Today & Adelynn's Room

Obviously today is Mother's Day and I am incredibly thankful for the blessing of being a mother...like none other...but as you can imagine, today was also a bittersweet day for our family because we just miss our sweet little Tucker.
We hung out with my parents for lunch then met up with Amy and Nate and went to "Tucker's Park" (as it's come to be called with our boys) to leave some pretty flowers and feed the ducks. Overall, I left with a full heart, felt God's presence around us and Amy and Nate today, loved spending time with my mother, and felt the anticipatory longing of Heaven.

An update on Adelynn's arrival:
Saturday we happened to be in Siloam (where we are delivering) for sweet Ellie's 1st birthday party, and I had contractions all morning through the party. As we were leaving, I decided to call my doctor to see if he wanted me to get checked since I was there. He did, and so we hung out in the hospital for about an hour or so (watching "Knocked Up" of course) while they monitored me. I was definitely showing contractions, but there weren't changing my uterus (sorry I just used that word on my blog), so we left with peace of mind.

What's great about Siloam hospital and why do we keep delivering there even after we moved to Bentonville? Because the nurse who dealt with me on Saturday remembered everything about me and helping deliver Noah more than 2 years ago...it was awesome. She literally remembered details. She gave us a tour of the brand new hospital - literally opened 3 weeks ago - and it made us all giddy excited!

While we were there, through conversations with her and my doctor and some other circumstances, we decided to move the date to Thursday...3 more full days and then on the 4th day, we're headed to meet our baby girl! Oh.My.Goodness.

Oh and that awesome nurse who remembered us? She called me personally today to reassure me they have everything set for me to come in Thursday. Love her.

My little sister got me a carseat cover I had been wanting from Etsy for Adelynn and it came in today! It was perfect. Perfect fit and even cuter than I remembered it being when I ordered it!

And then I thought I'd share a few pics of the nursery/guest bedroom. Yes, we stuffed a queen and a crib in there so it's a little crammed, but Jason's family comes to stay quite a bit so it works! It's not completely finished...we have some wall/ceiling touches to add this week, but here's a preview:

Thought For the Day

Our church is doing a series through the minor prophets and this morning I spent some time in Joel and was captivated by this verse (I LOVE picturing the army of the Lord!):

Joel 3:9

Say to the nations far and wide:
“Get ready for war!
Call out your best warriors.
Let all your fighting men advance for the attack."

One commentator on this passage (and some surrounding ones) added these thoughts:
 “The Lord will not disappoint you with empty words, but will come provided with an army to save you. When ye hear, then, that he will be the author of your salvation, think also that all nations are in his power, and that the whole world can in a moment be roused up by his rod, so that all its forces may from all quarters come together, and all the power of the world meet in obedience to him. Know, then, that being provided with his forces, he comes not to you naked, nor feeds you with mere words, as they are wont to do who have no help to give but words only: this is not what God does; for he can even to-day execute what he has denounced; but he stays for the ripened time. In the meanwhile, give him his honor, and know that there is not wanting the means to protect you, if he wished; but he would have you for a time to be subject to the cross and to tribulations that he may at length avenge the wrongs done to you.”     

The day of the Lord is near...I can't wait to be a part of it!

Getting Closer!!

Good news! Kristen and Ven are both home and happy!
I also had a doctor's appointment yesterday to check on Adelynn's progress, and I went from pretty much zero progression last week to being at 3cm and 80%ef. this week. Wow. Not expecting that. So it looks like, unless she comes before then, a week from tomorrow is the day for sure now! We decided no other doctor's appointments were needed and to just show up at the hospital next Friday morning to deliver a baby! Crazy and surreal.

I asked him what time I should be there and he said "They like you to be there by 5:00am".

Excuse me?? Um, would 7:00 work??

He told me I'm welcome to come in later if I'd like, that the only reason they like you there early is to make sure and get the epidural before anesthesiologists go into surgery and get busy.

Oh. Well, when you put it that way, we'll be there at 4:45 with bells on. :)

Yesterday Bethany watched the kids during my appointment and it was Ellie's 1 year birthday!!!! She took some pics of her and Noah playing in Adelynn's crib with her phone that cracked me up. Love these two.

The Past 48

The past few days have been crazy, to say the least. In the early hours of Monday morning, Jason and I were abruptly woken up to the sound of Lincoln puking. Yummy. Jason immediately sent me to the guest bedroom (aka: Adelynn's room) for the night and took care of Lincoln. He continued to throw up about 8-10 time sin a four hour time span - solidifying the stomach flu had invaded our house. The kid was a trooper though; he didn't cry once about it and made it to the toilet every time....half of the times on his own doing while Jason was asleep. Fantastic!
When this went through our house last year, it went through our entire house and was the most violent sickness any of us had ever experienced. So I laid in the guest room that night stricken with panic of what it would be like to be 10 days away from delivering Adelynn and violently puking. And when I googled "38 weeks and stomach flu" the panic worsened as I realized it could easily turn into an early hospital visit for me.
So the next morning, before Jason and Lincoln emerged from the bedroom, I snatched Noah and we headed to my mom's house indefinitely to try and avoid it.

In the midst of this, I got a call  from my little sis saying my older sister - who just gave birth to my nephew Ven last week - was in the ER with severe stomach pain and other abnormal symptoms. Amy was taking care of Ven in the hospital while the doctors were trying to figure out what was wrong with Kristen.

Ven's 1 week appointment happened to be that morning, so since Kristen was in the hospital, Amy went with Kristen's husband to take him for his check-up. While at his check-up, it was determined that Ven was jaundice and would also need to be hospitalized right away overnight.

Yes, this was all happening in one day.

The unfortunate part was that my sister and Ven were at two different hospitals!

Later that night, after getting the report that Lincoln had been symptom-free for the entire day (as well as Jason), Noah and I decided to head home for the night. Jason was a trooper. He cleaned and disinfected the ENTIRE house like a maniac all afternoon/evening before we came home trying to keep us from getting it. Through lots of prayer and cleaning - all of us, even Jason, were spared. :)

Other positive news as of late last night was that Ven improved 100% and was released from the hospital last night.

However, as of late last night, my sister was still in major pain and the doctors are still somewhat unclear as of what is exactly wrong with her. She is still in the hospital because her white blood cell count was too high indicating an infection somewhere...they just aren't sure where yet.

So keep her and family in your prayers! It's been a stressful transition for them to a family of three so far, and I think everyine is a little "hospital-ed out". I told Amy I'm totally fine if everyone wants to wait to meet Adelynn at home instead of in the hospital!

And one more prayer request...a sweet friend in Amy's community group went into pre-term labor yesterday and ended up having to deliver their sweet baby girl. She was alive when she was born but her heart was too underdeveloped and they were not able to save her. Just absolutely heartbreaking.

Like I said yesterday...heaviness.

I have a doctor's appointment today...and then only more next week before delivery. Curious to see if we are making progress. Amy asked me to please have an uneventful delivery. :) That is the prayer.

Heavy

"Don't long for the absence of problems in your life. This is an unrealistic goal, since 'in this world you will have troubles'. You have an eternity of problem-free living in Heaven. Rejoice in that inheritance...and do not seek your Heaven on earth..."
                                                                                                                       *Sarah Young, Jesus Calling (today)

A whole lot of things have happened in the last few days that have created a heaviness in my heart. A heaviness that, as we fastly approach the anticipation of having baby Adelynn in our arms, reminds me that God is in the World...that He provides joy and glimpses of Heaven throughout our short time here on Earth, but that our earthly bodies are frail, weak, and temporary. Our bodies merely temporarily house an eternal soul. So shouldn't we be working more on sanctifying that soul (which will last forever) than our body (which will crumble and rot)?
I loved waking up to my devotional this morning to read what I posted above...it was perfect. Praise the Lord God provides joy and Himself to us here on earth...but PRAISE THE LORD even more that an eternity of rejoicing in unison with our MAKER exists for those who love Him.

I LOVE this quote by C.S. Lewis:

"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." (Problem of Pain)

And then I went ahead and posted some other favorites:

“God has not been trying an experiment on my faith or love in order to find out their quality. He knew it already. It was I who didn’t. In this trial He makes us occupy the dock, the witness box, and the bench all at once. He always knew that my temple was a house of cards. His only way of making me realize the fact was to knock it down.”

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." (Mere Christianity)


"It was when I was happiest that I longed most...The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing...to find the place where all the beauty came from." (Till We Have Faces)

"At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendours we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in."

“I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.”
                                                                                                                                   *C.S. Lewis

Birthdays!

Today is Jason's 35th birthday!!! Kind of crazy because that seems a little old, don't you think? He said he actually remembers when his parents turned 35, and remembers thinking they were old - oh dear. I on the other hand, do not remember my parents hitting this milestone (which makes me still young, right?).
We actually have a lot of May birthdays in the family. My sister, Amy's birthday is tomorrow, obviously Ven was born last week and Adelynn is a few short 12 (twelve??!) days away...and Jason's Aunt Judy shares his same birthday, as well!

So in the past, we've done a joint-family party and after this year, we'll be adding the 2 babies to the mix. :)

Last night the whole family went to Amy and Nate's house to cookout, eat cake, play baseball, jump on the trampoline, relax by the fire, listen to Coldplay (Lincoln's request - yes, I trained him), talk about our sweet Tucker and what Heaven will be like, gawk at the "super-moon", and enjoy each other.

Sadly I got pictures of 2/3 birthday celebrities on my camera and the missing birthday boy (my husband) is on my mom's camera so his studly birthday pic will have to wait.

Sweet baby Ven...celebrating not even being a week old!

Me and my sis (the only picture we were able to get where Lincoln wasn't crashing the photo in the background):

And then I had to share the following. When you ask Lincoln to show you his "happy heart" you get this freakish, creepy smile from him that always cracks us up. Amy decided to show her happy heart, too.

Next up?? Adelynn's birthday!!!!!! :)

37 Weeks and New Baby Nephew!!

First off, Kristen had her baby last night and we added another nephew/cousin to the family! His name is Ven Sterling and everyone is doing great!

Yesterday was a rough day for me pregnancy-wise. I literally had contractions all day long...some didn't hurt and others were just a constant cramping in my lower back and front. Couple that with a chronic headache and nausea and I had a pretty "fantastic" day to say the least. I've never actually gone into labor so I'm unsure how it feels except for a few contractions I felt with Lincoln the night before we were induced (which felt like my kidney stones were starting to flare up again).

Anyway, after the constant of this throughout the day, my doctor wanted to check me this morning just to make sure since I have a 30 minute hospital drive. I had an appointment Friday anyway, so we just moved it to this morning.

And all is well! I'm barely progressed (which I was thankful for), but they said I'm definitely having more contractions than they would prefer being a few days shy of 37 weeks. So I was told to take it easy and rest when I felt them for the next week, and then I could resume working out/activity most likely after that and welcome progression/labor.

She is still moving like a maniac, is in good position, and has a strong heartbeat!

So here's my lastest lovely photo and I'll have more of our sweet baby nephew soon!!! :)