Random Happenings

This is just a catch-up post of random things from the past few days. Don't expect anything exciting or insightful. I just need to write something to get back in the routine of blogging.

The rest of our Colorado trip was wonderful. I felt so rejuvenated. We returned home Thursday evening, and a couple hours later, Joel's mom arrived for a visit. It was great having her here for a few days....she and Jonah and I went to Canton on Friday and shopped our little hearts out. We intended on staying just a couple of hours, but after those two hours, decided we needed at least three more before heading home. It was great shopping fun. Even with pregnancy tiredness and backaches. SO worth it! Parker's hair bow collection began that today. She now owns bows that will require the purchase of coordinating outfits. Oh my.

Today I've been working on some organizational projects that have been calling my name for quite some time. Before I can do anything to Parker's room, I have to deal with all of Jonah's stuff....clothes, room decor, etc. It's all been pulled out, but it needs to be sorted into piles for a garage sale, the upcoming children's consignment sale, Goodwill, and clothes to take to my new nephew Brady when we go to visit them in less than two weeks. Lots of baby clothes have been washed today. The fragrance of Dreft has filled my home today, and there have been several times of intense emotion as the smell of Dreft-cleaned baby clothes has taken me back to those sweet first months of Jonah's life. I already grieve for how fast Parker's babyhood will pass by. I hold up to my face those precious outfits Jonah wore and remember what it was like to just be getting to know him, and the tears come quickly. I love who he is right now, and this stage is more fun than I would have ever expected. But I also miss who he was then. I hate that it gets so hard to remember the details of that time. I've got to make sure I don't stop and linger on memory lane every time I pick up an item of his, or I'll never make any progress on these piles that cover the floor in both the nursery and dining room. It's a mess in this house! Sometimes, it just has to get a lot worse before it can get better. So I'll be working on/in that mess for a few days, I'm sure. Just hoping I can get it all done this week. Until then, I can't even think about what I need to do to get the room actually ready for Parker.

In other baby news, I had my glucose test this morning. It's been a much anticipated day for me, as I had gestational diabetes during my pregnancy with Jonah and was ready to know if that was the case this time. My doctor had pretty much prepared me to expect that I would have it again this time (his reasons mainly having to do with certain common symptoms associated with its reoccurence). So, all along I've petty much expected that. My genetics play a big role here. And while I have not put myself on the official gestational diabetes diet that I was on during my last trimester carrying Jonah, I have made some adjustments in my diet that would hopefully make the diabetic diet less shocking for me. I've already started doing some things differently with my eating. But it wasn't until a few weeks ago that I thought, "hey, maybe I should pray that I don't have it this time." Novel idea, huh? I don't know why I hadn't even asked God for that yet, but I hadn't. So I started to ask Him to allow me to miss out on the diabetes fun this time. And for the last couple of weeks, I've had a little bit of hope that I wasn't necessarily a lost cause....that maybe the doctor would be wrong and my tests would come back negative. I'm ready to know how God is going to answer this one. My doctor told me that they should have the results by late this afternoon and would call me if I needed to come back for the additional glucose screening. I could assume that if I hadn't heard anything today or by tomorrow morning at the latest, no news would be good news. Well, I never heard anything today, so we'll see what tomorrow brings. I feel so much better prepared for the condition this time around and I don't think it would be the end of the world or anything. But it sure would be a nice thing to not have to think about it. One great thing that came of my doctor's visit today was that Joel was given "doctor's orders" to give me massages to help with my back pain. Joel has already been doing that pretty well, but now I do not at all feel bad about asking for it! (I only did a little before, anyway.)

That's pretty much all that's been going on the last few days. One other thing has been weighing heavily on my heart. Just found out a family friend has been diagnosed with cancer, and there's just this sick feeling it brings to my stomach. My heart hurts for the family, the children involved. Though there's a prognosis that isn't completely void of hope (although none ever are, with the hand of God involved), I know this will be a hard journey for everyone involved. Of the people I have loved dearly that have died, almost all of them had to endure cancer as their way of exiting this world. I know it's rare these days for any of us not to be touched by it closely. And for those of us who have walked the path of watching a loved one suffer as they fought cancer, new discoveries of cancer just make you sick. Literally, physically ill. You're just a little more aware of the pain that the family will face and while you don't walk in their exact shoes, you have a glimpse of the difficulty of the journey that lies ahead for them. Just a glimpse is heartbreaking. Even when you also know God's goodness and mercy. And when you also glimpse the glorious things He can accomplish in the midst of such suffering. It's still hard. The woman being asked to walk this road is a beautiful woman. A godly woman. She is one of my mom's closest friends. It affects my family. It will be a very personal journey for all of us. There are so many things I hope for, when I think of this woman and her family. Hopes for all kinds of healing. And I'm thankful that God hears the cries for that healing as many are lifting them up.