So much has happened....

Wow! It amazes me how quickly life can take new twists and turns. God most certainly has a plan in it all, and it can be exciting to see what He is doing our lives!

On December 20th, Mike and I and the kids were getting ready to go to a friends house for dinner. I had just made a pineapple upside down cake and was sitting at the kitchen table finishing up some Christmas cards when i felt a gush. Since i was only around 25 weeks pregnant, i didnt really thimk my water had broken but i was also sure that i had NOT just wet myself! How embaressing! So I called my doctor who said to swing by the hospital to get checked out. We figured we could stop on the way and still make it to our dinner. It's actually funny looking back on it....

Once we got to the hospital, the nurses took their time doing the test and taking my blood pressure and chatting with the kids. Apparently a lot of women come in thinking their water had broken but it usually turns out to be an overactive bladder. Half an hour later, the nurse came running back into the room saying "Yep, your water broke!" and the next thing I know the room is full of nurses hooking me up to IV's, putting monitors on my belly, and shooting steroids in my leg! The small hospital in Waconia, where my doctor resides, was not capable of caring for a baby as small as 25 weeks, so they said they raced me off by ambulance to the big hospital in downtown Minneapolis. It was a very bumpy ride.

I didn't really understand what the problem was then, but learned a short time later that one usually goes into labor after their water breaks. I mean, I knew ThAT part, I just didn't think that would actually happen to me. All the steroids and medicines they gave me were to get baby ready in case I did go into labor, and also to try to stop the contractions I was starting to have by then. Long story short, my contractions slowed, babys heart rate continued to look great, and my labor never kicked in full throttle.

Our baby boy is still growing inside me everyday and we are praying he continues to do so for a few weeks longer at least! I have to remain in the hospital on semi bed rest until his birth. Because there is obviously a tear in my bag of waters, there is a higher risk of infection for baby, another reason they are keeping us here. Close monitoring and preventative care are important. I am now 26 weeks 5 days along, and at this point, everyday counts!

It would be easy to complain about circumstances. It really would. My three precious children are without their Mommy now. My husband has so much more responsibility than before and has to work very hard to maintain our family without me. Friends and relatives have really stepped in to help as much as possible. And I have to sit here and just watch all this happen without being able to DO anything. But I have to say that my heart is simply filled with gratitude for so many things right now. I am incredibly grateful for the people in my life that are helping our family right now. So very thankful for my amazing husband who is doing the job of two parents and doing it so well. The kids seem to be handling the changes just fine, and I'm sure it's Mommy who is having the harder time being apart from them. Haha! But mostly I am so thankful that our baby boy is still growing inside me instead of trying to make it in the NICU. He is a mere 2 pounds right right now and would fit in the palm of Mikes hand. What a fragile tiny little baby he would be, and although his chances of survival would be great, there would still be many complications to overcome. After hearing the stories from nurses here, reading information about micro preemies and seeing pictures of these precious babies born too soon, I am singing my thanks to God for his grace in keeping our little guy inside the womb a little longer.

So if you read this post and think of it, please say a prayer for baby and me. Please pray for our family. And then thank God for the many blessings He has allowed in your life!

I will try to post often to keep everyone updated. Love to you all!

new stuff

Here's Abbie doing some stretches in her dance class. She still loves every minute of dance, and asks me everyday when her next class is going to be. Her teacher is very sweet and does a great job with all the little girls.

This is from October, but its cute so I added it.
Sam and Mommy.
Daddy loves to come home and play with all the kiddos! They love it too!
Took this picture on Sunday before church- Sammy is such a great smiler! Love these kiddos!

Well, its been awhile since I've blogged anything. No, my life is not so busy that I don't have time to blog, I honestly just forget to do it since I'm not on the computer that much. Haha! I have hundreds of pictures to post, but since I'm so far behind, it will take me awhile to sort through and post them. I'll get it done though!

We enjoyed our first church Christmas Banquet this past Sunday. Mike is pastoring Northern Lights Baptist Church in Waconia, MN now, and its been really fun planning events and seeing them come together. We had our Christmas Banquet in the reception room at Island View Golf Course. The food was amazing, several music specials were beautiful, the Christmas reading was wonderful, and the message Mike brought was encouraging too. This was the first church event that Mike and I ever totally planned ourselves, and we were both encouraged to find it went fantastic! So much prayer and planning, and we give all the glory to God for its success!

Kids:

Caleb is doing great in gymnastics. He absolutely loves it, so we signed him up for another 7 weeks of it! He is doing cartwheels around the house now, and always showing us his new moves. We have been getting early reader books from the library up the road, and he is just devouring them. He wants to read soooo bad, but is still trying to grasp the concept of putting sounds together. I think he is right on the verge of figuring it all out. He is also becoming more adventurous which he proved the other day by cutting his own hair. He took a huge chunk right out of the front, so I had to buzz his head to fix it. Good news is that hair grows fast!

Abbie is still loving dance class and does well in it most of the time. Sometimes she gets distracted and just does her own thing, but its usually when we've missed nap time that day. :) She just had her preschool Christmas play where she was a shepherd! I have some adorable pictures to upload with her dressed up! So cute! She did a great job, as did all the kids in her class. She is the youngest in her class, but she just loves school and her teacher!

Sam is repeating all the things he hears and becoming a little toddler! He's not a baby anymore....so sad! He loves to climb on everything! The couch, the chairs, large toys, my piano, the list of things to attempt to climb never ends with him! We've had a few episodes of minor falls but he always ends up being just fine. We read lots of books together with Caleb and Abbie, which he LOVES! He is also my snuggler- he loves to cuddle with Mom and Dad, give hugs and kisses, and pat our faces. He is so much fun to play with! I think he is going to be very jealous of his baby brother when he comes in March. Sam likes lots of attention and gets very unhappy if he sees Mama holding another baby! We will have to work on that.

Christmas is approaching and we are looking forward to celebrating the birth of our Savior this season! What a blessing it is to have the gift of salvation and live in this age of God's grace. May Jesus be with you this week!