choo choo

Ok, so I figured I would post a little ligh-hearted blog since we've had some fairly intense ones lately. Liz, I'm so happy to hear that katie seems to be doing so well in her progress at this point. Keep the updates coming! And Kim, have you moved yet? How's all that going? I love the updates from you girls. So, Seth is turning 3 on April 7th. We are having his party on Saturday. He is really into trains right now, so he's having a choo choo train party and a lot of Thomas the Train paraphernelia. First of all, I just want to say that kids' birthday parties are expensive! I'm doing it cheaply because I borrowed a lot of stuff from some friends here. Even with that, I just spent $70 on party favors and plates. I still have to buy all the food and balloons and Seth's presents. If you rent a room somewhere or have entertainment or something, you'll easily pay between 300-500 dollars for a kid's birthday party! (We're not doing that, our party is at home with no entertainment except some borrowed train toys) It's a little crazy, but he's old enough to get into it now. Fortunately, my mom is making a giant choo choo train cake, so I don't have to worry about that and Vicki is helping with some food too. That will be nice, but it's still ridiculous how much goes into a 3 year old's birthday. And then it starts to get a little competitive, because you don't want your kid's party to be crappy compared to all their friends's parties... I swear, when you join the mom world it becomes this whole new kind of elitist competition to see who fits into the group. Who's parties are the coolest? Who has the best play room for playgroups? Who feeds their kids only organic and whole grains? Who uses only "green" cleaning products so that their kids don't die of cancer? How much TV do you let your kids watch, because their brains will rot after 30 minutes of Dora (everyone knows that)? Which preschool are your kids going to? Do you spend at least 30 minutes reading to your children every day? And the list goes on and on.... Don't get me wrong, most of those are things to pay attention to for the most part, but it can get a little out of hand. Fortunately, most of my actual friends are pretty laid back about things. But when you throw a birthday party, the pressure is still on a little bit. One of my friends was just mentioning the other day how she always homemakes her birthday pinatas, and how there's no reason to really go out and buy one. I simply thought, "yes there is, and now I don't want you at my party." (I'm kidding, I like her very much) But I didn't get a pinata anyways because we already have too much candy and the Thomas pinata was like $25. So I will let the kids each pop a balloon to find a piece of candy inside, and they will probably think that is more fun anyways. Today I have to turn a cardboard box into a train car and paint some little rocks black like coal for a "coal toss" for the game. I hope nobody throws a rock at someones head. But they're small and I don't want to sew my own black bean bags. Seth has been talking about his birthday for a couple weeks now and I'm about to lose my mind. Vicki bought him some new Thomas sunglasses and Thomas shoes so that he could "run to his birthday party." He's literally been "running" to his party ever since. He woke up at 11:00pm the other night and when I went to his room to make him go back to bed, he was waiting for me with a smile and said "it's time for my birthday!" "And Nina's going to bring my choo choo train cake and I'm going to ride on it!" Since then, he probably asks if it's time for his birthday about 20 times a day and regularly talks about grandma bringing him presents and how he's going to blow out his candles and eat candy and play with his friends. I am SOOOOO glad I decided to do his party this weeknd and not next weekend. We went to the party supply store today and Seth wore his birthday hat the entire time. It was pretty cute and he has been pretty funny about the whole thing. It is a lot more fun planning a party for a kid who actually cares and is excited than in the past when the kids are too young to even know what's going on. Seth is getting so big, he's really a big boy now. (Other than refusing to use the toilet or wear big boy underpants) but we're working on it. And on his birthday, we're sending all of his binkys to the "binky fairy" via mail for all of the new little babies who need them. Then the binky fairy will send Seth a special "big boy" toy that only children who don't use binkys anymore get. We'll see how that goes. I'm expecting the biblical weeping and gnashing of teeth the first few nights and naps without the binky. So that is what's going on with us lately girls. Birthday planning and kid stuff. I'll post pictures after the party so you all can see my big 3 year old and his train day. Love you all!

Liz! That's great news! And no, we are not getting sick of your updates! If the rest of the girls are like me, we are checking this blog more often now to see what's going on with you and with everyone else. You guys have all kept me praying a lot more than I was used to, which is probably a good thing :-) All of us, it seems, are going through "stuff" right now. I just love to see how God is bringing us all through it.

Just a quick update on us - I am still planning on going back to school, but not until October. We are still seeking direction on buying a home. We both want to, but are really waiting on God's timing. We're keeping our options open. We looked at a house that a friend is selling - its not even on the market yet - so if that ends up to be in the right price range, we may pursue it. The only other thing we are doing is paying off debt, finishing our taxes (yippee) and saving for our trips this spring and summer.

Shawn's been a little sick again with something weird, who know what, but I think he's starting to feel a little better. Anyway...that's what's going on here. Not too much compared to the rest of my Sapphire world. Julie - I just saw your pics on myspace of the kiddos and cannot believe how HUGE they are getting! They are so cute! And I LOVE your hair!!! Kimmie - you're in my prayers keep us posted on the move when you have a minute! Love you all!

Getting sick of my updates yet?

First of all, congrats Jen and Kim! What big news for both of you. You will both have to keep us posted. And you'll be in my prayers. I get lots of prayer time in these days while I pump for Katie:)

The latest news on Katie is this...she's doing pretty awesome with her feedings. She's gone from 3cc's to 10 cc's to 20 cc's to whatever she will eat. Now, she will not eat much more than 20 cc's though right now. We're wanting her to consistently eat at least 30, which is about an ounce. They were waiting for her to do that to take her off of the IV, but decided to cut the IV tonight in hopes that she will be more hungry and nature will take it's course (they've been steadily decreasing the IV until now). So tonight is a big night because she needs to eat more. Also, she sleeps so much and is so darn content that she doesn't much care to eat:) But she is doing pretty well. Just continue to pray that she eats enough and keeps it down.

Also interesting news...another prayer of mine has been just that God takes this situation that I can't understand in my own human nature and uses it to glorify Him. We did meet the couple in the room next to us whose son has Cystic Fibrosis. So we're praying for them and hoping maybe God can speak to them.

Thanks again for all the prayers. Keep them coming as we're hoping for her to get well and strong and come home where she belongs.

Swallow Test and Beyond

Ok, I think Angie said she was going to get the word out, but Katie passed her swallow test today with flying colors! I was quite thrilled of course, and the surgeon is just awesome and showed me the x-rays from it so I could see everything myself. It's nice because he takes some time to talk to you and check in and stuff. He was on the unit a lot today because he was there for some surgeries as well.

So next, we start feeding. They are starting her with 3cc's of sugar water(basically pedialite) every 3 hours. As exciting as this morning was, this afternoon was just as draining for me. It's very important that she doesn't throw up a lot because this will stretch and strain and could rip her repair. Also, reflux I think as well is something to be careful of because the acid could burn the stitches. And the surgeon said the repair is weakest around a week (we are a week in tomorrow). So after her first feeding she spit up 4 times. However, prior to the 3cc feeding, she had drank 15cc's of the substance containing the dye for her swallow test this morning. So I am hoping and praying that the spit up was mostly from the dye she drank (I think they just get the babies to drink as much as possible since they might not always cooperate....but Katie was quite ready to take food by mouth and drank a lot). But it was still very difficult for me to see her spit up so much, knowing the dangers an knowing I don't want to ruin how far we've come this week. So the doctor's discontinued the feedings for tonight, and we will try again in the morning. The nurse did tell me this happens sometimes, and I know her little digestive system hasn't had to digest anything yet. So I'm trying to be positive, but this entire experience is a rollercoaster.

So basically, if things go better tomorrow, they will have her on sugar water for a little while, then the chest tube will come out (at which point I'll be able to hold her again), then they will ease her into real feedings and wean her off the IV. At that point (which if all goes well will be 5 days or so), the surgeon will release her from his care and we will just be dealing with feedings and normal preemie stuff before she can go home. So please keep us in prayer. I feel like we're past a huge hurdle and maybe even at a half-way point. But I'm so nervous about un-doing what's been done, so please continue to pray for her feedings and come against any reflux and excessive spit up. I appreciate all of your prayers so much! Please keep them coming...Katie needs them.

It's official

We signed the lease with our new tenants last night, so we are officially moving to California. We're trying to be out by this weekend, but definitely on Monday at the latest. We don't have anywhere to live yet there -- we've got a few places we're keeping an eye on, but since we don't want to commit to anything until we can see it, we're just waiting until we get down there. Adam's company will put us up in a hotel for a few days until we find something.

So we sort of have a plan now -- but there's still a lot to get worked out. I'm sure it will, but right now, the big picture is a little daunting. We'd appreciate your prayers!

Hope all is well with everyone. Jen, tell Chris congrats for us! Jamie, I totally didn't even get your message until we got back to Seattle. I'm so bummed we missed each other! Liz, we are praying for you and Nathan and your sweet little girl.

Love you all!

update on Chris

Hi girls,
This isn't as urgent as news about Katie, but it's weighed heavy on our hearts for some time now. Chris had a final meeting with his contact at "OR" yesterday in Chicago. "OR" is the company based out of Minneapolis that we hope will be fronting the money for 3 years for Chris' proposed new business. ("OR" is not the real name... i probably shouldn't write the real name quite yet) The meeting went very well. We were hoping to get the final YES, and that's what we got from this guy. However, he has to report to someone and instead of him explaining everything to his boss, they have requested Chris go to Minneapolis and do the presentation again next week. We're feeling really good about it though. We celebrated with a nice dinner out last night and purchased some suits for Chris... one black pin-stripe that he just looks amazing in ;) We don't know the exact day next week but will find out hopefully on Thursday this week.
Meanwhile I'm getting chubby! I've started gaining weight in my face, which i hate. Im gaining everywhere else though too...
Liz, Nathan, Katie... we're praying for you in illinois!

Praise God for good reports...

Liz, thanks for the update. I am so thankful for the good reports and look forward to hearing that the swallow test went well on Wednesday. Aaron and I are praying for you, Nathan and Katie and can't wait to hear all about how great it is to hold your baby girl and bring her home. Love you guys, and miss you tons. Let me know if I can do anything else; I feel so helpless and wish I could be there.

I also want to thank you all for helping me get the word out.
Love you girls and Happy Easter.

Quick Prayer Update

Ok, here's a very quick update so everyone knows how to pray for little Katie. She's been doing well still. Kinda hanging in there and healing the past couple days. She's off the respirator and worked out the tube that was down her nose (she's getting feisty). She's also off the sedatives. She's getting a little cranky from time to time and wants to eat. The tube feeding is not cutting it for her. Her swallow test is Wednesday. They will give her something to drink with contrast(dye) and watch it go down to make sure it goes where it should and not anywhere it shouldn't. This is a very important test and will show how she's healed and if the surgery was effective, which of course we are believing it is 110%. If all goes well with that, the tube in her chest will be removed and they will begin feeding her by mouth. Removing the chest tube also means we can hold her again. So needless to say, we're anxious and excited about Wednesday. Keep everything in prayer please. The surgeon thinks she is doing well, and said some would do the swallow test today or tomorrow, but he'd rather not take any chances and let everything heal up well. So just one more long day to get through from a parental perspective of sitting with our little girl and not being able to do anything. God doesn't give us any more than we can handle. We're believing for more good reports. Katie's proving to be a little fighter. I wanted to give the update so everyone could be specific with prayer.

I also received my shower gifts from my Sapphire girls today:) Thank you all so much! It was very generous and very much appreciated. And thanks to Angie because I know you worked it all out and took care of it quickly for us. I think we plan on applying to our bedding so Katie has somewhere to sleep when she gets home:) Ok, thank you all again for everything. You have no idea how much the prayers, encouragement, and support mean to us right now!

Quick update

Hello girls, I thought I'd give a quick update. I can tell Angie has been awesome about disseminating information(thanks again Ang), and Julie gave a pretty accurate description of Katie's condition. If you look at the end of the post to the definitions she pulled up, Katie has the last type of TEF, the most common type. The top of her esophagus ends and is a little larger than normal, and the bottom of her esohpagus attaches to her trachea. They found it right away because she was preterm and them went to insert a tube into her stomach(I think to feed her), and the tube obviously stopped where her esophagus ended. She was also frothing a little from fluid coming back up, although she did well that first night. She has also been checked for many of the things Julie mentioned that can accompany the TEF. So far she has none of them! She's had a bowel movement and everything else checks out well. They only have to check her kidneys (although she is urinating, so that's good) and do a head scan. I'm not sure exactly what the head scan looks for. So we are very grateful for that.

The surgery went exactly as expected, and her type of TEF isn't one of the more difficult ones. Some are more involved with surgery and require more stretching of the parts inside. And some are done on preterm babies as small as 2 pounds, so she was a good size at 4 pounds, 6 ounces. She's recovering well so far. Of course, I'm nervous and it's almost hard to be excited about how well she is doing when there is still so far to go. They've kept her very sedated so she doesn't disturb any tubes right now. She has breathing tubes even though she can breathe normally...I think just in case she needs it and so she doesn't have to work at all. They can't have her moving much or pulling any tubes out (there is also a tube in her chest in case of leakage, which there has been none of so far, Praise God). They're reducing her drugs that keep her sedate tonight by half, and then taking her off of them tomorrow. This is awesome news because she is doing well quickly, but also makes me nervous of course, because i expected her to be asleep all weekend (she wakes a little, but not much). But the hospital is one of the best and the NICU there is amazing, and it was originally designed for gastrointestinal issues for babies, so we're in the very best care possible. Anyway, the nurses all say she is doing very well. The doctors are harder to talk to because they tell you everything that could happen, and they don't all have the best bedside manner, but they are good. And I love her surgeon. And her new pediatrician came in, who I had to choose on the spot in labor without having met him yet (that was an appointment to happen this week). He is really great and actually has quite a few children in his care with TEF, and they're all doing great. God has been awesome and has put so many people in touch who have dealt with this or know someone who has, and they all say children with TEF can do quite well. We of course, are praying for no side affects, no difficulty with the esophagus contracting, and no issues with reflux down the road. And for now, we are praying hard for no reflux during recovery and for the swallow test to go well. They will test her swallowing by about day 6 after the surgery to see how she's doing, and only after that will they think about food by mouth. Please pray for all of this. So far she's done very well and is a fighter, but we want to continue to pray for the recovery and how things go as she is tested and weaned off of support.

I want you all to know how blessed I am at how much you care and to know you're posting info so you all know how to pray for us. I cried when I read Julie's blog and your prayer right now mean more to us than anything in the world. Everything has all happened quickly and things are just now beginning to sink it. And it's immensely hard to be home right now and not in the same building as Katie. Much harder than I thought it would be, and it's hard to not feel guilty. And it's hard to be on a floor with so many sick babies and see mothers crying as they hold their babies. So pray for peace for Nathan and I as well. We feel incredibly blessed that she made it so far and is a good weight and is well, and that this is not life threatening as are the conditions of so many babies in the NICU around us.

Thank you again. For the fun details, we're excited for a baby girl, shocked by a head of dark hair (we of course expected a fair and bald baby), and Nathan's already dreading teenage years and boys. She was 4 lb, 6 oz, 18.5 inches long, and was born 3/19/08 at 9:55pm. She came barreling into the world after maybe 5-7 pushes and 5 hours of labor (probably 3 of which I did not believe I was in labor except for the proof of the contractions on the screen and the testimony of the nurses that they were real and normal labor contractions). So you can see she's causing trouble already and is a fighter, so we have high expectations and are believing God for the best. We don't understand it all, but are truly believing He is going to use this situation for His glory and that soon it was all be just a dream. Thanks again for your prayers!

TEF concerning Katie

Hey girls, Angie asked me to post a little something about TEF which is the medical condition our newest little Sapphire is dealing with. I asked Josh to explain it all to me and I will do my best to interpret it as best I can. I am also going to post an explanation from a medical journal website that you all are welcome to read through, but it can be a little confusing so I'll try to explain it a bit first. TEF or tracheoesophageal fistula is a birth defect that develops very early on in pregnancy. It is where the trachea (windpipe) and the esophagus (the tube that food goes down into our stomachs) do not develop and separate properly. A connection fuses somewhere between the trachea and esophagus. Consequently, when the baby tries to eat, the food spills from the esophagus into the trachea and then, sometimes, into the lungs, causing aspiration. It will make the baby choke and struggle to breath. It is a pretty serious condition because the baby cannot feed until it is resolved. This is why Katie would have had surgery so quickly yesterday. During surgery, the doctors go in and tie off the fistula (connecting tube) between the trachea and esophagus. Incidentally, the TEF is likely why Liz went into preterm labor. The baby is not able to swallow the amniotic fluid adequately during pregnancy and there develops an excess of fluid in the uterus, causing preterm labor. There are actually several different types of TEF and sometimes it is necessary for the doctors to reattach pieces of the esophagus that have separated from each other. I have posted a diagram below of the different types of TEF. The picture above with the baby is the most common (87% of cases) and is most likely what Katie has. But I don't know for sure. The first tube in the pics is the trachea that goes into the lungs and the second tube is the esophagus. You can see how it connects to the trachea in some pictures and how it is gapped and would need to be reconnected to itself in several pictures.



The good news about TEF is that it can usually be surgically resolved, which it sounds like is the case with Katie. The danger after surgery is acid reflux problems that can cause scarring and ulcers in the little baby. Also, feeding can continue to be difficult because of the challenge of contracting esophageal tissues needed for swallowing after surgery. In some, not all,(approximately 50%) of cases of TEF... the condition can be linked to other birth defects or other physical conditions, usually cardiac disorders. Sometimes it can be linked to birth defects involving vertebra, anus, renal anomalies, or limb anomalies (radial dysplasia). Some of these would have been obvious immediately and can be ruled out already. I'm sure the doctors are looking for any of these possible links in Katie and we just need to be praying that she is perfectly healthy other than the TEF. We also need to be praying for quick recovery for her and that she does not struggle with acid reflux problems or swallowing problems. I hope this info. helps a little. I have posted an article below that explains the condition more medically if you are interested. I'm sure it will fill in any gaps I have missed as well. Love you girls!



WHAT IS TEF?

At the beginning of a pregnancy, the trachea ("windpipe") and the esophagus ("foodpipe") are one single tube, called the primitive foregut*. Between the 23 rd and the 28th day of pregnancy, a time when many women are not even sure they are pregnant, this single tube divides into two tubes – the trachea, which takes the air you breathe to the lungs, and the esophagus, which takes food, water, and saliva to the stomach. If something should ever go wrong with this division, as it does in approximately one out of every 3,500 – 4,000 births, the baby is born with a medical condition known as esophageal atresia and/or tracheoesophageal fistula. The anomalies are thought to arise from 1) a defective division of the primitive foregut into the trachea and esophagus, 2) defective growth of the entodermal* cells leading to atresia, or 3) incomplete fusion of the lateral side walls of the foregut during separation of the trachea from the foregut causing a tracheoesophageal fistula.

Atresia means an absence or closure of an orifice or tubular organ. In this case, the esophagus has a gap between its upper and lower segments, so that nothing can pass through, not even saliva. The fistula is a connection between the esophagus and trachea, which, depending on its position, either lets food or acidic stomach juices into the lungs. When a fetus has esophageal atresia, the inability to swallow and eliminate amniotic fluid may result in polyhydramnios.* This is the first sign of possible atresia at some level in the upper gastrointestinal tract and may lead to premature birth.

Many babies born with this defect have other medical problems – all associated with organs that were being formed during the same period at the beginning of the pregnancy. At least 25% of these babies are premature, and 25% have additional critical problems such as congential heart disease, Down's Syndrome*, hydronephrosis*, duodenal atresia*, and tracheomalacia*. Ten percent of the babies have an imperforate anus*, and one-half have vertebral or skeletal anomalies. Researchers found that it was not uncommon to have vertebral (V), anal (A), tracheo-esophageal (TE), and/or radial limb or renal (kidney) (R) anomalies, which was abbreviated as VATER syndrome (or VATER association) by Quan and Smith in 1973. This syndrome is also currently being termed as VACTERL, the C referring to cardiovascular problems, and the L to limb defects, because of the high percentage of children with VATER syndrome born with these latter anomalies.

How is this anomaly discovered?
In type A atresia, both esophageal segments are blind pouches, and neither connected to the trachea. It maybe termed as pure esophageal atresia and may be considered either short or long gap, depending on the space between the segments. An infant born with pure esophageal atresia may appear normal at birth, but as they swallow, secretions fill the esophageal pouch, causing an overflow into the oropharynx*, and the infant will drool excessively. When the infant is fed, vomiting and respiratory distress follow (aspiration). Continual suctioning temporarily relieves these symptoms. Both the excessive secretions and drooling in a newborn strongly suggest esophageal atresia.

In type E (or H-type tracheoesophageal fistula without atresia) the fistula may occur anywhere between the level of the cricoid cartilage* and the mid-esophagus. However, the fistula is usually higher in the trachea than in the esophagus. A fistula such as this may be as small as a pinpoint. Symptoms that may signal this H-type fistula are repeated episodes of lung inflammation (pneumonitis), infection of the lungs or respiratory system (pulmonary infection), and swollen abdomen (abdominal distention). When a child with this disorder drinks, he coughs, chokes, and becomes cyanotic (bluish discoloration of the skin and mucous membranes). The reasons for this are that excessive mucous builds up in the esophagus, producing abdominal distention. This type of tracheoesophageal fistula may be overlooked, since such a child may appear normal at birth. It is possible for diagnosis to be delayed as long as a year.
In types B and D, the upper portion of the esophagus opens into the trachea, a life-threatening condition since an infant with this anomaly can aspirate saliva or food into the trachea. Both type B (proximal fistula and type D (fistula to both segments) cause immediate inhalation of saliva into the trachea airway and bacterial pneumonitis*.

The most common tracheoesophageal fistula is Type C, which includes esophageal atresia. The upper section of the esophagus ends in a blind pouch, and the lower section ascends from the stomach and connects with the trachea by a short fistulous tract. A newborn with tracheoesophageal fistula with esophageal atresia appears to swallow normally, but soon after swallowing coughs, struggles, becomes cyanotic (skin turns blue in color), and stops breathing since he is inhaling aspirating) fluid returning from the blind pouch of the esophagus through his nose and mouth. In this infant stomach distention may cause respiratory distress. Also air and gastric contents (bile and gastric acid secretions) may reflux through the fistula into the trachea, resulting in chemical pneumonitis*.

we're going to joe's wedding!

got our plane tickets today - fly in friday and leave Sunday. We can't stay long because Chris will be in the beginning stages of his company, and we're trying to save money for when the baby comes. Speaking of baby, you can read my blog if you want... but they did an ultrasound on friday because i am getting big so fast! But one baby, and only one baby (unless someone's hiding) is coming in October. Baby Akers just has a lot of room in there is all. looking forward to June!!!

Can't wait!

Hey girls - this will be a quick note since I'm at work. Actually, most of the time I write these I'm at work. The problem is I don't have internet at home, unless I decide to use the neighbors internet, but that ends up taking forever cause its so slow.

Anyway, I'm so excited to hear that so many of you are trying to make the trip to DC and PA. And I'm even more excited that Julie & Steph have already purchased tickets. I miss you guys and it will be so fun to see you all again. Just a reminder to those of you who are still looking into coming - all housing is free in PA! There is plenty of room for everyone (including husbands and babies)! Can you tell I really want everyone to come!

Like I said, just a quick note. It has been so great to hear what is going on with everyone lately. Jamie, I loved the 'teacher of the year' story. So funny!
Julie, what is your plan for when you first get into PA? You are welcome to stay with us then as well. Although, since you and Josh don't see each other much, I would understand if you decide to spend a few nights in Philly. Let me know what you decide.

Love you girls and bye for now.
Keep those DC/PA plan updates coming!

Teacher of the Year

So, I just figured out how to add our blog to my home page and I'm loving that I see your updates right away. :) Here is something that hopefully will make you laugh...

A few weeks ago I had a horrible cold. While I was teaching in a 3rd classroom I was leaning over a boy helping him with something on his computer. When all of a sudden my nose starting leaking... right on to the top of this poor kid's head. Only one drip and then I ran for the Kleenex, but still. Poor kid... his teacher's nose leaked on his head. (And I didn't even tell him what had happened. That's right... I'm up for teacher of the year! )

We are working on getting to Joe's wedding too. We'll let you know what we discover.

Joe's wedding

Hey girls! Steph, I'm glad to hear you're heading back to school. That will be an exciting new adventure! I'm jealous, I love school. =) Seriously, I'm a little nerdy like that. Jamie, I'm happy to hear you guys are good too. And I'm jealous you guys hooked up in Colorado. Although I have gotten to see Kim a few times lately. ha! j/k. Anyways, I just wanted to fill you guys in on our plans for Joe's wedding, since people are posting plans. Unfortunately, we couldn't book our trip into July at all because of Josh's schedule. But we still wanted to make a worthwhile trip to see people and hang out with each other too (me and Josh cause we don't see each other much either). So, Josh booked tickets to fly into Philadelphia on Skybus on June 24th through June 30th. So that's it for us. We'll miss most of the fun after the wedding. =( But such is life. love you guys!

Last but not least...

I think I'm the last one to post anything...ooops! :-) Well things here have finally settled a little. We have been so sick this year and it has been so bad! But! I hope that's all behind us now, and we can move on into Spring, healthy and happy. February came with a nice weekend away to Owasso, of all places, for Valentine's Day. We didn't do too much exciting, did some shopping, a movie and dinner, but stayed in a new hotel that was pretty nice. We didn't go to into Tulsa for the whole weekend! :-) Then, as soon as I recovered from the full blown flu, about two weeks later, we had a BIG party celebrating Shawn's golden birthday (28 on the 28th) and his graduation from OSU. All together we had about 45 people come through, either for dinner or bowling. A lot of his family came up to, so that was fun. The stomach flu arrived to visit Shawn the next day, and as I was going to visit Jacqueline the next weekend, it visited me. I wasn't as sick as my hubby, but it was no fun to travel with it! Thankfully, I got to Denver and had a great time with Jacqueline and baby Avery. She just turned a month old when I was there, and had just reach 8 whole pounds. :-) I was SO excited because Jamie came up to have lunch with me and Jac at the Cheesecake Factory down town. It was fabulous to visit with her! (Jamie - you'll have to send me the pic you took of us!). Since I have been back from there, I have been laying low. I've never had to try so hard to be healthy before!

Work for me continues to be an obstacle. There are days when I don't mind what I am doing, but overall, I've been pretty stressed and frustrated. Shawn and I have recently discussed our next step in life, and most of you know that we have been looking into purchasing our first home. Well...I think we've decided that the next step for us is for me to head back to get my Masters degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. We may still be able to purchase a home and have me go back to school, but we've decided that school will come first. It's a pretty big deal since I have been trying to get myself back into school for years. More than likely, when I start school, I may stay here at this job for a sememster but probably no longer than that. That will again mean some big changes for us, but I know it will all work out in the end. Just keep us in your prayers, too!

Ok, I feel like I'm leaving stuff out, but I don't know what else to say! Just so you all know, Shawn and I just bought our tickets for Joe's wedding - we'll be coming in on June 27th and are staying with Ang and Aaron until July 5th! We are SOOO excited about it! :-)

Love you girls!! I like all this posting...let's keep it up!

Hooray!

Hey girls.

Love the posts too. Jen.. I tried to text you back. I'm so excited for you!! And that you are feeling great is amazing. Liz, you look amazing. I can't wait to see pics of your little one. Send more pics of your prego state... I'm developing a page for the book of all of you having babies and I need some more of you. :)

Julie, I love reading what is going on in your life. Sounds like Columbus is perfect. And the fact that Lilah laughs regularly is a great sign that you are a great mom! I love the idea of vinager on Seth's tounge... way to go Super Mom!

Steph is was so wonderful to see you last weekend!! You looked amazing! Kim... how long are you guys going to be in Colorado? I would love to visit you and meet Violet!! Let me know if that is possible. Angie. thank you for the invite, Nick and I are going to seriously think about it now.

We were going to skip Joe's wedding because we are thinking about buying a new house. We haven't sold or even rented out our current house, we are just itching for change. So, at the moment, we have signed a contingency on a brand new house about a mile east from where we are now. It's a beautiful house with a goregous basement. However the finiancing doesn't seem to be working for us right now. We aren't sure what is next... pray that God really makes it clear.

Nick is finishing up his grad degree in the next few weeks. He has one more class and about 45 pages worth of papers to finish. He graduates May 10!! Hooray!!!

Oh... and we are going on a cruise March 30 to celebrate birthdays and graduation and spring break! We are so excited about taking some time for us. We haven't done that since our honeymoon.

So... My thought is I need to start blogging more often so that these messages aren't so long. I love you girls so much. I'm really starting to enjoy scrapbooking and need more pictures of your lives! Send them soon. :)

ORU Slim Shady

Hey girls! My brothers and I ran across something this weekend that was pretty funny. I'm sure you all remember the legendary ORU Slim Shady song by the infamous DJ Clay during our time at ORU. Well, in light of the more recent events at ORU, DJ Clay has released a new song that sums up the ORU scandal with his trademark sarcastic and scathing lyrics. It's pretty classic and I thought you guys might be up for some more "scandalous" downloading. =) I pasted the link for the new song below as well as DJ Clay's website where you can find the new song, the original ORU Slim Shady, lyrics for the new tune, and the background and story behind original mix that got Clay expelled. (Also, a secretly recorded soundbite of Clay's meeting with Dean Boyd during the Slim Shady scandal.) Pretty funny. Miss you girls!

"ORU NATION CONNECTION" Page and the Home of the official "ORU SLIM SHADY
http://www.djconnectiontulsa.com/index.cfm?id=110

"RICHARD APOLOGIZES: ORU SLIM SHADY 2"...
http://www.djconnectiontulsa.com/admin/files/files/APOLOGIZETHEORUSLIMPART2.mp3

yea! finally!

I got so sick of seeing my Mexico post up here so was thrilled when I came back from lunch to see all these new posts!
So, Liz and Jamie... i hope you got my text from a few weeks back? If you didn't this will be the first you hear of my news! I'm 8 weeks along tomorrow! Sorry Julie, I'm also feeling pretty good. I only get waves of nausea a few times a week. They are unexpected but last only 10 minutes or so while i force feed myself some soda crackers and lean over the trash can just in case. I feel a little spungy from bloating, water weight, gas, etc. So i had to purchase a few shirts that are a little more forgiving around the tummy area. The whole front side of me is swelling it seems :)
As much as i'd like to believe we're having a boy, i'm drawn to pink stuff in the mall so we will just see!
Chris and I are still undecided about Joe's wedding. We're at the end of our un-planned bathroom re-model so money is a little tight. We really want to go, so we'll try and find a way.
Liz, you look beautiful and I can't wait for you to meet your baby!!

'Tis the season for blogging

I love all these updates -- it makes me feel oh so close to all of you, even though we're oh so far away.

Adam and I (and Violet) are in the midst of many travels right now. A couple weeks ago, we went to Santa Monica where Adam worked long hours and I drove around looking for movie stars. Unfortunately, I found none. But I did really fall in love with the area. Violet and I spent some time on the beach and I have to say that all the sunshine there seems to make people a lot happier than those in Seattle. So I'm slowly getting myself worked up to being exciting about moving. Of course, it all still hinges on finding someone to rent our house in Seattle, which has been unproductive so far. We're going to have to drop the price again, which pretty much sucks, but hopefully someone will rent it soon so we can get this show on the road.

Tomorrow we're leaving to go to Ohio to show off the baby to our family and spend some quality time with them, as well as Josh and Julie. Yay! When we get back from that excursion, we have about a week before we leave for Colorado for Easter. Then we'll be done for a while. Violet did great traveling to SoCal so hopefully she continues that trend to Ohio and Colorado.

I'm sitting here writing this right now with my leg propped up on a chair, doped up on pain killers because I took a tumble down the stairs the other night. It seems to be a hobby of mine, this falling down the stairs, and it's really a miracle I've lasted so long in this house of stairs without falling before now. I sprained my ankle and bruised my arm up pretty good. But the good thing is I get to dip into my leftover Percocet, which is lots of fun.

Well, I guess I'll wrap this up and go feed the baby. Love you all!

I definitely agree with Julie, it had been way too long...

Things here in PA have been unusually busy. We moved our office this past week, which turned out to be a lot more work than anticipated. We are still working on getting things put into place, but over all the move is done. As I speak, my brother and dad are building a wall, so yea, there will be lots of things to do for a while. At work at least.

I also had a pampered chef party last week and I'm still working on getting things closed out. If you didn't get a chance to shoot me an order, there is still time, but I think I'll end up closing things out tomorrow night. The party went well and it looks like I'll have a pretty good amount for free stuff. I'm definitely looking forward to that. The trick is finding the things that I REALLY want and putting some things off till next time.
I was contemplating becoming a consultant, but I think I've decided not to do that for now. I've been praying about it a lot and every time I do I always get the feeling that its not the right time. So I've decided to put that on the back burner for now and wait to see what God has in store. This was a pretty hard decision for 'cause there are so many good reasons to go ahead with it. Like the extra income, the opportunity to build it up so I can work from home (which would be especially nice for when we have kids); it would give me something to do on the nights that Aaron is at work; it would give me the opportunity to branch out and meet new people. It seems like a good fit, but for some reason I don't have a peace about it. We'll see what happens next. If you think about it, pray that I would have direction in this area. I really would like to do all of the things that I said - meet new people, something to do when Aaron is at work, etc....

Aaron is doing well. Things at work will hopefully pick up this month. February ended pretty well, so all signs say that they will. March, April and May are usually the best months of the year and we are hoping for some pretty big ones this year. We have some goals set and they depend on Aaron having a good year.

OK well, that's the update here, but before I go I wanted to invite you all to my house after Joe's wedding. I've blocked out the rooms at my parents and there would be plenty of space for everyone, including babies. Between my house and my parents everyone would have a room. I know that Steph and Shawn are planning to be here for the entire week after and it would be great to have everyone up. The following Friday is 4th of July, which would make for some fun parties and such. I also heard from Adam and Kim, and it sounds like they will be here for at least a couple of days. I also heard from Julie and they are going to try to make the trip. Nate and Liz will at least be at the wedding (with baby in tow), so that just leaves Jamie and Jen. It would be great to see all of you, at least at the wedding and it would be so fun to have a mini-reunion in PA for anyone who can stay. I would definitely make your stay worthwhile.

Well, Let me know your plans for the wedding. I hope to see you all there.
I love you girls and miss you tons.
Hopefully we can be more faithful with the blog in the future (yea I'm talking to myself too).

Thank you for blogging!!!

Thank you Liz for breaking the silence and blogging something! I've been so bored having nothing new to read on the blog. I'm glad you're doing well Liz. The end does get pretty painful when it comes to sleeping. But good luck with it, hopefully you can get some rest before the baby arrives. Congrats on finishing grad school. Your brothers wedding looked very pretty. But it is hella stressful when siblings get married! Especially brothers, I don't know why, maybe mine are just idiots. But so far every brother that has gotten married has been a full week of lost sleep the week of the wedding and at least a few months of stress beforehand. Not to mention striking that delicate balance of being friends with and supporting the bride through the process without becoming the intrusive, annoying, future sister-in-law. Both of my brothers have married girls with lots of sisters, so I've always kind of felt like the extra sister who has to be included but isn't a "real" sister. I don't know if that makes sense. I'm not complaining, I love Sarah and Lauren and we're very close (especially Sarah... still getting to know Lauren), I just think brothers' weddings can be kind of wierd because everyone's emotions are always running so high. So, enough of that rambling on and on about brothers' weddings.

Anyways, things are all fine and dandy here. The kids are good. They are supposed to be sleeping right now for a nap and I can hear Lilah in her room talking and laughing. I don't know what she could be laughing about because it's not like there's a clown in there or anything, but she is cracking herself up! Seth is actually sleeping. He's always been a better sleeper and generally an easier human. He's going through a pretty disrespectful phase lately though. I'm going to start spraying his tongue with diluted vinegar when he talks back. (Don't judge me, you don't have have two year olds!) It's getting out of control and I don't want to spank all the time (seriously, it would be like every 5 minutes). Plus I want him to make the connection that disrespectful, bitter words are connected to the tongue and are bitter in his mouth. Anyways, the kids are funny and have a pretty good time playing together. They like to hug each other and love to dance together. Josh is doing alright. He works alot and is pretty exhausted all the time. He's going gray quickly and has developed a stomach ulcer. His stress level is high. But we're doing ok and making the most of the time we have together when he's actually home. He's doing his ER rotation this month, so we should get more time together this month than usual. His normal surgery months are rough because he goes in at like 5am and usually gets home around 8 or 9pm. (Sometimes later) He works at least 2 weekends a month and usually has to do rounds on his weekends off. So we typically only have 2 or 3 days off a month. Then he also has to take surgery call overnight at least 8 -10 nights a month. The rough thing about call schedule is that he might be in surgery all night but then he still has to work all day the next day. There are times often when he will literally be working 48 hours straight. He's pretty miserable. But we're just hoping that when we get past the residency phase, it will get a little better and he will enjoy the work more. He loves actually doing surgery, but he's always so tired that it makes it hard to enjoy the time he's at work. Josh could always use some prayers tossed his way to get him through his days (and nights). =) I'm doing fine and have been staying pretty busy with the kids and a little bit of part-time work at home. I went to see Kim in Seattle a few weeks ago and that was fun and relaxing. Violet is adorable and it was cool getting to know her a little bit. We've been getting out as much as possible here in Columbus to get more familiar with the area. I have to say (and I know this sounds stupid), but we love Columbus. There is so much to do here and it's easy to get around. The winter is too long, but the summers are really nice. Columbus is so kid-friendly too, there is always something to do that is realxing and fun. We are really happy about being here and are enjoying it. I've finally come to the conclusion that we are definately mid-westerners and are happy about it. We like the mid-west! Well girls, I will go now and stop writing about nothing at all. I miss you all and hope you are all doing well. Love you girls!

Celebrations

I thought I'd break the silence for once. So things here on my end have been ridiculously hectic the last couple months, but I think things are finally calming down a little (or it's at least the calm before the next storm:). My brother just got married, which has kept Nathan and I insanely busy, and boy could I tell you stories from this wedding. But in the end it was beautiful and my brother was so handsome, and I shocked myself by crying through the ceremony, and crying through my speech. I can't believe he's all grown up now. I've posted a few pics, but didn't take many because I was too busy, and mostly have pics of Danielle because I was with her that morning. I was the matron of honor and Nathan was a groomsman as well. As beautiful as it was, I'm soo glad it's over. It was such a lot of work for us.

I also finally finished my masters! Whoo hooo!! So I'm officially post-grad, and thrilled to pieces about it. I had my comprehensive exams 2 weeks before Matt's wedding, which was incredibly stressful, but it's all over now and I passed. So I'm relieved and pleased with my accomplishment, and love the feeling of finally being done with school for good.

And of course, then there's the pregnancy, which is coming close to its end now. As much as I've loved being pregnant due to having such an easy pregnancy (yes Julie, I know you hate me), I think I'm about ready to be done. I'm looking forward to having my body back, and wondering if that will ever happen:) And of course I can't wait to meet this little person that's half me and half Nathan. I now think often about that moment when I get to meet him or her and discover the gender, and just see this person who I've been getting to know. I've also become a little more uncomfortable as I've had pretty bad back pain for quite some time now. Everyone tells me to sleep now, and they obviously don't understand that I don't ever sleep through the night, not because of frequent peeing (which I could handle), but because of pain and discomfort. Oh well. But needless to say, now with all this other stuff behind us we're fully focused on getting ready for this baby.

Nathan has also still been freelancing, which has it's share of stresses since when one job is over you never know how long it will be until the next one comes. So far we've been pretty fortunate. But keep us in your prayers as his current job will be up soon, and I'll be leaving work soon too. So that's our life in a nutshell right now. Now everyone else needs to blog too because I miss hearing from you all!

Mexico

Hola Chicas!
Well, we've been back in the states for almost a week now... in this FREEZING weather. Mexico was a lot of fun. We ate, drank, slept, and relaxed a lot. I have to sort through all the pictures and get them uploaded, but then will send them all to you. One of my favorite times on the trip was going to Tulum and Xel-ha. The Tulum ruins were neat to see, but educational... so while it was fun, it was also sort of boring. BUT, then we went to Xel-ha, which has sort of a natural lazy river type thing. When you get to the bottom of the lazy river, you get to snorkel. I had never been snorkeling before and thought it was amazing. At one time I looked down and saw a fish (no kidding) the size of Chris. I tapped him on the shoulder and we both flipped our feet rather quickly in the other direction... as if that would keep us safe, if indeed we were in danger... when we really weren't. It was just starteling.
Chris is keeping very busy with this new company, which isn't yet formed or named. So we call it "New Co" for the time being. He works during the day, eats dinner, and then works at night. We decided that since he can't help me with any of the housework, and since i'm working full time too... that we're going to have to hire a house cleaner. I feel like a failure as a wife, and am really dropping my pride here. But I just can't keep up. So I've accepted it pretty well I think, and am really looking forward to not cleaning the bathroom anymore!
If you've seen any pictures of me lately, including the one i'm posting below... you'll notice how long my hair has gotten. It hasn't been this long since 1996 actually. Until two days ago... I chopped it all off (well, 8 inches anyway)! I had Chris take a "before" picture so as soon as I get an "after", i'll post them too. I was going for a drastic change, and I think i nailed it head on. I got so sick of it when i was in Mexico and came to the realization that there was no way i could have long hair when I have young kids, so off it went! My hairdresser swept the floor twice while she was cutting it because she kept on slipping. funny.
Here's a pic of us taken on our last morning in Mexico during the sunrise. It's not the best picture but it's one of the few I have of us together since we tend to not make friends while on vacation... i guess that's due to all the sleeping and reading we do. oh, and here's on of us in a hammock at Xel-ha too.

Missing You

Hey girls... Your posts have been great. I love seeing glimpses into your lives. Julie, the AF would be an amazing time for you guys. I have lots of friends who have had such a great experience with the AF. And that Josh would be a Captian going in... that's impressive!! You'll have to keep me posted. Who knows, maybe you guys would end up in Colo Springs for awhile. :)

Steph, I would love to see you when you come out here. Just let me know when, and we'll make it happen.

Let's see... my life seems to be at a stand still at the moment. School is fine. I think I still like my position. It is taking me to Orland next week for a Tech Conference. That should be fun. As for everything else, well... I'm sitting on the floor of my living room right now, in the dark really missing you all.

I watched The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants the other day on TV and thought of you all. Man, I miss you.

So... I'm going to focus my missing you into planning our next Sapphire trip. I do need some guidelines from you all. How long would you like to come for? Would Presidents Day or MLK day long weekend be a good time? Slopes... who would be up for hitting them? And finally, price range. Any thoughts?

I've found some cute places. I just need to narrow down some specifics. If you can shoot me your ideas, that would be great.

I hope you all are having a fantastic week. I'm praying for you and missing you lots! I so appreciate your friendship. Keep sending those pictures!

Well, everyone else is...

Hi everyone! I can’t tell you how much I enjoy reading everyone’s blogs. I feel like I have nothing to compare going on in my life! No buns in the oven, no kids, no recent discoveries of family connected to the mafia…my life is officially boring. J Ok, ok, so it’s definitely not boring, but just not exciting.

Well December was a pretty horrible month for us. A coworker of mine committed suicide, so that was pretty rough for my team. Another close friend from work found out that her dad has cancer and was only given 3-6 months to live. For those of us who have dealt with cancer and the horrible effects of it (no matter what the outcome), it just seems to hit that much closer to home. We also had a HUGE ice storm here in Tulsa that left the city looking like an atomic bomb hit – and just took out the trees. Literally. It, in turn, left us without power for 8 days. All of this was in 2 weeks. Nice.

However, the turning point was when I got to see my wonderful husband take that long-awaited walk across the stage as he accepted his degree. Yes, he graduated on December 18! It was only a year that he was in school to finish, but it was a tough year. We got through it successfully, though, so his mom and grandpa came up to celebrate! Then, later that week, we headed down to Chickasha for our Christmas vacation. We had a great time, but we were both sick. We both went to the doctor when we got back to Tulsa the day after Christmas to find out that we had sinus infections. That week is a bit of a blur, since I spent most of it in bed, but I was well enough to get together with some friends for New Year’s Eve. We saw the ball drop on TV and then headed home. Very exciting. J

Let’s see…what else is going on…We purchased a used Honda Passport back in October thinking that it would be easy to fix what was wrong on our own, but we are finding that we were sorely mistaken. We’re still trying to purchase a rebuilt transmission for it (3 months later), and we’re hoping that will be done this month! All in all, though, we are still getting a great deal, even with replacing the transmission, so we’re not too disappointed.

Shawn has finally gone full time at his job at Callidus Technologies. He was part time there during his final semester. We just got through renegotiating his salary and are fairly satisfied with the outcome. Of course, we could always use more, but we’re very happy with what we got. Now, this year will finally be the year to pay off most of our debt and we’ll finally get to start travelling a little to visit our friends. We’re planning on going to Joe’s wedding in DC and then heading up to Aaron and Angie’s through the Fourth of July. I am also planning on heading to Denver to see Jacqueline and her baby (she’s due any time now) sometime in March – so Jamie, we’ll have to get together while I’m there!

I think that’s all the majors from the past month or so. I look forward to all the continued blogging… LOVE YOU GIRLS! Miss you mucho.

Little ray of sunshine

I've loved reading everyone's recent updates -- I, too, have been missing you girls a lot lately. I could really use a spa day with all of you about now!
Liz, I'm so happy for you and your baby bump. You are adorable! You must keep us posted on the progress.
Julie, that's crazy about your family. Remind me never to double-cross you.

This week has been our hardest by far. I know there aren't many others to compare it to yet, but hopefully things get a little easier after this phase passes. I have mastitis for the second time, which pretty much makes you feel like you've been hit by a truck. A truck that was aiming for your boob. It sucks. And you get a lovely fever and chills and all the treats that come with the flu on top of everything. It's also really been affecting Violet this time. She's been extremely fussy the past few days and won't sleep unless she's being held. Even at night. All night. So it's been a little challenging.
One of the huge blessings I'm realizing through all of this, though, is what an amazing husband I have. He hasn't complained once about 3 am diaper changes and he even sits next to me and rubs my hair while I wince and cry as Violet nurses. I don't know if we've just been too exhausted to argue these past few weeks, but it really feels like we've become even closer through all of this. And watching him be a dad is just about the sexiest thing ever.

Apart from our baby ups and downs (there are more ups than downs, thankfully), we are also considering a move to LA sometime in the next few months. The Seattle branch of Adam's company is being restructured, so his role would change drastically up here. But his bosses in LA (which is also where the CEO works) really want Adam to move down there and work. He'd have a lot better opportunities and -- hopefully -- better pay. The downside is, of course, having to move, especially when we've just started to make our home here in Seattle. But all signs are pointing to a move to LA sometime soon. The office is actually in Santa Monica, which isn't so LA-ish, but is still very expensive and so not our style. But hopefully we'll be able to find a little neighborhood that suits us.
And who knows -- maybe we can have a future Sapphires reunion on the beach!

Ok, the little angel is finally asleep, so I think I'm going to go do the same. Love you girls and miss you lots!

crazy family

Hi girls! missing you all today! Liz, your baby bump is adorable. You look really good, and I have to admit that I am pretty jealous that you have had such an enjoyable pregnancy, free of nausea and grossness. but I'm happy for you and hope you continue to feel good. By the way, are you guys waiting to find out what the sex of the baby is?

So things are going pretty well for us. Josh is on plastics this month, which isn't bad. I think we're going to meet with an air force recruiter soon to look at joining the military and get more information about health care in the military. The pay is pretty enticing to get us through residency and to help pay off some school loans before they collect too much interest. The med school debt and the fact that we can't really make it on Josh's current salary is just sort of becoming oppressive. The military would go far in getting us a better financial footing. Plus, during Josh's repayment years (5 years following residency), he would be getting state-of-the-art training and work experience and the hours would be better than private practice. And we wouldn't have to pay for malpractice insurance, which would be huge. I don't know, we're just bouncing the idea around and balancing it with our desparation at this point. =)Not to mention, men in uniform are hot and think Josh would be pretty irresistable as an air force captain! haha... Obviously, the crappy part would be deployment. But they do usually keep the docs pretty protected. So, we'll see.

So I titaled this post "crazy family" because I have recently discovered that mine is crazier than I already thought. My great grandma Ida passed away right after Christmas and we had her funeral on Friday in Cincinatti. I went and it was a good time with family on my dad's side. For those of you who don't know her, grandma was spunky, to put it mildly. So the stories about her life were entertaining in themselves. But as my dad and his cousins were discussing the family history, I learned some interesting facts. I learned that my family has a history of generosity and kindness. We have a noted propensity for sarcasm and humor. And my great grandpa had solid links with the mafia. Now when I say that, I am not speaking of my distant relative about whom I uncovered buried information. I am speaking of the great grandpa that lived next door to us until he died and who let us bounce on his belly like a trampoline. We were close. So it seems a bit surreal to learn that he was a highly recognized "business partner" with Jimmy Hoffa. (Seriously, we have the Christmas cards from Jimmy and grandpa lost a huge investment on something called Drive Alert when Mr. Hoffa disappeared) We also have a news clipping of a man being found dead in grandpa's "stolen" car. I don't actually think grandpa really killed anyone, but his connections are unmistakeable. He was a boot-legger and prohibitionist as well. I also learned that my family came to Cincinatti when my great, great grandfather fled there with his brother from Kentucky after being connected to some murder. I found out I am 1/16 Indian (of the blackfoot tribe), which is just one generation away from qualifying for the tribe benefits. But I am mostly German and originate back to the fifes of Germany, from before Germany was a country. So, here's to family and all the history, characteristics, genes and life lessons we inherit from them (the good ones and the crazy ones). Love you girls!

Growing

So, here are some pictures of my growing belly that have been requested recently. I really popped out over the holidays. The pregnancy is continuing to go well. Overall I can't complain too much. I experienced no morning sickness or other early symptoms, so I didn't even feel pregnant for quite some time. Now I'm definitely feeling it...I guess it's hard not too when you're this size. But my only real complaint now is back pain, which can be quite bad at times. I've been feeling the baby move for about a month or so now, and Nathan has been able to feel it a few times as well. I think it's much more real to him now that I am really showing and that he can feel the baby. He spends time talking to the baby through my bellybutton, which he insists is the portal directly to the baby:) Yes, he's definitely ready to have another member of the family who will now be awed and amused by his humor. But it's definitely crazy to have a little person growing a moving around inside of you. Kinda scary too at times.
Outside of the pregnancy, we continue to keep busy. I just finished my last grad class. Whoo hooo!! I still have comprehensive exams in Feb though. Nathan is in the process of changing jobs. Since he is freelancing, there can be a bit of uncertainty when one job is up and he's looking for another. He just started a new position today, but is still looking for something more longterm(this is a 4 month gig). So we've definitely been learning to trust God completely with where we're at right now. Bella is also doing well. I couldn't resist including pictures of her. She currently think she runs the house, has lots of spunk and even some attitude, and just loves to cuddle up with us. Work is going well for me. I'm already more than half-way through my year (which is of course a little shorter than everyone else' since I wont make it until June). I love my kids and will definitely be sad to leave them before the end of the year. As usual, I won't miss the politics though. Other than that it's just the business of life. My brother is getting married and we're both in the wedding, my baby shower will be shortly after that, the baby comes, and then we're inundated with company and traveling this summer. We definitely are looking forward to seeing everyone who goes to Joe's wedding in June, especially since I missed the last reunion. So that's life in Michigan. I've enjoyed everyone's Christmas cards, and Kim, it's been fun to keep up on Violet these last few weeks as you guys update the website. All three of you seem to be adjusting well to your new little life:) Keep us posted.

New Year, New Job

Hello dearest friends, I hope everyone had a good Christmas! We were both struck down with head colds so didn't enjoy our time too much. We are feeling better now, and are extremely excited to leave on our Mexico vacation! We're going to Secrets Capri, which is where Angie and Aaron went on their honeymoon. After seeing her pics again i just can't wait!
So if God has placed us on your hearts recently, there's good reason... and here's why! Chris interviewed at my company a couple weeks ago, had a second interview, and was then offered a programming job here. It offered more money than he's currently making and would have been a huge financial blessing for us as we hope soon to have little Akers (human children) running around the house. So, Chris went into his boss and let him know about the offer. His boss took a few days to think about it and made an offer to Chris earlier this week. The offer, strangely enough, wasn't for more money... right away anyway. His boss told him that Chris had been put on a short list of people they wanted to start a new company. This new company is still in the planning stages but is about 3-4 months out from being formed and funded. There is a slight chance that the company may not be formed, but a very good chance that everything will follow thru in the next 3-4 months. When the company is formed, Chris would be a partner (they are looking for the other half who would be a sales/marketing person who is tech saavy). We asked the right questions and found out that Chris was actually the only person on this 'short list' but they were waiting until later to mention it to him... that was their plan anyway. So, ends up Chris has decided to take on the challenge of a new company. His job will be drastically changing and he's taking on a whole new roll in the business world. Last night he started creating the business plan, which is completely new to him. It's a fresh start, it's a risk, and it's an adventure that he's really excited about. So please pray for us about this new company! Chris is feeling very confident about his decision but scared at the same time as much of what he will be doing in the next 3-4 months is completely foreign to him.
And now that all of that is over, I'm really ready to get away from it all!

Violet

Hi girls,

Thank you so much for all your well-wishes and prayers during the past few days. I have been thinking about you all so much. It's so wonderful to be able to share a part of this with my sister-friends. Although I do wish you all could stop by!

I wanted to share the website link that Adam made for Violet:
http://www.violetann.tv/

You can see some pics and videos that were taken right after she was born. We'll try to keep updating it on a somewhat regular basis.

I love you all so much and will try to write more when my head is a little less foggy. Violet's been practicing her Sapphires poses and she can't wait to meet all her loving aunts!

:)

A little bit of news

Hi girls,

We just got home from our doctor's appointment so I thought I would share the latest. I'm dilated to 3 centimeters (up from 1 at last week's appt.). I'm having mild contractions that last about a minute -- they get more regular when I'm active. My doctor said she could come pretty much any day now, or it could be up to another week.

I keep picturing her in there, packing her little bags and getting ready to come out. I'll let you all know if there's any more news!

Love you girls!

relieved

Hey girls. Jamie, once again, very happy to hear you guys were out of harms way yesterday. We were also relieved to hear that Jared (my cousin) and his family made it to safety. Holly was already in her car and drove by the gunman. But Jared was still in the building and had the girls (Elle and Myra, 4 and 1) with him. He walked into the foyer to see the gunman shooting and ran somewhere with the girls and some other people to barricade themselves into a hidden room. He was in lockdown there until about 4 or 5pm. For a long time they thought there was a second gunman on the loose and then they thought there were explosives on campus. So we were not breathing easy until Jared and holly were reunited and got to go home Sunday evening. We are thanking God today for the protection of our loved ones, but also praying for the families who lost loved ones. It's a really sad situation and our hearts go out to New life and the families impacted most intimately by this tragedy. I saw on the news today that the two victims who have died at this point were 16 and 18 year old sisters. My heart breaks for that family. I'm also praying for the YWAMers affected Sunday morning in the other shooting. I've spent a lot of time on YWAM bases and have done a lot of missions with YWAM, so that shooting hits a little close to home as well. There is just no safe place anymore. It's becoming a scary world, especially to raise children in. But we do serve a great God and that is a huge source of peace. Anyways, hope you all are good. Love you all!

Drama

Hi all!

Just wanted to let you know first that we are safe and were not at New Life when the drama broke out. Nick and I were at Panera when we got a phone call from a friend to find out if we were ok. So far we aren't sure what the whole story is, but we do know that all of our close friends are ok. The gunman opened fire in the parking lot about 1pm. Three girls were taken to the hospital with wounds and one person died on the scene. Our pastor seemed shaken during the press conference. Pray for him and his family.

Other than that, I just wanted to tell you how much I love you! This thing at New Life today, and watching what has been unfolding at ORU, I'm thankful for the friendships I have in you. Have you seen the outpouring from the president of Mardel? This man has come forward and wants to give the University $70 million. This money would get the school out of the $50 million debt and pour $20 million in to school. He gave this money, because Richard stepped down. God works in wondrous ways. :)

One last things... I need all of your address!! I realized that everyone as moved around a bit this year and I don't have current address. :)

I love you girls so much and pray for you daily. Kim and Liz... I've been praying for you lots. I can't wait to hear how you are doing. Steph, Jen, Julie and Angie... send pictures so I can keep scrapbooking this year.

new niece

Hi Ladies! Just wanted to announce the birth of my new niece, Sophia Lynae Newman. Sarah had her on Thursday night, 11/29/07 at like 7:30pm. Sophia was 6 pounds and 19 inches long. She's really tiny! She looks a lot like Owen. She's healthy and doing well. The birth was kind of crazy though. They gave Sarah her epidural and broke her water and she was about 6cm dilated. The nurse shift changed and the new nurse didn't check Sarah when she came on. Sarah felt kind of a wierd pressure and had Ben kind of look under the blanket to see if he could tell if there was a change. And Sophia's whole upper body was out! Ben went running down the hall to find anyone who could deliver the baby and the nurse ran in, got sterile, and delivered Sophia. But the doctor never made it. She got there like 60 seconds later in time to deliver the placenta and that was it. She was just down the hall waiting for Sarah, but it was all crazy and she missed the birth, mostly because the nurse wasn't really staying on top of Sarah's progress. When you have an epidural, you can't really feel the pressure and urge to push like normal. So it can be easy to miss it if you're not being checked regularly. Just a note of precaution for you pregnant girls who plan to be good and drugged for your labor and delivery... =) Anyways, that's our exciting news this weekend. Hope you all are good! Liz you've got to be popping out by now. Send us a picture of your baby bump sometime! Love you all!

Tis the season...

So I guess the Christmas countdown has officially started. Actually, Aaron and I started our holiday celebrations early this year. Over the Thanksgiving weekend we went out and got our Christmas tree. It has become a tradition for us to go to a local farm, pick out our tree and cut it down ourselves. Let me tell you it is such a fun way to start the holiday season. This year we took some friends along with us, which made it that much more enjoyable. Another change from last year - a 7' tree. Honestly we didn't realize how tall it was. It is hard to tell when you are under the big blue sky and not your house roof. Last year we went for the small 5' tree and ended up putting it on blocks to make it look taller. No need for blocks this year, it is inches away from the ceiling with out help. Good thing it wasn't any taller.

Anyway, just thought I would write a quick hello and hopefully get you all into the holiday spirit. Oh and I'm definately with Julie on the ORU stuff. I'm anticipating the next several years to be great for the University.

ORU stuff

Julie, great overview of the latest at ORU. I have also been following it but you did a fabulous job of explaining it in few words. I'm also very pleased to hear that there will be new leadership at the school. I don't mean to dishonor Richard and his family, but I strongly believe that new leadership is just what our school needs. I'm excited to see the changes (hopefully for the better) in the next few years. I want the school to survive for many many more years so that girls like us can form friendships to last forever, like ours!!
So I'm about to attempt a new post on the Akers blog, you should all read it if you have time, but the short of it is that we thought we lost Fujiko last night. But we found her. Anyway, it was a very scarry, but humerous event.
Kimmie! You're beautiful! Love the pictures!

ORU

Hi girls! Hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend. Kimmy, your pictures are super cute! You're so pregnant! Can't wait to see Violet! Your house is also really nice. It looks beautiful. We had a good weekend with family. We all had a slumber party at mom and dad's house. Seth and Lilah had a blast playing with cousins. I wanted to touch base with you girls about all the happenings at ORU these days. I don't know if you guys have been following the situation as it unfolds, but it's pretty interesting. If you haven't been staying up on things, I highly recommend hitting the internet for the updates. Specifically, ORUs new Face Place for alumni has been pretty valuable and entertaining for getting up to date info and keeping a finger on the pulse of the campus right now. Quick overview: professors brought wrongful termination lawsuit against Richard and Lindsay after being fired abruptly when they addressed the board concerning a laundry list of allegations uncovered against the Roberts family. The news hit media and a private investigation was launched into the allegations by the Board of Regents. The faculty met to deliver a vote of "No Confidence" in Richard Roberts as president of ORU regardless of the investigation outcomes. Strong feeling that the Roberts had mismanaged funds and the university was ready for a change in leadership no matter what. Richard submitted his letter of resignation a few days ago and has stepped down permanently from position of president. Billy Joe Daugherty has been acting as an interim president in the meantime while the Board looks for a new president. Yesterday, the owner of Hobby Lobby and Mardels has promised 70 million dollars to ORU to relieve the university of its debt. The Board of Regents has now voted to accept Richard's resignation and also voted to completely separate ORU and the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association from each other. They will no longer be associated and ORU will be its own entity under completely new leadership. Wow. It's been a big week in ORU history. I am really excited and prayerful that God is doing something big at ORU to restore it to its original purpose and I really hope the board gets a quality leader in Richard's place now. It's an important time to be praying for ORU and supporting the university despite past irritations with the administration. Because, as it turns out, the administration is getting cleaned out. I am really hopeful that we are on the edge of seeing a new day and an incredible era at ORU that will set the university up to be a strong academic and spiritual institution. Anyways, not to rant. You may be able to tell that I am supportive of the leadership change. But I thought you might all be interested in case you weren't aware of all the new stuff happening. Love you girls! I'm passionate about ORU for a lot of reasons, but it is, afterall, where I met my sapphire girls! Lets fight and support the university that brought us together so that future ORU girls can make their own friendship clubs to get them through life!

Me again

Hey girls,

Hope you all had great Thanksgivings! Just because I'm so in love with myself, I thought I'd post some more pictures... :) But these pictures have some tummy shots, so you can see how enormous I'm getting. You know something's big when it makes my chest look small.

Here's the link to my Flickr photo set if you want to see all of our Thanksgiving fun: http://flickr.com/photos/kaylind/sets/72157603320787892/

Now someone else share something! :)

Quick hello

Hi girls,

Hope you are all having a lovely Thanksgiving week!

I just finished uploading some pics of our new house, so I thought I would pass them along in case you would like to see them. Don't judge me if you see clutter or mess -- it's still a work in progress.

If you click on the picture below, you should go to my Flickr page. If that doesn't work, follow this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaylind/sets/72157603251144942/

All is well here -- just counting down the days! We are getting so excited to meet this kid, it's unreal.

Love you all!

Yuck

Julie, I am so sorry to hear about the drama on your homefront! I am praying that by now you are all over that nasty stomach flu. I am also hoping God gives you the grace to deal with your mother-in-law during this trying time.

Things here have been pretty busy, but not with anything really important. The last few weeks have been a challenge - I was sick with a stomach bug at the beginning of last week, then Tuesday of this week I got a TERRIBLE urinary tract infection, and Wednesday I woke up with a nasty head cold (still dealing with that). In the midst of all this, my work put on a food drive on Halloween so we had to set up and work a "Spook House". Thank goodness, Shawn was involved a lot this year so I didn't have to do so much with the stomach bug hitting at the same time. We bought a 1997 Honda Passport from our friends Frank and Kori (photographers at our wedding), but before you get too excited, we still have to find a transmission for it. Shawn and a friend will be doing all of the labor since they work on cars regularly anyway, and they know the guy at the salvage yard, so we're getting a sweet deal, but we still haven't found a good one and time is ticking away. I would like to have it ready before it starts to get too cold.

We are celebrating our anniversary this weekend by staying home (yay!!!) and watching movies. We are going to dinner at Ti Amos on Sunday just because that's where we had our first date, and we may do some Christmas shopping, but other than that, we'll be at home. I would have LOVED to do something bigger, but money is still tight and with Christmas right aroung the corner, we just didn't think it would be smart.

Also, right around the corner (in 7 days to be exact) we'll be making the trek up to Minnesota to spend a long week with my family. I can't wait! We'll be exchanging Christmas gifts (but not opening them, of course) at that time too so we can all save on shipping costs this year. :-) This also means that I finally get to meet my niece, Madeline, for the first time! I can't wait to hold her!

I hope all of you are doing well! Liz, thanks for the email! I haven't gotten back to you yet, but I will soon! I'm glad to hear things are going well with the baby. Kim, we are counting the days with you until Violet Ann arrives! Take care of yourself! I miss all of you girls so much! Love you!

family intimacy over a barf bowl

So, we've had quite a week here at the Vicena house. It started out with a lot of promise. Josh took vacation from Saturday through Wednesday. Vicki (Josh's mom) was going to to come in Sunday and Monday to watch the kids for us so that we could do a couple things just the two of. We spent Saturday working on projects around the house. Then on Sunday, Josh's mom called on her way to our house... sobbing hysterically... because it doesn't look like it's going to work out with her and her husband, Paul. (Who, by the way, is a total and complete jerk ad always has been. Josh and I expressed our concerns about Paul's controlling, manipulative, and inconsiderate behavior from the very beginning and strongly advised Vicki against a relationship and especcially marriage with him.) Vicki stayed with us through Tuesday and will be back over the weekend. Josh and I did not get any time alone because she felt too fragile to be left alone. Other than a matinee we got to go see on Monday while the kids were napping. She's going to be here a lot because she can't really be home much with Paul. She looking for a job in the Columbus area. I may sound incredibly insensitive concerning Vicki's situation. The thing is, she has a tendency to make poor decisions based entirely off of feelings, and then expect josh and me to pick up the pieces and listen to her cry and whine about it for the next 2 years. We very specifically told her when she decided to marry Paul that when this marriage fell apart, we would not be sympathetic. We would help her make good decisions from here on to get her out, get a job, and settled into a new place. So this is going to be a long process that Josh and I are already annoyed with. She calls like 10 times a day about everything. And you all know how good I am at coddling people.... Surprisingly, Josh is actually more irritated and unsympathetic than me about the whole thing. It's just one more thing to deal with that takes time away from our time together as a couple. I guess the first divorce the first year of medical school just seemed fun enough that she decided to do it again the first year of residency. Each stressful new phase life just wouldn't be complete without a family disaster to pile on an extra load! Again, I know I'm sounding really selfish and nasty. I'm sorry. I just needed someone to vent to.

So, after Josh and I slipped away to see a quick movie on Monday afternoon, we returned to our beautiful children and were greeting them when Lilah crawled in my lap, hugged me hello, and then vomited like a scene from the Excorcist all over me. She then spent the next 2 hours vomiting every 10 minutes until we gave her a Zofran injection. The poor thing was so sick and every time she threw up, it scared her. I spent the rest of the night just cuddling with her and holding a bowl in front of her face. She's been sick since then, still throwing up and has had diarrhea for the last couple days too. Last night Seth started running a fever of 102 degrees and he's been acting like he feels pretty bad today. Josh woke up this morning with the flu as well and I'm afraid I might be getting it. It's gross and exhausting, but the kids have been so mellow we've just been cuddling all week. The cuddling has been nice. I watched Monsters Inc. with the kids this morning and we just made a bed on the living room floor to watch our movies and camp out. Unfortunately Josh still had to work with the flu. So, even though we've been sick, we've all just been spending time together as a family and cuddling. Josh's vacation is over now and we spent the whole time dealing with his mom and cleaning up sick kids. It really didn't turn out quite the way we'd hoped. Oh well, such is life. Sorry to dump all this complaining on you girls. Just needed someone to vent to for a few minutes. Thanks for listening. Also, if you girls get a second, please say a prayer for us that the flu passes quickly and we all feel better soon. Thanks!