Magic Carpet Ride

We had our first Sunday at church together yesterday. Baby Boy was well received by everyone. As a new mommy, I have learned an interesting thing about compliments. Even though I think my baby is extremely attractive, he is probably really only as attractive as all other babies. They are all, for the most part, squirmy, squishy, pink reminders of the greatness and gentleness of God. However, it feels incredibly good when people compliment him. I don't value him for his physical appearance, but it feels good when people say nice things. So, I now understand a little of the communication of mom-hood. So, if I didn't tell you how beautiful your child was when he or she was born, I'm telling you now. And, later on, if you have a child, let me go ahead and tell you that he or she will be beautiful.

Rosy and I made an important discovery today. The stroller puts Baby Boy to sleep. We are working on ways to cut down on his marathon feeding sessions. After church today, I fed him before she and I had lunch. We were tired of waiting on him to finish his cuddling session after his belly was full, so we put him in the stroller and took him for a walk. In less than 1/2 a block, he was sound asleep. Hubby and I used this same trick when Baby Boy woke from his afternoon nap. About 10 minutes riding in the stroller and he's out for several hours.

Church went pretty well this morning. We made it all the way through the first service. Hubby was not preaching today, so he actually got to hold our baby for part of the service! We tried to go to Sunday School, but a dirty diaper cut that short. Baby Boy managed to tee-tee his outfit between early service and Sunday School, so many people missed seeing his cute outfit. He only has one formal outfit that fits right now, so I will probably let him wear it again next week. Hubby wants us to go to the second service next week so that crowd can meet him. It is a neat thing to have so many people interested in meeting and loving my baby.

To Poop or Not To Poop? That is the question

Many of you know that poop is my last favorite substance in the universe. If I walk into a bathroom that smells bad, I often say, "It smells like death in here." Conversations about poop can make me gag and almost throw up. Other people changing baby diapers near me can make me sick, and I often did gag when I had to wipe Rosy's heiney. I've never even understood the charm of birthday cards that referenced poop. Well, here I am now measuring my entire success as a mother by what's happening in the diaper.

For a breast feeding mommy, diaper contents are critical. You need a certain amount of poopies each day and they should look a certain way (which looks more like cooked squash than any poop I had ever seen before). We were doing really well until yesterday. We took Baby Boy to our home town Friday and he managed to talk my mom into feeding him tons of formula. He is usually limited to one bottle of formula (3 oz.) at his 4 AM feeding. He is such a slow breast feeder (he can take up to 2 1/2 hours) that we decided to take formula for him to eat during the visit and I would pump milk. This would let other family members give him bottles and would only take about 30 minutes for each feeding. This seemed to work very well! He loved it and would cry for more formula after each bottle. We thought he was on a growth spurt, so we let him have it. I am blaming my mom because you know that grandmother's always let the kids do whatever they want.

Baby Boy woke up around 3 AM Saturday morning and was miserable. We gave him some Mylecon and tried to go back to sleep. No such luck! Baby Boy was constipated! By Saturday afternoon, he had cried and cried. We had rubbed his tummy, rubbed his back, "bicycled" his legs, and any other remedy we could find online. Finally we called the pediatricain and they gave us some hints. Neither of their ideas were pleasant for any of us, but around 7:30PM (22 hours after the last poopie diaper) we had our first poopie diaper. And another at 7:40. And another at 7:50. And that went on for a little while.

Thank heavens for a wise pediatrician and a wise friend who recommended that we use that particular doctor group. We are also thankful that we survived our first medical crisis with no real trauma!

Next post: Our first Sunday at church

2 Weeks Old

Today is Baby Boy's two week birthday! We had a busy day. He had an early doctor's appt. and then we ran one or two errands. The doctor's appt. went well. She said that he is "developmentally advanced" for his age and size. She was also pleased that he is gained back up to and exceeded his birth weight. As a breast feeding mommy, I take that as a personal accomplishment. On the down side, he did manage to pee on his doctor.

We spent the afternoon taking naps and hiding from bad weather. Hubby had a funeral that he needed to attend, but our area was put under tornado watch just as he got ready to leave for the funeral. He decided that I was not really in any shape to be at home alone with the baby in tornado prone weather, so he stayed home with us. Thankfully the weather subsided, but it was nice to have that feeling of protection.

I also packed up the maternity clothes this afternoon because my friend Cinda has announced that she is expecting again. Now these last 8 pounds have to come on off so that I can wear regular clothes again! We will be taking our first trip to St. Stephens with Baby Boy next week because my regular clothes are in storage at my parent's house.

John and I spent some time taking pics of Baby Boy today. The photo at the top is one that I think I will be using on his birth announcement. It really looks good in black and white. We have discovered that Baby Boy, like the rest of this family, is not particularly photogenic. Or, maybe I am just a bad photographer. The blanket in the photo background is a hand knit blanket from Jana, a wonderful lady at our church.

2 AM has gotten worse & world's worst diaper change ever!

For the last few nights, Baby Boy has refused to sleep. He sleeps all day and then wakes up around 1 or 2 AM for a feeding and refuses to go back to sleep until about 4 or 5 AM. Gram Sam came and stayed with us over the weekend to help our with his sleep schedule. We have all agreed that he is too little to just let cry because his cry, at this point, just indicates that he feels insecure. So, we have to pick him up and comfort him when he gets upset. We have tried all different kinds of stimulating activities during the day and soothing activities during the night, but so far nothing is doing the trick. Last night, Hubby and I finally hit on the magic number - 90 minutes. If we rotate in 90 minute shifts, we each get enough sleep to function and we are able to hold Baby Boy without falling asleep.

We have started taking Baby Boy out for daily walks in his stroller (Thanks again to the world's greatest Aunt and Uncle!). Rosy and I get very excited about the excursion, and we love getting him ready for his foray into the world. Baby Boy, however, gets very tired from the preparation and quickly falls to sleep before we've gone 100 feet. He wakes up when we bring him in the house and he always looks confused as to how he got in the car seat and why he's dressed in different clothes. He may never understand some of the things that his sister and I do!

Today I changed a really hideous diaper and managed to let him pee on the floor and on one of his diaper bags! I never knew that baby poop could be so sticky! I thought we were going to have get an SOS pad to clean his butt. And, while I had his feet up in the air and was working on brillo-ing his butt with a baby wipe, he peed everywhere. "Everywhere" includes his own head and face!!! Of course, this required me to stop work on the sticky poop butt and to hurriedly clean the pee off of his face, head, and chest. I eventually wrapped him in a lap pad and hurried to the kitchen to wet a washcloth to further clean the pee. Upon my return to the nursery, I realized that the changing table pad was flooded with pee and some flecks of sticky poop. The only way I knew of to get the rest of the poop off of him was to hold him upright in a semi-standing position and to clean as best as I could. This worked well until he peed again - this time from the standing position and managed to get the floor and the diaper bag. Thankfully, none of that pee actually got on him and I was able to get him to the glider on a lap pad and get a diaper on him! Of course, then I had to get him dressed, collect up all the items that had pee and poop on them, and clean the floor and diaper bag. Let me tell you that life was a lot more simple 2 weeks ago! But, it wasn't nearly as much fun.

Online Nursery

The online nursery link for Baby Boy is our365.com.

Our customer number is 5806-10292. This is also used as the password. In some places you enter it with the dash in place and in other places it is entered without the dash, so try it both ways.

It will also ask for the first 4 letters of my last name.

First Bath

John Stephens had his first bath Tuesday. It was not his favorite experience, but at least he didn't pee on us.

In Just One Week

Time has really flown. This time last week, John Stephens was still in utero and I was in agony. The details of the labor (28 hours with most of it with no epidural or with the epidural at 25% strength) are horrible, but are beginning to fade from memory. I have lost 29 lbs. since delivery. This is also very tiring, but is a good thing. I still have a ways to go with the fluid and weight. I had only gained 13 lbs. through the first of March and then gained about 30 lbs. in the last 6 weeks of the pregnancy.

John Stephens is a good eater and has firmly established that his favorite place in the world is Mommy's chest. We refer to this as "Booby World" and a visit is always his treat after something upsetting like a bath or a diaper change. He doesn't necessarily want to nurse, he just wants to lay down on Mommy. He will give a token effort to nurse if he thinks you are going to move him away. He prefers to eat from his bottles and that works for us. We can keep him on a better schedule and know more about what he is ingesting when we bottle feed.

He is now sleeping about 3 or 4 hours after each good feeding. This is really helping us get through the nights. The first few nights we were home, he cried everytime he was put down, so we had to work in shifts to get any rest.

Yesterday was a landmark day for me. I changed my first ever diaper and then I got to change about 5 more. Also, John went to Wal-mart last night and I kept John Stephens by myself for 3 hours. That was a huge step for us!

My surgery is healing nicely. I hardly ever feel it anymore.

The photo at the top was taken today on his one week birthday.

He's here

I will post more later when we have rested. John Stephens arrived Thursday night, May 1st at 10:31PM. He weighed 6lbs. 1 oz. and was 20 inches long. Thanks for your prayers.

We are at home, but feeding is difficult so we aren't sleeping very much at all.

More Whining about Lack of Sleep

Here it is 2AM again and I can't sleep. This is either excellent preparation for when the baby comes, or I am just crazy.

Sunday was a great sleep day for me. I got up at 5:30 AM because Sammie was still here to help me finish the laundry and putting away the last of the boxes. We had already decided that church was not an option for me after looking at my feet Saturday night. Sam and I had a great game plan where I basically sat in the floor and she put away things. However, by 11:30AM my feet were painfully swollen and red. I crashed on the love seat (with my feet elevated) until 12:30 when the boys got home from church. Then I laid down for a nap and slept until 6:30PM. That is about 6 hours of naps once you subtract the pee breaks. However, there was no problem going to bed. We laid down around 1AM and I slept until 6AM this morning when I woke up with tummy problems again.

It took about 20 minutes to decide if these were contractions or just gastro-intestinal issues. Needless to say, it was GI. I laid back down and except for getting up to feed Shelby, I slept until 11:30AM. I took a short nap this afternoon and thought I would be ready for bed tonight. Boy, was I wrong! Physically I'm exhausted, but I can't shut my mind off. It whirls and whirls! I remember being in college and 2 AM was a whole lot more fun than this!

On the plus side, I made the floor-length skirt for Baby Boy's bassinet today. I had originally planned on a bassinet and everytime I discussed it with Hubby he mentally pictured a wooden cradle. When I got ready to purchase one, he wanted to know why the were all wicker. We eventually settled on the idea of a Moses Basket in a stand. So, last week during my confinement I selected a Moses Basket and ordered it from Wal-mart only to realize that neither of the 2 stands available on the market fit the Wal-mart Moses Basket ($34). They only fit the "custom bedding" Moses Baskets ($189 and up). Needless to say, we were back to square one. So, I asked my mom to go to Wal-mart Saturday morning and pick up a bassinet they had in stock. It is not heirloom quality, but it is functional. Also, it is in our budget. However, the bedding on it was really cheap looking, so one of our errands Saturday was to get new fabric for the bedding. Now, my bassinet has a floor length skirt and a pretty baby blue bow. Now, he has a pretty place to lay his little head when he comes home.

Overdone

Once again, indigestion has woken me up so I'll catch everyone up on my life.

Wednesday's doctor appt. was fabulous. I got upgraded from "bedrest" to "moderate activity / modified bedrest". I decided that it meant I could do what I wanted to do as long as I felt good.

I was wrong!

I was pretty good Thursday, mainly because I didn't sleep at all Wednesday night and slept on and off all day Thursday. But, then my Mom got here Friday morning and I took that as an excuse to do all of the things that I had been wanting to do. We worked at the house for several hours preparing the nursery. Then, we decided it was time to tackle Target and Wal-mart. By the end of the trip, I was sitting on a display stack of cases of Coke waiting on her to pick up a few items for us while all the Wal-Mart team members eased by hoping that I wasn't in labor and that my water wasn't about to break.

I think I've made my last big trip out until after Baby Boy is here.

We have to go as far as Toys R Us tomorrow to look at a swing set for the kids. Hubby is going to drive for us and we are not going to stay long. I hate to admit it, but maybe "modified bedrest" means that I am going to have to focus on the "bedrest" part and not the "modified" part.

My Mom is supposed to leave Saturday afternoon, but she looked at me Friday tonight and said that I looked really bad and that maybe she should stay another day. Normally, I would resent the "looked really bad" part, but I don't care right now. All I want is for her to stay and help me get everything caught up. She commented that I looked "markedly" worse than when she saw me two weeks ago. Again, I don't care how bad I look if it is causing her to have sympathy and want to stay and help.

One of the big downsides to this is that Hubby and I can't figure any way for me to go to church. I can't sit on a pew for an hour with my feet dangling down. The only other option is to sit UPSTAIRS in the "Cry Room". Usually it is just Moms and little babies up there so no one would be offended if I sat on the floor so that my feet didn't swell. But, if I do that I'm still going to be very uncomfortable and don't know how effectively I could worship. So, I don't know whether I should go so that people can see that their pastor's wife is really trying to be there, or whether I should just stay home. It seems pharisee-like to go so that others can know I'm trying, but it seems lazy not to go at all. I mean - what's a little discomfort in the face of what Christ did for me? I am, by the way accepting opinions on this one.

Hopefully, this current bout of indigestion is over. So now at 2:45 AM I am going back to bed.

Spotlight on III

Not much gets said about III on the blog because I don't spend as much time with him (because he's in public school this year) and because he and I are 180 degrees apart in personality. I almost never understand what he is doing. It is a humbling thing to love a child to whom you have little ability to relate.

He has had a newsworthy week this week. First, he was invited to a birthday party last Sunday afternoon and the invitation specified that the boys could bring "water guns or air soft guns". Hubby said that "air soft guns" meant Nerf guns. So, I thought we were prepared. Well, Saturday evening I mentioned to III that he needed to gather his things to take to the party. He told me he didn't have any guns to take and so he didn't need to pack them. After some discussion, it turns out that what he needed was a sort of plastic pellet shooting gun. Thankfully, even though III's piggy bank was empty, Hubby's stepdad had sent Christmas money to the kids that we had set aside for them. So, III and Hubby headed off to Wal-mart to invest in a new gun, pellets, and a nice face shield. We were very thankful that we did it because he had a blast. We try very hard to teach our children that "stuff" doesn't make you happy and that you don't have to buy stuff to fit in with your real friends. But, I was glad that on something small like having the "right" gun to play with at the party, we had planned ahead and put the money aside. I figure that unless there's a spiritual reason to do without something, it won't hurt my kids to have toys that other kids have.

Of course, being III, he didn't bother to tell us that he had made 2 Fs and 1 D on tests last week. He mentioned that he had some redos. Redos are papers that he has to do over because he scores less than 80%. Here's his logic. They just started a new A.R. period and his points were low, so he hurried through all of his work so that he could read. ARGGGHHH! Now, he is grounded for 2 weeks. Did I mention that his birthday is next week? This is the second year in a row that he has managed to be grounded on his birthday. We decided to lift the grounding for the day of his birthday and the day of his birthday party and just to add 2 days to the grounding. Maybe this ruins the effect of the grounding or maybe it shows grace and love.

Then, to turn it around again, he came in third place in a speech competition in his class today. We are really proud of his speech. He wrote it himself on "Tom and Jerry". He practiced and Hubby said that he used good eye contact and voice inflection in his presentation. (I was still on bed rest and could not attend.) One of the ways that III and I don't see eye to eye is in preparation of things. As his parents, we are constantly trying to find the right balance for him with his spiritual side, his academic side, his emotional side, his social side, and his physical side. My method of preparing for a speech competition would involve memorizing the whole thing. And, as a matter of fact, the 2 girls who beat him did memorize theirs. But, III is content to have spent less effort, to have had more free time, and to come in third place. This is very difficult for me to comprehend, but I am proud of his accomplishment. It showed good work and it met his needs. He feels like he did a good job and is validated.

So, if you're ever at a loss for how to pray for our family, you can always pray for our ability to sync up my expectations with goals that III feels are reasonable.

The pic at the top is from a fishing trip that III and Hubby took during Spring Break.

News from the Cervix

If you are one of those squeamish people (like I used to be) who don't want to know the details of what's happening with my cervix, then consider this a warning that there is TMI ahead. If, however, you have been pregnant and this sort of conversation is normal to you, then forge ahead for the nitty-gritty details.

Today we had an appt. with our OB. We are now starting the week to week appts. Baby Boy is head down but still has further (or farther) to drop. I am 1 cm dialated and about 50% effaced. I think I am having Braxton-Hicks pains, but until you've actually been in labor and had a contraction it is hard to diagnose whether this is Braxton-Hicks or an early contraction. Baby Boy's heart beat is still solid in the 150s.

My Blood Pressure was back down today and I have been upgraded from "bedrest" to "limited activity". That means I can move around the house and run a few errands if someone goes with me. It doesn't seem like much, but it is a big deal to me. My mom (Gram Sam) is coming to help me finish the nursery this weekend and it will be a great help to be able to run errands with her help.

Update on the CORD BLOOD POST:

The kit arrived this morning, so that prayer has been answered. I was really afraid that I would go into labor before the kit could get here.

We did not qualify for the grant because there are no studies going on right now that will us a sibling's cord blood but we still very optimistic about what they will be able to do in the future.

I talked to Bio Mom and she agreed whole heartedly for us to use her medical license to get the discount. So, if I'm ever griping about her, you can try to help me remember that usually we both have our kids best interest at heart even if we go about it in different ways.

Cord Blood Banking

Yesterday I received one of those miracle phone calls that non-Christians refer to as "coincedences". As of today, I am 35 weeks along in my pregnancy and Hubby and I have not seriously discussed cord blood banking. I had relegated it to the back of my mind and I had decided that if something happened (like winning a sweepstakes) that I would ask him about it. Otherwise, I didn't really want to ask for $2500 to do what seems like a science experiment.

Late yesterday afternoon, a rep from the cord blood bank called on my cell phone and asked for Christine. Well, that's my middle name, but I have NEVER used that name and certainly not in conjunction with my cell phone. I almost let her go and then I decided to ask if she was trying to find me. And, she was. Apparently I had registered for some free info (to enter a contest) with both my real name and phone number and with my "fake" name and cell phone number. It's a good thing I did it that way because we have since moved and the old phone number is invalid.

I listened to her sales pitch and explained how we couldn't really afford to do it. She then explained to me about a grant that is available for banking cord blood if the baby has a first degree relative who has a disease that can be treated with the cord blood. Rosy has Type 1 diabetes and the University of Florida has treated at least 4 kids who have Type 1 Diabetes with their own cord blood and has either eliminated or reduced their need for insulin. This is the sort of information that is really overwhelming to the parents of a child with long-term life threatening disease.

Hubby and I talked about the situation and we decided that even if we can't get the grant, we are willing to accrue some debt to bank this cord blood. Because Baby Boy and Rosy are only half siblings the chances are not perfect that they will be a match. However, Baby Boy is her best shot. And, on the other good side, the rep told me today that our family can receive a discount because III and Rosy's Bio Mom is an RN. What a crazy blended family world this is, but my baby's cord blood banking is eligible for a discount because his 1/2 sister's Bio Mom is a medical professional!

We are asking for prayers concerning this whole situation. 1. That there will be lots of cord blood available. We need enough to use for Rosy, to set aside for Hubby (who also has Type 1 Diabetes), and to save for Baby Boy in case he needs it later. 2. That Baby Boy will be a genetic match for Rosy and for Hubby. 3. That we get approved for this grant. 4. That Bio Mom will work with us to get this discount if the grant is not approved.

This all sounds a little out there, but for our family it is the hope of a miracle that we were even afraid to dream was a possibility. For those of you who know Rosy, can you imagine just being able to give her a snack without thinking about it? And, then imagine what that would be like for us!

Congrats to Julia!

Julia has made it to the finals in her bid to become a Tennessee Titan Cheerleader for the third year in a row. Julia is an amazing friend and I want to take a minute to tell her how much I love her and how much we appreciate her. Good luck at the final tryouts! And, yes, she is that thin and I am that big!

Showers of Blessing

It has been so hectic lately that I haven't even gotten to post about my Baby Shower at our church. It was such a wild day that I was one of the last people to get to my shower. And, I am NOT that type of girl. I planned to be there about 15 minutes early to receive guests, but that is not the way it worked. The shower was at 3PM and Hubby was picking the kids up at 2PM from their biological mom. She was about 5 minutes late (which is normally something that we are very understanding with each other about), but on Baby Shower Day it was a killer. By the time Hubby got Rosy home, I had about 20 minutes to wipe her down, roll her hair and get her dressed. This would have been okay, but the temperature was expected to be dramatically lower than we had expected when she left home on Tuesday. That meant we had to find a new outfit. Well, I'm a freak and we all have to wear the same color to important occasions. So, her new outfit had to be brown because my mom and I were already dressed.

During the chaos of getting Rosy ready and finishing getting myself ready, Hubby announces that Bio Mom has forgotten III's backpack and he is going to have to go meet her again in a few minutes to pick it up. (In a blended family these things happen a lot and they happen on both sides of the fence, so you really have to roll with it. It just stinks when they happen on a day when one of us has a tight schedule.) My Jeep had a broken air conditioner and so Hubby and I were planning for me to take his truck. I am now rushing around with flat hair because of the humidity, a partaily dressed daughter, a tense mom, and no comfortable ride to the church. Hubby finally comes through the door at 2:50 and begins digging through some boxes that we haven't yet unpacked from the move last month. I go ballistic! "Can't you help me get Rosy ready to go?" "Why are you unpacking now?" "Is the truck cooling down?" Thankfully he is a gracious man and he calmly stops unpacking (where he was hunting something I had asked him to hunt for) and checks Rosy's blood sugars and packs her bag. We left a few minutes later and careened down the back roads to the church while I stripped the chipped hot pink polish off of my nails.

Here's the rest of the story...I didn't know this until much later, but Hubby had been back for a while before he came into the house. He was in the garage looking for things. I felt really bad because I thought that Bio Mom had held us up, but it was really Hubby forgetting that I was waiting on the truck. Well, that combined with the fact that I was just running about 10 minutes late. So, it isn't always the other people's fault. Sometimes you need to look closer to home.

Also, if you are 35 weeks pregnant, you should not "Satin Hands" your feet in the shower if you are in a hurry. It makes the shower floor too slippery and you have to sit on the bench for several minutes and let it dry out a little before you can stand up and rinse it. This would have been good to know before I tried it.

The shower at the church was gorgeous. It was decorated like bunnies playing in a garden. The pictures don't do it justice, but it's the best I've got.

Bed Rest

Well, last night we made our first run to the hospital for a possible baby delivery. Thankfully, Baby Boy was not on his way yet.

For the past few weeks, I have experienced extreme swelling in my feet. My doctor has monitored my blood pressure and because it was stable and normal, we have just been trying to reduce my activity and keep my feet elevated. Yesterday afternoon I had an intense bout of vomiting. I know that nausea is another of the major signs of toxemia, so we got a little worried. Hubby came home from work and checked my blood pressure. It was normal at the time and I was not running a fever, so we decided to keep an eye on things and check me again in a few hours. Hubby got a call around 8:30PM that one of our Senior Adult Ladies in our church had been rushed to the hospital. As he prepared to go to the hospital to check on her, he checked my B.P. again. This time it was high! He had to call the other lady back and let her know that he had to take me to the hospital.

We quickly threw all of our toiletries in a bag and headed for Sacred Heart. They monitored me and Baby Boy for about 2 hours and did some blood work. By 11:30PM my blood pressure was down and the blood work had come back with normal results. So, they let us go, but now I'm on bed rest.

Bed rest is the most boring thing in the world. It is possible that I have 5 more weeks of this to go. Thankfully, Hubby has hooked me up a TV and a laptop in the bedroom. That entertains me for about 1 hour each day. I have read through all my library books. And, here's the part where I really have the pity party....I have developed carpal tunnel problems in both hands which means that I can't hold a phone for more than about 5 minutes, can't hold a pen to write thank-yous, and can't play spider solitaire on the laptop because I can't "click and drag".

I think the only person who is suffering more than I am is my beloved Hubby. He is now in charge of EVERYTHING! So, remember us all in your prayers.

The Time of My Life

This Saturday was one of the best days of my life. My family and hubby's family had a Baby Shower for us. It was amazing. We got to go home to St. Stephens and celebrate the baby with almost everyone that we love. I never realized before just how blessed we are to call the same place "home".

Hubby's Aunt RoseAnn was working hard again. She also got roped into helping us in our move just a few weeks ago, so she may be getting tired of us!

My sister-in-law, Cindy, pulled out all the stops with the decorations. I've never been to a shower that was prettier. She made the diaper cake that is in the photo on top of this post. She made a display for each window sill in the room that contained baby toys and animals shaped from baby washcloths and baby blankets. There were baby toiletries wrapped up in hooded towels. It reminded me of the kind of baby shower that the owner of a baby boutique might throw for their friend.

Almost all of my and John's living aunts were at the shower, and I did not have the sense to get a picture of them all together. So, thanks to Aunt Becky, Aunt Jeri, Aunt Lillian, Mrs. Margie, Aunt Darlene and Aunt RoseAnn!

I was also tickled to have Julia, Suzanne, and Madison come from Tennessee to spend the afternoon with me. Not every girl is lucky enough to have friends like these!

We got some really great presents, but the one I will treasure the most is the one from Rosy. She was with her mom's family right until Hubby picked her up to come to the shower. She (of her own free will) brought her favorite baby blanket from when she was little and asked to give it to her baby brother. Her granddad (Papa) brought her to Hubby and said that Rosy had picked it out and wanted to give it to the baby. Rosy was a little bummed because no one had helped her wrap it, so Julia helped her with it when we got to my parents' house. The tenderness of her heart amazes me and reminds me that the Bible often admonishes us to be more like little children. I hope that her heart is always so filled with love for this baby that God is giving to our family.

My hormones are crazy and typing that story has made me tear up, so that will be all for tonight.

Sunday Night and this is all we've got going on

I have moved several times in my life. I even moved twice in 2004, but I have never had a move like this one. I am still recovering from it. Hubby and I are both exhausted. He is actually asleep on the couch right now. Sundays are mentally and physically very draining for him. There is a TV show ("Corner Gas") that comes on at 10:30 and we want to watch it together. He was too tired to stay awake, so we agreed that he could take a nap while I worked on the computer for a few minutes.

By the way, if you grew up in a small town and haven't seen Corner Gas yet, you are really missing out. It is a Canadian show and it airs on WGN (the Chicago Station) at 11PM Sunday thru Thursday Central time. It actually airs at midnight Monday thru Friday Eastern time and that is very hard for us to translate to our time zone. I know that we don't get an episode Friday nights, the Saturday night episode is at 1:20 AM Sunday morning, and we get a bonus 10:30PM episode on Sunday nights. The show may not have widespread appeal, but we love it. We recommended it to some of our less rural friends (yes, Pigtails and Pacifiers, that means you) and they didn't enjoy it. I don't know if it is because they are 10 years younger or just grew up in a place where they could actually make unscheduled trips to Wal-mart.

My unpacking goal is 4 or 5 boxes or tasks each day. So far I am on track. Most of the kitchen is done, but the rest of the house is a wreck. III is managing pretty well. He unpacks toys and keeps them in a very neat pile. Apparently this is Rosy's natural habitat. She unpacks boxes halfway, turns them on their sides, covers the entire floor of her bedroom, stashes her dirty clothes in the debris and is perfectly happy. I don't think it upsets her at all to live in complete chaos. Twinkle is also loving it. She climbs from box to box to box. This house is much more open and she is able to monitor everybody all the time. She is doing her "Gladys Cravitz" (the nosy neighbor from Bewitched) impersonation as she checks out the neighbors.

Well, the show is on so it's date time. Wish us luck - at 7 months pregnant this is a pretty exciting date.

Too Tired to Type

We have almost completed our move. We are so physically and mentally drained right now that we can barely string together cohesive thoughts. This is bad for me, but much worse for Hubby because he has to step into the pulpit in the morning. He is taking a "scalding" hot shower (if the water heater at the new house gets that hot) to try and ease the muscle aches. Hopefully he will rest well and feel prepared to share the message tomorrow.

I will update y'all with posts later this week recapping the move. Upcoming topics will include "Lights Out in Cantonment", "My Mental Breakdown", "World's Best Brother (and Sister-in-Law and Nieces)", "Twinkle Fakes an Illness" and "Why We Aren't Going to Close on Our House This Month". We are thankful that there will not be posts related to "Local Pastor is Now Homeless", "Homicide in Cantonment", or "Lost Cat: Wife Says Reward if Found, Husband Says Reward if Not Found".

Hard Day's NIght

I've never really listened to what the Beatles are singing about in the song "A Hard Day's Night", but I assume they are talking about the kind of night you would want to have after you had a hard day. My vision of a perfect Hard Day's Night right now includes some dessert, a long soak in the tub, and being in bed by 10PM.

My mom got here early this morning and we have packed stuff all day. At one point, we considered just cutting our losses and walking out and leaving all of it. I have really learned a lesson about purchasing things. Most of us are really concerned with having the newest thing and we don't think about what we will do with the old thing that we are replacing or why we want the new thing or even what the upkeep will be on the new thing. Hopefully, I am learning the lessons from this move that God would have me learn.

The good news is that we were able to pack about 20 boxes today. The bad news is that we have about 80 more to go. We will work again tomorrow afternoon, and then Monday morning, we will start moving to the new house.

Please pray for us as we transition! Also, please pray for our health. Hubby and I were both very sick with sinus infections for the previous two weeks and we are finally getting back to normal. III and Rosy's little brother on their mom's side and their stepsister on their mom's side both have influenza. We think that they were kept apart enough that III and Rosy should be okay.