We found out yesterday...

Who will most likely be nameless! Right now Anna/Hannah, June, Grace, and Camden are in the running. But that's as far as we've gotten!

A hodge-podge

We are slap busy over here. First things first -- tomorrow is our "big" ultrasound where we will hopefully be finding out the sex of the baby! YAY! No definite name choices yet, which kills me because with Sara, they were picked out well in advance. Our considerations are: Anna/Hannah for a first name, Grace/June for a middle name, and likely Luke for a boy, with the mn being either Michael (for obvious reasons), Samuel (because I love the Scripture, I'll have to share that later if we decide to go with that one) and Collum (my maiden name).

That's the good news. The bad news? A very close family member -- she is really like my sister, we are THAT close -- experienced a horrible tragedy this morning. Her house burned down. She (WE -- because in our family, when one is in pain, ALL are in pain) is absolutely devastated. Praise Jesus there was no one at home, although two beloved family pets were not so lucky. This is a very, very trying time for them, so please keep them in your prayers. I am reminded once again of a quote I've held dear for the past year or so -- "The Will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you." So true!

In other news -- I'm finally beginning to get my house back in order and actually feel HUMAN again. Today I am tackling closets and the guest bedroom -- my how quickly things pile up! It doesn't help that we have had the worst infestation of ants I have EVER seen in all of my 24 years. It seems like the ant problem the last two years here in AL have been worse than I ever remember. It's almost as bad as these nasty flies we had in England. Because it's such a cool (temperature-wise) country, air conditioners don't exist -- and in the too-short summer months, you leave your windows open -- and those little buggers ALWAYS seemed to sneak past the screen! But I still would love to go back, flies, spiders, cold weather and all. :)

I WILL post more regularly now. I promise. I PROMISE!

All Things Are Possible!

I am thrilled to death to make this post and show this picture! I have completely slacked from blogging for the past couple months, mostly because I have been trying as hard as possible to keep this little one growing and healthy. We have had a hard time since about the middle of November, and it got even worse in December, but things have slowly improved and I am so thankful to tell you this is my 15 week belly shot. :) Out of my 6 (yes, SIX!) pregnancies, I have only made it to 15 weeks once before, with Sara. My EDD is July 17, but I don't really care much for "due dates", so I won't be expecting this little one any time before the end of July.

Physically, I'm doing much better. The last episode of spotting was two weeks ago now. I'm feeling the baby move a little each day. The morninng sickness (which was HORRIBLE for the first 3 months) is slowly abating, although I still get nauseous over some things. I am offically in maternity-only and have been since about 10 weeks. We've had three ultrasounds and each one has shown a very healthy little one moving all around. My next appointment is February 8th, and I'm praying we're able to find out what it is!

Emotionally, it's a little more difficult. You know hormones are all out of whack when you're expecting anyway. When I was pregnant the second time last year (August 2009), the morning I found out I was pregnant I walked into church late to hear the song "All Things Are Possible" being sung. It really struck me. Even when I miscarried, I reminded myself that through Jesus, ALL things ARE possible. There is NOTHING He can't do! I have held on to that this time around, as well.

In other news, Sara is potty training! It's going SO well. She rarely has accidents -- maybe 2 or 3 a week -- but she wears diapers/pull-ups to bed and when we go out. We're working on her telling me she needs to potty when we're out and about, and it's a slow go, but I'm sure she'll get it. Because we are a one-car family (okay, that's not the whole truth -- Mike has a "dream truck" that is currently the "project truck" -- but he can't drive it back and forth to work all the time because it gets AWFUL gas mileage!) we stay at home except for one or two days a week. I really believe this, partnered with the fact that I waited until she let me know she was ready, without pushing her, is what is making this so easy! It won't be long until we're in diapers no more!

....for a few weeks, at least. :)

We are alive (barely)!

I say barely because since Thanksgiving, it has truly been one thing after another. Sara has been sick off and on, Michael was sick, and although I haven't officially announced it, we found out on November 8th that we are expecting another baby -- and morning sickness has attached itself to me and will NOT let me go. Some of you may or may not know, but this is our third try this year for another little one. We had a miscarriage in February and one on September 1, and true to past history, this one hasn't been easy, either. We've had several trips to the ER/OB clinic due to some problems I was having, but twice now we have seen a healthy little baby on ultrasound with a steadily beating heart! I am just 9 weeks, so still very early on.

So THAT is why I have been absent! It is all I can do most days to take care of myself and Sara, not to mention housework and all that good stuff. Hopefully it will fade soon, because I have a few new projects I really want to tackle and share! We will be doing a LOT of redecorating in the new year -- painting almost the whole house, laying wood floors, and even redoing some furniture. I can't wait to share!

Please say a prayer for Sara.

She is so sick. :( After praying hard and giving her Motrin and trying to wait it out, we finally got her fever down to 101.7 from 103+. She has ate 3 bites of chicken noodle soup and only had a couple cups of OJ all day long. I hate when she's sick -- I feel so bad for her. If her fever goes back up we'll be taking her into the ER. I'll likely be absent for a few days -- but please say a prayer for her!

Thursday's Ten

I haven't participated in the Thursday's Ten for a while, but I'd like to get back to it. This week, Lora put up Thursday's Ten on Wednesday so we could say what we were thankful for. Head on over there and link up to what you're thankful for!

Here's ten things I am thankful for:

1. Morning sickness (because it's a sign of a healthy baby)
2. No room in our bed at night (because it means my "baby" girl is snuggled up next to me and pushing me of the side, since she likes to take up as much room as possible)
3. Fried chicken
4. Yo Gabba Gabba (because sometimes it's the ONLY way I can shower!)
5. A church family who loves us and supports us and prays for us
6. My mama, because she raised me well, taught me the value of a dollar, and how to be graceful, even when it seems like the whole world is against you
7. Good in-laws, because I hear horror stories of people having awful ones, and that would be terrible
8. Living in Alabama (because there is NO place like it on earth!)
9. A husband who will clean up nasty messes when I don't have the stomach for it
10. High heeled shoes...because they are soo pretty!

Of course, there are many, many more (and more important) things to be thankful for, but these are just 10!

The germs have taken up official residence!

I'll spare you all the long and boring details, but in a nutshell -- Sara fell and hit her head pretty badly Saturday afternoon. She immediately started acting very lethargic and not really crying, but kind of whimpering. We comforted her for about 30 minutes, then I put her in the bath since she needed one and I thought that might help her feel better (it always makes ME feel better!). No sooner than I took her out and she started vomiting EVERYWHERE. So I'm thinking the worst (my baby just hit her head and she's acting weird and vomiting!) and we decide to take her to the ER. I was busy keeping her awake the whole time Mike was driving...and he must have been driving crazy, because we got pulled over on the way. Mike jumped out of the car and told the police officer what was going on, and he actually escorted us to the entrance to post! Of course, no sooner than we turned onto the side road, we realized there was a HUGE protest going on. Ok, seriously? Why would you close down a WHOLE GATE (one of the most main entrances -- actually, THE main entrance for those who live where we live!) for a protest? I get that they are important to the ones who put them on. But what if my baby had been dying?

Anyway, long story made not-so-short, two trips to the ER, getting thrown up on A LOT, and getting to bed at 5 am later, Sara is feeling much better and we all have a virus. All of us. Thanksgiving week. Isn't that awesome?!

On a happier note, I went to two different Goodwills last week and scored a LOT of pretty cool stuff to make over! I will be working on that this week and showing it to ya'll!