I Need A Maid

Okay, in the grand scheme of needs in this world I don't really need a maid (not even close).  Would I love a housekeeper?  Would we benefit from one?  Yes, greatly!  Yet I'm pretty sure I'll never have one.  There are just too many other real needs and one of these days maybe we'll all learn to clean up after ourselves!:)  But clearly we aren't there yet.  In fact our house feels like a disaster these days.  You see my three little children are conspiring against me and a clean house!  Yes, all three of them...already.

Lily and Eli have entered a wonderful new stage over the last few months where 70% of the time they are quite happy playing together without me or Joe being a part.  This has been a blessing most of the time to this  rather sick pregnant mama.  It's also created a constant disaster.  There are remnants of their toys and play and "creativity" everywhere. And while they are being asked to clean up their own things much more often...we just can't keep up!

Lily is in a very creative, crafty, artsy stage.  I love this.  But it also means that there are colored pencils, crayons, paper, tape, glitter, beads, etc...everywhere I turn!

And Eli...Eli is just in the stage where he LOVES to dump everything out and he loves things that have little pieces!

Here is some evidence...

This is part of our living room...sort of like an informal play area.  This picture was taken a week or two ago around 9:30 or so in the morning.  I kid you not that the evening before we had this area totally cleaned.  We didn't even make it through the morning before it looked like this!:)

And the third one?  Well, it's not his fault really at all...but let's just say that this pregnancy has made it harder than ever to keep up around the house.  

They are all working against me see?:)

And I need a maid.  Okay, I don't NEED a maid...but a girl can dream!

It's a BOY!

We had our ultrasound on Monday and learned that we are having a baby BOY!!  We are all VERY excited  (and I'll share more soon how we shared the news with the kids)!

We saw his little face for the first time and I fell totally and completely in love with this little guy.  Even though  the 3D images are a big lumpy and "clay-mation" like and he will likely look quite different when he is born there is still something so special about being able to see his face...the little nose and chin and lips.  Yep, I'm in love.

Most of the ultrasound went great, but near the end they found an area of concern.  His bowel showed up brighter than normal on the ultrasound and just a little bit later he was diagnosed with an echogenic bowel (which basically means that the texture of his bowel appears inflamed).

After speaking with two doctors and a genetic counselor in Portland we've learned that this could be something very minor or something more serious.  In the majority of cases it is something very minor that resolves itself and the baby is totally healthy.  However, it could also mean that the baby has a viral infection, cystic fibrosis, downs syndrome, or a blockage in his bowel.  

Last week I went in to have tests done for the viruses, cystic fibrosis, and downs syndrome.  We should be getting those test results back hopefully sometime this week.  If all of those tests are negative (normal) then we'll do another ultrasound at 32 weeks to see if the problem has cleared and to determine if there is any blockage in his bowel (which would require surgery right after birth).  

According to statistics there is a very high "chance" that our little guy should be totally healthy.  We have certainly been on the other side of those statistics before however and we are doing our best to place our hope and trust not in the statistics, but in the One who planned this little life from the very beginning.  I take comfort in knowing that this pregnancy and this precious boy was not our plan, but he is the Lord's.  And our God has big plans for him no matter what the test results show.  We are asking for people of course to pray that our son would be totally healthy.  And if he is not that God would give us the strength and patience and peace to walk down this hard and unexpected road.  

I am totally in love with this little guy of ours and I am in awe (as my friend put it) of this journey that He has him on.  

It's a boy all right!:)

Legs!

The Father Daughter Dance!

Last weekend Lily went to her first father daughter dance!  It was put on by our local rec center and Lily was BEYOND excited!  She was excited for weeks, but the night of the dance as I curled her hair and sprayed it with sparkles she was literally giddy and could not stop smiling.  And I think that you'll agree with me that she was one of the most beautiful little girls I have ever seen.  Watching her, so beautiful, so happy just about brought tears to my eyes.  She is just so precious.

I was there that night because I was the photographer for the event...and over two nights took portraits of 140 father daughter couples.  So sweet and so exhausting!

And, as it turns out, that's how it was for Lily too.  She was at the dance for about an hour and a half  dancing and eating and feeling like a princess and then she was just exhausted and a little overwhelmed and wanting to go home.

Yes, her first father daughter dance was sweet and exhausting.

And she was beyond precious...

Nemo!

Nemo, the "blizzard of 2013" found us!  When we started hearing reports of 1-2 feet of snow we were skeptical- they do, after all, tend to hype these things up a bit.  But this snow loving family was indeed excited that Nemo lived up to all of its hype!  I would say we got somewhere between 18' and 2 feet of snow! It was a true blizzard with wind and lots of drifting and tall snow banks and we loved it.  It was a pretty great snow day!

 

Joe made blueberry pancakes for breakfast.  

It snowed pretty much the entire day and the kids had fun watching the storm. Which turned into dancing and singing about how we were getting "100 inches" of snow!:)  

We kept warm and cozy inside most of the day.  

We had a fire and played plenty of games...including animal yatzee (which has become one of my favorites).  

But the kids were getting antsy and we just knew that it was time for them to go outside! Yes...outside IN the snowstorm! The wind was whipping and the snow was flying and I figured they would stay out for a couple of minutes at most. 

 

But not our kids...I bet they were out there for almost 20 minutes!:) I am constantly impressed by their ability to tolerate the cold (did I mention that in addition to the snow and the wind that it was only 14 degrees?)!! And when they couldn't stand the cold anymore they came in for some hot cocoa with extra marshmallows! And after warming up with cocoa Joe and the kids snuggled in to watch some rather entertaining videos of squirrels trying to attack bird feeders (and being spun around and flung off in the process)!  

And then there was lunch and more games and "quiet time" and we watched the snow pile up.  

It was so high on our deck that it covered the kid's teeter totter and was making it's way over the grill! And snow days have to include some baking so we made our favorite chocolate chip coconut cookies! And while the cookies baked the kids watched a Tinkerbell movie and ate cookies. And before we knew it it grew dark and it was still snowing (though more lightly)! And near the end of dinner Joe got called out to go with the fire department on a search for a missing man. So while I spent the rest of the evening bathing the little ones and snuggling them in for bed Joe was out on a snowmobile in the wind and snow being the incredible guy and servant I know him to be. And that ended our snow day...until yesterday when we really got to play in the snow! Joe had the kids out for probably an hour before church and then after church, lunch, and quiet time we all headed back out again for a little sledding! Most of the time Joe had to drag them up the hill and got quite the workout.  

Every now and then we convinced them (or made them) walk up at least part of the way on their own! I will admit that it wasn't easy going (for them or this pregnant mama)because the snow was so deep!

But it was worth it for the ride!  

And when the sledding was done Lily showed me how earlier Joe had made a big snow pile for her to jump off of the deck into!

   

And this family couldn't be happier that we finally have a good amount of snow to play in!