Grace is Almost Here...

I think one of the reasons I haven't been blogging so much about this is that I've been trying hard not to overthink it.  But on May 30th, Grace will be in my arms.  Noah, Chloe and Grace, three kids that God has entrusted to Matt and myself to raise.  Quite honestly, it can be pretty daunting to think about.  I'm far from perfect as a mother of two...so when you toss an extra kid in the mix...I just have no idea what to expect.  And then I'm reminded that raising these kids is God's plan for me.  This is my ministry.  My life.  And He will equip Matt and me to do it.  And we will mess up.  It may not be "okay" all the time, but we'll be forgiven and by His grace, we'll learn.  By His grace, we will raise these sweet little creations to know and love their Savior.

Exhale. 

Grace.  She certainly is a gift from above...in every way.  We found out back in March that I have placenta accreta.  The specialist in Denver said it was a milder case and thought we'd probably be fine to deliver here in Gillette.  My doctor here isn't worried about the surgery, she's worried about not having good enough access to blood supplies in case I do have excessive blood loss during the surgery.  Because of that, we'll be delivering in Denver (per the recommendation of my Dr here).  I guess it sounds a little scary, but the danger that is caused by this type of complication is much, much more severe when it's discovered during delivery.  The fact that this is known, and that the doctor and hospital will be well prepared for it is good.  Aside from the risk of blood loss, I do also have the risk of ending up with a hysterectomy.  The doctor thinks that it's not a definite, so I'm praying that it is not necessary.  Aside from the hormonal roller-coaster that would send me on, it would also extend my recovery period (and I'll have 3 littles at home).  Please pray that the "hyst" as the dr so lovingly called it, is not necessary.  Either way, we are done.  The risk of similar and possibly worse complications with another pregnancy is high...and just not worth it.  Matt and I are fine with this (yes, really), but again, pray against the hysterectomy...because I may not be as fine with it if I'm on that hormonal roller coaster. 

So we leave tomorrow for Denver.  We're planning on leaving after lunch, so we aren't rushed.  Okay, yes.  So I have plenty of time for Target, Old Navy and Chic-fil-a.  Give a girl a break, I've gone through almost this entire pregnancy without my worldly preggo-comforts.  I can practically taste the milkshake now...
Sorry, easily distracted over here.
We'll be staying at a hotel pretty close to the hospital (St. Luke's Presbyterian) so that we can get there easily on Wed morning.  I'll have an amniosentisis at 8am to make sure Grace's lungs are fully matured.  Assuming they are, the c-section is scheduled for 10am.   That's mountain time people, so know that the earliest Matt would get anything posted or texted will probably be closer to 1pm east coast time.  People keep asking what the plan is if the amnio doesn't give us the results we need.  Ummm, that's not happening.  My original due date was 10 days earlier, so while I'll technically be at 37.5 weeks, I consider myself more like somewhere between 37.5 and 39 weeks.  And if you've seen my belly lately, you know this girl has got to be ready to come out. 
The earliest we'd leave Denver will be Friday, but it will just depend on what ends up happening during surgery and how I'm recovering.  I really want to get home as quickly as possible, so I'm praying that we can leave no later than Saturday.

Noah and Chloe will be staying here at the house with Matt's parents.  They arrived on Sunday and ever since they've gotten here Noah keeps telling me I need to hurry up and go get Gracie out.  I'm not sure if he's more excited to meet Grace, or to have the undivided attention of his Mimi and Papa.  Probably a little of both.  I'm not at all worried about him while we're gone, but I am a little anxious about leaving Chloe.  I'm so glad she gets to be here at our house, with Noah and with her Mimi and Papa...but this will be her first night away from me.  Yes, I know that's ridiculous, but it's just the way it is, so that's another reason I really hope to get back from Denver as soon as possible.  I have to say that I'm incredibly spoiled when it comes to my in-laws.  They're pretty amazing and I'm just so glad that they could be here for N & C and to help out afterwards for a few days.

Thank you so much friends for praying for me and my family through this.  We're grateful for every prayer and kind word and trust our loving God that we're in His hands. 

And now I need to be getting ready for bed...but I think I need a snack first.  

Noah...is FOUR!!

Noah turned 4 on April 4th.  In some ways it's hard to believe that so much time has passed since he was a sweet little baby.  But he also says things that seem so grown up sometimes it almost seems like he should really be 5.  He's a kid now...not a baby, not a toddler, a KID.  (Elisa - You warned me this would happen when he turned 3...and you were right...and it's c.r.a.z.y.)  And a pretty darn awesome kid at that.

Noah at 2 weeks old

He requested a dinosaur cake (thank goodness since I had the pan) and picked the colors himself.  The purple part was actually him being sweet to Chloe...since that's her favorite color (seriously, he is THE best big brother EVER). 

Noah was sad that his Virginia friends and family couldn't come to his party.  But, I'm so glad that by the time his birthday rolled around he felt like he had friends here.  He is still so shy when he first meets people, and gets overwhelmed in situations with a lot of people, so it was a sort of slow process at first.  When we first moved I think this was the hardest thing for him and for me.  But praise God for all his little friends (and for their mommies that are my friends)!

Noah has gotten into superheroes of late.  Very into superheroes.  He talks about them and pretends that he's a superhero often.  Right now The Hulk is his favorite, "because he's the strongest."  He also decided that since he's 4, and a "big kid" he needs to learn to write.  It amazes me...he'll sit at the table for over an hour working on writing letters.  He'll make me grocery lists and make birthday cards for his friends (regardless of when their birthday is).  He can't really write words yet, so he just writes a bunch of letters and tells me what they say.  His patience and persistence really impresses me.  He has also started drawing more intentional pictures.  Drawing people, superheroes (of course), animals, etc.  He has pretty much stopped taking naps altogether, so he has lots of quiet big boy time that he uses to practice all his new big boy skills.  He frequently asks me if whatever he is working on at the time is something that Luke and Micah (his older cousins) can do. He does get frustrated with himself if he can't do something the way he wants to right away (he gets that from Matt).  He just expects so much of himself. He has gotten much better at being patient and has realized that practicing is a necessity (thank goodness since at first he would start crying if his "A" didn't look just like mine...).  I just love watching him grow up and learn.  

Noah makes me smile and laugh a thousand times a day.  He is such a gift and I'm so grateful for the loving God that created him and blessed me so much by letting me be his mom.  My heart is full. 

Back to Old Habits...

Okay, so I can hardly believe that it's been almost 3 months since my last blog post.  So much has happened...so I'll make this a quick review...

Trip to Denver went well, but we will end up delivering Grace there.  I have Placenta Accreta, which isn't nearly as bad as it could have been...but worse than we had hoped for.  Ultimately, we're SO thankful that we know about it ahead of time and could plan around it.  God has provided so well for us through this journey - we have nothing to complain or worry about.  More on this later...

Noah turned 4 on April 4th.  This is INSANE and I still haven't wrapped my mind around it.  I have a 4 year old?!?  He's completely wonderful, sweet, and so smart...I really don't think I could love this kid more or be more proud of the little man he is.  Also more on this later (he definitely deserves his own post!)

My dad was our first visitor!!  He arrived on Noah's birthday and left on Easter Sunday.  We had a great visit and the kids are already looking forward to the next time he comes. 

Since Easter I've been trying to get ready for Grace's arrival.  We did some house rearranging and painted her room.  Basically, if you're wondering why I haven't been blogging, it's because I've been nesting.  Also napping a lot.  hehe:) 

We've been here in Wyoming for over 6 months now...which is so crazy to think about.  It has become our new normal.  There are of course some things we dislike (distance from family, the INSANE wind, etc...), but there's much more that we do like.  I'm so grateful for the courage that Matt had to move us across the country.  God provided an opportunity, and he didn't hesitate to take it...and we have been so incredibly blessed since we moved here. 

MRI and Chic-fil-a: Always a Silver Lining

Last Saturday I hit the 25 week mark of this pregnancy.  In some ways this actually seems like the slowest pregnancy...partially because I'm home all the time and partially because there are more uncertainties this time around.  We found out at our 20 week ultrasound (I know, sorry I didn't tell you sooner) that we are definitely having another girl.  We were pretty sure from the previous US, but it was nice to have the "definite" confirmation before I started painting the room.

Baby Grace was doing great, which was a HUGE sigh of relief for me.  During the US the tech looked at everything before the heart...it was making me so anxious.  When she finally tried to look at the heart she couldn't get a good shot...and that was making me even more anxious.  I finally asked her if everything looked okay and she said it did, but Grace was just moving around a lot so she had a hard time getting the measurements.  Anyway, she got them and Grace looks perfect. 

On the flip side, we also learned that I definitely do have placenta previa (we knew previously that there was a chance).  The US (oh yes, I've already had to have 2 of the not as fun kind of USs...yuck) showed that I may have one of these more serious conditions: placenta accreta, increta and percreta.  Basically, the US showed that the placenta may have attached itself to my scar from my previous c-sections (hello huge reason to not have an unnecessary c-section).  Our doctor (who Matt and I really like and trust already) is sending me to Denver for an MRI so that they can determine where exactly the placenta has attached.  The doctor that we'll see in Denver has actually written textbooks on these conditions, so we'll be in good hands. 

Best case scenario is that we find out I just have placenta previa and I'll be able to deliver here in Gillette.  If I do have one of the more serious conditions I'll need to go to Denver to deliver.  My appointments are next Friday the 16th, so we'll know more details then.  We're obviously praying to find out that I only have placenta previa, but we're mostly SO grateful that we know what we know now rather than later.  The danger would be significantly increased if any of these conditions are discovered during labor. 

As always, God shows us His goodness and sovereignty in the midst of difficult situations.  Again, we are so incredibly thankful that what's going on inside my body is not endangering our sweet little Grace.  We're thankful to be able to prepare emotionally and prayerfully for the appointment and the rest of the pregnancy, the delivery and the recovery.  We're thankful that while a regular pregnancy would not have been covered by our new insurance (which was a huge added stress to us earlier in the pregnancy), a "complicated" one will be covered.  There are a bunch more little things to be grateful for, be assured that God is in the details - in so many ways.  Lastly, I'm thankful that I will get some chic-fil-a during this pregnancy.  Yes, Denver has Chic-fil-a, and yes, I'd be happy to eat every meal there while in town.  Matt and the kids are coming with me next week, so we'll have a little weekend away in the big city - hopefully the weather cooperates!

For you prayer warriors out there, here are some specifics to pray for:
-  Good weather (to make for safe driving to Denver) for our trip
-  Good news at the appts (1 appt for the MRI and a 2nd appt with the Dr) - that it's just placenta previa
-  That I don't have any spotting or cause for bedrest (chances go up in cases like mine)
-  Continued health for sweet little Grace as she grows

Noah and Chloe are getting so excited to meet their little sister.  They both frequently tell me they want her NOW.  More on that in another post.  Thank you friends for praying for me and sweet little Grace.

I'm the Incredible Hulk!!!

Noah remains the sweetest little boy and big brother on the planet.  Lately he's gotten really into superheroes.  Here's a sampling of the questions I get asked on a regular basis (as best I can remember, they probably aren't all word for word, but you'll get the gist).


Is the Green Lantern faster or is Superman faster?


Can Iron Man fly into outer space?


Why is he (Thor) naked?


What else can Superman do?


Can the Hulk fly?


Is (Thor, Superman, Iron Man, Spiderman, etc) faster than the Flash?  (I finally convinced him that The Flash is the fastest, so I haven't gotten that one in a while.)

Noah also likes to pretend to be all of these superheroes (he usually picks based on which one is on the underwear he's wearing that day). Things overheard while he's a superhero (always with his "serious superhero face" on and he usually deepens his voice and gets to just below a shout):

I will hammer you down!

No Chloe!  The bad guys are out there, stay inside, I'll fight them!  (He has Chloe stay in their room while he goes out in the hallway to fight the bad guys).

I got the bad guys, it's safe now...oh wait...now there's Transformers!  I'll save you Chloe!!!


Take that Shaggy Man!! (As he jumps on top of Matt full force)

Okay Mommy, you're safe, I threw the Shaggy Man onto the moon.

I absolutely love watching him pretend to be a superhero.  And I love that he always wants to protect his little sister.  Chloe, on the other hand will usually run right after him declaring "I'm vunna vumman!" (Wonder Woman). 

Big Boy Craft Time

I saw this great idea on another blog sometime back in the summer.  Of course I bought the materials back then, and just got around to actually doing it this week.  I'm glad I waited so that Noah could do it with me.  We started out with a few boxes of crayons (I removed the white, black and gray).

Noah's job was to arrange the colors in the order he wanted them in.  This took a lot of self control on my part, cause if you know me, you know I'm very particular about all things crafty.  (Okay, maybe all things in general...but especially all things crafty.) 

My job was to hot glue them to a canvas board in the order Noah chose.  I then rigged up some foil to catch any drippings...

...and put it in the oven at 185.  I checked on it about every 5 minutes.  Below is after the first 5 - Noah loved seeing the progression. 

While we waited Noah did "magic tricks" with the leftover crayons. 

Here's the finished product while it's still cooling off.  I had to use a flash, so the colors are a little distorted, but I think it looks so great.  This will be the first art down in the basement.  I'm so glad that Noah and I did this together, he is SO proud of it (as am I). 

I'd love to give credit to the blog that inspired this, but I can't remember which one it was.  I thought I found it at Come Together Kids, but the link I found there wasn't the one I had originally seen.  Anyway, thanks whoever first thought of this for the great idea!

Yesterday Chloe said one word that brought tears to my eyes.  "Noah."  She's been calling her big brother "Wawa" since she first started talking.  We think it's cute, so while I never call Noah "Wawa," I also never try to get her to stop.  All the sudden yesterday, she just started calling him by his proper name...and she did it all day.  She even corrected Matt when he asked her if she had had fun with Wawa, "No Daddy, No-ah!"  I'm not completely sure where the tears came from.  There are so many new things she says or does these days.  This particular one just blind-sided me.  My Chloe is a little girl.  Not a baby.  Uh-oh, the tears are a-comin again. 

I guess Noah couldn't be outdone by his sister.  Yesterday he looked at me and said, "Mommy, I think you need to take me to preschool." 

This growing up thing is just happening way too fast for my taste.

Here's a few semi-recent pics of the kiddos...since they make the blog so much prettier:)  We had a picnic outside at a nearby playground earlier this month (yes, it was warm enough even in Wyoming in January to have a picnic outside...at least for one day).  I took a ton of pics but I didn't have the settings right to get good shots in the bright sun.  These were the ones that turned out the best.