A Child After My Own Heart!

Last night Derek and I witnessed the cutest thing I think I've seen in a long time.

We put Jacob to bed at his usual time, somewhere around 8:15. He went straight to bed, or so we thought, because we didn't hear any noise or playing on the monitor.

Well around 10:45 before we were going to bed, we went to his room to check on him like we usually do every night. When we went over to his bed we looked down and he had one of his books lying next to him. I looked over to his wooden chest where we had put the books we read right before bed, and I noticed it was completely empty. I knew there had to be another book in his bed!

After searching around his bed as quietly as possible with the flashlight, Derek pointed to a spot right underneath Jacob....he was laying on top of his "Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?" book. He was laying completely on top of his book!

Sigh.

These are the moments that make Mommies most proud. My son shares a love for the same thing as me. =)

Weekend Updates

A full night's rest for ALL of us - finally!

Last Wednesday, Jacob came down with a fever of around 102.6. He kept saying his mouth hurt and he was crying all day long. Then he didn't sleep that night. So on Thursday morning when he was still weepy and saying how his mouth hurt and wouldn't eat or drink anything, I took him to the doctor.

The doctor informed me he had caught Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease and she said he got infected pretty bad. This sounds worse than it actually is. We hear the word "disease" and we freak out - it's really just a viral cold that causes blisters on the hands, feet, and bottom, and ulcers in the mouth. Poor little man's entire mouth was covered with these horrible things so he wouldn't eat anything, literally, until Friday night. We got him to eat jarred baby food. He wouldn't even eat Popsicles.

So he didn't sleep again on Thursday night, and by this time I was exhausted. I worked approximately 30 hours last week making baskets and doing the deliveries, taking care of our sick boy, and then not getting any sleep over Wednesday and Thursday nights. I was in a very bad place! My sweet, sweet husband told me on both Friday and Saturday night to go sleep in our bed and he would sleep on the couch with the monitor. I slept wonderfully BOTH nights, but unfortunately Derek did not because Jacob didn't. His mouth still hurt him so bad.

However, by yesterday morning, everything seemed to be much better. He was eating all day long and drinking again, and he didn't wake up ONCE last night. All 3 of us slept great - in fact the little guy is still sleeping! Thank you, Lord!

On another note, though, I have been so overcome with fear this weekend. Because of the exhaustion, I have been so worried about this new baby that is growing inside me. I am supposed to be resting, not having a raised heartbeat, drinking tons of water, not lifting anything heavier than a gallon of milk, and so on. I have not listened to ANY of these instructions lately, and I have felt so worried. On Saturday I kept feeling like I was having Braxton-Hicks contractions. I don't think this is possible at 12-1/2 weeks, but from around 4:00 until 11:30 my abdomen kept tightening up every 2 minutes or so - you could literally see this happening. I called the emergency line for my doctor, but she told me it was probably just a bodily reaction from me being nauseaus and throwing up every day. She wasn't worried about it because I wasn't bleeding. This didn't do much to relieve my anxiety and fear, though.

I haven't had any issues since Saturday night, but I still just pray, pray, pray that everything is okay with this little one.

11-1/2 weeks!

We are almost through the 1st Trimester, and I am so excited to get over this hill!

My belly is definitely expanding MUCH faster than it did in my first pregnancy, and I look like I'm more so 18 weeks instead of 11! Yup, I've had to start pulling out the maternity clothes already.

I had a sonogram and check-up on Friday and everything went well for the most part. There's good and bad news. Let's start with the good news:

GREAT news is that the baby is measuring completely normal at this stage and is looking healthy so far. Very strong heartbeat at 170 (!) and we even got to see 5 little fingers attached to each hand. It was so great. My mom went with me and we were trying to show Jacob the baby on the screen, and he scrunched his little face up and looked so confused! It was precious.

Also, the sonographer thinks we're having another boy. She said it's still a little too early to tell, but she thinks it's a boy. However, the doc thinks it's a girl. It's anybody's guess. We'd be happy with either one!

Okay, now for the not-so-good news. According to the sonogram there is still a blood clot or something in there. It has been there since the beginning of the pregnancy, and I have had to go for check-ups every 2 weeks because of this. The doctor said she's a little concerned that it's not going away, but she will give me 4 weeks to come back to see if it goes away. If it hasn't gone away by then, I have to go to a high-risk doctor to make sure it's not a piece of placenta that has become detached. She told me not to worry about it, but she gave me full permission to be very lazy over the next 4 weeks. She wants me to rest as much as possible and not to exercise or even go walking.

So it's not terrible news. After all, I got permission to be lazy! On a more serious note, though, I really feel like the Lord is exercising my faith and trust in Him. I know He will take care of this little one and He is knitting him or her together in my womb, fearfully and wonderfully made!

Mother's Day!

This Mother's Day Derek really outdid himself. I thought he did a wonderful job last year, but he did absolutely terrific this year!

He took our little son to take pictures of him at a beautiful park in Frisco. For those of you who don't know, Derek has been getting extremely good at his hobby. He's always loved taking pictures, but he is really perfecting this hobby lately and all I can say is these pictures are breathtaking.

Anyways, he went and bought Jacob an outfit at Baby Gap. Yes, my husband, who does not like to buy Jacob new clothes, much less from the Gap, bought him an entire outfit including the most adorable hat. Then he bought some sunflowers and enlisted the help from my in-laws to go to the park with him to help pose Jacob while he was shooting photos.

Then, he took 5 of his favorite shots and had them printed in black and white and framed them. Jacob brought the finished product to me with a big ol' smile on his face. It was precious!

It was a very memorable Mother's Day. I love this man God has blessed me with. I could never have asked for a better husband or father to our children. I love you, hunny!

Learning to Swim AND Potty Train!

Well....we still have a lot of work to do on potty training! Jacob has gone in the potty several times now (I think 6 times now!), but no bowel movement yet. We've also had a couple of accidents on the bathroom floor. He doesn't really understand that he's going, but he sure loves the praise we give him and the stickers he gets afterwards, and the little horn that goes off from his construction truck potty chair!

As for swimming, he just finished up his 3rd week of swimming lessons. He is doing swimming lessons through Infant Aquatics (similar to ISR). The lessons are survival-based, and he is learning to swim-float-swim.

He did so well the first 2 weeks, but this past week we had sort of a setback. He just got so fearful all of a sudden and his fear was hindering his learning. It was starting to affect what he's learned so far, so his teacher and I decided it might be best for me to get back in the water with him so he can rest his anxieties.

Sure enough, when I got back in the water with him yesterday he was swimming like a superstar! It's incredible to watch! His little feet are kicking up behind him as he swims underwater. He's also able to turn himself over onto his back and then again back to his belly, but we're trying to get him to float longer on his back. So far he's not really loving the floating on the back thing too much. He gets so nervous and starts crying and ends up swallowing tons of water.

Here are some pictures of him and his buddy, Malakai, who is also taking lessons at the same place as Jacob. Their lessons are one-on-one, but Malakai goes right before Jacob. They are loving their suckers they got as a reward for swimming so good!

Blessings, Blessings!

As many of you already know, Derek and I found out recently that we are going to be having another baby! I had my first sonogram a week ago from today, and the doctor confirmed baby's heartbeat and said everything looks great. My due date is December 12th, so Jacob and his little sibling will be just over 2 years apart!

This came as quite a surprise to us. We were talking about holding off on trying for a baby for when Jacob turned 2. We really weren't expecting this to happen so soon, but we are very happy.

To be completely honest, though, I feel very convicted of my response to this pregnancy. Let me explain. With Jacob, we had tried for 2 grueling years to have a baby, we had 2 miscarriages during the process, tried fertility meds, and looked strongly into adoption (to the point of getting ready to mail off the application when we found out we were pregnant). So when we did finally get pregnant with Jacob, I was absolutely elated! I loved every minute of the pregnancy. I welcomed the morning sickness and every twinge and discomfort. I was so happy to experience it and I knew that God had answered our prayers.

With this pregnancy, however, I feel like I have shown no joy over it. I feel so sick all the time, and let me tell you I am not overjoyed about it! I think about the baby and pray for him or her daily, but I feel like I don't spend even half the time thinking about it like I did with Jacob. Instead I grumble and complain about not feeling well and being so tired all the time.

I guess what has convicted me is this:

Do we only truly show gratitude to God for the prayers He answers? To the gifts He blesses us with that have been prayed for day after day, hour after hour?

Should we not be equally as thankful for the gifts He chooses to bless us with, even if we haven't put in the long hours of prayer for that specific thing?

I don't want to mislead anybody. I am overjoyed about this baby. The Lord knows I want a whole house full of children (well, not exactly. Maybe just 4)! But I do want to appreciate every single aspect of this pregnancy like I did with Jacob. I need to see it how James says it in James 1:2 - "Count it all joy when you face trials of many kinds". This isn't really a trial so to speak, but it is a trial to put on a smile when I'm not feeling well. And I need to see this as what it truly is - a blessing beyond more than we could have ever asked or imagined.

I am so thankful that we didn't have to go through the heartache of conceiving that we did before. Our Lord is so faithful, and I will make every effort to praise Him even when I'm puking! I can't wait to meet this little one.

Happy Easter!

I know this is a little late, but I couldn't not post something about Easter last weekend.

Easter is my most favorite holiday. Yes, I absolutely love Christmas, but Easter is so special because that is the day we rejoice in the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour!

Each night we read Jacob a Bible story out of his Children's illustrated Bible. The week leading up to Easter, we read each story that lead up to Christ's actual death and resurrection. Well, when we got to the story about His death (which wasn't graphic - only showed the bottom of the cross with Jesus' feet), Jacob got so upset. He saw the people at the bottom of the cross that were crying, and his little eyebrows got so crinkled up and he started pouting. Derek and I told him that there was good news, though, and then we read him the story where Jesus was alive. He seemed to relax after seeing all the people were happy again, but it will take some time before he can actually grasp the meaning of this.

I pray that our son will fully grasp this awesome news one day. I pray that he will see how much God loves him and that He died for him, and I pray that he will dedicate his life so early to the Lord. I pray that he will follow Him and love Him with every ounce of his little body, and I pray that he does mighty things for God's kingdom.

Here are some pictures from last weekend. On Saturday, we went and played in a field of bluebonnets. Then on Sunday we had family time with both sets of families. It was a wonderful weekend!