God's plan

I've had this blog on my heart for some 7-8 months.  I haven't had the time to actually sit down and write it.  It's about God's plan versus our plans.  Sometimes we like to plan our lives without considering what God has in store for us.  I've never really been a "planner."  I always been more of a whatever happens happens kind of person.   But about a year ago I began questioning why God wasn't going along with MY plan?  Why weren't things happened the way I wanted?  This wasn't like me at all.  I even began stressing out over things not going according to MY plan... which is not like me at all.  Then it seemed like I was being hit over and over with messages about God having plans for my life....

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.

Proverbs 3:5-6

 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

Seemed like I was being hit over the head with this message... trust in God... he has plans for you.  I needed to stop stressing over things... start letting things happen according to God's plan... "Let Go and Let God."  right?  And I did and it felt so good.   

It wasn't long that His plan started to be revealed to my family.   And how much greater His plan is than my plan was.  It all makes sense now. Sometime I hope I can have the time to write all the details.


Sometimes it is best just to sit back and enjoy the plan God has in store for you, it is so much greater than anything you could ever plan for yourself. 

My girl is 4!

 It really is hard to believe my baby girl is 4!  Time truly flies by.  When I look back on the pictures from the day she was born it really feels like yesterday.   I couldn't be more proud of the sweet little girl she is becoming.  Saturday the 21st was her actual birthday and we had a Lalaloopsy circus party.  Her favorite Lalaloopsy is Peanut Big Top who is a circus performer, so it seemed fitting.  She had all her little friends there and we had a circus performed by all the kiddos, played a "Guess the animal" game, did the limbo, the hokie pokie and turned ourselves around, and did some dancing.  Of course, there was also cake and presents.  The highlight of the party had to be Aunt Audra and Uncle Matt's present.  They got her a new "big girl" bike.  She hopped right on the bike and rode around the gym for most of the party.  She loves that bike!  Thanks Matt and Audra!   It was a great time for my little 4 year old... still doesn't seem possible. 

 Luke taming Bruce the Lion

 Hula Girls!

 Tight rope walkers!

 Circus Performers!

 Love these two cuties!

 Cupcake time!

 Limbo!

What a great birthday!  :) 

33 Weeks

Not a whole lot new to post.  I had a doctor's appointment last week and I am still measuring about a week and a half ahead, which could mean absolutely nothing.  But, we are going to do another ultrasound next Tuesday to get an estimated size and weight of this baby.  I love that we get to have another ultrasound,  but I don't believe we will get a very accurate weight.  With Luke they thought he was going to be a little 6 lb baby, so I was surprised when he came out 8 and a half pounds.    Then with Emma we had an ultrasound about 3 weeks before she was due and they thought she was already about 7 lbs 6 oz and she was 7 lb 1 oz at birth.  So we will see what they say about this little one.  :)  I feel like this baby is already very long.  I think his feet are up in my ribs which would mean he/she is already head down, which would be great,  but we will see for sure in the ultrasound.  This baby is still very active and has been active at night.  I can't explain how much I love feeling this sweet baby move around, even if it disturbs my sleep.  So here we are in the home stretch... only 7 more weeks till this baby is due and I can't wait!  :) 

My sick little boy.

Sweet little Luke was such a trooper on the trip to St. Louis. He hardly complained at all even though he felt bad the whole time. Luke has RARELY been sick... we've been really fortunate with both kiddos.

In the car on the way home from St. Louis Luke seemed fine. When we stopped for Luke he even skipped into McDonald's and ate his whole lunch. I figured he was over this bug.

Then about the last hour of the drive he started to feel bad again. When we got home I took his temperature and it was 104. sigh. It is scary when your kiddos temperature gets that high. He was so lethargic too. I immediately gave him Motrin, but that only brought it down a little. He slept fine that night, though I was alternating Tylenol and Motrin all night to keep the fever down. When he woke up Wednesday morning he seemed fine again. By Wednesday afternoon his fever was spiking again and would not come down. I called his doctor and she could not get him in until tomorrow. ugh... though it was late in the afternoon when I called. The office he goes to has after hours care and you can walk-in, so I figured we would do that if he didn't start feeling better. Well the fever was not coming down... even with meds. So when Andy got home he ran him to the dr. His temp was 103.8 and he was shivering and his skin was a blueish/purple color. The dr. called it "molted" skin. It was by far the sickest Luke has EVER been. It was scary. The dr. tested for strep and the flu and it was neither... which has stressful. The dr. said he was probably dehydrated and needed to go to UK to get IV fluids. Well, Andy asked if we could just go to St. Joe Jessamine and she said that would be okay. So they headed there and I met them there. Love his little heart. He was such a trooper the whole time, but you could tell he was scared. They got the IV right in and then they tested him for everything under the sun. They even did abdominal and chest x-rays.

Luke was so good the whole time. The doctor and the nurses were bragging on him. He did get upset and almost cry during the IV. He hated the way it felt. love his heart. He is such a strong, sweet little boy. After 2-3 hours getting fluids and testing. Luke perked right up. They said all the tests came back negative and he could go home. They even gave him a popsicle. They said it was just a virus. The next day he still had a fever, but by Friday he was much better and Saturday he was back to himself.

It was a scary virus whatever it was, but my little boy is a trooper.

Meet me in St. Louis

For Spring Break Andy and I took the kids to St. Louis to meet my sister, Dave, Syd and Bruce. They will be moving there this summer. It is going to be so sad not having them around anymore. Last summer was so fun having Jen and the kids at the pool almost every day with us. But, Dave had a really great job opportunity in St. Louis and couldn't pass it up. So we now have a new city to visit frequently and I must say I really enjoyed St. Louis. I had been there several times as a teenager for swim meets, but this was the first time I got to enjoy this city with my family.

Dave is currently living in a Residence Inn, so we went there and watched the UK-UL National semi-final game. After the Cats big win the kiddos went outside and starting screaming, "What's your favorite color baby?"

"Blue and White!"

They are such little wildcat fans already! I love it.

The next day we went to the St. Louis Zoo. It is a really great zoo. Unfortunately, it was very crowded and hot (in the 90s) the day we chose to go. The zoo is huge and I am pretty sure we saw less than half of it. The kids really had a good time though. Luke loved the penguins and Emma liked the rhino and the hippo.

After the zoo, we came back to our hotel and the kids went swimming. I am convinced we could've ONLY gone swimming the entire vacation and they would've been fine with that. My kiddos are quite the little fishies. :) After swimming, Luke crawled in the bed and acted very tired. I thought it was just that... that he was tired. We ran out and got some dinner and he didn't want to go in and eat... that is so not like him. So, we ran through a drive through. When we got back to the hotel, I felt him and he was burning up! I ALWAYS pack Tylenol on vacations... not this time though... we were only going to be gone a few days... everyone was going to be fine.... sigh. So I sent Andy out to find a grocery store and get some Tylenol and Motrin. I got Luke in a bath and ready for bed, when Andy got back we gave him the Tylenol... his fever went down quickly... thanks goodness. Then in the middle of the night we threw up in the bed and on the floor of the hotel room... poor little guy. By the next morning he seemed fine again. We had plans to do the Arch and the City Museum this day, but instead he let Luke rest most of the morning. By afternoon we decided he was feeling better and we went down town St. Louis to the Gateway Arch and then to a late lunch.

We had a lot of fun at the Arch. The kids really enjoyed it. We didn't go up in it this time.... the line was really long and I wasn't sure about being pregnant and going up. There will be other trips to do this.

I could tell Luke was starting to feel bad again... so we headed back to our hotel and let him rest for the day. He seemed better again... so we met Jen, Dave and the kids for dinner. Then, Andy, Emma and I stayed up and watched the Cats win the National Championship! Go Big Blue.

The next day we headed to the Butterfly House. It was really great... over 6000 butterflies and 2000 were blue morpho butterflies... they were gorgeous. Poor Luke felt bad the whole time we were there. We met Jen and the kids at the playground beside the Butterfly House and told them goodbye and headed home. We had planned to stay a bit longer, but I felt like Luke needed to get on home and rest and get over whatever this bug was.

So, we had a really great time, even though Luke got sick. There will be many more trips to St. Louis and we can do all the things we didn't get to do this time.