Baby Baby Can't You Hear My Heartbeat?

On friday we got to hear our baby's heart beat for the first time. How amazing! Reality tends to sink in at this point that yes there is something growing inside of me and I am not just getting large for no reason. It also somehow makes sickness a little easier when you realize there is a little guy/girl growing inside of you and it will all be worth it.

Our due date as of now is August 24. When the doctor examined me he said that he thinks I am a little further along (like a few weeks). With Owen they pushed my due date back a month so this is very welcome news. I am going to have a ultra sound on friday to help determine our new date (if it will be changed at all). I am so excited that we will have 3 ultra sounds instead of just one this time! YEAH!!!! 

BIG Sale

I always recommend Sovereign Grace music and right now they are having a HUGE sale on all of their cds. All their albums are $6.00 plus free shipping. If you go to our church you will already know a lot of the songs. If you do not own any of their cds yet I would recommend Psalms and Valley of Vision. You have to go to Sovereign Grace's web site to order them (sovereigngracemusic.org). Happy shopping!

A Few Random Thoughts

First of all, I wanted to thank all of you who wrote encouraging responses, emailed or called. Many of you showed grace to me being that you have more little ones than I do and yet you were understanding to a hormonal and tired pregnant woman. :)  I appreciate and am thankful for all of you! 

~ Time at my mom's house was wonderful. Owen did not so much like the plane ride down (neither did anyone else on the plane with how loud he screamed) but once we landed he was good. We spent a few days outside (some in the lower 60's) and went to the zoo for two days and to the children's muesuem for two days. It was wonderful to get out a do different things in a city. Owen seemed to change as the week went on. He is back to his normal self and very happy now. I think my mom was right when she said sometimes you need a break from the kids and sometimes the kids need a break from you. :) Ohh the wisdom!

~ I have a new addiction. I started playing around on Face Book when I was at my parent's house and once I joined I could not stay off the computer. It is so cool to get back in contact with people that I have not seen or heard from since high school or college. I love it! Some people may see it as a waste of time (like my husband - probably because he sees how much time I spend on it) but I think it is relaxing and fun. 

~ My brain is like mush. I am forgetting everything at this point and even if I write it down I forget where I put the list. Pregnancy comes with some interesting side affects but I will not go into detail about the others. :) 

~ I am so blessed to live in a country where we have the freedom to worship without fear. We had a man come in from Pakistan and speak in our church on sunday and it was like getting a huge punch to the gut. We are such lazy and whiney people. I have so many things to be thankful for that I take for granite daily. I am always asking myself why has God blessed me so much by not only choosing me to be His child but giving me abundant blessings on this earth? I am pretty sure I will never be able to answer that because I do not deserve any of it. 

 I had more to add to the list but realized I am supposed to bring snacks for life group and it is 4:00. Whoops! There goes the pregnancy brain again. 

Mommy Dearest

My parents used to live an hour from here but 8 months ago moved to NC. I must say that I thought I was a big girl and could handle it but the last month I have missed them more and more. 

Most of you do not know my mom but she is my hero. She has the BIGGEST servant's heart I have ever seen. An example is when we had Owen she came to stay with us for a week. Not only did she clean the house, do laundry, make some meals but she also slept in the same room with Owen so that I could sleep unless he needed fed. She is willing to help anyone when they need it. 

I cannot complain (thanks to Margaret's post and the Spirits conviction) but I do feel that I need her right now. I just feel a little overwhelmed even though I have so much to be thankful for.  I called her this afternoon and through the crying just told her I was struggling with things myself (physically, emotionally and spiritually) and with Owen (specifically discipline). When she prayed for me over the phone she began to choke up to because she left all her children and grandchildren in Ohio. We said our good byes and hung up the phone. Not more than five minutes later the phone rang and my mom said we are getting a flight.

Hopefully, I will be leaving on thursday to fly down to visit for a week. We (Jay & I) decided that I am going to go down instead of her coming up. It is so relaxing at my parents and this will be the last time for just Owen and I to go down without any other family. He will be soaking up lots of one on one time with G & G Slagle. So I will be going to NC twice in the next month (pretty pathetic I know).

I am overwhelmed with thankfulness for the parents God has given me. I am also amazed at the caring and understanding husband I have. Jason is going to be home alone for 2 of the next 5 weeks but insisted that I need to go. He has had so much patience with me and has been such a wonderful help around the house and with Owen. Thank you God for the people You have placed in my life because I do not deserve them. 

It's Official

We have known for a while now (and I am sure that many of you know) but we are pregnant!!! I thought that this is something I should blog about since it is a life changing event. I had my first appointment yesterday which consisted of talking to a nurse, peeing in a cup and getting blood drawn. We are still not sure of my due date but probably will not find out until I am 20 weeks when we get our first ultra sound. I am either due end of July or August. 

Life has been interesting here the last few weeks. Christmas was a whirlwind and consisted of my parents visiting us for 2 days, going to Columbus one full day and then hitting the road for Jay's parents for 5 days. I think it was a little to much for all of us. I started to get morning sickness (all day) when we were at the Bradshaw's house and it took Owen a good week a half to get back to normal. I think next year we will cut back a little bit. 

The last two days I have been feeling a bit better but my days still consist of waking up with nausea and going to sleep with nausea. At least with this pregnancy I have not been throwing up (although sometimes I want to). As long as my stomach has food in it I am okay. Our house on the other hand it not okay. Because of not feeling well and being extra tired I have been sleeping when Owen does so it has not had a lot of TLC the last few weeks. But I am sure by mid february our house will be the cleanest it has been in years. After 20 weeks and up until about 35 weeks I had crazy amounts of energy and was nesting like a mad woman - I hope that happens again.

Other than that not much has been going on here. We have not been going out a lot recently due to the weather. I must admit I hate winter after Christmas and always seem to be a little down in January, February and March. I am already looking forward to the spring. We will be keeping busy coming up soon with visits to Columbus and Owen and I are going to fly with my sister and her youngest daughter to see my parents in North Carolina (got to get in one more free flight with Owen before he is 2). 

Overall, we are doing well and very excited to be pregnant. Owen has no comprehension of the fact that there is going to be another child but when I say "where is mommy's baby?" he points to his belly. At least he somewhat gets what I am talking about. Poor guy has no idea what is coming and that all the attention he gets is going to start being divided. I am so thankful for the two and a half years I will have of just being able to get to know Owen before the next one comes. I will keep you updated!! 

Praising God!!!

Ben and Janet are wonderful friends of ours that just got their referral this week for their little boy in Ethiopia. We met this couple at Cedarville when we all traveled on singing teams. Janet continues to be one of my best friends (even though we do not get to see each other all to often) and her blog over the last year has been such an encouragement. It has been amazing to see how God has provided for them and their hearts of gratitude towards those who wanted to help out with the adoption.

If you want to be encouraged today be sure to check out their blog on the left - Whipple Words.

Simple Yet Complicated

I was just telling my mom a few weeks ago how I think this is the least stressed out I have ever been in my life. I was just not made to work full time outside of the home, Before we had Owen I was working 30 hours a week (at a job I loved) but was still a little too much for me.

Life just seems so simple right now - I love it!!! I love being able to just play with Owen and not worry about time (for the most part). It is awesome that I can stay in pajamas till 3:00pm and no one cares. Our house can be a wreck and I can blame it on the fact that I have a 20 month old!

But at the same time I feel like this is the most complicated my life has ever been. There is a lot to read between the lines of "Raise a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it." How do I raise a child in the way he should go? When do I know what offense to spank for? How do I stop something from becoming a habit of sin in his life?

We just got done doing a study at church on the life of Christ and going through Luke. One of the main things I came away with is that the disciples were a little bit slow, to say the least. Fortunately for me millions of people do not read about my mistakes like we can the disciples'. We are so depraved we do not even realize how depraved we are.

Anyone who does not think that men are sinful should have a child. WOW! Owen has just started a new stage of complete defiance that I am not ready for. That makes life complicated!! Jay and I have had numerous conversations over the last few months about discipline. We want the same end but we just don't always agree on the means to get there. I guess we will keep having these conversations for the next twenty some years. :)

Above all, we long for Owen to grow up as a man who loves his Savior. One other main point I came across in the study was God's mercy and grace. He continued to stay with the disciples even though they kept missing the mark and even though they abandoned Him at His death (and He knew they would). I am realizing more and more everyday that I am just like the disciples and need grace everyday for raising Owen, my thought life and my attitudes that so many of you have probably seen. In the holiday season that we are in I am so thankful for many things but I am most blown away by God's grace and mercy in my life.