Meet some of my friends...

So after all of what has been going on I wanted to share with you about a couple friends who have been such a blessing to us.

First meet Misti. Misti has a son named Calvin, who happens to be about 9 days older than Ian! She is by far one of the sweetest ladies I know. Incredibly enough, she is always willing to have Ian over (and me too), even though she has Calvin and a part time job and is a wife! This is our friend that Ian has a crush on. Every time we get in the car he asks if we are going to "Teetee's". Isn't that cute? I love it. Although it is a little hard to explain to him that just because we are in the car it doesn't mean we are on our way to see Misti. ;) One thing that Misti has done to bless our life is that she offers to to help ALL the time. So when I need a babysitter for Ian during my doctor appointments, I always know I can count on her to be there for me. Most recently though I feel bad for asking her because I have not been able to return the favor. So I try to treat her to lunches and snacks as much as we can to make sure she knows she is appreciated. (I should mention that one of my love languages is gifts, so this is a way I can show her that we love her). One of the most recent things Misti did was pick up Ian and take him to the mall to walk with her and Calvin! This gave me some much needed time to try and rest and get a few things done around the house.

Second meet Linsdey and Kyle. We met them in our newly wed FLOCK at church the week after Ian was born. I am not sure why I remember this so well, but I do! So Lindsey's husband Kyle works one to two weeks on and one to two weeks off, so Lindsey is always willing to watch Ian when her husband is at work. More recently though, they both enjoy watching him. They are always willing to help us out, even at the last moment. We have been able to enjoy many a date nights and run many errands because they were so willing to help. This has been so great for Justin and I! Also, I should mention that one time I paid her for babysitting and she emailed me the next day to tell me she won't be accepting money from us anymore. How amazing is that? I can't wait till they have kids so we can return the favor for them! Until then we will try to find ways to let them know that we appreciate them. Here is the most recent report from when they kept Ian. I had emailed her to let her know that Ian was still asleep at 9:45 in the morning, so it was official that he would be coming over every night to get worn out! Here is what she said:

Haha awesome! I’m glad we could wear him out. We stayed outside most of the evening since it wasn’t too warm. We played chase so he was running in circles for about 20 minutes. Then we turned on some music and Kyle and I were two-stepping. Ian was laughing and got really shy when he saw us dancing together so I grabbed him and started two stepping with him- he was so embarrassed but was cracking up! It was super cute. He’s a fun & happy kid- you and Justin should be proud. Can’t wait to meet Owen so we can have fun with him too!

I wish I could list all of the people in our life that have babysat for free for us. The list could literally go on and on! What a blessing it has been to us. Also, the people who have offered to help me out during this pregnancy could make a pretty long list too. Thank you Lord for the people in our life. Help me to be to them as they are to me!

borderline, so why worry...

I had an ultra sound at my high risk doctor today. At first it seemed like everything was good, but then when the doctor came in (at first the ultra sound tech is in there doing things then the doctor comes in after and takes a look too) he said that the baby was on the small side growth wise. When I first heard this it didn't bother me much because Ian was always on the small side, I mean he was 5 lbs 14 oz at birth! But then I have thought about it since being at the office and this little guy has been measuring pretty much right on at every ultra sound, so now I may be a little bit more concerned about that. Anyways, because of his growth and something about low blood flow we are having to up our non stress tests to twice a week instead of once a week.

So at first I was thinking, ok not a big deal. Then the nurse came in and took my blood pressure and it was 140/84. Which they didn't seem too worried about, but compared to what my bp usually is that is high. I also know that my regular OBGYN wouldn't be too thrilled with this. But again, I wasn't going to worry myself needlessly.

We headed home and I went and picked up our son from our friends house (who I think Ian has a bit of a crush on by the way) and we watched Elmo for a little bit then laid down for a nap. Oh naps! I needed one bad because I had woken up around 3 and was awake till sometime after 4:30 this morning. I was sleeping really good when the phone rang. I waited to hear who was calling (yes our phone speaks to us and tells us who is calling). It was my doctor's office so I answered it. Ugh. Between the results from this mornings ultra sound and my last 24 hour urine test they are calling me borderline pre eclamptic. So I have to go in today for a non stress test and get a shot to help Owen's lungs develop just in case we have to deliver earlier than we had planned.

I have such a great husband that even though our friend Misti said she could watch Ian this afternoon when I go in, he came home so I could rest some more. What a wonderful guy I have! In fact he even took Ian and is getting us something to eat for lunch as I type this blog post.

Well I guess that is about all for now. I know I said I am ready for Owen to be here, but not like this. I want HIM to be ready too! Plus, we really aren't ready when it comes to the house being ready and being packed and so on. But we know that we serve a great God who has all things in his hands and in his control. So why worry right?

Why Worry sketch from Church on the Move on Vimeo.

baby showers and so much more...

Justin and I are so blessed to have friends and family that care so much about us. We had two baby showers thrown for us! Can I just say that we are now set for diapers and wipes for awhile. I absolutely can not wait till Owen is here to wear them all. ;)

(Misti (or as Ian says Teetee), me and Ashleigh. Yummy chocolate fondue!)

(Paige, Haley, me, Heather and Patty)

As the day draws closer I am just that more excited to be able to hold him. A family in our FLOCK (aka Sunday School) just had a little boy about a month and a half ago. He was at my shower that our FLOCK threw us and he is just so cute. I really wanted to hog him and hold him the whole time and just let others open the gifts and show me what we got. But I resisted. In fact I didn't even hold him once! Hmm, now that I think of it that was kind of sad. Anyways, seeing him makes me want to hold my little guy all the more!

Our delivery has been scheduled for July 21st! I can't believe we have a date set. Today our doctor's office called to let me know the time had changed, which kind of scared me. Not sure why, but even a two hour delay pushes it back too much! And if they can push it back two hours why not two days. Now my mind is just going to the worst case. I am just really ready to not be pregnant anymore.

I know that many of you are thinking "just remember the blessing of what you get to hold in 23 days" (ok you may not be thinking the 23 days part, but I just added that in case you needed to know the official count down). I can assure you that I have not forgotten the blessing that has been given to me. I in no way want to offend those who have not been down this road yet, but I am miserably uncomfortable. Sleeping till 5am with out having to get up has become a huge accomplishment to me. In fact this morning was really good because I slept till 6 with out having to get up! I have sharp pain every time I roll over during the night. I can't sit up in church with out my butt falling asleep and feeling the need to stretch out. And I won't even go into the heartburn that I get at night.

So there you have it. As you can see I am ready to meet our little Owen. I am ready to get into our new way of living. I am ready to be tired because I am waking up with a little one crying rather than to go to the bathroom or because of discomfort. Your prayers over the next few weeks would be much appreciated, because I am also VERY emotional. It is not a big surprise if I cry at least once a day if not more.

On a positive note, my boys are the cutest boys around! I have probably mentioned Ian's "hat" (aka his Easter basket) that he likes to put on his head. Well he also likes to put it on daddy's head! Justin is so cute too, he just wears it like there is nothing out of the ordinary with having an Easter basket on his head. Also, Justin has a noise for the parts of his face. So when Ian touches his nose it honks, when he wiggles his ear it makes another noise and so on. I love watching them together! He has far exceeded my expectations of him as a father. He is so loving and playful. It is just entertaining to watch them together! He also took Ian on a walk on Saturday, with out the stroller. So Ian was actually walking. I know Ian must have loved it. I just wish I could have been with them. Darn, I am turning a good story back to my pain and misery. I better stop writing then. Here is a cute picture of my boys together.

A dad song, finally...

Oh my goodness this is so great! Ever since we found the Mom Song by Go Fish Guys we have been looking for a good "dad" song. I think this is it! LOVE it! (I can't figure out how to get it to where you can see the full screen. So if you want to watch it on YouTube the go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2_9H0jzXRM)

yep, another post...

I usually don't do two posts this in the same day, but I couldn't not post this next video.

I thankfully haven't had to go through the loss of a child. I do, however, have many friends who have experienced this feeling. For those of you who have not heard about the story with Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife, Mary Beth, you can read about it here. It happened in May of 2008. I remember feeling so very sad because at the time I was pregnant with Ian, my friend Lucy had just lost her daughter a month before this. I just don't know if I would have been the strong person that all of my friends have been when they lost their child. It makes me sad just remembering their stories.

All of this to say, I am guessing that the Chapman's wrote this song after the death of there 5 year old daughter. In any case it is a song that is so encouraging that I just had to share it with you all.

I have to say that I am blessed beyond measure. I struggle with depression, but it is songs like this that remind me that Our God is in Control! Praise God for that my friends!

signs to words...

Ian is doing so well with his talking! He does really well with sign language, but is slowly (or fastly, is that a word?) speaking them too! I am so proud of him. Here is a short video of him saying a few things.

Listening to God...

So I am lying in bed at about 5:30 this morning eating chocolate donettes and drinking diet Dr. Pepper and my mind starts to sing a Veggie Tales song. (what this isn't what you were doing at 5:30 this morning? I thought this was a normal thing for everyone. Hmm, I guess it could be because I am pregnant and wake up hungry and with headaches, but no that couldn't be it. Maybe you are the weird one for not doing this, did you ever think about that?)

Yes, I said Veggie Tales song. You see the only bad thing about Veggie Tales videos is that they aren't long enough, so we end up watching the same one over and over and over through out the day. I know, I could get up off the couch every 30 minutes and change it to a new one, but really lets just get realistic. Ok, so the song I started to think of this morning was "keep walking, cause you won't knock down our wall" It is from the story about Joshua and the wall of Jericho.

It came to me this morning, what if Joshua would have listened to the taunters? The people who were probably making fun of him for thinking that walking around the wall all those times would cause it to fall. How many lives would have changed if he started to walk and then decide that he heard God wrong and turn around and head back to camp?

Have you ever done that? Felt like God was telling you to do something, but then when you got close to doing it you got scared and decided that it wasn't what God wanted? Or some how justify not doing it? I can tell you that I have done this on several different occasions. I also walk away and ask God to forgive me, like even though I decided it wasn't what I was supposed to do, I want to cover my butt in case it was what I was supposed to do.

Is there something that God is calling you to do, but you keep putting it off? If so, lets stop putting it off and get it done! I say "lets" because there is something God has been telling me to do and I haven't listened to him, so I am right there with you.

Ok, so since this has been a long post I will reward you with a picture of the cutest chocolate covered boy in the world!