Water Pumps and Miscellany. . .

Just remembered something else that I wanted to comment on. A few days ago, our car ("The Old Gray Mare" - an '89 Oldsmobile) started making gurgling noises. Now, I'm no mechanic, but I didn't think that was normal. We took the car in to our trusty mechanic and sure enough, the water pump was broken! I must admit, my feelings toward the car at this point were not of a friendly nature - we've had it at the garage 3 times in the last 6 - 7 months (twice it had to be towed), but then I realized that God has provided the funds every single time and has protected us from accidents and being stranded in strange places every time. In this particular instance, two weeks ago, I decided to set aside "for no reason" every extra dollar I could into a savings that we try not to use regularly. Well, the amount I was able to set aside more than covered the amount of our car repairs! Also, God has given us a mechanic that we trust, and has never tried to cheat us because we are a young couple who "don't know any better." When we went to pick the car up, the mechanic told Mike that we were very "fortunate" not to have lost any of the fluids (he was very surprised that we hadn't, he said it just started pouring out once he started working on it!), if we had, driving it could have overheated the engine. Fortunate indeed - Blessed is more like it!
I must admit that I don't always take the time to "count my blessings," but God is so very good to us. Reviewing this incident to write for this blog has made me realize how amazing God's care of His children is. Often I am tempted to look at situations as "it's a good thing I was able to do such and such to work that out," but it truly is none of me and all of HIM!
And since, I'm on the topic, another blessing this week was being able to get together with my friend Lyndsey and have a "girl's evening out." We had a great time of fellowship and she was an incredible help in whittling down my list of baby necessities - I tend to get overwhelmed by my "to do's" and "things we need before the baby arrives" - it definitely helps to have someone who's been there recently for advice!

Morning Wake-up Call. . .

Well, what a blessing - this morning, Mike got a call from the night shift supervisor saying that he didn't have to come into work today! Originally Mike had been told that he would have to stay over 4 hours tonight, and possibly work tomorrow; but apparently there wasn't enough work to do. The really neat thing about it is that if he gets laid off for a single day at the company's discretion, he still gets paid almost as much as he would if he went to work!
So, now to come up with my "honey do" list!!! Can't let him off the hook that easy!
Last evening, my darling dog did as dogs do and rolled in something horrendous smelling outside - that can mean only one thing - BATH TIME! Now, Daisy is fine with me brushing her teeth, clipping her nails, and in general making her miserable; but this dog-o-mine just HATES getting bathed (hates being wet in general). She kept trying to jump out of the tub. Usually I can handle a 25 lb. dog, but add a 9 month-pregnant belly to get in the way and slow me down, and it gets a little crazy!
The really fun thing about giving her a bath is her reaction when finished - she runs around the house like a crazy wild animal, rolling on any soft, dry surface she can find. Usually, she just jumps up on our bed and starts burrowing through pillows and between blankets to get the "stink of clean" off of her! It really is a sight to behold.

Quite the artist...

What Kris failed to mention in the post about the nursery was that she painted all the characters on the walls. My budding artist painted eighteen scenes in all. It took her two and a half hours to do each one over a three week period. The pictures just don't do them justice!

Houston we have a . . .

CRIB! I am just so excited to be able to say that Baby may come at his/her leisure and our home is ready to accomodate him/her! Mike and his dad worked together to build a crib for the baby and it turned out beeeeaaaauuuutifully! Now, we have taken photos of the nursery that I will attempt to post. There are also pics of my big pregnant belly - by popular request.

HaPpY BiRtHdAy To. . .

MY DOG! Daisy Mae is 2 years old today! And what did her loving mother do for her? I got her an appt. to see the vet!!! Oh, how she will love me (especially on top of the thunderstorms we have had all morning, which shake her to her very core!)! Oh well, she knows I love her! Plus, I already promised her Puppy Ice Cream later (yes, I do buy my dog her own ice cream, but at least it's better for her than people ice cream!)!

My Life as a Blog. . .

I think that this is a bad sign - maybe I've become too obsessive about my blog, and I just started it. Last night, I had a dream that my life was a blog - and someone else (actually several someone elses) were the writers! Whoa! Now, if I were to psychoanalyse myself, it would probably go something like this: the fact that other people (none of whom I know by the way)were composing my life means that I care too much about what other people think and live my life by other people's expectations. Sounds pretty good, huh (the analysis, not the meaning)?!? Maybe I have found my calling in life!!! Actually, I think the dream was the result of too much strawberry shortcake before going to bed - that and trying to figure out all the best set-up options for my blog. I must admit, I do tend to obsess about things until I get them just so.
I guess I haven't found my calling after all. My mother-in-law suggested a more probable interpretation (if one believes in that sort of thing) which was that I feel as though I don't have control of a lot of things going on in my life right now - which is certainly the case! I guess I'll have to keep looking for what I want to be when I grow up!!!

State of Being. . .

Since this blog is partly for the purpose of sharing about the exciting and life altering event of having a child, I will bring anyone who cares to read up to speed. We first learned of our pregnancy in November of 2005. We had been trying to get pregnant for a while (about 6 months), so we were very excited to learn that we were!!! We waited to tell everyone (except close family) until around Christmas, due to the possibility of complications. Everything seemed to be going along fine - especially if lots of morning sickness and dizziness constitutes "fine" - until we went in for our 20-something week ultrasound. There we were informed that the baby appeared to have a two-vessel cord (a condition known as Single Umbilical Artery - for more information, visit March of Dimes website). We were referred to a perinatologist for further tests and consultation. Everything was A-OK at that visit, so it was determined that I would just need close monitoring to ensure that a problem didn't develop. To this end, next week I begin a series of half hour "non stress tests" that will occur weekly until the baby is born. We also learned from our last appt. that I have Group B Strep, which will require me to have IV antibiotics during labor and delivery. I have found myself struggling with these issues at times because I fear that they will "rob" me of the birth I had planned, but we are constantly being reminded throughout this pregnancy that God is in control and He will work all things out according to His plan and for His glory! Sometimes, it is hard to simply TRUST instead of planning everything the way I want it - but I can say with assurance that HIS way is best.

Beginnings. . .

Well, here's my first foray into the world of blogging. I have enjoyed lurking on other blogs for a while now, but never got around to creating my own. Now that the birth of our first baby is nearly upon us (mid July), it seemed as good a time as any to get started.