Appointment Update...

Well I wanted to post right away because I know many of you have been praying for us and little Libby. My doc appointment was FABULOUS. I went in for the ultrasound and the first thing she said was how low down her head was. (She's been breech and that's been a concern of mine...) She struggled to get the wand low enough to get a clear picture of her head. Then she did a growth scan and measured everything (while she continued to say, "She is REALLY big.") Although, I've looked huge with my kids, they usually come out small, but unless she comes out right now, she might break the trend. She measured 2.5 weeks ahead and according to her measurements - is already 5 lbs 10 oz. (ultrasounds are not always accurate on the exact weight but it was clear that she was bigger than a typical 32 weeker.) She checked her bowel and said ..........."It looks exactly like what I would expect to see with a baby at this age." The bright spot was completely missing. Although I have felt peace about things for a few months, I expected to still see the brightness and for her to just come out normal. I didn't expect it to be gone and the docs be surprised. I was so happy. I was grateful. I was smiling at God for doing such a blatant miracle that we had been praying for for so long. When I met with the doctor, she was ecstatic. She tried to give possible reasons for its absence, but seemed just as awed as me, with no clear answers. She's a Christian too, and I told her, "I don't care why it was there, or why it's gone. I just know it's not there any more." She knew exactly what I meant. So things are great! She's in position, if I do go early. She's looks great and obviously a healthy eater, (she'll fit right in with this fam...) and the kicker to the appointment.......? I stood up on the scale, prepared to meet my doom, and I had LOST 1 pound. :)
It's doesn't get any better than that.

Thank you for all your encouraging words and prayers. We know God has a hand in our lives and continues to bless us in new ways every day. Today it was just a very crystal clear way.
God is good.

flip flops only? I think so.

Today I had the privilege of staying home with my kids due to a family death in my baby sitter's family. It felt great. It was a taste of summer and what is to come.(minus one more child of course) Jer and I sipped coffee in rocking chairs on the front porch and listened to the birds chirp, since we didn't need to wake up the boys at 6:45 am like normal. We woke Ian up right before Dad needed to leave for work so he could say good morning. Then after the boys got dressed, we decided to climb up on Luke's new twin bed and watch a movie in Luke's room to start off our day. Well, after I was uncomfortably squished for about 15 minutes, I decided to go do my hair and they quickly lost interest in the movie. On to breakfast, we went. They even got to watch cartoons while they ate! Then they played and did various things while I did some laundry upstairs and picked up. We took a break from play and went to Walmart to pick up a craft and get some pictures developed. It's amazing to think I can take them to the store by myself and not panic. I remember when the thought was too awful to consider. We decided on Suncatchers. They did great. Ian actually wanted to paint his exactly like the pictures on the box. He was so meticulous, while he was painting. It even held Luke's interest for awhile. Then we had lunch and watched Caillou before nap time. Not even fussing at nap time? They are excited about Friday night- because they know we do something special on Fridays. (unless they are naughty at daycare like 2 weeks ago.....We had big plans to go to the dollar movie and to ice cream. The boys got a bad report and so we decided, after many considerations, to still go get ice cream FOR US but they would have to sit and just watch us eat it but not get it. We rented a movie - they LOVE picking out movies- but they had to sit in the car while Dad picked out a movie for us. It was quite effective. It was so hard listening to the whining and bargaining that they were good part of the day, etc. and to see their disappointment. But the marble deal held strong and we think they took a lot more from it then if we would have not gone at all.)

Parenting is tough, but usually the harder thing is the right thing.

So, recap from the last several weeks. --- I've been pretty bad about blogging. I predict I will be better this summer. There is just no time when I'm at work all day and then have the kids in the evening and the last hour of the day is for hubs and I.

We had a baby shower that the grandmas put on. It was really fun. Just a few close friends from college. And so nice of them to travel all this way and make it special for me. We had a great weekend with the family. We all went to see "Night at the Museum 2". Pretty good, but we like the 1st one better.

The candy bar diaper game.

Monday, they took off, (my mom drove up with Jer's mom as they brought us the twin beds for the boys- THANKS!) and we took a family trip to a local man-made beach. Always a hit. It was a perfect day off together. (Since Jer only gets those like 5 times a year.)

Pregnancy is coming along. I go in this afternoon. We'll do another ultrasound and measure her growth as a possible positive indicator that maybe everything is fine and there aren't problems,-also- she's breech. So hopefully she has turned. This is the week that Ian decided to pop out. There aren't any signs that she would do that (then again- Ian didn't have any either) but I really think she's going to cook for awhile longer. Unfortunately. :) I thought I had been doing really good, mentally and staying positive about these last few weeks, until the 90 degree weather came and I remembered how miserable it was to be pregnant in the summer. Still, I tell myself, you won' t have to be pregnant all summer, like you were with Luke. But when I look down at my feet and my toes start ballooning up, no reasoning is effective. I can't bend over to weed the yard, pick things up and just sit comfortably. Only 3 more days with students at school. That will help. I'm surprised this class hasn't put me into labor already. That being said, I look forward to a new bunch next year that can't possibly compare to this fluke of a year.

But they've come a long way. One boy that could only read 5 wpm at the beginning of the year, with Spanish only speaking parents, scored 114 wpm on his IRI. He used to just give up and not even try and I thought, there is no way that I can get this kid to grow. Something snapped and he began enjoying it and every night he takes one of my Magic Tree House books home to read to his parents and he is just amazing now. (He never turns any homework in- but I know that he is reading.) That much of a gain is unheard of! He still has behavior issues, but at least he can read now!

Anyway, I won't babble about school stuff, but it has been a long hard year. As soon as I decorate the nursery, I'll post pics of it. Glorious to finally have a bigger color scheme to work with!

I better re clean the kitchen- since every meal brings another mess! :) My sis is coming over to watch the boys while I go to the doc. Once she did that for Ian when I was pregnant with Luke and I got home, my water broke, and I went straight back. I don't want that to happen though. It's still too early and I can't imagine doing the NICU thing again.

See? This post took me 55 minutes. How does anyone have time for that? I don't throughout the week at least. Not if I want to get in my nightly T.V. shows. :)

I

30 wks, busy days....

This weekend was a busy one. My younger sister graduated and we had lots of family around. Since sis lives in the NNU married housing, the events were held at my house. Which I'm happy to do. We never had family around growing up so I enjoy having big get togethers, but with the boys around and a super busy week leading up to it, (plus carrying around a big watermelon,) I was pretty exhausted. Everything went really well though. On Sat., we had a big BBQ since my older sis who flew in, wouldn't be able to come to graduation because of her early flight.

On Saturday night, we took my mom to a fondue dessert. It was a nice time out and the first time that we have all been together for years. I tried to hide my belly under the table in this pic- but I ended up just looking BIG in the picture.

My nephew, Paul....

On Sunday, we endured the graduation ceremony (Jer got out of it by taking my sis to the airport) and I forgot how uncomfortable it is to sit in hard chairs for 2+ hours when you are this pregnant. Then we had one more big dinner at our house on Sunday evening.

Only 3 1/2 more weeks of school. It feels great to be on the downhill part. The nice weather has been a pleasant refresher to the busy schedules.
Tonight we were on the go again as I quickly fed the boys dinner and then met Jer at Target to pick out my mother's day present. A new vacuum. :) Jer tried to veto that gift, insisting that it should not count as my present but it is what I want and need more than anything else right now. (other than my body back) I am so tired of this dog hair EVERYWHERE. I made pancakes yesterday and it must have been in the hair because I keep the griddle on top of the fridge. I flipped a pancake and there was hair cooked in it. Awesome.

Anyway, Jer took the boys home to bed and I rushed to Boise to make it for my good friend's baby dedication. Her little guy came extremely early at 24 weeks.

He is doing miraculously well and the service was so incredible. His dad led everyone in some worship songs, accompanied by his guitar. I looked around and thought, God must be so pleased to see everyone glorifying him in response to His great miracle of this child's life. It was so touching to see how many lives were affected by the life of this little 1 pounder. And what God had done in the parents' lives as they prepared to bring him home and get him healthy enough to face life on his own. God is amazing.

Now I must get ready for bed and hopefully avoid any leg cramps tonight. Anyone else ever get those when they're pregnant? They are the worst! But all complaining aside, things are going well and I'm grateful for all that I have and the health that has accompanied me. My little guys are growing up so fast and finally the big one is becoming somewhat of a gentleman. His kind, compassionate side is being squeezed out, leaving no room for the tantrums and whining of a toddler. He loves being a helper and I can't wait for him to love on Libby. He will be an incredible big brother. The other one might have a tougher time adjusting. He seems to want mom all to himself and isn't as confident as big brother. But fortunately each phase is only a phase and it evolves with time.