HOME!!

Yeah... After three days in the hospital, I got to come home on Saturday! I am so excited to be with my hubby and my kidos! I think laying there in the hospital only makes me appreciate how much I love my family and miss them when I am gone. Even though I was gone, I am so lucky to have such wonderful, smart, caring people to look after me and the baby until he comes.


So the plan is this... in a little under two weeks I will get an amnio done to check the babies lunch development. If all comes back good, then we will go ahead and induce labor that week. My body is done being pregnant. By then I will be 35 weeks, with steriods already onboard for the babies lungs, and him measuring a whole two weeks ahead in weight. We are praying that alll goes well and that he will be able to come home right away.

I finally kicked the kidney infection after being on IV antibiotics for three days, so the contractions have slowed down a lot. I still have a couple an hour but nothing horrible. They are watching my heart carefully as it has been giving me drama over the last couple of days, and also the shunt I have in my kidney to make sure that I get another infection. It would mean so much to our family if you could be praying for the baby and that he would be ready to come out in the next two weeks so I can get back to feeling healthy and taking care of my family.

I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful family. They have been so wonderful in helping us take care of the boys and making sure that I am taken care of when Ricky is at work. It means so much to us that they care and near by to help.

Doctor's appointment on Wednesday so check on mommy and baby so I will let you all know how it goes then!

Quick Update...

Hey all.. sorry I have been MIA for the past couple of days. Monday I was not feeling good, and then Monday night I starting having a lot of contractions. So on Doctor's orders we headed down to Loma Linda where we stayed all night, only to find out that I have a kidney infection which started the contractions. I got to go home on Tuesday morning around 4:30am and spent the day at my parents so they could help me with the kids. My poor hubby went to work all day.....

Anyway, I am at home now and still feeling under the weather from the infection so any prayers that you all want to send up for me would be great!! I have some errands that I need to run today so I need strength for that too....

Hope to be back to blogging soon!

I am so blessed...

Last night we went to our regular small group meeting, and I was suprised by a baby shower for the new little bun that is on his way in about 5 weeks! It was so sweet of everyone to think of us, and it really was a special time. I am truly blessed to have such wonderful, thoughtful people in my life.

THANKS HEIDI FOR THE COOL CAKE!!! I REALLY WAS TOTALLY SUPRISED!

Picture's From Jake's First Game!!!

Jake's first T-Ball game was monday night! We had a blast! They practice for 30 min before the game and then have a 30 min game in which all the kids get to batt and then field the ball while the other team hits.


I think the fielding was the funniest part... when the other team would hit the ball, every single one of our players would run for the ball and then all jump on top of eachother. It ended in a dog pile of kids after every hit. It was so cute!

Jake hit 4th as he is NUMBER 4 this year, and he did great! He hit the ball really far off the Tee and did great running the bases. He only missed second by a few feet! I am loving this!

Oh, I almost forgot, there was a moment when the other team was fielding when almost all of them broke into tears. I am not sure what happened to make them start but it was so cute to see them all out there with big tears and their parents trying to help but encourage them to play at the same time. Jake did end up crying in his first game too... in the last pile up of the game, a little person stepped on his hand while wearing cleats and that made him upset. He got over it pretty quick after a couple of kisses from Mommy and a hug from Daddy. Then he was back to new!

Here are a few pictures that we took...

The passage way....

While I have read John 10 every day this week, I have not gotten to post my thoughts like I was planning... life sometimes gets in the way of a few min at the computer in the quiet. Not that it is all that quiet right now... Diego is playing the background and I have a very very hungry 1 year old sitting next to me eating pancakes and bannana's, but it will work for now.

7Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.

So as I read this passage again this morning... I think what sticks out to me is

I guess when I read this I think of a passage way, something that allowes you to move freely inbetween two spaces. The first place would be a place of rest and security. Where you would go to lay your head down at night, where you would run to if you were scared. A place that above all, you long to be when you are lonely or sad. The place where you want to celebrate the joys of your life and mourn the loses. HOME comes to mind when I think of this place.

The second space would be that where you have to go, where you would need to go to survive. Where you would get food, make trades to gain ownership, a place where you would need to deal with other people, people who might not be of the same flock as you. This is an unprotected space, where you are more likely to be attacked by the enemy. I guess what I am getting at, is in my mind, I see this second place as the WORLD


So for Jesus to be the GATE, only makes sense to me. As the gate He is the go between for us. We pass through him to leave and through him to come home. When we are enclosed in the fences that he has built for us, there is a sense of peace and safety. There is also the knowledge of knowing that even after we have had to spend the day in WORLD, we will always be able to pass through the GATE into HOME.

I have no idea if any of that made any sense to anyone else... but that is just what I was thinking when I read that passage.

MORE T-BALL

Tonight is Jake's First Game!! I am super excited to see him in action with all his little friends! He has been asking to wear his uniform all day, but I am holding off so I don't have to wash it again at the last min. HE COULD NOT TAKE IT OFF ON SAT!!!

Just so you guys know... we would love anyone who wants to come to be there... The practice is at 6:00pm and the game is at 6:30pm. We play at the old Pebble Beach (NOW CALLED DORIS DAVIES) Park on the side closest to Hughes St. He is going to be on the BLUE field this week and they have little gray shirts with black pants and gray hats..... I am sure it will be an interesting event!

I'll post pictures tomorrow!

T-BALL!!!

So this morning was our first go at organized sports! Jake started PEE WEE T-Ball this spring and this morning was opening day for his team the Centipedes (Gray and Black). After a week of getting him ready, glove hunting (left handed T-Ball glove, ya right!!!) practice on thursday, pants, socks, and cleats on Friday and then TODAY... was the big day... Here are a few pictures that we took of our little man on his big day!

WEIRD!!!

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A London department store has started
selling coffee for $100 a shot.

Civet cats: The coffee beans are
collected from the animal's faeces.

If the price sounds unappealing, then
shoppers also have to overcome the unusual method of cultivation, which sees the
coffee beans harvested from the faeces of an Indonesian jungle cat.
Even so,
the Peter Jones store says the luxury blend -- called Caffé Raro -- is one of
the world's rarest and most premium coffees.
Made by the Italian company De
Longhi, Caffé Raro combines Jamaican Blue Mountain and Kupi Luwak, two extremely
rare coffees.
The beans of Kupi Luwak are harvested after first being
ingested by Civet cats and only around 260 kilos of the coffee is produced each
year.
Don't Miss
Is cat dung coffee worth $100 a shot?
"The
cats select the best beans to chew. It's rather like a natural filtering
process," Carie Barkhuzen, a spokeswoman for the upmarket store in London's
upmarket Sloane Square told CNN.
The coffee, which went on sale yesterday,
is either available at $100 for a shot at the Peter Jones Espresso Bar, or
shoppers can buy 100g packs of the coffee beans to take away for the same price.
"It's not exactly flying off the shelves -- it's very expensive after all --
but customers are buying it," Barkhuzen said.
The proceeds from the coffee
sales will go to charity

OK PLEASE TELL ME THIS IS A JOKE???!!! That is so crazy!!

Becuase they know His voice....

So last night as part of our AMAZING Bible study, we went over John 10 1:21, following up from this week at church. As part of our discussion and application we were challenged to re-read this passage every day this week and try to get something out of it that we had not the day before. So in order to keep myself accountable I am going to BLOG mine as I do it.

5But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him
because they do not recognize a stranger's voice."

As I sit here and think about this section of the verse, what comes to mind is the amazing ability of such a stupid animal to know the difference between two voices, even in a crowd of other sheep and shepherds, they are able to pick out the distinct voice of their own master. How is it that such a stupid animal can do this, yet we as the "intelligent race" can't seem to handle this task of knowing the difference between our own Master's voice and that of a stranger mocking him?

Is it possibly because we often choose not to listen? Choose to stay where we are, to not pick up and leave when we are called? Or is it because we allow ourselves to become distracted by the world around us, so much so, that the voice of our Master and the voice of another become to similar in our own minds?

I want to be a woman who hears her Master's voice so clearly that there is no mistaking.

I want to be a woman who drops all when she is called by her Master.

I want to be a woman who is not easily distracted by the things of the world.

This is my prayer today.

Feeling ok today... Thank you LORD!!

So today, I actually am making dinner. I know that sounds stupid but since everything with the pregnancy has been going all crazy I have not made a real dinner it what seems like forever! I did not get out of PJ's yet... but hey, who can do all that in one day! LOL... I actually feel good about the amount of stuff that I got done today...

Two loads of laundry- Needed clean blankies for Carter (EW!!!)

Cleaned out all of Carter's old clothes that don't fit and got all his new birthday stuff put away.

Played STAR WARS guys with Jake

Laid down for a little while

MADE DINNER!!!! (SPAGHETTI)

Blogged.....

and now I am off to try to make myself look presentable for when Ricky comes home from work!

Last night.... a new beginning...hopefully?!

So yesterday I just was on some kind of a emotional roller coaster ride, but it was the kind where all you wanted to do was get off and some how could not... I was crying over everything and nothing. Big stuff and small stuff.. I think some of it has come from nights of not sleeping good, by body is tired, my back hurts and I can not seem to find a spot in the bed where I can sleep without being irritated and I am uncomfortable.

So yesterday afternoon the frustration hit a high for me. I laid in bed and cried and could not stop. My poor husband, confused and I am sure totally overwhelmed with his crazy wife, was not really sure what to say or do. I felt so frustrated at that moment, so weak, so alone, so broken. Like a good husband, he hugged and kissed and told me it was going to be ok and he still loved the crazy me just the same as the "regular NOT pregnant" me, which I wanted to say made me feel better, but in all reality it only smoothed it over.

As we walked into the building for church last night, Ricky walking to take Carter to class and I to take Jake, it all came flooding back. I kept my head down and walked him to class and then immediately went looking for Ricky. My comfort. It was all I could do not to cry every time someone asked me how I was feeling.... "NOT GOOD!!!" that is what I wanted to scream but instead, "I am hanging in there, thanks" with a smile.

We go sit down in the back, we never use to sit in the back, but that seems to be where I am more comfortable these days, and the music starts. At first I feel sad that Matt and regular band are not there to lead worship and then as I settle in, I start to feel God's peace come over me. "All who are weary, all who are weak...." "....Defender of the weak....He will not grow weary..."

Oh its amazing how God can speak to you when you are at a low.... When I felt down, weak and lonely, I am reminded how God is not weak, down, He is only STRONG, EVERLASTING, HE DOES NOT GROW WEARY, HE IS THE DEFENDER OF THE WEAK, HE IS MY COMFORTER. That my strength needs to come from HIM... if I wait... wait.... upon Him... He will deliver me. He is my hope and I am encouraged by the knowledge that I am not suppose to do this alone. That even though my body, mind and spirit are tired and weak, He will defend me, and then lift me up and heal me!

Thank you Lord, for never being weak or weary... thank you for letting me wait upon you and gain strength from you.

Looking forward to TODAY!

I am so looking forward to this afternoon!! We are going to watch good basketball with good friends and family and eat good food!

I thought I would take a moment to write, Carter is sleeping, Jake is gone for the weekend, and my wonderful husband is golfing (I am so glad he is getting to do something fun after all the hard work he does all week...hopefully we can keep the clubs all in one piece...LOL).

Last night we had a great night, Christopher celebrated his 17h birthday last night at Olive Garden and we had a great time. I don't think I have ever seen a kid eat like Carter and Jake did last night. They both had salad, pasta, cake and anything else we could get in front of them the fastest. It was so much fun to see Jake with his Grandma Debbie... even though we don't see them enough, he sure never acts like it. He wanted to sit with her, eat with her, and snuggle as much as he could get in. We are so lucky to have such wonderful people in our family, that we call our friends.

I am going to work on cleaning the house this morning while Carter is sleeping and hopefully get some thank you cards out from his Birthday party... I am getting so bad at that since life has gotten so busy but I AM GOING TO DO IT THIS TIME!!!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I am sure that we will see many of you soon! Hugs!

Another thought for the day...

So I loved last week at church, with Tom talking about stopping and actually looking for God and what he is doing instead of being so focused on what else is going on around you. Since my circumstances this week forced me into some alone time I wanted to share with you what was on my heart and how I have been reflecting on that.

There are so many days that go by when I take what my wonderful husband does for granted. For the most part he goes to work, comes home, plays with the kids and helps me get them ready for bed. But in all reality he does so much more than that... This week I reflected on how God works through my husband- My husband gets up earlier than he has to.. normally between 5am and 6am to get to work- not because he has to but because he wants to be home with his family earlier in the day. He comes home from work after letting me call him more times that a wife should call her husband in the day.... only to make sure that even though the boys run to him so excited I ALWAYS get the first hug and kiss! That makes me heart burst just thinking about it. God- Make your spouse your first priority, above your children

My wonderful husband not only comes home early but lately he has not had dinner to look forward too... and while he could complain and be upset, he rarely does. He always asks me what he can make me for dinner. God- A servants heart will be blessed

Every night, tired or not, he takes Jake to bed, reads his Bible (JESUS BOOK) with him, prays and let Jake talk about his day, even though that mostly at this point consists of talking about STAR WARS. God- Making all things right, being with his children even in the moments when he has other things to do.

So all in all... I am so thankful that God shows himself through my husband on daily, weekly, and continual basis!

Good Morning- Oh its good to be HOME!!

So the last three days I spent at Loma Linda.... Kidney Stones is what they are saying! It was the worst pain I have ever ever had and I don't wish it on anyone... well maybe a guy once in a while since they say its close to giving birth without meds! LOL.

So anyway, today is my first day back at home with the kids and I think its going pretty well. They both slept until 8:00am which was nice and even though Carter had a doctor appointment at 8:30 that we did not get to go to because he is still yucky in his chest (and no shots when they have yuckies) so I needed to reschedule!

Lucky him., mommy has to get her second set of shots today at Loma Linda so we will be driving back down there around 2:00pm to do that. They decided to start the baby on stariod shots to improve his lunch function incase he needs to come out earlier that 38 weeks. So we started those yesterday and will finish the last one today.

Tonight we are going to try to go out for Christopher's 17th birthday (for those of you who don't know him, he is super special to us... mostly like my little brother as we have been a part of eachothers lives since he was only 6 weeks old. One of Carter's middle names is also Christopher) I am hoping that all goes well today so we can go and enjoy some good hang out time with Uncle Chris!

Anyway, that is a brief catch up on the week and I will check in later! Hope you all are having a great week and Iwill talk to you soon!

oh I thought you might like to see a cute picture of the boys that we took recently!