Surprise!

God definitely has a sense of humor...

Jacob and I are expecting again. This was a VERY unexpected and unplanned surprise...and one we are still in the process of accepting. We keep reminding ourselves of Romans 8:28 ("In all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose"). I am absolutely terrified of having two children 17 months apart, but I know that, with the prayers and support of friends and family, we will make it! Carolena, I suspect a lot of my questions will be directed to you! Our second bundle of joy is due on July 26, 2010.

Jacob has expressed to me that he feels there is a strong possibility he may deploy before the baby's arrival. While we knew deployment was a possibility, neither of us EVER DREAMED about a deployment and the arrival of a second child occurring within the same year. Please pray for God's will to be done in this situation...

Stuff

I have a few minutes because both of my guys are in the bed. After recovering from the stomach flu, Noah had a great week last week. This morning, though, he woke up and was very congested. He's coughing, has a runny nose, fever, ears are draining...the works. Jacob was really sick with a horrible cold on Thursday and Friday. He seemed to be feeling better yesterday, but he's back down tonight.

So I realized this week that people in our area seem to have forgotten about a significant holiday between Halloween and Christmas. Thanksgiving and Independence Day have always been my favorite holidays. It breaks my heart to see so many people forgetting about Thanksgiving and moving straight to Christmas. Our family tradition has always been to decorate for Christmas the day after Turkey Day. That way the true meaning of T-giving isn't lost in the lights and decorations.

I've been trying for a while now to establish a good daily routine for Noah. I read in several books and was told by our pediatrician that 9-month-old should get around 12 hours of sleep at night and take 2 1.5-2 hour naps during the day. Noah had been sleeping through the night, but he was only sleeping 8-9 hours. He hasn't slept through the night in 2 weeks. He's up around 2 AM just crying and then is up again around 5 AM. This is throwing our daily routine off... Any suggestions?

6-Month Well Baby Check

Noah went for his 6-month check-up with Dr. Evans today. Yes, I know he is almost 8 months old, but he couldn't get shots while he was sick and on antibiotics. We got one of four 6-month shots today. Last time we did all of the shots at once, Noah got EXTREMELY sick. Since there are no immunizations required at 9 months, we will take one shot per month between now and January...just in time for him to get his one-year immunizations started in February. Noah weighed 17.5 pounds today and is 25 inches long. Dr.Evans expressed some concern over this as these numbers put Noah in the 3rd percentile as far as height/weight for babies his age. Dr. Evans wants us to keep Noah on a regular feeding schedule and just see what happens. Chances are he will eventually catch up. There is also a strong possibility he just inherited the short gene...just take a look at Jacob and myself! Anyways, the only other news is that we have to find a pediatric dentist. Because of all of the antibiotics Noah has been on recently, it looks like he has developed a fluoride deficiency causing discoloration of the teeth/gums. If anyone knows of a pediatric dentist in the area, please let me know! We're also dealing with some gastro- issues. We are going to keep a detailed record of Noah's stomch issues over the course of the next month and go from there. We will most likely be referred to a pediatric gastrointerologist at that time.

We had a busy weekend beginning with Jacob's surgery on Friday. The pins have finally been removed from his foot and he seems to be on the road to recovery. Aunt Nina brought dinner on Friday night, so we enjoyed spending some time with her, Grandaddy, and my parents. On Saturday, Jacob and I attended a new member get-together in our pastor's home. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and getting to know some other new members. We are now "officially" members of Byne. Noah enjoyed spending the afternoon with my parents. Yesterday, we went to the pumpkin patch. We wanted to go and get some good fall pictures, but it was HOT! We got a few pics, but we are hoping to get a few more as it begins to cool off.

More to come soon!

Newlyweds

I don't know who all reads this, but I want to go ahead and warn you that this blog is an expression of my feelings about a certain situation. I will be the first to admit that I am bitter about what has happened. I desire to exhibit the love of Christ with a humble heart and a spirit of forgiveness.

As I sit here writing this, my brother-in-law is getting married in Atlanta. Why, you may ask, am I not attending the ceremony? The answer is simple: I don't know. I don't vent very often, but I'm having a very difficult time dealing with this situation.

Jon and Marla got engaged a few weeks after Noah's birth. Jacob and I were ecstatic when they announced their engagement and were excited about participating in the wedding festivities. The wedding date was announced in late June: October 3. The problem? Jacob has Reserve drill the first weekend of every month. Jake has been in the Army for 7 years, and he has had drill the same weekend for each of those 7 years. Scheduling the wedding for the same weekend as Jake's drill hurt deeply, but what made the situation worse for Jacob and myself is that my mother-in-law demanded that we change our wedding date until we found a date to accommodate Jon and Marla. No one ever asked us if we would be able to make it today. We feel like our presence at the wedding wasn't important to Jacob's family. We are hurt and it's going to take time to get over it. I've been physically ill over the entire situation today. Noah and I could have made the trip to Atlanta ourselves, but I knew I couldn't handle Noah on a 3-hour ride alone (especially as sick as he has been). I also had to take Jacob to Tallahassee yesterday and will have to pick him up tomorrow. Two trips to Tallahassee and a trip to Atlanta would have been a lot for my little man (and me!) to handle in three days. I guess I would feel better if someone had offered to help me so that Noah and I could have attended the wedding.

I guess I'm finished venting...and I guess Jon and Marla are almost married.

Newlywed Prayer (for Jon and Marla)

Lord watch over us as we
venture into uncharted seas.

Protect and guide us to live in Your glory
and be an example of Your love.

Watch over our families that have become one through our union.
Give us the patience and understanding to weather the storms that test every alliance.

Be our shelter when we are homeless
and our compass when we have lost our way.

Lord let us always be forever grateful
for the gifts You have bestowed upon us.

So that never a day goes by that we take for granted the love we share now.
And let the everlasting love we will share together always fill our hearts.

by Fred Cuellar

GREAT News!

We got some great news today! Jacob was supposed to start at Lee State Prison on November 1. That would have meant driving from Lee County to Valdosta for almost two weeks. Lee State called today to let him know that his transfer date has been moved back to October 1. That means Jacob will begin work at Lee State Prison as soon as Dr. Stanich releases him! PRAISE THE LORD! On another note, Jacob's foot has been giving him fits for the last couple of days. We are going to the doctor in the morning...we are praying everything is okay and still healing appropriately.

Reunions and Birthdays

Today has been incredibly busy. We went to the Hatcher family reunion early today. We don't normally go, but Papa always went, so it was important to my dad that we be there. Noah was still throwing up and had diarrhea this morning, so Mom kept him at her house. Noah always enjoys spending time with his Dondi! After the reunion, we went and picked up Noah and Mom and headed to Natalie's birthday party. We all had a good time fellowshipping with family and friends. Natalie spend the majority of the time opening gifts...

My mom and I took Noah to Grandaddy's house one day last week so that he could see all of the animals. While we were there, we found a little push-around car that belonged to Noatalie when she was younger. We put Noah in it and he FELL IN LOVE! Mom thought it would be a good idea to get a similar car to keep at her house, so I went on a mission to Toys-R-Us on Thursday. I found the car just like Natalie's, but I also found the most adorable convertible tricycle. I ended up getting both. The tricycle is for our house, and the car is for my parent's house.

I'm BACK!

A synopsis of our life in the last 2 months:

• We moved from Tifton to Lee County. The move was sudden, but we are thrilled to be back in our hometown and so close to family and friends.
• Jacob completed a month of Annual Training at Ft. McCoy in Wisconsin. I think I need to add in here that the move occurred while Jacob was gone to AT.
• Jacob returned from AT, dropped a 20-pound dumbbell on his foot, and had to have surgery. He now has two 6-inch titanium rods protruding from his big toe. The rods are scheduled to come out in 2 weeks, and he is supposed to return to work on October 19th...God-willing!
• We joined Byne Memorial Baptist Church in Albany. We are sooo excited about getting to know and becoming involved with our new church family!

Now that you have an idea of what's happening in our lives, I can brag on my baby boy! I am blessed to have one of the most adorable, well-behaved, well-adjusted, and happy babies I have ever met! Okay, I may be a little partial... Anyways, Noah has absolutely amazed me over the course of the last 2 months. He has kept ear infections, sinus infections, and has been treated for the flu two times. No matter what, though, that child ALWAYS has a smile on his face! Even when he has a miserable night and can't sleep, he is wide awake at 6:45AM and looking up at me with the biggest grin imaginable. I see Jacob's personality in him more and more each day. My mom (Grandma Dondi) and dad (Papa Juddie) also have a lot to do with Noah's incredible disposition.

Noah is ALL OVER THE PLACE! He is sitting up and scooting around. If he wants to go somewhere, he just rolls. He has the crawling motion down and almost has his tummy completely off the ground. It's amazing to see how much he is learning every day. If he hears someone cough, he now imitates them. He will also imitate laughing and, unfortunately for us, any high pitched yelp or scream.

Anyways, it's Army Wives night, so I am going to watch with my incredible hubby!