Sunday, September 23, 2007

My Ticker...




I can never remember exactly how pregnant I am, so here is my due date ticker...seriously, does that really say ONLY 161 days to go? Good thing I am busy. Otherwise, time would really drag by!




Friday, September 21, 2007

Graceful? No, I am not....

One thing that I can say with confidence about myself is that I am not graceful. You know, some women walk and move so gracefully. Where did they learn it? Is it possible to enroll in a class that can teach me not to bump into everything that is not completely flush with a wall? Can someone teach me how to walk like a lady and not like an awkward 9 year old who just went through a growth spurt? It's actually pretty amazing that neither of my kids have permanent brain damage because I fell at least once while I was pregnant with both of them. It's just a dang good thing that God is "The Engineer" of all engineers; otherwise, my kids would probably have dents in their noggins due to my lack of grace while pregnant. Who knows...maybe once #3 is born, my project will be to learn to be more graceful. Nah, never mind. Who am I kidding? I probably won't ever move like a gazelle no matter how much effort I put into it. I would probably just end up looking like Sandra Bullock in "Miss Congeniality" where her pageant coach is trying to teach her how to walk like a lady. Am I graceful? No, I am not. I guess that's okay though. Maybe my kids will take after their dad who seems to be abnormally coordinated for a 6ft. 9in. man. We can only hope....

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

These Allergies are Crazy!!




My kids can't stop sneezing, coughing, and rubbing their eyes! They both look like they haven't slept in a few days because their eyes are so red and itchy. So sad!!

Mom's Group...

Well, I am putting this in writing, which in and of itself is slightly terrifying for me. I am starting a "Mom's Group." The first Saturday of October is our official first meeting. I feel like God has been leading me down this path since the very first time that I found out that I was pregnant...6 pregnancies ago.

I suffered my first miscarriage in November of 2003. At this time Tyron and I were members at The Village. It seemed like I was completely surrounded by pregnant women. At this point I was so angry and hurt by the fact that some women could get and stay pregnant while I absolutely couldn't. There were many, many days and nights spent crying and yelling at my poor husband.

In our small group at this time, it seemed like everyone was pregnant. I finally got around to mentioning to our group that we had lost our baby at 12.5 weeks. After small group, one of the girls came up to me with her big ol' pregnant belly and gave me a hug. Her name is Kathleen. She and her husband had also had a miscarriage. And so my journey of female friendship begins. Kathleen was exactly what I needed even though I didn't think that I wanted to be friends with anyone at this point in time....especially not a pregnant anyone. God totally took care of me through Kathleen. She prayed with me, cried with me, empathized with me, and didn't give me any awkward consolation. She was something to me that even the husband I adore couldn't be...she was a lifeline to hope and empathy.

January 2004 rolled around and we found out that we had suffered another loss. This time it was a chemical pregnancy. Once again Kathleen was there. It was a little easier this time. I guess it's easier to apply lessons learned after having gone through things before.

March 2004 I found out I was pregnant yet again. This time I was pregnant with the little boy that can make my heart melt just by giving me a drive-by kiss. If you've read my blog before, you have seen him posted all over the place. His name is Luke, and he is the #3 man in my life (right behind Jesus and Tyron, of course). After a semi-complicated pregnancy, Luke was born at 33.5 weeks gestation on October 14, 2004. After I had Luke, I went through some pretty serious postpartum depression. My friends Stephanie and Sarah were quite literally my lifeline. Tyron was in the middle of basketball season and I was home alone all day and a lot of the night with a premature, screaming infant who didn't seem to like much of anything. I expected to come home with round, healthy, content baby that immediately loved his momma. I expected to be the near perfect momma...after all, I read every book out there about pregnancy and infant care. Talk about unreal expectations. Steph and Sarah walked with me through what is probably the darkest time of my life. I honestly don't know where I would be if God had not strategically placed them in my life.

21 months later God gave Tyron and me our precious little girl, Faith. She was the perfect baby. Never cried, slept through the night at 6 weeks, beautiful. She is still a great kid. A little mischievous, but sweet nonetheless. Once again, God surrounded me with amazing, Godly, women to walk through life with. This time with more realistic expectations and a little experience to enjoy my husband, kids, and girlfriends.

Another miscarriage and 17 weeks into another pregnancy, here I am writing to say that women NEED other women. We need women in our lives to mentor us, women to walk through the same life seasons with, and other women to grow with us in our roles and relationships as wives and mothers.

We all need encouragement and edification. I just want to facilitate that. By no means, have I come into my own as a mother, but I want to build a group of women who want to get together every week and fellowship, encourage each other, grow into our roles as mothers, study God's Word as the absolute guide book to motherhood, and minister to each other.

There is a catch. No husbands and no kids. This is a weekly mini-vacation to eat breakfast at my house, have girl time, and have God time. If you are interested, here are the details:

Where: 7837 Armor Lane, Frisco, TX 75035 (Melanie's House)
When: October 6, 2007 @ 10:00 a.m.
Study: Mom...and Loving It! by Laurie Lovejoy Hilliard and Sharon Lovejoy Autry (You can get the books here, I can get them cheaper if I get them in a larger number.)
RSVP: (972)-977-0885 (I just need to know how many people to cook for.)

If you read this entire post, I am seriously impressed. It is way longer than I intended it to be! Thanks for reading! God bless!

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Vent...

Okay, so I am officially looking pregnant, and let me tell you, people are starting to notice. You might ask, "What is their first reaction?" Believe it or not, it's not normally a hearty "Congratulations!"

Here are the comments that we have had the pleasure of dealing with over the last few weeks:
  • Are you crazy? 3 kids under the age of 4? Restated - You are crazy!!
  • Have you ever heard of birth control? (If these people knew my medical history, they wouldn't even ask this question since birth control could literally kill me...between tumors and blood clotting issues.)
  • Wow! How are you going to deal with it?
  • Seriously, don't you and Tyron ever watch T.V.? (Could it be that these people are jealous of my relationship with my sweet husband?)
  • Was it on purpose or on accident? (Like it's some kind of cursed affliction or something...)
  • Wow...that is going to be expensive! (Duh.)

Now, I am not even remotely saying that having kids this close together or having kids at all is for everyone. I am fully aware of that. I am just asking that people be sensitive to the fact that we are so excited. We have always wanted at least 3 kids, and now we are having 3 kids. Considering that this is our 6th pregnancy, it's a minor miracle that we've been fortunate enough to have 1 baby much less 3. We are really and truly excited and blessed!! God knows what he is doing, and he doesn't accidentally give babies to people that aren't supposed to have them.

Another great thing to take away from my pregnancy induced annoyance is this: Whether it be kids, staying home, going back to work, etc. don't be too over eager to assume that another person's life is your life. Just because something doesn't appeal to you doesn't mean that it doesn't appeal other people.

Please be considerate of other people. You never know when you will be the cause of a pregnant or non pregnant person's meltdown. Okay, getting off the soap box now. Wouldn't want to fall off the soap box and twist an ankle or anything. :-)