Catching up

I have not felt much like blogging lately. Sitting and staring at a computer screen while feeling nauseous was the last thing I wanted to do. I'm starting to feel human again. I'm now eleven weeks pregnant, so I'm looking for that burst of energy to hit me SOON!

Thursday night the big kids graduated from preschool. Rebecca will enter kindergarten in the fall, while Henry and William will attend preschool three mornings a week instead of two. They will also be in different classes this fall; this will be their first classroom separation from each other!

They told what each child wanted to be when they grew up. Here are our kids' responses:
William: a superhero
Henry: an army man
Rebecca: to be tall (She later told me, "I want to be tall like you, Mommy.")



William did NOT want his picture taken. We had to make him wear this cap & gown. However, he did great in the ceremony. The children did a few songs, and William is quite the performer!


The boys enjoyed an overnight camping trip with Nannie & PawPaw on Friday night. That was also Billy's LAST call night as a resident!! Yeah!!! He has had to stay at the hospital when on call. When he starts his practice in August, his call will be from HOME. Yippee!
Hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. Here are the girls before we headed to my dad & stepmom's for a big cookout.

One year ago today...

we got "the call" about Rebecca. For some reason, Billy had the morning off and I seized the opportunity to make a grocery store run. I had just pulled out my shopping cart in Publix when Billy called to tell me about a little girl that our social worker wanted us to consider. Her special need description was really convoluted (obviously something lost in translation), and finally we were able to decipher it. I hurried through the supermarket and got home to see her sweet face sent to us via email. What a surreal feeling it is to stare into the face of a child who will become yours in just a few short months! We had a local cardiologist review her echocardiogram, and waited for Dr. Chambers at the UAB International Adoption Clinic to review her file before we officially sent in our Letter of Intent to adopt her.
Last night was the first time she has spent the night away from us since we got her. (The children stayed with my mom & stepdad while we had a little much-needed getaway.) She was fine when we left, but Mom said she grieved for the first few hours. That is, until Mom pulled out the nail polish and gave her a manicure and pedicure. She said she was very happy after that! She is such a girly girl!

This is one of the first pictures that we saw of Rebecca one year ago:


That was then, but this is now!



(And, yes, we had a wonderful time in Nashville! I'm already looking forward to our next weekend trip! I love my kids, but, boy, I love 'em even more when I can get away for a relaxing evening!)

Answered prayers

Rebecca had her brain MRI this morning and it was normal. That's a big relief. Hopefully she's done with tests for a while!

We had a scare over the weekend of a possible miscarriage. However, today I had an ultrasound and the baby is still hanging in there! The doctor calculated a due date of Christmas Day! What a great Christmas present that will be!!

I still feel pretty rotten, which I guess is a good thing considering the course of events. I have already gained around 10 pounds because I can't stop eating. It's the vicious cycle of nausea, eat, nausea, eat. And I just don't snack; I eat full meals! Several a day! I am also EXHAUSTED, and that's compounded by the constant care of 4 young children. I can't wait to feel like myself again.


Oh, I almost forgot! Billy did GREAT for the Mother's Day gift(s)! I got a certificate for a manicure, a facial, and a foot "facial." Can't wait to use that!! And, he is taking me to Nashville Friday for an overnight trip sans kids. We are going to stay at the Opryland Hotel. I am going to sleep so well! Hey, and I'll bet we'll eat out a lot too! (See where my mind is right now?!!)

Weekend stuff and something about another kid

There may be some of you that aren't aware of the BIG NEWS, so skip to the end.

Busy weekend, and I felt icky for most of it. On Friday night I enjoyed a "Ladies' Night Out" with friends from church. I forgot my camera, but you can take a peek at Rebekah's, Becky's, or Lori's blogs if you'd like to see a picture or two. Saturday morning we had a family birthday party for Vivian. My baby is 2 tomorrow! I had prepared tacos for the Dora the Explorer theme (maybe Dora is Mexican). Anyway, the smell of Mexican food was all I could take. I had Billy dump the leftovers when it started stinking up the fridge.
Sunday we went to the Guntersville area for the McCamy decoration. This is Billy's paternal grandmother's mother's family & decendents. I met some of Billy's distant relatives that I had not met before. There was family from Alabama (of course), Georgia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Colorado, and California. We spent time trying to "catch up" as this is the only time of year that we get together with some of them. Billy's third(?) cousin, Ann & her husband Larry had just got back in the past week or so from Albania on a mission trip, so that was very interesting to hear about. I regret that we didn't take any pictures. I thought Billy was taking a few, and he probably thought I was... We came back through Scottsboro to place flowers on Billy's grandparents' graves. The kids did O.K., but they were wild coming home. I really thought at least Vivian would get a power nap, but it was a no-go.


Party pictures:





And now, for that news. I am not in a state of mind to be creative at the moment, so I'll just cut to the chase. We're having a baby, with no help from medicine this time! I'm somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 weeks, due in early December. This was a complete surprise, or should I say, SHOCK. We had no idea that this was even possible. We're sure now that God has a sense of humor. The only explanation that I have is that God wanted to make sure that Vivian and Rebecca were our daughters, and He knew that fertility might get in the way of that!
We do request your prayers for all to go well. I've had a couple of laboratory tests and an ultrasound that look great! I'm nauseated, tired, and eating everything in sight, so that's a good sign too! :)