We Survived Our First Contraction!

Okay, so it was a fake contraction during our Lamaze class that we started this past Monday, and there really was not pain, but we did survive it -- breathing in steady rhythm all along. :)

We started Lamaze, and we are taking this really awesome class call "Wonderfully Made Lamaze" which has a God-centered focus, weaving scripture and God truths throughout ... it is really great. The teacher is fabulous, and I highly recommend this course!! We watched a video on the first night of class that again reminded me of how amazing God, and how intricately He designed the female body so that it bear children ... there are soooo many amazing things that happen in our bodies during pregnancy ... Wow! I sit amazed at God right now ...

We have had two of our four sessions and have had a lot of fun. We are lucky because our friends, Mike and Heather Huber, who are expecting their first child (a boy) in August, are also in the class. I think the class is good for Tim and me so that we can know a little bit more of what to expect, and Tim is able to see his role a bit better.

We had our doctor's appointment last Friday ... now we are on the every-two-weeks schedule (yikes!) which means that I already have to go again next week. Everything sounded and looked good, and Linda said that Baby Liby was about 2.5 pounds -- Baby sure is getting bigger! She even felt Baby's head! I heard Baby's heartbeat again ... what a beautiful sound! The only thing is that I got so wrapped up in hearing it that I forgot to ask what the bpm was ... nuts! :)

The progress that Tim made on the house this past week (he took a week of vacation to work on the house) was AWESOME (let's just be honest ... my husband is AWESOME!). We have dry-wall up along the walls and in the hall, so we officially have two rooms again (Mike Huber was able to come and help him hang most of the dry-wall on Thursday ... I hope Mike realizes what a blessing he was to do that with Tim!!). He got some of the insulation in, and is going to blow in the rest of the insulation this weekend. He got the electricity all settled. He got studs up in that attic for knee-walls (our dream is that one day, that will be usable space). He replaced a door in the hallway. On Friday, Grammy Rose and I took off some time from work and we helped him. While he was finishing dry-walling/insulation, we were peeling wallpaper off of the nursery room walls. Grampy Fred suggested (via phone) that we go and buy a wallpaper steamer and that was a great recommendation -- it went SO MUCH faster after we got that. Grammy and I also hammered out nails from all of the trim ... after we worked all day, my feet became more swollen then ever! It was kind-of funny, but it did take two days for them to go back to semi-normal ... at least I can see my veins again!

What's left ... well, Tim needs to finish the insulation, then we are going to have someone come in a do all of the mudding/plaster repair. Tim needs to finish working on the windows (they needed much repair). We need to remove paint from all of the trim, build out the closet spaces, paint and then clean everything and we are ready to move into those rooms ... YEAH!! Then we can start on the living room, dining room and guest room (we are going to wait on the kitchen and bathroom as those are going to be complete remodels) ... any volunteers to help? Let us know! :)

As far as Grampy Fred is concerned, there is not going to be a major internal surgery to fix his breaks. They are going to allow the bones to heal naturally, using the old-fashioned remedy: a cast. There was still to much skin swelling/damage for the doctor to be comfortable with the surgery. So, next Friday, Grampy Fred goes back to Bronson for a quick, minor surgery to remove the external fixature and to place the cast on. Get this, the cast is going to go from mid-thigh all the way to his toes -- talk about large! He does get to pick out what color he wants ... Grammy Rose and I are recommending glow-in-the-dark ... that way, we can't lose him! :) I am sure he will chose a much more practical color like blue. He will remain at the rehabilitation center in Battle Creek until next Friday morning when he goes to Bronson. It has been four weeks today since he was last home, so I think he is very anxious to get back there!

Before I sign off for the day, I have to share this story with you because God is good -- very good -- to us! Yesterday, we were told that Grampy Fred was going to have to come home today (insurance, I guess, deemed that his time at the rehabilitation center had been enough; at the end of the day, the insurance company came back and told us that he was going to be allowed to stay there until his surgery next Friday -- Praise God!). Anyway, the option of Grampy coming home sent Grammy Rose into a scramble to make arrangements ... which she did without hesitation. One of those arrangements involved getting someone to come in for home care. The least expensive quote she had was for $13.50/hour ... times that by 4 hours/day for 5 days a week ... well, that is just a good amount of money. The problem ... insurance won't cover home care ... that means it all has to come out-of-pocket. That is a lot of extra money to come up with if you aren't planning for it. After talking about this with Grammy, I just prayed that God would provide and that he would make this transition worry-free. A little bit later, Grammy called me and shared with me how God answered my prayer. You see, one of the most giving couples I know called her and told her that they figured things money-wise were probably getting a little bit tight, and they were wanting to send my parents some money ... enough money to cover home care for at least a couple of weeks! Now, they were not asked, not even approached, but God had been working in them to provide a smooth transition exactly when the time was right ... that is the God that I love. That is the God that I serve. He is a good God, a God that takes care of all of our needs ... Matthew 6:25 - 34 tells us:

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

God proved Himself (again) to me yesterday, and the only thing that I can do when I think of that story is praise Him ... for He is good.

Katie