Father's Day

We had a restful and relaxing Father's Day. Jeremiah had spent Saturday night at the grandparents house so Aaron and I got to sleep in and take our time getting ready for church. Then of course we had a yummy lunch of steak at Steve & Brenda's house and naps for everyone in the afternoon.
I always knew that Aaron would be a great father. The past two years have shown me the true depth of his love, patience, and involvement with our son. I could not ask for a partner in life and father of my children who is more involved or selfless in the way that he cares for our son. I am thankful.

No word

We haven't heard anything about Aaron's job interview, which I think is a little strange. His interview took less than an hour and he felt like it went really well. They had said they would be in touch today. So, we are not really sure what to think.

Another opportunity to trust God.

Faith, Values & Poverty in Politics

This is a very very interesting video in which the leading Democratic candidates for president were asked questions about faith, values and poverty in politics.

I don't have cable and I don't remember this particular "debate" being publicized in the regular news so I was happy to come across it in the God's Politics blog that I read.

Again, I do not agree with everything that all the candidates said but I was glad to hear these topics being discussed. More information for us as Christian voters to make informed decisions!

Another Interview!!

Aaron got a call from the assistant principal at Summerville Middle School today to set up an interview. This is very very promising!

She actually called here at the house first and when I told her Aaron wasn't home but could I give her his work number her actual words to me were "Is he still interested in a job?" She then proceeded to talk to me for about 10 minutes telling me that the Social Studies teacher that they had hired had decided not to take the position and so they saw Aaron's resume. One of Aaron's friends in his Master's program class just got a job at that school too! He had told Aaron last week to keep calling them again and again until he talked to someone. Aaron had talked to the assistant principal earlier this week but she had told him that she was pretty sure all their positions were now filled.

Now this!

I just talked to Aaron - he said that it sounded like the interview was more of a formality and that they were pretty desperate for a teacher.

His interview is tomorrow (Friday) at 11:00am - they want to interview him that quickly so that they can recommend him to the board (if all goes well) at the board meeting on Friday night!

Please pray with us! I am trying not to get too excited - but as you can tell from my rambling and all the exclamation marks that I feel excited about this. I also think it would be an ideal location for Aaron as it is only 20 minutes south of our house and exactly on the way to the school where he will still have some evening classes. Also, he would be excited to be at the same school with his friend. I am also excited at the prospect that this time tomorrow all this uncertainty could be over and we could know for sure what Aaron will be up to next year!

Pool time again

Since this is the afternoon that Aaron is gone to class I thought it would be a perfect time to pull out the pool and waste away some time before dinner. It has been so hot and dry here! So after nap time we slapped on the sunscreen, set up the pool in the shade, and whiled away a good hour and a half just splashing and playing. I think that this year the pool will offer Jeremiah more distraction and play time than it did last year. This year he is big enough to really play with the assorted toys that find their way into the water. He is also big enough to climb in and out of the pool by himself, which provides him with all kinds of entertainment. This afternoon he spent most of his time filling up his watering can, climbing out of the pool, running over to his swing set, crawling onto the bench swing, and then pouring the water over his feet and the swing. I'm not sure why this was entertaining - but it was.
It was relaxing for me to sit in the shade with my feet in the water (and my legs occasionally being watered, hee hee) looking at a magazine, enjoying the occasional breeze and watching my son enjoy his time outside. Even though I still don't feel great (and can't really hear) I was getting bored of being inside.

A larger perspective

Two weeks ago in church we had a beautiful time of worship. Every song that we sang had to do with Christ's lordship over the earth and his final coming again. It was a powerful time of worshiping God for his greatness and power. It was good to be reminded that while there is so much intimate and personal about God and my faith - there is a larger, global, and eternal perspective to.

Of course, this past week my perspective telescoped and focused on just my house and more specifically my bed. I spent so many hours in bed just feeling miserable and praying for relief from this sickness. I completely lost the eternal perspective in the face of my immediate need and uncomfortable situation. But, the beauty is that God met me there too! The awesome, powerful, creator and sustainer of the universe came and sustained little ole me in my little needy moment.

So today, as I continue to struggle with weakness and sickness and just try to make it through the day I am going to remember the power of the God who sustains me and that one day I will stand in His presence with His people and my sin, weakness, and sadness will no longer exist!

1. All hail the power of Jesus' name!

Let angels prostrate fall!

Bring forth the royal diadem,

And crown Him Lord of all;

Bring forth the royal diadem,

And crown Him Lord of all!

2. Ye chosen seed of Israel's race,

Ye ransomed from the fall,

Hail him who saves you by his grace,

And crown Him Lord of all;

Hail Him who saves you by his grace,

And crown Him Lord of all!

3. Let every kindred, every tribe,

On this terrestrial ball,

To Him all majesty ascribe,

And crown him Lord of all;

To Him all majesty ascribe,

And crown him Lord of all!

4. O that with yonder sacred throng

We at His feet may fall!

We'll join the everlasting song,

And crown Him Lord of all;

We'll join the everlasting song,

And crown Him Lord of all!

Favorite Bands

If you and I have ever talked about music for very long I have probably mentioned Infradig. So in case you didn't know I thought I would let you know your chances to see them perform are quickly running out. Their last show is supposed to be sometime in the late summer/fall of this year. Check out this slideshow/interview/performance

My favorite drum playing brother-in-law Ben says their drummer is really good.

You can download FREE... let me say that again... FREE shows from Internet Archives.

FREE.

You just download a ZIP file or ogg vorbis/flac if you have figured that out & burn it to a CD. It's not hard. And it's free.

Aaron's Job Update

We got a call from the principal at Trion Middle School that they had chosen another candidate for the job that Aaron interviewed for. This was a bit disappointing - but not unexpected as they were supposed to let us know last Thursday.

It is funny though, not too long ago news like this would have had me in a tail-spin and a nervous wreck wondering what we are going to do. But today I truly feel at peace in God's plan for our family. I guess all this baby stuff this year has taught me more than I thought.

Obviously we are still praying for God to provide a teaching job for the 2007/2008 school year (which here in GA starts the end of July!) but we know that God loves us and has the best plan for us.

Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers!

Quick

Just a quick note in the hopes that there are still people reading this and not completely tired of hearing about the saga of my sickness.
So far I feel just a tad better but not much. Aaron is back to work today.
Please pray for me! I need for these antibiotics to kick in ASAP! And I would really like to be able to hear....

Another Update

I woke up this morning still not feeling quite human so I asked Aaron to stay home from work - which he lovingly did! He again took care of Jeremiah this morning while I got some extra sleep. I think they must have played outside for a few hours! Anyway, he did have to go to class but I was so thankful to have him here today. I can tell that the antibiotics are starting to work and the congestion is loosening up. But my head still feels like it is full of cotton balls and I really can't hear very well at all. I also get tired and dizzy when I am up and out of bed for longer than an hour or so. I am praying that by tomorrow all of that will start to clear up.

On another note. Jeremiah is now in the 4th hour of his afternoon nap. I hope this does not mean he is getting sick too! I have been doing my best to stay away from him, always washing my hands before I touch him, and I haven't kissed him 4 whole days!

One thing that I forgot to write about regarding my last visit to the midwife. I couldn't find a babysitter so Aaron and Jeremiah came along since I knew that I would be there at least an hour for the glucose test. We make it a habit to tell Jeremiah first thing in the morning what is going to be happening that day. So Aaron had gone through the whole, we are going to the dr. today while he was dressing Jeremiah. Then on the way to pick Aaron up from work I was reminding Jeremiah what we were going to be doing, "We are going to pick papa up from work and he is going to come with us to the doctor so we can check and make sure that the baby is ok." When we got to the parking lot at Aaron's work and Jeremiah was climbing out of the car I heard him say, "check, baby, otay!" He has said that a number of times now since the doctor appointment! And today he decided that he didn't want to just give the baby a kiss, he wanted to give him a hug to! I love watching him learn to bond with the baby already and am hoping it will make for an easier adjustment. Yesterday I tried to have him leave his hand on my tummy to feel it move, but he wasn't patient enough for that. :-)

The Irony...

Usually when I have a cold I run to the doctor who tells me, there is nothing I can do, go home, rest, drink plenty of fluids and you'll feel better soon.

This morning when I woke up with no improvement and the added bonus of crusty eyes I told Aaron that I had to go to the clinic. So we dropped Jeremiah off with his grandparents at church and headed to the clinic. Thankfully we were the first ones there. The doctor walked in, took about 30 seconds to examine me, and announced that I had a very bad upper respiratory infection as well as pink-eye. (It is still a mystery to me where the came pink-eye from.) I obtained a prescription for antibiotics and was home within the hour.

Why is it that the one time I think - oh this is just a cold, I'll wait for it to get better- it is in fact an infection and if I had just gone to the doctor on Friday I would have been feeling better by now?

I guess the lesson here is: if Sudafed and Benadryl don't seem to be helping then go see a doctor!

Anyhow, please keep praying for me. I have already taken 2 doses of the antibiotics and am waiting for them to kick in. Aaron has to go to work and school tomorrow. I still feel really really bad and can't hear very well. And now of course I have this trouble with my eyes. I am keeping away from Jeremiah as much as possible as pink-eye is very contagious.

This is so not fun!

Sick, Sick, Sick

I think that my body has finally rebelled against all the lost sleep and energy. I have the worst cold I can ever remember having. I have spent the past 3 days in bed, barely able to move, so congested that even Sudafed won't help, hardly able to hear, and with a terrible earache. The only good thing is that I don't have a fever.

Seriously, this is NOT fun!

The first 2 days were really rough because Aaron couldn't get off of work. I will admit that Jeremiah watched way more TV than is probably good for him. But I had no other option, getting out of bed was painful. Thankfully I have been able to rest a lot today as Aaron has taken over all parenting and household responsibilities and I have not gotten out of bed until now. The only reason I am out of bed now is because I was getting bored!

Please, please pray for me. I have one more day to rest (tomorrow) and then Aaron heads back to work. I would at least like to be able to hear by then! :-)

Also, pray that Aaron and Jeremiah won't get this nasty thing.

When mama is sick....

Yesterday my scratchy throat go progressively worse and was joined by lots of congestion and a low fever. I somehow made it through the day and waited until Aaron got home from school (at almost 10pm) to take Benadryl so I could sleep. I slept pretty well considering but am feeling really really bad today. Aaron said that he called two people last night to see if they could come and help with Jeremiah today - but they were both busy.... Sweet of him to try though!

So, I would appreciate your prayers today.

I forsee a day of Jeremiah watching fair amount of videos and us reading a lot of books in bed.

Also, today is the day Aaron hears about the job he interviewed for.

28 weeks!

This morning I had the joy of my 28 week midwife appointment. This meant that I had to do my blood glucose test to make sure I don't have gestational diabetes (2 separate blood drawings) as well as my rhogam shot to make sure that the baby's blood does not react negatively to mine (another shot). So I feel slightly like a pincushion right now. But all looks good - heartbeat is still strong and I am continuing to gain the exact correct amount of weight (despite my lack of exercise and good diet). Here's a bonus - my midwife told me that I have to get more sleep and told me to take Benadryl at night. So I will dose up tonight and hopefully get more than 4 hours of sleep! And another milestone - I now start going to the midwife every 2 weeks instead on every 4. That means the end is in sight!

Fetal development in pregnancy week 28:You know how you’ve been feeling a bit like a barn with legs some days? Well, that feeling won’t subside before… well, you know, when you finally give birth. For the time being, you’ve got yourself a baby in the business of collecting fat and lots of it! In spite of the dubious joys of being a barn, this baby fat business is very serious and you’ve got to put up with it, because it’s going to keep your little porker warm and healthy after birth. Other good stuff from inside: their eyes are doing lots of blinking this week because they’re now able to respond to light and dark. Also, their industrious little bone marrow is now a major construction site for developing red blood cells, while their super-cute adrenal glands are actually producing androgen and estrogen—which will stimulate your hormones to begin milk production. Can you say, “Moo?”

Aaron's Interview

I just talked to Aaron who said that he felt that his interview went really well. It was over an hour long and when it was over the principal said that she thought that Aaron would make a good teacher where ever he ended up teaching. So, kinda cryptic, but encouraging at least that he made a good impression. Aaron was one of 12 interviewed. They will let him know on Thursday what their final decision is. So please join us in prayer between now and then!

I have still not been sleeping well. I am probably getting about 4 hours of sleep a night and today I really feel the wear and tear. I have my 28 week appointment with the midwife tomorrow so I will ask her if there is anything I can take to at least get one good night of sleep a week.

Jeremiah has taken a new step to independence. For the past week he has put himself to sleep for bed and nap time. When I say that I mean that before I leave the room after reading him books and saying his prayers I tell him that he can look at one book until he is ready to sleep and I will come and check on him to make sure he is sleeping. When I come back 20-30 minutes later his book is laid carefully beside his bed and he is sound asleep with his sheet pulled up. While I am happy that we have made this step before the arrival of the new baby it still tugs on my heartstrings a little....

Aaron has an interview!

This is turning into a multiple post day (scroll down for mom's birthday wish) - but I wanted to share so that you can pray for Aaron tomorrow.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) at 1:00pm he has an interview with Trion City Schools !! This is the first real or promising lead that he has had in this whole process. So while I am trying not to get too excited I am praying that God will bless this interview and that Aaron will get the job so that will be one less thing we have to worry about!
Please pray with us!

Happy Bday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday!
There is so much I could say about my mom that it is hard to know where to start and what to write.
So, today I am just thankful for the gift that my mom is to me. She is a friend and mentor. A woman who I have come to lean on, admire, respect, and seek wisdom from more and more as I mature as a woman, wife, and mother.
I miss her and wish we could sit down for a nice lunch on the main square in Haarlem together and chat away the afternoon.
I love you mom and hope you are feeling loved and special on your special day!

Jeremiah gives me love!

A friend took these at the Memorial day picnic. I couldn't resist sharing.
Jeremiah has entered such a loving stage and seems to always want to hug and kiss and snuggle. I am determined to enjoy every minute that I can!
By the way, I am blogging this late because I can't sleep.......

Sunday morning at our house

Um, is it just me or do they have the exact same expression on their faces? :-)

Aaron is so incredible. Every Sunday he lets me sleep in for an extra hour while he gets up with Jeremiah. The pictures above are the scene that I came upon when I got up - Aaron playing playstation and Jeremiah "playing" with him. These are some of the phrases Jeremiah uses as he plays along, "uh oh mens" "mens fall down" - those of course are used when Aaron's man gets killed. :-)

Corn on the cob

Last night Jeremiah got his first taste of that great summer food - corn on the cob. He seemed to like it and especially liked being able to eat food with his hands and get messy. It took him a while to get the hang of how to bite just right to get the corn off....