Happy FRIDAY!!!

I am so excited to announce that this is my LAST Friday to work. Well, I wish I could say it was the last Friday that I will EVER work, but that would be a lie. Anyway, I'm wrapping up a contract deal today, so my Fridays will be free after this. The timing couldn't be better.
TGIF!!!! Hope your's is a good one too.

Baby Afghan

Here's a sweet picture of my Grandma, our daughter's
Great-Grandma crocheting her baby afghan a few weeks ago. It's a beautiful color called "wheat". Kind of a tan with some gold in it. I love it! It will be so special to have a baby afghan from Great-Grandma.

Update

Well, not much is new here. Just a quick update on what we've been up to....

The weather was beautiful this past weekend, so we worked outside a lot, which we both really enjoy. We got a lot done, but there's still more to do of course.

We've been feeling lots of movement these days, especially at night when I'm trying to sleep. It seems she likes our attention!

Speaking of sleeping...that is becoming more of a challenge these days. I ruined my shoulders in high school playing volleyball, so sleeping on my sides has never been comfortable. As my belly (ahem, the baby) is growing, sleeping is becoming more of a challenge. I know many of you can relate. It's just crazy going through it for the first time. Overall I'm still pretty rested, but there are nights that I've slept all over the house just trying to find that perfect sleeping position! Andy woke up the other night & got worried 'cause he couldn't find me! I was sleeping in the basement on the couch! I'll try anything to get sleep!

Thanks for your prayers for last Monday & Tuesday. Everything went fine with turning in my notice. Everyone was understanding and for the most part, I only received one or two strange comments from people. Whatever. I can deal with it. People often don't know what to say, so they say something very very strange (and sometimes hurtful). But I'm usually prepared for it now. Usually I can brush it off pretty well. I know they don't mean to be hurtful.

Saturday was to have been my first baby shower. So the day was sorta bittersweet. But I decided early in the day that I could either feel sorry for myself & be miserable all day, or I could choose to believe & hope in what God has for us. It turned out to be a great day, a great weekend. I was not sad at all.

Sometimes it's wierd because I feel like people expect me to be sad all the time. But really I'm not. Yes, I have hard moments still. But overall, I am still happy & hopeful. Andy is too. I have told many people that our HOPE is not in having a family. Our HOPE is not in our dreams of life "as it could have been." Our HOPE is not in what this world thinks we should be holding on to. Our HOPE is in the Lord.

I don't know how I would live without HOPE. Seriously, I would be in a completely depressed state all of the time without HOPE. God is so good to give us promise after promise that He is with us, even walking before us. But at the same time, walking right along side of us. And He not only promises that He is here with us, but also that He has good things planned for us (Jer. 29:11). And I'm not interpreting "good things" to mean "kids." I don't think that's right. We have no idea what good things He has in store for us, but we trust that He does & that He'll bring them to us when it's right. And I'm positive that there will be more hard things mixed in with the good things. I guess that's just life.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a future." Jer 29:11

Monday Monday

Well, I guess Monday is here...whether or not any of us like it or not! :) We had a nice weekend. We hid out from all the trick or treaters in our neighborhood. We just turned out the lights & watched a movie. It was very nice & relaxing.

I am in Kansas City today again. I turned in my notice today to the doctors here. I gave them plenty of notice--my last day will be Dec 22nd. I'm nervous about all the questions about my pregnancy. You know, the usual stuff...are you ready for the baby? What are you having? What color is the nursery? I know I don't have to explain everything to everyone, but I will have to address it at least a little bit. Those conversations will be hard.

So anyway, I would appreciate your prayers as I deal with all of those questions over the next 2 months. Thanks.

Pumpkin

We think this pumpkin is adorable that our nieces & nephews carved for us. Thanks!

OB appointment

On October 1st when we first learned of our daughter's fatal diagnosis, it was an amazing doctor, Dr. Hague, who delivered the news to us. She was stepping in for my regular OB doc, who wasn't in the clinic that day. Dr.Hague was put in an awful position to deliver horrible news to someone she had never met before. She was amazing. She was frank, which we needed. Yet she was so sweet, gentle, & sincerely concerned for us. I'll never forget some of the words she said...they re-play in my head frequently. She cried with us as she explained the diagnosis. She also asked us if we had a church family who could surround us during this time. We told her we did & she asked where we go to church. We told her we had a great community of friends & family around us. Then she asked to pray with us, which we happily accepted. Overall, we left the appointment devasted, but we just thought the world of Dr. Hague.

We've talked frequently over the past 3 weeks about possibly changing doctors. My regular OB is a great doc too, but her personality is very different than Dr. Hague's. We thought this might be a better fit for us during this time. We wanted to be on the same page with our doctor, especially with all the decisions we are faced with. Anyway, we decided to switch to Dr. Hague.....
Thursday we had our 24 week appointment. Our decision to switch doctors was so confirmed during this appointment. Dr. Hague was again amazing. She began to share her own journey about her very tragic loss of her baby, just in June. Her situation not only involved a fatal diagnosis for her baby, but also a fatal diagnosis for herself. We all cried together as she shared with us the journey that she & her husband went through, just a few months ago. I have been praying for her ever since. You can join me in praying for her if you want...for her body to continue to recover fully, & for her and her husband's emotional healing. Obviously she works in a field that basically slaps her in the face and reminds her that she lost her child each time she delievers a baby or sees a pregnant patient in the office.

Dr. Hague was great at answering our questions & saying that she would research the ones that she didn't know answers to yet. We left with even more respect & admiration for Dr. Hague. We look forward to how God will heal both of our families as we walk this road...

"I will never leave you, nor forsake you."

Weekend

We had a nice weekend with family. It was fun to just play with our nieces & nephews, relax, & just be silly and laugh.

Here's a few more pics from the weekend.