Jewell's First Day of PreK

I can't believe my sweet baby girl just left for her very first day of school. She woke up this morning extremely excited about going to school. She had planned out the entire morning on how she was going to get ready, and what she was going to talk to her teachers about when she got to school. She was adorable!!! I'm really looking forward to seeing her grow academically, socially, physically, and sensory wise this year.

30 Weeks and 6 days

Yes, I'm counting EVERY SINGLE day of the week at this point of the pregnancy. I only have 64 days left my friends. 64!!!! My education friends from BJU are probably laughing because the number 64 was a certain professors favorite number :). But hey, I'm really excited about it!!!

So here I am, 30.5 weeks. I turn 31 weeks on Sunday and I'm just thrilled. I have been pregnant for over a year now, with a 2 month break between Ezekiel and this one. I am extremely anxious for this baby to be born now :). I've gained 2 more pounds than I normally do at this point, which I guess isn't too bad. Although I'll probably be more careful for the rest of the pregnancy. :) I must say, this pregnancy as been the worst as far as pain goes. My lower back has really been hit hard for some reason. I also really struggled with bad ligament pain for about a week. And my veins are much worse as well. But it will be so worth it in the end. Have a mentioned that we still don't know what the gender is? I seriously can't wait for Matt to see it first! We have a girl name that I love so far, but I'm not 100% sure about the boy name. We will see!!!

I found a wonderful group of doctors to take care of me here in Colorado. They also have 5 midwives that work with them. This group always has one doctor and one midwife at the hospital. As of right now, I plan to deliver with a midwife. If I have a faster labor, I'd like to not have an epidural. I know...crazy to some, but seriously, those things make me SO sick. I don't even want to hold my baby after I deliver the sweet babe I'm that sick from those horrible drugs. We will see what happens. I know that I will only be able to do drug free if it's a faster labor though. I can't handle the pain for THAT long. Yes, I don't like pain. I mean really, it really really hurts people. I know this from delivering Ezekiel without an epidural and he was under 2 pounds.

So far, I've had one non-stress test done at this office. My 32 week check will have an ultrasound to monitor growth. I will then start getting more non-stress tests at my appointments from that point on. I still haven't been able to meet with a midwife at any of my appointments because they have been booked. I'm going to try and make a few appointments in advance next time I go in so I can get in with a midwife.

Lord willing, the rest of this pregnancy will FLY! I would love to deliver around 38 weeks. I realize that almost every woman says that....but um, I really have been pregnant for a really long time!!!!

Here is a picture from earlier in the week. We hiked in the Rocky Mountain National Park so I wanted my picture there :).

30 weeks and 4 days! 

Colorado Springs

I'm working on catching up on the blog... so this is also from a month ago. Oh well. At least we have the memories on the blog now.

When we first arrived in Denver we didn't have any of our stuff. We were blessed to stay with some amazing friends. Matt took several pictures of their gardens while we visited, but I can only find one and it's of a lizard type of creature. I have to admit, I am not a fan of Picasa. Anyways, on day 2 of our stay with our friends who we now call Uncle Bernie and Aunt Kim we visited Colorado Springs. We took the kids to Focus on the Family and the Air Force Academy. They seemed to really enjoy both visits.

The lizard at Uncle Bernie's.

Jewell playing in Adventures in Odyssey.

Jewell showing off her money that Uncle Bernie gave her that morning :).

Jewell and Daddy recreating the Wod-fam-choc-sod picture 3 years after their first one.

I know I have more pictures of Jewell. I just can't find all the Air Force pictures. I even took a picture of Matt and the kids. Bummer. Hopefully I will find them soon. The kids really enjoyed going somewhere that they could actually go play at. I think they were afraid they'd be stuck in the car all day again :). Colorado Springs was gorgeous that day. We were able to enjoy a wonderful view of Pikes Peak while we we there as well. It was amazing.

Our Move to Denver

This is a long overdue post. But I know it's always better late than never :). We've officially lived here one month now! The trip really was a blast. It definitely had it's ups and downs at times, but overall it was a great trip.

The first day was rather interesting. I didn't realize 140 was such a boring and slow road :). Seriously, it was slow, and boring. Jefferson and I entertained ourselves by looking for cattle. Eventually, we got to drive through some cool canyons and mesas after we got through the most boring part of Oregon. While driving through the boring part of Oregon, Matt called me and said he was thinking we should have stopped for gas at this little station. When I looked at my gas levels I decided it may be best as well. So we turned around because we just weren't sure it was worth risking the 87 mile drive we had until the next station. Well, it's a good thing we turned around, because we found out that the next stations pumps were broken, so instead of driving 87 miles, we'd have to drive almost double to get to the next station (see what I mean...really boring drive). I was so thankful the Lord gave my husband the wisdom to turn around.

This is the pump that was supposed to have gas.

This is the town that was supposed to have gas :). 

After we made it to the town that was supposed to have gas, we were even more thankful we stopped 87 miles before then. But shortly after getting back on the road we saw the aftermaths of a tragic fatal accident. Matt got out to help, but there wasn't much any of us could do. And sadly, the poor teenage girls that survived had to wait for emergency services to drive over 100 miles to get to them. We drove the rest of Nevada very carefully after seeing that. After a few more hours of driving on 140 and then 95 we finally saw a real interstate. I was more than thrilled! It was a little trickier following Matt on the interstate at times, but I didn't care about that at all! I was just thankful for a fast road with lights.

Part of Nevada were really cool. The canyons and mesas were so neat. I couldn't help but wish I could take all my old 4th graders to see what a mesa really was. Both kids really did enjoy the scenery through those parts of Nevada.

We figured out that it takes about an hour at each meal stop with kids. They just had to get their energy out after sitting in the car for so long. We drove for about 14 hours that day, arriving in Salt Lake City, Utah a little after 1. We were exhausted!! But we were so thankful for a safe trip for our family.

The next day we were able to go to breakfast with Josh Roland's family. It was so nice to catch up with them. The kids definitely had a blast playing with each other in the restaurant. After breakfast, we headed out for our last day of travel. The kids did pretty well after we stopped 3 times for Jewell to go potty in ONE HOUR :). The first few hours were rather boring desert, but then we hit Colorado. And let me tell you friends, there is nothing like driving the scenic route into Denver. It's just gorgeous! We drove about 10 or 11 hours that day. We had to stop a few times in the mountains because I was getting a bit sick from all of the mountain driving. The altitude was getting to me at first. But, the kids didn't seem to notice. Once we arrived in Denver we decided to head to Chick-Fil-A. I think it was at Chick-Fil-A that it finally hit us as to how exhausted we were. We were so glad to finally be in Denver. The kids of course loved the play area at the restaurant, and Matt and I just sort of sat there zoned.

We were so thankful for a safe trip. The kids didn't even get fussy until the very end (once in Denver). Jewell even taught herself how to color in the lines while we drove. She insisted that every picture she colored was for Grammy too. It was really cute. 

Matt took several pictures on the road. Here are a few that I liked.

Jefferson thought the tunnels were the coolest thing about the trip.

When God Leads, We Follow

I still can’t believe I’m writing this post. I am still just amazed at how God has a plan for every aspect of our lives, way before we even realize it. I’m so glad God loves us so much.

When we first moved to Medford we had decided not to buy a house. We didn’t see the point in owning a house on 2 opposite coasts. But overtime we grew to like it here, and thought maybe the next step WAS to buy one. We started our search earlier this year. Well, I can’t begin to tell you all the different dilemmas that came up just to get ready to LOOK at houses. We would pray, and we just wouldn’t have peace. We kept trying to make it work, but it just wasn’t. When we went to sell the Jeep to get more money for our down payment (which neither of us wanted to do at all) we lost the title. We searched for over 4 hours for it. I don’t lose things like that. I had even set it aside so we didn’t lose it. It was then that we thought, “Hmm, maybe God really is trying to tell us something.” At the same time, I was getting emails from friends that I rarely get a chance to talk to telling us they had been burdened to pray for us, yet they weren’t sure why. We then began to pray that God would make it clear if we shouldn’t buy a house here. One day later, God started to make things clear. Three days later, Matt and I both separately felt like God wanted us to move from Medford to Denver.

Let me explain something, the city of Denver did not come on our minds because Matt’s Mom is moving there. It was completely from God! We both started praying very hard then. We asked God to make it extremely clear if he wanted us to move from Medford. Exactly one week later, I got a text from Matt saying, “God just answered our prayer.” At first we were so shocked we couldn’t believe it. So we kept praying and asking God to make it extremely clear. Every time we prayed that, God would answer it!!! It was crazy.

It was after multiple answers to prayer that Matt began working on his resume. Which I of course think is amazing. The weekend after finishing his resume he applied for a few jobs. He got a call on Monday. On MONDAY! That week, he had 3 interviews from the same company. He then went out to Denver where they drilled him with 6 back to back interviews in a matter of 3 hours. While all of this was happening, we started praying specifically for things. God answered them all! Okay, let me explain, we prayed for MONTHS for help with buying a house. MONTHS! God stopped that. But he opened every single door to move to Denver. And he answered them all quickly! It was amazing!!

To make a long story short, Matt accepted a software engineering position in Westminster, Colorado earlier today. We will be moving from Medford to Colorado in 3 weeks. I can’t begin to explain just how amazing our God is. I went from never wanting to leave Medford (I buried a son here, I have an amazing group of friends, etc.) to being at complete peace about moving. We asked God to provide health insurance right away for us, he did. I’ll be covered starting August 1st. I’m having a baby in a few months and I am at complete peace about moving??? Are you kidding me? I have the MOST AMAZING doctor ever. But when God leads, we follow. We have an amazing God. He works out all the details. I’m so glad we have HIM to guide us.

The BIG Ultrasound for #4

God is so good. He has blessed me with four children now :). Jewell and Jefferson are just happy as can be. Ezekiel is luckier than all of us since he's in Heaven. And this sweet new baby that still remains unnamed is doing so well. Again, I feel so blessed.

Today's ultrasound was a ton of fun. I went into it pretty anxious. But the entire way there I listened the CD my worship team leaders gave each of us with the new songs to learn. That really helped calm my nerves before going into the u/s. :) I was fortunate enough to have my husband and children go with me this time too. The baby currently weighs about 13 oz. I did forget to ask how long the babe was though :(. Oh well. All I really cared about what seeing the heart beating. I think that was the best thing of the entire u/s. All four chambers work just fine! Phew. And the heart rate was 152. We wanted to keep the gender a surprise, but we were sort of hoping to maybe guess just by looking at it. But, sweet baby didn't want to share what he/she was anyways :). Yay! Now we really can keep it a surprise.

After the u/s the sweet tech said she wanted the doctor to check everything due to my history. I have to go Maternal Fetal Medicine for all of my u/s. It's what my doctor requires for all of his patients. The specialist came in a few minutes later. She told me that everything looked perfect. She also told me that not having a cause for a still birth is the best answer to have. She said it pretty much gives you no risk of it happening again. I think that was the first time I was relieved since this pregnancy. :) She also said that she'd like to keep monitoring me. I'm supposed to go back again in 4 weeks for another u/s, and then I'll go back a few more times just to measure growth.

So far, I've gained 8 lbs this pregnancy. That's about 2 lbs more than last. I am okay with that. As long as I don't go over the 24 lbs I gained with Jewell and with Jefferson I'll be happy. I'm doing okay physically so far too. I just really wish I could sleep more than about an hour or two at a time. That would be so nice!

Overall, everything looks just fine! I'm thrilled. We are so blessed to be given then gift of another child. I just can't wait to meet this sweet one!

20 weeks

All of our ultrasounds so far.

This is just precious!!!

20 weeks. This shirt makes my belly look smaller since it's black.

Leaning and Trusting

This morning I woke up and immediately did what most of American society does. I looked at my iPhone to see if I missed anything important overnight. I did notice that my church prayer chain sent a prayer request out. As soon as I read the morning prayer request I just stopped. Another mother lost her baby to still birth. This time it was a missionary. I think I actually started to physically hurt for this dear mommy of 4. And all I could do was pray. And that I did.

This dear mommy was on my heart all day. But she was even more on my heart as we sang to our Lord this morning. All I could do was think of this Mommy who just lost her baby. I know that sense of loss. I just hurt and prayed the entire service. And I remembered all the emotions of those first few days after the loss. And then, selfishly I started to worry about losing this one. But then we came to our last song, "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" and part of "Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus."

What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Refrain:
Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms;
Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.

Oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
Oh, how bright the path grows from day to day,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
Leaning on the everlasting arms?
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
And to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”

Refrain:
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er;
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
Oh, for grace to trust Him more! 

 These songs really spoke to me this morning. Hardships will come our way, but we have a God that we can lean on through everything. Every hardship. Every difficult time we face. And we need not fear for anything. We get the easy job. We just have to trust Him with everything. Even though life has it's hardships and trials. We just have to lean and trust. 

Pray for this missionary mommy please. The road she's now traveling will have its ups and downs. I'm so thankful she has God to lean and trust on.