "Okay, God. You know best. I will trust you."

Sunday came-the dreaded day-and I was prepared-not happy-but prepared that there would be other months to try and that God was in control. But Sunday came and went. Still I didn't have high hopes. I had been late before. Monday came and went. I did notice my temps were going back up again. And so, yesterday, I took a test. And there was much rejoicing in my bathroom, let me tell you! Much praising to my God, my Lord, who had heard my cry even before my last surrender-but He had wanted that surrender, I am sure.

Ella was the first to find out. When I told her, at first she looked a little confused and questioned, "Ella's Mommy?" I said yes, and then she kissed my tummy and said, "Love tiny baby." I had already decided months and months ago (like last March) how I was going to tell Will whenever it happened; I purchased a shirt for Ella that said, "I'm the Big Sister." When he arrived home from work yesterday, she had it on and said, "Look Daddy; new shirt." He looked at it and said, "But who are you the big sister to?" Then he stared at me incredulously; "You're pregnant?" "Yes," I shouted and he picked me up in his arms for a spin around the kitchen.

And, of course, I had to take another test this morning, just to be sure. Once again, the plus sign came across the screen so clear.

We are rejoicing here, friends. And I want to thank all of you for your prayers. Please continue to pray for our little one's safety. It's hard not to worry after having a miscarriage, but I'm trying to just focus on now. For now, I am pregnant. God has heard my cry. There is a tiny life inside me. And I am ever so glad.

And for my friends who are still trying, please know that I am continuing in my prayers for you.

Here's the proud big sister.

Hats Aren't Just for Your Head!

2008-01-28T09:40:00.001-05:00

Ella just started doing this a few weeks ago-she makes "beds" for her animals and then covers them up w/another hat, so they won't be cold. Pretty cute, huh?

I LOVE THIS SHIRT!

2008-01-27T16:25:00.000-05:00

But I don't want to pay $22.99 for it; instead, I'll just say it to the person who gives me that "How could you!" look. Actually, since Ella nurses only in the morning and at night (w/the occasional midday snack), I guess I'll have to wait until the next one comes along to vent my feelings out loud.

Though in the past week, I've had quite a few stares from people THINKING I was nursing her in a restaurant. She just wanted to be cradled. Why are people so nosy?

There are other cute shirts as well, such as, "Breasts: Not just for selling cars anymore."

Or "Try eating with a blanket over your head!"

Going back to having another baby (no, not yet-please keep praying), I was talking to Ella about it today and said "When another baby comes, he's going to drink mommy's milk and that will be okay, right?" She said, "Daddy be here; hold Ella." Awww, so sweet but completely unexpected. I figured her response would be "Ella drink milk too." Guess we'll just have to see-that's a long way off, and I'm just taking one day at a time with extended nursing.

Okay, I think I've made history-2 posts in one day-pretty good considering my normal is 2 per month. :-)

The Business of Being Born

2008-01-27T13:53:00.000-05:00

Have you heard about this film? Producer Ricki Lake made this documentary in order to emphasize a woman's right to make an informed choice about her birth. It shows many home births including Ricki's 2nd birth (her son Owen is now 6). Kudos to her for asking the hard questions, such as why the US is 2nd in infant mortality rate in the developed world?

The medical profession has convinced woman that they don't know how to birth. It's no longer thought of as an empowering experience. Everywhere else in the world, births are attended by midwives; why not here? I believe it's true that many times "medical decisions are made for monetary and legal reasons, not because they're good for the mother or the baby." That's why it's so important for every expectant mom to at least have a birthing plan written out. I'm so thankful for my natural birth at a birthing center (maybe by the time Ella's 3, I'll get around to posting my birth story!), and am planning on a home birth should I be blessed with another one.

I wish they were having a screening of this movie in my state-I'd go in a heartbeat.

Silly Songs

2008-01-11T13:48:00.000-05:00

"Look, Marlo, Goodnight."
Ella says this to our dog as he walks beside her wagon-our faithful companion on our trips to the mailbox.
"See Marlo." "Goodnight." "New CD."

The CD is actually Laurie Berkner's, Victor Vito and we absolutely love it. Will thinks I enjoy it even more than Ella and he's probably right-it's a nice respite from BOZ and Frosty.
Goodnight is Ella's favorite, and a close second is Froggie Went a-Courtin.' She can do the "Uh-huh" parts very well. And I love dancing to it.

If you love silly songs and the guitar, you should check it out. You can hear a preview of all the songs on the CD if you scroll down on the Amazon page. Emmie, you've got to preview her Goldfish song. Laurie talks some in this song and I think she sounds like you (plus I can just see you making up a silly song like this!)

Other news-I went to my first MOPS meeting yesterday. This is one step in getting some much needed fellowship. It's hard to say much about "connecting" from just one meeting, but there are 2 more opportunities to get to know the ladies in a smaller group setting (Girl's Night Out and Mommy & Me Time) before the next official meeting, so I'm planning on going to those.

Thank you all for your prayers for a church family for us. We're still visiting and this Sunday plan to go to a Bible Fellowship class at one church we've visited several times. Please pray Ella will be willing to go to the nursery-she's been sitting w/us in church but for a small class, I know it would be best to be sans baby. Please pray she'll cooperate. I just cannot leave her bawling for me in a strange place. MOPS was doable only b/c Aunt Barbara is the childcare coordinator and took Ella-she still cried, but not as bad as she would have had I left her w/someone she didn't know.

Christmas Highlights

2008-01-01T17:30:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve, Will & I celebrated our 8th anniversary at home w/our precious daughter. For Christmas, Laurance & Kimberly gave us a gift card to Logan's and an offer to keep Ella so we could celebrate later by ourselves. How sweet!

Christmas morning, Ella was so excited to find her presents under the tree! When opening each one, she'd gasp in amazement. And this year, she could actually unwrap the gifts herself. Ella received her beloved Katie and Emma books, a Radio flyer wagon, and Raggedy Ann & Andy dolls. We got the ATW wagon w/the wood stake sides and it does wonderfully on our dirt road. She also received many other items from her relatives-enough to last her for several years, I think.

After a great breakfast, we left for our trip to the lake to have Christmas dinner w/Mom & Ken. Ella was also able to see her Mema for a little while and my sisters Karen & Donna, and Donna's 3 kids. Kenny & I took Ella for a short ride in Kenny's garden wagon and she loved it. Mom read her Dimity Duck and Kenny read her Room for a Little One: A Christmas Tale (both highly recommended). One of the gifts Ella got from her Ganma and Ganpa was a dry erase board. She drew an "E" on it all by herself and of course I have the pic to prove it. :-) My other sister Marna went to Mexico to visit her husband's family, so we're having a late Christmas get together for her this coming weekend. That's when I'll see my dad too.

When we arrived back home, I greatly enjoyed making Christmas cookies w/my Little Helper. She helped me roll the dough, cut the shapes, and put the sprinkles on (her favorite part). And I loved seeing the flour on her sleeves and face.

We had our get together at Mama's on Friday night and I know Mom enjoyed having her newest grandson there. Mama got her waffle iron and Ella got a play-doh set from Mama-yay! She's been playing w/it every day! Laurance & Emily entertained us w/music and all the kiddos were great. Some even took naps (not mine, of course.)

Now I interrupt this Christmas summary to let you in on Ella's latest "conversations."

Ella: "Mandy tickles, tickled arm, right arm."
Me: "She tickled your right arm?" "Which one is that?"
And she pointed to the correct one.

Me: (To chickens), "Night-night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite."
Me: (To dogs) "Night-Night."
Ella continues: "Sleep tight."
(Thinking hard about what comes next)
"Bugs get you!"

Ella's prayers every night: Granpa, Granma (she's says this twice, so I'm assuming it's to cover both sets?), Mama, Taylor, Laura, Play Play-doh...and just recently, "Broder, Sister" :-)

Ella was amazingly gentle w/her cousin "Ben-jin" which gives me great hope for when we have another one. She handed her Aunt "Em-ly" wipes and diapers and lovingly patted Benjamin's head.

It was wonderfully refreshing to spend time w/Em and Jeff-I just wish we lived closer to each other. After they left, Will & I said that if they do ever move to NC, we may just have to join them. Em and I have even more in common now that we're both Moms, and it was so nice to hear someone else say, "Yes, I've thought that, done that too, etc." And they read more books than anyone I know. It's just refreshing to be around people who are not only constantly learning but also putting into practice things they've learned and who you know are truly seeking to glorify God. I greatly respect my sister-in-law and her hubby-they're friends first, relatives second. We can discuss anything and everything-there aren't many people with whom that comes naturally. And of course, as Em says, we can also be complete dorks around each other. :-)

Today, my maid of honor and her hubby left after spending one night w/us. It was so wonderful to catch up w/her and she also sharpens me as "iron sharpeneth iron." But of course that doesn't always feel good. It's much easier, isn't it, when someone just agrees w/you rather than telling you that you're wrong about something and/or you need to change something. As her hubby said, "God never said it was going to feel good to be changed into His image. Iron sharpening iron, gold being refined in the fire, the clay being fashioned by the potter's hands. Those aren't things that feel good, but they are necessary if we're to grow more like Christ."

One struggle Will and I have been having is w/church. Basically we don't have one yet. And visiting is getting old. I'm reading The Purpose Driven Life right now and just finished the "Place to Belong" chapter. That's so what we want and so what we don't have. God designed us for fellowship and we're not getting it. My problem is looking for the perfect church, though now I'd settle for a church which had 70% of what I'm looking for. But as Rick Warrren says in his book,

"God wants you to love real people, not ideal people. You can spend a lifetime searching for the perfect church, but you will never find it. You are called to love imperfect sinners, just as God does."

So now Will & I are actually praying together about the church God would have us in and trusting that He will direct us soon because afterall He desires it. As Sarah said, "It's amazing how much time we spend talking about our problems to each other, but we don't spend even half that time praying about them to God."

So, the best Christmas presents I received this year were several brain facials from my dear family & friends. I'm very thankful.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as well and...Happy New Year!

Things That Make Me Smile

2007-12-20T14:35:00.000-05:00

Ella: "Pet Spunky." "No." (Very sad look on her face)
Mommy: "Why couldn't you pet Spunky, sweetie?" "Did he run away?"
Ella: "No." "Walk 'way."

Whenever we're in the kitchen for an exteded period of time, I will no doubt hear this request at least half a dozen times, "Hear Frosty Snowman? Peeze..."

Ella's rendition goes something like this,
"Frosty Snowman."
"Happy, Jolly So."
...."Butt Nose"
"Two Eyes".."Cold"

She loves high stepping it when the "Thumpity, Thump, Thump" part comes on. And she sings the last part perfectly on tune, "Back 'Gain Someday!" She'll often repeat that line, and then add, "Frosty Snowman said!"

Last night, she was looking at a Charlie Brown book and wanted to know the name of one of the characters. I didn't know. So she said,
"Show Daddy."
"Might know."

Trying to lift the radio to take into the kitchen:
"Too heavy." "Grownup do it."
"Baby grownup yet."(shakes head).
"Help Mommy though."

As we came into the kitchen,
"Ella big girl."
"Taylor big girl."
"Laura big girl."
"Mommy grown up."
"Daddy big boy."

Will wasn't too trilled when I told him that. BTW for those who don't know, Taylor and Laura are Ella's cousins. Taylor is 9; Laura is 7.

We were getting read to go to Mama's yesterday for a little get-together.
"See Taylor?" she asked.
"I don't think Taylor will be there, sweetie."
"Maybe so," she says.
When we made it to the dirt road at Mama's, she said, "Out. Dirt road," and I helped her move up front w/me. Soon, we saw the horse and I said, "Oh no, we forgot Sir's food!" Ella immediately turned towards Sir and yelled, "Sorry, Sir!"

BTW, Taylor and Cody were there and they all had a ball discovering forts and playing Cowboys and Indians. And Grandma was the star of the show. But Ella did miss Laura and kept saying, "Taylor here, Laura no."

I told Ella this morning that the pancakes were still a little hot, so she needed to wait a minute before eating them. Instead she immediately took a bite and then followed with,
"Hot!"
"Mommy told you baby."
"Too hot baby."

And since she hasn't quite learned how talk using negatives, if she tries something she doesn't like (or even if she thinks she might not like it), she'll shake her head vehemently, arch her back, and through gritted teeth say, "Like that!"

Lastly, for all you BOZ fans out there, Ella loves to greet me in the morning with,
"Wake up!" "Time rise!" "Prise!" "New Day!"

(Please tell me I'm not the only Mommy who knows all the words to Boz's Treehouse Tunes...)

I hope all of you are having a blessed holiday season. We're looking forward to Emily and Jeff's visit (and of course finally meeting our newest nephew!) and also seeing my dear friend Sarah and her husband who will be coming down from VA for New Year's Eve. We'll also be going to visit my folks whom I haven't seen since August. I apologize for not getting out Christmas cards this year-hopefully we'll be all settled and more organized next year!

The Best Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T14:32:00.000-05:00

We had such a glorious time yesterday. It was our first Thanksgiving where we had family over and it was wonderful. We figured that if we're going to be cooking turkey anyway, we might as well have others over to share it with us. And for the first time, we actually live close enough for family to take us up on the offer. Mom, Dad, Mama, Laurance, Kimberly, and Jonathan joined us for a delicious Thanksgiving feast. What a treat! Ma-Ma had been telling us for weeks now that she wanted to see our new place, and we're so glad she was feeling up to the trip. We made turkey, dressing, giblet gravy, mashed potatoes, rolls, and brownies; Kimberly brought delicious green bean casserole, and Mom brought yummy sweet potato and squash casserole, as well as potato salad and pecan pie. We did the turkey in a bag for the first time and thought it was our best one-much more moist than our previous 2 years. And it was our first attempt at making homemade mashed potatoes w/the skins left on-we used the red potatoes and it turned out great. Our hopes of making a homemade pumpkin pie (using a small sugar pumpkin) were dashed due to time constraints, but we're hoping to attempt it this weekend.

During dinner, Mom broke out singing a couple songs including "I'll fly away" and we all joined in. I think that was my favorite part; a spontaneous, joy-filled family sing-a-long. And I loved not having to feel like I had to impress-they saw our bare walls and sparse furniture and still thought we had a lovely place. Ella gobbled up Mama's attention, especially when she fed her ice cream, and she thoroughly enjoyed Mom pushing her on her swing and Kimberly's chasing her all over the yard. "Imly, Chase Ella!" she'd say over and over. Jonathan was a little angel-he even got a nap in and we all managed to just barely fit around our table (though we did move it into the dining room to have a bit more room). Will showed off his new toys (I mean farm equipment)-namely his 1962 red Massey Ferguson tractor, disk harrow, bush hog, and trailer (all bought used and for a great price), and Dad advised us on starting our own Pick-Your-Own garden for next year. :-)

They all left around 4:30 and then Will, Ella, and I hung out on the hammock for some snuggle time and even had Mandy and Marlo join us. Until Marlo breathed too heavily in Will's face-then they had to snuggle together some place else. And yesterday was a 1st for our little girl. She petted both dogs on her own and she repeated it today. So maybe my goal of her not running away if the animals get too close will be accomplished afterall. We ended our day by watching We are Marshall. Speaking of movies, a recent favorite of ours is Amazing Grace,the true story of William Wilberforce and his tireless fight to end British slave trade.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well. Indeed, we have much to be thankful for. Children who delight us, family and friends who encourage us, spouses who continue to love us, and our Savior, who loves us most of all.

Big Girl!

2007-11-14T23:52:00.000-05:00

Ella dressed up as Raggedy Ann for Halloween this year and was ever so cute! We went to the Fall Festival at the church we've been visiting-she was a little overwhelmed w/all the people but had fun playing a few games and of course winning candy! She caught us off guard by saying she wanted a "lollipop" the next morning b/c neither Will nor I call it that-we say sucker. But we remembered that one of the game helpers had said "Would you like a lollipop?" after she played a game and it obviously stuck w/her. She doesn't miss a thing!

Ella just amazes us all the time. She knows so many words-headache (Daddy gets these a lot), hammock, eBay (I've been addicted lately!), etc. And if you ever tell her she'll get hurt if she does such-an-such so she better not do it, she'll ask "Cry?" And we'll say, "Yes, Ella, you'll get hurt and cry." To which she responds, "Uh-uh, Big Girl!" If you try to convince her that sometimes even big girls cry, she won't buy it. We "blame" this on Ms. Julia, one of Ma-ma's nurses, who has told Ella before, "Big girls don't cry."

She can tell you her night-time schedule-"bath, milk, read book, brush teeth, night-night." She loves for us to pray w/her too and even has said her own prayer. Her first was "Thank you Ma-ma home." How precious is that! I tell you there's nothing sweeter than hearing your child say "Jesus" or as she says, "De-sus."

She has 2 new favorite books: Emma's Lamb and My Cousin Katie. Go check them out at your library! Ella LOVES THEM-I must read both of them at least once a day and I'm thinking we might just go ahead and buy them for her for Christmas.

And for over a month now, Ella has been diaper-free! Yippee! She was only wearing them for naps and night-time but now she is strictly a "panties girl." I just decided when I got down to 3 diapers that I didn't want to buy anymore so I told her, "Ella, you're a big girl now, and big girls don't wear diapers at night." And, "If you have to go tee-tee, you have to get out of bed and go to the potty. We don't tee-tee in our panties, do we?" "Uh-Uh!"
Her diapers were never very wet come morning anyway, so the transition was smooth. She still nurses at night, but we just make sure she goes potty before going to bed and occasionally she has woken up and gone to the potty at night. And she uses the big potty now. Her old potty chair has turned into a step-stool which helps her reach it. Less mess for Mommy-yay!

Also, Ella now uses adult toothpaste (yes, it's safe for kids 2 and up) and knows to spit it out. We like this b/c now we feel like we're finally preventing cavities (since it has flouride) and it's cheaper!

Now more of Ella's antics. Ever since Ella was a baby, if I couldn't find something, I'd make a game out of it. "Brush," I'd ask, "Where are you?" as I walked from room to room looking for it. Now she's caught on. If I'm in another room in the house, I'll hear, "Mommy, R you?" If we're outside playing, "Dump truck, R you?"
And when I'm pushing her on her swing (which we finally! got up at our new house) she'll insist, "Higher, Mommy, higher!" The other day Spunky, one of our cats was watching Ella swing but then ran off. Soon, Ella questioned, "Spunky is?" Too cute!

And come morning time, my angel will pull me out of bed with an emphatic "Up, Mommy!" If that doesn't work, the sheets come off-cruel girl! :-) That's after she's been nursing off and on for an hour as we both get some more shut-eye (have I ever mentioned I am NOT a morning person!)

Enjoy the pics! The park ones are from September.

Life on the Farm

2007-10-23T20:02:00.000-05:00

Okay, well technically we're not raising crops or livestock for our livelihood (at the moment), but I did do a lot of poop scooping this morning as I cleaned out the chicken coop (you wouldn't believe how much 2 chickens poop), and we do have a fair amount of land (more than we've ever had), and more animals than we've ever had, AND Will's hunting for a tractor....so in my book, it's a farm. :-)

We've been getting settled in (closing date was Oct. 5) and I've been doing my part-time job again (grading SAT essays), so, I'm sorry for the long delay in updating.

I don't think I can begin to convey how good this move has been for my soul. I'm not sure if I could ever get depressed out here. It's quiet, and ever so peaceful. I'm hoping soon to post some pictures of what I wake up to seeing every morning. And the lovely, breathtaking sunsets. Many times a day, I say, "God, You're so good! Thank You for giving us this; we're indeed blessed." I still can't believe it's ours; it truly is a paradise for us. And Ella loves her new house. When we're doing errands around town and she's getting tired, she says, "New house, Mommy. New house." :-)

I love having animals too-every morning Boosie and I walk out and let them all out of their pens and feed them. She's getting less afraid of them everyday and will even walk very close to the dogs and cats now. But no petting...yet. She's still not too sure of the chickens after a pecking incident, and I can't really blame her. Peepers (the other hen's name is Penny)came after Ella when we let them out one morning. Truth be known, Peepers was really mad at Will b/c when he left for work that morning, he let the dogs and cats out but not the chickens. He said they were still in their house, not waiting at the gate, so he figured I could just do it later. Trouble is, Ella and I went out there late that morning, so by that time I guess they were really mad. I opened the gate and Peepers charged Ella and began pecking at her sweater before I could stop her. But considering that traumatic experience, Ella's doing quite well. She still wants to help me feed the chickens their daily dose of bugs (when we dump the pool filter out)and always likes to look at Peepers from the door when she decides to park herself on our steps. And of course, Will said, "Let that chicken try that again (referring to pecking Ella), and we'll have her for supper!"

Usually after feeding the animals in the morning, Ella and I will relax for a few minutes on the hammock and I will just reflect again on God's goodness and love. He knew we needed this-especially me. My soul needed to get out in the country, to have animals to care for, to walk outside my house and not see any neighbors. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to become a hermit, but I do like to enjoy my privacy. There's a time and season for everything. When I'm able, (meaning when and if Ella takes a nap that day), I love going outside on the deck for my quiet time w/God. I seem to be able to hear Him better out here. Perhaps b/c I'm not hearing sirens in the background? Or wondering when the next roach is going to pop out? (Rental house woes!). Or is it just b/c I'm out in His beautiful creation, which is a worshipful experience in itself?

Now for an Ella update. She's talking more now...yay! I can't tell you how good it is to hear her put a couple of words together. I'm still amazed by it and wish I could capture it more on video. How do they know to clam up when you turn that camcorder on? Her only 2 sentences so far have been, "Let's go park" (or "Let's go Mama's"), and "Daddy kill deer." You can imagine how thrilled Will was w/that one! She's doing a lot of 2 word phrases right now, "Yellow ball" (she knows all her colors!), "Lot more," etc. And she says animal names now, instead of just the sound. Except for chicken-she still says, "Bawk, Bawk!" :-) And for the news she's proudest of? She's no longer in her crib-well not technically. We took the railing off her crib, so now it's a day bed. She's doing well in it. We put 2 pillows lengthwise and have her portable mattress below, just in case she falls out. So far, so good.

And this past Saturday, we took Ella to a pumpkin patch. The closest one was an hour and a half away and very commercialized-but Ella enjoyed it. We're looking forward to growing our own pumpkins next year. I would really like for Ella to get to pick a pumpkin and not have them already sitting out on display. Not to mention, it would save us a lot of money (between the hay ride, the corn maze and the pumpkins, it cost $32.) Hopefully, we could sell some of our pumpkins too. And as for the hay ride, we'll just put some hay in a wagon and let Daddy pull her with his tractor. He can stop every so often and let her pick the choicest ones! :-)

Enjoy the pics; hopefully I'll get some of the house up soon.

P.S. And yes, Liz, we DID GO SWIMMING! It was about 78 degrees in the water-not too bad-a few weeks ago. I attempted it since then and only managed to wade. It had dropped to 74. Ella was with me too, and even she thought the last time was a little too cold. She still however insists that we put our feet in at least once a day.

Beach Vacation

2007-09-17T10:52:00.000-05:00

We just returned Saturday from a week at Surfside Beach. Our first time there. I always went to Myrtle growing up and liked this so much better. It's more of a family beach, so much less of a crowd, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. And since we went in September (b/c of the move), we beat the heat wave. Yay! We found the 2BR condo on vrbo.com-the best place to go if you're looking for a vacation rental anywhere in the world.

Last year, Ella didn't like the sand; this year she wanted me to cover her completely in it. Wish I had a pic of that! She preferred the tidal pools to the actual ocean and loved playing w/her buckets, shovels, and sand castle molds. And she met a darling little girl there, Casey (almost 2). We hit it off w/her parents and are hoping we'll see them next year, same time, same place. Also had fun meeting up w/friends who were staying in a house on the beach. Ella got to get reacquainted w/John Michael, but since we only had our disposable camera, I have no pics to post of that. :-(

Our first full day there we went to Wild Water Park and had a blast! I haven't been to a water park in ages. We took turns riding the slides while one of us watched Ella in the toddler pool (which had tons of small slides for her to play on). But Ella loved jumping up and down in the pool best. It was only 2 feet, so she could do that. We love the water wings we got for her. (We got them new for around $11.00 w/shipping, but they're so worth it. I'm sure she'll be able to use them next summer in our pool, as well.) They're for 1-3 year olds, whereas most of the ones you find at Wal-mart or other places are for 3 and up. So they actually stayed on, and she could swim w/us anywhere-even in the big pool.

Will and I both went on the scariest slide-it has a straight vertical drop. My legs couldn't stop shaking when I got off. And I went in the dark hole slide-completely dark, enclosed slide-there should have been a sign, "Warning-not for claustrophobic people!" We only stayed for 3 hours but that was just the right amount of time-we got to do all the slides and even eat a bite. The rest of the week was spent on the beach and in the condo pool. We had a private walkway from our condo right to the beach-when you have to lug a bunch of stuff, it's helpful not to have to travel far. And Ella got a suntan. You can still see her bathing suit lines-obviously she takes after Will on that one.
:-)

I've also included some pics from when I watched Jonathan a few weeks ago, so Kimberly could go to a dentist appt.
Enjoy!

We Stand in Awe of You.

2007-08-25T11:04:00.000-05:00

Warning: Long Post. But necessarily long to show you how God worked through every detail in the latest chapter of our lives: buying a new home.

We've found a wonderful, beautiful, more-than-we-could-hope-for house. Yes, we had planned on building on the old home site but many issues came up w/that. There was the concern that another relative who lives close by would be developing property close to where we would build, the problem of the house we built being our permanent residence for at least 20 years. We couldn't sell the house in 5 years if Will got another job somewhere else. How can you invite strangers to live on Mom and Dad's/Mama's land? Then there was the issue of Ella. She'd of course always want to be running up to see her Grandma. And her Grandma is so overwhelmed right now with taking care of her mom; it just wouldn't be fair to them right now. Also, it's not so private anymore. With the subdivision close by, there is more noise and even go-carts going right in front of MaMa's house.

I had been looking for hours online, in real estate books, and could come up with nothing. If I wanted even a 1/2 acre lot, we'd have to pay close to $180,000 for it, and had a hard time finding anything on this side of town which is closer to his work. I had even checked out FSBO websites, since we've had such success w/that route. So, late Tuesday night (actually it was 12:30am, so early Wed. morning), I just felt like I should check the forsalebyowner.com website one more time. I saw only a few homes in our city way out of our price range and then one in a nearby town. I had seen that one the week before but passed it up b/c Will had mentioned that would be a further drive to his work. But again, something told me to at least open it and look at it. This "something," I have no doubt now, was the Holy Spirit's leading.

As soon as I saw it, I knew; "This is our new home."

Seriously, that fast. I read that it had 4 acres and that sealed the deal. But then, just because our God loves to grant the desires of our heart, I continued to read in the description that is has an inground pool. I've always wanted one. I was in the process of convincing Will that if we did ever build somewhere, we had to build that as well. I consider it the best exercise ever and much preferred over 3 miles on the treadmill!

So....the next step was to plug in the address in Google Maps and see how far it was from Will's work. I just knew it would be too far and actually closed my eyes while waiting for the results. I was too scared to look. I wanted this house so badly. Well, it said 56 minutes away and he is driving 55 min. now. WOW! I couldn't believe it. This really was it. As I climbed into bed that night, I said, "Honey, I found our house." Will's response. "Huh?" Back to sleep. He was out of it. The next morning, I asked him to look at it online. He admitted it was a good deal for the money but wasn't that impressed w/the pictures. Especially the first one. He said it looked too plain, etc. But he agreed we should call and set up an appointment. I got in touch with Donna (homeowner) and asked when we could come see it. She said we could it that night (which was Wed.) or we could Thursday. I chose Wed. And that, as you will see, was another God thing.

As soon as we pulled up, Will said, "Wow-this is so much better than what I thought. It's beautiful." After walking the property w/Donna and Mike, we both knew we wanted it and we hadn't even seen the inside. We had been introduced to their 3 dogs, 3 kittens, and 2 chickens and seen her blueberry and blackberry bushes and muscadine vines, the unbelievable country front porch which extends the length of the house, their beautiful land, and didn't need to see the interior. And we found out that Mike's a pastor at a Presbyterian church and that he knows Will's dad very well. Yet another God thing. After touring the inside, we talked w/them a little about specifics. They had mentioned that a man from Texas wanted the house and had made a verbal offer, so we wanted to find out more about that. Turns out, his realtor had called them that afternoon and told them he couldn't fax over the information to them b/c he was on his way to a meeting, so nothing was official yet. They told him, "Well, just so you know, we have 2 couples coming to look at the house tonight and one of them could make an offer too." The realtor said okay and took the chance. I'm sure he's kicking himself now.

After we'd been there for an hour, the next couple showed up. I was so antsy and worried the whole time even thought Donna promised us that we'd be able to offer first since we came first. Will and I talked out on the front porch and decided we weren't going to risk losing this house over a few thousand dollars. So we agreed we'd offer them full price. Thankfully the family that was looking at the house after us said they'd call them the next day re: an offer (and they did), so we were able to sit w/Mike and Donna and present our offer. (Just so you know, they'd only had it FSBO for 2 weeks and got 4 offers in that time period, including ours. So, should we ever decide to sell years down the road, I don't think we'll have any problems.)

They wanted to make sure we were sure and we told them the circumstances that God had worked out so far and how after seeing it on the computer, I just knew this was it. That hit home w/them b/c that was similar to Donna's story when she first saw the house (without Mike). She knew right away and Mike had just been praying that God would please let them find a home out in the country b/c Donna had always wanted to live on some land. They've been in the home now for 8 years and hate to leave it, but Mike is taking a church at Wrightsville Beach. I told Donna, "Well, if you have to leave your "paradise on earth" (her words), at least you'll get to live at the beach." But she's not really a beach person, so that's not much consolation. They will have houses all around them, no privacy like they do now. She has no doubt though, that this is the next move God has for them.

Anyway, back to the offer. After offering full price, they said they wanted to go outside and talk about it. We were worried; did the Texas guy offer as much or more than we did. Then I couldn't help but thinking, maybe we should have offered less (specifically I was thinking, "I wish we could get it for about $4,000 less"-though I knew we were still getting a great deal at full price). So we prayed while they were outside praying as well. They came in and asked us again if we were sure and then said they felt like God wanted us to have the house but they wanted to give it to us for $4,000 less if that was okay w/us...are you kidding? Of course that's okay. Amazing. We found out the Texas guy did offer full price and since he was using a realtor, maybe they would've had to pay 3% to him, but still, they didn't have to let us have it for any cheaper. That just goes to show you their great character.

Donna said that specific prayers of hers had been answered. One was that a Christian family would buy the property and love and care for it as much as they had and another was that God would take care of her animals. She hated to give them away-this was the only home they'd ever known. They can't take all those to the beach, so we're inheriting 2 dogs, 2 cats, and 2 chickens, one of which lays eggs. Perfect! Now surely I won't get lonely during the day. :-) We had said as soon as we got some land, we wanted to get Ella a lab. One of their dogs, Mandy, is a beautiful, gentle yellow lab.

Also, another neat tid-bit. One of their cats is called "Scaredy" b/c she's so afraid of anyone who comes to the property. Whenever they go away, the boy who feeds the animals never sees Scaredy the whole time. She'll only come out when Donna and Mike return. Well, guess what? While we were walking the property, Scaredy stayed close by. Donna said that was surely a sign; she never does that when any other people come by.

After signing the contract at their dining room table, Mike led us in prayer. I felt God's presence there in the midst of us-so real, so strong. So neat. And how awesome to know that you're buying a home which has been bathed in prayer.

Well, by the time we left it was close to 11:30pm; thankfully Ella was w/Will's parents and already in bed. We go outside to discover that Will's keys have been locked inside the truck. We could've called AAA but who knows when they would've showed up. They told us we could use 1 of their 2 vehicles and bring it back tomorrow, since we had an extra set of Will's keys at home. What a blessing. Then we arrive home and can't get inside (house keys in his truck too) but God worked again and we were able to get a bedroom window opened and Will boosted me inside. Oh wait, I forgot to mention the most important part. This only happened after we stopped and prayed about it. Will was considering busting the panes out of the front or side door. Glad we stopped to pray. :-) The next day, Dad came up w/us and got to talk w/Mike and Donna. He loved the property but of course said, "Y'all must be having to pay a fortune for that place!" Will assured him we got a good deal. :-)

I can't wait for y'all to see it in person-the beautiful country setting can only be experienced, not explained. So quiet, no sirens going by at 2am, no planes flying directly over our house. Donna and Mike said in the fall and spring they love rocking on their front porch and sometimes even see 2 cars pass by-that's really heavy traffic for them. What a nice change that will be. And guess what-there is even 2 trees spaced just right for a hammock. Another desire answered. And for the best part. Will drove to his work Thursday after we brought Donna's car back and w/her short cut directions, he got there in 45 minutes! That's 10 minutes closer than now. What a blessing! And it's only 25 minutes from Will's parents, so we can still see them once or twice a week and visit w/Laurance & Kimberly.(20 min. away). That way no one will get sick of us! :-)

And one of the greatest things is that there's 500 acres of land behind us which the owner never plans on developing. Possibly he'll let Will hunt it w/his bow? Donna and Mike also see turkey and deer from their deck all the time. They graze right on their property. Won't that be nice. Hopefully, I can convince Will to just look at those. :-) There's 12 acres a widow owns across the dirt road from us. We can't even see her house from our front porch. Another widow lives next to us (and by "next to us", I mean about a 1/2 mile away). So, now I can go outside in my PJ's if I so desire. :-)

And I haven't mentioned the difference in weather there-amazing. It's on a hill, nice breeze all the time, AND I didn't get bit once while I was outside by stinking mosquitoes. And they always find me. Especially at Mama's house.

The house also include a nice 2-car carport w/attached 10x20 office (read: workout/reloading room). There's also a small work shed w/loft space for storage.
More granted desires: cathedral ceilings in the large great room, fireplace in great room (gas or could be wood burning-we prefer wood-burning), beautiful pine flooring in Great Room and Dining Room, walk-in closets in the bedrooms, sliding glass door off MBR leading to its own private deck, and...did I mention the land? :-)

So, I echo what Will said as we were standing on the beautiful country porch and gazing out across the property, "This is more than I could have ever hoped for or imagined."

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!
Amen. (Eph. 3:20-21)

Saying Good-bye

2007-08-12T22:41:00.000-05:00

Thank you all for your prayers, encouragement and birthday wishes-it really means a lot to have y'all as my blogger family! I'm feeling somewhat better today...packed our last trailer full of stuff from our old house (yes, another trailer!!!) and Ella said "Bye-Bye" to the house for the last time. Sniff, sniff, boo hoo. But of course, she said it happily, without a care in the world. I got our neighbor to take some pics of us in front of our house. God has graciously allowed me to realize that even though I will miss it dearly, it is time to let go. And by His grace, no looking back and no more questioning. We'll go back one more night next Sunday (closing Monday morning) but Ella won't go w/us. Somehow I don't think a 2 year old will sit quietly in a lawyer's office while we sign a million papers.

So, she swam in her pool for one last time, swung in her swing one last time...but she has many firsts to start here, so all is well.

I am indeed blessed and as always, God is good.

Back On!

2007-08-08T15:26:00.000-05:00

Well, we finally got the internet connected in the rental house, and now I feel human again. I was feeling so disconnected from the world, especially since we had no TV to even watch the news. I've so missed my blogging family and friends.

A little has happened since I last wrote. I'm now a year older (31!) and had a wonderful time at Red Bone Alley w/Will (sans Ella-thank God for grandparents!). We both had shrimp and cheese grits (yummy!!!) and a free birthday sundae for dessert. (And yes, Sarah, I got to enjoy my cup of coffee!) There was a musician playing the guitar there-blues and some 80's classics-it was lovely. I really wanted to dance but neither Will nor I had the nerve as no one else was....maybe I can talk him into a dance class and we'll show off next year. :-)

And more news...we close on the 20th! So, we'll be closing 35 days after we put the house up for sale. Crazy how fast this all came together. I'm now trying to remind myself that I should be thankful and grateful. Right now, I'm going through an emotional time. We're losing our first home, the only home Ella has known. And we've gotten about 6 calls since the house was under contract which makes me think, "Did we have it priced too low?" "Could we have gotten more?" "Should we have held out?" Based on our interview w/the real estate agent we considered going with (but decided against), we made $1000 more than she would have even listed the house for, yet still, that was only one realtor's opinion and again I wonder....You know, Satan loves to get me w/those "What If's."

So, I've just been a wreck this week. Questioning, crying, missing our home, and to top it all off, I was 5 days late. That actually got me hoping, wondering....but after 2 tests, I resigned myself to the fact that I was not pregnant. Nope, just very late and I'm never late. Of course now I realize stress and Ella nursing at night during those weeks she slept w/us at Mama's probably led to the delay. But I was hoping...

I know God's timing is best, and I know that I need to make this home our home for now, as best I can. I know all these things in my head, but if my heart could ever get on board, I'd be doing much better.

Thank you all for your prayers.

PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!

2007-08-01T16:41:00.001-05:00

We have a contract on our house!!!! We had a couple look at our house yesterday (our wonderful neighbors had a key and gave them the tour) and we got a call last night with their offer. That's 16 days on the market! Amazing! Praise the Lord, we will be making about $7500 more since we're not having to pay any realtor's commission. God is indeed good. Thank you all so much for your prayers; please continue to pray that closing will all go well. Lord willing, that will all be done by the end of this month.

A NEW HOUSE!

2007-07-14T23:33:00.000-05:00

That's what it felt like coming in after our Accredited Staging Professional was finished with our house. She did such a fantastic job-now I really don't want to leave! :-)

Now if we can just get people here to see it, I think we'll have a good chance of selling it-thank you for your continued prayers!

It's raining Duckies!

2007-07-14T22:43:00.000-05:00

Elizabeth and Emily have more details about Emily's wonderful baby shower held last Sunday at Ma-Ma's, but I thought I'd post the few pics I had. Emily looks so adorable pregnant-she's still so tiny and of course, all baby. I'm sure she'll be fit and trim as soon as little Benjamin pops out. :-) It was great fun planning the shower w/Elizabeth though all the decorations were her idea. Lots of rubber duckies and some cute froggies. So boy and so cute! I just contributed some games, which thankfully everyone seemed to enjoy. And the food-absolutely delicious!
Can't wait to meet Benjamin Thomas Gray!

Oh, and I had to thow in some pics of Ella and Ba-pa at the 4th picnic. So precious!

I'M TWO!!!

2007-07-12T21:57:00.000-05:00

Please come help me celebrate
My 2nd birthday at the lake
We'll laugh and run, swim and play
And enjoy icecream cake all day.

Well, that was what her invitation said,
But it should have read,

Please come help me celebrate
My 2nd birthday at the lake
I'll get sick, and Mommy will fall
And in unison we'll begin to bawl!

:-)

Here are the promised birthday photos. Enjoy!

And here's a comparison-Ella at her 1st b-day and 2nd b-day. This really makes it obvious how much my baby has grown. Will I ever stop calling her "my baby"? Probably not. :-)

For Sale By Owner

2007-07-03T22:00:00.000-05:00

Yes, you read that right-we've changed our minds back to our original plan after some encouraging words from some good friends who had great success w/this. We have some great neighbors who are willing to show the house if someone wants to see it during the week and we'll be back every weekend someone wants to see it. We're planning on trying it this way for 1 month; if no potential buyers in that time frame, we might try a realtor again. Our first realtor interview was awful. She was recommended by USAA and had 20 years experience, but she was not prepared in her presentation and not at all motivated about selling our house. She had no real market strategy. It was like she was just still doing her job but had really left it years ago (as far as being excited about what she does). There was no way I was giving this lady $7000 for basically just putting a sign in my yard. Will and I decided right then and there, that there was no way we could do any worse, MLS or not!

We didn't feel like trying another one USAA had and then possibly another-just a waste of our time. It's not worth the $650 cash back bonus for using one of "their" agents. So, if the FSBO doesn't work for us (and please pray that it does!) we're going to go online and pick our own agent by looking at bio sketches. Sometimes the ones who've only worked 2 years are better b/c they're still so motivated and excited about their job. If we're giving a realtor that money, they're going to have to work for it.

Ella had a most interesting 2nd birthday-I'll write more about that later when I can post pics (my camera hook up that goes to the computer was accidentally packed up!). In short, she was sick and I took a terrible fall (I slipped on her vomit while trying to rush her to the bathroom-how many people can say that!) and thought I was going to have to go the the ER. But thankfully, my neck was not broken (I hit the corner of a wooden TV table and then fell on a hardwood floor-my feet just went completely out from under me!) Turns out I have a very hard head and back and God was completely watching over me! Definitely not a b-day we'll soon forget. Thankfully, my soreness is getting better and Ella hasn't thrown up since early Sunday morning. However, she still hasn't gotten her appetite back-I'm so glad I'm still nursing. On Sunday, breastmilk and 4 saltine crackers was all her little tummy could take.

We're going to the rental house tomorrow-Will's already got all our furniture down there. He may be down for the 4th picnic depending on how the fixing up goes w/this house. Oh, the emotions of walking in yesterday and finding my house almost completely empty. All the memories-and yet, God reminded me that my home is really wherever my dear hubby and daughter are. But still-it is hard. Especially Ella's room. And now today, it has a new coat of paint. :-( No more cheery yellow. Oh well, we'll just have to paint her rental room that color again.

Thank you all for your prayers!

Moving Update

2007-06-17T21:35:00.000-05:00

Many of you have asked for an update on our moving status, so I thought a post would be the easiest way to give an answer. :-)

We're moving out of the house July 2-taking our furniture on a moving truck to our new home (the rental property where both Kimberly and Erin have stayed). We're coming back the next day to clean, clean, clean until our house shines and then calling the carpet people in to do their thing. Next, we're calling in the home staging gurus to make our place look wonderful (it's been proven that homes sell 70% faster when they are furnished). Will's company is paying for it, so we figured we better do the most we can to make it sell fast (we have 3 months worth of mortgage covered as well and are ever so thankful for that).

Once that's all done, we're listing our house w/an agent. We wanted to do FSBO so we could save thousands of dollars, but with Will starting his new job the 2nd week in July, it's going to be much easier and less stressful if we do it w/a realtor. Otherwise we'd have to be apart or have Will travel back and forth and try to arrange showings when he's here. The only consolation is that we're doing Mover's Advantage w/USAA (our insurance company), so we'll get about $650 cash back for using their recommended agent. It turns out their agent works for the company we wanted to use anyway (Century 21)-isn't God good! :-)

The handyman should start fixing the roof/gutters on the screen porch tomorrow and Lord willing, be finished w/everything by the end of the week. Will fixed the gates/fences this weekend and re-did the shutters on his shed.

He also took some time to enjoy Father's Day. We had a very special time of family devotions-sang lots of hymns, read a passage, and prayed, and Ella managed okay. We're trying to teach her to be still and quite. Not so easy for a 23-month old, but she's learning. And Will was excited about his presents (a new work outfit, new swim trunks, and some new shorts); I got some great deals at Penny's. :-)

Thank you for your prayers! I'm soooo looking forward to being at our new location and being done w/it all!!! and I think Ella is too. We went down this past Thursday to take another 6x12 trailer down and since we've been back all she keeps saying is "Maw-Maw." That's what we call Will's grandmother whom Ella adores. She also says, "Neigh" because she loves feeding Sir, the horse that's there. I really think she's going to have a blast in the country. She loves her grandparents and great-grandma so much already!

A hug for her Daddy on Father's Day!

She's started feeding her stuffed animals some of her food (here she shares a cracker w/Cuddlebug Bear).

IT'S A BOY!!!

2007-06-04T11:13:00.000-05:00

Wow, what a crazy weekend! We went down for Kimberly's shower (my sister-in-law) but found out on the way that she had just been admitted to the hospital b/c her water broke! (She wanted a home birth but her midwife legally couldn't do it b/c according to her calculations was only 35 weeks.) We got to Will's parents around midnight and Mom and Dad had already left to go to the hospital. I told Will, "Well, we'll just go over first thing in the morning; with this being her first baby, she probably won't have him before 8 or 9am ." We woke up at 6am only to find out from Will's parents that she had the baby that night. She was admitted around 8:30pm (3cm. dilated, completely effaced) and JONATHAN LAURANCE was born at 11:48pm after just 20 min. of pushing. He's 6lbs. 11oz. and 20 1/4 inches long and absolutely A CUTIE! Can you imagine how big he would have been had she waited till her original due date of July 1!

I'm not sure whether to be jealous of her short labor or to feel sorry for her that everything came so fast and she didn't have much time to prepare nor have much relief between contractions. Of course, later she realized she had been in labor all day while out to eat and to the mall w/Mom but didn't realize that's what contractions felt like. Hard to know when it's your first time!

What a blessing that her midwife and nurse-midwife were able to be in the room w/her and she was able to have a natural childbirth just like she wanted (minus the birthing pool). She was able to labor the entire time standing up and squatted to push the baby out. Laurance is already a protective daddy-it's so cute to watch! And, my, I don't remember Ella ever being so small (of course, she technically wasn't-she was exactly a pound more) but still, I've already forgotten how tiny newborns are. And...I can't tell you how much more seeing him made Will and I want another one soon.

Mom and baby are fine. Kimberly didn't need stitches but they are monitoring the baby for jaundice. He's a 12.5 right and if he gets to a 20, he'll have to get on antibiotics. So please pray the sunlight will help him and he'll get better soon. They had him under the lamp at the hospital for a few days but didn't make them bring it home w/them.

So, is this a first? You have a baby shower but the guest of honor can't attend b/c she just had the baby? We decided to go ahead and have it b/c it was too late to call everyone and it would've been too hard to try to schedule it all again. It all worked out fine though. It became a little more of a drop-in shower but we all had a good time and instead of seeing Kimberly, they saw pics of the new little family. I was a little disappointed that we didn't play games since that was my main contribution to the shower, but that just means I can use some of the games for Emily's shower and my work is already done...that is, unless I talk w/Liz and we decide to come up w/some crazier ones. :-)

We're so thankful we were able to be there to share in the miraculous event. Every birth truly is a miracle and every baby a blessing from God. And we're soooo looking forward to living closer to them so we can raise our babies together!

Paint, Boxes, and Camo!

2007-05-30T20:15:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone enjoyed Memorial Day! Will spent the weekend and Memorial Day painting the office, den, master bedroom, and hallway. I went home for a friend's 30th birthday party and enjoyed spending time w/family as well. Our house is looking prettier and prettier which makes us not want to leave it! Why couldn't we get it looking this good while we were here for 6 years? But please pray about the screen porch! We're having trouble finding someone to finish it up. People say they can and will and then back out. We don't want to put the house up until it's finished.
We're also praying that Tommy (Will's future boss) will continue to be patient w/the starting date. It's looking more like July for sure and that's if our house sells very, very fast. We've started packing boxes-books, attic stuff, and some of Will's supplies from his shed. We'll be taking those on a U-Haul down to the homeplace this weekend since we're going that way for Kimberly's baby shower.

Here's some recent picture of our adorable and crazy baby. The camo overalls are a little big yet, but she definitely looks like she'd make a cute hunter one day. :-)

Ella's Update

2007-05-17T07:00:00.000-05:00

Well, I figured it was high time I wrote a little bit. And I have a confession to make...I miss blogging! :-)
Ella is changing so much and so fast. Too fast. Is there any way to stop time? To let her remain 22 months old forever?
Yesterday, Will came home for a rare lunch break and got her up from her nap (she had already been sleeping for almost 2 hours) so she could eat with us. The first thing she did upon waking? Say "Choo Choo" and do the train motion w/her hand. There are train tracks near our house but there was no train coming then, so all we could figure was she had been woken up too soon from her delightful dream about trains. :-)

She's using the potty all the time now! I credit success to my reading of The Diaper-Free baby by Christine Gross-Loh. In actuality, you should start this w/younger babies, but I figured, "What the heck; let's try it now and see what happens." What happened was amazing. I first kept Ella's diaper-free times confined to the kitchen (the only room we don't have carpet in) and tried 30-45 min. increments. Her first time peeing on the floor enforced what the book said. Babies learn to forget their peeing sensation b/c our diapers today are so absorbent. She stood there looking at me like, "What is this coming out of me? What's going on?" The next time, she went straight to her potty (which I had moved to the kitchen) and as she was peeing I said, "Ella, you're peeing." That's when she got it. And from then on, it's been pretty smooth sailing. She even poops in the potty without any problems. We're still using diapers at night but usually in the morning she's dry. Tonight while we were walking around the block, she said, "Poo-Poo" which could mean she has to go pee or poop. So we said, "Don't go, Ella. Hold it in. We're going home." And she laughed as Will and I raced her home in the stroller. She went straight to the potty and boy did she really have to go. I don't know if that pull-up could have even held all that pee!
:-) (We use regular panties sometimes around the house and when we're playing right outside, but I'm still scared to try them when we go anywhere!)
I'm considering using the Elimination Communication method for our next little one (starting much younger naturally.) The point of this isn't a race to see how soon you can "potty-train" your child but rather communicating w/them (yes, even infants have "potty" signals) and never letting them get into the habit of soiling themselves.

Something else new since I last wrote? Ella's says the greatest Southern
"Hay-ey" you've ever heard. And she's becoming quite opinionated about what she wears every day, even bringing me different socks (yesterday it was purple) to wear hours after we've decided (or thought we did) that she was wearing pink socks.

Ella had two fun playdates recently. It was exciting to see her interacting more w/another toddler and doing a little less parallel play. One with John Michael who is 6 months younger and one with Kurtis who is about 3 months older. And Kurtis's younger brother Kamden (8 months) was there and Ella was so great w/him. She gently patted him on his head, tummy, etc. It gave me a glimpse of how she'll (hopefully) be as a big sister one day.

And I have to share our new favorite song, "Made to Love" by TobyMac. Whenever we hear it, we rush into the kitchen (where the radio is) and begin dancing. It's such a catchy, fun song with meaningful lyrics. I'm instantly refreshed when I hear it as I often need reminding of my purpose on this earth. Here's the chorus:

I was made to love you
I was made to find you
I was made just for you
Made to adore you
I was made to love
And be loved by you.
You were here before me
You were waiting on me
And you said you'd keep me
Never would you leave me
I was made to love
and be loved by you.

These days, whenever Ella wants to do anything, she'll point to that thing, and say, "Uh-huh." So, we're outside today, and she runs over to her toddler swing, points, and says, "uh-huh." I put her in and then the "conversation" goes something like this.

Me: Ready?
Ella: Uh-huh.
Me: Okay, here we go, One...
Ella: "Twoooooo".
Me: Three!
Ella and Mommy: "Whee!"

Oh, such fun! Yes, she has her temper tantrums, but this is such a delightful age.

Children's Book Monday

2007-03-26T07:00:00.000-05:00

This will be my last post for awhile. I'll miss posting, but I'll enjoy the time I will now have to do other things.

The Lord gave me a wonderful confirmation this past weekend of our decision to move near Will's folks in the "country". We went to see my folks and spent the day Saturday at my Granny's and then my Aunt's house. They live just like we will-a country setting, and a quiet, simpler life-and they're also just a stone's throw from each other. Well, I can't tell you how much fun Ella had. She was getting hot in her overalls, so eventually stripped down to just her diaper, and then to her birthday suit. And can you believe it....our dainty, little "I-don't-ever-like-to-be-dirty" girl played in the dirt and loved it! She scooped up dirt into a bowl, then she just started picking it up with her hands and throwing it on her feet or into the air. It was so lovely to watch. And I just kept thinking that soon she'll be able to play like this every day. God is good.

Now with a little sadness, I begin my last review...

The Little Sleepyhead
Story by Fran Manushkin
Pictures by Leonid Gore

A long time ago, when the world was so young that all the rocks were little pebbles and all the chicks were still in their eggs, there lived a Little Sleepyhead.

So begins this delightful tale of little sleepyhead who plays all day and at night is very, very tired but can't find anywhere to sleep. He sees the squirrels sleeping in the trees, so he decides to try that. "He closed his eyes, but did he sleep?" No, too bumpy. He sees the frogs sleeping on lily pads; maybe I can try that he thinks. "But did he sleep....no," he fell in the water. This refrain is repeated with various animals until he finally finds the perfect resting spot and the perfect animal to cuddle with for a wonderful night's sleep. I can't give it away-you'll just have to go check it out of the libary for yourself. With the soft, pastel illustrations, I think your toddler will love it!

Changes

2007-03-22T13:14:00.000-05:00

Will and I have been doing a lot of thinking lately. The Holy Spirit had already been convicting me of my time on the internet. Too much of it. At the cost of spending time w/Him and w/my husband in the evenings. I've tried curbing it, but it's an obsession. Checking blogs-finding new blogs, writing posts, reading comments, writing comments, etc. And Ella still has no scrapbook-just one that's online. And that's not exactly what I had in mind. I need to spend the time while she's napping to work on that among other things. As much as I'll hate to lose the contact w/my wonderful family and friends, we're cutting back on this technology for now at least. I keep reminding myself, there's always the library. Internet is free there if I just have to have my blog fix or research something. And I may occasionally update my blog from there, but probably not much in the next few months as we have lots to do...

Will and I have been praying about building on his family's old home site.(I'm not saying the name of the city for safety reasons.) Most likely, Will will be working at his old job-yes, that would be a good 50 minute commute-but there aren't any geotech firms where his family lives. He's going to try to get them to agree to just a 4 day work week (working 10 hours a day); that way, we'll see him more than we do now. But the best part is I'll have family nearby for support, for adult interaction, etc. I sooooo need that. I get quite depressed here by myself all day--thus why I turn to the internet so much! I'm quite excited about Ella saying in the near future, "Mom, I'm going up to grandma's!" And to top it all off, she only has a quaint, beautiful country lane to travel to get there!

So, how did we come to this conclusion. Actually from reading
Better Off
Flipping The Switch On Technology
By Eric Brende

I highly recommend this-go pick up a copy from your library today! Will's wanted to do something like this forever but I haven't exactly been on board. But after reading this book and seeing how Eric and his wife had a much better quality of life living on a farm and having a close community, I wanted it so much. Eric (an MIT graduate) and his wife Mary actually have an experiment-live among the Minimites for 18 months (no, not the Mennonites or the Amish-he actually made up the term "Minimites" for them as they are even stricter than the others and use no machinery whatsoever.) They've even invented their own contraptions for threshing their wheat and for getting running water in their homes. What Eric found was that this community actually had more time on their hands for socializing than we do w/all our modern technology. It's such a fascinating read because it it reveals how we don't need so many of the things our cultural dictates as mandatory.

In one passage I particularly like from the book (from the chapter, "The Sounds of Silence"), Eric is reading The Education of Henry Adams one evening (by kerosene lamp light, of course) and finally understands why he could so easily read the book now but yet had not been able to get past the first few pages while in college.

[Henry Adams] had lived within a culture whose movements were still largely limited by the speed of horses; the ambling cadences of his writing preserved this pace. Having taught medieval history at Harvard besides, his verbal nuances hearkened back to an earlier epoch still and seemed to echo from the deep wells of time, the vaults of the great cathedrals.

This was the secret: to grasp his meaning, you had to be living it. Not merely your thoughts, but your various daily duties, the material accoutrements by which you performed them, had to fold together in a quiet rhythm, an interconnected unity.

And this explained not only why time moved more slowly but also why we had more of it, why we were able to relax and read the way we were doing right now; in the absence of fast-paced gizmos, ringing phones, alarm clocks, television, radios, and cars, we could simply take ou time. In being slower, time is more capacious. The event is only in the moment. By speeding through life with technology, you reduce what any given moment can hold. Buy slowing down, you expand it.

Shortcuts lead to emergency mending sessions in order to piece back in what was cut out, to lengthen what was shortened: Computer users, cramped in a cubicle all day long, jogging around the block. Bureaucrats and financiers, zooming ahead along their career paths, then reversing gears to attend school concerts, ball games, and parent meetings. Captives of the technological environment fleeing for brief weekends to mountain, beaches, and rustic cabins.

So true, don't you think? I could discuss this book forever, but I need to move on; otherwise no one will finish reading this post b/c it will be too long.

So back to our decision-for us moving to *** is the closest we have to farm life and family, so that's why we're doing it. We want to have a big garden and maybe chickens and goats in the future. We're planning on building a wood house-similar to that of the mountain cabin. We wanted a log one, but then checked out the prices-way too high, so wood it is. We want something rustic but we also want to finance the least amount as possible for only 15-years and put extra on it every month to have it paid off in 10 years or less. We want a simpler life. We've been looking for ways to cut back on spending b/c ideally the less we have to spend every month, the less Will has to work and the more time we can spend together as a family. We've already cut back on car insurance (almost $400/yr savings-yes, we're still covered, but found things we were spending that we didn't need) and of course, the internet ($43/month). The next will probably be cell phones and Dish-but right now we have heavy penalties for canceling before our contract is up, so we're waiting several more months on that.

I'm scared about this new adventure but also excited. I'm glad God didn't give up working on me. And whenever I get exhausted from trying to figure out all the details, God gently rebukes me as I sing to Ella from The Lullaby Bible-her new favorite book!

(To be sung to the tune of All Through The Night)

Hush my child,
Cease your worries,
God cares for you.
He feeds the birds
and clothes the lilies,
God cares for you.

Soft the lovely birds are winging,
Sweet the flowers who hear their singing.
Twilight falls with hope still ringing:
God cares for you.

Thank you for your prayers-please continue. We're still waiting on details to be worked out w/Will's job and then of course we need to get this house ready to sell.

P.S. I'll be posting one more time before we close out our account.
P.P.S. I failed to mention how I found out about Better Off. It was by reading this post on Amy's blog. The irony does not escape me. :-)

Children's Book Monday

2007-03-19T07:00:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry I haven't written since last Monday; a lot has been going on. Actually I may not be posting much longer but that's another story. I'll be writing a post on that later this week to explain. (No, I'm not pregnant.) We have a lot of decisions to make in the near future, so right now if you could just be in prayer, we'd greatly appreciate it. Thank you!

Now on to the review!

No More Diapers for Ducky
Story by Bernette Ford
Pictures by Sam Williams

The story time leader read this a few weeks ago, and I immediately thought "Yay, maybe this will convince Ella to use her potty!" She does sit on it a lot more now (even w/no clothes on-which she used to be afraid to do), but as of yet, no actual pottying has occured. Regardless, the book is such a fun read; the pictures are simple and adorable. First Ducky comes to Piggy's house; Piggy's there but is in the bathroom. Ducky knocks on the door. I always knock on the book at this point and Ella loves it! "I can't come out now-I'm on the potty," Piggy says. So Ducky plays with Piggy's toys and reads his books while she's waiting on him. Later, Ducky realizes her diaper feels wet and cold and wriggles out of it and kicks it across the floor. I know this could pose a problem-but as of yet, Ella hasn't taken any diapers off (except for this incident a long time ago and that was way before Ducky book). Ducky knocks again. "I have to use the potty." "You can't use the potty; you wear diapers, says Piggy." "Not anymore," says Ducky." The last page shows Ducky on the potty reading a book. A delightful read regardless of your child's potty-training status. :-) Happy reading!

Children's Book Monday

2007-03-12T07:00:00.001-05:00

I'm so excited to be joining Elise at A Path Made Straight for Children's Book Monday. Obviously my choices will be geared toward toddlers, mainly a vivacious 20-month old named Ella. Since I've been going to story time at our local library, I'm discovering all kinds of good reads. Of course they display some books and read a couple, and then I also just browse the children's shelves for as long as Ella will allow me. I usually leave w/at least 6 good books for her and 2 for me. Of course, I always have to renew mine...

I have to tell you how much my little girl loves books. Oftentimes the first thing she'll sign now when she wakes up from naps or even in the morning is "book." Even before signing "milk." Now that's what I call a book addiction! During our reading time, she'll often lean back and cross her hands behind her head-lounge baby. And she always wants a book in her hand while nursing as well.

I discovered an easy no-fuss way to get her to go down for naps too. Now I just choose 3 books and place them in her crib w/her. As I shut the door, she's already got one on her lap and is studying each page. Usually by the time she peruses them a few times, she gets tired and goes to sleep.

And I just have to share this story that happened yesterday. Ella was looking at a Publix advertisement for their Preschool Pals. On the front page was a cute, green dinosaur. She suddenly got very excited and started pointing towards the den. "No, Ella, we don't have a dinosaur." But she was persistent, so I carried her into the den. Then she began pointing towards the hall, then into her room. Once there, she directed me to her book shelf. She began pulling out one book after the other, apparently looking for something. Finally, it hit me. About a month ago, she had The Best Pet of All on her shelf. I had checked it out from the library after reading Elise's review. She obviously remembered that dinosaur on the cover and wanted to see him again to prove to me that we do indeed have a dinosaur in our house! It was heartbreaking to have to say, "No, Ella, we don't have that one anymore-it's at the library." Luckily, that seemed to pacify her, and I was left to marvel at my little girl's memory!

Now on to my first review. (Don't worry, I won't have such long introductions all the time!)

Clip-Clop
Written and Illustrated by Nicola Smee

This is an adorable book. An easy favorite with it's simple but fun storyline and large, bright illustrations. It tells the story of cat, dog, pig, and duck who all want a ride on Mr. Horse. Ella always giggles when Mr. Horse says "Up you get" to each animal's request. After the animals ride for a bit, they ask Mr. Horse to go faster. They eventually fall off in a haystack, but have no fear, no one is injured. Of course they immediately all shout "Again!" And off they go, "Clip-Clop, Clippity-Clop."
I'm sure your toddler will love it as much as mine did! Happy reading!

Daddy's crackers

2007-03-11T20:04:00.000-05:00

Ella loves these peanut butter crackers, but she doesn't get to eat too many b/c I buy them for Will's lunches. I often tell her, "No, Ella, we can't eat those; those are for Daddy." Today, while Will was napping on the couch, she brought a pack to me. I told her the same thing; "These are Daddy's crackers." She promptly took the first pack and placed it on his tummy. Then she went to the pantry and got the other 3 and did the same thing. How sweet!

10 New Things Ella Can Do

2007-03-10T14:25:00.000-05:00

1. Blow Bubbles. She has a monkey wand and constantly beats her chest to remind me that monkey is outside and that's where she wants to be. She loves it when we're outside sitting on the patio chairs blowing bubbles. She feels like such a grown-up I'm sure sitting in a big chair like her Mommy. She'll point to her chair, and I'll say, "Ella's sitting in her chair." She'll point to mine and I'll say, "Mommy's sitting in her chair." Then she'll point to a vacant chair, and I'll say, "Nobody's sitting in that chair." She thinks that's so funny.

2. Operate her Jack-in-the-Box all by herself. She still opens her mouth wide every time he pops out!

3. Ride her purple stick horse that her Aunt Marna got her for Christmas and push his ear to make him neigh.

4. Say "Turtle." She pronouces the 2 syllables so distinctly- "Tur-tul"-it's adorable. She started saying it once she saw the beginning of Over the Hedge. She was fascinated w/that turtle! I personally loved the squirrel the best. :-)

5. Is trying to say other words like "doll" and "ball." Not quite there yet. Making the first sounds of the word though. She's got the "Pu" sound down for "please" too. And she's said some new consonant sounds-for instance, the "h" sound after I told her something was "hot." Her latest is saying her best "Choo-Choo" when she hears the train. Of course her favorite way of communicating is still signing, but she's pointing at new things and wanting names. Today we were outside and she wanted to know about the hose and the drain pipe.

6. Can stack 5 blocks on top of each other! But her favorite activity is putting a couple blocks on Mommy's head and watching them fall off.

7. Can climb up and slide down her new 4-foot slide all by herself. We opted for this right now b/c who knows when Will's going to have the time to build a nice wooden set.

8. She hasn't used her potty yet, but she loves flushing the toilet after I use it. Sometimes she'll flush when no one has even used it.

9. Climb on Rusty (her rocking horse) all by herself and press his ear to make him "clop,clop" and "neiggggh." Will taught her how to put one foot in the stirrup and swing herself up. She doesn't always make it, but you can't fault her for not trying. :-)

10. She's been saying "Moo" for a cow, "Bawk-Bawk" for a chicken, and "Baa" for a sheep for a long time but now she can look like a chicken as well by putting her hands under her armpits for wings and moving her head in and out.

Tagged by Liz!

2007-03-08T13:30:00.000-05:00

1. What is your occupation? Homemaker

2. What color are your socks right now? Cute pink slipper socks that Emmie got me-I love them! So comfortable.

3. What are you listening to right now? the hum of the computer.

4. What was the last thing that you ate? scrambled eggs/bacon sandwich for breakfast.

5. Can you drive a stick shift? no

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Let's see, right now, I'm feeling like a vibrant blue would be nice...

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Nikki-a friend from church-told me about another person in our Bible Fellowship class who just went into pre-term labor-please pray for her (Stephanie). She's 27 weeks right now.

8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? yes, lots and lots!

9. How old are you today? 30 years, 7 months, and 5 days.

10. Favorite drink: I have 3 favorites depending on my mood: water, sweet tea, diet coke

11. What is your favorite sport to watch? beach volleyball

12. Have you ever dyed your hair? no, just got highlights one time and no one could even tell!

13. Pets? no; when Ella gets a little older, we're planning on getting her a puppy.

14. Favorite food? chicken

15. What was the last movie you watched? Not hallmark? Prestige-and loved it-kept thinking about it for days

16. Favorite holiday? Christmas

17. What do you do to vent anger? Oh, I'm very mature when I get mad. If I'm really frustrated, I scream and beat on the floor (if I'm sitting down) or on a desk or something else nearby if I'm standing up (don't worry-never on Ella). I do this for a few seconds and then feel immensely better.

18. What were your favorite toys as a kid? Scruffy, a stuffed dog; my First Barbie (cute pink/white skirt one)

19. What is your favorite: Spring or Fall? I like them both for different reasons. Love the leaves/color in the fall and the crisp weather, and of course, love the flowers in the spring. I'm an indecisive person, remember?

20. Hugs or kisses? hugs!

21. Cherry or Blueberry? Blueberry! I love putting frozen blueberries in my cereal.

22. Do you want your friends to do this survey too? if they want to

23. Who is most likely to respond? Emmie?

24. Who is least likely to respond? Erin, because she has absolutely no time w/2 kids and twins on the way.

25. Living arrangements? 3/2 down south, on .8 acre lot that backs to woods.

26. When was the last time you cried? teared up reading Karanena's comment on my last post. Really cried? That last time I can clearly remember was when Ella was about 2 months old and I called Sarah Grace bawling. It was a mixture of "I'm a new mom and am completely overwhelmed" and Ella not eating (nursing) enough.

27. What is on the floor of your closet? A shoe rack, my laundry basket

28. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to? Out of the people that read my blog, Sarah Grace is the one I've known the longest. She's "my Diana"-my bosom, kindred spirit.

29. What did you do last night? after putting Boosie to bed, I watched a Hallmark movie. Safehouse-it wasn't that great.

30. Who is your role model? I have different ones for different things. I look up to my sister, Marna, for her great patience and laid-back attitude. She has 4 kids and doesn't ever seem to get really frustrated-amazing. I look up to Emmie for her generous spirit-she's always thinking of others (See #2 above) To Liz for her amazingly upbeat attitude all the time. To Sarah dear-for her wifely skills-among them-cooking meals all the time on time for her hubby. To Letisha-she has 4 kids and is homeschooling them. And she has time to blog. Simply amazing. I struggle w/one. To my grandmother-she never misses a day reading her Bible. To Mama and Mom Kannon-they're so kind and always seek to make peace. To my mom-who always, always, always, puts herself last. To my sweet Ella-who sees everything new and has such curiosity. And I look up to my husband, who works so hard for us during the day and still has the energy to bathe Ella, read her stories, and give me a good back rub/scratch when he gets home!
:-)

Learning

2007-03-01T11:34:00.000-05:00

Well, God's been gently reminding me of showing LOVE to my fellow man. Why is that so hard? B/c I'm still so self-absorbed. In my own little Mommy world.
I am realizing it more though and that's the first step, right? I did notice that the deli worker's name was Pam but still didn't say, "Thank you, Pam." Just "thank you." I'll get up the nerve next week. I always think people may think it a little creepy if I use their name and don't know them. I'm sure they wouldn't-they'd be glad someone actually acknowledged them as a person and not just a worker, but that's just my female mind doing way too much analyzing. And I failed to engage in a conversation w/a lady while out walking around the neighborhood b/c I was worried Ella would get too bored in her stroller. But at least God made me aware of the need to.

What God has brought to my mind the most since reading Matthew is Jesus eating w/sinners. (Because the sick are the ones in need of a physician.) And I've been thinking, "Do I even know any non-Christian friends?" Shouldn't I meet some and have them over? In Blue Like Jazz, Don talks about his pastor encouraging them to go out and just love on people-show them Christ's love and kindness. Not to try to get them to come to the church, but just to be like Christ. The result was many did end of coming to the church and finding a relationship w/Christ b/c those church-goers put their faith into practice.

I've been thinking about our next door neighbors-should we invite them over? This would take a major step of faith and God-given courage b/c I don't like feeling awkward, and when you're getting to know someone it tends to be that way. They could be Christians, who knows? Isn't that the sad thing-I hardly know anything about them.

So pray for me, dear friends, that I'll not just hear God's voice but respond as well.

Ella's been on a "Mama" phase for about a week now. She says it ALL the time-I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say at least a few hundred times a day. I have to admit, it gets on my nerves. Even if I'm in her sight, if my attention is not 100% on her, I hear it, "Mama, MAma, MAMA!" But when I was on the treadmill yesterday, I saw the beginning Dr. Phil. A mom was on there who had triplets who were all deaf and blind. And I was so rebuked and ashamed. This mom would do anything to hear her girls say "Mama." And here I was complaining.

Sometimes Ella will mix it up a bit, "Mama, Dada, Mama, Dada," but Dada is usually at a higher pitch. She'll do this when Will's not even here. I'm currently trying to figure out how to curb her yelling though. Yesterday in the grocery store it got quite loud-people were staring-and my "Shhh, Ella" wasn't working. Maybe they were just amazed that someone so tiny could be soooo loud. So, more practice at home, I guess.

Here's a recent pic-thanks for taking it, Uncle Jeff!

You can see she's getting a little more hair. She had her mouth full of grapes at the time and was pushing her corn popper.

Blue Like Jazz

2007-02-22T11:30:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading this book, thanks to Grier's and Jeff's encouragement. I have to admit that after the first couple chapters, I wasn't that impressed. I didn't like his writing style-short, choppy, sentences-abrupt thought changes, etc. However, the next day, after reading about Penny's conversion, I had changed my mind. The book definitely put me in a contemplative mood as I thought about what Penny said about reading Matthew and learning that Jesus never showed partiality but all of us humans do. By the time I finished the Confession chapter, I was completely hooked and extremely convicted. I felt I needed to go set up a booth to confess and also have a booth next to it where I was giving away hot soup to the poor.

In a nutshell, Donald Miller challenged me to put my Christianity or as he would call it my "Christian Spirituality" into practice. Like Don's friend Andrew the Protester who really believes that Jesus's command to feed the poor was meant for him directly, so he serves breakfasts on Saturdays on a busy sidewalk downtown. Not only that but he actually talks to and more importantly listens to what the poor and homeless are saying.

One thing you can say about Donald Miller is that he's real. He says things that we've all thought or wondered about at some point, but haven't had the guts to say.
And God convicted me throughout the book. One of the main things God showed me was that I am not showing Christ's love to those around me-indeed I can't-when my focus is all on myself. Don talked about how he likes "efficiency in personal interaction." I'm often the same way. I'm on the phone with someone, and I say the right things that make them think I'm listening, "Uh-huh, wow, interesting..." but secretly I'm wondering, "Why can't they just get to the point?" I'm thinking about the next thing I need to do and how they're holding me up from doing it. How backwards is that thinking???

Christ doesn't care about things; He gave His life for people. And that is exactly who I should be spending my time on. How many times have I been at the grocery store and just thought about what I needed and how quickly I needed to get out of there before Ella had a meltdown. Yes, I smiled to the lady at the deli counter who was getting our turkey and cheese, but secretly I was thinking, "Lady, can you just go any faster? No small talk; come on, I've got things to do." How very un-Christlike of me. And shouldn't I bother to learn her name? And truly act like I care about her b/c after all Christ does. As Don points out, when we act rushed, all it does is leave people with the idea that we don't value them. I want people to feel valued when they are around me because I truly value them as God's creation. Because God values them. Because God loves them just as much as He loves me.

I sat down to read the book some more yesterday after putting Ella down. I was frustrated b/c I had wanted to read a magazine article in the restroom (where all good magazines are read), but of course, I couldn't. Ella was in there w/me. Pulling things out of cabinets, putting her hands on the magazine, and saying in her own special way, "Pay attention to me, Mommy, all the time, every second when I'm awake, even when you're trying to poop!" Right after that, I had to go change her poopy diaper. I was just tired of it! I needed me time, so I put her abruptly down for a nap. "No, Ella, no time for a story; you have to take a nap."

As I settled in my chair to read, I arrived at the Community chapter and felt God gently rebuking me as I read Don's thoughts.

"Life was a story about me because I was in every scene...If somebody walked into my scene, it would frustrate me because they were disrupting the general theme of the play, namely my comfort or glory."
He went on to describe how
"The most difficult lie I have ever contended with is this: Life is a story about me."
"...There is no addiction as powerful as self-addiction."

After spending time at a bed and breakfast that was set up for people who were doing ministry and seeing how the host constantly cleaned up after people and put his needs aside, Don questioned him. How did he have "such a good attitude all of the time with so many people abusing his kindness?"
The host responded, "If we are not willing to wake up in the morning and die to ourselves, perhaps we should ask ourselves whether we are really following Jesus."

Piercing-instant rebuke. Had I been speaking loving words to Ella that day? No, I was frustrated b/c she was getting in the way of my plans. And have I mentioned that a 19-month-old isn't very appreciative? She doesn't care that I sit with her for 45+ minutes every meal while she eats. Ever. so. slowly. But God sees and God wants me to do all things as if I'm doing them for Him. I would imagine that would mean to do it with a cheerful heart, a thankful spirit-certainly not complaining. God is showing me that my first ministry right now is my child and my husband and that they deserve my respect and my love.

Even when I don't feel like giving it. Especially when I don't feel like giving it.
As Elise so aptly said in her post, "The Manner In Which We Walk," my job right now is to "Feed, Love, Lead."

If I am to be like Jesus, I must learn to die to self-not just every day, but every moment of the day.

So, I'm currently reading Matthew. I want to rediscover Jesus. I want to read and not just grope for a verse to speak to me. I really just want to see how He lived on this earth, how He interacted with so many different people and responded to their questions and their hurts. I want to learn so I can start living like Him.

Liz's 30th B-Day Celebration!

2007-02-11T18:25:00.000-05:00

Oh, what fun I had Saturday at Liz's party. I met Karanena (you're even more lovely in person!) and many other of Liz's friends. Plus, I got to spend time with Emmie, Abbie, and of course, Liz. I so enjoyed the girl talk after the party w/Liz and Abbie. Who knew that we could move from devotion topics to pregnancy tests in a matter of seconds? :-) If you ever do move to Florence, Liz, we'll be close behind. How much fun would that be?

Abbie planned a marvelous Fiesta party! It was a Mexican theme b/c Liz is going there w/Kris on a cruise in just a few short days. We had delicous tacos for lunch and then for games took a Mayan quiz with some interesting questions and multiple choice answers. Can you believe I actually won the prize for the most correct on that? Like I told Abbie, just lucky guesses. My prize? A Kalanchoe-or what I call a beautiful plant w/lovely pink flowers. :-)

Then we played hot peppers-like hot potato but w/a catch. If you were caught w/the hot peppers, you weren't out of the game, you just had to wear a dress-up item of Liz's choosing. What a silly and fun time-everyone was in stiches! Lastly, Liz broke the pinata-wow, she can swing and hit hard-Kris, you better watch out!

It was just such a fun and relaxing time for us-Will of couse loved it b/c he and Jim got to catch up and I enjoyed the girl time. Ella was entertained by all the other kids there and especially loved the adorable, little nook Mrs. Shumaker created where her old water heater used to be-how creative-we just love the idea. Ella wanted to keep climbing up and down the ladder, of course. And her favorite toy to play w/up there? Sam's cars...I keep telling Will he already has his little boy...

Liz, I wish you the bestest of birthdays on Valentine's Day-have lots of fun w/your hubby and eat some good chocolate! You're one of the few people I know who is truly beautiful inside and out. You remind me of Mama-ever so pretty and sweet-always cheerful and smiling. A true joy to be around. I love you!

Thankful

2007-02-06T16:53:00.000-05:00

Well, we're back from our vacation! Boy, was it ever so nice. We went hiking in Dupont Forest to 2 waterfalls. Triple Falls was the best in our opinion, but High Falls was also nice. At Triple Falls, we sat down for awhile on a big rock and just soaked up the beauty. We held hands as we hiked, we talked about anything and everything, and I felt so free and light. It was simply grand.

As we pulled up to the B&B, I was awestruck. Sweeping vistas, beautiful mountains, and adorable white cottages with green tin roofs. The Inn itself looked like a mansion. That evening we enjoyed a 4-course dinner in our cottage. It was fun getting dressed up but then being able to eat in privacy. I had Shrimp Scampi and Will had Filet Mignon with Bearnaise Sauce. Delicious!

There was also a hot tub right outside on our deck that was simply divine-I could just feel all my cares melting away as I gazed up at the stars. We also enjoyed our lovely fireplace and the Tempur-Pedic mattress. We DID NOT want to get up the next morning; we both slept like babies. The next morning, breakfast was already waiting for us in our fridge-we just warmed up our egg casserole and huge muffins and had fruit, juice, and coffee as well. I love the fact that we didn't have to get dressed and go mingle with strangers at a big table. We needed alone time. And even if we had chosen an inn room, it's the same way-breakfast in your "kitchen closet." If we ever go back, I think we'll stay in the Gable Room-we got a chance to see that one and it's huge and very beautiful. And, of course, much cheaper than the cottage.

And yes, in case you check out the site and start adding up prices, we did spend lots of money, but considering we haven't been anywhere by ourselves for 2 years, I felt it was justified. A late anniversary and Valentine's celebration all in one. Don't worry, Em, we didn't go in debt over it! :-)

By the time we left Monday, I was starting to miss Ella a lot. But she did wonderfully without us. In fact, I called Sunday night to check on her and my mom said she hadn't said our names or done the milk sign all day. AMAZING! I found out when we returned, that she had looked for us in all the rooms Monday morning when she woke up, but still no milk sign. But boy did she ever do it when she saw me. I was talking to my mom and finally she looked at me so pitifully and signed "Milk. Please!" And I only had to pump twice while I was gone so it wasn't so bad.

I've got some pics of our time away and lots of Ella trying on some hand-me-downs from our friends at church. How wonderful not to have to buy any clothes for awhile!

Snow Day!

2007-02-01T15:01:00.000-05:00

We woke up this morning to snow-yay!

But then it started raining and turned to an icy,slushy mess-boo!

So, Ella really didn't get to play in it, but Will did manage to build a tiny snowman and I decorated it. She was actually afraid to stand in it-I'm sure she was thinking, "Why is the grass white now, Mommy?"

It's funny, just yesterday I went to the library to get her some new books and saw one about snow, but I thought, "Well, she won't be seeing that anytime soon, no need to make her jealous." :-) Guess I should've gotten her some winter boots too, eh?

Bye-Bye

2007-01-31T20:54:00.000-05:00

That's Ella's new word. She said it for the 1st time today and I couldn't help but clap and jump up and down. Of course, this made her laugh and say it again and again. She even said it to Will on the phone. So, I have hope once again that one day our daughter will be able to communicate with us verbally. :-)

And those tiny feet are growing. Just the other day, she saw a picture of herself w/her shiny, black shoes. She did the shoe sign, then led me into her room and pointed to the closet. I got the shoes out for her to put on, but alas they would not fit. I almost cried right there. I just got them for her in Nov-how do those feet grow so fast?

And I must tell you about the treasured sounds in our house.

Daddy reading to Ella...Daddy laughing b/c Ella's laughing at a picture...and Daddy singing

Down in the valley, valley so low
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow,
Hear the wind blow, dear, hear the wind blow,
Lean your head over, hear the wind blow

Roses love sunshine, violets love dew
Angels in heaven know I love you
Know I love you, dear, know I love you
Angels in heaven, know I love you.

Can anything be sweeter?

Interesting Little People

2007-01-21T21:45:00.000-05:00

Yes, that's my underwear Ella is trying on...
So, the other night Will and I were rehashing the day's events and he said, "Babies are such interesting little people." Ah, indeed. Shall I explain?

First of all, we were laughing at how Ella understands so much at her young age. We asked her to shut the door to the BR as we were both resting in bed still and didn't want her wandering around the house by herself. She walked up to the door, then hesitated. We could see her thinking-"Hmmm, if I shut this door, that means I can't get out since I can't reach the door knob yet. But Mommy and Daddy told me to shut it and I should obey. But I really don't like feeling trapped in one room.....and on and on, we could see those wheels turning. Finally she decided to shut it. Whew! Hard decision.

Ella also wants us to kiss her boo-boos and lately has a new way of getting extra kisses. If she hurts her foot for example, she'll do the hurt sign, and I'll kiss her foot. She'll smile b/c it's all better now, but then she'll start pointing to other places she wants me to kiss (tummy, head, head again but a different spot, etc). It's hilarious!

And she's a very determined little girl. She pulls, inches her way up, grabs hold of anything and everything to get to the top (of the bed, of the chair, etc). She doesn't let her small stature deter her one bit. And oh how proud she is of herself when she makes it! Lately, her greatest feat is climbing onto our bed and immediately reaching over to the nightstand to turn on the radio on Daddy's alarm clock.
Music comes on...she starts dancing.
She gets tired of it and turns it off.
Decides to dance again and turns it on.
Song goes off and people start talking.
BORING-it goes off.
And on and on it goes until Mommy decides it's time for a new activity.

She can be so intense too-just give her some crayons and watch as she gets very, very close to the page and makes her mark just so. She looks up at me and beams and then leans down again to get oh so close to make another mark. Too cute.

And, give her a new book or one she hasn't read in awhile, and she'll go off to her own corner and sit down and turn all the pages, soaking it all in. The other day she was "reading" The Monster at the End of the Book. On the last page Grover puts his hands on his head and says, "I'm so embarrassed." She proceeded to mimic the look then and later at the dinner table. What fun babies are!

And of course she loves playing peek-a-boo. Will recently got me some roses just b/c (isn't he sweet?) and Ella and I have been playing our game-poking our head around the vase. It never fails to bring a smile to her face. Oh, and I have a sad note to report...especially for dear Emily. Ella no longer puts her hands straight out for "bunny" anymore. She balls up her hands and put them under her chin now...but she still makes the cutest biting face.

Today Ella had a play date w/John Michael (sorry no pics)-they did well together-still parallel play but they were pretty good about sharing and it made me so happy to see a baby that wasn't bigger than Ella and wouldn't bowl her over (of course, he's 6 months younger, so....) The girl/mom time w/Cil was definitely needed and much appreciated. Sometimes I wonder, "Does any other baby do this?" It's nice to know they do. However, I'm not sure if any other baby has a fetish w/her Mommy's underarms while nursing. Ella's had this for several months...she loves to pick or pinch away at them while nursing-and the other hand is usually holding a book we've just read together-crazy, right? This child has to have both hands occupied at all times. When I'm not around to pinch, she sucks her fingers w/one hand and pinches at her neck w/the other. VERY interesting baby.
Anywho, back to the play date. This was the first time I've seen Cil since she told me she was expecting again-she looks great-19 weeks along and you can barely tell she's expecting. Ah, to have that problem. :-) (I was already doing the rubber band thing w/the button of my jeans at 13 weeks!)

So, now you're updated on Boosie's latest antics. I'm sorry I haven't posted in awhile-thus, why you're reading such a long post-I couldn't log on to Blogger. I tried all the help tricks, nothing worked. Then I remembered I had deleted Internet Explorer 7 and gone back to the old version b/c the new one was getting on my nerves. Turns out, I have to have the new one to access my account. So, back on it went. I'm just thankful God allowed us to figure it out-it was hurting me not to be able to post anything. Writing posts and receiving comments is very therapeutic, you know.
:-)

B/T/W, I'm getting extremely excited about our upcoming bed and breakfast getaway. It's less than a week away. Yippee!

Ramblings

2007-01-20T11:52:00.000-05:00

Have I told you about Ella's Stevie Wonder impersonation? For whatever reason, while she's eating in her highchair, she'll close her eyes and move her head back and forth to some beat heard only to her. It's quite cute to watch.

Well, we finally got our carpets cleaned-we've never done the entire house until now-(only did the den and hallway before Ella was born), so it was definitely needed. The only sad thing is that even the professionals couldn't get the slushy spill out. It's a lighter pink now and covered by the recliner, but unfortunately, it's still there. We've since learned our lesson about drinking slushies in the den when Ella is anywhere around.

Oh, and Will got a couple new things from Cabelas; a new deer target which Ella is completely fascinated with, and an infant/toddler life jacket that actually fits Ella. The other one was a quick pick-up from Walmart on our way to the lake. It was actually made for babies 30lb. and up, so we found this one on the Cabelas site. It's made so that babies stay facing up in the water, and it has a handle to quickly yank the baby out in case she falls in. Makes me feel safer about going to the lake.

I decided my blog needed a new look-I'm one of those people that can only stand things to be the same for so long, and then I have to change something! I recently changed our den furniture around, and both Will & I love the new arrangement. He can stretch out on the couch and I can lean back in the recliner. For some reason, we never used the recliner where it was positioned before.

Hope you enjoy the new pics. Have a wonderful Saturday, everyone.

Wonderful Day

2007-01-14T13:13:00.000-05:00

Will, Ella, and I had a marvelous time yesterday. Went to the lake to take Will's boat out for awhile. It was Ella's first time in a boat-she didn't quite know what to think while we were going fast, but when we stopped in a cove for a fishing/nursing break, she started to enjoy it more. She pointed out all the leaves floating in the water ("Dah!" "Dah! "Dah!), and enjoyed her first fishing lesson from Will. After the boat ride, Ella had a blast at the small park near the boat landing. She went down all the slides all by herself-even the tall, curvy one! Of course we were waiting to catch her at the end. She cried when we left and waved bye-bye to them-so pitiful. We're definitely going to have to get her a play set soon. We want a wood one but they're quite expensive, so Will's planning on building her a small one instead.

The greatest thing was just being on a nature outing w/my family. We really need to do things like this at least once a month-it's so refreshing for all of us.

Thanks to Chuck, I know a new way of posting lots of pics at once; enjoy the slide show!

YAY!

2007-01-12T11:26:00.000-05:00

Weighed Ella yesterday and she was 21 lbs! I'm thrilled that the new plan worked. Here's Ella's new phrase for the week:

"Doy, Doy, Dat."

Sometimes, she adds an extra "Dat." You should try saying it; it's fun and relieves stress. :-)
Some others she's had for awhile, "Bap!" and "Fu-bah." Now, if we could just figure out what they all mean.

Got Milk?

2007-01-06T19:36:00.000-05:00

Not for much longer, I'm afraid. I'm very sad to report that Ella is starting to wean herself. Just in the last few days she has gone from 5 to 3 feedings a day. The morning and night is still the longest (15 min) and the one during the day is between 8-10 min. The other two were just small snacks anyhow-6-8 min. max. but I just thought that she would wean more gradually. You know drop one feeding, then a week or two or three later, drop another. Hopefully, she'll stick to 3 for awhile, so I don't have to go through a box of Kleenex anytime soon. My little girl is growing up....that's good but hard for a Mommy to take.

The only good part of this is that it means Will & I will be able to do a mini-vacation sooner rather than later. Maybe we'll just make it a procreation vacation. :-)

At Ella's recent 18 month well visit, I was talking to Amy about wanting to just have 1 night away at a B&B near my parents' house but feeling like it was impossible since she was still nursing. Her advice was "Go! Definitely! You and Will need a night off. She can't think the world revolves around her forever. And one night without BF won't kill her or stop your milk flow." She of course said I could pump if I felt it necessary. (I'm hoping I won't need to; I really hate pumping!) So, we've got our sights set on February; now I just need to let my parents know that!:-)

By the way, she's still right under 20 lbs.(19.5) and 29.75 inches. She was 19.1 at 12 months, so Amy was a little concerned. She said Ella's obviously so active and burning almost all the calories she's eating during the day, so I need to up her protein and calories a little more. I'm supposed to weigh her in about a week and see if the new menu has worked; I'll let you know how that goes. The main thing is I don't want to stunt her growth. Her growth chart curve is starting to go downward; never a good sign. Amy said I should probably start her on some whole milk too. I've tried to no avail. Tried organic whole milk by itself (cold and warm) and in a shake. She just spit it out. Our next try is going to be goat's milk. Then soy after that.

On a different note, Ella knows a few more signs like please and thank you. Maybe I shouldn't have taught her "please." Now if she wants anything and I say "no," she does the sign...hard to resist, so I'm quickly learning the art of redirecting. You know, "No, Ella, Mommy had to put the broom away, but how about we play with your corn popper instead?"

She's learned the gun sign as well-I had to teach her b/c she kept hearing popping noises outside and wanted to know what they were. (Pointing outside, saying "Du, Du, Du?") Don't worry; it's just the nearby shooting range she hears. She also pretends she's hammering when she sees/hears Daddy doing it. And if she's in the right mood, she'll blow kisses to us.

And today our little girl had 2 more firsts. She took 1 nap instead of 2. (I'm hoping that was just an accident. :-) I really treasure those nap times.) And it was her 1st time using markers (washable, of course). The funny thing was she spent more time trying to put the cap back on the marker or on the end of it than she did coloring. Thus, why her hands got so pretty. :-)

Christmas Fun

2006-12-30T22:29:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve Ella helped Mommy wrap some last minute gifts. She somehow got a bow stuck on her bottom-too cute and put a ribbon bow in her hair all by herself. At least she didn't shred stickers like Bella! (Liz's dog). :-)

Ella enjoyed her 2nd Christmas. We're doing the Magi gift thing-3 gifts. She got her 1st peg puzzle, a Jack-in-the-box, and a Little Snoopy pull dog. She also got some play keys in her stocking, but we don't count that among the three. :-)
But her favorite thing was something Will had made her a few days before. He recently got a car seat for his truck and made Ella a house out of it. Nothing fancy-he just cut some windows and a door for her to crawl in, but she LOVES it!

Went to see Mom and Ken at the lake later that day. Ella enjoyed showing off her Christmas dress.

Tuesday we first went to visit Mema, Aunt Cherie and Candace. I was so excited about Ella's new PJs Aunt Cherie got her-the pants are made to be tight and b/c of that-they can fit her short legs. Yay!

In the evening, we went to visit my siblings and Dad at Marna's house; Ella loved spending time w/her cousins. She'd never met Tyler (Donna's oldest) and hadn't seen Meagan and Maggie (Donna's other 2 kids) since last October. They were all wonderful with her. I so wish we lived closer to them so she could get to know all her cousins better...maybe one day.

Yes, Justin (Marna's youngest boy who is only 27 months but so huge!) is picking his nose!

7 years and counting...

2006-12-24T23:50:00.000-05:00

At 1:30pm 7 years ago, Will and I said, "We do." Yesterday we celebrated by taking Boosie to the zoo (her first time) and then going to Falls Park (1st time for all of us). Oh, it was beautiful! We decided we're definitely going back there in the spring and taking a picnic. The Reedy River was really flowing due to the rain from Friday. And it was 70 Saturday, so it was a great day to be outside. Ella loved seeing the monkeys at the zoo; she loves beating her chest and going "Eeee, Eeee."
I guess that's more like a gorilla, but we think it's hilarious. My favorite thing? Rocking in the swing by the river w/my favorite 2 people. Will and I kept saying how much we enjoyed that time together as a family and how we need to do relaxing things like that more often.
Today we said our vows to each other again and asked God for His grace and strength to love each other like we should. Ella was our witness this time. :-)

Merry Christmas!

Future Seamstress

2006-12-21T12:09:00.000-05:00

I gave Ella the measuring tape to play with and she immediately draped it over herself like a pro. Then she took my old headband and pulled it down around her waist. Finally, she emptied out all her toys from the box and climbed inside. Funny girl.

This is what Ella does w/Daddy's tank tops. Notice how the onesie's a little big? And it's only a 12 month size. You can definitely see she has a cute little tummy though. And notice the hands behind her back again. :-)

My big helper!

Beautiful Day for Playing in the Leaves!

2006-12-20T23:03:00.000-05:00

I actually took these a week or so ago but have been so busy w/Christmas stuff (cards, presents, etc) that I'm just now posting them.
Ella loves playing in the leaves-picking them up, throwing them down, etc. Sometimes she even gets mad at them (see last pic).

Ella still has a cold; lots of suctioning going on. Oh, and we didn't make it to Chick-Fil-A but not b/c of the cold thing b/c she was doing better that morning. I was actually ready to go at a decent time but when I was getting in the car, I realized my window was down. That was strange, I didn't remember leaving it down. Well, when I started the car and tried to roll the window up, it wouldn't budge-just made a funny noise. I tried and tried again in vain. I couldn't drive there in the cold weather w/the window down w/Ella still getting over her cold. So, out came Ella, her diaper bag, and Mommy. No Chick-Fil-A breakfast or story time-I was mostly upset about the breakfast.

So...instead of going to get a chicken biscuit, when Will got home, we dropped my Jeep off for repairs, and left there $400+ poorer. They had to replace the window controller unit (which controls all 4 windows) and they went ahead and fixed the trunk hydraulic lift. Now when loading groceries, the trunk door doesn't keep falling down on your head!

Oh well-that's life. At least it finally got us to the mechanic to get that lift fixed!

Ring Around the Rosie

2006-12-12T13:59:00.000-05:00

Ella went to her first storytime today at the Easley Library. I was determined we were going to do this even though it was @ 9:30 in the morning. We both enjoy sleeping in until 8:30. And to get a shower, dry my hair (that takes forever), nurse her, get dressed, and be ready to leave by 9:15-well, that would take a miracle. We actually didn't leave until 9:30, so we just caught the last 15 minutes of it, but oh, what fun! I actually thought, "I bet I'll be one of the only ones here." Boy, was I wrong. There are a lot of other crazy moms (about 10) who drag their kids to something so early in the morning. (For those of you reading this who think 9:30 is late in the day, and that if you wake up past 7am you've wasted half your day-this is how Will thinks-forgive me, but I am not a morning person.)

The "teacher" was great w/the kids-it was just for toddlers 2 and under (they have other groups for the older kids.) She read a Christmas book, then we did some fun songs w/bells-Ella loved ringing hers-and finished w/"Ring around the Rosie."

Okay, let's park here for a minute. I've never liked this rhyme after I was told it was in reference to the bubonic plaque. I thought, "How awful to be singing a song about how millions of people died." However, after finding this website, and reading some others' opinions, I think I was fed a lie. In actuality, "Philip Hiscock, a folklorist at Memorial University in Newfoundland, argues that the rhyme likely originated as a way of skirting Protestant bans on dancing." Now, that I can agree w/any day. Everyone knows I like to shake a jig once in awhile. :-)
Another interesting thing. After everyone fell down, the teacher and all the other moms began singing this verse:

The cows are in the meadow
Eating buttercups
Thunder! Lightening!
We all get up

I was amused. I thought it was cute but had never heard of it. Appears it's another verse of the rosie rhyme-though some versions are different (just like there are variants of the original rhyme).

Okay, done chasing that rabbit-back to storytime. Ella didn't want to stand by herself-she wanted me to hold her almost the entire time. I think all those kids intimidated her. But I'm sure once we go a few times, she'll be more sociable.

I also picked up a few more books for her. (Our first time going to the library was a couple weeks ago and I picked up Bible Stories Volume 1.) Now I have Read-aloud Bible Stories Vol. 2 and 3 by Lindvall. Big illustrations and simple but accurate stories-however, the illustrations aren't that appealing to babies. But the best I could find. I also got some other books-The Big Red Barn and some books that had tapes or CDs w/them. Thought it'd be fun to let Ella hear some books in the car.
(I know Liz will appreciate that.)

Letisha, do you know of any other Bible books that are good for Ella's age? I know you frequent your library a lot and am sure you have some gems to share. :-)

They're having another storytime at Chick-Fil-A this Friday at 10am. My plan is to go early so we can enjoy breakfast together first. We'll see how that goes.

Ella's Height

2006-12-07T11:23:00.000-05:00

Letisha asked me awhile back how tall Ella is.
I measured her today and she definitely has grown.
She's 29.75 inches. That's huge for her-a whole inch of growth in 2 months time. But she's still at the 9th percentile for a 17 month old. And still wearing 6-9 month pants. I think this is b/c her torso is long but her legs are quite short. Oh well. She's healthy and happy-that's all that matters.

Pics from Em and Jeff

2006-12-06T17:45:00.000-05:00

Em and Jeff visited the Sat. after Thanksgiving and took some cute pics of Ella. So now you all can see the leg hug I referred to in an earlier post. And guess what? Ella loves to pull a certain book off the bookcase in our bedroom. The title? The Anne of Green Gables Storybook. :-) What can I say? It's in her blood, I guess. :-)

Smart Girl!

2006-12-06T12:38:00.000-05:00

The other night, Will was playing w/Ella in the den. After awhile, he asked, "Where's Mama?" Ella walked straight back to our bedroom, entered, and saw that the bathroom door was shut and heard the shower going. She reported back to Daddy with the bath sign.
He was so impressed, he came right back there to tell me.
:-)