What a Week

First of all, thanks for all of your congratulations!!! It's finally starting to sink in that we're having a girl. What's embarrassing is that she already has her wardrobe started. Cute little girly things. That's the life now, I guess. As was mentioned a few times in comments, the name we have chosen for our little girl is Parker Jane. I am soooo wanting May to be here.

Last week Joel had back-to-back retreats to attend, so Jonah and I made a roadtrip to keep from being alone while Joel was busy with work stuff. So, we went to Houston, and our first stop was to stay with Angela and her little girl Payten in Katy for a night. We did lots of shopping, talking, and laughing. Angela is the kind of friend that it doesn't really matter how long it's been since we've seen each other, we know we'll have fun and have LOTS to talk about when we do get together! And that's how it was. She was one of two girlfriends in Bartlesville who had babies within a month of when Jonah was born, so we have shared many pregnancy and new mom memories....seeing her and Paytie just brought back so many sweet memories of that precious time in life when we were just starting out on the whole motherhood road and those babies of ours were teeny tiny. Oh, back when they didn't embarrass us by dumping huge containers of sprinkles all over the floor at Chick-fil-A or take off running away from us in the mall while we chased after them. Or, say, throw cat food all over the floor or, you know, fill a bathtub with water, splashing in it with their clothes on. Twice. Ah, yes....times have changed. We had such a great visit....by the end, Angela and I were two tired mommies though! Those two played and played and were so hyper and active together that they pretty much exhausted us. And Jonah's behavior warranted so many disapproving looks from strangers while we were out and about that I'm not sure I can face the people of Katy, TX for a while! They all think I'm a bad mom. I just know it. But they did provide so many laughs as well! Another friend who used to live in Bartlesville with us and has also moved to Katy recently, Amanda, met up with us at the mall with her sweet punkin, and it was fun catching up with her...although it really wasn't long enough. I'm kicking myself for not having taken pictures of all the kids together. I'm hoping I can get them to come for a visit soon and us all go to Canton one weekend! I mean it, girls!! Thanks, Angela, for hosting us - and for the bag of adorable baby clothes you sent us home with!

Following our time with Angela (and after several wrong turns leaving her house), we went to stay with my cousin Lacey at her cute apartment in Houston. We picked up food from La Madeleine and hung out at her place, talking and catching up. The next day was her birthday, and we went out for breakfast. Before we left, her parents arrived with birthday cake, so we all celebrated before Jonah and I headed back home.



And Jonah with a bow on his head: (Hmm...is this what Miss Parker might look like?)



It's so sad, but all my son ate that day prior to a 2:30pm drive-through run was a pop-tart, a cinnamon roll, and chocolate cake. I really do get the Bad Mommy award for last week. =) It was so worth it though...I had such a blast spending time with my son. He's used to long car rides (visiting Nanny and family in OK), but this was the longest trip that it's just been me and him. And he did really well! That was even minus the DVD player on the way home because I couldn't get it working. It's funny....the most content he was the entire trip was the 30 minutes we got stuck in traffic not moving at all when we first got into Houston on Thursday....he was fascinated by all of the big trucks and overpasses. City traffic was just a tad stressful for me, but it was so fun for him! Go figure.

Today was the first day of some pretty uneventful few weeks, or at least I'm expecting it to be. Last week before we left town, I rearranged a bunch of stuff and reorganized his toys. It's amazing how just moving around toys to new locations suddenly makes the old ones all interesting again! He played with his hot-wheels all morning long and didn't leave them until close to noon when he came to tell me he was hungry. This morning was a big first for our family. Joel got up with Jonah when Jonah awoke very early, but Jonah started playing with his cars and let me and Joel go back to sleep until 8:30!! It was amazing! It would be great if this were a new habit of his. I could get used to it. Of course, I'd only have a few months to enjoy, but I'll take it! Most of Jonah's things have been moved into his new room, and we will be starting the transition into the big-boy bed very soon. I had wanted to have it all decorated and ready before he moved into it, but I think I'm now ok with it just being a work in progress for a while (like all the rooms in my house!) because we're ready to make the move soon while our schedule is really slowing down for a few weeks. I'm sure you'll hear more about it soon! I'm more nervous about it than I was potty-training! Pray for us, if you think about it!! =)

Well, I'll just close with telling you how sweet the Lord has been to my heart over the last week or so. The several weeks prior to that contained several really intense battles for me. I was struggling to trust in the face of huge anxiety and was dealing with some very personal pain in regards to a hurtful relational situation. Contributing to those battles (or maybe partly due to those battles) was me grinding my teeth at night which resulted in a broken tooth. And I'm not normally scared of the dentist, but this time, I was terrified due to being pregnant. It sounds little, but it was a huge and very intense opportunity for me to put into practice what all the Lord taught me and reminded me through my Bible study last fall. I was broken, completely having to trust Him for whatever He had planned for the life of my baby....dealing with the very real fears I had that whatever dental work was necessary could harm my child and jeopardize my pregnancy. It was a tremendously hard place for me to be. So, for a few days I was definitely pretty emotional! But it was good. It forced me to fall at the feet of the only one who can really heal. And the only Scripture that kept running through my head when I was in a pit of anxiety was the sweet verse in Zephaniah that says,

"The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing."

So I decided to cling to it. And rest in it. Even while my emotions were a little crazy. And the amount of calming that the Lord did for me so soon after placing that Scripture on my heart just amazed me. I kept thinking how He didn't have to do that. He didn't have to take my healing by Truth so far into my emotional life...and so quickly. What I mean is that the healing wasn't the change in my emotions; it was the change in my perspective as my mind was renewed with truth (and my thoughts replaced by His.) It was a real blessing. And I felt it. And for that, I am thankful. The morning that I went to my ultrasound was the first morning in a couple of weeks prior that I awoke from having slept well and not feeling beaten down emotionally. I felt fresh. I didn't know what to expect at the doctors appointment - I think I probably mostly expected to hear some bad news. But what I did hear and see was far more exciting than receiving the news of this baby's gender. Finding out what it was wasn't what I was waiting for that day. I'm so thankful that beyond the blessing of seeing a healthy baby at this point, God also blessed me with sweet heart-encouragement throughout the experience....the kind that only makes me want more. So I'm just a little hungrier this week for the Word and for His presence. It's great how His grace works that way. What a motivator grace is.