Posts filed under 'Faith'
I thought today – I am so glad I was invited to do the 365 project last year instead of this year… I know now why my friend Kristen (who was pregnant for half of 2010) only blogged for half of 2010.
Here’s the pic of the pregnancy test. Sorry if this grosses you out, but it really is the most effective way of knowing you are pregnant! The directions on the test tell you to wait 2 minutes to read the results, but when it shows 2 [positive] lines immediately, it’s not going to change in 2 minutes. I did wait and read the test after 2 minutes, at which point I took this picture. I thought it was worthy to note, seeing as how I broke the news to Kevin this way. And, I did wrap it up in a plastic bag and throw it away. I mean, I did pee on it.
This was our very first look at our little peanut, taken May 25th. I immediately saw his/her heartbeat, and I cried! We have another picture of the heart rate, which measured at 165 bpm. (Any guesses on gender now? Which actually, I Googled and found to be a myth, that you could guess the gender based on heart rate. The heart rate fluctuates based on week gestation. The doctor is just listening and measuring for a good strong heart rate that isn’t lower than 100, which could be a sign of impending miscarriage.) In this picture, the baby measured 1.92 cm. So tiny!
This is the ultrasound picture taken June 9th, at which I was 11 weeks and 1 day. This was also the one that made it to Facebook.
Today I also thought about each of my pregnancies and how far along I was when we broke the news to everyone…
- with Carlee, it was at 10 weeks, because we found out I was pregnant about that time!
- with Kennedy, it was at 8 weeks. I took the test right at 4 weeks, we hadn’t been to the doctor yet, but we told at my birthday party.
- with Colby, it was at 12 weeks. I knew I was pregnant right at 4 weeks, but because it was my first pregnancy, our first appointment was a “general health and wellness education session” with a nutritionist, I guess? She didn’t do or say much in the way of what I should eat, she just wanted to make sure I wasn’t using drugs or alcohol. We weren’t allowed to see a doctor (because of our insurance group’s procedures) until 12 weeks, and even then I had to see the group’s midwife because my doctor had to do an emergency c-section that day. I did tell my principal at the time I found out; I figured if anything happened to me or the baby, I at least wanted her to know. I also wanted pictures so we could tell our parents in a special way.
- with this baby, it was at 5 weeks. (or 7 weeks, or 8 weeks, depending on which due date we were using). Another reason we wanted to tell was because I was feeling so sick right there at the beginning… I didn’t want anyone to think I had relapsed on my liver stuff (which was actually one of my first thoughts. I am so glad I was wrong!)
For only a few days now, I feel the baby moving this time of night (ahem, morning?) – around 11 or midnight. It’s the first time all day I get to sit still, and I feel so at ease when I feel this tiny thing moving in my tummy. I know all “the books” say you’re not ’supposed’ to feel the baby until later on in your pregnancy, but I say that’s all hogwash. I’ve been pregnant with 3 very active children, and this one will fit right in with the bunch.
I’ll get back to blogging about the rest of that bunch sometime soon.
June 18th, 2011
You’ll have to bear with me… My gmail is acting up and not wanting to support my browser right now. (Just wanted to point out that that phrase never would have been used 30 years ago… “’supporting’ & ‘browser’ in the same sentence? Ludicrous! And what’s gah-mail, anyway? I don’t want none of that in my mailbox.”) So since my mail domain doesn’t want to work, I can’t post a picture of our latest and greatest news of the moment.
…which is, Carlee will be a Big Sister. Yep. We’re expecting Baby #4! I’ve been calling it “Cuatro”, to keep with the C/K theme, until we figure out if it’s a boy or girl [on August 4th].
Warning: some of this might be TMI. Proceed with caution.
Colby has been asking for a baby brother for a long time now, and we felt like we were done having kids of our own (especially after the drama/trauma we had to endure with Carlee’s after-birth). And, when I had to endure the Mellow Yellow Liver Quiver , my gastroenterologist said something to the effect of “It’s a good thing you had 3 healthy pregnancies already…”, which I took to mean, “It might be impossible for you to get pregnant again.”
So, Kevin and I were looking into some other options, pretty casually. I’ll leave it at that. We went on our trip to Washington at the beginning of May, and I took all my Monthly Supplies with me; according to my calendar, I was supposed to start then and I didn’t want to have to buy things there (which was actually moot, since the airline lost our luggage and I had to buy toiletries anyway). But as we went through the trip, I kept feeling nauseated and really really tired, but I just thought it was because we were up in the mountains (motion sickness?) and because I was on vacation and wanted to sleep. Plus, my grandmother passed away while we were gone, and I was trying not to think about that.
The kicker though, was that I didn’t want to eat sweet stuff. That’s pretty much a tell-tale sign for me that I’m pregnant. I usually have a HUGE sweet tooth and was looking so forward to ordering dessert at these fine restaurants in Oregon and Washington.. but I just couldn’t. And, Kevin got peanut butter and jelly for us to make sandwiches.. between that and the Gatorade we drank on our hikes, I could barely get through our lunches on the road. I also kept needing to stop and pee, like every half hour.
While on our 4-hour excursion through the mountains from Carson, Washington, to Seattle, we stopped at a gas station for a potty break and I lost my lunch.. tossed my cookies… hugged the toilet. So to speak. Again, I just thought I had motion sickness. But I told Kevin, “I haven’t started yet. Maybe I am pregnant.” And, Kevin said to me, “Well then we’ll just have to name him ‘Carson’.” (being the town we just left) So, we got through the rest of the trip okay [we still need to post pics, ahem, gmail!], and had a very very very VERY bumpy (and nauseating) plane ride from Houston to College Station, which thankfully was only 20 minutes long, but was tortuous for a very newly (and not knowing!) pregnant woman.
The next day after we got back from Washington, I was still feeling sick but still not really knowing why.. Alicia had had a stomach bug, she told me, and I thought maybe I was catching it. Then Kelsey (our adopted Aggie, now engaged to Tim – whoop!) came over and told us good-bye for the summer – she is again at Sky Ranch Camps, this year as a coordinator, in charge of and leading/directing the counselors and staff. She mentioned that Tim’s best friend’s wife is expecting and due at the beginning of December, which she thought was so cool, because Tim & Kelsey’s wedding is at the end of December, and there would be a newborn at their wedding! I immediately thought to myself, “Do I have a pregnancy test handy?” because that story immediately made me think that I’d need to know if I was pregnant – because my kids are flower girls and ring bearer at their wedding… the due date of this baby is completely crucial, you see.
So, right before Kevin got home that day, and right before my grandmother’s viewing that night, I took a pregnancy test. I have a picture of that too, dang gmail. My friend Amanda came over to cook us all dinner, and I pulled Kevin aside and showed him the picture on my phone, which he couldn’t believe any more than I could. But we were also very very thrilled.
The downside to finding out that information on the day of Grandmother’s viewing is that I felt like I needed to tell everyone right away, even though I have had several friends (meaning 5 now…) who have had miscarriages early in their pregnancies, even after hearing the heartbeats. The upside is that ALL of my family got to be in the room together to hear the same info. And, Kevin’s dad came to town for the funeral the next day, so we got to tell him too, followed by Kevin’s mom later that afternoon, and Kevin’s sister & fam that week. I did tell them all to wait until I at least went to the doctor the first time (at the end of May) so that we could make sure everything looked okay – plus, I wanted their prayers and love and support more than anything in the world.
Another cool fact – according to my calculations, my original due date is January 10, 2012, which would have been my Papaw’s 100th birthday. (He was my mom’s dad, who died almost 20 years ago to the date we found out we were pregnant.) So far I’ve been to the doctor twice and had 2 ultrasounds, both of which have given me earlier and earlier due dates. After Carlee’s birth, we decided we’d go with a hospital birth but I made it clear that I don’t want any unnecessary medical interventions (drugs, IVs, etc.). I really like my doctor so far (a new one to me) and have heard good things about him in the delivery room. I think the trick will be convincing the nurses of my birth plan.
My official due date (for now!) is December 28th, 2011, which will make a nice Christmas gift/tax deduction this year. ;) I’m 12 weeks + a few days along right now, and so far I’ve been sick a lot at night. So far I think I’m having a boy, and Colby pegged that Carlee would be a girl, and he says this one is a boy, so I’m sticking with Colby’s odds. :) I want him to have a little brother so bad – Colby’s such a great kid and I would love to have another Colby!
I know I’ll have lots of other stories (and pictures.) as I think of them. I posted this on Facebook about a week ago, if you’re friends with me, so you can see the sonogram picture there. I have a friend who thinks she already knows the sex of the baby, by the 11 week picture. I’m saying this sarcastically because it is SO too early to tell… maybe maybe in 1-2 more weeks we could find out, but I’m good to wait another 6 weeks to find out for sure. Even though the wait is already killing me! :)
I’d appreciate your prayers, especially as I get through these rough patches of sickness and lethargy. And, once I feel a little better, hopefully I’ll be blogging more and not overloading your brains with long stories.
June 17th, 2011
I think that song* would be on the soundtrack of my life right now… ”saying AYO, gotta let go!”
Let me briefly recap the last 3+ months for you.
February – Kevin’s grandpa passed away, followed by the memorial at the DFW National Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery in March. Also – my foot doctor cleared me to start running again – Hallelujah! And, my dad returned to work full time, another Hallelujah.
March – I decided to start training for a triathlon! I’m not such a good swimmer, but I do enjoy running and just got into the biking phenomenon. Love LOVE [race] biking, lest you think I ride a Harley.
April – Kennedy turned 4 years old. And yet she started acting 2 again. Now it’s like I have two 2 year-olds in the house.. I’m so ready for her to start preschool.
May – too busy to recap in this post, but here’s the Reader’s Digest condensed version -
1. Kevin and I took a trip to Oregon/Washington. Fabulous. Highly recommend it. I’ll be devoting an entire post (or two, or three) to it.
2. My grandmother passed away while we were gone. I wrote her obit in a hotel room. More on this later.
3. Also while we were gone, my parents started renovating their kitchen. Now finished, but wow it was a mess – my mom had to put everything into her dining room, and she felt like she was on that show Hoarders. I’ll try to post pictures of that too.. you’ve seen some of the before pics, you just didn’t know it.
4. Kennedy had her first dance recital. I laughed, I cried, but I wasn’t stressed. She did a superb job and can’t wait for dance next year. Pictures and a post to follow.
5. Colby finished Kindergarten. He also turned 6 earlier this month. I also laughed and cried. His teacher was such a sweetheart, and she’s moved to DFW. Pictures of him to follow too [oh and lots of stories. he is one funny kid.]
June – (and I’m so not kidding about this one) Carlee is going to the potty. Like, for real, she’s wearing panties all the time, even at night, and even when we are out in public. She has a chart for going #2 and when she goes 5 times, we all get to go to Red Mango for frozen yogurt. She’s been twice so far – once yesterday and once today. You should see the big kids trying to encourage her on the potty. ”Don’t you need to poop, Carlee?” Hilarious.
More to come. You won’t believe how big and grown-up my kids are getting… I can’t believe it sometimes either.
*that song = Dynamite, by Taio Cruz.
June 3rd, 2011
One of the best things about Colby going to the KOR school is that he is finished at 12:30 every day and we get to eat lunch together every day. (I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I still love it.) So, this is just an ordinary day for us, before we clean up the kitchen and go take a nap.
February 18th, 2011
If you’re expecting me to give encouragement today, I probably won’t. But I will send you to our friends Dee & Greg’s blog. They are serving God in Estonia right now, and with 2 little ones (age 3 & less than 1!), it’s safe to say that Dee is Supermom. She touched my heart the other day with this post – From the Mouths of Children and Infants. I needed to “hear” all those Scriptures she quotes.
It seems like our family is in the midst of weekly medical drama. I haven’t been posting as much because of it. On the other hand, maybe I should write this up and sell it to Hollywood as a script for a tv show. Here goes -
1. My grandmother is in a nursing home now. She is having trouble feeding herself, much less walking. We are not sure how much of her symptoms result from depression (from losing her husband of 58 years last September) or from just getting older. Please pray for my dad and his siblings to know the best care for her, and for my grandmother to know God’s peace and comfort right now.
2. My dad is doing fantastic. Each day he is stronger and happier and can do a little bit more. He’s been working every other day for a few weeks.. now I think he’s working 3.5 days, with his cousin from out of town working for him the other full day. Thank you for his prayers for him and continue to lift him up – recovery is slow and steady, but still not fun.
3. Colby has been sick for the past 3 weeks now. I think he had a mild form of the flu I had, which turned into a double ear infection. He went to the doctor and was prescribed amoxicillin. This week he broke out in a horrible itching rash from head to toe and I worried beyond all worry that he had the measles. We took him to the doctor, and the bad news is, it turns out he has a pretty bad allergy of penicillin. The good news? He does NOT have the measles. So, now he’s on another med to try and get rid of the (ever-loving, ever-living, compound, complex) ear infection, and a steroid to get rid of the itching and rash. One of these days we’ll figure out how to be rid of sickness.
4. Kevin’s grandpa is in the hospital. This is fairly recent, and this comes after Kevin’s mom was in the hospital for a very complicated bladder infection. We are so glad she is doing [MUCH] better; now Kevin’s poor dad is taking up residence in the hospital rooms, looking after one and then the other. Please pray that our family will find some much-needed relief – emotionally, spiritually, physically.
I’m so glad the Groundhog Phil told us winter was over. My kids have really enjoyed playing outside and I have loved being outside as well. I am so thankful for all of you – family and friends who lift us up in prayer. Thank you for remembering us and for your encouraging words to us.
February 17th, 2011
Just wanted to let the blog readers know that I’ve been on hiatus for a little while because of 2 things -
1. I had foot surgery 10 days ago. Recovery was painful the first 5 days but now it seems to be better. The doctor says my foot looks great and that this surgery went better than the other 2. He has researched and changed the surgical technique and added 2 strands of wire in each foot, all because of little old me. Kevin thinks the doctor should name it the Jenna-knot.
2. My dad had a heart attack on Tuesday and sextuple bypass surgery on Wednesday. He had over 90% blockage in each artery. He spent a few days in Critical Care Unit but is now in a regular room in the hospital. His blood pressure is still a bit high so they’re not releasing him just yet but he’s off the oxygen and breathing on his own, plus he’s able to get up and walk well. I will tell the whole story later, but that’s where most of my time and energy has been this week. I realize that I still need to finish out the 365 project (and I do have the pictures waiting).
Please please pray for my family right now:
- for my dad to be able to breathe well enough to sleep. If you can imagine, he’s very very sore from the surgery, so taking a deep breath is very hard for him. It’s hard to get into the good restful sleep he needs, plus he only wants to sit up because it’s more comfortable.
- for my dad’s blood pressure to go down. Sleep will help this, as will exercise. His body has been through quite a lot of trauma – the surgery alone took 5 hours to complete.
- for my mom – she is spending all of visiting hours (9-9) up at the hospital, and I’m glad she can and does. (It’s what I would do.) And pray that she would be able to rest at night without my dad there.
- for my sister Alicia – she is still in chiropractic college in Houston, so it’s hard for her to be in two places at once. And, although I know she’d rather be here right now, she has less than a year left of school before she can take over Dad’s practice. But, pray that Alicia can do well in school and that she can help Dad as a medical professional.
- for my sister Katrina – she is looking for a job. Pray that God would show her exactly what He wants her to do and give her the energy and wisdom to do it. Also pray that she could help Mom out with Dad’s recovery and not feel like she’s in the way. I am thankful that my mom doesn’t have to come home to an empty house while my dad’s in the hospital, because Katrina is there.
- for Kevin and me – we are emotionally and physically drained right now, so I don’t want it to take a toll on our marriage. Pray for rest and for discernment, especially for Kevin at work and me with parenting.
- for our kids – they have felt the stress of the week’s events and have been at each other’s throats a bit. Carlee won’t stop saying “shut up”, and the other 2 won’t stop tattling on her. This may or may not have something to do with the fact that we’ve been watching The Incredibles a lot lately. Pray that we could take a bit of a break from watching movies (now that I’m feeling better) and we could play with the great toys and games we got for Christmas. The kids have been great helpers this week, with yardwork and laundry and cooking, so I’m very thankful for that.
The kids were pretty devastated that they couldn’t see their Doc while he was in CCU. But they have been the sweetest prayer warriors, especially Kennedy, praying for the surgery and for Doc’s heart to get better. Colby drew Doc pictures of a heart and wrote things like “Doc, I hop your horte gest bedrr.” [More on phonetic spelling later.] Carlee asks, “Doc get better? Go see Doc?” and then lays her head on his hand when she sees him.
It’s very hard for us to see Dad not up and moving about like he usually does, and I know he’s going to have to sit still even longer. I’m praying against any sort of depression he might have or get from “just sitting around”. The doctors say there’s a corner you have to turn before progress goes forward faster, and Dad hasn’t gotten there yet. I’m praying for the corner.
I am very thankful also for this blog and for Facebook, to keep people updated. I didn’t have to tell the story 15 times at church today – most people knew from Facebook, or heard from someone on Facebook. (By the way, if you’re on Facebook, I’m Jenna Stephenson Grubbs, and my picture right now is of Cinderella’s castle from Disney World. I probably should change that, at least for now.)
Thanks again, friends and family, for lifting us up to the Father.
January 10th, 2011
Merry Christmas from DFW! We went to church at home and then made the drive after lunch to get to Kevin’s parents’ house. We spent the afternoon and evening with his parents, his sister + husband and their 3 boys. We had a wonderful dinner of barbecue and ham. Yum.
The kids would hardly hold still – I mean, it is Christmas, after all, and again I didn’t get any other pics than this one.
December 26th, 2010
Merry Christmas, from Alicia’s face.
Kennedy took that pic and unfortunately it’s the only picture I have from my phone of that day. [sorry, Leesh.] I know Kevin took some with his camera. We spent the day at various gatherings. Breakfast was just the 5 of us at home; we opened our presents, played with our presents, and ate Butter Braids – yum! (Colby’s school fundraiser) Lunch was a Christmas feast at my uncle Philip’s house with my dad’s extended family, and then dinner was [by request] spaghetti and meatballs at my parents’ house with my parents and sisters.
The weather turned a little cooler today, so it was nice to sit by the fire and enjoy Christmas in a sweater instead of in shorts, which was what we had been wearing since last week. Although, it was nice to let the kids go outside and play on the trampoline every day instead of worrying about having to pick up their toys inside. Plus, now they have new toys to play with, since it’s Christmas!
December 25th, 2010
Today we got to keep Henry & Ollie while their mommy & daddy welcomed baby sister Lucy into the world. Henry & Colby are a few months apart, and Ollie & Carlee are a few months apart. I love getting to hang out with their mommy, and my kids love getting to hang out with these boys.
[Notice their Big Brother shirts.] :)
December 20th, 2010
Colby’s Kindergarten teacher gave him a copy of The Gingerbread Man on Thursday. He brought it home, read it, and then began asking when we could make gingerbread cookies. So, today was the day. [I'm always happy to oblige when it comes to baking, especially cookies and also especially at Christmastime.]
Here’s Colby reading the story while the cookies are in the oven.
Here’s Kennedy’s finished product – she made a few mini-houses (with the help of a cookie cutter but Carlee tried to rip them apart anyway) and a Gingerbread Girl, complete with bow, that took up 1/2 of the cookie sheet! [We watched the Girl to make sure she didn't run away!]
And, Kennedy is on a picture-taking streak… here’s a great one she took of her funny Daddy.
December 19th, 2010
Today we were graced with the presence of my cousin Lin and her husband Keith and their four children – Aubrey, Amanda, Garner, & Avery. I didn’t get too many pics but we laughed until our sides hurt and ate our annual Feliz Navidad dinner of chili, enchiladas, guacamole, taco salad, and a cornucopia of pies.
Here’s Colby with Garner (age 13). Can you see the family resemblance?
And Kennedy wanted her pic taken. In the background, you can see Lin & Aubrey (age 20).
This is Avery (age 10). Kennedy took a lot of Avery pics that looked a whole lot like this.
Katrina and Amanda (age 16) went to see a one-act play that night, so I didn’t get Amanda’s pic. Interesting fact: Kevin and I got married on Amanda’s birthday. So, we can always remember how old she is, because she turned 8 that year.
We are looking forward to seeing these Florida cousins again this next summer!
December 18th, 2010
Today Colby’s Kindergarten had a party. His teacher gave each of them a small milk carton or a butter box and some icing and graham crackers; it was instant “gingerbread house” – worthy. The girls got to help a little but mostly they wanted to eat all the decorations.
Then, his class had a book swap, which to Kindergarteners means you pick a number and then take the book with the coordinating number on it. I was impressed that all the kids did so well – they were so focused in getting those houses decorated!
December 16th, 2010
“…hung by the chimney with care….” So, where did the word “mantel” come in to play? I like the phrase ‘by the chimney’ serves the purpose very well. Plus, I never can remember how to spell mantel and want to confuse it with mantle, as in crust, mantle & core (the layers of the earth). Also topping my list of hardest word to spell is vacuum. Vaccuum? Vaccum. vacuum? Seriously.
Anyway, I digress. This is my favorite Christmas decoration in the house. I think it looks pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. Last year we took our Christmas card pic sitting on the fireplace hearth.
Now ask me how many times we’ve used the fireplace…? I hope we get to use it more this winter because it wasn’t very cold last year. But first we need to get some firewood. Anyone know where we can get some locally?
December 13th, 2010
I realize I’m cheating here but I thought these were neat. On the plane back from our trip to Disney World, we had a short stop-over in Panama City, FL, and the pilot asked if any kids wanted to come and tour the cockpit. Kevin took Colby & Kennedy in and took these pics.
[Technically from November 28th.]
What did we really do today? Tonight was our church’s Christmas musical. Earlier this week I got to hold Baby Jesus (aka Jenny), age 3 weeks. And, today it was 40 degrees outside, so it’s actually beginning to look a lot like Christmas…
December 12th, 2010
This year is the first year we have been able to set up our artificial tree, put on the lights, and decorate it with ornaments all in one afternoon. Why? We had help! The kids loved to help with all parts of the Christmas tree making. I loved watching them.
[Kevin had the hard job of lifting the kids up to put the ornaments on.]
I love our tree. Kevin’s parents gave us this tree when we got married, and they used it for some years prior. So, I really have no idea how old it is, but I’d consider it an antique. It’s so pretty.
December 11th, 2010
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