Friends

I have a really great friend who just celebrated a birthday Sunday. Sara L. Hill is a wonderful and glorious friend. I cherish our times of just us. Well, Gibson joins us most times. But you know what I mean. I was able to bless her with a Panera birthday breakfast a couple days before her actual birthday. It's amazing how much a yummy bagel, all toasty and spread with cream cheese, and a cup of coffee accompanied by good conversation and company can heal the soul and refresh even the ickiest of moods. Mmmm...it was delightful.

Another great friend, Sara Mitchell Semenick. Yes, Sara. Another one. In fact, the next friend to write about is yet another Sara. But Sara Semenick is expecting their first baby March 16th - a boy. I'm pumped and SO ready to go visit when he's a few weeks old once family has had their initial fill. Gibson and I will probably pack up and head out to Louisville. Not sure if Monte can come and I'm contemplating having my mom or someone else come with me to help with Gibson and driving. P.S. Did you know that nursing in the car is legal in some states? Just found that out. Sara Semenick and I go way back to my sophomore year of college. We were blessed to spend two years together at college as best buds and volleyball teammates. We've been mega close every since. She and her hubby, Max, were able to visit when Gibson was 5 weeks old. They bought him his Boppy, which we LOVE!

Last Sara for the day. Sara Conley, formerly Sara Cable, is also pregnant due early April. This Sara is having a girl, little Darcy Elizabeth. I was blessed that she had a shower here in Joplin that I could attend. It was not good for me to see all the precious baby girl stuff. All these pregnant friends are bad for my agreement to wait til Gib is at least a year before we discuss another one. Ack! But I have thoroughly enjoyed hearing about all the different things she and all 8 other pregnant friends are experiencing. This Sara is basically a walking complication. I won't breach her privacy on her health issues, but pregnancy has definitely brought out some quirks for her body to handle. She and Brad are anxiously awaiting the arrival while cherishing and loving every moment she's still in utero.

Last friend - JANI BRAVENBOER. Ya know, I miss this girl the most because it's been over 2 years since I've seen her, hugged her, and shared with her face to face. Jani and Martin, who are also expecting a girl but on March 16th, had to move back to South Africa Dec. 11, 2007. (Heavy sigh...) However, life back home has been good to them and I pray that God continues to use them for His purposes day in and day out. Their new ministry of being parents will be mind blowing, I'm sure! It is different once experienced and it's worth every ache, pain, sickness, or contraction. Oh, man, is it! I pray for Jani very often and want to see her again. I know it will happen. It's just a matter of when. We'll see.

God is good, right? I have 5 other friends who are expecting. Yes, 5. Again, not good on the whole waiting to have another kid goal. Monte keeps me in check. He's not as eager to get back into the fertility freedom stage as I am. Alas, Gibson deserves to have me for a while all to himself. I'm sure I'll be better equipped to have another with giving him this time too. So long for now!

Love, Sweet, Love

So Valentine's Day came and went. No big deal for us. We love each other every day! Actually, neither one of us is big on gifts and big displays of thoughtfulness that requires money we'd rather spend on something useful or to eat. Monte is glad I don't care about flowers or candy or any gifts, really. I don't like shopping, although now I get a kick out of how many great deals I get when buying baby stuff for Gibson. Exciting life, I know.

Gibson now sleeps consistently til 6:30. I'm being very patient in getting him to 7 am at least. He would make things MUCH easier if he slept til then. I think he's also ready to be on a 4 hour routine and get 4 feedings each day. Right now he does 5, but it's a short feeding. Trial and error are key to good parenting. You try it, assess, take notes, and make a decision. Luckily, my baby Bible has been BabyWise, and I'm so grateful. I'm constantly referencing it to make sure I'm within normal expectations on nap times, # of naps, hours of nighttime sleep, # of feedings, etc.

Also, Gib made his 4 mo. appearance at Dr. Holmes' office last Friday. He wasn't quite close to 17 lbs. I thought for sure I saw the scale correctly at our neighbors' house a couple weeks ago. But I was wrong. He weighed in at 15 lbs 10 oz. Still quite above "average" for 4 months old. He's healthy and that's what matters. He was like 25 3/4" long too.

Now, about shots. I was prepared for the worst this time. Last time, Gibson screamed and cried and cried and cried. He looked at me and stuck out his lip and his eyes seemed to be asking, "Why, Mommy? Why is this mean nurse lady stabbing needles into my thighs?" Heart wrenching! I was on the verge of tears. And you all know that I'm NOT a crier. Whew! Awful. But this time, he whimpered a little bit with each shot and that was it! As soon as she was done, he recovered in mere seconds. I was highly relieved.

Just read the last Harry Potter - The Deathly Hallows. It was good. Now I'm ready to see the cinematography challenge of bringing it to life. There will be quite a bit to see. Oh, and I'm way behind the norms and watched Twilight for the first time yesterday. It was alright. I've been told that the books are much better and that the second film was made much better than the first. I have to decide if I want to commit to reading the books first. What do you guys say? Anyone read them?

Enjoy your weekend. I'm off to figure out dinner. Love you all!

Update

It's been a while. Apologies to all those who keep up. I'm sure it's a whopping two or three people! No matter how few, you are important. Gibson is now 4 months old. He's like 17 lbs and growing at a ridiculous rate. We've tried a little cereal every now and then, but he doesn't seem to NEED it. I thought he did, but that idea has fizzled out. He sleeps like 10 hours at night with or without cereal. Sometimes I'm lucky and he sleeps 11 hours and wakes up at 7. It seems no matter how many days I let him fuss til 6:30 he will still wake up at 6. I guess I'll just wait til he gets older for him to sleep longer. I'm heading back to teaching Virtuous Reality next week. I'm pumped. I get to kick it off by doing the girls' STI slides. Favorite! Last time I did them, I had a couple girls in class quietly crying. It broke my heart. They never did share with my why so I just prayed for them. I started back to LifeChoices 3 weeks ago. Right off the bat, I had a client who said that she had to have an abortion even though she would never tell anyone else to do it. Her mother was distraught over this decision and she said that she was unsure of how her mom could love her after she goes through with it. Even after an ultrasound and seeing the miraculous flicker of the heartbeat, she was still determined. I just kept praying. Only God knows what's going on in her heart and mind right now. I just saw the pain she was experiencing and wondered why we even let people have this choice. Yeah, pregnancy is hard and raising a kid is even harder. But living with the memory and pain of getting rid of the life created, whether good timing or not, is exponentially harder from what those who've had them have shared. God is so much bigger than those problems yet He chooses to be a part of every one of them. He welcomes those babies into his arms just like he did ours back in Oct. '08. Luckily for them, He does a much better job than any parent here can. His love is perfect and whole, rich and full, abundant and overflowing. And with the birth of Gibson and the loss of our first baby, I've become very emotional when it comes to them. The first time Gibson decides he doesn't need me or want me and shows it I'm going to secretly fall to pieces. I hear him stirring in the other room. He's so cute. He's dreaming or trying to get through a light sleep stage. He'll be wriggling around and trying to find his hands all while his eyes are closed. The other night we looked in on him and he was curled up on his left side with his little hands nestled in front of his face. Precious! Enjoy the pics!