Our newest miracle...

Want to see??!!

We got our first real peek at our growing baby GIRL!   (I am not counting the first two ultrasounds I had early in my 1st trimester - the first ultrasound had a barely-detectable fetus speck for a baby, and the second one showed a blurry blob without distinguishing characteristics.)  

This morning we enjoyed about 45 minutes of watching our sweet girl move around and suck her thumb while the technician measured her tiny body.  We are so thankful that our girl appears to be healthy and growing right on schedule.  She's quite a squirmer - I have been feeling her little flutters of movement for several weeks now, and love feeling her kicks as she gets progressively stronger.  

Your prayers for us and our family have been felt and answered - and we are celebrating this new little one that will join our family in July (or late June, if she follows in her brother's footsteps and decides to come early).  Please continue to pray for our daughter's healthy growth and development if you think of us!

Rock of Ages

Rock of Ages, when the day seems long

From this labor and this heartache I have come

The skies will wear out, but You remain the same

Rock of Ages, I praise Your name.

Rock of Ages, You have brought me near

You have poured out your life-blood, Your love, Your tears

To make this stone heart come alive again

Rock of Ages, forgive my sin.

Rock of Ages, Rock of Ages

Bind your children 'till your kingdom comes

Rock of Ages, Your will be done.

Rock of Ages, when in want or rest

My desperate need for such a Savior I confess

Pull these idols out from my heart embrace

Rock of Ages, I need Your grace.

Rock of Ages, broken, scorned for me

Who am I that You would die to make me free?

To give me glory, You took the death and pain

Rock of Ages, my offering.

Rock of Ages, "It is done," You cried

The curtain's torn and I see justice satisfied

Now write Your mercy on my heart and hands

Rock of Ages, in faith I stand.

Rock of Ages, my great hope source

Your promise holds just like an anchor to my soul

Bind your children with cords of love and grace

Rock of Ages, we give You praise.

Rock of Ages (When the day seems long)  ~Sandra McCracken

A Reminder

O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. 

You know when I sit and when I rise; 

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down; 

you are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue

you know it completely, O Lord.

You hem me in - behind and before; 

you have laid your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths,

you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, 

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,"

even the darkness will not be dark to you;

the night will shine like the day,

for the darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you 

when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me 

were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

Were I to count them,

they would outnumber the grains of sand.

When I awake, 

I am still with you.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; 

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me, 

and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139:1-18, 23-24

Weekend trip to Cincinnati

This weekend Robbie made his 2nd trip to Cincinnati to see his Great-Grandma Jessie, Great Aunt Sherry, Great Uncle Jim, and cousins Courtney and Caroline.  He is proving to be a pretty good traveler, and just loves to spend time with his family!  Upon arriving at Great-Grandma Jessie's house, we sat him down on the couch next to her so that they could re-acquaint themselves.  Robbie leaned over, crawled halfway into her lap right away, and just laid there looking up at her quietly.  It was the sweetest thing!  She sat there and talked to him, and he just listened and was happy to be in her lap.  

Here are a few pictures from our time together...

"I have a lot to tell you - I haven't seen you in quite a while, and I'm just learning how to talk!"

"Hey, who took all my clothes off?  Not that I mind..."

"Mom, can Great-Grandma Jessie give me ALL of my bottles?"

"I love my cousins... and I display my affection by hanging on their legs."

We had a great trip and it was so good to see everyone.  My cousins are growing up so fast, and I was surprised by how old they seemed as we interacted over the weekend.  They are such thoughtful, sweet, intelligent girls - I wish we lived closer together so that we could see them more often.  

What we're up to when it's below zero and snowing like crazy...

We visit old college friends who live nearby and have a new baby!  Grace was born in late December, and Robbie and I took them dinner last night as an excuse to meet and hold that beautiful baby girl.  She was PERFECT!  I have to admit that I would be very excited if next month the ultrasound shows that we, too, are having a girl!  I do love Robbie and loved having a boy much more than I thought I would.  But girls are so tiny... and oh the clothes!  The PINK! :)

Below are Robbie, held by Mike, with Bess and baby Grace.  Check out how BIG Robbie suddenly looks next to a newborn!  Aack!

We go to Grandma and Grandpa's to watch football and stay warm - this picture was taken over the weekend, during the Giants/Eagles game (which Rob was able to go to with his brothers and dad).   Robbie got more attention than is probably healthy for one child, and as you can see, he loved every minute.

Sometimes playing with Grandpa can wear a little guy out.  Robbie takes a cat nap on his lap!

We have discovered that Robbie loves to play by himself in his pack and play!  Throw a few toys in, make sure he's well-fed and has a clean diaper beforehand, and you've suddenly got yourself 30 or so minutes of time to do ANYTHING!  As you can see, he thinks it's great.

He's even learning to stay in a standing position for quite a while, and cruises the sides of the pack and play.  When he's tired of standing, he lets go with one hand, and eases himself down into a sitting position!  Graceful for such a hunk of a boy.  :)

"Not Me" Monday!

I haven't participated in "Not Me" Monday in a while, but I've got my act together this week (ha!) so here we go!...

I do not get nervous when Rob travels while I am pregnant, and certainly didn't cry secretly while cleaning the kitchen the night before he flew to NJ to go to the Giants game.  I never worry about worst-case scenarios, like giving birth to our 2nd child and raising 2 kids under 2 by myself.  That's ridiculous.

I did not attempt to ease my anxiety the morning his flight was leaving by hauling Robbie in his snowsuit to Dunkin Donuts and getting 1/2 a dozen donuts for myself.  And even if I did, I would not have picked at 3 of the donuts in one sitting until Rob called to say he'd landed in NJ. 

I didn't ensure that both Robbie and I slept well while daddy was gone by letting Robbie sleep in our bed with me.  And if that had happened, then surely we wouldn't have slept for 11 hours straight.

I most assuredly did not burn a meal in the crock pot yesterday, as that is the point of crock pots: a fail-safe meal.  If I had, I would be seriously questioning my cooking abilities.  

I did not shovel the bottom of our driveway yesterday morning in my 4th month of pregnancy.  If I had needed to get out of the driveway, but was barricaded in by the 2+ foot pile of heavy snow a plow had kindly left in the night, I would have called someone for help.  I certainly wouldn't have shoveled a car's width path through the snow-wall, cursing the city plows the entire time for not being considerate of people who can't shovel on their own.

What didn't YOU do this weekend!?

My blog is broken.

So I am very annoyed at Blogger right now, because I have been trying all week to post a few more pictures of Christmas and BLOGGER IS BROKEN and won't post them!  Aargh.

So instead, for a laugh, go to DesignHerMomma's blog and have a laugh over her latest story about her oldest daughter, PK.  So funny!

Christmas 2008

We had a wonderful Christmas with both my family and Rob's family... sadly I didn't take any pictures at my mom and dad's house during our Christmas celebration!  There was just too much going on. :)  But here are a few from our wonderful time out East...

Robbie loved bathing in Grammy's big kitchen sink.

Daddy loved playing guitar hero with his brother Brad (who is the best at this game, ever).

Fun with Grammy and Papa on the floor.

One last picture with cousins Nicholas and James.

Showing off what a great little traveler he is!  

We really couldn't have imagined how well Robbie would end up doing as we drove the whole way to New Jersey and back home again.  He barely fussed at all, and made the trip very easy on us.  A new favorite of his is Baby Crack, I mean Einstein.  Rob and I know all the words to "I said, hey! little fishy! would you like to take a swim with me?"  

Blogger is being finicky and I can't get the other pictures to upload right now.  So stay tuned and I'll post a few more soon!