Abigail Catherine is born!!!

Abigail Catherine arrived at 2 a.m. on Tuesday, January 12. She weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces and was 19 inches long. She is beautiful, but then I am slightly biased! We love her so and are extremely proud of our little bundle.

"Sometime"

Sometime, when all life's lessons have been learned,
And sun and stars forevermore have set,
The things which our weak judgments here have spurned,
The things o'er which we grieved and lashes wet,
Will flash before us out of life's dark night,
As stars shine most in deeper tints of blue;
And we shall see how all God's plans are right,
And how what seemed reproof was love most true.

Then be content poor heart;
God's plans, like lilies pure and white, unfold;
We must not tear the close-shut leaves apart,--
Time will reveal the chalices of gold.
And if, through patient toil, we reach the land
Where tired feet, with sandals loosed, may rest,
When we shall clearly see and understand,
I think that we will say, "God knew the best!"

-May Riley Smith

I read this poem in "I Kissed Dating Goodbye". Funny how it relates so much to this time in my life. The author, Josh Harris, is talking about waiting for God's perfect timing in all circumstances, particularly dating and romance. But I can see the correlation to all areas of our lives. So often we want to pull the magic thread and see life's hard moments go by. I know I have felt that way with this pregnancy. And why should I? This is the last time I will conceive. This is the last time this fleeting part of youth will engulf my body. The baby will not stay forever. They will not allow that. And should they wait until she is too big, then God has a plan even for that. Who am I to question His sovereignty and perfect plan? It is a funny thing that it takes time for pain to heal, for us to trust once hurt, for a baby to be born, to find good things in life. Both bad and good things take time. And the author's point is that when we try to rush these things we are missing out on even better things that God has in store for us. For now, we need to embrace the moment we are in, whether that be a season of pain, a season of heartache, a season of waiting, a season of rejoicing. I am guilty above all of wanting this moment to pass, whatever moment that may be, in order to relish the next moment. But in doing so I am missing out on God's greatest blessings for me in THAT moment.

I'm So Excited!

I found my yearly Mary Englebreit calendars at a local bookstore last night. I about bust a button with excitement. I was so disappointed that Micah couldn't find them at the mall, and I've been slightly off-kilter without my beloved calendars. Ah....life is good and back to normal.

Go Horns....gooooooo..oh, man

We're all still swooning over here after last night's loss. We all stayed up pretty late, and I've just now woken the crowd. Blaine was up anyway. He wanted to know the score. I'm proud of #3 and all he accomplished last night. Hope he doesn't beat himself up.

Guess What???

There is a small-ish chance that I will have the baby on Monday! My doctor will be swiping my membranes at 9:45 on Monday morning. Sorry for the gruesome details, but I don't think any men read my blogs. Micah and I will need to find someone to watch the kids, and we will stay downtown to see if anything happens. We are praying and crossing our fingers that it will. I'm ready to get this baby out! Secondly, it will give my poor husband so much peace to have this thing sort of planned out and over with. So, everyone can pray for Monday!

12 Days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me...
an overwhelming desire to pee!

On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me....
cheese and nuts, no candies or sweets
and an overwhelming desire to pee!

On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me...
swollen feet and ankles
cheese and nuts, no candies or sweets
and an overwhelming desire to pee!

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love sent to me...
a hamper full of laundry
swollen feet and ankles
cheese and nuts, no candies or sweets
and an overwhelming desire to pee!

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love sent to me...
30 days of bed rest
a hamper full of laundry
swollen feet and ankles
cheese and nuts, no candies or sweets
and an overwhelming desire to pee!

Couldn't resist, even though Christmas has passed. After all, when will I have the chance again to make a pregnancy Christmas song? Very cute idea, Tammie!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

We celebrated last night while the girls were at a friend's house. Our first year to not be all together. Micah and I played Scrabble with Blaine's help. We ate banana pudding, which I'm not supposed to have, nachos, and sparkling soda/champagne. Then at 9:30 we put Blaine to bed and I fell asleep on the couch while Micah watched Transformers. At 11:40 the girls came back home, and we watched the ball drop. I could sorta see it through my blurry, sleepy eyes. We all said "Happy New Year", and I finished watching Transformers with my hubby. I don't think I missed much in that two hours I was asleep. You could pretty much get the jest of it in the last 30 minutes or so. Basically, booby lady with the lip gloss that never comes off and pure white jeans (in the desert no less) was in love with the bad actor guy who had to get this magic powder to Optimus. Optimus saved the day and everyone was happy. Now see how much time I saved myself? I guess it won't go down in history as the best celebrated New Year's Eve, but neither will any of the other celebrations this month.

I have to whine here a little. You see, I am now 36 weeks as of today, and I am ready for this baby. Yesterday a nurse at the dietician's office asked me what my labor plan was. I looked at her blankly and replied, "To get the baby out." I didn't know what she meant. Did she mean "I want an epidural or I want to experience as much pain as humanly possible?" What did she mean? I couldn't figure it out. Finally, she clarified that she wanted to know if a specific date was set. Oh, in that case "no"; my doctor prefers to wait until I am completely miserable and cannot get out of bed. How's that for an answer?

Now I must clarify all this whining with a little praise. I am so thankful that we have not had to deal with NICU or tubes for baby, heart monitors and the like. I am so thankful that God has spared us all of that. And if I make it to next Friday she will be completely full-term, which I fully expect because everyone is praying for that.

My next whine I hope no one will really perceive it as such. It's really just how I feel. And while everything can be right in the world, with a beautiful baby growing inside we still have feelings. I can't help that. Believe me, I've tried. Things are just hard. It's hard for both of us. Christmas came and went with what seemed like little tradition or connectivity. I was here. I see the pictures of me sitting on the couch, but my heart wasn't in it. I opened presents, said thank you and genuinely felt excited about a few things. But, all I really wanted for Christmas was a baby. I can't help it. It is all I think about.

Then we had our anniversary. It was the floppiest year ever for an anniversary. We have been married for 14 wonderful years, and that is what I had to focus on. I have the most wonderful husband in all of history by my side. The wonderful times we have had together outnumber all of life's miseries. For 13 years we have done something special on our anniversary, without fail. The only other year we didn't is when I was pregnant with Elizabeth. Actually, if anyone hasn't noticed Elizabeth and Abigail's due date is only one week apart. So I was just as miserably pregnant back then as I am now. Anyway, for our anniversary my mom watched the kids while we went on a much needed date. We went to La Madeleine's, drove around, and walked through Half Price Books for 20 minutes. It wasn't even actually our anniversary. It was the day before. Micah thought he'd have to work late on our anniversary. We had a great time. I just wish we could have been in a bed and breakfast somewhere. We had a nice, long 3 hour date. My husband was exhausted the last hour. It was difficult for me to sit at the table because the baby is so squished against my legs I have to sit up completely straight or lean back a little to actually sit. Or, I have to sit with my legs completely apart so that the baby can fit between my lap. It is difficult to then lean forward to eat in such a matter. I think I am more disappointed in myself instead of the situation. I didn't even write him a card or a letter. I didn't buy him anything because I didn't think of it. What a loser.

And now in the background Regis and Kathy Lee are sharing a story of a beautiful mom who died from cervical cancer at 34. My life isn't so bad. I just miss life being normal like it used to be. I miss it so very much, and I look forward to this year and all it's celebrations, hoping they will be better.