Pics of Ryan's wreck

Ryan finally got pictures of his yesterday when he went to gather all of his belongings out of it.  It has "officially" been totaled by the insurance company.  This is what "we stopped counting at $13,000 and never even opened up the hood," looks like on an Xterra.  Enjoy!

Can we all just praise Jesus again that Ryan walked away from this with nothing more than a sore hand and neck!?!?!  Thank you Jesus!  

On a side note, the morning that Ryan took these pictures, it was -4 degrees.  He said he was so cold that his snot literally froze in his nose!  How funny is that?  Well, it wouldn't have been funny if I had been the one out in it, but the frozen snot part is gross but funny!  :)

Oh what a day!

We are in Tulsa!  We got here a little earlier than planned because there was another snow storm coming to Kansas City.  We didn't want to get stuck there until Christmas Eve, so last night when Ryan got off of work we headed out.   Well, it took a little longer to get everything loaded and for us to get on the road, so we ended up not getting to Tulsa until 11:30 last night.  That wouldn't have been such a big deal had Eva slept for more than 45 minutes in the car.  It gave her a power nap that powered her right until 3:30 this morning.  We put her in bed shortly after we got to Tulsa, but she never went to sleep.  Ryan's sister tried getting her to sleep and then brought her down to us close to 2 am.  Then, we put her in our bed, but she kept kicking Ryan.  He decided to get out of bed and see if that helped her go to sleep.  That essentially left me to tame the beast!  She told me she wanted to eat, she wanted to open Christmas presents, she wanted to play with toys, she wanted to go see everyone else in the house... it went on and on and on.  I had to spank her twice for getting out of bed and trying to go play with toys.  Finally at about 3:30 this morning, after her last spanking, she cried and cried and cried.  (Don't worry, she really wasn't hurt, I promise.  She had a diaper on and I swatted her bottom one time!)  I then started scratching her back and she essentially cried herself to sleep.  Then she slept until 8 am.  That's only 4 1/2 hours for those that are counting.  Not enough sleep for a grown adult much less a 2 1/2 year old.  Needless to say, she and I both took a 4 hour nap today.  Oh what a day!

Tonight, we made a second attempt to see Santa Clause... at the Bass Pro Shop.  Ha!  (Go ahead, let the redneck jokes ensue!  We can take it!)  She kept watching him from a distance and again decided she wanted to go see him... until we got in the line.  This time we were prepared.  We told her that mommy, "Annie", and Mimi were all going to take the picture together.  When it was our turn, we all got in the picture and we managed to get Eva far enough away from Santa Clause that she quit staring him down and at least looked at the camera.  She never smiled, but at least she didn't scream.  :)  Now we have a picture with all the Frederick women and Santa Clause.  I think that's pretty funny.  And maybe next year, Eva won't be scared.  

Hope everyone is enjoying Christmas week!  

Dear Santa, I like you, but don't get too close.

 A couple of weeks ago, we walked into the mall and discovered the area in Macy's where you can write a letter to Santa and even mail it.  They donate a small amount of money to somebody for every letter received.  We thought it would be a fun "first" for Eva to do this Christmas.

I "translated" Eva's scribbles to tell Santa that she wants a baby doll and a princess dress.  

Then we put the letter into the fake mailbox.  It was super fun!

Just moments later, we saw Santa in the mall and Eva thought that she might want to go see him.  We went to the line and I stayed with Eva.  I could see her getting more and more apprehensive as we got closer to Santa.  She started chewing on her fingers and staring Santa down.  It was kinda funny.   I assured Eva that I would stay with her and she could sit beside Santa rather than on his lap.  

Our turn came and we walked to Santa, as Eva started telling me she didn't want to see him.  So we squatted beside Santa and he tried to give Eva some candy canes, but she wouldn't take them.  He then put them down beside her and she scooped them up quickly.  The only picture we got was of me giving Santa a high five.  I was trying to get Eva to give Santa a high five, but she had already taken off toward daddy.  So daddy took a picture of me high-fiving Santa.  Kinda funny.  

The nativity according to Eva...

Maybe this is the 1st century equivalent of "driving" the baby around until he falls asleep!

Mary and Joseph love their fruit and praise God for it, apparently.  Meanwhile, baby Jesus is being carted around behind the donkey.  She always sets the nativity up like this.  I try to rearrange it for her, and she tells me no, then puts it back this way.  I don't get it!  It is hilarious, though.  

She has also started calling Joseph, "God".  I guess she has picked up on us saying that Jesus is God's son, and she knows that this is his mommy and daddy.  She has made quite the leap in assumption.  Again, I think it's hilarious.  I'm sure God gets a kick out of it, too.  :)

(I uploaded lots of pictures last night, so this week should be full of blogs with visuals!)

P.S.  Ryan's hand was not broken... just badly bruised.  Praise Jesus!

A bit of a crazy morning

As soon as Ryan left for work this morning, I had this thought, "I hope he knows that the roads are icy."  But I was busy feeding Eva and he was running late and I never reminded him to be careful.  I thought for half a second to call him, but Eva had to go potty so I did that instead.  About 1 minute later the phone rang, and I just knew.  I answered the phone and heard, "I just got in a wreck."  I had instant peace that could have only come from Jesus.  He told me he was okay but told me that he thought his car was totaled. 

He called the police and I rushed to get ready so I could go pick him up and then I waited for him to call back.  Long story short, his boss who was just minutes away from his accident came back and sat with him while the police officers did their thing and while they waited on the tow truck.  His wonderful boss then brought him home so I never had to get out on the questionable roads with my baby and my unborn.  

So here's what we think happened.  Ryan isn't exactly sure.  But he obviously hit a patch of black ice on the road and thankfully wasn't driving any faster than he was (only about 45 mph). He went off the road, hit a tree or something with his front driver side.  This flipped him around 360 degrees and his passenger side smashed into a line of trees.  These trees kept him from flipping over.  Beyond the tees was a steep ravine and a creek.  We won't even think about what that would have meant.  Let's just praise Jesus that he kept Ryan safe.  We do think that he might have broken something in his left hand.  Not sure how that happened.  He is also beginning to get sore already, but that is really the least of our concerns.

On the other hand, we think that we will be saying farewell to our Xterra.  It served us well for 6 years and 129,000 miles.  But alas, it met it's match with a line of trees just off of Pink Hill Rd in Blue Springs, MO.  I'm not exactly sure how we will get another car right now, but God has a plan. He wasn't surprised by today's events.  And that gives us peace.  

Now, Ryan is about to go to the doctor to see if his hand is broken or if it's just badly bruised.  I'll update on that part and add the picture of his car tonight.  

(Oh, and I found my camera cord so I can actually upload some pictures!)  :)

There's always sports!

(First of all, I realize that "your" was the wrong form in the previous post.  Sorry about that.  Committed my own biggest pet peeve."  Oh, and I can't find the cord to upload our pictures to the computer, so we'll have to wait on our pictures of the first snow.  Sorry!)

Okay, now on to the current post subject.  We've been singing a lot of songs with Eva lately.  And she picks them up pretty quickly.  She's very obsessed with Christmas songs in particular.   It's really great to hear her singing songs like "Away in a Manger" and "Jingle Bells".  

There's only one small hiccup with her dreams of being the next American Idol.  The kid is tone deaf.  Ryan keeps assuring me that it's just because she's 2 1/2, but I'm afraid that it might be deeper than that.  Every song she sings is monotone and off-key.  It makes me laugh hysterically, because it's just not all that pretty.  

My mom was joking last night, that Eva will be the kid at the Christmas play that sings really loudly up in front and is off-key.  You know, there's always "that" kid.  Ryan and I will be the only ones in the audience that think it's cute.  Meanwhile, "Sara Jo's" mom who has been paying for music lessons since birth is gonna be ticked because this was her child's moment to shine!  

Go Eva!  You show 'em!

So, we'll be starting either dance lessons or gymnastics lessons soon.  :)

Tag your it!

I've been "tagged".  I'm not really sure what that means, but I think I'm supposed to answer the same questions that other people answered.  I've been tagged twice in the last week, so this will be a two-for-one special.  Dedicated to Lori (my college roomie) and Sara (a friend from Ft. Worth).

Sara's tag questions: (supposed to give a one-word answer)

1. Where is your cell phone?  Recliner

2. Your significant other?  Working

3. Your hair?  Undone

4. Your mother? Prayer-warrior

5. Your father? Gentle.

6. Your favorite thing? vacation

7. Your dream last night?  Terrifying

8. Your favorite drink? grape juice (thank you pregnancy for that weird craving)

9. Your dream/goal? children

10. The room you're in? living

11. Your fear? rodents

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years?  home

13.  Where were you last night? home

14. What you're not? vomiting  :)

15. Muffins/ donuts?  Muffins

16.  One of your wish list items? Massage

17. Where you grew up? Louisiana

18.  The last thing you did? ate

19. What are you wearing?  Pajamas  :)

20. Your TV? "Cinderella"

21. Your pet?  None

22. Your computer?  MAC

23. Your life? Changing

24. Your mood?  Sleepy 

25. Missing someone? Friends

26. Favorite past-time? Outside

27. Something you're not wearing?  Socks

28. Favorite store?  Target

29. Your summer? Labor

30. Favorite color?  Green

31. When is the last time you laughed?  yesterday

32. Last time you cried?  September

33. Who will/ would repost this?  dunno

34. Four places I go over and over?  Target, doctor, church, park (when it's above 50 degrees)

35. Four people who email me? Mom, Mom-in-law, Krystal, Stephanie

36.  Four of my favorite foods? Pizza, spinach, oranges, cereal

37. Four places I'd like to be right now: Mexico, Antigua, Hawaii, Fiji

And now for Lori's tag: 

8 T.V. Shows I love to watch:

1. Survivor

2. Lost

3. The Office

4-8: That's about all I really watch.

8 Favorite Restaurants:

1. Pappdeaux's (don't have that here)

2. Pappasito (don't have this here, either)

3. Steamboat Bill's (in Lake Charles, LA... it's so good!)

4. The Cheesecake Factory

5. PF Cheng's

6. Zio's

7. Pei Wei (Don't have this here, either)

8. Chick-fil-a ( like Lori said, I don't think this actually counts as a "restaurant", but the slide makes up for that if you ask Eva.)

8 Things that happened today:

1. Woke up too early because I had a terrible dream.

2. Couldn't go back to sleep.

3. Eva burst through the door and startled me.

4. I took my nausea medicine.

5. I did not throw up.

6. I ate breakfast.

7. I did not throw up.

8. I read blogs.  (Cut me some slack, it's only 9 am and I've been writing this for 45 minutes!)

8 Things I'm looking forward to:

1. Being out of the first trimester.

2. Giving birth.

3. Finding out if Eva is right about this being another girl.

4. Moving out of this apartment.

5. Having a fireplace.

6. Going on vacation... someplace warm.

7. Family living closer.

8. Making new friends here in this new city.

8 Things on my Wishlist:

1. No more nausea.

2. A healthy pregnancy.

3. Natural childbirth.

4. A full night's sleep.

5. A House.

6. For Eva to fall in love with Jesus.

7. A maid and a personal chef.

8. A new car.

8 people I tag:

1. Who

2. ever

3. wants

4. to

5. respond

6. to

7. this

8. game

Now you know more about me than you probably cared to!  Hope that enlightens your day!  :)

Conversations with Eva

This is our little cutie before church this morning.  She was so in love with this dress that after her nap this afternoon she had to put it back on.  

She always scrunches her face up like this when your tell her to smile.

The hot pink bow!

She said she was pretty like a princess.  :)

Okay, now on to the real stories.  Last night when we were saying prayers, on her own, she decided to get on her knees beside the bed.  I thought that was really neat and kind of amazing.  (I'm always on my knees while we pray, but have never said anything about her doing it.)  Then she wanted to thank Jesus for Santa Clause.  How cute is that.  We've been telling her the story of Christmas and incorporating Santa into it by saying that we all, just like Santa, give presents because the Wise Men brought presents to Jesus.  She's very fond of Jesus and Santa.  :)

Today after church, we were sitting in the car waiting for Ryan to get our Sunday paper and out of nowhere Eva said, "Maybe Jesus."

I asked, "What about Jesus?"

"He make daddy happy."

"You're right he makes daddy happy.  And he makes mommy happy.  Does he make you happy?"

"Yes, he make me happy."

"Why does he make us happy?"

"Um, betome (because) we lub him."

I thought the insight from the two year old was kind of impressive.

Tonight, while praying, she wanted to pray for the following things: (She came up with these COMPLETELY on her own!)

-Pray for Gi (that's my mom)

-Pray that her Annie (Ryan's sister Andrea) won't be scared of Santa Clause's beard.

-Pray that she will sleep all night.

All on her own.  It's just amazing!

I love that the Lord is capturing her heart at such a young age.  I love that she knows that He can make her happy.  And I love that she completely believes that he hears and answers her prayers.  Maybe, just maybe, that's why Jesus talks about having faith like a child.  I'm just guessing anyway.  :)  It's not til we're all grown up and jaded by the world that we start to doubt that he could really love us.  And doubt that he would really care to hear, much less answer, our prayers.  But just as a reminder... he totally does.  He loves.  He hears.  He answers!

It was perfect!

Today was the big day!  I went to see my new doctor and I loved her!  It was exactly what we were hoping for in a doctor and doctor's office.  The staff was more professional, the nurse was super sweet, and the doctor was ALL FOR me doing a vbac!  

(Let's all say it together.)  HOORAY!!!  

She gave me a handout about vbac and reminded me that this meant that they wouldn't be able to induce me, which is even better, because that increases the risk of a uterine rupture.  (Just so no one is freaked out or anything... the normal risk is only about 1%.  And that's the same for anybody.)  After the doctor left the room today, Ryan and I just looked at each other and breathed a deep sigh of relief.  It was what we needed.

And our fun bonus was being able to hear the baby's heartbeat!!!  They could barely pick it up because I'm only 10 weeks (tomorrow).  And then, once she found it we heard it just briefly, and then the battery died on the little Doppler device.  Ryan did ask her about the number of heartbeats and she said she only heard one, but also said that it was too early to detect multiple heartbeats.  The doctor did an exam though and I don't seem to be too big, so I really doubt that there is more than one little one swimming around in there.  

When Eva was in tummy, she would always swim away from the heart beat monitor.  And then when she got bigger, she would kick that monitor.  It always made the doctor laugh at her feistiness.  I think that Eva was part feisty, part shy.  Still is.  A little daddy, a little mommy.  :)

So all is well here!  I'm still sick, but should only have about 4 weeks of that left.  That's doable. I think it is anyway.  Tomorrow morning I will likely be singing a different tune.

A reminder

These pictures are just a reminder to me today of why I'm enduring every moment of nausea.  Because in 30ish more weeks, this is what I get to do again.  And I can hardly wait!  (Minus the emergency C-section, which we're praying will not be the case this time.)

So, I know that none of you needed this reminder today, but I did.  And really it's all about me.  Right?!?!  :)

Girl Talk (Sunday)

Brittany's topic this week was "Tell me something. Anything..."  Oh, she's going to regret that after the randomness that is this post.  ;)

So, guess what mine will be about.  No really, guess.  I bet you can't.  

Pregnancy?  Okay, you win.

Have I mentioned that I have had to change hairspray since being pregnant b/c the last kind made me gag.  I also made Ryan quit using his cologne for the same reason.  Yuck.  I'm so weird.

What else?  Oh, my pants are too tight when I sit down.  I can button them when I'm standing, but have to unbutton them when I sit down.  Which brings me to my new favorite thing.  It's the Tummy Sleeve from Motherhood Maternity.  For those who are in that awkward phase of pregnancy, it is our friend!  I just slide it on over my unbuttoned pants and no one is the wiser!  Love it!  And it just looks like I have a tank top on under my shirt.  And seeing as how it's as cold as (insert something really cold) here, the extra layers are much appreciated.  

Craving update:  I could eat sauteed green beans and brussel sprouts for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  :)  If I had green beans in the house right now, I would be eating them.  They're just that good.  I'm over potato chips now, thank goodness.  But I also love grilled cheese sandwiches.  With green beans on the side!  I'm so entertaining.  

I also keep referring to the living child inside of me as "they", "them", and "babies".   Hmmm????  We'll see!

I suppose that's enough random information for the night.  Let's sleep on that.

Happy Birthday to the First man I Loved (a day late)

HAPPY

BIRTHDAY

DADDY-O/ PAPA! 

We love you so much.  Thanks for being such a great dad.  Thanks for teaching me about football and for showing me all the right signals for when those linemen are offsides.  :)  Thanks for teaching me to fish and for "fishing" all of my dropped fishing poles off the bottom of the lake.  Thanks for getting me out of bed in the mornings when I was in high school so we could run together.  Thanks for teaching me about Jesus at such a young age.  And thanks for taking me to seminary classes when I was 4!  I was wise beyond my years.  Thanks for always being willing to drop everything to have fun with us kids.  You were always up for a game of buckin' bronco and you were always extra gentle with me, your little girl.  

You're the most in-shape 61 year old that I know.  You'll eat them up tonight on the football field.  We love you mucho and miss you!  Happy Birthday!

"He has set eternity in the hearts of men..."

Tonight, we had the television on the "Worship" channel and it was playing instrumental Christmas music while showing beautiful scenery.  Eva was watching it and said, "That's pretty."  I asked her who made that so pretty and she answered that Jesus did.  My heart melted a little and I'm pretty sure that I could feel Jesus smiling.

It got Ryan and me to talking about how amazing it is that she recognizes beauty 1) as a gift from her Creator and 2) that God has put within her an appreciation for His creation.  We were discussing the verse in Romans (I think) that talks about God revealing himself through creation since the beginning of time.  It makes my heart so happy to be able to watch her develop into a child that is recognizing God in creation.  

Since, they were playing Christmas music and Eva has such a love for hearing stories.  Ryan took the opportunity to read the Christmas story to her out of her Children's bible.  It was so sweet.  We love being able to teach her about Christ and why we celebrate Him at Christmas.  

She got her personality from her father...

I'm hoping that writing will take my mind off of the unhappiness going on in nausea-land.  Or at least it will remind me that it'll all be worth it when I have another little bundle to write funny stories about.

As mentioned previously, Eva has been saying so many grown up things lately.  Occasionally I hear my own words coming back to me in the form of toddler-ese.  It's to funny.

Example 1:  So maybe I have told Eva a time or two, while I'm trying to get her dressed and she is playing the "run from mommy" game, "Come here you little weisel!"  The words came flying back on Sunday afternoon as I was trying to get her dressed again and she kept running and laughing.  She looked at me and said as plainly as you can imagine, "Come here little weisel!"  Should I not have laughed?  I don't know, but I certainly did!  Which only egged her on and she kept saying that precious phrase over and over again.  

Example 2: Also on Sunday afternoon (she was on a roll!), Ryan came in from running a quick errand and I had just given Eva some mini M&Ms (judge not).  I told her to tell Ryan what she had just eaten and she said, "Umm, I don't remember.  Let me think for a minute."  She then put her finger up to her pursed lips and tapped her lips as she "thought".  

I really should make this a weekly update.  Eva is always good for a laugh!  Maybe I need to watch what I say and then she wouldn't be quite as funny!  Can you imagine her telling a child in preschool that took her toy, "Come here you little weisel!"  

Parent-Teacher Conference...

Pickles and Ice Cream

It is always amusing to see the difference in a regular grocery trip and a "pregnant" grocery trip. Ryan was pretty amused at the things that landed in our cart today while doing our shopping.  A few posts ago I mentioned that my "cravings" were really more of just things that didn't make me vomit and less of true cravings.  

I lied.

Last night I told Ryan that I wanted a sandwich... on white bread... with ham and cheese.  (Side note:  I ALWAYS eat whole grain bread.  Except when I was pregnant with Eva, one weekend I wanted sandwiches on white bread.  So weird!  Another side note:  even though I'm still nauseated night and day, I'm way hungrier than I remember being with Eva.  Which only fuels my theory/fear that I'm having twins!)  So I had wanted a white bread sandwich before bed last night, but we didn't have ANY food in our house... hence the grocery trip today.

At 3:30 this morning I awoke.  Hungry.  And thinking about that sandwich on white bread.  How crazy am I?!?  Wait, don't answer that.  

So white bread was random item number one in my cart today.  It's random friends in the cart were: gatorade; Jell-O; a block of parmesan cheese; Ruffles potato chips; Ranch flavored pretzels (totally grossed Ryan out on that one!); and brussel spouts (I ate brussel sprouts religiously with Eva)!  The next 6 weeks are going to be hilarious!  :)

I actually didn't buy pickles or ice cream, but I think the other things in the cart more than confirm my crazy pregnancy state.  Maybe not to the untrained eye... but definitely to those that know me well.  

For those that think they don't like brussel sprouts, try my recipe (passed down from my Uncle Bruce):

Frozen brussel sprouts

Enough water to cover the bottom of your pot

1-2 T. of butter

garlic powder to taste

salt to taste

-Simmer that for about 20 minutes or until the brussel sprouts are tender.  

It'll rock your socks off!

FYI: I still have not had my sandwich.  Tomorrow's my day! 

Story time

Eva has been very in to hearing stories of Ryan's and my childhood.  She'll ask me to hear a little girl story or a little boy story.  Ryan and I have told her several stories lately and last night she came up with her own story.  Oh and to set it up better, Ryan and I usually start our stories off with "One time, when mommy was a little girl..."

Eva's story went like this:

"So, one time, when I was a little baby, I was in mommy's tummy betome (because) I love her so much.  And I make her very sick."  

The end.

How sweet is that?  Made me get a little teary eyed.  This is from the same kid who, two nights ago told me, "Mommy, cookies make me happy."  I think I need to start a quote of the day on here of every grown up thing that Eva says throughout the day.  

Didn't realize that she looks a little stunned in this picture.  I think she was actually really tired.  This is at the mall behind our apartment.  They have a great play area with a carousel that she loves, but of course makes me sick!

Hmmm....What to do?

So yesterday I had my first doctor's appointment.  I left very discouraged.  The hardest part about being here right now is not having a clue about new doctors.  Things are apparently done very differently here.  But, I'm not sure how much of that is just this doctor or if it's everyone.  Here's the deal, I went to the doctor expecting the same experience as in Ft. Worth... blood work, ultrasound, etc.  None of that.  The doctor said, "So you should be 7 1/2 weeks pregnant."  And that was about it.  What was the point of me even going?  

With Eva, I was able to see her heartbeat on the ultrasound at 7 weeks.  So I had told her that we would see the heartbeat.  (She calls it a heart beep.)  :)  She was disappointed and keeps asking today when she'll hear the heart beep.  The doctor also asked about Eva's birth and I told her that it was a C-section.  To which she replied, "So I guess we'll schedule another C-section."  For those that know me, know that this comment made me want to get up and walk out right then.  I politely expressed my desire to avoid a C-section at all cost with the next baby.  She said that she is all for a VBAC but that the hospitals around here don't really allow them.  I'm going to start calling hospitals in minute just to find out for sure.  I'm really discouraged about that fact, because I absolutely do not want to be forced into a C-section "just because".  

The one good result of my appointment yesterday is that the doctor did give me something to help with the nausea.  It actually helped a lot this morning, but wore off around lunch time and the 2nd pill hasn't kicked in yet.  Hopefully it will work well for the next several weeks.  

Anyway, just be praying for us as we make some big decisions about healthcare in the next couple of weeks.  Obviously my main priority right now is finding a doctor to do some blood work, just to make sure everything is doing what it's supposed to do.  I also know some of you very well and know that you are going to suggest going the midwife route.  A couple of problems with that.  One, there aren't many around here.  The doctor that I saw yesterday had one in her office previously but she has since gone elsewhere.  Two, the midwives that I have found only do home births.  Neither Ryan nor I are ready for that.  Ryan is even not sure about doing a birthing center (there is only one of those and it's on the KS side of Kansas City) because of what happened last time with Eva.  I was really hoping to find a midwife who would deliver in a hospital, but I haven't found one yet.  So that's kind of where we are.  Just be praying that we have wisdom in the decisions we make.  

As always, I'll keep you posted! 

You gotta love Louisiana!

I promise not to spend the next 7ish weeks talking about how sick I am.  So to change my tune, I'm going to talk about some things I"m thankful for and things that make me laugh.  

1.  Being sick is a constant reminder that I have one of the greatest privileges in all the world, and that is the privilege of carrying a child.  It's definitely something I don't take lightly and when I think about the tiny baby inside of me that is the size of a blueberry (how cute is that) it makes me feel a little better.  I really do love the feeling of being pregnant after this part.  I really can't wait for the next part of pregnancy, that's the fun part.  I'm so thankful that i"ll be able to feel our baby moving day and night.  It's the greatest!  

2. I love the fact that Eva just told me she was too busy to do the Hokey Pokey.  Mind you she is laying on the floor watching Elmo... but apparently she's too busy.  That child makes me laugh every day with her grown up phrases.  Such as telling me she couldn't carry her baby inside from the car because her hands were full.  

On a less sentimental note, I saw this thing today that was titled "You know you're from South Louisiana if..."  and had a whole lot of things that applied to me.  It made me laugh, which I hadn't done all day... due to the thing listed in number one that I'm not complaining about anymore.   One of the things that made me laugh was "... if at a crawfish boil you sit down to eat and the host reminds you not to eat the dead ones and you know what they mean."  To MOST of you reading this, you're currently thinking "you eat live crawfish???"  No, we don't.  But you don't ever want to eat a crawfish that died before it was boiled.  And there is a way to tell if it was dead before it hit the water.  There was  a whole other list of things that made me laugh.  Some of them referring to the heat of south Louisiana, lots referring to the food, and of course several joking about our accents.  What?  I don't have an accent and I never got made fun of for my accent... except for the time that I moved from Saline, LA to DeRidder, LA and then again when I moved to college in Arkansas.  It wasn't the people from AR making fun of my accent it was all of the people from TX.  

Okay, I'm rambling and "Elmo" is over.  So I need to run.  Eva is requesting a pop-tart right now.  Ummm... no.  At least they're organic pop-tarts.  My husband hates me for that!  :)

A Comparison

I read on the internet yesterday that "morning" sickness is usually less severe with the second pregnancy.  I couldn't decide whether to laugh or say a bad word.  I think I did neither.  Clearly that statistic has not been tested on me (or my poor mom 3 kids= 27 months of nausea. That's why I'm the youngest).  I am choosing to see it as a huge blessing right now that I don't have a job because I believe that is saving me from a lot of unpleasantness if you know what I mean.  The less I move, the better.  That's not to say that the nausea ever goes away exactly.  It's kind of like God... it's with me everywhere I go.  When I wake up at 3 am... it's there.  When I sit or when I rise... it's there.  Yea.  

I was thinking about the difference in my first trimester cravings this time as opposed to last time.  (No kidding, I just took a 10 min. break from writing because I had to eat one of my cravings.)  Oh and by "craving" what I really mean is something that doesn't make me want to barf.  :)  It's not a craving in the sense that I lie awake at night thinking about these foods, because hello, that would just be gross.  It's just foods that when I'm starving, the thought of eating them doesn't make me more nauseated.  

1st Trimester with Eva:

1. Oranges- ate them like they were going out of style.

2.  Potatoes of any variety.  Baked, Soup-ed, Fried- french or chip style.

3. Red meat- mostly my dad's brisket.  He makes a mean brisket and when I was in my first trimester I thought it was the greatest thing I'd ever eaten... ever.

4.  HATED with a deep passion, anything sweet, including: jelly, cereal, any type of dessert. (One morning on our way to church, I asked Ryan to stop at the gas station to get me some peanut butter crackers.  He came back to the car with the crackers and I took a bite.  I immediately spit it out and declared, "There's jelly in here!"  He thought I was just being dramatic.  He then looked at the package and noticed he'd gotten PB&J crackers.  GROSS!!!)

5. Orange Gatorade and Chik-fil-a lemonade.

6. Bananas- I would eat one every morning before getting out of bed to help my queasiness.

1st Trimester with "Ziggy":

1. No oranges please.  Yuck.  No fruit at all for that matter.  I couldn't bear the thought of a banana this morning.  Crackers only before getting up.

2. Potatoes, but not to the extent as last time.  Mostly I want Ruffles potato chips.  Pretty certain that I haven't eaten a potato chip since Fall 2005 (last pregnancy).  Not the healthiest choice in the world, but there's just something about them.  

3. Steamed broccoli and cauliflower with cheese.  Maybe this offsets the potato chip craving. This is what I ate a few minutes ago when I took my break.  :)  It was so good, I'm about to go have some more!

4. Pasta with no sauce... don't love it, but I can tolerate it.

5. Orange gatorade and Chik's lemonade is back on the list!

6. Chicken.  Good chicken... not just any chicken.  Too bad I can't stomach cooking it myself.  

I need a personal shopper and chef to take care of me and my family during first trimesters.  Meal planning is gone, because what sounded good on  Sunday might make me head to the bathroom on Thursday.  Luckily, Eva doesn't eat much to begin with and would be content to eat macaroni and cheese every meal for the rest of her life.  Ryan is pretty easy most of the time, too.  He can fall back into "bachelor mode" and live on microwavable meals if he needs to.  I'm the one who decides at 6:00 on Monday that I wanted a hamburger for dinner and had to go out to eat.  So high maintenance.  Just 7 1/2 more weeks until I'm out of this.  May God have mercy on us until then!  :)

Seriously, though, please keep praying for my stomach.  I have moments where I feel good enough to do something easy like load the dishwasher or start some laundry and then I have to go lay down again.  It's terrible.  I have felt very prayed for though.  Thanks and keep it up!  :)

True Story

Eva says she wants a little sister.  When asked what she wants to name the little sister, she says "Andrew" or "Cinderella".  Can you imagine?!  These are our daughters Eva and Cinderella!

I'll be interested to see what other name suggestions come in the months to come.

On an unrelated note, please, please be praying for me.  I'm feeling TERRIBLE.  The nausea is crippling me.  All I can do is lay around because any sort of movement makes me want to vomit.  Literally.  For some reason it's the worst at bed time.  Last night I had to get up after going to bed and stay in the bathroom for like 30-45 min.  It's very  unpleasant.  And it's making me feel like a bad mother, too.  Eva keeps asking me, "Mommy, you tummy still hurt?  Why you tummy hurt?"  She is still having fun playing, she's just not getting much fun interaction out of me.  So please pray that this will get easier.  I still have 8 more weeks until I'm out of my first trimester.  That seems soooo long right now.  Thanks friends!  I'll keep you posted.

I've got a secret. :)

It's a good one!

WHAT?!?!  It wasn't exactly our timing, but we figure God has a plan.  We are trusting that He will lead us through this step by step.   And hopefully that plan means getting us out of this little apartment by June 20, 2009 (my estimated due date).  

Obviously we ask that you all pray for us and the health of me and "Ziggy" during this time.  (FYI-Ryan jokingly referred to the baby as "zygote" the other day so I named the baby Ziggy.) 

Share in our joy with us... :) 

Girl Talk Wednesday

My friend Brittany has started a fun little game she is doing on Wednesdays.  (Yes, I realize today is Thursday, but she didn't post until last night.)  She posts a question and we answer it on our blogs.  Such a fun girl.  :)

So here's today's topic: (and feel free to play along or just answer on my comments if you prefer)

When you die, what do you want to be said of you?

Mostly I want people to say that I lived like Jesus.  That I loved Him and showed love to those I came into contact with.  

There you go!  That's my only thought for the day!

Window friends

Did any of you grow up watching "Anne of Green Gables"?  It's a fabulous movie!  My mom and I used to have "Anne" days when I was growing up.  Anytime it was rainy and yucky outside, we would curl up and watch this movie.  Happy times.  :)

Anyway, there is this scene in the movie where "Anne" talks to her window friend.  It's basically her reflection that has become her friend because as an orphan she doesn't have any other friends. All that to say, Eva has a window friend.  She usually talks to this friend in the oven reflection of herself.  It's so cute!  She'll wave to herself and say "hi" and then sometimes even carry on a conversation.  She'll tell this friend what I'm fixing for dinner or about her day.  It's the cutest thing.  

Now if you haven't seen the movie, then wish for a rainy day, rent or borrow the movie and enjoy 3 hours of greatness.  It's a classic.  And when Anne talks to her window friend, think of Eva.  

How much do we love this?!

Ryan likes to occasionally make fun of me for getting the ABC catalog.  And I have to agree with him that there are some really silly and cheesy things in the catalog.  However,  this summer we found these polka dots.  How cute are they?!  The polka dots and the letters, which are in the bottom pictures, are kind of like wall paper.  Except you can stick them, peel them off, and move them around.  It's so fun!  Eva helped me stick all of the polka dots on.  That's why there isn't much of a pattern to it.  But she had so much fun.  

(Note: In her old room we didn't have white walls, so the white letters were much easier to see.)

These pictures show the cork boards I made for Eva this summer, along with the canvases my cousin helped me paint this summer.  (One canvas says "dream", one says "imagine", and one says "play".) Then under that are stick on letters and numbers that I found at Target this summer.  We put the ABC's on one wall and the numbers 1-10 on the adjacent wall.

I hope you all enjoy the polka dots and letters as much as we do!  Happy Saturday!

Happy Birthday!

Today is my main man's birthday!  I'll keep his age a secret, but I will tell you that he's not as bummed as he was last year when he turned 30.  :) (See what i did there?  Tricky.)  Anyway, I thought I might list some reasons why I love him so much.

1.  The day after he met me, he started parking in a different parking lot so he would have to walk by my desk every day.  So sweet!

2.  He has been in a good mood for all but about 5 days that I've known him.

3. He is the best daddy to our little girl.

4.  He likes sweets as much as I do, so I never feel guilty when I buy a sweet treat at the store.  :)

5. He tells me he loves me every single day.

6. He loves Jesus more than he loves me.

7.  I still learn something new about him all the time.

8. He almost never complains about waking up early with Eva on Saturdays so I can sleep in a little bit.

9. He thinks I'm the best cook.

10. He makes me laugh every single day.

11. Such a tender heart.

12.  Such a strong man.

13.  He called Subway to put that manager in his place when he said he'd call the cops on me for using the potty and not buying a sandwich.  

14. He plays "more screaming" with Eva every day.  (This game consists of him chasing her, her screaming, then when he stops chasing she says, "More screaming, Daddy!"

15. He still thinks I'm beautiful.

16. He doesn't mind watching Cinderella or Elmo with Eva for the umpteenth time.  

17.  He loves having a little girl.

18.  He's a great counselor.

19. He's my best friend.

20. He's so cute!

Okay, I could go on, but I risk losing more readers who need to throw up.  :)  All this to say that I love my husband more than anything.  Happy Birthday Sweetums!!! (Oh and he doesn't mind that I call him "sweetums" either.)  We love you so much!

My new favorite place!

This is my new favorite place.  It's called City Market and it's a really big farmer's market here in Kansas City.  

We went there this weekend because we needed some fun family time.  It was so great.  We had been telling Eva that she could get a pumpkin or "punkim" as she says.  She fell asleep in the car on the way there, and was asleep in her stroller for a few minutes.  As soon as her little eyes caught a little glimpse of those punkims, she was up and ready to go.  Let me just tell you about my new found love for the farmer's market.  We spent $12 and got: a loaf of banana bread, a bag of oranges, a bag of Missouri apples, limes, bell peppers, and Eva's punkim.  How great is that?  So find your local farmer's market and get some good deals and support your local farmer!  Next time I go I'll take a picture of all of the interesting people I see.  It'll be a post in and of itself.  :)

Look at our little scare crow

She got to jump with her daddy on the bouncy thing.  Let me tell you.  She wouldn't eat lunch because she wanted to jump so badly.  

This is our cute little "punkim" enjoying the lovely Fall weather on our tiny porch.   She's playing soccer, she says.

We picked out a pumpkin at the Farmer's Market and colored it when we got home.  We were both covered in the whole spectrum of colors by the end of our craft time.  

Showing off her pumpkin.

Big Kid and Interview Update...

 I know everyone is just DYING to know the ins and outs of Eva's potty schedule.  :)  If you're disgusted, just don't read today.

On day 2, she only had one accident!  How great is that!?  She even took initiative all day long to go to the potty herself in time to go potty.  I'm just so proud of her.  She's very proud of herself as well.  It's cute.  We even didn't reward with chocolate a few times today.  Maybe tomorrow there will be even less chocolate.  Gotta reduce that sometime, I suppose.  I don't want a 10 year old saying, "Mommy, I just went tee-tee.  I want 2 chocolate chips, please."

On another note, I had the interview today for the Mother's Day Out job.  It went really well.  He's ready for me to start when I'm ready.  Great, right?  Well, the draw back is that they barely pay peanuts.  I'm talking barely above minimum wage.  Obviously I know that something is better than nothing, but I don't know.  That is the only negative.  There were lots of positives that came out of the interview today.  The director and I have very similar beliefs and I am totally on board with his vision for the preschool ministry.  He is very passionate about developing a ministry for children with special needs.  There were lots of little things that we were on the same page with that made me excited.  All that is fine and dandy unless we can't pay our bills.  Know what I mean?  So, just pray for us as we make yet another difficult decision in the next few days.  

I have also found some really cool job possibilities on the internet, but who know if those will work out.  It really boils down to where God wants me to be.  One job is working with teen moms who have decided not to abort their babies.  How much do we love that?!  So, we'll see how the Lord directs our steps in the coming weeks.  

Thanks for your prayers.

I'm a big kid now!

Today was the day.  We said goodbye to diapers and hello to big girl panties.  For Eva, not for me.  :)  Just in case anyone was confused.  I'll give the day a "C" because we were about 50/50 on making it in the potty.  It was a pretty decent first day.  

She was so proud of herself every time that she actually made it to the potty on time.  It was really cute.  She also very quickly realized that going on the potty results in chocolate.  A few times she asked for her treat and I told her she had to go potty first.  She sat on the potty and strained and strained trying to go so she could get her treat.  It was really funny.  

I'll keep you posted on the progress!  

Personality Profile

My old college roommate, Leslie, had this personality profile link on her blog yesterday.  I decided to do it just for fun.  You can go HERE to do it for yourself, if you want to.  I think these things are fun.  

Here is what my results showed:

"Quiet, reflective and idealistic.  Interested in serving humanity.  Well-developed value system, which they strive to live in accordance with.  Extremely loyal.  Adaptable and laid-back unless a strongly-held value is threatened.  Usually talented writers.  Mentally quick and able to see possibilities.  Interested in understanding and helping people.

These are the careers it suggested for me:

Writer, artist, counselor, social worker, English teacher, fine arts teacher, child care worker, clergy, missionary, psychologist, psychiatrist, scientist, political activist, editor, education consultant, journalist, religious educator, social scientist.  

Kinda funny and pretty true for me.  For those that know me well, you're probably finding some of the career suggestions hilarious... i.e. political activist!?!  No thank you.  But I have done many of these other suggestions.  Some of these are jobs I've always dreamed that I could do, but it's never quite been in my gifting.  You all know I would love to be an artist... no such luck.

Anyway, I thought it was fun.  If you do it, let me know if it guessed you correctly.  Have a happy Friday!

On an unrelated note... actually it is kind of related.... I have a job interview on Tuesday.  The church I had been in contact with about a month ago needs someone at their Mother's Day Out.  I'm so excited to see if this is a step in the direction of working with them in the ministry for children with special needs.  They don't have this as a paid position yet, but I'm hoping that they will soon.  Be praying that everything goes well on Tuesday... that it will be what we need financially, etc.  I'll keep you posted!

Happy Birthday Ty-Ty

Today is Ty-Ty's birthday.  So this post will be dedicated to him and his intense love for Eva.

He was smitten with this little girl from the very beginning.  Taken at the hospital... not sure exactly when.  I was a little drugged in that whole process, so I don't remember much of those first 24 hours.  :) This was either the night she was born or the next morning.

Ryan with his dad and Eva.  She was 3 weeks old.

Eva's first birthday.  This is when she started calling him Ty-Ty.  Before that he was going to be grandaddy or something along those lines.  He was having a hard time deciding what he wanted to be called and kept saying that he wanted Eva to name him.  When she was a year old she started saying "Ty-Ty".  He loved it and it stuck.  :)

Eva's 2nd birthday.

Helping Eva blow bubbles.

Happy Birthday Ty-Ty!  We all love you a whole lot!

Yea! Eva's Home!!!

Eva and her "Annie"

Mimi and Eva at the petting zoo portion of the Tulsa State Fair.  As the sign states, this is the "educational" part of the fair.  :)

Ty-Ty pushing Eva in circles on the tractor.  We are told that Eva didn't want to get off and held on for dear life.  She got one more turn.  That Ty-Ty is a sucker!  :)

The pony ride!

I think these were the "Flinstones" cars.  She didn't want to get off of this either, if I'm not mistaken.

Well after 4 days of being with her grandparents, Eva is back with us!  It was such a blessing that they were able to keep her during all of the moving and such.  This apartment was no place for a toddler.  Despite that, we sure missed that little booger!  We had never been away from her for that long before.  She had so much fun with her Mimi and Ty-Ty.  They took her to the fair where she got to ride her first pony.  She loved it as much as she loved riding the carousel with her Papa the week before.  Both sets of grandparents said she had a smile on her face the entire time that she was doing each activity.  Luckily I think she has had enough fun in the last 2 weeks that she hasn't been very effected by the transition.  When she got here yesterday, we took her to show her the new house and more importantly her room.  She walked around and said, "That's my (insert object here)" for everything in her room.  She picked up her stuffed lion and said, "Hi Terry!"  It was so cute.  When she was in the living room, she touched the coffee table and looked at me and said, "That's our table!"  Maybe she thought we'd never see that stuff again.  Who knows?  

We weren't sure how she'd do in her bed last night, but she did okay.  She woke up at 5:30 this morning, but she stayed in bed all night.  We are going to look for curtains this afternoon so maybe that will help.  There are a lot of street lights outside that make it bright in our rooms all night long.  Luckily though, I don't think anyone lives above us right now.  We haven't heard a single footstep, so if someone does live up there they are very quite. Either option is wonderful for me.  

Kansas City, Day 3

We are still trying to fit a house into an apartment.  Not all that easy.  I'm taking a little break right now so that I don't go completely crazy.  Last night I was literally stuck in the kitchen because there were too many boxes and paper for me to move in order to get out.  I'm trying to get Eva's room looking half-way decent before she gets here tomorrow.  I'm making progress, but not there yet.

We still kind of feel like we're on vacation... only we're not really having fun.  It feels like vacation though because we don't have a clue where anything is.  Thank goodness for internet and GPS systems.  

Some things we weren't expecting:

- There are a lot more "northern" accents here than I expected.  You know people that sound like they are from Minnesota or Wisconsin. Different than I expected.  They also say "soda pop" which I don't know if I will ever get used to!

-The grocery store that we went to yesterday does a "drive thru" service.  So when the weather is snowy/rainy/ or just nasty you can drive your car up and they'll put your groceries in for you.  That will be helpful when the weather is gross and I have Eva.  

-Our apartment doesn't have a pantry or any place to put our food for that matter.  We're trying to get creative.  Actually storage in general is lacking here.  Where is IKEA when you need it?!

Another random thing we've noticed is that all apartments smell the same.  When we came in to our little apartment, Ryan commented that it smelled like our old apartment.  Then I noticed that the bathroom smelled like the apartment bathroom that I shared with my friend Jeni.  It's just interesting.  Soon I'll be able to start burning candles and make it smell more like home.  

So I didn't have anything too interesting to share today.  Just an update.  I'm ready to get these boxes out of my apartment before they make me crazy.  I guess they won't do that on their own.  Back to work...

Oh we're also about to run out of space in our storage unit.  YIKES!

Transition

The last several days have been a whirlwind to say the least.  We are no longer Fort Worth residents, but we're not yet Kansas City residents.  We are in a homeless transition right now.  Thankfully, we have a soft place to land this week as we wait for our stuff to get to our new place. We get to spend the week... or most of it... with Ryan's parents in Tulsa.  Today has been restful and it has felt great.  The last few weeks have been anything but restful.

On Friday, two girls came to pack up all of our stuff.  When they went outside to get supplies, I turned to my mom and said, "I expected the packers to be men."  She did too.  They did a great job and worked their tooshies off.  They were there for 10 hours and barely even took a lunch break.  It was weird to watch them gradually put all of our belongings into boxes.  Then Saturday 2 guys came to put all of those boxes into a big truck.  After several slow downs with this (i.e. they largely underestimated the amount of truck space needed and had to call in a 2nd truck that may or may not make it to Kansas City when the other truck does) they finally got all of our stuff loaded around 4:00 Saturday afternoon.  It felt weird to watch all of our earthly belongings drive off into the sunset.  Then we had to clean up all the mess that was hiding under our couches and beds.  There were raisins and pony tail holders hiding everywhere!

It feels really weird that that is no longer our home.  I've been trying to sort through my spectrum of emotions.  I of course feel sad at leaving great friends and my support group.  I kinda also feel like I just packed to go on a long vacation.  I'm also anxious about meeting new people and having to make new friends.  Every time I re-tell the story of how we ended up in this situation, I get so excited and filled with peace.  I know we are going where God wants us to go.  

On a side note, Eva has been AMAZING through all of this.  I think it helped a lot that my parents were in town this last weekend and that distracted her.  She has continued to sleep well and has barely asked about her belongings.  We told her that they had to put it in boxes to take it to Missouri.  She asked about her bicycle and a couple of other things, but that's about it.  When we told our house goodbye yesterday, she waved and said, "Bye house. We're going to Midduri!"  She's barely asked about it.  We'll see if it continues when we actually get to KC.  

I guess that's about all of the update for today.  I'll share more later after I've processed more.

If you want to see a really cute video of Eva's day at the zoo last week go here .  It will be Saturday's post.  It's so funny.

one more week

Every time I sit down to write, my mind goes blank.  It's not that we don't have anything going on.  Maybe my brain is turning to mush because I've been on overload.  We thought that we were going to have a couple make an offer on our house... as it turns out their realtor is a little crazy, so no offer.  We're not exactly sure what happened.  Either the couple just wasn't ready to make an offer even though they liked our house the best, or the realtor just dropped the ball and they lost interest.  Either way, it seems they have moved on.  We are still certain that God will sell our house and he'll do it in a way that brings Him glory. 

I'm not sure if I'm ready for apartment living again.  We obviously did it for 2 years of our marriage, but I've never done it with a kid.  We did find out this week that we will be on the first floor, which I'm thankful for.  I'm going through my house and trying to see what we can live without for the next 6 months.  Kinda crazy.  We still can't believe that we are actually moving in 1 week.  It is so weird.  Ryan and I have only even known each other in Texas.  It'll be weird to start over in a completely different place.

I'm also starting to feel the lonely pains.  Obviously I know that I'll make friends eventually, it's just those first few weeks/months that are going to be so hard.  I'm trying to focus on all of the positives, but in a week where I'll be saying a lot of goodbyes, it's kind of hard not to think about the certain loneliness that will come (even if it's brief).

On a happier note, Eva is just as cute as ever and continues to make us laugh daily.  She is starting to say such grown up things like, "What's everybody doing?".  She is very excited about going to Missouri or "Middouri" as she calls it.  She wants to wear her boots and jacket and play in the snow.  Ryan and I have joked that she is going to be disappointed when we get there and there's no snow.  Hopefully the transition will be fairly easy for her.  She has been having problems sleeping for a couple of months now, so we'll see how that incorporates into the new tiny apartment.  I"m sure she'll adjust quickly as long as we're all together.  She wants everyone she loves to be in the same room.  It's so funny.  

Just for the sake of cuteness:

Before I left for work one morning.  She kept closing her eyes on purpose when Ryan tried to take the picture, so we had to resort to tickling.

 

Eva sitting in her Papa's boat when we went to Louisiana a few weeks ago.  This was her favorite activity of the whole weekend.  

Her other favorite activity was taking walks with Papa.  Is that not the sweetest thing you've ever seen.

Testing our the new mat or "map" for Mother's Day Out.  She really did fall asleep this day as she was testing it out.

Things are moving!

Quick update tonight.  I will be posting some precious pictures soon,  but tonight i"m just too tired.  We were gone all day long.  Fun, fun day... but tiring.

The two couples that came to look at our house last week both came back today for a second look!  How awesome is that?!?  One couple wanted to know if we'd leave our washer and dryer.  Sure!  Ryan and I have been saying that God is bigger than the housing market.  I think that in one week he is proving that.  Hopefully we'll know something soon.  Keep praying with us.  It would definitely be less stressful to move without having this house hanging over our heads.  Thanks friends! 

It's a No Nap Day :(

Eva had her first day of Mother's Day Out today.  She is in a "big girl" class now where they take their naps on mats on the floor.  Needless to say there was a revolt in the 2 year old classroom and none of them actually went to sleep.  The teacher did say that Eva stayed on her whole mat through out the "nap hour".  Of course she was exhausted when I picked her up.  She fell asleep for about 5 minutes in the car and then the revolt continued in my house.  She laid quietly in her bed for a few minutes and then that was the end of it.  Ahhh....  so frustrating.  At least for the moment, she's not cranky.   We'll see how the rest of the night goes.  

On a side note, we had someone look at our house yesterday and they loved it.  They called our realtor today with a few more questions.  We'll see if they make an offer.  We're encouraged that they like it either way.  Someone is coming to look at it tomorrow, and we're having an open house the next 2 weekends.  Things are going quickly.  We will be moving so soon,  I'm starting to get emotional about it.  Pray for my emotions.  :0)   And thanks for praying for our house... it's working!!!

Overdue update

1.  We found an apartment in Kansas City this weekend.  YEA!!!  The town homes made me curl into the fetal position and cry for many many reasons (including spiders, shady neighbors, and the smells).  But after an afternoon of searching for a place to live, Ryan decided to drive me out to the property where he'll be working.  I immediately got all choked up because this peace just came over me the minute we drove in.  God just reminded me at the end of a tough day that we are exactly where he wants us to be.  Such a great feeling.  So after a good night's sleep, I felt much better the next day when we ditched the town home search and went to apartments.  SO MUCH BETTER!  We found one that will serve it's purpose for the next 6ish months.  It's not the apartment that we really liked, but this one is $100 a month cheaper and they pay the water bill. It's only temporary.  That's what I keep telling myself.

2.  We got our house on the market!  Such a weird feeling to see that sign in my yard every day.  No one really prepared me for how much work goes into putting a house on the market.  You have to de-personalize.  You have to clean out every nook and cranny and get rid of anything that could be interpreted as junk.  I've kind of gone room by room.  All the dust I stirred up put  my allergies in a fit so by last Friday morning, I was miserable and exhausted.  Too much sneezing and cleaning... not nearly enough sleep.  We're having an open house this weekend to hopefully get some people interested in our home.  

3.  We're moving in less than 3 weeks.  Crazy!!!  I'm excited and sad all at the same time.  There will be many tears this month.

4.  I loved Blue Springs (the area where we'll be living).  I told Ryan that even though it's weird that we're about to move there.  It already feels right.  Almost like home, although not yet.  It was beautiful.  So many trees and hills.  I love it.  The weather was great... I know I won't be singing this same praise in January, but for now the weather is great.  :)

I know there were more updates, but it's late and I still have some straightening to do.  (You also have to keep your house spotless the entire time it's on the market.)  Our computer has also been out of commission, but it's better now, so I can update more regularly.

Until then...

As I promised yesterday, here is the story about my job possibility:

When Ryan and I were still contemplating and praying about the move, we realized that I would most likely have to find a job.  Bummer!  You all know that my heart is to be at home with my baby.  But I"m trying to see God's bigger picture.  I feel like part of my role in allowing Ryan to fulfill his role is to help support our family financially until God provides a way for me to be at home.  

So I started looking around and found a church that has a Mother's Day Out program as well as a preschool program.  I emailed the director and told him that we were considering moving to the area and was curious if there were any teaching positions available and I sent him my resume.  A couple of days later, I called him to follow up.  The phone call was such a confirmation to me that we are going where we are supposed to go.  This minister told me that there would likely be a position open in November.  He then went on to say that I was too qualified to work as a MDO teacher.  He said that they had been discussing at the recent deacon's meeting the church's need to minister to families of children with special needs.  The church is wanting to start this kind of ministry pretty soon, but is still just praying about the details.  He said that there are a couple of families that have started coming to their church who have children with autism.  I told him that I had worked with several children with autism spectrum disorders in my current job.  He was very excited about that and told me that I might be the answer to their prayers regarding this ministry.  He in no way offered me a job at the end of our phone call, but it was so encouraging to me.  I'm supposed to call him once we get to the area and get settled.  I am so excited about the possibility.  I would love to be a part of that kind of ministry.  

I would love it if you all would pray about this with me.  And I, of course, will keep you posted.