Family Photo Friday

Posted by My Heart Song

5/24/2013

How can it be Friday already!? 
Here are a few photos from our week.


Last week my daughter had taken pictures of a nest-full of baby birds in our backyard. This week my hubby got a similar picture, including the mama bird.


Later in the week, the baby birds learned how to fly. One was in the grass, crying for help. The mama came, fed him some worms, and nudged him towards safety. Beautiful.


Speaking of birds, my daughter has taken our pet bird Weezy outside (in her cage) to enjoy the warm air. Weezy enjoys tweeting with her freedom-loving bird friends.


My son enjoys the guitar. He knows where it is and he's strong enough to get it out on his own. I walked in and found him playing the guitar on the couch. My musical boy.


We're preparing for a little getaway soon. My son was Mr. Prepared, giving the "thumbs up" sign to show his bag was packed and he was ready to go... at least 3 days in advance!

Happy weekend, y'all!

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Our Garden

Posted by My Heart Song

5/23/2013

Spring is here, which means our garden is planted! It has been for a few weeks, actually. We started some things indoors but planted everything in the outside garden a couple weeks ago. 


We've planted garlic, lettuce, rhubarb, radishes, turnips, two types of beans, two types of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and corn. Most of these are repeats from what we planted last year, but we there are a few new items too.


Almost everything is coming up already, which means it looks mighty tempting to all the rabbits we have in our area. We put the fence up to help with that and so far, so good. 


We wanted to try our hand at a few "edible landscape" plants - so we planted a few of our veggies in our flowerbeds around the house. Well... we may end up moving those back to the fenced-in garden because the bunnies have found them to be cage-free and helped themselves!

 Our entire family is involved with our garden. We find it enjoyable and relaxing, as well as rewarding as we harvest what we have grown. We all take part in planning, planting, watering, weeding, etc.

I will continue to give updates on the garden as the weeks go along.

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Proud of My Man

Posted by My Heart Song

5/21/2013 



Just because I'm proud of my man...


And obtaining a Master's Degree while working full-time is no small feat. 


Congratulations, again, my dear! 

If you want the complete scoop, I posted about it here

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Family Photo Friday

Posted by My Heart Song

5/17/2013

It's Friday! That means that I post family photos, so here are a few to give you a glimpse into our life lately.


My daughter, curled up with a good book. One of my favorite ways to find my daughter! :-)




We had some hot weather this week, with highs in the 80s. Time for my son's summer haircut. He's very proud of himself these days, as he can swing HIGH all by himself. Doesn't need pushing any longer. Growing boy.


My daughter had a sleepover this week at her friend Regan's house. Here they are together.


My daughter took a few pictures this week of wildlife in our backyard. She found this lazy squirrel in a tree. He laid there for nearly an hour. Apparently, he'd had a long, exhausting day and is totally spent! 


And she found this bird's nest, complete with baby birds. Such a sweet sign of spring.

Happy Friday to you!

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Old News: New to Us Van

Posted by My Heart Song

5/16/2013


I realized recently that I'd forgotten to mention on this blog that we made a rather large purchase about 6-8 weeks ago. We had saved up a good sum in our "savings / emergency fund" knowing that as some point we would need another or different vehicle. We'd lived with just one vehicle for over a year. And that one vehicle is 17 years old and quickly approaching 200,000 miles. My husband, however, is a self-taught master mechanic on that vehicle and takes wonderful care of it. 

For a few months, he'd been looking for a good deal on a second vehicle. He found this 2005 Kia Sedona mini-van at a great price so we bought it. 

It was just a few days later that we found out we were expecting, which added numerous doctor's appointments to our schedule. I think it was perfect timing that we had this second vehicle by that time. It makes my life less stressful, which exactly "what the doctors order" with a high-risk pregnancy. 

I'm thankful for working vehicles, for God's timing, for the wisdom of setting aside money for savings so that making a purchase like this doesn't have to be stressful or incur debt. 

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Chick-Fil-A Mother and Son Date Knight

Posted by My Heart Song

5/15/2013


Last weekend our local Chick-Fil-A hosted a Mother and Son Date Knight event. Reservations were required and the place was PACKED! My son and I enjoyed the fun, on our first ever Mother and Son date. A photographer was on hand to take pictures of each mother and son.


Medieval times, castles, and knights were the theme. Each son was given a balloon sword and a cardboard shield to color with a family crest. Each mom was given a carnation.


We had to purchase our supper but desserts were complimentary. Waiters served us at our table, which is different from regular service at Chick-Fil-A.

 
Thank you, Chick-Fil-A for hosting great family friendly events like this.   

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Grandpa's Antique Bug Car

Posted by My Heart Song

5/10/2013


Grandpa R has an antique Volkswagon Super Beetle. Usually it just sits in his garage and he works on it as a hobby. But once in a while, he'll drive it out and about. Last weekend we had Grandpa and Grandma over for supper and they surprised us by driving "the bug car" as my son calls it.






Antique car fun.

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Pregnant Again after Repeat Miscarriages

Posted by My Heart Song

5/6/2013



I've lost 3 babies to miscarriage in the last 22 months. Now I'm pregnant again. People are asking what is different this time? Will the doctors do anything different?

(Writing this feels so familiar, as I wrote something very similar back in September. You can read that blog post here)

I should preface this with the fact that I did have a battery of tests run in January - after loss #3, while not pregnant. Specialists tested for clotting abnormalities as well as dozens of other disorders that I could've developed since my last full-term pregnancy 5 years ago. All the tests came back normal. That is, medically they cannot explain why I've miscarried 3 babies after 2 successful pregnancies.

So what is different this time around? The easy answer is not much. I'm taking the usual prenatal vitamin. I'm taking a few extra doses of folic acid daily. 

I've received early medical care with this pregnancy. I was able to see my regular doctor for pregnancy confirmation the very next day after my home pregnancy test was positive. Within the next 7 days, I was in to see specialists that deal with high-risk pregnancies. Within 2 more weeks, I had had 2 ultrasounds that confirmed that everything looked good. Bloodwork was done to check hormone levels. From a medical perspective, everything looks good with this pregnancy. (But everything looked good last time around too... but we still miscarried)

As with our last pregnancy, we decided to tell the world that we are pregnant shortly after we found out the news ourselves. Therefore, we know that there are hundreds of people praying for us and a few good friends fasting as well. It's easier to tell the news, to feel the support, even when the ultimate outcome is unknown. 

I am feeling a lot of morning sickness, which makes me hopeful that my body is producing an adequate amount of pregnancy hormone (progesterone) to maintain this pregnancy. I was not this sick with the last pregnancies, which resulted in miscarriages. 

So these are the critical days. I am about 9 weeks along currently. We lost our other babies between 7 and 12 weeks, so we're right into the critical period. I am more aware than ever that any day, even today, could be the day that we lose this baby too.

Do you wanna know what it feels like? It feels like holding your breath, for a very long time. It's the inhale that you take when something scary hits you and the holding of your breath until the fear passes. Usually that takes a second or two. In the case of miscarriages, it takes a matter of weeks or months. It feels like I'm holding my breath, hoping the danger passes and I can breathe again. Holding my breath until my baby is born.

Personally, I feel more hopeful this time. I do have faith and hope that things could turn out differently this time around. But I have no guarantees... and I'm ok with that. I'm taking each day at a time. I'm not planning ahead to maternity clothes, crib sheets and due dates. I'm focusing on keeping my lunch down today :-) and being thankful for the fact that I am pregnant.

"We don't know what tomorrow holds but we know who holds tomorrow."     

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Family Photo Friday

Posted by My Heart Song


5/3/2013

The first Friday of a new month. 
Aaahhh, newness and freshness are in the spring air. 
Here are a few photos from our week.


My daughter walking among the daffodils and hyacinths in the backyard. They were in full bloom this week, making a beautiful view from my kitchen window.


My son "watering" those same flowers with his squirt gun. Yes, it was hot enough one day this week to allow the kids to play in/with water. Love the warm weather after the long winter we've had.


More flowers. The colorful beauty of purple and red tulips. Just love all the blooming flowers right now.

Happy Friday to you! 

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My Boy Reads

Posted by My Heart Song

5/1/2013
  
My boy. He's growing up, as they all do. He's 5 years old now. We are working our way through a book to teach him how to read. We're about 1/3 of the way through the book.


Recently he came to me with this flashcard with the word TOP on it. He showed me the card and sounded out the word himself. He read the word TOP. 

It was his first read-it-all-by-himself word that wasn't his name! 

Way to go, son! 

Next up: riding his bike without training wheels. Now that summer weather has arrived, he's practicing every day.

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