Wednesday Night... Baskin Robbins!!!

This Wednesday night, from 5-10 pm, Baskin Robbins is offering ice cream scoops for 31 cents. It sounds like a great deal for our family and a great way to end the night. You just can't beat it! Hope to see you there!

Our Ultrasound

Yesterday, Jeff and I went down town for a Level 2 ultrasound. I guess we have to be intensely followed because we do have a child with a "birth defect". Well, our baby got its first pictures taken and everything was measured. I have such a hard time with this. They were not able to check for cleft lip yet but they did seem to check for everything else. Our risk for all defects is not any higher than anyone else's. Our chance of having a baby with a cleft lip is 2%. I do not see the point of going through this unnecessary worry. I also took a blood test and they will combine that result with the ultrasound, factor in my age, and then tell me the chance of having a child with down syndrome. They will say you have a 1 in 500 chance or a 1 in 10 chance. Are you kidding me? All of these tests just to give me a range of my chances. What is all of this for? I think I know. They hinted at the fact that many people will be able to know within a week, so that they can take the appropriate measures. I am 14 weeks and in the second trimester! It breaks my heart to think of all of the parents who make decisions with these results that cost a baby its life. We were able to see the baby sucking its thumb. We were told that we may find out what we were having, but we saw no visible proof to make a definite call.:) One funny thing was when the nurse told us that cleft lip is just a surgery and you're done. Jeff and I looked at each other and smiled. We know all too well that that this is not quite the truth, at least not in our case. We were told that when we found out Sam had a cleft lip and we partially believed it. Yes, we have learned so much through Sam and are still learning just how sufficient God's grace is to us. But, it wasn't and isn't easy. I hate that ultrasounds are not the exciting thing to me as they are to most people. I think too much of what may go wrong or what they could find. Most people go to them without giving it a second thought. Why can't I just go and not be nauseated the whole way there?

Easter Egg Fun

Hello? Are You Still There?

Well, today, I have decided that it is about time to start blogging more regularly once again. I have officially entered the 2nd trimester and am feeling so much better. This pregnancy has really thrown me for a loop. I have been the sickest that I have ever been while trying to take care of my kids and husband. I have not done too well balancing it out. Here are a few of my terrible tricks to get by:

1. Susanna and Sam have bought lunch every day or taken Lunchables to school. The thought of putting meat and cheese together in the morning was enough to make me sick.
2. Susanna has to do 20 minutes of reading a night to us. I lay with her in her bed as she reads me to sleep.
3. Jeff has taken the kids to school every morning that he is in town and usually picks Susanna up too. I don't even know if her teacher would recognize me.:)
4. Instead of spending the time to discipline Susanna on what she chooses to eat in her lunch that I rarely packed, I put notes in it that read, "Eat your apple or else!" Love , Mom
5. Luke likes to play catch at night with a little football. So, being the super mom that I am, as I lay on the couch, I instructed him on how it is so important to get it right to me. If he didn't, he would have to go get the ball. Yeah, that's embarrassing.
6. I did manage to get up and move some. We play on the trampoline alot. I lay down and they see how high they can bounce me. Hey, they think it's fun.
7. I am so thankful for the armoires that we have. They have served us well as places to stuff extra things when we have to show the house in a hurry. I always think that if they move around too much in the house, they will hear the sound of a mountain caving in. Maybe they have.

But... I am not too proud of my getting by skills. We have survived!!!! No one has been scarred too bad and we can get back to normal. Now, I've got to run to the store to get cash so that the tooth fairy can visit tonight and get Easter eggs so that the Easter bunny can also swing by. Who knew how much pressure a Mom has in making sure holidays go smoothly?

Birthdays

Do you ever feel like birthdays and holidays are taking over the year or quickly sending you to the poor house? I do and I am a little overwhelmed thinking about the 2 new ones that we will be celebrating this year. I mean, it seems as if it is always a holiday or a birthday to celebrate. Every time I turn around, I have either realized that I need to run to the store to get a present or that I've completely blown it and forgotten it. I'm just not good with them and am always giving belated gifts. The reason I am thinking about this is that today is my Dad's birthday. As much as I complain or feel overwhelmed with keeping up with all of the special days, I wish more than anything that we still had his to celebrate. We will still honor this day but it's not the same as celebrating it. I am so thankful for the lives that each birthday represents and am reminded today to cherish and appreciate them. Losing a birthday is such a hard thing to accept.

Dad, we miss you and love you so much! I cannot wait for the day we will all be celebrating together.

As I type this in the car on the way home from Birmingham, there is a huge rainbow in the sky. It is the most brilliant rainbow Jeff and I have ever seen. Thank you Lord, on this day of remembrance, for a sign of your promise of hope. I know that rainbow was for me.

I took a picture of it and will post it when I get home.