I did not want to go get the mail today! I've had so much trouble with insurance companies and hospitals billing me for things that should have been covered. Every trip to the PO Box was like a walk to school when it's raining and a huge car drives by and splashes water all over your new clothes. With all these confusions, it's required me to stay inside on the phone connected to the wall, so I won't use up my cell phone minutes, for 15-30 minutes at a time to clear things up. With a feeling of false relief I will go about my day. Next week I will be sadly reminded of the mix-up when I'm looking another bill in the face. Seriously! Why is it my job to get the hospital and insurance company to communicate with each other?

Anyway, today I was afraid to look in the mail. I was curious when I saw a little key to a bigger PO Box nestled in our box. I opened the bigger box and found this!:
Oh my goodness! How exciting! AND how cute! I love the pink envelope! "This has totally made my day!" "Thank you, thank you! I don't even know what it is. Even if it's (insert worst thing possible here) I'm still so thankful for it!" I restrained myself from opening it because I wanted to take a picture. After the picture I ripped it open and was delighted. I was beaming when I tried on my brand new church-ready maternity shirt! I had Luke take a picture a couple of hours later, after a day spent at home, so excuse the unkempt look.

So, I'm thrilled to have a lovely brown top to wear to church. This will grow with me too!

Well, here's an update!

We had an appointment on Monday afternoon. The appt. included an ultrasound. We told the lady we would really love to know the gender. We all looked intently and she showed us her reasons for being 85% sure that this little one is a...
GIRL!!!

I was told to not go out and buy pink paint, but to wait for our August 10th ultrasound when we'll get to do a video and see the baby in 3D. We'll be able to tell for sure by then. The doctor said she was noticing that the placenta is still lower than she would like, but there's still a lot of time for it to relocate higher.

Thank you, Jesus. We're so thankful for Your righteous hand that holds this baby and us in your ever-capable hands. There is no place we will go where you have not already been. There is no place we will be or feeling we will feel that you have not already known. We praise you for the length of this pregnancy so far (almost 21 weeks!), and for how long it will continue to go, and for how you are forming this baby to love you with (her) whole heart. We ask that (she) will be great for you, that (she) will honor you with (her) life from birth, and that the light and life in (her) eyes will be a testament to your unfailing love and goodness and grace. Amen.

My faves!

I thought you would all appreciate it if I shared with you what is on "My Faves" play list right now. I've taken a little break from it recently to pay tribute to MJ, but here are some of my faves. Check them out if you're interested.


"Have you Ever" Brandi Carlile
"Love" Matt White Band
"Calabria 2007" Enur
"Realize" Colbie Caillat
"New Soul" Yael Naim
"Mercy" Duffy
"Bruises" Chairlift
"You Don't Know Me" Ben Folds with Regina Spektor (one little bad word...oops!)
"Little Romance" Regina Spektor
"The Way I Am" Ingrid Michaelson
"Lucky" Jason Mraz
"I'm Yours" Jason Mraz
"Keep Breathing" Ingrid Michaelson
"Bubbly" Colbie Caillat
"The Call" Regina Spektor
"Winter Song" Sara Bareilles
"Trouble" Ray LaMontagne
"Great DJ" The Ting Tings (as heard on the "Year One" preview on TV)
"I Got A Feeling" The Black Eyed Peas
"Thank You" MoZella
"Dreams Collide" Colbie Caillat
"The Last Thing On Your Mind" The Lights
"Single Ladies" Beyonce
"Distant Dreamer" Duffy

Yes, some are predictable, and yes, they are often heard on commercials.

Enjoy! I love to share good music.

Really?

I can't believe the 4th of July is this weekend. Summer is moving right along, and before you know it we'll be seeing school supplies and thinking about going back to school again. Oh wait, not me. Not this time! I think I will realize the strangeness of this all when teacher in-service week starts and I'm not expected to show up. And then again on the first day of school for the kids when I don't have to get that little nervous feeling brought on by starting a new year. I think I would have had an interesting year--only five kids! Really? Really. At least there would have been boys in this class. I'll miss it. I already do.

OK, I have to pay tribute to the King of Pop. Deaths of this sort tend to shock me and it takes me awhile to lose interest. I wonder if I'll always remember where I was when I found out? I just might because it seems pretty random. Keith Shew dropped the "two people died today" bomb on us at the 'end' of a fun day at the lakes. What?!?! Michael Jackson?!? This is tragic. I think I feel this way because of everything he accomplished. He was truly talented. He's also one of the only artists I remember dancing and singing to since I was very little. I remember seeing his videos on TV and thinking, "This is weird." when watching Thriller. I remember wondering at his dance moves and loving to sing along. So, yeah, he got weird and looked weird, but here is how I would like to remember him. Oh, and yes, I have been listening to MJ songs for the last three days.



Darkness falls across the land, the midnight hour is close at hand. Creatures crawl in search of blood to terrorize your neighborhood. And whosoever can be found without the soul for 'getting down'...


What else?

Bed rest was a success. Here is a picture of what I saw everyday for about eight full hours:


So sweet. I think they were really happy about having someone to lay down and cuddle with for most of the day! I went on a cleaning frenzy after bed rest. The cats are shedding like crazy now, and were then too, so you can imagine how sick I was of cat hair. I think I vacuumed up another full size cat.

The first weekend of mobility after bed rest Luke and I went to the Kingsley 125 anniversary parade. We sat on the street across from the nursing home residents. I thought this little old man was so cute because he would stand up every once in a while when the bands or interesting floats would come by and would take a picture. I wonder what he plans to do with those pictures? Can you see him in this picture?



Lastly, here are some pregnancy pictures. Yippee! All appointments have gone well. I have an ultrasound scheduled for July 13 at 1:30. Hopefully Luke will be able to make it, and we can get a good look at whether this little one is a boy or girl. It seems I am constantly praying for the baby, and now I can feel little kicks, so it reminds me to thank Jesus and pray for the baby to grow and grow and be healthy, and tell God that my body is in His hands and I trust Him.
This is 15 weeks at the beginning of June:

This is 19 weeks at the beginning of July:


I had to be a little creative this morning with the camera and mirror.

We will spend the 4th in Marshalltown with my family and friends. Hopefully we will get to see my youth pastor and his family. I hope we also get to see an amazing fireworks display! I also love how the Marshalltown boy scouts put out little flags next to everybody's mail boxes on the morning of the 4th. It's so festive. I'll get a picture of it for you. This is awful, but one year my sisters and I stole the flags from like all our neighbors' yards. One of them got mad. I don't blame him. Sometimes I cringe remembering the naughty things we used to do. Ever wish you could erase certain things from your past? Sometimes I do, but then my present would be incomplete I suppose. Well, I'm off to pack, fold laundry, watch Matt Lauer's report from Neverland, and have lunch.

Happy 4th, friends!

Dharma made my weekend great!

Any LOST fans out there?

This weekend I rewatched all of season five with some friends from Sioux Falls. Holli and Miles have been so kind to invite us into their home twice now to have a glorious LOST weekend! They feed us, give us a bed, let us use their shower and towels and toilets and soap. It is a break from reality and a chance to discuss theories. I'm already looking forward to next year when we can watch the final season together.

One thing I love about LOST weekends is the Dharma-issued food. Check out pictures that Holli took and added to her Flickr account. They are so great. http://www.flickr.com/photos/holli_joi/sets/72157619023612612/

Thanks Miles and Holli!

First Day of Summer

Today was my first day of summer. I woke up around 8:30 to say goodbye to Andy, Liz, and Judah. I loved my time with Judah! What a sweetie. It was so fun to have Andy and Liz around again. I tried to take a picture of all the things I've been doing today, but I have no picture of them leaving.

Next I took a shower. (No Picture) I thought about skipping the shower today but then I had a very funny memory that I always think of when I'm trying to decide whether or not to take a shower on a day like today; a day when I know I'll be home all day, seeing no one. I remembered when my brother Matt told me at the tender age of 10 that even though it's summer, my day would be better and I would feel a whole lot better if I would take a shower at the beginning of my day. What a gentle way to tell me that my pituitary gland was starting to work on overdrive and he was sick of smelling me and looking at my oily hair at breakfast. Not a great mental picture, sorry. He neglected to tell me anything about whether or not I should do my hair "the long way" everyday, so I decided not to. (No Picture)

Next I went to the post office to mail out a few things. (No Picture) Luke has been selling some PS3 games online, so it was my job to send them off today.

Next I had lunch and watched "It's a Big Big World". Today they taught me why clouds look grey somedays, and why we shouldn't be afraid of storms.

Then I went downstairs to fold laundry and watch the episode of "The Bachelorette" that I missed last night. Luke informed me that the bachelorette this year "just doesn't do it for him". hmmmm.

Then I couldn't help myself and I took a nap. (No Picture) I blame it on the pregnancy. The cats took a nap too, so at least I wasn't alone. It was only an hour nap. I've been known to do worse.

Then I made dinner for Luke (warmed up leftover pizza), baked cookies (chocolate chip), and welcomed Luke home from his first day of work at his brand new job! (No Picture of dinner or Luke coming in the door. Luke changed into his "everyday clothes" before I could get the camera out. I've trained him well! Or maybe I should say my mom trained me well! "Change into your 'everyday clothes' as soon as you get home!") What are "everyday clothes"? Usually cotton, stretchy pants and a t-shirt. Since these clothes are only being worn for 3-4 hours out of the day to do school work or TV-watching, they can be worn 2-3 times. Gross? Come on! I decided to take a picture of Luke's first choice for free time during the summer instead of getting him in his work garb. This is him in his boy corner. He wasn't real excited about the picture.

Then I took out the recycling. The recycling man comes every other week, and we always forget, so this means I actually remember to take out the recycling once a month. I'm so excited to have an empty container again because I have a lot of cardboard I want to get out of my way around the house.

Then I sat down to check my email and Facebook for like the fourth time today. (This will NOT be happening everyday. I'm not going to waste my summer days with TV and computer! I'm already planning a daily routine so I don't get lazy. I have not planned a routine for my days since college when I had free time in between classes. I'm excited about doing this. I just wish I had a Stacy Billings/Kelli/Allison around so I could schedule them in. I'll do my best to make do.)

During this time, while watching "TV's 50 Funniest Phrases" I decided to document my first day of summer.

I thought a lot about moving today. Why? Probably b/c Moville has nothing to offer...not even a grocery store, or decent bike path, or ice cream place, or sisters. :(

What was voted TV's number one funniest phrase? "Yada, yada, yada" from Seinfeld. Lovely.

Hard to Imagine

It's hard to imagine what my future holds.

Today was the last day of school. I finished an amazing year today. I do have to go back tomorrow and finish some things up with cleaning, but otherwise I'm all done. This year is different than the last three. This time when I finished it was very final. I didn't sign my contract to come back next year. Luke got a new job, so he won't be back next year either. It's pretty bittersweet. Today after school was out the teachers had a meeting to say goodbye and end our year. It was meaningful and good. I'll miss the kids the most. I'll also miss doing something everyday that I'm good at and enjoy. Although, many have told me that I'm making the right decision to stay home with the baby and that I'll really enjoy it and be so happy that we made this decision.

Anyway, this year is different. And we'll just keep praying. Please continue to pray with us. I'm getting a little anxious. It's been a month since the last time I've heard the heartbeat. I'll go again on June 2. I can't wait for that day. I'm still sickly and tired, so that's good, right?

Here comes summer!!! I should start thinking of what I'd like to do during this time. Luke starts work on Tuesday, but I'll have lots of free time. Wish I lived closer to home so that I could just be-bop on over to my mom's or sisters'/brothers'. I said be-bop just for my mom, but I don't think she reads this.

What's Been Happening?

May is definitely the busiest month of the year. At least it has been for the last four years. The good news is that Luke is done with track and college class. That makes life less hectic. We're also done with middle school youth group volunteer responsibilities for a while. Even with all that ending, our weeks stay busy. Anyway, who isn't busy during this time of year?

Time for an update:
I'm 12 weeks along in pregnancy and things are looking fine! I'm feeling nausea still, and hungry lots, but these are all normal things. I've gained more weight than I'm comfortable with (b/c I'm afraid I'm gaining too quickly), but I'm sure it'll be alright. My next appointment is June 2. On June 3 I'll get another ultrasound. I'm hoping to find out if it's a boy or girl, but it might still be too early to tell.

Summer plans: I will be taking it easy. Luke with be working. I'll tend the garden, and Luke will fix computers.

The cats: Poor Pumpkin got in a fight with another cat outside two days ago. We think the naughty neighborhood cat bit Pumpkin's foot. Pumpkin has not put any pressure on her wounded foot for two days now. She lays around a lot, and when she walks she only walks on three legs. It really reminds me of Evan, the cat from the vet. clinic I used to work at. Evan only had three legs. Pumpkin looks so sad. Sometimes we have to carry her around. I hope it's just a flesh wound that will heal quickly, and not a muscle/bone injury.

At school: Just last night the whole school participated in a multi-cultural evening. My class chose to study Madagascar. They made displays, dressed up, and decorated our room. I had a room mom help a whole lot with the decorations! I was so thankful for her help because it really made things look African.

I'll leave you with some pictures of the hurting Pumpkin and the multi-cultural night. Enjoy the spring weather!