i am cockeyed

Ok, I know I have no room to complain about being pregnant. I have been blessed with an incredibly easy pregnancy. No morning sickness, no bed rest, nothing that justifies whining in the least. I realize what I'm about to point out is very trivial in the grand scheme of things. That being said, I do have one small issue with this baby. For some reason she has taken up residence solely on the right side of my belly. She's always favored the right side. But now, she is so big that when she hangs out over there, it is obvious to the whole world. I have this huge, hard lump on the right and nothing on the left. I tell you what it is so bad that my belly button is no longer in the middle, it points off to the left! And nothing we've tried has fixed it. We've reasoned with her, pleaded with her even. I've practiced my stern mom voice and threatened her. Finally I attempted to just push her back over to the middle, but to no avail. Nothing works with this child! She refuses to budge. So I'm thinking she:
1. Loves to sleep so much that there is no waking her when she's dreaming (who does that sound like?)
or
2. Knows what she's doing is hacking her mother off, but she's so dang stubborn she refuses to move anyway (who does that remind you of?)

Either way, I've resigned myself to the fact that my belly is completely cockeyed and most likely it will remain that way for the next month. :)

ps- For a split second I considered posting a picture so you'd be convinced I wasn't exaggerating, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. It looks that weird!

happy easter!!!

Happy Easter everyone!!!
I hope you have had a wonderful day! Ours was fabulous! We went to early service this morning with Don and Sandy. They had to get on the road right away so it was just Dan and me for lunch. And believe it or not, I cooked! That's right, a real Easter meal! Ok, but I must confess. The ham was one of the pre-cooked, pre-cut, pre-everything type of ham that only needed to be heated up. And the potato casserole was made by my sweet sister last week. She put it in the freezer before she left town and all I had to do was stick it in the oven. So basically a monkey could have made our Easter dinner. :) But, we loved it anyway! Youth was canceled so we spent the afternoon together. It's the first Sunday we've had in a long time to do that. We've forgotten what it's like.
I love this story Vernon, the pastor at my former church use to tell around Easter time. One morning, a Sunday school teacher told her students to take a plastic Easter egg, go outside and find something that reminded them of Easter to put inside. The children ran around the church property gathering their items. After they were all done, they came together to present their findings. One child had a piece of grass. She said Easter reminded her of spring time and of all the plants coming back to life. Another child had a pretty flower whose color matched her Easter dress. Finally, a little boy stood up and opened his egg. There was nothing inside. The teacher started to reprimand him for not following instructions. But he went on to explain that his egg was empty intentionally because when he thought about Easter, he was reminded of the empty tomb.
I think about that story every year. And it's true. The greatest part about Easter is that when the stone was rolled away, there was nothing there. Its emptiness brings us fullness. And it is only when we truly empty ourselves, just as Christ did, that we can truly know the fullness of life with Him. The lack of His presence in the grave means daily access to His presence for eternity. All I can say to that is woohoo and WOOHOO!!!

"Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned- for before the law was given, sin was in the world....But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of one man's sin; The judgement followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through one man, Jesus Christ."
Romans 5:12-17

yeehaw!

This past weekend we went on our Youth Mystery Destination trip. That's right, the kids signed up without knowing where we were going or what we were going to do. I wasn't sure if my doctor would let me go. But sure enough, at my last appointment she cleared me and we were off! (Accompanied with many prayers that Baby would stay put!)

We boarded a charter bus on a Thursday morning and took off towards Dallas, TX. We told the kids on the bus ride. We busted out the cowboy hats, and led a group sing-a-long of "All My Exes Live in Texas." Of course that was the only line we knew of the song, so we just belted it out over and over. We crammed tons of stuff into the three day trip. On Friday we took the kids to Six Flags. You must know that roller coasters are one of my favorite things in the whole world. But, being 8 months pregnant, riding them isn't exactly allowed. And there is no hiding this belly! So I was the designated stuff holder. I was able to walk around with a group of girls all day. I sat at the entrance of each ride surrounded by jackets, souvenir cups and Superman capes. I think the day served as a small taste of parenting. Someday soon, we'll go back to an amusement park and have to follow our own kids around, ride the rides they want to ride and hold mounds of their belongings. So really this trip was just a warm-up.

The entire trip was great. God was there, taking care of us the entire time. We didn't have one behavioral issue and no one got hurt. (Which with all the broom ball and laser tag was a huge blessing!) The kids stepped it up and really went out of their way to hang out with kids in the group who didn't run in their usual social circle. Dan and I were so proud of them! Not only did God take care of all the logistical and physical stuff, but He also showed up to the kids individually. At youth group the night after we got back, the kids gave testimonies of what He had done in their lives in just those few days. And once again, it was an incredibly humbling experience for Dan and me. We were flat out exhausted from ministering all weekend, but after hearing their stories, we needed to go face down and give Him some glory!

Here are some pics from the weekend:

we've got a chaser!

This morning I went to my 34 week appointment. Everything was going great until the doctor whips out the doppler to find Baby's heart beat. The moment she started sliding the little machine across my belly, Baby started going nuts! She was flopping all over the place, kicking the doctor's hands. The doctor started laughing and said "well, I'm doing some chasing here." My face was probably bright red. Finally she was able to get an accurate measure. I felt so helpless because all I could do was just lie there as my daughter tried to run away from the doctor. :)

"I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free." Psalm 119:32

she's in!!

Baby Girl is going to school! I enrolled her this morning for a local program and she starts this fall. I had heard it's pretty competitive to get in, especially for babies, so I made sure to get there early. As I drove up I braced myself for a line going all the way around the building. I joked with Dan that maybe we should do as all the crazy people do Thanksgiving night outside of Best Buy and pitch a tent right by the door. :) Fortunately, that wasn't necessary! I was the first in line and a spot was open! Woohoo! That was the easy part. (I'm not quite ready to think about her first day when I'll have to actually leave her there. I do know her daddy will have to be there!) I was cracking up when I got back home because Danny referred to the informational packet as her first "acceptance letter". Poor thing has no idea the extent of her parents' nuttiness. As they say down here...bless her heart! Anyways, I just had to share the news of her first "acceptance letter". We're so proud! :)

23

Well, another birthday goes on the record. And I had a fabulous day. Daniel let me pick where to go for lunch AND dinner. Woohoo for no cooking! At lunch we had Subway sandwiches and I confess (as I hang my head), I splurged and had a...Dr. Pepper. I know! I'm a terrible mother! If this baby is born with a particularly strong disposition, it will be attributed entirely to her mother's love of caffeine. I wonder if I took two pre-natal vitamins tonight it would make up for it? :) Anyways, this is what 23 looks like on me. Apparently it's going to be at least another year until I will be mature enough to take a serious picture.