Last Stretch

I'll be 31 weeks on Friday. Insane.

This 3rd trimester so far has been pretty good. Despite the back pain that I have every day, I must admit that I am a lucky girl. With Jackson I had horrible acid reflux. I haven't really had much of that this time around. I have gained 19 lbs so far. I only gained 20 and 25 lbs with the other 2, but I have a feeling that I am going to be closer to 30 when it is all said and done. I never factored in the holiday treats coming my way. The Starbucks they are building nearby doesn't help my case. I haven't really been craving thins like crazy. I love cold drinks, specifically Sonic peach tea. I love breakfast tacos, green apples and yogurt. Nothing too "fun" or out there. I love feeling her move. That is my favorite thing about pregnancy and the only thing I will miss! My hair is getting really long and thick. I love that! Monday morning I am spoiling myself with a 1 hour prenatal massage. I am so excited. I had this done with Jack once and it was awesome.

We have NOTHING done for the baby. Absolutely nothing. We are going to have Reagan and her share a room eventually, so this week I will buying paint and Jason will be putting up the crib. I have zero clothes ready and I really need to purchase a pack 'n play. I also need to make room for this baby. Our 3 bedroom house seems so small all of a sudden, but I keep reminding myself that when I was a kid with 4 other siblings, we shared a 2 bedroom apartment. Things could be worse and it doesn't mean you need a 4000 sq. ft. home. Good perspective.

I feel like my thoughts are totally random, but I don't want to forget to document this pregnancy.

Some questions you may have:

What is her name?
I have no idea. We had settled on Madison, but all I am going to say is.....you never know. I think we are all going to be surprised the day she arrives. :)

Any more children after this?
I can't believe people ask this when you are in the middle of your pregnancy, but it seems to be a common question. NO.
NO.
NO.
NO.
We will not have any more after this. I love children. I am so blessed that God is giving me 3. I admire and respect all of you who have more, but pregnancy and me don't go together. I feel totally and 100% complete. I didn't feel that with 2, but I definitely do with this one. All in all, I we have decided that this will be it. Even more reason to enjoy this pregnancy. :)

How do you work and have kids?
I love my job. I love that it's flexible and allows me to be a mom. I love working for our church and doing ministry with my husband! After the baby arrives I am going to down to 20 hours a week. It will definitely be less than I am doing now and I feel great about that. I have never had a conviction that I needed to be a stay at home mom. I have truly prayed about this and sought the Lord, and I have felt like this is my calling. I feel that I have been called to be both a mommy and to use my gifts as a worship leader/creative arts minister. I recognize also that I am in a very unique situation and that the environment at River City allows me to do something a lot of places don't. I brought my babies to work and yes, that's pretty unusual! God is very good to me and I feel total peace about what I do.

I rambled a lot, but I woke up at 5 am this morning. I am sure this will catch up with me.

And since babies are on my mind...

My friend and my random thoughts.

A few weeks ago I decided that I wanted to host a lunch at our house for our church staff. We spend the most time with them, so why not eat together. Around the beginning of the week I began to panic a little because I realized that my body isn't what is used to be (being in my 3rd trimester) and just mopping my floors required me to take 2 hour breaks, watching Sweet Home Alabama, in between chores. I paused it somewhere around the "You have a baby...In a bar..." line and moved onto my bathrooms. I was totally exhausted and that's when I called Jenn.

Jennifer Conant is queen domestic. She has 4 kids. She cooks. And boy can she decorate. I knew she didn't have too much going on with the rest of her life and asked her to come over and help me Friday morning. Everyone needs a friend who shows up at your house with a basket of pumpkins, a crock pot and table decorations and her hair in a bun. Buns = this woman is ready to work. I should know. Every Saturday morning I come out of my bedroom like that and Jason freaks out. I am not sure what I would have done with out Jenn's help. On top of that, she wanted to make 4 pies for our staff. Seriously.

Since Thanksgiving is this week, I decided that we would serve chili, tamales & queso and all the fixins that go along with it. The pies were a HUGE hit and everyone stayed about 2 hours. Some longer. I ended up going to serve the homeless that night with our church. I didn't want to go because I was so exhausted, but was so glad I did. My mother-in-law and I almost went to jail over having her camera there, but nonetheless, it was a great time.

There really is no moral to this story. Just the fact that I had to share how awesome Jennifer is and how everyone had a great time...and then how I served the homeless. Random.

More random thoughts:

I love having people over to my house.
I wish I had taken pictures of everything.
This peppermint mocha with soy milk that I am drinking is delicious.

Breanna always says a post is better with a picture. And since you can't get any more random than this, enjoy. :)

Angry Turkey & a little Christmas.

That kind of sounds like a line from Elf. Except there were no angry turkey's. Only angry elves.

Today was Jackson and Reagan's Thanksgiving Feast. I was so proud of my 2 turkey's. It was a great break from the insane week that I am having. I think it finally hit me that December is, oh wait, in 14 days. Yes, that's right. 14 Days. And see, Christmas doesn't start on December 24th for me. It starts....3 months ago.

So, here I go. Ready to take on this Holiday season and NOT freak out...and do it while being in my 3rd trimester.

However, I have to remind myself why I do this.

Not because I love it. (And I do)
Not because someone told me to.
Not because it will make me look good.
Not because I need something from it.

I do it because it will bring glory to God. I don't arrange Christmas songs just because they sound pretty, but because of the hope that it will touch someones life. I don't spend endless hours researching creative elements because it would be a cool touch. I do it because it could change someones life. I don't pull my hair out working with 200 yards of cheesecloth for the stage design just because I want it to be cool snowy effect. I do it because excellence in our stage is a first impression and should not be a distraction. Ultimately, it could lead them to a lifetime of Jesus.

So, it's all worth it.

The Christmas Spirit is officially here.

Some Clarification

I had an overwhelming response of emails, phone calls, text messages and facebook messages asking what was going on with Jackson. I am so blessed by how many people LOVE our son. It was also a great reminder that there are a lot of people out there who read facebook! ;) I figured it might be a good idea to just write a little blog post about what's going on and that way you know how to pray. Plus, it would give a peace of mind that Jackson really is OK!

When Jackson was born we noticed that his chest was sunken in (concave). Of course, when you see something like that on your baby, you immediately think there is something wrong. His Dr. told us that the medical term for it was "Pectus Excavatum" and that as long as it didn't get any worse or that he didn't have any breathing issues, he was fine. So, fast forward 4 years later....

Tuesday we went to the Dr. because Jackson had an ear infection and his asthma was acting up from all the weather changes. When she went to check him out she noticed that his chest was a little deeper and told us that she felt we needed to look into surgery for him. The reason is that it could compromise his lung capacity and maybe even affect his heart...

For now, the signs of that happening aren't there, but it is always wise to get testing done, etc. She referred us to a specialist and we will look into doing that sometime in the new year. He really is doing okay and we don't even know if he will have to have the surgery.

What can you pray for?

Well, that he wouldn't have to have surgery! However, if he does need to have it, pray that we would have wisdom and peace about it all. He's so little still, so it kind of scares me, but I really do know that God is in control and that this isn't an accident! Jackson is one of the best things that ever happened to us and God created him just the way he wanted him to be.

Thank you, friends! We will keep you posted. :)

Blog catch-up post #1 - Past 2 weeks.

Oh my word, I am so behind on life. Well, at least on blogging. So, where do I start? I have so much to say.

Here is what's been happening the past 2 weeks:

*Christmas planning for the church is well on it's way. I had a stage design meeting at my house a few weeks ago. It was a lot of fun and we have some GREAT ideas in store! Xmas choir rehearsals start this week. So excited to start singing Christmas music!

*Halloween was a lot of fun! We went to my Mom's to trick-or-treat. The kids really got into it this year and it was so much fun to watch their little eyes light up at the fun. It will forever be a memory in my mind.


*Baby #3 is doing great! She is moving around like crazy and keeping me up at night. I have had horrible insomnia, but it just gives me another chance to pray about things in our lives and others. We are loving the name Madison Sarah Powers. I am pretty sure you have figured out that all of our kids are named after Presidents. It was, however, NOT meant to be that way. I just happened to like all those names. I go for my Glucose Test next week. I hate that test and I'm praying for good results. :)

*Jack is sick. It started out by allergies. Now he has an ear infection, sinus infection and his Dr. told me today that his asthma is bad again. So, $400 later in prescriptions he is well on his way to recovery. (Not really $400, but it might as well of been.) Please pray for him. Jackson was born with a concave chest. The medical term is Pectus Excavatum. Jackson's has never been that bad, but today the pediatrician seemed concerned and wants to look into him having surgery to repair it. I was not expecting this and it really bummed me out. I thought he would be able to live with it and never need the surgery. However, there is a chance that it could compromise his heart and lungs. So, we are going to be looking into that more. I am just praying for peace and wisdom. Of course, we want to do what is best for him!

*There is so much more going on, but I need to space those blog posts a little. :)

Have a great week!