Pennsylvania Trip, Day Two

After a delicious breakfast at our relatives' house where we spent the night, we attended a wild and crazy church service run by the children's ministry at my brother's church. My sister-in-law was very involved with the service, so of course it was lively and fun--just like her. :) After that, we headed back to my brother's house for some food and downtime. Josiah had so much fun playing with his cousins! They are a little older than him, and it's good for him to have older kid companionship so he learns how to relate to different age groups--i.e. your 10 year-old cousin won't let you boss him around like your 2 year-old brother does! :)

~ Josiah playing on a trampoline with his cousins Jacob and Isaac
~ Josiah playing foosball (again! wow, what a fun weekend!) with his cousin Isaac--last evening Josiah announced that we needed to buy a foosball table--after this weekend, he's fallen in love with the game!
~ my sister-in-law Lori holding David, who was not his normal chipper self--he seems to have caught a little cold yesterday and had some crying jags yesterday and last night

Pennsylvania Trip, Day One

Saturday evening, after Jeff came home from work, he gave our next-door neighbor a haircut, then we headed up the road to Pennsylvania on our trip. Since there was "not enough room in the inn" at my brother's house, we were able to spend the night with some relatives who live very close to the college I attended--and whom we had not seen for years. Their hospitality was amazing, and Josiah and David had a blast with all the kid-friendly entertainment at their house. Josiah didn't want to leave! :) It was a great way to start the weekend.

~ the boys playing with an old marble roller--they spotted this soon after entering the house and stayed glued to it for quite a while--fascinating, but simple, fun!
~ Jeff, my mother, and her second cousin discussing family history and swapping facts, pictures, and stories
~ my dad and Josiah playing foosball in the big downstairs room where we slept

Week 7

We just returned this evening from a weekend trip to Pennsylvania to visit family and see my niece Elizabeth's baptism. I had high hopes of having enough energy to write about the trip and post more pictures tonight; but at the moment, I'm feeling exhausted and nauseated...so off to bed I go, in just a moment.

This evening Jeff snapped this picture of me on my college campus (where the baptism was held). I'm at 7 and 1/2 weeks now, and I can see my tummy starting to grow. :) Jeff remarked, "Did you ever imagine, when you were in college here, that you'd come back and have two little boys running around all over the place?" The answer is--I never could have dreamed how my life would turn out. All those college days of wondering what the future held and not knowing so much about life (would I ever get married? would I ever return to Israel? would I have children? etc.) seem long ago...and now I sit and wonder about the future (how many children will I have? will I ever have a daughter? will we ever be able to leave the USA to do overseas mission work again? will my children decide to follow God? etc.). The questions may be different, but the fact of questioning remains the same! And the need to trust God with the unknowns--that is a constant!

Mad Hatter

~ whenever my mother wears a hat, David wants her to pick him up and hold him so he can take the hat off her head and put it on his own...he LOVES wearing her hats!
~ help! I'm being chased by a walking, reaching crazy hat!!!

"But I Only Drink Two Ounces a Day!"

This was the scene in our kitchen after our Friday night fellowship potluck. Our friend Bob telling my mom that she needed to get a MUCH BIGGER glass for her wine...my dear mother insisting that she wasn't actually imbibing, all the while holding an incriminating piece of evidence high for everyone to see, getting ready to pour out a drink--for me!!! Um, I don't think pregnant women are really supposed to drink alcohol. Sure, she said it was a health supplement made out of berry juice...but does anyone believe her??? Who puts vitamins in a wine bottle anyway??? :)

My New Favorite Bible Verse

Last night I was flipping through my Bible, searching for a verse someone had referred to...when lo and behold, my eyes landed on these words, right at the top of the page:

Yes, I carried you before you were born.

WOW!!! That was exactly what I needed to be reminded of! As I continue to wonder/worry about this tiny new baby, I have known all along that God has a perfect plan and all I need to do is trust Him, etc. But to see in a fresh way that God is carrying my child--right now!--and that He knows my child--without an ultrasound!--was a rush of fresh air in my face, a drink of cold water in the middle of a desert for me.

The verse in context is this:

Isaiah 46:3-4
Listen to me, descendants of Jacob,
all you who remain in Israel.
I have cared for you since you were born.
Yes, I carried you before you were born.
I will be your God throughout your lifetime--
until your hair is white with age.
I made you, and I will care for you.
I will carry you along and save you.

What great verses! I thank God for His timely words; they are something I can grab hold of and wrap my heart around and feel peace. Aahhhh, it feels sweet.

Have You Seen the New Line of McDonald's Dinnerware?

Josiah's family night was last Friday, and we all went to McDonald's for it--the McDonald's with a playground--always a big hit for our boys. Josiah ate his usual meal of french fries and plain hamburger--no ketchup, no mayo, not even a bun. McDonald's always serves it on a bun which Jeff makes good use of--he orders a double cheeseburger from the dollar menu, then takes one of the burgers and puts it on Josiah's empty bun, and wa-la!, another cheeseburger. :)

Josiah had asked if we could take the "Celebrate" plate along so he could eat off it...and really, what a great idea! So he had the fanciest dinnerware in the restaurant that night.

There was one other child playing on the playground besides our boys--another boy a little older than Josiah. His mother is Russian, and his father is Cuban, and they live in Virginia--I love the diversity in this country! He was a really nice boy, and Josiah had so much fun playing with him; it was an unexpected joyful part of his family night.

Just One of the Geniuses Living in Our House

Not too long ago, I was praying--consistently, fervently--that God would unlock David's lips and give him the gift of speech because David--well, David just didn't talk. He had a few sounds for communicating; but he didn't use very many words at all, and we (me more than Jeff, I think) were getting concerned, even to the point of considering speech therapy for him. That's really a whole other story that I fully intend to write about someday...

In any case, at the end of last week, I was reading back through my previous blog posts, and I came across one way back in January that showed Josiah and David TOGETHER putting these magnetic letters on the chart...and I thought, "Hmmm, I bet David could do this all by himself now." So I tried it...moved the chart around to the side of the refrigerator facing the bench...put all the lower-case letters on that bench...then asked David if he could put the letters back on the chart. That child is amazing. He did it! He really did it!!! I think he could find the right place for ALL the letters! In fact, I was so excited after he did it the first time that I took off all the letters so he could do it again; and I think he knew the letters so well that he was actually teasing me by putting them in the wrong places occasionally (like after a child learns how to put a hat on, then he puts it on backwards on purpose to make you laugh). That boy!

I wasn't the only one excited though--Josiah would yell gleefully and clap and dance around, and David would say "Yay!" and clap loudly and look around to make sure I saw that he got it in the right place. Our kitchen was the scene of much rejoicing--and none of it was quiet!

Peonies

This blog is a journal of all sorts of things--one of which is the flowers that have bloomed here this year. Latest in the line are peonies, and last week for Dad's birthday dinner we decorated the table with these beautiful flowers. The peonies in the top picture are especially meaningful to us since they are the peonies that decorated the church building for my parents' wedding, almost 44 years ago! Mother transplanted some of these peonies down to our house from the home in Pennsylvania in which her parents lived, and it's really special to have this living link to the past.

A Beginning

I still can't imagine how I'm ever going to get caught up on this blog (although I DO realize nobody's keeping score and it doesn't really matter if I get "caught up" or not!)...but I still regret the sands of time that are slipping through the hourglass so quickly, without me capturing them by writing down a memory. So, not really knowing where to start, I'll do a pregnancy update. :)

~ Still hard to believe I'm pregnant
~ 7 weeks today
~ Doing better than my last pregnancy, as far as being further along with no danger signs present
~ Feeling TIRED
~ Also feeling somewhat emotional (Jeff, you have my permission to snort at the "somewhat" part, since you alone know how I've really been)
~ Not having "real" morning sickness, but seem to have lost my appetite, and I can't convince myself to eat certain foods at all...finicky stomach
~ Did feel nauseated in the car during our Monday trip as we were driving through hilly, curving roads...not sure if that was pregnancy-related, or if I would have felt sick anyway...I had cut up a lemon and taken it along with us, and sucking on pieces of that helped me deal with my upset stomach
~ Have gained some weight already (that's not supposed to happen)
~ Am feeling like my stomach is bigger already; can't seem to suck it all the way in anymore (this, also, is not supposed to happen yet!)
~ Was hoping for an ultrasound today, but it didn't work out
~ Am really looking forward to seeing a beating heart on the screen; don't think I can really relax until that happens (although I feel hopeful and trusting overall)
~ First official prenatal appointment is June 13, which also happens to be Josiah's 5th birthday
~ Wondering how to balance being pregnant with caring for two young active boys and nurturing my marriage and paying attention to all the other obligations I have
~ If a genie popped out of a bottle and offered me one wish in all the world, I'd probably choose an ultrasound...which is silly because I KNOW I'll get one eventually, but I'm finding it difficult to be patient in this area...I feel like part of life/my heart/something? is on hold until I see that heartbeat...silly, silly, silly

Where Do I Even Start???

Trying to get caught up with this blog is like swimming against the current--if the river would just stop flowing for a minute, I could get somewhere!!! Instead life continues at a rapid pace, and each day there are numerous things that I could write about. When I miss a few days like I did this weekend, it feels a bit overwhelming...and late at night is not really the best time to get started catching up! So I'll just write a bit, and then plan (with as much hope as I can muster) to write more tomorrow. :)

Today was a lovely day--drive south through gorgeous countryside, unexpected stop at a waterfall, lunch and time to wade in the river at Humpback Bridge. So much more I could say, but these pictures will have to suffice--for now!

I Adore This Boy, Too!

David today...

~ looking at the books from Josiah's bed
~ playing drums
~ sitting in the chair we used for little Daniel last night (as soon as he finished his breakfast this morning, David was EAGER to sit in this chair and look at the books and play with the toys that Daniel did last night...this is the chair that David sits in when we eat at my parents' house, and I think he thought it a bit strange that another boy was sitting in it last night!)