Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Not even close...

We went to the doctor today for my weekly appt a few days early to see what the baby was up to before Adam left town tomorrow. Apparently he's pretty comfy in there. I'm not dialated at all or anything so it'll probably be at least another week before he decides for it to be his birthday. I'll certainly keep you updated if he changes his mind.
:)

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Well I'm still here

I'm still hanging out. Here at work. I've been trying to finish projects (at work and home) in anticipation of this momentous occasion that seems like it will never occur. But I know it will, it may just still be a while.
My ticker says I have 11 days until my due date. Will he come before then? I don't know.

This weekend I even got down on my hands and knees to clean the bathroom and kitchen floors (I'm sure it was a great sight) and not even more than 3 hard contractions before they went away, so I can only assume he's not ready yet. Or maybe I haven't cleaned enough

I'll be back at the doctor tomorrow (so that we know where I stand before Adam leaves town) and so we'll see then if there's any action. I've just been having back aches and cramps, but still nothing consistent, although they are getting stronger.

Until then, I'll just keep refolding the baby clothes in my obsessive kind of way. And have a party this weekend with just the girls while I'm "baby" sat by Darci. Those should be good distractions.

Monday, April 28, 2008

38 Weeks pregnant.


Here's an updated picture of my belly... I'll post more later about my weekend.

Friday, April 25, 2008

37-38 week appt

I'm still hanging around. Nothing much is going on. This little boy seems very happy to just be hanging out in there and is in no hurry to get to the outside world (even though his mommy is really anxious for him to get here).
We all know the longer he stays in, the healthier he's likely to be and that's fine with me as long as he would let me sleep well at night. :-)

I'll be back at the doctor Wednesday before Adam leaves town on Thursday for an extended weekend away. Hopefully, by the time he gets back we'll have a better understanding of what future holds for us. We'll share all that when we know something definite.

I'm still crafting, but it's slowed down a little. Well not really slowed down, but some long unfinished projects are being finished up (including an afghan I started a year ago and never finished) and some gifts are being made, so they need to remain secretive until that time in which it can be revealed what they are. I'll get some picks up as soon as I can.

If you think of it, pray for us. Adam's traveling a week before my due date makes me a tad bit nervous (even though everything is accounted for) and I'm just feeling a little in limbo trying to understand myself in these few weeks before I adjust to my new role as Mommy.

Mom mentioned to me today that this weekend is the last weekend of "just Adam and Cara in Texas." Next weekend Adam will be out of town, then it's Graduation Bonanza weekend with friends and family in town from all over the country, the hopefully by then we'll have a third little person in our family (mostly hopefully because so many people want to meet him while they are here for graduation). So we are celebrating "US" tonight with dinner and a movie. And we saw a movie last weekend. Man it's nice to just get out of the house whenever we want wiithout a lot of drama. I know that's soon coming to a close. :-)

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Why my friends are awesome

I've felt your guys' love lately, so if you've been leaving me messages (you know, on here, facebook, myspace, cell phone, email, outside my apt door, visits) I've loved every single one. I haven't been able to return all the love, but I love it.

I'm feeling well. We'll see at the doctor's tomorrow what's going on. I'll have an update. I promise.

Keep the love coming, it's really the only thing keeping me going some days. I just can't promise I'll get back to you soon, but know that when I read a comment or listen to a voicemail I pray for you, your various situations, and for your continued ministry of encouragement, because you sure have encouraged me.

Today I watched a wonderful friend with a wonderful honor of preaching to the students and faculty of DTS. Bill Koogler did an amazing job at challenging the students to beware of worldly distractions especially in the ministry and struck my heart with his words. But what is truly amazing (and what made me tear up a couple of times today, and again right now) was sitting towards the back of the auditorium with the Carters on one side and my husband, Darby, and baby Kate on the other was realizing the beginning of the end of this era.

The Kooglers were our first friends in seminary, we met having dinner at their apartment sitting on a freshly purchased futon (which eventually became our futon) and scrounging up chairs (one was an exercise ball) to have dinner around a second hand table. I remember feeling almost sheer desperation at wanting a friend so badly at that point (we'd lived here almost three months without making any real "friends") and I found that with Darby, as well as Adam finding that in Bill. The Carters quickly became friends with the four of us after that and we've had some fun times over the years.

Today as we sat there, all of us looking at future ministry in different fields and perspectives and capacities, I felt the enormity of God's grace and provision for each of us over the years. Getting to celebrate Bill's achievement today allowed me to celebrate God's goodness as well. So way to go Bill, I am truly proud of you like a sister.

This morning also signaled, as I wrote in an email today, the beginning of the end for us. Truly the closing of an "era" in our lives. I've spent so much time and energy lately focused on the near future (having this baby, moving, Adam candidating and interviewing) that it snuck up on me that time is drawing to a close in this chapter. From here on out for the next two weeks, it's picnics and parties, and friends visiting, and family, and runs to the airport. As always, I'm sure it will be so busy, I'll forget to enjoy it and then be left with that post holiday season feeling of "where did it all go?" with a twist of regret and emptiness.

So I want to enjoy the feeling of anticipation now while I have it and enjoy the excitement of the unknowns still there for our friends and us who will begin the ministries we have been dreaming and planning and learning and ultimately CALLED to for the past 2-4 years. That's really it, I love the feeling of knowing you are CALLED to do something by God, knowing that there is something there but not quite knowing exactly how it will work or what it will be like. It's kinda like knowing you are going to be surprised, but not knowing how or when or where or why, but all the same you know there is going to be a great and wonderful thing there.

Monday, April 21, 2008


This is Adam at Disney's Epcot Japan this past Christmas


This is the robot we bought for some decoration in the retro space room that our child will have someday.

Coincidence? Of course not!

A little about this Robot from here.

Robot Lilliput represents a snapshot of a time when the promise of factory automation and dreams of space travel were only grand imaginings. But the dreams had to start somewhere, and Robot Lilliput was there — self-propelled, humanoid and ready for adventure.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Twenty Days!

Twenty Days until my due date. Will I make it? I don't think I will.
My contractions have been stronger and last night got down to 7 minutes apart for an hour. But then they slowed down when I laid back down to get some more sleep. But they are getting stronger and more consistent. Will he come this week? We hope so! We can't wait to see his little face and meet him.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Doctor's appointment update

I went to the doctor for my weekly yesterday (while Adam went to Six Flags with some friends) and everything was fine. Still nothing in the way of progress to write home about. But she was able during the sonogram to get a good enough picture to figure out an estimated birth weight of our Mr. Mister.

She measures the stomach area to get a measurement, enters some data onto the sono machine and then gets out a book to check some stuff in. All this to tell me that as best she can guess at this point our little bowling ball weights a good 6lbs 13oz. Are you kidding me? He already weighs almost 7lbs?
So the estimate is that if he makes it to his due date I will be birthing a healthy 9lb baby. Here's something similar to the conversation that I had with the doctor.

Doc: So he will probably be right around 9lbs when he is born then.
Me: What?!?
Doc: Yeah he's pretty chubby
Me: I'm not sure I'm ok with that.
Doc: (looks at me while writing the info in the chart, kinda laughing) Well he could come any day
Me: I'm still not ok with birthing a 9lb baby. Are you sure?
Doc: (still kinda laughing) Well he's really healthy and looks pretty happy in there, who knows when he'll decide to come out.

Ok so- here's my updated plan. I'm on a strict walking and feet up regimine that begins today. I'm going to vigorously clean my house, run some errands, go to another friend's baby shower, and possibly convince Adam to go to the mall to walk around with me today. I've taken to start sleeping on our love seat where I can keep my feet elevated much better and then moving to the bed in the middle of the night so I can actually get some good sleep. This worked well last night, we'll try it again tonight. My swelling is getting pretty bad and is not going away at night, also has started to go to my hands. The amount of water I drink and salt I do not eat doesn't seem to effect it at all and this is the only way I don't kick the pillows off the bed at night that are elevating my feet.

My mom made the best comment of the day yesterday while I was relaying the information about her Giant Grandchild.
"Well at least when you give birth, you'll instantly lose 10 lbs easily."
Thanks mom, you sure do know how to make your daughter feel better about herself.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

I keep having contractions that are getting stronger, but not consistent enough to be too exciting, just enough to be uncomfortable.

I left work early to walk yesterday and found myself at two Targets (the first one didn't have what I needed) and a local yarn shop I've been trying to get to for a year or so and never have.

The store is called Shabby Sheep and is an older house in the West End that is being used as this yarn shop, they have knitting classes and even make their own yarn. Now let me tell you, I am by no means a yarn snob. I have never bought any yarn that was hand dyed, or hand spun, or anything of the sort. I don't even mind acrylic yarn (horror!) when I make things. I'll even use yarn given to me and had a brief moment this past week throwing garbage in a dumpster and saw yarn that someone had carelessly thrown away and thought about going in after it. (But then the headline flashed across mind "Woman has baby in dumpster while trying to retrieve yarn.")

While at the Shabby Sheep (the people there were so nice!) I chatted a while and touched every single yarn they had (well it felt like it anyway). Names of yarn that I've never seen in person were there and I decided I wanted an extravagant cotton to make something for the baby. Nothing practical- completely extravagant. I found some Blue Sky that was just perfect and almost went for the organic collection in a couple shades of tan and brown, but then decided on celery and sky blue in their dyed cotton. I love how it feels and keep touching it and moving it from room to room with me so I can look at it and touch it. I didn't even want the girl at the store to wind it for me because I just want to admire it for a while before I actually do something with it.





When I got home, I felt a little guilty about my purchase (I'd been on a yarn buying ban due to the two big boxes of yarn I currently have in the craft/spare/baby room), so I made it up to myself by finishing some projects that I had long ago began but didn't ever get around to finishing (all sewing things)

Remember this bag? Well it's finally finished. It's the diaper bag I mentioned months ago and didn't ever get around to the final steps of. If I would have known it would only take 40 minutes to finish, I would have done it a long time ago, as now it is my work bag (I carry projects and books in) until it has to convert to its original use.


While I had the sewing machine out, I finished up some flannel projects I had wanted to get done before Mr. Mister got here.
Below is quite a large blanket- light blue on one side and striped on the other and some burp cloths- polka dots.



I also made dessert last night puff pastry and baked apples with caramel pecan topping. Delish! Adam felt the need to add vanilla ice cream to his, but mine was perfect just the way it was.


Monday, April 14, 2008

Back from Outer Space

Baby Stuff
Well I'm back to blogging and updating on every gruesome part of this parasite that's taken over my body. He'd just better be a cute parasite when he comes out.

I've turned the corner in the past week or so from delightfully pregnant to miserably pregnant. In fact I know exactly when it happened.... Sitting in the Orlando airport while our flight was delayed. It was there that I decided that being pregnant was no longer fun and I was ready for the baby to be here already. Since then it has been downhill. I'm tired and achy and just about miserable. The helpful comments from coworkers "You're still here?" are becoming less and less helpful. And all this to day I have three more weeks left.

In other baby news, I really do have 25 days left until the day by which my child is destined to be born or (horror!) will be born after. I don't know that I will make it that long (please don't make me keep going that long), but it's exciting to know that this is all coming to a close.

Baby Steps
In other besides baby news, Adam and I have seriously begun to pursue future ministry and are beginning to already pour our hearts into where we will be serving in the near future. We are planning on moving from Dallas on June 27th to our new location. This new location is still a little unsure and will be revealed at the time where we are sure and in full agreement with the church.

It's just that here and now we are already beginning to pray and plan for our lives a few months from now. Adam will be traveling without me in the next few weeks and we are praying that he will be here for the birth of our little one and not in some "remote" location.

But it is an exciting time, as we plan to possibly buy a house, finally move all of our belongings to one location and learn how to be parents.

My dear friend Kristi mentioned that we are trying to cram all the most important (and highly stressful) things in life into one month and it is kinda true. We will have the baby, Adam will graduate, we will move across the country, start new jobs (including me as a Mommy!), and buy our first home. Please pray for our stress levels as we go through the process of each of these. Thanks Kristi, listing all of them out is likely to make me start hyperventilating.

Fun Stuff
Just because I have a schedule full of terrifying things in my future doesn't mean I'm not having fun in the mean time. Here are some of my favorite things that have happened while I have been on blogging hiatus.

We spent some time with Ella (and Ryan and Laura) while in Florida.


The baby went on his first visit to the beach.


I love this picture of my husband.


The smell of freshly laundered baby clothes.


Especially this little robot I embroidered for our son.


I helped throw a fun bridal shower for a fun friend, Joanna.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Will Be Back Soon

All is well. We have some decisions to make and are spending our time in prayer. I'll be back once decisions are made.
This song however, is the cry of my heart right now.

You Alone
Sam Perry
You are the only one I need
I bow all of me at Your feet
I worship You alone

You have given me more than
I could ever have wanted
I want to give you my heart and my soul

You alone are Father
You alone are good
You alone are Savior
You alone are God

I'm alive I'm alive
I'm alive I'm alive

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Not too much

I feel like a blog slacker this week, but it's been fairly lowkey after the whirlwind few weeks we've had.

We are praying for the following things:

-My doctors appointment today
I'm hoping to find out that the baby hasn't dropped too much for me to travel and that we are both healthy and well.

-Traveling this weekend
It's my last weekend to travel and we will be taking full advantage of it going all over the great state of Florida.

-The Kipps in Florida
Ryan, Laura, and Baby Ella have colds and we are so hoping to spend some time with them while in Florida. We are praying that they are healed by tomorrow afternoon so we don't chance me getting sick this late in the game.

-God's direction
Adam and I have some tough decisions to make later this month on where we will be serving after seminary.

-Jessica and Andi
Two of my dearest friends have been having undiagnosed and inconclusive health problems. Jessica is undergoing pretty major surgery the beginning of next week in hopes of finding out what the problem is. Andi is meeting with a couple different specialists regarding previous health problems and a potential heart problem. It rips me apart that I'm not in Ohio to be with both of them.