Dr visit update

I saw the Dr. today. I lost two pounds, and my keytones (sp?) were a little elevated from dehydration. I haven't been drinking as much water, because I don't like making 25 trips to the bathroom every day at work! She was happy with my blood sugars and everything, and I am measuring just fine. Asher's heartbeat was in the 130's today. She wanted me to not lose any more weight, and to drink more water and eat eggs and cottage cheese (seriously-that's what she said! :o) Funny suggestion, but it works for me...I love both of those! She wanted me to come back in one week this time, just to check the keytones. She said I was a good patient, and that I make her life easier. :o) I guess that's a good thing.

The last days of winter...in my mind anyway!

Ahh...January is over as of midnight tomorrow night. What a relieving thought! I know we still have all of February and sometimes even March for wintry weather, but I am just glad this month is almost over. February brings hope of spring. This morning I was reading the first chapter of 1 Peter, and I was reminded of a song by Acappella-Nita and Crystal-do you remember them? Gosh-there's nothing like that group to remind me of the hope and promise of spring. I am not quite sure why I link them together? Possibly because Crystal won an Acappella tape-Sweet Fellowship-I believe-at the Youth Group Easter Egg Scavenger hunt when we were all in grade school---that's a long time to keep a memory-I'm proud of my brain for that! That makes me happy. So...I just put in this cd, and ahhh...I feel happy and blessed...plus my nose feels better today.

I think I mentioned yesterday that there are only 10 weeks til our baby boy gets here-he's about all I can think about. I've been trying to get things at work gathered up, caught up, fixed up, and not messed up before I go on maternity leave. I am not sure who is taking my spot for the THREE MONTHS (!!!!!) that I will be gone, but I want to have it all ready for them.

Oh-and here is a little piece of 1 Peter that I love:

"Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls." 1Peter 1:8-9

Even though there are struggles of this world, and sometimes we cannot see Jesus-we KNOW he is here with us, and that makes us happy, because we know we will be in Heaven with him someday. (my paraphrase)

29 weeks!

I'm feeling a little bit better today. My head still aches, but the crazy nose thing is tapering off. I really want to get back to being blessed and blogging---I've missed sharing my thoughts and joy here.

We're 29 weeks this weeks-about 10 weeks to go! I am so excited! I also spoke with my boss about taking 12 weeks off instead of 8, and it looks like that will work out! I am thrilled! I can't even imagine taking 3 months off with my boy-and my girl-two of the months I will be out will be on Katie's summer break! I'm looking forward to spending the summer at home. Yay! :o) I want to really savor and enjoy it, so I am going to try very hard to get organized before baby comes, so I can just enjoy the time at home. I know it won't all be peaches and cream, but I think I will always treasure that time at home. I don't know if I will get to ever be a SAHM, I don't know if Kris will get a new job, I don't know how we will afford daycare if I have to go back to work, but I know God has a plan-HE's the MAN with the PLAN!

I see Dr. tomorrow, and I will for sure be asking her what in the world the pulling feeling is clear accross the top of my belly. I am not sure if Asher is just growing so much, or if my body is just rearranging, but it has really been worse lately. There are times when it almost doubles me over, just because it aches...I'm sure everything is fine...I'm just old and whiney!

Well, I need to get a little bit of work done today (tons, actually) so I will blog more when I can. It's good to be back...I've missed being here.

Is it over yet?

Yikes...I cannot shake this cold. My head feels like it might just fall off! I see the doctor on Wednesday, so if I'm not better by then, I might have to whine and see if there is anything I can take. It seems worse in the evenings and the nights have been really tough.

I think it's because I've not been feeling well, but I feel a little depression creeping in this evening. I also think it's because it's the beginning of Kris's work week, and I miss him so much.

Tomorrow will be a new day, a Monday, but nonetheless, a brand new day.

One more day of not feeling so great...

Ugg...I will be glad to feel better. This has been a rough cold. It seems like it's better in the daytime, and then at night my whole head/nose/sinus go bananas...I can' t sleep, can't breathe...praying tomorrow morning will be better. I miss blogging about good stuff...so instead of writing a novel, I want to just list some things I am thankful for:
My family.
My parents.
The thought of having our baby in the springtime.
Clean laundry.
This baby boy kicking me.

Still not feeling well...

1 Peter 5:7 says,
"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."

Thank goodness.

Germs...

The cold/flu germ has invaded...Katie and I have the beginnings of what looks to be a yucky cold. I will post again later when we are feeling better.

28 weeks!

This week marks 28 weeks of pregnancy, so we have 11 or 12 weeks to go before we meet our boy! Yay! I am feeling lots better, I have decided that it really is important for me to get rid of the sugar all together. I am still eating carbs, but obvious sugars have been gone for the past 5 days, and I do feel lots better!

My Bible reading this morning comes from 2 Corinthians 5:17:
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

I was looking for verses with the word NEW in them, and there were a lot. I am going to think about this verse throughout the day today, and maybe share some thoughts on it later.

holiday

Yesterday Katie didn't have school because of the MLK holiday. I did have to work, however, and had to go to a meeting in Pittsburg. I decided that Katie could come with me, and then we would have a fun lunch and shop a little bit. We went to the Mall Deli and had delicious bagels with munster cheese...so yummy! While we were there, we saw Pastor and Leah Sukraw from our old church-Pitt Naz. Pastor married Kris and I, and we attended there until we moved when Katie was 18 months old. They were so happy to see us. Leah's energy still amazes me. She wanted to know everything about how we were, etc. I found myself just talking 100 mph about the last 6 years in Independence, and they were so happy to hear that we were doing ok! I told her about Kris giving his life back over to Christ several years ago, and it had made him so much more loveable and our marriage so much stronger, we talked about baby Asher coming, and our 10 year anniversary coming up, they were amazed with how beautiful and tall Katie was, and with all of the good things and blessings that God has provided. Somehow, telling them about us made me feel more optimistic about things. Really, the move to "the country" was so good for us. Each time we visit Pitt, we affirm our choice in moving here. Visiting with Pastor and Leah was wonderful, but I think that might be the only thing I *really* miss. I don' t miss keeping up with the Jones, I don't miss the pressure of being in the main office, I don't miss Kris not being who he really is now in Christ. I wouldn't trade that part for anything...his salvation is so much more important than bagels, Jim's steakhouse, Lakeside Park, our beloved sunroom, and all of the good memories I have from living in Pitt. I will always have those memories as long as I am on earth, but our relationship with Christ is eternal.

Oh-and I got my hair cut and eyebrows waxed, so I am feeling much less furry...I was having fur issues because of the vitamins and hormones...I'm better now.

New Again

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NaSROohLzs

I love this song too.

Amazing Grace

http://video.music.yahoo.com/up/music/music/?rn=1301797&vid=39593503&stationId=&curl=

Have you heard this version of Amazing Grace by Christ Tomlin? We watched the movie this week, and it was really good. I love this song.

My favorite lyrics in it (that were added in, I believe) are:

My chains are gone, I've been set free.
My God, my savior, has ransomed me.
And like a flood, His mercy rains,
Unending love, Amazing grace...

I'm so thankful for that grace that he shows us. Even when we mess up...over and over again.

Colossians 3 and Asher's heart.

Really, there is so much goooooooood stuff in this chapter, it's too much to type, but I wanted to at least remember and write down Colossians 3:12-15, because they seem so relevant to me right now. So here it is:
"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as memebers of one body, you were called to peace. And be thankful."
Yesterday I had to travel to Lawrence for a meeting. I had almost 6 hours in the car with Joyce Meyer, and 4 hours in a meeting for work. The name of the tape set I was listening to was called "The Price of Progress". I had listened to it before, but I know for a fact that the Lord led me to listen to the series again yesterday, because it was what I needed to hear. It ministered to my HEART, and I cried in thankfulness almost all the way home. One of the points that Joyce made was that the devil tries to bring out our old sins-the ones that are already forgiven-to bring us down. He brings up the things of our past, things that happened to us, the things that we have done to others, to tries and pull us away from the grace of Christ. I needed to hear her message so much yesterday. I think my heart was set free. There were some problems of the past that I have been thinking of, even having dreams about, and I believe that HE has delivered me from those. Another point that Joyce made was that God-our savior-truly loves us...not like he kind of puts up with us...but he truly adores YOU, and me. He gave his one and only son to die for us...even if we would have been the only person on earth...he still would have done it...for YOU, for me. Isn't that amazing? I am in complete awe of that, and I hope it gets into you too.

I have some pictures to share in a little while. Katie found Asher's heart! My mom gave us a little wall hanging that has tiny nails to hold hearts with all of our names on them. I had lost one, couldn't find it anywhere. Katie found it in her Barbie toy box, and when I got home from my trip yesterday, Katie had written (in her sweet 2nd grade handwriting) Asher's name on it and hung it on the nail by our names. She was so incredibly excited and proud.

Another picture I want to add is a note that Katie wrote to Kris a couple of night ago. Earlier in the evening, Kris and Katie had been having a conversation about loving Jesus with all of your heart. Katie told Kris that since her whole heart was for Jesus, that she would love him with all of her feet. Her note for him to read the next morning when he got home from work said,
"To Daddy
I love you
whith all of
my feet
I misted
you Love
Katie Macaroni"

These (the two examples above) are what it's all about, huh? They really, truly are.

Yeah...time to go get more kleenex...I'm one thankful mama today.

I'm a failure...

Happy update: I called dr. on Friday to see what the results were from this big long test, and I passed-she said everything was fine---sooo incredibly thankful. I am going to watch my sugar like a hawk from now on!

I failed my one hour glucose test yesterday, so today I'm having to do the 3 hour one...ugg...so not fun. Also-can I just grump for one minute? Kris let Katie sleep with us again last night, and I just cannot keep letting her do that. I need to get good sleep at night. I have woke up so grumpy all the mornings that she sleeps with both of us. It's different when there's only us two, but three's a crowd. I grumped at Kris this morning for me not having a real winter coat to wear, I grumped at Katie for pretty much everything this morning, AND I grumped at a co-worker...and I hurt his feelings, I know. Lord, please forgive me for my crazy grumpy behavior. Ugg...I hope this day gets better.

Good grief, and my devotion from Colossians this morning was about clothing yourself with kindness, gentleness, compassion, and a whole bunch of other stuff that I haven't even considered doing yet. Lord, please be with me, and help me be what YOU want me to be...not what I FEEL like being...

Dr. visit and our karate girl

I went to see Dr. today. Everything still looks good! I gained another 4 pounds this month, which really made me cringe! Dr. said that 12 pounds is not bad for being 6 months along, so I guess I am still ok! My goal was to not gain over 15 pounds, but I am not so sure that's going to happen. Baby Asher's heartbeat was in the 140's-150's. I love listening to his heart beat...it's the most wonderful sound! I go back every two weeks now, so we're coming in on the home stretch! Yay! I'm so excited! My goal for the next two weeks is to REALLY watch my sugar closely, and try and not have too many desserts.

Katie had karate last night, she does so well in there now. She's still a little wild, and not completely 100% focused while she is listening to Master Lewis, but she loves it so much. She is really enjoying having a "sport" that she is good at. We're so very proud of her!

Proverbs 31

My devotional this morning was Proverbs 31. I had read it before, but it's always good to review that one-especially if you are a mom and wife. Verses 11 and 12 especially spoke to me this morning. In talking about the virtuous wife, the passage says that the heart of her husband safely trusts her, and she does him good and not evil all the days of her life. Those are things I need to work on...probably not the trust part as much as the doing good and not evil. Sometimes I am not the kind of wife that I need to be-there are days when I don't put much effort into making Kris feel better, there are some days when I am not encouraging, but rather nagging. In the 25th verse, it says that "strength and honor" are her clothing. I have to admit, strength (emotional, spiritual) is not one of my strong virtues. I think I might try and work on all of those, just a day at a time.

27 Weeks!

Our little guys is 27 weeks this week. As I'm typing this, he is just squirming around like crazy. I will never tire of that feeling! I feel so blessed to have him.

My sister and I talked a little bit about the baby shower again this weekend, and we're thinking either the 1st or 15th of March. Yay! I can't wait. Kris thinks we need to do it on the 1st, so we will have plenty of time to get the things we still need after we have been "showered". I started a registry at Wal-Mart, but we didn't get to go shopping with the little scanner thing yet, so I think Katie and I might try and do that this week. She wants to help pick out some things for him.

Katie is getting really excited about meeting him, I think. She just seems more enthusiastic. I was looking at some pictures that I had processed of Katie holding baby Tre (above photo) when he was tiny, and the look of love on her face is priceless...I can't imagine how much she will adore her own brother. (I hope it's a bunch!)

It's crazy to think that in 13 weeks or less we will get to hold him in our arms, and touch his tiny hands, and kiss his sweet head, and just look at him all we want. Yay! That in itself makes me so happy! I remember when Katie was born, Kris and I would just look at her, for the longest times, just in total and complete awe of the tiny creation that God had given us. She was amazing, and I can't believe we get to do that all over again! What a HUGE Blessing and honor!

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed (literally.)

Yikes...I have been a grump this morning. Last night I decided that I would let Kris have his old side of the bed back for a night. Big mistake. I woke up this morning at 3, 4, and 5 am...as grumpy as can be. I decided to go ahead and get up and read the Bible. I couldn't understand my Bible reading (Romans Chapter 2), I just wandered around the house aimlessly for a while, then sat down on the couch, fell asleep, and had a bad dream. Ugg. Lord, please renew me. Please, just renew my faith, my strength, my cheerfulness.

Hebrews 13

This morning I read the 13th chapter of Hebrews. I had started reading at the 11th chapter about faith a couple of days ago, so I thought I would just finish the book. Well, this morning, I looked at the chapter, and at the top it said, Concluding Exhortations, so I thought, oh, that's just the good-bye part of Paul's letter, I should just skip it and start a new book. I am so glad that I didn't. My prayer was this morning for God to please speak to me, to tell me that he was going to make everything alright. When I read that chapter, He DID speak to me. One little passage says, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."(the end of 13:5) and 13:6 says, "So we say with confidence, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" I have had a heavy anxiety these past few days. I am dreading the time 5 whole months from now that I will have to leave my boy at daycare. It has seriously been causing a feeling of physical pain in my chest...like heartbrokenness. I, in my earthly knowledge and brain of ideas, don't know how it would be possible for me to stay at home with him for a while...but I have a feeling that HE does! I know that NOTHING is impossible with God---nothing!

Nothing is impossible with God.
Nothing is impossible with God.
Nothing is impossible with God.

Nothing.
No, not one thing.
Nothing.

It's going to be ok. He will make a way. He will show me what to do. I have faith. I have every confidence...Lord...please help me truly believe.

Scrapbooking and Faith

I got an email with the first weekly challenge for Faith Sisters, which is a group of Christian ladies who also scrapbook. The challenge for the week is to do a page about "Faith", where our faith comes from, who our faith is in, etc. The scripture for this assignment is Hebrews Chapter 11. I decided to read it here at work, because I had Katie's tiny Bible in my purse. Wow. That chapter truly does have a huge list of testimonies from Bible people who lived by faith...it's a literal list, and I just found it so amazing. There are tons of stories in the Bible about living by faith, but to see them all listed out was neat. Hebrews Chapter 11, verse 1, says,"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." I kept on reading a bit into chapter 12, and had to pinch my nose to not cry...it says, "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, (2)Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Ok, that's all for now. :o)

26 weeks!

Every week I am so thankful. Every week I am in disbelief. Every week I feel INCREDIBLY blessed to be having this baby boy. It's hard to believe that in about 14 weeks, I will be holding him in my arms instead of feeling him bump around inside of me.

Kris worked on Asher's room a little more this weekend. He is thinking we might have to hang new doors in his room. When he took the trim off the doors, he broke one of the door frames...yikes! He was able to get the ceiling fan installed, and filled all of the nail holes to get ready to paint. We're looking for a remnant of carpeting that is big enough to do both his and Katie's room and closets. It would be so nice to have that all done before Asher arrives.

We had a good weekend together. Kris was off Friday, Saturday and Sunday (day). We watched a couple of episodes of Little House on the Prairie from my new Season 2 DVD's. We went for a short hike at Elk City Lake. I had some pretty good Braxton-Hicks contractions over the weekend, so I kind of took it easy. It was nice to be home with Kris and Katie. We only have about 12 more weekends with just the three of us, so we're trying to make them count! Katie and Kris were having a small wrestling match on the living room floor and Katie said the funniest thing...she told Kris she was going to give him a "butter" sandwich, because she couldn't think of "knuckle" sandwich. It was so funny...I couldn't stop laughing!

I have decided that since I cannot use my usual New Year's Resoultions of losing weight, exercise, etc. that I never can keep anyway, that I will try some easier, more creative ones. One of them is to write more letters (actual letters-on paper), and get back in touch with people that I haven't talked to in a while. So far, I have written and mailed two letters...one to my Aunt Waunita, and one to my friend Jennifer Buckbee. I'm a weirdo-I know!

Ok-time for 3 random things that make me happy:
Strawberry-Banana Yogurt with bananas and pecans...yum.
Clean sheets.
Listening to Katie giggle and laugh.

:o) That's all for now.

Happy 2008!

It's hard to believe that 8 years ago, Kris and I had a "2000" millineum party at our house and I was 6 months pregnant with Katie. Time sure has gone fast. This year Kris had to work, so Katie and I went to Mom and Dad's for New Year's Eve. We all tried so hard to stay up until midnight-we barely made it! Everyone was so tired and full of yummy food...it was hard to stay awake! We did a few fireworks and all went to bed! The next morning, I had to go back to our hosue, because I had forgotten Reese's birthday present, and as I was driving home, I just felt so much hope and happiness. It was kind of early in the morning, the sun was coming up, and it seemed like I just felt the presence of God in my car that morning. I do have so much hope for this year. Our little boy will be born safely, Kris will hopefully find a job that will be better for our family, and I think we will all draw closer to the Lord. Those are my most sincere hopes and prayers for our little family for the New Year.

Well, speaking of our little boy, we are on week 25 this week, so only 14-15 weeks to go. We're so excited! He moves so much now, and I can really feel and see him moving from the outside! Kris and Katie have both been able to feel him move too. We have started to work on his room. Kris has decided to put up new trim after he paints. This should be an adventure! We got our crib and changing table back from Emmalee, and I'm so excited and thankful that they decided to send it back our way! We still need to get a crib mattress, changing table pad, and carseat for sure, otherwise, I think we are set for at least the couple of months. I just can't wait to meet him, and kiss his sweet forehead...I wonder if it will be as soft as Katie's?

Happy New Year-2008!