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Wednesday, March 31, 2010

March Madness

**Warning! This post is very long. You might want to stop now, go to the bathroom, grab a snack and something to drink, and then get comfortable. But don't miss it, because it's packed full of fun pictures!! Also please ignore some of the dates on the pictures. Something happened and some of them are way, way off!!

March was busy but very fun! Kid's consignment sales, doctor appointments, field trips, hair cuts, missing teeth, trips out of town, parties, whew!!! Never a dull moment in for the Minor family!! Forgive me if I've already mentioned some of these events, I'm just documenting some of the big things on our calendar this month. But hey at least this time, I'm adding pictures for almost everything!

We did a lot of things with our homeschool group this month, a lot more than usual. I might should have title this post "Field Trips", because it seemed we were up to something all the time!

Our first trip was a trip for 1st graders only. Huntsville Hospital and UAH put on a mock hospital for 1st graders called "Let's Pretend Hospital." It was so much fun!! They had set up almost everything you would find in a real hospital. Here's a picture of most of the 1st graders in our homeschool group.


The sun was out and shining bright that day, and it seemed much warmer than it actually was. Luke didn't wear any type jacket. He's pretty cold matured like his mommy and ended up wearing my sweater much of the morning.


This is a mock patient room.


Here the kids are learning what to expect if they ever make a trip to the ER.


Here's the operating room.


Here they are demonstrating that fact that the x-ray machine doesn't hurt. They did not however mention that adjusting your body part on that table might hurt a lot!


Do you remember when I wrote about Luke and his Daddy attending an Outdoor Expo at our church? Well that was the same night as this the "Let's Pretend Hospital." Here's some pictures from that night.

The Minor Boys


The Guest Speaker


YUCK! I have no idea what this is!


As I post this last one, I have to remember that this is suppose to be a family blog. But, I sure don't like looking at snakes, dead, alive, or in pictures!


Let's move on now, shall we?!

The next week we went on a field trip to Domino's. Here are pictures of the kids making their own pizza!

In these pictures, they are putting the cheese on. After the cheese they could chose any other toppings they wanted.




Now they are ready to put them into the oven.



Here they are hanging out with friends and waiting on their pizzas to come out of the oven. Yummy!!!


Later that week, here's me with my big girls, Grace and Mary Ruth, all matched in our black and white and ready to head out for our Mother and Daughter Retreat weekend.


Things did not go exactly as planned. The plan was to spend the weekend at our friend's lakehouse, just enjoying time fellowshipping, making crafts, cooking, and learning the Word. It was suppose to be me and my big girls, Rachael and her girls, my Mom, Nana Mathis, and my friend Katy and her mom, Mrs. Pat. Mrs. Pat, who has raised two amazing daughters (Katy and her sister Abby), had worked hard to prepared some Bible lessons for us for this special "Mother/Daughter Retreat" weekend. However a few days before we left, Mrs. Pat and Katy had to cancel due to the unexpected death of a very close friend. My Mom also had to cancel due to some things going on in her extended family. We were sorry they could not go, but decided to go ahead anyway and make the best of it. Well it seemed that one thing after another happened, but we finally did make it to the lakehouse on Saturday afternoon. We had an awesome time cooking and making crafts for a few hours and were having a bedtime devotion when IT happened!! Rachael and Alora both became very sick with a stomach bug!! Needless to say, we cut the trip short and headed home as early as we could on Sunday. Even though it seem a lot went wrong, we still had some good times and made some memories!

When we arrived home Sunday afternoon, Wesley left almost immediately for a work trip. This was just the beginning of the dreaded "Spring Break Week"!! He didn't get far before having to return home because of car trouble. He ended up staying at home Sunday night, getting the car fixed early Monday morning, and getting right back on the road.

Meanwhile, you might remember from another post what happened here on the home front. Yep, you guess it, stomach bug!! We seemed to battle it off and on all week with one person getting better then the next person coming down with it. It seemed everytime I was sure we were all over it, it struck again.

Thursday, sure that it was all over, we headed to Tuscaloosa for a funeral and to bring "Grandmother" (my Mom) back home with us. It was under unfortunate circumstances, but it was still nice to see and visit with family. So we drove down there, attended the funeral, got my Mom, and started back WHEN guess what happened AGAIN!! Poor Bella Peace. Having the stomach bug is bad. Having it attack you while you are traveling in a moving vehicle is very, very bad. Being strapped into a 5 point harness while being sick is very, very, very bad. Needless to say, it was a long trip home. Made longer by a detour off the interstate because of some massive sink hole!

We finally arrive home late Thursday night just about an hour and a half before Wesley arrived home from his trip. It was so awesome having my Mom here. She wasn't able to stay long, but I was so glad to have her here.

We had another field trip planned for the very next day. Yes, if you've been counting, this is our 3rd field trip in 3 weeks!! No rest for the weary!! Wesley stayed home with Bella Peace since she had been sick the night before, and me, Mom, and the big kids went. Bella Peace seemed fine by this point, but we wanted to be safe. We were most concerned with passing it to someone else. So, this trip was to a local family owned dairy farm. It was great, and it was very educational!! The only problem was with the smell. OH-MY-GOODNESS, it smelled SO BAD!! This was especially not good for my Mom who has a very sensitive sense of smell already. Other than the smell, it was a great field trip with absolutely perfect weather!!! I knew we were going to a big time dairy farm, but I had imagined that the cows were milked by hand. Funny, huh?! No, we learned all about how they milk around 170 head of cattle each day. They are very ethical in their practices. The cows are allowed to graze on the land and are treated properly, not kept in stalls and fed bad things every day. They sell their milk to Dairy Fresh in Decatur where it is properly pasteurized, and then we get to buy it from the stores. So cool!

Here we are, on the farm! Grace has said many times that she would like to marry a farmer and live on a farm, because she loves animals. However, it only took one whiff of the smell to have her reconsidering!


The new calves are weaned from their mother's early, and they learn to drink milk from a bucket. All the kiddos, got a chance to help feed the baby calves. So sweet!!








Look at how perfect the heart is on this baby cow's face! Precious! Almost made me forget the smell! :)


It looks like these baby cows are kissing, but they are actually licking and sucking the milk off each other's faces. Does it get any sweeter and cuter than this!!




OK, well I'm not finished. I've still have some more dairy farm pictures and a few other fun adventures to post about. But, I'm going to stop here for today and finish hopefully tomorrow. So....

to be continued....

March 31, 2009

I can't believe it's already the last day of March!! Spring is definitely here, hopefully here to stay!! We've LOVED the weather this week. Although I must admit it sure makes it hard for a homeschool mom to get it all done. Yesterday we took a play break before we had finished all of our school work, and well everything didn't get finished. I know plenty of people who say take it outside, but I would say that those people don't have some of the challenges that I have. It's hard enough to keep up with my little sweetie pie, Bella Peace in an 1100 square foot house. If I were to take school outside to the vast outdoors, there's no telling what would happen!! Plus when we've tried it, Luke is totally distracted. It takes him twice as long to get his work done. So while we might get creative sometimes and do a few things here and there outside, we will for the most part keep our phonics, reading, and math indoors. We do however look or educational experiences outdoors, and there is no shortage to be found!!

Today the big kids had big plans so we had to really get after it to finish school early. Wesley didn't have to go into work until around lunch time, so he took Mary Ruth and Bella Peace on a "nature walk". They had so much fun. Mary Ruth took her camera and took pictures of any "nature" she could find. She made some interesting finds too! They walked over the park behind our house and found a large bone. Wesley said it was part of a deer. YUCK!! Luke ask later if he could go get it and bring it home. Double YUCK!!

So what were the big kids plans? Papa and Nana Mathis picked them up after lunch to go to the Treehouse Exhibit and the Spring Flower Festival at the Botanical Gardens. We don't have a membership and have never been to either of these, so I know they will LOVE it!! Hopefully I will get some good pictures from them and can share them later. I'm going to pick them up at church tonight. A friend ask what I would do with myself the rest of the day. Well I will be doing pretty much the same thing I do when they are here. Keeping up with my favorite almost 2 year old!!! Now if the it were reveresed and the big kids were here and the little one wasn't, then I might get seriously caught up on some things. Ha, ha!!

In other news, Grace lost her second tooth today!! I have a picture, but it's on the camera I sent with them to the Botanical Gardens. I will have to come back and add it later on. She was soooooo excited. The tooth was really loose and had been really bothering her, but it was a booger to pull!! Like I said, it was really loose, but it was deep rooted. I had to really tug on it!! She was such a trooper and so brave! Our thoughts about this is that if the tooth is really giving them trouble the best thing to do is to just go ahead and pull it, because then it won't hurt anymore. I know other parents chose to just let nature take it's course. Luke has lost 8 teeth so far, and that has been the case for a couple of his teeth. For the most part, we let them decide when it's time for it to be pulled, but they've learned it really does feel better after it's out. It also puts an end to all the drama. Some kids really suffer with anxiety about the whole thing. We've also sugar coated the deal with a pack of M&M's as a special treat for losing a tooth. So really, they look forward to it a lot!! I'm sure a dentist would say that the M&M's are going to lead to a lot more missing teeth. Ha, ha!! But it's not that often. It really is a special treat, and it's just become a "minor" tradition. Somehow Dr. Pepper is finding it's way in this deal. Not sure how that happened. I think it may have came up when Luke recently lost his 8th tooth and convinced his Daddy that he was suppose to get both. Or was it me that he convinced. Hummmm. Mary Ruth can't wait to lose a tooth!! At least Luke and Grace are always good to share their treats with the other kiddos. Her day will come! It's so funny that kids get so excited over losing teeth!!

Well one of the things I hoping to do today is finish up a couple other post I have started. I think I'm going to get busy on that now, and we shall see how far I get before Bella Peace wakes up! Pictures coming soon, I promise!!

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Growing

I wore real maternity clothes for the first time today!!! My current wardrobe mostly consist of skirts and jumpers which for the most part I've been able to still wear even though my belly has been growing. But, I've been starting to push it with my skirts. I can still wear my jumpers - BTW, yes I do wear denim jumpers and like them very much. They are extremely practical, comfortable, and modest. I love having big ole pockets on the front. I almost always have them filled with things like pacifiers, a pencils, my cell phone. I think they are perfect for the homeschool mom with many little ones. Think what you will, but don't knock it until you've been in my shoes! :) OK, off that soap box! So, anyway I can still wear them and probably will be able to for most of my pregnancy, but I don't have any maternity tights. I'm a very, very cold natured person so I have to have something on my legs. I have definitely out grown my regular tights and don't want to go out and buy some new ones with warmer weather just around the corner. So today I finally broke down and ask Wesley to bring in my box of maternity clothes. It was fun to wear something that I haven't wore in quite a while. Here's picture from today of me and our growing baby girl!


We spent a good part of the afternoon celebrating the 8th birthday of one of our favorite little boys, Caleb. He's like a brother to Luke, and Grace wants to marry him one day. I can't believe he's about to turn 8 years old!!

Here's a picture of him and Luke this week after the RA race at church.


Seems like just yesterday I took this picture of these same two little boys! (This is a scanned picture, and it's the best I could do. Sorry it's such poor quality and so little.)


I pointed out to Caleb's mom today that he's closer to getting his learner's permit to drive than not now, a point that she did not appreciate me pointing out. But YIKES, Luke is only 9 months behind him!!

Luke actually cut most of our front yard with a push mower today. I simply cannot believe he's big enough to do that!

These kiddos are all growing up way too fast!!

Friday, March 26, 2010

Thursday, March 25, 2010

15 weeks

We had another great appointment today!!! I'm exactly 15 weeks today. Baby measured 15 weeks and 3 days which is the first time we've really measured off with this pregnancy, but since it was more and not less there was no concern today. One thing we have been watching for is slowed growth or development, but no problems noted today!! Baby's heartrate was 154 bpm. Everything continues to look great!! Every little body part appears to be developing exactly as it should. Heart looks good. Blood flow looks good. No problems with obstructions, clots, tears, separations, or placenta!! Today we took two different type of head measurements and a measurement of the leg bones. Again, everything looks great and right on track!! We couldn't be more excited!!

And YES, we feel pretty confident that we know whether this baby is a boy or a girl!! We have a few people who we need to tell before announcing it here (grandparents don't like finding out after everyone else!!), but hopefully we will be able to share that news here tomorrow!!!

So, what do you all think it's going to be? I would to hear your guesses!! Leave me a comment and tell me what you think!! And thank you, thank you, thank you for your prayers!! I have supernatural peace these days!!!!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Another Big Day

Well I'm going to bed, but just in case some of you are wondering, tomorrow is another big day. I have my 15 week appointment and ultrasound. I'm actually feeling very excited and not anxious. God has blessed me with peace, and at least for now I'm chosing to accept it!!

I will update tomorrow as soon as I am able to get home to the computer.

A lot has been happening around here lately!! So much so, that I haven't had tome to write all about it!! But finally, I have at least started working on another post. This time WITH PICTURES!! Maybe I can finish that up some time tomorrow also. But, of course, no promises!!

Night, night!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

14 weeks

Well, I will be 14 weeks tomorrow. Today I am 13 weeks, 6 days. Baby measured 13 weeks, 6 days!! Heartrate seems to drop a little each week, but I'm told that is normal. Today Baby's heartrate was 143 bpm which is within an acceptable range.

Folks, I could not have asked for anything more today! The ultrasound was perfect. Baby looked perfect, healthy, happy!!! Maybe it was the Little Debbie cake I had before the appointment (shhhh, don't tell my kiddos), but Baby was SO active. He/She was all over the place. Baby would stretch out it's legs and kick, then arch it's back, then do like a full body jump. You would have thought he/she was on a trampoline in there!! Whitney, my ultrasound technician let me just watch for a full five minutes!! By the time it was over Baby was yawning. We could see a beautiful profile, perfect heart, arms, legs, fingers, toes, even knees, and more. I was already in LOVE with Baby, but now I'm head over heels, captivated, smitten, in CRAZY LOVE!! At one point, Baby turned it's head and looked straight on at us as if to say, "I love you to, Mommy!"

Today was my first over the belly ultrasound. That was nice. I'm happy to be done with the other kind. I still cannot scan my ultrasound pictures, but maybe soon. So, sorry!! They are great!! I also have a DVD from today, but can't share that either right now. Oh, another praise, they found my DVD that I lost from last week!! Hooray!!!

Today did so much to ease my fears and concerns. I really believe it won't be as bad from here on. Today was a gift!! Thank you, God!!!

In the beginning of this pregnancy I told myself and God that I would be grateful and content with however long He let me "have" this baby. That's been harder recently. I find my "wants" are getting the best of me sometimes. I want this baby SO badly!! I want to feel it move. I want my tummy to get bigger and bigger. I want to hold him/her. I want to bring him/her home from the hospital. It's to find the balance between praying for a healthy baby and being willing to submit to whatever His will may be. I had a good conversation with a friend tonight about all this. I can genuinely say that in my heart of hearts, I do desire His will over my own. But it would not be an easy road for me if His will turned out to be different than what I desire. I also know that I would still praise Him, love Him, trust Him. I know that He is good and His plan for me is good. Again, actually living that is not alway easy.

I'm struggling just a bit with the issue of faith right now. Again, this is a difficult balance. I have faith that God can do anything. I have faith that He can keep this baby strong and allow me to deliver a full term healthy baby. But, I don't that He will. Is that a lack of faith? Maybe. I do pray expecting that He will answer my prayers, but I also know that He may not.

Anyway, I'm starting to circular think here so I think I might should stop for tonight. I do welcome your feed back. Forgive me for saying in my last post that I was getting annoyed by people saying that I should just have faith and not worry. I guess I just want people to understand that having faith is not a guarantee of getting whatever it is you are having faith for. I should have faith. I should be at peace. I should fear not. I should not worry. It's just difficult. But, no one said it would be easy, right? I welcome your comments, support, and encouragement. Please don't be afraid of saying the wrong thing.

BTW, complete sidebar here, Whitney did take a peak between the legs. However, I cannot say what we did or did not see today. I cannot tell everyone else until I tell Wesley, and I don't want to tell Wesley until we know for sure. 14 weeks is very early to be trying to call this, so I just want to wait another week or two and be sure. Sorry to tease you all like this!!!

OK, so I want to end with these two things...

If I never saw our sweet baby alive again, today would be enough to hold me until eternity. My heart is so full. Today was miraculous!! I am extremely grateful!! I know that I would still miss and long for this baby, but these precious images were seared into my head today. God was totally showing me what HE CAN DO!!!

I will still love HIM no matter what happens. I do desire His will above my own.

Update

Ultrasound was perfect!!! Praise the LORD!!!! Sorry I'm just now giving a report, I had a lot of errands to run after my appointment. I just walked in the house. I will give a full update tonight once I get the kiddos in bed!!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

The Night Before

I'm getting ready to go to bed. I am feeling so many emotions tonight. I am anxious and excited. I'm anxious that something might be wrong when I see tomorrow's ultrasound. I'm excited as I believe everything will be OK. I'm anxious that Wesley is out of town. I'm excited that so far everything has been perfect. I'm anxious because I know my history. I'm excited because I know that my God is in control no matter what happens. It's a roller coaster. It's hard not to be afraid. I sometimes feel annoyed when people suggest that I not be afraid. Really, how can I not be afraid. I am trying really hard to trust God. It doesn't always come easy. I give it over to the Lord, find His peace, and then another wave of emotion comes over me and I'm fearful again. There are times that I feel supernatural peace. It's just crazy!

I'm also juggling a lot of this week. I've been a single parent while pregnant with a sick child (whose actually all better now), and on top of that I'm trying to plan for a trip out of town for a sudden unexpected funeral. In addition to the basics like cooking, cleaning, diapers, bathes, etc., I've also done things like school (we needed to get a couple of days in this week so we went ahead and got those done!), groceries, errands, and tomorrow I have a big doctor's appointment and ultrasound.

AND, I can't quit thinking about my sweet Isaiah. Tonight is the night before we found out we had lost him. But, by this time 3 years ago, he was already singing with the angels in Heaven.

I'm glad I've been so busy this week. It's been good for me. I haven't really had time to obsess TOO much over the "what ifs".

So tonight is the night before. Before what? I'm not sure this time. But, I know that my God loves me and has a good and perfect plan for me, for our family, and for our little Baby. Have I mentioned that I'm completely convinced it's a girl? I hold a good record for being right on this. I guess time will tell. Who knows, maybe tonight is the night before we find out whether Baby is "Baby Girl Minor" or "Baby Boy Minor". I'm not really expecting to find out anything tomorrow, although I do have permission from Wesley to find out if they can see something. I just have to be sure to do something cute to reveal the secret to him when he gets home. Remember he loves to be surprised in fun ways!

So, I will update as soon as I can sometime tomorrow afternoon. Thanks for your prayers!

Last Week

If you are getting bored with my "weekly recaps", you might want to go skip this post. Remember one of my main goals for this blog is to document our memories, so I like the weekly recaps.

Last week, was just regular busy, not crazy busy. BTW, I seem to classify my weeks right how as either "Wow!! This was a calm/slow week", "Busy", or "Very Busy". So anyway, last week fell into the "Busy" category. I finally began feeling more like my self just as I passed the 1st trimester and entered into the 2nd trimester.

I LOVED Monday, because Wesley took Mary Ruth and Bella Peace to run errands and busy some groceries and I stayed home and did school with Luke and Grace. (Remember Wesley has an atypical schedule so we can do things like that sometimes.) I know it sounds bad, but it's so much easier doing school without Bella Peace. However I would much rather have her and have hard school days than for every day to be a breeze. I know this is just a season. She will grow up and won't interrupt school as often, and I will miss the little 22 month old girl who gets in trouble all the time like CRAZY!!!

Tuesday Wesley went to work earlier in the day, and we had another good school day. It feels great to be getting back into the swing of things. I'm still rather wore out by the end of the day, but throughout the day I usually feel pretty normal. Tuesday afternoon, Nana came over and helped me clean house. We pretty much got every room except for the master bedroom which is an absolute disaster!!! Nana tried to get in there to do something, but it's just one of those jobs I'm going to have to do myself. Everything and anything that anyone in this house hasn't known what to do with has landed in there for the past several weeks, maybe months! I'm hoping to make a big dent in it this week, though. I'm going to participate in another blogger's spring cleaning challenge. I will have to blog about that one later. But, stay tuned because pictures will be involved!!

Wednesday started early with a field trip to Domino's. After making our own pizzas, he headed over to the playroom at the ROC to enjoy them and fellowship. I planned all day to go to Mission Friends, but Wesley really encouraged me to stay home to rest and get Bella Peace in bed early. So, I did. I think I already wrote about how that ended up being a very good decision!

Thursday I had a morning doctor's appointment/ultrasound, and Wesley stayed at home and did school with the Luke and Grace. That evening, Heather B. kept my kiddos so that I could go to my Ladies Accountability Group. (Thanks, again Heather!! Too bad it doesn't work out for you to join our group. Maybe one day!) I LOVE this group of close girlfriends! I'm always challenged, motivated, and encouraged after time with them!

Friday, after we finished school, was spent mostly in preparation for a Mother/Daughter Retreat that me and my big girls have been planning and looking forward to for a really long time. The retreat was suppose to be Friday evening, all day Saturday, and return home Sunday afternoon. Things did not go according to the plan. The retreat really deserves it's own post, so I will work on it very soon.

Sunday we returned home from our eventful weekend and Wesley left to begin his own adventure! Never a dull moment in our "minor" lives!! Speaking of Sunday, I wasn't in church Sunday morning. Did any of you that attend church with us happen to notice the altar flowers? They were ours in memory of Samuel, Isaiah, and Joshua. It's something we try to do every March. You have to put a 1st and 2nd choice on the form you turn in to place an order. The order form is turned in in December. I had chosen last Sunday and this coming up Sunday and wasn't sure which one we had gotten. I was kind of disappointed to have missed them. Wesley said they were beautiful. If we had gone back to the evening service, we could have brought them home which we usually do. With us coming and Wesley going, it didn't work out for us to get them this time. Oh well, they served their purpose nonetheless.

Well, that's the recap!!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Gratitude

First, I just want to say that I strongly dislike the word "hate". Actually one of our household rules is that use that word carefully and appropriately. We don't toss it around or use it lightly. The kiddos aren't allowed to say, "I hate rainy days" or "I hate broccoli" (no one actually hates broccoli anyway, I'm just giving you an example). We can use the word if we are referring to something that God hates. Some examples might be: I hate that people die without knowing Jesus. I hate to see people hurting. If we aren't sure, we should avoid using it. So, I say all that to say that I broke that rule in the title of my last post. I will be editing that as soon as I finish this post. May sound crazy, but I don't want to be ashamed of my kiddos seeing it if they were to walk by. OK, now that I've cleared that up, let's move on, shall we?

I was feeling discouraged for a while earlier today. Mostly I was discouraged about our finances. We have done Dave Ramsey's Financial University, and we try to follow it as best we can. One day I will try to find time to write more on this topic, but for now I will just say that financially things are tough. Having the surprise car repair today was really stressing me. I planned to write about how stressed I was about it all. But throughout the day I as I thought about it, I realized how discontent and ungrateful I was being. I could right a book about how good God has been to us, and how He has provided time and time again. He has been faithful. Yet lately anytime something doesn't go my way in regards to our finances, I find myself frustrated with Him. The truth, though at times it is hard to accept, is that He has allowed this struggle so that we would be dependent on Him. In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, Paul writes of a thorn in his flesh.

"...there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I a weak, then am I strong."

I feel like our finances might be a "thorn" for us. God uses it to show Himself strong on our behalf. He uses it to keep us humble, to keep us dependent on Him, so that "the power of Christ may rest upon us." Our budget rarely works out of paper, but He always provides. It's only through His provision that we make it! Over and over we've been given the opportunity to testify to His goodness and faithfulness with miraculous stories of provision.

As I began to change my focus today, I began to think about God's hand in this, His hand in our life, His sovereignty. As I reminded myself that He loves us, has a good plan for us, is teaching and growing us. As I focused on Him and His Word, not the situation or our circumstances. I started to remember His faithfulness in our lives. Then, my heart changed. I began to think about how good I have it and how I should be content and grateful.

Lord, forgive me once again for losing sight of the many, many ways you provide, have provided, and bless us each and every day!! Forgive me for my discontentment, for complaining, for being so selfish. Forgive me for my lack of gratitude.

I made a pretty big grateful list in my head, and it has grown throughout the day as new things keep coming to my mind. But tonight, I want to share just a few that top off my list.

I'm grateful first for His saving grace. When I look back over my life and imagine how differently it might have turned out if I had not responded to His calling at that young age many years ago, I literally get chills. Friends, I have first cousins my age who are currently in prison, who are strung out of drugs, who have lost custody of their children, who have no home to call their own, who have never been truly loved or respected by a member of the opposite sex, who have been abused. I still see many of these family members when I go home. It breaks my heart. One who people use to say that I looked like, currently has few or maybe no teeth and weighs maybe 90 pounds and is about as tall as me. When I hug her I can feel all the bones in her back. I don't think she's never been married, lives with family, doesn't have custody of or even see her son, and will sleep with absolutely anybody male or female to get her next fix. My mother will not like to read this and would say no way, but honestly I know THAT COULD HAVE BEEN ME! IF not for JESUS!!! He saved me from all of that. He has saved me for eternity!!

Secondly, I grateful for my parents. I did not grow up going to church, wasn't raised reading the Bible, and we didn't pray together. My parents will admit they made mistakes, BUT I never doubted or questioned that they loved me! My Mother made so many sacrifices for me and my brother. She tried hard to teach us right from wrong. She LOVED us, no doubt!! My Daddy also LOVED us. He has a lot of guilt over the kind of parent he was, but I always knew he LOVED me! It is SO important of a little girl to feel loved by her father. My Daddy was very tenderhearted towards me. My parents wanted my brother and I to turn out to be good people, make good decisions, and do the right things. Their love and support encouraged me to feel worthy, important, special, confident, and to desire to please them. Though they made mistakes, I believe their love for me made such a difference. Proverbs 10:12 says, "love covereth all sins." BTW, I should mention that I wasn't the perfect daughter either.

Though the "grateful list" in my head is very long tonight, I'll end by expressing gratitude for one more on my list, my greatest earthly gift, Wesley. He was given to me by God Himself, shaped and moldy especially for me through the years. I knew it when I first met him. I was Christian before I met him, but he has been the number one Godly influence in my life. My life changed the day I met him. Wesley loves me the way that a wife deserves to be loved. I don't have to compete with work, hobbies, friends, sports, other women or anything else for his affection. He isn't perfect, I'm not either, and our marriage isn't perfect. But, it is solid, built on the only solid foundation, the Lord Jesus Christ. For this and for him I'm so grateful!!

On a final note, it was as my attitude started to change today that God yet again stepped in to encourage me. This time through a dear friend. I was already feeling much better, so this was just like a cherry on top! I was at the table with Luke helping him with his math, and all three girls were looking out the front storm door. Bella Peace insist on looking out the door every time she thinks she hears an airplane. I think she just likes looking out and dreaming of the outdoors. Anyway, Grace started screaming, "Mrs. Heather, Mrs. Heather!!" Then all the girls started yelling and jumping up and down. Then, Grace went really wild, because Heather was carrying flowers. Heather brought me a beautiful bouquet of brightly colored daisies, just to let me know that she was thinking of me this week. So sweet!! It was a tangible reminder of how loved I am!! Loved by Him and loved by so many people that He has placed in my life. Thank you, Heather!!

"Thank you" hardly seems adequate, but here goes...Thank you Lord for saving me and for loving me. Thank you for your patience with me. Thank you for your faithfulness. Thank you for your forgiveness, for your grace, and for your mercy. Thank you for continuing to grow me and teach me. Thank you for my parents and for Wesley.

Thank you, Mom. Thank you, Daddy. Thank you, Wesley.

Maybe I will do a part 2 and continue this list sometime, but right now I must get to bed. I'll be a single parent again tomorrow!!

I Dislike Spring Break

**EDITED - I changed the title of this post, to learn why read the post that came after this. The original title was "I Hate Spring Break". Also someone suggested that if I dislike it so much, I could consider not observing it. We don't really observe Spring Break, but it's not like we can really ignore it when everyone else does observe it. Besides, I'm not superstitious or anything. I don't really think this week is jinxed. It just holds a few unpleasant memories.**

Ok, so "hate" is too strong of a word. But, really it seems like Spring Break Week doesn't go well for our family. Today is only Monday of Spring Break Week and so far, Mary Ruth has a stomach bug, Wesley had car trouble to the tune of more than $500 on his way out of town for work, and the worst news, I just learned that my mom's first cousin who I call Aunt Faye passed away unexpectedly at home today. I'm not sure what the rest of the week holds, but please pray that this is the end of the bad news for this week. Also please pray for my Aunt Faye's family.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

13 weeks

I'm 13 weeks today! I had an ultrasound earlier today. Everything still looks great!! Baby measured 13 weeks, 1 day and is around 7 cm from crown to rump. Heartrate was 152 bpm. It's so cool to be able to see growth and changes from week to week. I just hope my insurance covers all these weekly ultrasounds. In fact if it comes to mind, please pray for that for me.

My ultrasound technician has been making me DVDs of the ultrasound each time which are always fun to watch. Today Baby was extremely active, so I was excited about Wesley and the kids getting to watch it. But, apparently I lost it between leaving the room and getting to my car. I didn't have it when I went to get out of the car. I've called the office, but they said it hasn't turned up yet. :( I'm hoping it still will turn up. I'm not trying to be negative, but I cannot help thinking what if that was the last ultrasound of a healthy baby and now I don't have a copy. :( I'm trying to take my thoughts captive, and trust that God has a good and perfect plan!

Thanks for your prayers and for checking in on us!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Crazy Week Recap

Last week was crazy busy! This week is much more normal. Busy as usual, but not crazy busy. I'm been feeling much better this week. I was able to find out that my iron levels were not my problem. Maybe it was just a 1st trimester thing and it has passed now. I'm still tired, but not to the extreme that I had been. Also my appetite has almost returned to normal.

I had planned to go to church tonight, but Wesley pretty much insisted that I stay home. He felt like me and Bella Peace needed our rest. We were all up and out very early (for our family) today for a field trip. Honestly I thought Wesley was over-reacting a little, but it turned out that he really knew best. Not long after he took the big kids to church, I got a terrible headache. This is usually a sign that I'm overtired. I got Bella Peace to bed on time and found my favorite stop on the couch. I should have just gone on to bed. I should be in bed right now. But, I have a million things on my things to do list and blogging is one of them. So, here I am. Crazy, I know!

So I wanted to recap the last week. Last week, started with a small Monday morning shift for me at Kid's Kloset. I LOVE Kid's Kloset. It's a local consignment sale. If you work it, you get to shop first. So, Tuesday night I did my spring shopping. I didn't buy any clothes at all for Luke. We get everyday clothes for him from my cousin who passes her little boys clothes to us. (Thanks, Leigh!!) Luke still needs a couple nicer things for church, but boys really wear their clothes out. I usually can't get really good stuff for him at the consignment sales. Grace was in the opposite position. She had a couple nice dresses for church, but literally she had nothing for everyday! I got some really good deals for her! I will have to post pictures as it warms up and she gets to wear some of her items. Mary Ruth was completely set with hand-me-downs from Grace, although I could not resist a couple small, inexpensive purchases for her. Bella Peace also needed everyday clothes. By the time the everyday stuff has been through Grace and Mary Ruth it's usually not suitable for a third time around. Plus, most everything was purchased for like $3 or $4 second hand to begin with. The shopping went well. It's a lot of fun, and for me when it's over I'm usually about 98% done with my seasonal clothing shopping for the kiddos! I think I did really good. I spend an average of a little more than $4 an item which may still seem a little high but that's for high quality clothes. I also stuck to my which can be very hard to do!!

Wednesday we met up with Papa and Nana Mathis for a send off lunch. Papa flew out Wednesday evening. I've previously mentioned that he arrived safely in Haiti. He's been sending daily emails to Nana. He's doing very well, and will have quite a story to share when he returns. Although the devastations is great, he's had several neat praises to report. I've been receiving the updates from Nana, but I haven't had time to do thorough updates like I had hoped. Please continue to pray for him. If anyone is interested in hearing more details, email me and I will forward the updates I've received. I just don't want to flood people's inbox without permission. My email is jmminor@hotmail.com

Wednesday evening we went to Missions Friends. It was my first week back in quite a while. I was still feeling pretty lousy, but I made it.

Thursday was my doctor's appointment. I've already update about that.

Friday, Luke and I went on a really neat field trip for 1st graders only. Huntsville Hospital and UAH host a "Let's Pretend Hospital". It's different than most of our other trips where all the parents stay with their child. Because of space limitations, only a certain number of chaperones were allowed to accompany the children. I was fortunate to be one of those chaperones. The trip was really awesome! It was basically a mock hospital complete with everything except Labor and Delivery. It was so much fun!

While we were on the field trip, Wesley took the girls on some PR type work calls. They all had a good time as well. Wesley is a proud Daddy who enjoys showing off his kiddos!! After Luke and I finished our field trip, Wesley and I met up and swapped children. Later in the evening he took Luke to an event at our church called the Outdoor Expo. I don't really know how to describe this except to say that it's a men's outreach ministry thing, appealing to outdoorsy men. There are wild game samples, outdoor vendors and merchandise to browse through, and then there is some big name hunter or fisherman who basically shares stories and shares the gospel. I'm sure I'm not doing this event justice, but I've never actually been myself (plan to keep it that way).

After I got the girls, we ran some errands. We were planning to come home after our errands, but at the last minute we ended up crashing a friends house for dinner. It's good to have friends that you can do that with! It was great company, and I didn't have to cook!!

Saturday, Wesley worked all day. It was a beautiful day, and I was feeling pretty good. So I loaded everyone up, and we hit the road yet again. First we got Mary Ruth's hair cut. Then we went to Wesley's ball game to show off the new cut. We had been talking about and planning to get her hair cut for a while, but he did not know that I was going to do it that day. He was very surprised but in a good way. He says it really suits Mary Ruth, but that I can't get Grace's cut that short. We might need to discuss that one a little more since he's usually not home for bathes. Washing and caring for all that hair is a lot of work!!

Saturday was so nice day that we stayed at the game for a couple hours. On the way home, we stopped by the grocery store to pick up just a few things, came home, made a quick dinner, got bathes, and I put 4 tired children to bed!! Ahhhhhh!

Well I said it was a crazy busy week. In case you are wondering, yes in addition to that we still managed to do other things like school (got it in everyday!!), dishes, and even some laundry. We didn't miss any meals, although we did crash at least one and some of the ones we had were less nutritious than others. And we did managed to catch some sleep here and there. So, yeah, maybe it's not my iron levels. Maybe it is just my "minor" life!! :)

If you stay with me through this post, thanks!! Sorry to bore you with all the details, but I really want to look back and remember everything. The big and the small. The good and bad. The busy and the crazy busy! Speaking of remembering everything, Bella Peace is 22 months old today. Where has the time gone. I can't believe how big she is getting!

I'll try to get some more pictures loaded soon! I will also update about my doctor's appointment sometime tomorrow afternoon. OK, off to bed now and not even going to proof this post, hopefully not too many errors!!

Monday, March 8, 2010

12 Weeks

I've been trying to write a post for days now about my last doctor's appointment. I've started several times but have been unable to finish. I'm really struggling these days with feeling anxious. The next few weeks are going to be hard. The fact that everything has been perfect so far doesn't offer much comfort, because I never seem to have problems until around 14 weeks or later. I've had a really good past couple of days, so I think I can actually get through this this time.

My last appointment was Thursday, March 4th. Baby looks great!! Heartrate was 162 bpm. Baby measured 5.39 cm. I was 12 weeks on Thursday, and on ultrasound baby measured 12 weeks exactly!! All great news!!

Dr. Conrad and I decided a couple weeks ago that I would visit every 2 weeks for a check-up and ultrasound. So when I was leaving, I went to schedule my next appointment. I was told that the week Dr. Conrad wanted me to come back was spring break week, and he would not be on vacation every day but one. He's coming in one day to see a few patients, and I was offered an appointment on that day, March 17th. That's when everything started to get very scary for me.

Let me back up and set the stage for you. I found out on March 17, 2007 that I had miscarried our 5th child, Isaiah Ray Minor. It was our second loss. It was the Saturday before spring break week. Dr. Conrad was on his traditional spring break vacation with his family. I was a little over 15 weeks. I was anxious, because the sting and hurt of losing Samuel Thomas was still so fresh on my mind. Also Samuel's original due date was in March, so that was adding to my anxiety. Now here I am, feeling anxious again, scheduled for a 14 week appointment on the same date, also on spring break week. Dr. Conrad will be out of town most of the week. Additionally, Wesley will be out of town most of the week.

At first I accepted the appointment with a smile. But over the next 24 hours it really started to bother me. It feels like the stage is set for another great tragedy. It did occur to me that it could also be set for a great redemption. As I was sharing with a friend how I was feeling, she also said, "what if this is not the great tragedy, but the great redemption of that date." It was the same thought I had already had, so it did encourage me somewhat. But then I think of my track record and am discouraged again. It's just a scary time.

I miscarried Samuel at almost 20 weeks, but based on this growth it appeared that he probably passed away around 16 weeks. I was around the 15 week mark with both Isaiah and Joshua. We have no idea what has caused these babies to pass other than the fact that God called them home. As that time draws near, I am struggling to really submit to God's will regarding the future of this baby. In the beginning of this pregnancy, I prayed and told God that I accepted the fact that this child was His, I was at peace regardless of how long he allowed us to carry this child, and that I would be grateful for whatever He gave me. But now, I'm feeling much more selfish.

I guess these next few weeks are just going to be a test of my faith. I'm trying to be at peace, to fully trust Him, to surrender to Him. My prayer for a long time has been that I could pray, "not my will, but Yours be done", and mean it. Right now, I'm really, really struggling with that.

The last thing Dr. Conrad said to me before I left last week was if you need to come in next week, come on! So, I am going. I will be seen again this Thursday at 13 weeks. I really wanted to be seen for several reasons. I have a short trip planned myself this weekend. Wesley is going to be out of town for part of the week next week. And, I would like to see Dr. Conrad again before he goes out of town. I delivered Isaiah with the the doctor that does call for Dr. Conrad when Dr. Conrad is out of town. He was a terrific doctor, but Dr. Conrad is just so amazing. If something were to go wrong, I just really prefer to be under his medical care.

On another note, here's a couple 12 week picture of me! I have 12 week ultrasound pictures also, but I cannot post them right now. Our computer crashed week before last. (That's another post that I hope to write soon!!) Wesley got me going again on another computer, but I haven't got everything hooked up to this computer yet. So, I cannot scan my pictures yet.



Now this dress does tend to make me look a little bigger, but my belly really is growing! I'm surprised at how much I'm showing already!

Thanks for praying for me! I really covet your continued prayers over the next several weeks. I put up another more light-hearted post tonight, scroll on down and check it out!

Mary Ruth's New Hair Cut

Well if you don't go to church with us or if you missed us on Sunday, here she is!!


She LOVES it, and so do I!!! It so easy!! As Mary Ruth was looking at herself in the mirror at the salon where she got it cut, she said, "I just can't quick smiling at myself!!" She's not stopped smiling yet!!

Thanks, Ms. Carolyn!!

Before


After


She had almost 8 inches cut! Here's one last picture.


Of course it looks even cuter with a big bow on top!! I'll try to post some more pictures of her soon.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Mary Ruth's Hair Cut

Mary Ruth got a really big hair cut today!! I can't wait to show off pictures of my new little cutie pie, but I promised her that I would wait until after tomorrow. She wants to show off her new do and surprise a few people at church tomorrow. But, here's a little sneak peek, just to tease everyone!!



I am intentionally not showing where that hair ends on the ruler. :)

Friday, March 5, 2010

Papa Mathis Arrived Safely

Just wanted to let everyone know that Papa Mathis arrived saftely in Haiti yesterday. Many prayers have already been answered. He had no travel problems, and all his luggage and equipment also arrived intact.

He has sent one email to Nana Mathis since arriving in Haiti, and he called one time. However communication will be limited. It's very expensive for him to call and not easy to sent email.

Please continue to pray!! I will post updates as I have them!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Today's Appt

Sorry that I haven't posted an update about today's appointment. I've just been extremely tired all day and have rested every chance that I could. I'm 12 weeks today, and baby measured exactly 12 weeks!! All is still well!! I had blood drawn today and should know the results of my iron levels tomorrow. I will say that Dr. Conrad checked some physical indicators and said that it doesn't appear that I am anemic. He said it's more likely my age and the fact that I have 4 young ones at home. So I guess that is good and bad news. I have pictures, and I will try to post them tomorrow. Right now, I need to get to bed! Thank you so for continuing to check on me and pray for us!!