Well, Monday was a very exciting day. We hung out around the house together and took a walk around the neighborhood with our neighbor, Denise. Denise gave Thumper a present. Its a "My first tools," complete with tool box, hammer, and screwdriver! If Thumper is a boy or a girl, we still want him/her to be able to fix things and use tools, even if it is just to hang curtains! ;) I've refrained from buying much stuff, as sometimes I think its not real still. I did buy Thumper his/her first book about a week ago. Its called, "God Gave Us You." Its a cute book about a mommy polar bear telling her baby polar bear a bedtime story about how they became a family. Its very sweet and cute! Also, I brought some old books of mine home from Nonna's (my mom) house. The list includes: "Goodnight Moon," "The Giving Tree," "There's a Monster at the End of This Book," "Corduroy," and "What God did for Zeke, the Fuzzy Catepillar."
Monday afternoon, we had another OB appt. We got to hear the heartbeat!!! It was such a sweet and exciting sound! I didn't know how important it would be for me to hear it! In addition, the nurse had a hard time finding it and we kept hearing this "swooshing" noise. She said that was the baby moving around. So, not only does Thumper have a strong healthy heartbeat, but he/she is moving all over the place....sounds like Thumper has Daddy's energy! The doctor felt my belly and said, "She's so petite, you can't even tell she's pregnant," then he told Josh to keep telling me that. I can notice a little difference in my belly, and a few other family members have noticed too, but it isn't very noticable yet. We haven't started taking belly pics yet, we've been talking about it for weeks, but haven't gotten around to it. I'm sure I'll regret it, but oh well!
On another note, Josh has raised almost enough money to go to Liberia! He's began looking at flights and is finalizing the final details of his trip. He's planning on going about 2.5-3 weeks. Its still bittersweet for me to talk about and I get teary eyed often. I'm so excited he is going, but I'm going to miss him like crazy! He's promised to try to find a little baby outfit or something bold and bright the baby could wear to bring back for Thumper. He's also agreed to let us go to Build-A-Bear and build a rabbit for Thumper. It will be a small stuffed animal we "made" for our baby. We're going to name it Thumper and I'll sleep with it while Josh is gone. That way it will smell like me and hopefully bring comfort to Thumper when he is born, if we aren't together!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Update...Big News and Africa
Well, we hid some great news for about 6 weeks. Most of you probably know by now, but Josh and I are going to have a baby! I'm 12 weeks pregnant today! I am due September 22! It has been an exciting 3 months, full of nausea, lots of emotions (a lot of tears for no reason), and lots of extra sleep! I have began to feel better within the last week. I'm close to the 2nd trimester and it is making a big difference. We have really enjoyed sharing this news with family and close friends. We have enjoyed all the responses, but noticed 2 things. After everyone congratulates us and asks all the questions about the due date and how I've been feeling, they always have one of two questions. One is, I thought you guys were pursuing adoption. Well, we still plan to adopt, but it will be after our first child is born! It is something we are still very passionate and excited about! We look forward to how our family is going to grow not only through the child we are expecting now, but through adoption of one or more children in the future!
The other popular question, if you haven't figured out and asked already, is about Liberia. It is with mixed feelings that I must announce, I won't be going this trip. I'm really excited about being a mom and want to protect my unborn child from everything I can. I wish that I could go, as I had began to get really excited about the trip. However, I must tell you, back in November, I wasn't so sure if I was supposed to go or not. I prayed and asked God to give me a definitive answer. I prayed, "Lord, if I'm not supposed to go, let us only raise enough money for one of us to go AND let me be pregnant." That way it would be easy for me to know and understand that I'm not meant to go. Well, He has answered that prayer! Part of me still wishes I could go, but then the mommy brain kicks in and I'm okay with staying home. If I were to travel to Africa, I'd have to get several vaccinations, including the Yellow Fever one. It is a Class C drug during pregnancy. When we asked my doctor about whether or not I could/should go to Africa, he responded, "Well, I've never had anyone ask me that before." The shot as well as meds for Malaria are class C and while there isn't a proven harm, it isn't for certain safe. He said it would be a decision I'd have to make. We decided that since it is an avoidable risk, we wouldn't take it. Then I asked him if it would be okay for me to travel to the mountains (I'll be 35 weeks then and travel isn't always advised) in August for Camp Horizon (the camp for kids with Down Syndrome). He said as long as things remained perfect and healthy he didn't seem to have a problem with it. He then said, "Y'all seem to have some pretty cool interests." This made us happy!! We scheduled our next appointment for March 23 and at that appointment we'll schedule the next ultrasound.
We did have an ultrasound on February 5th. I was only 7.5 weeks then, but they needed to verify my due date. At that ultrasound all we saw was a little tiny bean and a strong heartbeat! It was 154, which is excellent. We have nicknamed our baby Thumper, since the heartbeat was thumping. We hope to wait until delivery to find out what the gender is and didn't want to call Thumper "it" until then. :)
The other popular question, if you haven't figured out and asked already, is about Liberia. It is with mixed feelings that I must announce, I won't be going this trip. I'm really excited about being a mom and want to protect my unborn child from everything I can. I wish that I could go, as I had began to get really excited about the trip. However, I must tell you, back in November, I wasn't so sure if I was supposed to go or not. I prayed and asked God to give me a definitive answer. I prayed, "Lord, if I'm not supposed to go, let us only raise enough money for one of us to go AND let me be pregnant." That way it would be easy for me to know and understand that I'm not meant to go. Well, He has answered that prayer! Part of me still wishes I could go, but then the mommy brain kicks in and I'm okay with staying home. If I were to travel to Africa, I'd have to get several vaccinations, including the Yellow Fever one. It is a Class C drug during pregnancy. When we asked my doctor about whether or not I could/should go to Africa, he responded, "Well, I've never had anyone ask me that before." The shot as well as meds for Malaria are class C and while there isn't a proven harm, it isn't for certain safe. He said it would be a decision I'd have to make. We decided that since it is an avoidable risk, we wouldn't take it. Then I asked him if it would be okay for me to travel to the mountains (I'll be 35 weeks then and travel isn't always advised) in August for Camp Horizon (the camp for kids with Down Syndrome). He said as long as things remained perfect and healthy he didn't seem to have a problem with it. He then said, "Y'all seem to have some pretty cool interests." This made us happy!! We scheduled our next appointment for March 23 and at that appointment we'll schedule the next ultrasound.
We did have an ultrasound on February 5th. I was only 7.5 weeks then, but they needed to verify my due date. At that ultrasound all we saw was a little tiny bean and a strong heartbeat! It was 154, which is excellent. We have nicknamed our baby Thumper, since the heartbeat was thumping. We hope to wait until delivery to find out what the gender is and didn't want to call Thumper "it" until then. :)
Friday, February 20, 2009
Asher is home! (amazing discount)
Asher came home yesterday (Wednesday). He looks rough, but we are praying for a good recovery. He is on SO much pain medication, and he has to wear the crappy cone around his head. Poor kitty. You can see his many stitches in his hip. His leg will possibly be lame for life, but we're hopeful that he'll be able to use his leg more than that.Our new vet continues to amaze us. They are an amazing group of people who have really been a blessing to us during this procedure. The cost of this procedure was supposed to be $800, and they gave us a flat fee of just $500 because the wanted to help us. Well, we found out that, due to some complications, the actual bill of the procedure was closer to $1,300, and yet the still only charged us the $500 flat fee. God was using this veterinarian to be His blessing to us! Just look at all the asterisks and the discount amount on our final invoice.
Our God is So Good.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Update On Asher & God's Provision
We found out on Monday that the procedure to re-attach the broken hip bone is not a common procedure in cats. For some reason, the success rate isn’t that great. Instead, something called an FHO (Femoral Head Ostectomy) is performed, where the ball joint (that was separated from the leg bone) is removed from the socket, and the joint is left to heal. Asher should regain close to full mobility, after about 5-6 months. It goes against how I thought joints and muscles should work, but a quick Google search found many others who said the procedure worked for them
Amazingly, God has still showed himself through the vet. The procedure should costs upwards of $800, but Asher’s doctor, knowing that we can’t afford much for our baby, agreed to do the procedure in-house for a flat fee of $500. Anyone who has ever taken an animal to the vet knows that costs quickly add up, so performing the procedure for a flat fee is the veterinarian taking a loss to service our beloved Asher. If anyone is looking for a good animal hospital (this one is located in Indian Trail), I have a great one to recommend.
The procedure was performed on Tuesday. Asher stayed in the vet through the night, but on Wednesday he wasn’t doing too well. We just got an update this morning (8:30am) that he started eating again, and that they were going to do some physical therapy today, run his blood-work again, and that he might get to come home today. This is good news, because we miss our little boy.
Even though a $815 unexpected vet bill ($315 + $500) wasn’t something we wanted to do at the moment while trying to raise funds for Liberia, God has demonstrated that he provides.
Our trip contributions now total $1,950, thanks to some new donations that we received, and Graybrooke work has been steadily increasing as well.
To God Be The Glory.
Amazingly, God has still showed himself through the vet. The procedure should costs upwards of $800, but Asher’s doctor, knowing that we can’t afford much for our baby, agreed to do the procedure in-house for a flat fee of $500. Anyone who has ever taken an animal to the vet knows that costs quickly add up, so performing the procedure for a flat fee is the veterinarian taking a loss to service our beloved Asher. If anyone is looking for a good animal hospital (this one is located in Indian Trail), I have a great one to recommend.
The procedure was performed on Tuesday. Asher stayed in the vet through the night, but on Wednesday he wasn’t doing too well. We just got an update this morning (8:30am) that he started eating again, and that they were going to do some physical therapy today, run his blood-work again, and that he might get to come home today. This is good news, because we miss our little boy.
Even though a $815 unexpected vet bill ($315 + $500) wasn’t something we wanted to do at the moment while trying to raise funds for Liberia, God has demonstrated that he provides.
Our trip contributions now total $1,950, thanks to some new donations that we received, and Graybrooke work has been steadily increasing as well.
To God Be The Glory.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
FAQ 1 - Why Support Children in Liberia When We Have Issues Here?
Some of our posts will begin to answer some of the questions we have heard from folks about our mission trip to Camp 4, Liberia. This is the first of such posts, addressing "Why Support Children in Liberia When We Have Issues Here in the US?"
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CHILDREN OF THE MOUNTAINS
There was a special that aired this past Friday night called “A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains”. It was a 20/20 documentary by Diane Sawyer that detailed the lives of families in Appalachia, specifically Kentucky (If you missed it, you can view it here).
There is a high school senior they document who is a stellar football player, the star of the team, who sleeps in his pickup truck each night. Another scene documents two sisters who live in a broke-down trailer while their mom dips back into prescription pain killer addiction, spending any money they do have on pills. Yet another segment shows how young men follow fathers into the coalmines to make what living they can, having lost most of their teeth due to their high consumption of Mountain Dew.
Some of the feedback we have received while fundraising for the Liberia Mission Trip has questioned the notion of sending money to children in another country when we have our own issues here in the US. It is almost a valid point, yet naïve & ill-informed.
The children of the Appalachian Mountains are certainly an
impoverished group of people when compared to you and me. But poverty is relative. The United States contains the majority of the wealth in the world. Africa, by comparison, houses the world’s most-impoverished people. The average annual household income in the US is $44,970, compared to just $140 in Liberia. The percentage of children under five who have severely underweight is 14%, compared to 0% here in the US. The number of children in Liberia whose growth has been stunted from the lack of proper nutrition is 39%, compared to just 1% here in America. I compiled a chart with some additional comparisons below:
(click image to enlarge)
There are certainly tough times in America – many of us have experienced financial pain first-hand. But consider this: when the US get’s a cold, the world gets pneumonia. The financial burdens we feel here are only exacerbated in Liberia and other third-world countries. We are still King and Queens by comparison.
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CHILDREN OF THE MOUNTAINS
There was a special that aired this past Friday night called “A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains”. It was a 20/20 documentary by Diane Sawyer that detailed the lives of families in Appalachia, specifically Kentucky (If you missed it, you can view it here).
There is a high school senior they document who is a stellar football player, the star of the team, who sleeps in his pickup truck each night. Another scene documents two sisters who live in a broke-down trailer while their mom dips back into prescription pain killer addiction, spending any money they do have on pills. Yet another segment shows how young men follow fathers into the coalmines to make what living they can, having lost most of their teeth due to their high consumption of Mountain Dew.Some of the feedback we have received while fundraising for the Liberia Mission Trip has questioned the notion of sending money to children in another country when we have our own issues here in the US. It is almost a valid point, yet naïve & ill-informed.
The children of the Appalachian Mountains are certainly an
impoverished group of people when compared to you and me. But poverty is relative. The United States contains the majority of the wealth in the world. Africa, by comparison, houses the world’s most-impoverished people. The average annual household income in the US is $44,970, compared to just $140 in Liberia. The percentage of children under five who have severely underweight is 14%, compared to 0% here in the US. The number of children in Liberia whose growth has been stunted from the lack of proper nutrition is 39%, compared to just 1% here in America. I compiled a chart with some additional comparisons below:
(click image to enlarge)
All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
– Edmund Burke
– Edmund Burke
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