checking in

Hey Girls! I just thought I'd pop in quick and post a quick update. We're all doing pretty well around here. At least we are now... I got struck with the flu bug this past week. yuk! It was awful! I got sick on Thursday afternoon and spent the next two days with the horrible vomiting and diahrrea that goes along with the flu. I thought I was going to die. The stomach virus is significantly worse when you're pregnant I have discovered. (One of my friends here who was pregnant got the bug this week and it put her into labor, she had her baby at 36 weeks, which is ok but a little early). You just don't have the energy reserves to recuperate when you're pregnant. Today is the first day I'm feeling pretty good. By Saturday afternoon I was so weak I couldn't hold my head up and my blood pressure was dropping. So Josh brought home 2 liters of IV fluid and hooked me up to an IV drip to try to rehydrate me. It helped quite a bit. Josh got alarmed when he walked into the living room and found me laying on the couch with a half-eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich sitting on my chest, dripping all over my shirt... and I didn't care. He had tried to carbo load me to boost my energy but I was too tired to keep lifting my arm up to eat my sandwich, so I just put it on my chest and went to sleep. I guess Josh decided that anytime I've suddenly lost my will to keep sticky peanut butter and jelly from staining my clothes and the couch... I must be seriously sick. =) That's when he put me on the IV drip. But the good news is that the kids didn't seem to really get it. They had a little diahrrea, but have been feeling pretty good. So, I think we're all past it now and hopefully won't deal with something like this again for the rest of this pregnancy. Other than that, everything has been good. Seth and Lilah are getting so big. Lilah is talking sooooo much now. She repeats everything and is adding to her vocabulary daily. It's nice because it helps cut down on her frustration level, so she doesn't scream as much. Seth is doing pretty well with the potty training (still won't poop in the potty very often, but we'll get there.) I'm going to send Seth to grandma's for a day so that I can work with Lilah on potty training to see how she does. She likes to wear pull-ups and LOVES to sit on the potty. She will often tell us when she's going to poop and even did it in the potty once. So, I think with some concentrated work, she might enjoy potty training. It would be really nice if the kids were both out of diapers before baby #3 comes along. She's a little young, so if it doesn't work out, we won't stress about it. But it might be worth a try. We still haven't picked a name for the next baby. Boy names are seeming to be difficult for us this time around. It looks like they will probably be inducing me on Nov. 17th (or right around then, at 38 weeks). That will be nice because we will have the baby before Thanksgiving that way.

So, speaking of books (Kim's blog)... I haven't read that one Kim, but maybe I will because I'm always looking for a good book. but I have been a reading a couple of non-fiction books lately that are really good that I have to recommend for those of you looking for a little self-help reading. =) haha... I just finished the book "Captivating" by John and Staci Eldridge the other day. I thought it was really good and especially valuable for moms who have daughters. It's the female counterpart for Wild at heart. It's a good reminder of how the female soul is kind of wired and how that relates to our personal walks with Christ and how to really reach our full potential as women of beauty in Christ. It was good. Some interesting insights. And now I'm reading "The Power of a Praying Wife" by Stormie Omartian. It's not a new book at all but I'm just now getting around to reading it. It's really good. It's a powerful reminder of how vital it really is for us as women to be bathing our husbands and families in prayer. I don't know about you guys, but my husband goes to a job every day and lives a life of stress that has a tendency to really beat the life out of him. He's faced with difficult situations daily and is constantly surrounded by opportunities to compromise or just grow apathetic in his walk with Christ or to allow his personal relationships to deteriorate. Josh needs to be covered in prayer and I think most men face the same kinds of things Josh does, just maybe in a different venue. Anyways, it's a really good book and it helps to put prayer into a more practical way so that it's easier to pray effectively. Well, this blog is way to long now. So I'm going to go do something more productive. =) Love you girls and I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the rest of your summer!