C&C

Will, Mel and Callan are here and it's so fun. Our lives have changed drastically--no more quick trips (or long trips) to Target or Classy Consignment without bottles, carriers and diapers--but we wouldn't change it. We so look forward to the girls playing "dreth-up" together one day. So much so that we put their pumpkin hats on and tried to take a picture. These are a few of the better ones (out of about 100). It is NOT easy to take pics of babies but it was fun.

My pretty girls

Nevertheless...

I’d like to share a quote from When the Heart Cries, by Cindy Woodsmall. (Warning: if you haven’t read When the Heart Cries, the following is a plot spoiler.)

As she stared through the window, a soft whisper crossed her soul.
Nevertheless.
It was an odd word coming to her at an odd time, but it kept circling through her mind, whispering hope.
Life hurt. Nevertheless, it was a gift worthy of honoring.
Nevertheless.
The word came stronger this time, immediately lifting her spirits and causing sprigs of new faith to grow.
Her infant had died. Nevertheless, Rachel was now with God.
Hannah’s relationship with Paul was over. Nevertheless, God’s strength would pull her through.
If everything ended with God, then those who were in Him had a good ending—eventually.
A deep warmth comforted her.

I believe this is a truth for every believer. Nevertheless, God. I also believe there are untold victories to be won all throughout life as we fight the good fight.

Birthday story

I think I'm never gonna have a chance to catch up with some of you. So, I'll tell you the birthday story here in short form...

My water broke Sat night in the night but I didn't know it. Thought it was a bladder control problem--sorry men. Sunday night, the same thing happened so I called Mon and went in and, sure enough, my water had broken. They sent me straight to hospital because of that but also because my Group B Strep was positive. I got to hospital at 1, and was b/t 2-3 cm. They did antibiotics for the GBS and b/c water had been broken awhile. Started Penicillin and it BURNED like nothing else. It was horrible. Doc came in, though, and wanted to change it to Ampicillin (sp?) because that covers more bacteria in case of infection. They started the antibiotic at 2, stopped it at 2:30, and started the Pitocin. They told me I could have an epidural whenever so I told them to bring it on. I think I felt 3-5 contractions total. They checked me at 4:00, and I was still b/t 2-3, so I assumed it would be a long night.

At 5, Mom called to say the kids were restless so I told them to go eat at the mall and then come on to the hospital. They gave me the second round of antibiotics at 6:00, and came in to stop it and check me at 6:30. Doctor started smiling and said, "I feel a big head but no cervix. You went from 2 to 10 in two hours, dear." Scott was SHOOK. He said, "What does that mean?" She said, "It means we're having a baby now!"

He had to call Mom and Daddy and tell them to abort the mall plan and get down there. They had me push once then made me stop because she was coming and they had to "suit up." I pushed during the next two contractions and she was born at 6:39. That means they checked me at 6:30, I pushed, they made me stop pushing, got their gear on, and I pushed twice more for her to be born in 9 minutes.

The recovery is WAY better than w/Reagan, which is not a surprise with such a shorter labor and delivery (18 hours with him and an hour and forty five minutes of pushing).

So the kids love her. They are great with her - want to see her and hold her but aren't too "in her face" about it all.

Anyway, there's the story. I am sorry I haven't caught up with several of you. It's just hard to get any alone time and when I do get a good break, knowing she'll sleep awhile, I try to nap. She's a good baby, though. :)

My helpers are gone :(

My parents are so much help when they're here. Bless their hearts, I kept talking them into staying longer. They had been here for two-and-a-half weeks, though, and needed to get back to their lives in Alabama. Daddy has to ref soccer, work hours on the visitors' list and move chairs. Mom has to teach tomorrow, go to the jail tomorrow and drive to Nashville Monday for her aunt's funeral. PLUS they miss their OTHER new granddaughter.

There is no way to thank them appropriately for everything they do--taking the children to school and picking them up every day, driving back and forth to the hospital, getting Starbucks for me every morning on the way home from school, keeping up with the laundry, taking Reagan to baseball practice, sitting in the Florida September heat for Tyler and Reagan's baseball games, going to Taylor's volleyball games, fixing our smoke detectors and falling shelves and clothes hang-ups and garage car stoppers and stopped-up sinks and recessed light canisters, keeping up with the laundry, ironing, decorating for Halloween, letting me nap, stitching up holes in school uniform pants, helping with homework non-stop, cleaning the kitchen, helping with dinner, keeping up with the laundry, climbing on ladders to dust the things on the high shelves, teaching Reagan all sbout baseball, washing and vacuuming out my car, changing diapers (they didn't hate that part), hanging prints, taking pictures, etc. Did I mention keeping up with the laundry?

I will miss them terribly but I'm so thankful they have such full lives at home.

On another sad note, my big girl shaved her legs tonight for the first time and my little girl already weighs 9 lbs, 4 oz. WHERE IS THE TIME GOING???

Quick pics

Worth the wait!

Well, she's here!

She's beautiful (of course we think so), super-good so far and chunky with a bit of light brown hair.

I had an unfairly easy delivery (felt three contractions--GOD BLESS THE MAN WHO INVENTED EPIDURALS--and pushed three times) and feel great today.

She is the picture of health (How can ANYONE doubt God's power, much less existence?!!), weighing in at 8 lbs, 11.5 oz. She is 19.5" inches long and was born at 6:39 PM last night, after only about 5 hours at the hospital. :)

More details later but here is a picture for now.

Thank you all so very much for your faithful prayers and for feeling sorry for me a little bit. lol

Progress!

I am 2 cm, 70% effaced, -2 station and I lost 2 lbs. That's progress, thank the Lord. :)

Natural induction

Okay - it's official. I'm over this. I have been so very blessed to have a great pregnancy so far, even considering the bed rest, but now I'm over it. I can't get comfy and everything hurts when I am active at all. I know I'm not due for three more days but JEEZ-A-LOU!

So, any suggestions? I have tried eggplant parmesan (last Thursday), walking, Metamucil, spicy Mexican food, several more private suggestions and I actually bought some castor oil today. (I don't think I want to go that route because of the horror stories I've heard.) I have also heard of red raspberry leaf tea. Maybe I'll go find some tomorrow.

Any other ideas?

(This is a picture Tyler drew of me six years ago, when I was expecting Reagan and Tyler was 5.)

Memories

Where, oh where does the time go? I looked at older posts today and this is from my first, more than two years ago. I might have to go have a good cry. How did they grow up so fast?

Ordinary Things

Ordinary Things

I believe that God sometimes speaks to us through the ordinary things in our lives–even those things that are so ingrained in our daily routine that we hardly notice them at all.
As I arrived to work yesterday, my right hand reached to my hip where I usually find my corporate ID badge. As my hand fumbled and searched in vain my face flushed with the realization that my badge was not there, but rather hanging comfortably in its normal nightly resting place at home.

My first thoughts were of the hassle of checking in at the security desk, the delay it would cause and having to surrender my driver’s license. These thoughts were quickly replaced with thoughts of embarrassment resulting from the impending call to Human Resources, arriving late to my cube and the “special” ID badge I would have the privilege of donning for the day–you know, the one with a black rectangle where your smiling face should be and the wide red stripe at the bottom that serves as a beacon to tell everyone that you forgot your badge again.


As I passed through the turnstile and clipped the badge on my shirt I noticed two words in bold font on the badge in place of my name. The words were certainly not unfamiliar, in fact I had seen them on a similar badge that I wore two days before. The difference was that this time I heard a soft, gentle voice saying something to me. Very likely that voice had spoken the same thing on other occasions–times when I was simply too hurried or busy to notice. Maybe I was unable to hear because of all the other clamor in my life. Somehow this time was different. The two words were “Temporary Employee.”


Temporary was the word that caught my attention and I heard the quiet voice say “Son, the life you are experiencing now is just that: temporary.” Thoughts started racing through my mind and I realized how focused on the temporal I have become. Not only is my employment temporary, but so is the motorcycle I rode to work on, the garage that houses it, the home it is attached to, the clothes I hurried to put on, the bed I labored to roll out of and the list goes on. I thought about how I kissed my wife and son before I left home and about how temporary our very lives on Earth are. I thought of how my life seems to be spent flitting from one temporal thing to another.

However, temporal things are not the problem. The problem is my focus on the temporal to the exclusion of the eternal. I know in my heart that I should pursue the eternal with utmost priority, but find myself drowning in the Sea of Temporality. My heart knows that I should "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33), but it seems as though this reality is hidden from my fleshly eyes and like the crew of the Starship Enterprise, I have encountered a temporal rift and am stuck in a loop forever retracing my steps.

Although frustrated with my own frailty, I know our God is the One who holds everything in the palm of His hand; the One who knows all the stars by name; all knowing, all powerful, yet full of tenderness and grace; longing to pour mercy into the hearts of His children. It is this knowledge that give this struggling soul hope. May the Lord continue to use ordinary things to remind us all to focus on what really matters in this life and especially as they relate to the life to come. May we be able to recognize the things that are temporal and use them to ensure our lives are ever being changed into the likeness of Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God.


© Jeff Bogue, September 9, 2008 (Special thanks to Bill Williams for passing this along!)

THERE IS AN END IN SIGHT!

The doctor's office finally called today to schedule my induction. I do NOT want to be induced but I also don't want to go too far past my due date.

I'm due September 18, and they scheduled the induction for September 24. So, she'll be here in fewer than two weeks.

Thank goodness...I think.

When I think about the fact that there's going to be a baby in this house in fewer than 15 days, I could panic BUT when I think about being pregnant for two more weeks, I could cry. So, I guess either way is terribly frightening.

That's life, huh?

Madelyn is here!

Introducing our new niece and cousin!

Madelyn Joy Tanksley, daughter of Jarod and Emily Kuykendall Tanksley, was born last night at 9:00, and weighed in at 8 lbs, 10 oz!!

Isn't she gorgeous?!

Priceless reaction

Well, the surprise couldn't have gone better. Mel and Callan and I got home from the airport just before Scott and the children got home from church. Here is their reaction. Priceless! (And the reaction is quite typical. Tyler is lost and Taylor does her, "Tahhh-ler!" lol Tyler later admitted that he was thinking it was Carley. He's a silly boy.)

This morning, Reagan told Mel that he knew Mel was here because, "I mean, how would Callan get here? Did you mail her?" lol Last night, he said, "Mel, I knew you were here because who would take care of Callan?"




And this is Callan's bed while she's here. How sweet is she in Carley's moses basket?!!

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO SEE US!!!!

AND I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. Last night, Taylor said, "Mom, I don't mean to hurt your feelings but...your tummy is HUGE! It looks like it hurts." Yes. My tummy is HUGE. And yes. It's beginning to hurt.

I HAVE TO BRAG!

Okay, I know we all think our kids and our nieces and our nephews and our grandchildren are the cutest, but let's all be honest here. Callan is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen. I LOVE this new picture of her!!!

No change

I had my 37-week doctor's appointment today and THEY DIDN'T EVEN CHECK ME. Waah waah waah. Oh well. Still hanging in there and feeling good. (By the way, that's me in the picture. I can say that because most of my readers live 12+ hours away.)

"In God alone is fullness of joy."

More quotes from The Dangerous Duty of Delight, by John Piper.

"The end of the creation is that the creation might glorify [God]. Now what is glorifying God, but a rejoicing at that glory he has displayed?"

"We are commanded to rejoice in God. If obedience is doing what God commands, then joy is not merely the spin-off of obedience, it is obedience."

My personal favorite: "In God alone is fullness of joy and joy forever."

"God is glorified not only by His glory's being seen, but by its being rejoiced in. When those who see it delight in it, God is more glorified than if they only see it. His glory is then received by the whole soul, both by the understanding and by the heart."

My second favorite: "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him."

The glory of God is at stake in our pursuit of joy.

Our new favorite game

Mom has been here this week. She brought Tiddlywinks for the kids and we are all addicted. They played every day. Reagan and I played today until time to go get T&T at school. Good times!

Amazing!