Books and such

Hi girls,

I wanted to pass along a really good book I just finished in case anyone is looking for some summer reading. It's called Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. It's a pretty easy, light read but it will get you hooked once you start it.

If anyone has any other book suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I'm hosting a book club now and I'm always looking for ideas!

I'll try to post some pics of the new place soon -- it's still a work in progress. :P

faith processes

Jamie, thank you for that post. I am so glad you are enjoying that study. Looks like it will be a faith challenging study for you as it was for me too!

Well girls, we have been busy little bees around here! Megumi is doing very well, still loves to eat (except green beans... she actually gags!), and loves to play. She's not yet crawling but I'm VERY ok with this and don't really encourage her to move. I know she will figure it all out on her own, and then i will be chasing her around constantly. I'm just not ready for that yet :)
I'm still working part time for the same company, and have taken on an additional project for Chris' company too. So, when I'm not playing with Meg, doing laundry, or sweeping dog hair from the floors, i'm busy working. My mother in law is a teacher and therefore done with school for the summer. She is helping watch Megumi some days so i can work and we can get caught up on some financial planning. Only one more year until she retires, and i'm as excited as she is i think!
Meg nd I just got back from a week in Texas, where we visited my sister. We had a lot of fun and Meg got to be in a swimming pool for the first time. She liked it, especially when one of the other kids splashed her.
The next bit of information i'm going to share is difficult to share... because there's no easy way to say it, and no way to say it without it being a shock. 3 weeks ago, I had a mis-carriage. I was 5 weeks along. We were "trying" at this point and got pregnant right away again. it just so happened that i was on the worship team that weekend, so was surrounded in prayer. Despite all the sadness we have experienced through this, we have had so much peace... the peace that comes from knowing God is sovereign and His plan is bigger and better for us than we could ever plan or imagine. I actually learned that lesson while i was going through Beth Moore's "Believing God" study, for a purpose that God had already planned out!
We are praising God, because of who He is, and because we are being held in His hands.
Miss you all so much. Megumi sends her love! I'll be posting on our blog soon with some pictures so you will have to check it out! Some people tell me now that she is starting to look a little like me for a change.
Jen

Thanks Jamie

Hey Jamie, thanks for that post. I have not done the Believing God study by Beth Moore yet. I needed to hear that perspective on faith. We've been a bit ( or massively) stressed about something over here lately and needed a reminder that faith without challenges does not grow. I can't really get into exactly what we're dealing with right now as it is pretty confidential for several reasons. But it is a scary time for us and we would love some prayers for peace. I assure you all, my dearest of friends, that we will spill the beans about the situation once it is a bit more resolved. But right now we're kind of keeping it quiet for professional and financial reasons. Please just pray for peace for us and for health for Josh. But again, I needed a reminder that God is God and that we need to excercise our "believing" muscles. =)

On a less somber note... this will make you all laugh hysterically. The other day our group of friends from the residents' wives support group was contacted to choose 4-5 ladies to participate in a new reality tv show called the "The Secret Lives of Doctors Wives." The want 4-5 of us to follow around individually and then as a group from the Columbus area. I won't be able to do it, obviously, since we'll be moving. But it is still pretty hilarious. I hope they choose several of my girlfriends here because I would love to watch that reality show. =) Love you all!

Challenges and Results

Wow...things have been a little rough lately. I started a Bible study last week called Believing God by Beth Moore. It seems very timely with what is going on in our lives. There is a quote from today's lesson that I wanted to share with you. When I read it, I thought of you all and hope it encourages you.

"Faith unchallenged is faith stifled. Believers who know what they want to believe and refuse to be challenged may have a stand of faith but they may not have a walk of faith."

My first response to this was wow and ouch. I want to have a walk of faith but does it have to be so hard? I've really been thinking a lot lately about why I've had to go through miscarriages, and one outcome has been a growth of my faith. Not really the outcome I had expected.

I pray that as you are experiencing your own trials of loss, moving, family life and financial stuff, that your faith will be strengthened. I wish it wasn't so hard.

Over the past few weeks, I have had a picture of what I am experiencing. I seem to be walking through a deep forest valley that is covered in a thunderstorm. It's dark and wet and not fun. But when I realized that my faith was being challenged I noticed that there was a shaft of light and that I wasn't alone. I found that this light, while not huge, was lighting just enough of my path to see the next step. I wish I could see what the entire path looks like. I also realized that I wasn't alone, I had your friendships and the Lord walking with me.

I know I want my faith to be a walk not just a stand and I guess that means I will experience circumstances that appear to be impassable. One of my verses in today's lesson was 2 Cor. 5:7 "We live by faith, not by sight." Beth made me paraphrase this verse with the Greek definitions of live and sight. This is what I came up with: "We make due use of opportunities by faith not by the external or outward appearances." I hope that encourages you to not look at the circumstance but at the opportunity.

Again, I wish it wasn't always so hard and I will be praying for each of you as you are experiencing your own trials. I look forward to the next few months and hope that it produces some break-thoroughs and joys. Love you all so much!!

Arrangements

Ok well, Katelyn passed away Sat morning. It was a long and frustrating week, as the doctors were not willing to let her go, despite her heart, lungs, kidneys, and liver all failing (not to mention having no reflexes and very minimal brain function). We believe the doctor had motives for keeping her alive other than believing she had a chance for a recovery, as his area of interest is in the machines.We don't know yet what exactly happened, but will soon as there will be an autopsy. She definitely had severe breathing issues leading up to this, and we found out the only reason she ended up at the hospital last Fri was because she went to a clinic for an ultrasound for the baby, and the technician noticed her difficult breathing and that her nail beds were blue. It is a bit frustrating that the boyfriend and his family did not take care to get her medical attention sooner (she could not walk around a store without stopping to breathe every couple minutes). But it is all over now, and she made choices as well, so passing blame does no good. It's time to move on now.

There will be a memorial service in Ohio this Wed or Thurs, and a bigger one here on Satuday. I will only go to the Sat one since traveling 5 hours each way in one day isn't easy with Katie. It also frees me up a bit to work on her picture boards and programs this week in prep for Sat. Please just keep the family in prayer. It is just so sad for all of us, my Aunt Marianne especially. We need prayer that the family will be able to move on without passing blame or blaming themselves, and just that they will grieve in a healthy way. Also prayer my for mom and I to help my aunt through this. She truly was Katelyn's mother (Katelyn's bio mom abandoned her at the age of 2 or so when she divorced Katelyn's dad), and I can't even begin to understand how one deals with losing a child. I've been giving my own baby lots of hugs and kisses lately. So we appreciate your prayers right now. Thanks so much!

Sorry for so much sad news. Julie, continuing to pray for baby Eva. Steph, we've been there with the never-ending house issues and just wanting to close, so we understand the frustration. I'll say a prayer for a positive resolution. Just know it'll all be worth it in the end. Post pics when it's over. And Kim, post some pics of your new house as well, and that yard for Violet.

Frustrations

Hi all...seems like there's no really good news to post on here lately! Although, our situation is not life and death, it's not good either. We were supposed to close on our house a couple of days ago, but the underwriter for the loan found a stipulation the day before we were going to close. It says that the sellers must have had the home in their name for at least 90 days before our loan would be approved for it. For some stupid reason, the sellers transferred the deed from their personal name to their company's at some point in April. What this means for us is that the soonest we can close is now the end of July. It also means that we can't lock in our 5% interest rate (now we can get a 5.75 or pay and extra $3100 to buy the point), we have to redo some of our inspections and they have to rerun our credit and all of that again. It's really just a stupid situation, so we're hoping for the best, but we are really frustrated and, quite frankly, a little depressed about the whole biz. We've already been waiting this house for 7 weeks. It really does us no good to look for a different house either.

Anyway, we have a plan to mentally escape this weekend. We may just spend the whole of Saturday in the movie theater watching movies that we've wanted to see but never had the time. :-)

Hope everyone else's situations are getting better. Liz, I have been keeping your cousin in prayer. Send us another update soon, if you can. Julie, I've been thinking about that family with the new baby all of the time! I just went to a funeral today for a man that was my dad's age. He just died while he was mowing the lawn on Monday - completely out of the blue. Needless to say, I may be complaining about our situation, but I am very aware that things could be a whole lot worse thanks to all of these reminders.

Love you girls - talk to you soon.

still more

After a long weekend, the end is still not in sight with Katelyn. Things have gone from bad to worse. It turns out that when she needed CPR, they worked on her for 90 minutes, which is a very long time to be deprived of oxygen. Most likely there has been severe brain damage, and we're not really sure there's any more brain function than just being in a vegetative state. Her kidneys have failed and she's on dialysis, she's bleeding a lot due to the blood thinners, her body is unbelievably swollen (I guess she looks like she could be 300 pounds and she's just a tiny, itty-bitty girl). The baby died and she delivered it. After a very bad day yesterday, the family was prepared to let her go. An EEG was done, and it sounds like there's only minimal brain functions (probably only enough to keep her alive), and there's only a 5% chance of recovery (and we don't really know what "recovery" means...could be any range of things). They were ready to let her go when the medical staff said they want to wait and do more tests. So it's just been a very long road for the family. They are ready for some closure so they can begin grieving. So if you could continue to keep them in your prayers that would be great. We continue to pray that if she is still present (not just a shell of her body, but her spirit and what makes her Katelyn), that God will heal her body. Also praying for a quick resolution to all of this, as it's been so hard on all of the family.

As to what really happened, we still don't really know. It appears to definitely be something induced by the pregnancy. We're hearing terms like Pulmonary Hypertension, and Pulmonary Embolism. Josh, Julie, and her family of doctors have been so awesome about providing us with a wealth of info to navigate all of this. We appreciate all of your prayers right now.

More Details

So we've learned that Katelyn has Cardio Pulmonary Disease, which I think was probably a congenital defect that she had and didn't know about. Most likely the pregnancy exacerbated it and caused this all to be catastrophic. They had her stable last night, but then she went into cardiac arrest, which is why she had to be resuscitated. She had a catheter inserted, which I believe went into her groin area. She is also an Echmo (sp?) Machine, which is a heart-lung bi-pass...so it's doing the work of her heart and breathing for her. She's in a medically induced coma. She's also bleeding from the groin where the catheter is, probably because she's on blood thinners so her blood doesn't clot in the machine. They were trying to get that under control, and she also began to have vaginal bleeding, which likely indicates a miscarriage. Over the past few hours things have gone from bad to worse. It took them a long time to resuscitate her this morning, so they're not concerned about organ and brain damage. Her kidneys are beginning to shut down and they expect her to be on dialysis by tonight. They're also concerned about brain function. So it's just not looking like she'll make it unless there's a miracle.

We've canceled plans for my parents, and are waiting to see if we need to go to Ohio (for support, or a funeral). Please continue to keep the family in prayer. The passing of a grandparent is one thing, but an 18 yr-old with her entire life ahead of her is something else entirely. Thank you everyone for the prayers, support, and thanks Julie for the medical help. Please continue to keep the family in your prayers, especially my Aunt Marianne, who raised her like a daughter. We're still praying for a miracle, but taking things as they come as well. Will post an update when things change.

When it rains, it pours....

So my family apparently can't catch a break these days. My cousin, Katelyn, who is only about 17, is in critical condition right now and needs all the prayers she can get. She has been not feeling well for a few weeks, and my Aunt Marianne (who cared for her as her own daughter...very long story), was worried she had pneumonia, but Katelyn was having difficulty getting her boyfriend's family to take her to urgent care (she lives with them in Ohio). Anyway, somehow she ended up in the hospital yesterday, and we found out last night that there are problems with her heart (don't know specifically what), and she was being helicoptered to another hospital and might need open heart surgery, and was 3 months pregnant and they might need to take the baby to save her life. My Aunt Marianne was leaving this morning to go down there, but at 5am got a call that something happened and they were doing CPR on her, and she might be on or might need to go on life-support (details are very fuzzy due to crazy family and no one knowing what's going on over there). So my aunt left in a rush this morning and is just about there. Currently we know she is more stable, although not nearly out of the woods. They've done something to her heart to help stabilize her (maybe a catheter?), but she is bleeding (don't know where or where from....possible vaginally and miscarrying the baby?), and being moved to another building. So please, please pray for her. She obviously has kind of a screwed up life right now. She's been abandoned by multiple family members in the past, and obviously hasn't been cared for recently. We're just really praying she pulls through this, and that somehow God can take this situation and use it to His glory and maybe bring Katelyn back to Him.

On top of all this, we had a family weekend planned for my parents due to their missing their trip to Europe. My brother and our spouses had arranged for a limo tonight and a night out, as well as a fun day tomorrow. My mom may or may not be needed in Ohio now (long story, but Katelyn's family is not part of our family...Katelyn's not technically my cousin, but has been raised as such). So it's not really appropriate to my mom to be there, but my aunt may need her. So everything is just crazy right now. So we're all pretty upset right now, and would appreciate all prayers for Katelyn, my aunt, and this unborn baby.

"It's like the worst of all the Chesters."

Hey girls,

Just wanted to procrastinate a little bit and say a quick hello. We're moving this weekend -- to Westchester, which is about a mile and a half from where we live now. But we will finally have a little (big emphasis on little) house, complete with a yard and an extra bedroom. We'll still only be about a mile from the beach, so any time anyone wants to pop over, just let me know. :)

We have some friends helping with the move and some other friends watching Violet for us, and I am just so thankful that we don't have to do it alone this time.

The past couple months have really turned my cold little heart into a happy place again. I feel like I finally have a great network of mom friends, as well as some couple friends with husbands that Adam can actually talk to. We have camping trips planned this summer, as well as barbeques and birthday parties. It finally feels like we belong here.

I still despise the costs of everything, as well as every single day being sunny (it's a little creepy), but overall, this is turning into a nice place to live.

We just got back from a quick visit to Ohio for Anna's bridal shower. That was a tear-jerker, let me tell you. I cannot believe she is getting married. But we had such a great trip. Neither of us were ready to leave this time. And ... we got to see Josh and Julie and their adorable kids.
We also went to Cincinnati for a little anniversary getaway. I sort of didn't think when I booked the hotel that there might be a Reds game going on, which there was. As well as about five weddings and a convention for those guys with the funny hats. So it was a little hectic. But we still managed to have a good time, despite my migraine and no water in our room. But the free babysitting made it worth it! :)

Ok, time to get back to the packing ... which I do strangely enjoy, if only I had a little more time to do it.

Love you girls and miss you!

Prayer Request

Hey girls, I'd love to post a real update since I haven't in a while, but this one is more of a prayer request for now. Last week my grandma passed away in the middle of Thurs night. She's had Parkinson's for quite a long time, and this makes it easy for her to aspirate. She ended up with pneumonia last week, but seemed ok and was ready to be released when things quickly got very bad. Anyway, it was time for her to go, as her Parkinson's has been getting worse and worse for years now. So we're peaceful with her death. The wake is today, and the funeral tomorrow.

However, my parents were scheduled to tour Europe last week and were supposed to leave on Thurs. It was a once in a lifetime trip, as they were going with people who have lived overseas and knew how to do such a trip. So this other couple was kinda their guide, and knew how to save them all a lot of money. Plus my parents have never done something like this. Their bags were packed at the front door, I had picked up their dog, and instead of getting in the limo to go to the airport (my uncle had arranged for a limo for them), they drove to the hospital. So they are really struggling with not just the loss of my mother's mom, but also the really bad timing and trying to deal with the logistics of trying to get their money back, and being depressed about missing out on the trip. It also doesn't help that it was kind of a vacation from my crazy family for my mom, and now she is dealing with them all week.

So if you could just keep my family in your prayers, I would really appreciate it. It's been a stressful time, and I just feel so awful for my parents. Please keep them especially in your prayers. Thanks girls, I really appreciate it. I'll post sometime soon with a happier update, as things are going well other than this.

Happy Mother's Day!

Just wanted to send a shout out to all the mothers - especially to Jen who is experiencing her first mother's day as a mom.
Your children are blessed to have such loving and caring mothers.
Love you girls.
Ang.

Suck it losers!

I just spent a week with Kim! hahahahahahah..... in sunny California!.. hahahahaha....I'm just kidding. Thank you girls for voting me to get to go visit Kim for her birthday. It was a lot of fun and we really missed you guys. We had a nice time and I enjoyed the break from normal life. I posted more deatil about the trip in my blog. Congrats on the new house Steph! And I hope school is going well for you. Hope you girls are all doing alright and I miss you all. Love ya!

Just a quick update

Hey chicas! Hope all is well with all of you! Things here are as busy as ever and about to get busier. We're finally buying a house! We just need to get through inspections, which are on Friday and Monday. We don't close until June 19, for various reasons, but that give us more time to prepare. I will try to post some pictures of it as soon as we know for sure. I would love it if you guys would just be praying for everything to go smoothly...so far so good. There have been a few bumps in the road, but all in all it's been a good process.

School is really hard right now, and I'm hoping I can finish the paper I'm working on soon so I can concentrate on the move. Shawn's been working a ton, so that makes things a little harder too...but at least there's been a little extra money around!

That's really all that's going on here...Just wanted to share our good news with you guys. I miss you all! Love ya!

Just a hello

Ok, I thought I'd post something just because no one has in a while and hopefully we can get the momentum built up again. Not that I really have anything much to report. We're still apartment hunting. Prices have really dropped around here (thank you, Jesus) so we'd like to find something a bit more affordable ... and maybe closer to the beach?? :)

We went down to San Diego this past weekend to stay at a house that Neal and his girlfriend are renting for the week. Neal's family was in town as well, so we had a lot of fun catching up with them. And Violet really enjoyed all of the attention. She did pretty well with the Easter egg hunting. Although I think she was more excited about the eggs themselves than about what was inside of them. Probably because I stayed away from the candy this year. We had a few different egg hunts and by the end of it, she had it pretty much down.

Adam's birthday is this coming weekend so his mom is flying in and we're going to Disneyland. I'm getting pretty excited about that.

Um ... what else ... Oh, I'm starting to send out queries for a novel I wrote. Not sure if anything will actually happen, but it's still fun to dream.

I guess other than that, we're just busy with the usual day to day stuff. I seriously don't know how the days disappear so quickly.

Hope all is well with you girls. Love you and miss you!

surgery update

Hay ladies! I had my tumor removed today and everything went really well. I was able to hear first biopsy results while i was still in the operating room, which were that there was no reason to be concerned. they are going to tear apart the tumor and give complete biopsy results when i revisit the surgeon end of this month. But truely, the doctor and we are not anticipating anything to come back serious. I have some pain but have been able to take the edge off with Motrin. Only negative side is that i really can't play with Megumi, so that just breaks my heart!
Little update on Meg... she is still in the 95th perentile for weight at 17 pounds, 8 ounces. she's 24 inches long now. She found her feet and plays with them constantly - precious. she even holds her feet while i change her diaper so i can get a good look and don't miss anything :). My brother Brian brought over their exer-saucer last weekend for us. Meg loves it and she looks like a big girl when she plays in it. I think I'm about to put the swing away as she isn't interested in it anymore. We started rice cereal on tuesday. She's not exactly sure what to do with it once it's in her mouth but she does open up for the spoon very well. And all of this growing up just makes me so sad that she's not my little newborn baby anymore! Yes, i have cried a few times watching her play. I just can't believe how time has gone by so quickly!
Love you all, miss you already!

prayer for a friend

Hey girls, I have a prayer request for a close friend of mine here in Columbus. I would really appreciate it if you guys would remember to keep Jessica in your prayers as she and her husband are really needing it right now. Jessica is about 20 weeks pregnant and went to her routine ultrasound appointment yesterday to find out the sex of the baby. She called us (all the moms at playgroup) to say that the tech saw something concerning but couldn't say what. So she was dropping Hannah (her 2 yr. old daughter) off with one of us so they could go to the doctor alone in case it was bad news. The ultrasound showed a cystic hygroma (fluid-filled sac), heart defect, and a cleft palate. They met with a specialist ysterday afternoon and had some tests done to determine exactly what the chromosomal abnormality is, we're still waiting. But it looks like it might be Trisomy 13. Long story short... Jessica's options are to induce delivery which will cause the baby to pass away early, wait for the baby to pass away in utero, or wait for delivery in which case the baby will most likely pass away within 24 hours. Needless to say, Jessica is struggling. I have posted a portion of the email she sent us last night so you can see a little more what she is dealing with. I kow this is a downer kind of post and I apologize for that. But I'm needing my girls who know and love Jesus and who believe in miracles the way I do to bring Jessica and her baby and family to the throne room of God and ask for a miracle, for peace, for strength, comfort, and ultimately, for God's will in this situation. Thank you girls.

"We found out we are having a little girl! Unfortunately, the Dr found the same abnormalities the tech found this morning. He thinks it's probably Trisomy 13, although she doesn't show text book results from any of the common problems. We did an amnio and a rapid test. We will know the rapid results on Friday. If it is one of the common conditions, we will know then. If it's not, we will wait for the amnio in 7-10 days. If it's nothing in that test, then it's genetic and there will be more testing. At this point, we are just waiting for the results. Our options seem to be inducing early (baby will definitely pass away), carrying until the baby passes in-utero then delivering, or she could go to term and would probably pass away anyway. My instinct is to just wait and let God take her when he's ready, but the thought of carrying her knowing she will die is so hard. I even hesitated taking a pain pill for my head today until I realized I can't really harm her at this point. That's a horrible feeling to have.She was very stubborn during the Ultrasound. Her head was jammed down far into my pelvis, her legs were closed, her feet and hands were by her face. At one point she grabbed her foot with her hand and tried to put both in her mouth. It was so cute, but so hard to watch at the same time. It was especially difficult to see her cleft lip. And when they were talking about her heart, I couldn't watch anymore. All I could see was a beating heart and hearing them talk about what's wrong with it was too much. I just want to hold her and tell her I'm so sorry. I can't believe this is happening. Thank you all for supporting me through this. I may not want to talk much, but writing is easier for me. Dan's mom is trying to come here to help for a little while. If she makes it in, we won't need as much support in the way of babysitting and meals, but I will let you all know when she arrives. Until then, I really appreciate everything. "

Frisco, CO - Here we come!

Here is where we are staying. I just wanted to get you more excited. :)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,490926,00.html

See you soon!

big boy

Isaac is 3 months now and is starting to get a little more of his personality. He's finally interacting more and was in an especially good mood this day. It's just so good to see my baby smiling because he's been so uncomfortable with his reflux problems that we were starting to to wonder if he could smile. Isaac still needs prevacid, but seems to be doing much better these days. yay!

3 weeks...

... till the big trip.
Just thought I would throw that in there.
Can't wait to see you all!

na, na na, na na, na.... (add mocking tone in your head)

So, I had mentioned that Josh was rotating in Michigan the past two weeks for a urology spot up there. We were officially offered the position this week and will be moving to start his new program by July 1. My mocking blog title is meant to make you all feel jealous that I get to live within 15 minutes of Nathan and Liz for the next 3 years (unless they move for some reason). =) We are very excited that Josh is getting to do the specialty he really enjoys and will have tons more time with us from July on. He'll still be working 9-12 hour days and taking call. But that is a HUGE improvement from the 16 hour days, plus 3 out of 4 weekends a month and constant call that he's doing now. We'll actually get to eat dinner together as a family most nights (and won't have to wait until 9 pm to do it.) We are obviously dreading trying to sell our house in this market and know we'll be taking a big loss financially. And moving SUCKS with 3 kids, but our quality of life will impriove dramatically. And we are very excited about being near a fellow sapphire and her beautiful family. =) So that's the update for us. We would sincerely appreciate prayers that God would provide a buyer for our house quickly and would provide for us financially during this whole moving process. Also, please pray that the kids would adjust to the changes well. Seth especially does not handle change very easily and he's old enough to have his little group of friends in Columbus that he will have to say goodbye to and that will be hard for him. (I'm not gonna lie... it'll be hard for us too). So thanks for the prayers girls. And Liz and I think you should find reasons to hit the Michigan area for a visit now that there's two of us in one spot. =)

tumor... be gone!

Hey girls!
So remember several months ago, right around when baby Meg was due, I told you all about this tumor i found in my breast? The biopsy ended up showing A-typical cells but no cancer. Well, today we made the decision to take that little tumor out! So, after the reunion i will have it removed. The surgeon really left it up to me... either we could continue to check it every 3 months or we could just take it out. And since i have no fear of removing things that don't belong in my body, i said "let's get it out of there and be done with it."
Remember to do those monthly self breast exams girls! Hopefully you don't find it annoying that i mention that... but it's really very important and i care about you all so much that i would want you to know immediately if you had a lump. I just love you all that much!

Hoping for a better 2009

Hi ladies,

I was hoping this would be a good post with some happy news. However, things went a little south on Monday. I found out I was pregnant at Thanksgiving. I was waiting to tell everyone when I had a heart beat and some more convincing pictures. We went in last Tuesday for our first ultrasound. The technician seemed a little concerned, but really didn't say much. She said that I measured 6weeks 3day. She checked with one of the doctors and they had us come back on Monday for another ultrasound. When we went in on Monday the concern seemed greater. They had us stick around to talk to a doctor - and that's when we got the sad news. After a week, I still was measuring at 6 weeks 3 days. They said that we should have had a heart beat last week, but they thought they'd give me another week. So, after a panic attack on my part and lots of tears in the office, I finally understood that my baby had stopped growing probably a few weeks ago. My body hadn't figured it out yet, so it was considered a missed-miscarriage. I went for a D&C yesterday. God has given me such a peace in my heart. I know that He has a plan for my life, at the moment, I don't understand it completely, but I know He is in charge. This pregnancy we a bit of a miracle because I had just begun taking steps to use Clomid but then my cycle never started.

So... now we are back to square one: Trusting that God has a plan for our life. I'm excited to see you all soon. I can't wait to hug you all.

A little update

So Adam and Violet and I are official for Colorado as well. We're flying in the Saturday before for some family time and then we'll leave Violet at Nana's, which will be the first time she's been anywhere overnight without us. But I think I'm ready for that. :)

We actually ended up getting our reunion tickets for free through Southwest with vouchers they sent us because of our travel issues over Christmas. Our original flight to Denver was canceled and there were all kinds of time-consuming issues to follow. We ended up getting home around 2am and having to be back at the airport the next morning at 8. But we still got to Colorado via Phoenix and Adam still got to go to his Broncos game on Sunday, so all was well.

In other news, Adam is switching departments at Demand. He's now working as a senior marketing manager, which seems to suit him great. It's more of a horizontal move, but hopefully will have a better hours than the 12 hours a day he has been working. But we will see.

We all just got over brushes with the flu and Vi is still a little snotty faced. But I think the worst is over. She got pretty sick on Christmas Eve night, which was kind of scary. But she felt well enough to tear into her Christmas presents the next day. :)

Miss you all lots!

new prayer request

Hey girls,

We have a new prayer request if you all think of it during your prayer time. It's a good thing, don't worry. =) Josh has been offered the opportunity to do a rotation in Detroit, MI in a urology program that he is applying to. He got a call out of the blue the other day from a surgical resident he had worked with in Columbus who had transferred this year to the urology program in Detroit. She said her program was looking to add a new spot and wanted to know if Josh was still interested in urology. We are and so he will be doing a 2 week rotation up there starting Jan. 12. We are wanting prayer that we just end up wherever God wants us and that if this is His will, it would work out. Urology is appealing because the hours are significantly more family friendly than general surgery and the pay is actually a lot better too once he would be practicing (which means we could pay off school loans faster, woohoo!). The move would be really rough though because we love Columbus and have a great set of friends here who offer an enormous amount of much-needed support to me and the kids. Plus, selling the house would be a nightmare I'm afraid. We would definitely have to take a loss on it (with our current U.S. economic state) and that would hurt financially. The move would only put us about 2.5 hours away from my parents, which wouldn't be too bad. And Josh's mom has already said she's moving with us if it works out. So at least I would still have some babysitting help. =) Anyways, we just want to be where we are supposed to be and need some prayer that that happens and that if we do need to move, that it would go smoothly with house selling, finances, etc. Thanks girls and Merry Christmas!

whatever

Jen, I'm currently annoyed that you are getting 7-8 hours of sleep at night. I have probably not gotten 7-8 hours of sleep in the last week total. Isaac has reflux pretty badly and I'm starting to lose my mind. Last night I left him crying in his swing at like 5am and Josh said I woke him up, told him to take care of Isaac, said something about throwing the baby out the window, and then stomped upstairs to Seth's bed. Josh calmed him down for like 20 minutes, but then he had to go to work. So I had to come back and take care of him again. Anyways, this is my first baby like this and I can't take it much longer. We got a prescription for the reflux for him. We're just waiting for the insurance to get Isaac added to our plan so that it can be covered. I just can't handle this with my 3rd kid. Because no matter how badly my night goes, I have to be up at the freaking crack of dawn with two toddlers. And Seth doesn't nap anymore, so nor do I. And unfortunately, I also lack a husband who is ever home to help. And I feel bad asking for help at night when Josh has to get up at 5am everyday and work a 16 hour shift. Well that's enough of my gripe session. I'm just tired. On a good note though, Isaac weighs 12 pounds and is in the 95 percentile for weight and the 90 percentile for height. He's a big, healthy boy. The other kids are doing well. They still love the baby and are oblivious that he is the reason for them being ignored lately. Seth seems to have developed an adorable little crush on a little girl his age that we play with a lot. Her name is Brenna. I don't know that it's really a crush, but he definitely loves playing with her. Every time we leave them, Seth talks all day about missing Brenna. And then yesterday we went to our playgroup Christmas party. Vicki came over to watch the kids while I took Isaac to a Dr. appointment. She asked Seth what he did that day and he said "I played with Brenna." So Vicki said "Do you like Brenna?" Seth said "yes, I love Brenna." Then Vicki said "What does Brenna look like?" Seth thought about it for a second and then said " a princess." It was adorable.

Well, I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday. We miss you all and are very sad that we will not be joining you in Colorado. =( Have a great weekend!

snow and ice

I'm guessing all of us are getting some effects of this storm raging across the U.S.! Last night, we got hit with freezing rain, sleet, and finally this morning, snow. Thankfully, and Praise God!, we are not without power. I've been praying about this storm since i heard it was coming knowing that Chris would be out of town and if power went out, we'd be searching for a friend with power or a fireplace. So, as i said, Praise God that we didn't loose power dispite all the ice.
Liz, so glad Katie's doctor appt went well. I'll be praying now that baby Katie takes on some of baby Megumi's eating habits. Meg's edging on 13 pounds and takes 6 ounces of formula every 3 hours during the day! I also have to brag on her, that she's sleeping 7-8 hours through the night these days! yea! Megumi is just itching to meet her aunties! Everyone stay healthy and safe out there in this storm!
oh, did you know that one inch of rain equals 12 inches of snow!!??!! I found that to be quite amazing!

White Christmas

So, we're definitely guaranteed a white Christmas this year. We've got quite a winter storm going on outside the doors of my warm, cozy house. We're expecting about a foot of snow by this afternoon in my area. Nathan had to go into work. Had there been more snow early this morning he would have worked from home. But as it is, I will be worrying this afternoon when he makes the treacherous drive home. But all the kids are enjoying an early start to their Christmas vacation. We're also expecting more snow this weekend, and again on Christmas eve. I'm all for a white Christmas, but this is a little much.

All else is well here. We're busy getting ready for the holidays next week...cleaning, wrapping, cooking, taking care of last minute things. But it's fun. Katie saw the pediatrician yesterday, and it was kinda fun to have him so pleased with her progress and development after all we've been through. However, we are finding ourselves back to having weight checks. She's only 15 pounds 0 ounces at 9 months old. SO with only a 2 ounce weight gain over the last 2 months, we're needing to be a bit more vigilant with that again. It's hard as she's so active now, and much prefers to play over eating. We're trying to supplement with some formula, although she's a bit of a breastmilk snob. But we'll manage to pack on some more pounds somehow:)

Anyway, I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! And do you all realize it's only 2 months until we all meet again? Wow, that's coming fast!

Yeah and Hooray

I'm so glad to see everyone is official!!! :) I'm getting so excited. I will call you all this coming week and let you know the totals and such. Keep the pictures coming. I may need a little help with the scrapbook - there is so much that has happened. I hope you all have a wonderful day! Love you!

we're official too!

just got our plane tickets for the reunion too! We're flying in the Sunday prior to the reunion so Chris can spend some time with his partner. Here's a pic of Megumi I took yesterday - 7 weeks already, and Kim, yes, i know how you feel saying all those cheesy phrases - time just goes so quickly!

One year old

I really can't believe how fast time has gone and I know I sound cliche but there's really no other way to say it. Parenthood does that. You suddenly find yourself saying all these cheesy and ridiculous things you never thought you would say. And don't even get me started on the singing and dancing required to cheer up a sick one-year-old.

She's pretty much over her cold, but you can still see a little snot leaking out in the picture. Priceless. We're doing a big party in Colorado this weekend and we already had a little party when my mom was here, so tonight it will be just me, Adam, Violet, and Elmo.

Hope you all have safe holiday travels! Love you girls!

We're official!

Well, it's official...we've got our tickets to Colorado! I found a really good deal...almost a fluke really. It was God that I even saw it, because it won't be there long I don't think. So anyway, we're super excited for fun, friends, snowboarding, and girl time (well, Nathan's not as excited about girl time as I am:).

Before & After...

The Living Room...

The Dining Room...

Our Bedroom...

So these are the main areas that we painted and did work to. I'll send the rest of the pics of the house via Kodak email.

Hope to have you all over sometime so you can see it in person.

Shutterfly sale

I haven't tried this yet, but a friend just sent me a code to get up to 50% off and free shipping at Shutterfly through the end of today. The discount code is: SECRET3.

And I just ordered our Christmas cards through a different service ... darn.

:)

Yay for 4am shopping!

I also did the 4am craziness on Black Friday, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Nathan was on baby duty while I did lots of shopping and got some pretty good deals. I may try some online shopping for the remaining items though.

We have also gotten quite a bit of snow over the past couple weeks. It's pretty much useless to me now that I don't hope for a snow day every time there is a little flake in the sky. But it is pretty, and snow in small amounts if fine I suppose.

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Ours was nice, although Katie got her first full-blown cold that day, and proceeded to snot all down the front of her pretty new dress. Oh well. She's doing better, but now I've got a full-blown sinus infection. So kind of her to share. I hope to feel better by tomorrow, because taking care of a baby while sick is so not fun! Ok well, it's nice to hear from everyone and see that we're all sharing in holiday cheer and spending:)

For all the online shoppers...

I was introduced to a website by Joe Caswell and apparently it usually has the best prices for electronics. Plus there's no tax cause it's based in a state that does not have sales tax. Anyway, if you're looking for the latest and greatest in electronics this holiday season, check out www.newegg.com. And to boot they have free shipping.
As for me, I'm one of those crazy people who get up at 4am and do all my shopping on black Friday. This year was no different - what a blast!

As far as the snow goes... we unexpectedly got about 2-3 inches the weekend before thanksgiving. I was very shocked when I walked outside at 6am to go to work. Not so much a fun surprise at that time of day.

Well... happy shopping to you all.

Sleigh bells ring...

Just wanted to weigh in fast with our weather report out in Cali. The temperatures are really falling out here, too. I think we got all the way down into the upper 60s yesterday. I even had to wear a sweater.

However, on the flip side, you will all be laughing at me when I shiver myself to death in Colorado in a few months. Can't wait!

Oh, and I ditto the whole shopping online thing. Last year, I was as big as a Christmas tree myself, so we did all of our shopping online. I am fully intending to do the same this year. I found quite a few great deals on www.etsy.com -- they have all handmade things, so they're all one of a kind. And a lot of the sellers feature free shipping for the holidays.

If anyone else has any great sites to pass along, I'd love to see them. I'm always looking for a deal. :)

motherhood and Christmas Shopping

We also got a little snow today. It is freezing and disgusting outside. And we are starting to get Christmas gifts figured out for our children. Let me just say that I have not really gone Christmas shopping in a store since Seth was born. It's all online these days. And for those of you newer moms this Christmas season, I will pass on a website that I have used lots in the past for Christmas gifts. Babycenter.com has some more unique and educational toys. I'm sure you girls have already heard of it. but I did get a coupon code in my email today for free shipping today and tomorrow in case any of you are interested. Just go to www.babycenter.com and use the coupon code "FREESHIP!" =) Happy Christmas shopping in your pjs and the warmth of your own house!

snow?? let it stop!

Jamie, I commend your enthusiasm about the snow you are missing. We, however, are not excited about the snow we recceived this last weekend. Something about slippery parking lots, Christmas shopping, and carrying a car seat does not enthuse me. I'm seriously considering holiday shopping online! Our dogs however, could not be happier about the snow. the added benefit for Nobu is that his allergies are officially over so he won't be chewing on his paws anymore. The dogs will chase each other through the snow for hours if we let them. they play a game similar to 'hide and seek' but they don't hide... they just freeze and pretend the other one can't see them until...WHAM they run directly after one another and collide, sprawling themselves all through the snow.
well, i got my AFLAC claims and so can now plan our travels to Colorado. Chris and i will be there early (sunday prior) so Chris and Peter can work together. We will have Megumi with us too. i'm looking forward to seeing you all!

Snow Report

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!

Right now I'm sitting in Chattanooga, GA wishing I was at home to see the snow fall. We haven't had any this year -- that I've seen -- and I'm missing it right now! PLUS -- I'm missing you. I had a dream last night that you were all down the street from me, and it took me forever to get together with you all. Angie -- your hug in my dream was so real, I can't wait to get one for real. :)

I just wanted to give you an update on the slopes to get you excited about our trip. I know it is still far away and we have Christmas coming, but if you want to send any money towards the trip - let me know! They will let us make a payment anytime. Our final payment is actually due Jan 10. I think I told you the 15th - which will also be ok. Anyhoo...back to the snow report: Breckenridge has received 9" in the last 48 and Keystone has gotten 7". And just think - we haven't even gotten into the snowy season here yet. To see pictures check out this site: www.snow.com.

I hope you all had a wonderful and filling Thanksgiving! I can't wait to see you all soon.

Love you lots!

Happy Turkey Day!

thoughts

Hey there! Liz, I just wanted to say that I'm so glad Katie's surgery went so well and that she seems to be recovering comfortably. I'm also so sorry about your grandpa and my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. You really did have a rough week. Everything is good here. I'm getting settled into life with 3 kids under the age of 3. The biggest challenge is that Seth and Lilah love to antagonize each other and just torture one another and I simply don't have time to referee right now. And they usually choose the times when i'm nursing to need something or attack each other. =) Isaac is doing well. He's big and healthy. My biggest challenge with him is that he has an insatiable appetite. The kid is constantly starving! I'm making plenty of milk. But he just wants to nurse like every hour! I don't have time for that either. =) But we've been blessed with family helping out this last week and friends here in Columbus are bringing us meals until the middle of December. They're also calling me like daily to see if I need them to pick anything for me at the store, etc. What a blessing! The labor and delivery went well. They started me on the pitocin and after a couple hours, the contractions were diminishing as the pitocin increased. So I asked for my edidural and had them break my water and we had the baby within 2 hours. I pushed for like 10 minutes and Isaac was strong and healthy and I only had a 1st degree tear. yay! This is significantly better than the 3rd degree tear I had with Seth. =) Isaac has been a little jaundice and has been a bit finicky with breast feeding. But we're getting it figured out. So, that's it for us at this point. thanks for all your thoughts and prayers this past week. Love you girls!

Katie's Surgery

Thought I'd give a quick update on Katie's progress, and say thanks to everyone for praying for her. Katie's surgery went very well. The surgeon even made the decision during surgery that we didn't have to stay in the hospital overnight because he felt the probability of having any bleeding problems was very low. Yay! She was pretty out of it Wed night and still on Thurs as well, which was actually good, so she was less active and less likely to irritate the area. She hates her arm braces, and we only make her wear them to sleep now, as she really doesn't touch the incision sites. We just have to modify what we're doing for a couple weeks....no rough play, no belly time for a little while, no leaving her alone except when sleeping (this one is tough on mommy), etc, but we're coping well. Katie doesn't even seem to be in any pain, and only has a tiny bit of swelling. We took her off the tylenol with codeine today, and she's doing really well without it at all so soon (not even regular tylenol). We super proud of out little tropper. I added an album to her website for the surgery, and included a "before" pic, and will update with "afters" once the stitches are gone.

In other news, everything also went well with the wake and funeral for my grandpa. It was a really long and tough week for my family, but we got through it. Because Katie did so well, we were able to make it to a little bit of the wake, and to the funeral on Friday. It all went well, and thankfully, my grandma was really with it and did really well for everything (she has Parkinson's which has caused pretty bad dementia). So we all survived the week and appreciate the everyone's thoughts and prayers.

New House...

First of all... Liz so sorry to hear about your grandfather and your unsettling week ahead. We'll be praying for you, your family and Katie.

And to Josh & Julie - congrats on your latest addition - what a cutie he is.

Now for an update from PA - we are officially home owners. We settled on our house October 27th and spent that week doing some minor repairs, drywall touch ups and painting. We got everything done that we wanted to and moved in on November 1st. I think you all got the email I sent of the moving day.

Everything is great and we are definitely enjoying our new house. I'll be emailing you all pics very soon, but for now, here's a little taste to wet your appetite.

In other news - I'm starting a new job this week. I'm going to be working for a friend at at market stand in Delaware. It will be Fridays and Saturdays only, but they will be long days. I'm planning on working Mon-Thurs at Millcreek (our family business) through the end of this year, but plan on making a change soon after that. I haven't found anything to take its place yet, but I've been looking around and keeping my eyes and ears peeled for a good opportunity.

Rough week

First of all, congrats Julie! Issac is adorable and we can't wait to see more pics. And good luck settling in. You're a brave woman...3 kids ages 3 and under:)

So this is shaping up to be a pretty rough week for us, and it's only Tuesday morning. On Saturday (ok, technically last week, but close enough), Katie pulled a Humpty Dumpty on me. Yes, she had a great fall, from the changing table to the floor. It is true what they tell you, it only takes a second. She fell head-first on the floor, which is thankfully newly carpeted with a decently thick pile. She is ok. We had half of the Waterford emergency personnel in my family room, and she's fine. Who knew that when you call 911, and they tell you she's probably fine, but will send someone out to look if you'd like, that if you say yes, you end up with an entire street full of emergency vehicles, and 6 firemen/paramedics? I did not know, but I know now. We were all very shaken up, but Katie was her normal self after a bottle...alert, nosy, flirting with firemen (what girl wouldn't?), anxious to play. Thank God.

Then last night my grandfather passed away, unexpectedly, but not unexpectedly, if that makes sense. My cousin, who has been staying with him due to health problems, came home and found him passed out on the bathroom floor and not breathing. They obviously performed lifesaving techniques and took him to the hospital, but he didn't want life support or anything like that, so he passed away. He wasn't doing well lately, so it wasn't a shock. But at the same time, it was a bit of a shock because no one thought it was that imminent. Fortunately, Katie and I went down to visit him and my grandma last week, so I do feel like I got to see him, and he got to see Katie again. So the wake is scheduled for Wed and Thurs, and the funeral for Fri.

Also, Katie's surgery is tomorrow for her hemangioma. I've been thinking about it as little as possible lately, but I can't get away from it now. I'm more nervous and scared than I thought I'd be. It's just upsetting to know she'll be in a lot of pain afterward. We've decided to take off two, the one on the neck and one on her clavicle (we're leaving the one on her abdomen because I don't want the scar there, and I also don't want to inhibit her motorically more than necessary). The hospital will keep us overnight, so I'm hoping she'll be discharged Thurs morning, but you never know with that stuff. We're believing for a surgery with no complications, no bleeding problems, and a quick and easy recovery. I'm just hoping Katie is back to her normal self soon. So please keep us in prayer for these things this week. It's going to be a long week and I can't wait until it's over.

update

Hey ladies,
Everything is going good here at our house. Megumi continues to change every day, sleep during the day, and likes to be wide awake at night! At her 2 week doctor appointment, she had gained all her weight back and grew a whole inch. She likes to pee when we change her diaper, and poo as soon as i get her pants back on. Yesterday I went through 3 diapers in 3 minutes, geesh! This week we made the very emotional decision to switch to formula. I nursed Meg for 2 full weeks, and as she was growing, i couldn't produce enough milk to keep her from screaming all night long. She would nurse for over an hour and still be hungry... but by then i was empty! So, after a week of sleepless nights filled with a screaming, unhappy baby... we switched to formula. And now, i have a happy, content little girl with a full belly! Here's a picture of the world's most beautiful baby! Oh, and with the birth of Meg, I think i forgot to update you all on the biopsy results of the breast tumor... the cells are A-typical but non-cancerous. I have a follow up with the surgeon in January, and expect to have another ultrasound then to see if and how is has changed. ok, on with the pictures!

update

Hey girls, I'm gettings bored of checking the blog and there being no new posts. So I guess I will post something. There's not a whole lot happening here. But I did have a my doctor appointment today. I'm 37 weeks now and am scheduled to be induced at 8am on Monday (the 17th). As of now, I am dilated 2-3 cm and am 50% effaced. My fundal height is measuring 41 weeks. That makes me a little nervous. I'm hoping this one isn't too big for me to deliver vaginally. I'll keep you girls posted as we get to the time next week. =)

no baby

more stretch marks, an insanely itchy belly, a few sleepless nights, and still no baby! Tomorrow i'm 41 weeks, and will have an ultrasound and non-stress test. still not dilated at all as of tuesday.

Some pics

So when we were in Ohio last month, we had Sarah Newman take some family pictures. I just got the disc this week and wanted to post a few. The rest are at Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaylind/sets/72157608120191441/), in case you want to see them.


I was incredibly impressed with all her creative ideas and I love all the expressions of Violet that she caught. She also managed to get pictures of my dad smiling, which means she must be magic.



I know it's early, but these pictures have me excited to make our Christmas cards this year!

Love you girls -- hope you have great weekends!

4 Months!

Hi girls!

Only 4 more months until we meet in Frisco! I am getting very excited. Nick and I went up to the mountians two weekends ago, and found the house we are staying in. The pictures on our Wiki site show it perfectly. We are within walking distance from the free shuttle that can take you to Breckenridge, Copper, Dillion or Keystone. (Anyone up for some night skiing? Keystone is your place!) We are getting so excited!!!

I do have an offer for you all - if you would like to make another 25% payment over this next month, I can send that up to them. Nick and I were talking and realized with all this finiancial talk in the media, it is going to be benefical for us to begin to slowly set aside some money. :) Let me know if you want to do that... I'm keeping track of what each of us sends for the house.

Let's see... nothing else is going on in our lives. I've been on Fall Break last week and this, which has been wonderful. I have been working on our scrapbook this week and it is coming together nicely. I need more pictures from you all. If you could send me, or direct me to, a picture or two from each event since this summer.

I love reading about all that is happening in your lives! I love you lots and can't wait to see you.

Pictures of our trip to Beaver Creek (about 60 miles beyond Frisco)

Surgery Scheduled

Ok well, Katie had her appointment today with the plastic surgeon, who said that the hemangioma on her neck is a good candidate for removal. I was very impressed with everyone in his office, and they were all excellent with Katie. It was the first appointment for her hemangioma that hasn't resulted in screaming and tears. On the contrary, she was quite happy and everyone loved her (I have my suspicions that it was also attributed to Nathan being there...what is it about girls and their daddies?). Anyway, he was very good and will take it right off, and offered to take the other two on her torso off as well. Nathan and I are thinking about that, but don't want her to have even more scars. There is one other large-ish one on her clavical that we might do...mostly because the large ones are scarier with ulceration.

So they've scheduled her surgery for Nov 19. I'm a little bummed it's so close to Thanksgiving because I know she'll still be in pain, and she has to wear braces on her arms which prevent her from bending at the elbows so she doesn't mess with the dressing. I was hoping to have it done sooner than that, but it could be worse. At least it's not close to Christmas I suppose. She will be kept overnight. Definitely keep her in prayer that week. It is a serious surgery, as hemangiomas are blood-filled, but they do more now than they used to. So I'm anxious and nervous, and hate having my baby on the operating table again, but relieved at the thought that hopefully, by Christmas this nasty experience will only be a memory. So we're just praying and believing for the surgery to go well, minimal bleeding, and an easy recovery.

Gramma Ruth and a lump

Hey ladies, I have my 39.5 week appt today and they will "check" me, so stay tuned for if i'm dilated at all!
Wanted to keep you posted on a couple of things going on with us right now. First, my step-grandma, Gramma Ruth, went to be with Jesus on Saturday morning. She had been in the hospital on and off for a few months now... congestive heart falure, infection in the kidneys, and pneumonia. Her lungs could no longer work to breathe through the fluid in her lungs, and she did not want to be put on a respirator. So she went to be with Jesus and her husband with 3 (of 4) of her children at her side. the fammily is doing visitation and funeral stuff today and tommorrow, but i could not travel to be there being so close to my due date.
Second, I had an ultrasound done today on my right breast. A month and a half ago I discovered a lump, which my OBGYN has been watching. It didn't change at all, which ruled out the possibility of it being a milk duct. The ultrasound showed today that it is likely a Fibroadenoma, a kind of tumor. You can read up on it yourself, but long story short, they are 95% of the time NOT cancer. I meet with a breast surgeon on the 23rd (next thursday) to see about getting a biopsy done. Girls, at this point, would you just pray that I would keep my heart/mind/soul focused on Christ and not on the circumstance? I would greatly appreciate that!!! We have enough to think about right now!
girls, please do your monthly breast exams!

good week

Hey girls! I'm glad to hear everyone seems to be good. Steph, I'm happy that you're procedure went well and that they found out was wrong and that it wasn't too serious. =) Although I'm very sorry about the diet changes you're having to make. Cutting out chocolate, caffeine, and tomatoes would just about kill me. I'm also so happy for you that you got into school and will be kicking off a great new educational adventure. I'm jealous, I love school. =) 

So things have been great for us this week. Josh has been on vacation and it's been wonderful. I had forgotten what it's like to have a husband who is rested enough to stay awake with me in the evening and watch a movie or talk or whatever. Josh is usually so exhausted that he gets home from work at 8 or 9pm and is alseep on the couch by 9:30pm at the latest (or studying, which still means I can't talk to him or bug him). He's gotten a couple things done around the house that needed to be done and we've done some fun stuff with the kids. We went to Cosi Science Center on Wednesday and watched a 3D movie called "Fly me to the Moon." About 3 little flies who hitch a ride to the moon with Apollo 11. The kids liked it and Lilah sat there the whole time trying to catch the flies or touch the space ship. It was funny. Then we went to the Sesame Street "Learn about the Body" exhibit. It was fun until seth got attacked be some crazy kid who clawed his face. They kind of got into a traffic jam going into a toy thing and the other boy clawed Seth's face. Seth was bleeding and has some pretty serious scratches on the side of his face and eye lids. It was crazy. We had to take him to the bathroom to disinfect his face since they were pretty deep finger nail scratches. Anyways, it was a fun day other than that. =) Today we went to the Zoo and it was an absoluetly gorgeous day for the zoo. The kids had a lot of fun and are now supposed to be sleeping (I emphasize the words "supposed to be.") Josh and I get to go on a date night tonight while his mom babysits and then tomorrow is a harvest festival that I think the kids will enjoy. That's abut it for us. It's been a nice week and I'm already dreading next week when Josh has to go back to work. I also posted some pictures of my belly since you asked for them, Kim. It's good you did because I think I would have forgotten to take any belly pics with this kid if you hadn't. You really do start to neglect your children more as you have more of them. =) I also posted a picture of Seth's face. It actually looks a lot better now (in the picture) than it did before. It was pretty bad on Wednesday. People were stopping and asking us about it then. He looked like we'd beat him. Anyways, hope you girls are good. Have a great weekend!

Results

So, everything seemed to go pretty well with the testing on Wednesday. They found out that I have a hiatal hernia, which is pretty good news considering the other possibilities. They also took biopsies of the tissue in my espophogus, stomach and colon. They said the tissue in the colon looked pretty healthy and they just took biopsies to "make sure" and to have a baseline for future colonoscopies. Now I shouldn't have to get another until I'm 35.

The hiatal hernia I have is basically part of my stomach that has come up above my diaphragm instead of the whole thing staying below it. Basically, what I can do is take my Prilosec OTC, and stick to a regimented diet that excludes any caffeine, chocolate, alchohol and even tomatoes, in addition to some others. They said that I can slowly reintroduce these things into my diet in order to see what upsets it.

So anesthesia is a funny thing. Here's a quick story of my experience with it. :-)

I was quietly laying in the scary room with all the monitors hooked up to me and I was patiently waiting for someone to come in and start the dreaded procedure. Finally, after about 25 minutes, the doctor poked his head in and said, "Ok, we're going to give you the medicine to make you go to sleep now." That was it. A few seconds later a nice looking nurse came in, didn't say a word to me, and injected something into the IV coming out of my arm. After a few seconds I realize I was getting a little fuzzy and it became more of an effort to blink. I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again and the same nurse was right there. There were about 4 other people in the room at this time and they seemed very loud. I asked the nurse, "are you sure you gave me the medicine? I'm not going to sleep." She giggled and said, "Yes, honey. You're all done now. We're going to get you back into the recovery room." And that was it. I was done.

There are a few more stories of me not remembering things and repeating things two or sometimes three times that gave us a few laughs.
So that was my experience. Part of it, anyway.

And then I got a call that I got into school. And that made my week. I can finally feel some things coming together.
Ok, that's it. :-)

What a wonderful way to spend a day...

Hey ladies! It sounds like you all have a lot going on! It's so fun that everyone has been posting - its awesome to be able to feel a little more connected. Kim, you have done a great job updating our sacred site. :-)

So, as most of you know, I have been having stomach troubles again, similar to what I had in college, but it is now affecting my lower digestive tract as well. SO! Fun times for me, I am heading into the hospital tomorrow morning for a upper endoscopy and a colonoscopy. The doctors obviously have the "better safe than sorry" attitude because of my mom's colon cancer, so they decided to just go in and check out what's going on in there. Part of me hopes they find something, part of me doesn't. I would really like some answers, but I don't want it to be anything bad. And let me tell you, it better be worth it. :-) I don't know if anyone knows what the process is for colonoscopies, but it's horrible. Basically, you're drinking super-ultra-nasty laxatives for the whole 1/2 day before and spend the whole evening on the toilet. Sounds like a great way to spend the night, huh? But on the bright side, I'm almost done with my first Jane Austen book (Persuasion) and I'm really proud of myself. :-) It's not the easiest reading, so I feel a little smarter. Lol.

Anyway, onto more pleasant topics...I finally got my financial aid all set for school, which was my biggest concern. Yay! I am so excited to start back, even though I haven't been officially accepted yet. (hold on - gotta drink more nasty stuff...) I am hoping to get the acceptance letter in the mail this week since our orientation/registration is October 27th.

The other thing we're looking forward to is purchasing our tickets for Colorado! We've found a great deal on Southwest, but we have to wait until this Friday to purchase them, so let's hope the rates are still there!

OH! And we went to Branson, Missouri with some friends this past weekend and had a GREAT time. We stayed at a beautiful resort, which is what I enjoyed the most. It is in the Ozarks right on a huge lake. We did a little canoeing and hiking, mini golf and more hiking. It was gorgeous. As soon as I get pictures up, I'll post them on flickr or something. Ok...well that's enough of my rambling...Love you girls! Jen - I am anxiously awaiting your call/text about Megumi!

Da da dum...

So I think it's pretty much finished. I have a few tweaks I'd like to finish up here and there, but that will probably just be an ongoing process. This has been a lot of fun. I got to search back through all our old photos -- I found a bunch I had forgotten about and man did that bring back some memories. :) I'd love to scan in some of our old college photos to add at some point, but we don't have a scanner, so I guess I really can't.

We just got back from a weekend in San Diego. We went to an air show on Saturday, which was a lot of fun but very loud. And today we went to the Wild Animal Park. It was awesome. I know Violet won't remember anything, but she really seemed to enjoy it -- especially the petting zoo part. And okay, I loved the petting zoo too.

Anyway, let me know in the comments if there are any other websites I can add to our links area. I'm sure I'm missing some, and I'd love to include everything that's connected to our lives.

Also, if anything shows up weird on your computers, let me know that too. I haven't had a chance to test the new design on other browsers or computers or anything.

Jen, we'll be waiting anxiously for the call or text. Any day now!
Liz, keep us posted about Katie's appointments this week. We're praying for all of you.
Julie, you should post some pics of this supposedly huge belly. :) I hope we can make it back to Ohio to see Isaac when he's still a newborn. We're hoping to fit a trip in before the Sapphires ski trip.

Love you and miss you all!

Twenty Nine

Hi girls,
yeah, i made it to age twenty nine!
Julie and Kim, thank you both so much for the good tips for labor and packing! I have my labor bag all packed but have yet to finish the overnight bag for recovery.
Julie, I love what you wrote about starting your gym workouts after baby comes to take advantage of the time without kids... I, too plan on doing that very same thing! Gyms with child care... what a great idea! I can't imagine why a gym would not have child care, really.
I finally have a mother's line on the top half of my belly. And just to even things out on the bottom half, Megumi has blessed me with many late stretch marks.
Kim, love the new blog layout!
well, hopefully you'll hear from me soon!

nice website Kim!

Kim, I love the new website look. You're doing a great job on it! =) Liz, we've been praying for Katie and her hemangioma situation. Jen, we're so happy Chris is doing well and hope that you are as comfortable as possible for your last couple weeks of pregnancy. You asked for ideas of things to pack for the hospital... Take some munchies. You get meals, but I found that I had the munchies a lot with all the nursing. Take your nursing pads, nursing bras, and Lansinoh cream (believe me you'll need them if you start breastfeeding right away). Take a nursing cover of some kind. You will probably have lots of visitors and it can be really hard to coordinate nursing times when you actually have privacy. I also recommend taking your own pack of super absorbancy, overnight sized maxi pads. The hospital might provide you with plenty. But when I had Seth they only provided normal sized pads and I needed something with better coverage. Not to be gross or freak you out, but the bleeding following childbirth can be pretty intense for the first few days. Those are the biggies I think. Take your focus object for the labor and delivery to help with the pain. I'm sure you learned all about that in your childbirth class and it really does help. You'll do great! I hope the rest of you are doing well. Everything is same old thing here. Josh has been working quite a bit, as usual. He had a killer day yesterday where he started at 6am and then got stuck in surgery all day. He didn't get home until 9:30pm. His last surgery of the day was 6 hours long, so he was pretty sore and exhausted from standing that long. Altogether, he was stuck in the O.R. for 12 hours yesterday. yuk! I can't even imagine having to stand statue still under hot lights in full surgical garb for that long. I think I'd be done after an hour. =) Anyways, on a bright note Josh has a week of vacation next week. So that will be awesome. We're looking forward to doing some fun stuff with the kids around the Columbus area. And getting some things done around the house before baby #3 comes along. By the way, I think we've decided to name him Isaac Jase. I've just always liked the name, Isaac (means laughter). And Jase means Healer. So that's kind of our way of passing down something special to him in honor of his papa and Josh, and even my brother, Ben. Daniel likes to remind us that he is a healer of souls (he's the theology major brother). So, healing has kind of been the ministry/heritage of the men in my family. So, everything is good. We are pretty excited because we got a gym membership for a really good price last week. Josh has been using it. I won't start mine until january after the baby is born and I'm off restrictions. I certainly won't be working out right now as I'm barely waddling my way around the house, let alone excercising. I'm getting pretty huge and uncomfortable. I've finally hit that point where I can't really roll myself over in bed anymore. I can't reach my feet and am saving up for my one pedicure right before the baby comes (so that when my legs are in the stirrups and my heels are in the doctor's face, my feet will at least be cute.) If the baby kicks me wrong, I pee my pants and I have finally gotten stretch marks around my belly button. The third one has done me in. I will need my gym membership after this baby arrives because my "given birth to 3 babies" body is starting to fall apart. Not that I even need that as motivation to work out. The only motivation I need to go workout is that I get to take my 3 little monsters with me and drop them off in the kids program for 2 whole, glorious, child-free hours. I will workout and take a shower without any children screaming at me or each other. It will be heaven! So that's it for us. Just trying to keep up with Seth and Lilah and get things ready so that there will be no extra stress when Isaac finally arrives. I miss you girls and hope you're all doing great. Love ya!

Update

It's looking good already Kim! I'm glad some of us are technologically savvy. I think I do ok, but I'm definitely not into making things on the web look pretty. That's what my husband is for:) Although his current work has him just writing the code, but he's still pretty good on the design.

Ok well, I'm giving an update on Katie, and asking for continued prayer. The last week has been a nightmare with this hemangioma. It is till infected, despite the antibiotics. I had to take her into the pediatrician on Saturday (while I was supposed to be at a shower), where they did a culture and gave her another antibiotic. So now she's on two (neither of which has worked), and she's got tummy aches and aweful diarrhea from the antibiotics stripping her system (I've had to take her off all solid foods). So we were into the pediatrician again today (because the dermatologist wouldn't get me in before my next appt), where they said the culture was skewed because of the first antiobiotic, so they cut out one oral antibiotic and put her on a topical one. (sigh) One more thing to rub on her neck, which is painful. The good thing is that the pediatrician told me to call the dermatologist again and to make them get me in because he said so.

So we go in on Tuesday to see the dermatologist, and will see what he says. Everyone has a different opinion. The peds don't really like any of the options, but this waiting and seeing method isn't working too well at this point. And the more she ulcerates, the more scarring there will be down the road. And the more infections, the more she will become resistent to antibiotics. So my opinion is to do something. We will see. Anyway, continue to pray for poor little Katie who's little body all out of whack, and for wisdom with the dermatologist (and anyone he refers us to), and for wisdom for Nathana and I as we make this decision of a possible surgery for our baby. And also for sanity and peace for me, because I'm running on E these days.

On a quite and positive side note, we were at the neurologist yesterday for a check-up on her head (which went great and we don't need another MRI, which is fabulous because that means no unnecessary anesthesia...just another ultrasound), and while sitting in the waiting room there was a baby boy a bit older than Katie who was wearing a helmet. I don't know what what wrong with this adorable little boy (he seemed a bit delayed in motor skills), but I can't imagine it's a good thing if you're wearing a helmet and sitting in a neurologist's office. So that put things into perspective for me, and God always does when I'm freaking out. It can always be worse, and although difficult, Katie's medical problems are not life threatening at this point, and she is a smart little girl who is developing normally and will be able to live a great little life. And God always shows you there are those with bigger problems who you should be praying for instead of thinking about your own problems.

New design

I'm kind of working on a new layout for the blog. So things might look a little funk-a-delic for a few days.

Just FYI...

:)