Discipline, Discipline, Discipline

So God has really been speaking to me about discipline lately. I just need to bring more order and discipline into my life in order to accomplish the things I want to accomplish and really live the life that I know God has planned for me. I'm entering into leadership at my church, and I am so excited about that. I have been in school of leaders for about a year, and it's coming time for me to start a cell group. I am so excited about this, and I know that being in leadership will bring so many blessings to my life. But, I know God is still working on me, and asking me to use my time wisely and to live my life with purpose. So where is this all leading? Well, tonight I met with my cell group leader and we scheduled out my whole day, from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep. Now it's up to me to follow it! I am actually really excited about it, and look forward to the challenge of following it. I know following this schedule will not only make me more disciplined, but it will make me happier, too!
Tomorrow we are going to a G12 conference in Sacramento and I am so excited about it!! I have never been to a G12 conference before and I just can't wait. We're going Friday night, and then driving back, and going back Saturday for the day. We could stay overnight in a hotel, but we just don't want to spend the money right now. I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures and good stuff to report after this weekend.
In other important news, Mark has been cleared to go back to work. His back is basically better, and he's been working the last two days. I miss him, but it was hard to get ANYTHING done with him home. And...I like his paycheck a lot more than the worker's comp check..LOL. What can I say?

Officially Half Way There!!

Let's see if I can remember everything that has been happening lately....Mark's still off from work, which has completely thrown off any schedule I may have had. He has a doctor's appointment tomorrow, so he may be going to work very soon. It's just hard to know with his injury. It's doesn't bother him at all when he's taking it easy, but the minute he starts doing something physical, it twinges and is sore. Who knows what the doctor will say? His job is extremely physical, too. Also, I went to the Midwives last Tuesday, and it was a quick and easy appointment. Baby is growing great, heartbeat sounds good and once again, the midwife commented on how active Baby is. Every time I have gotten an ultrasound or they have listened to the heartbeat, they talk about how the baby is moving so much. We even call Baby "Jumper" sometimes because during the ultrasound at 12 weeks, the baby literally jumped from place to place. And, I have been feeling the baby for about a month now. For the first two weeks, I felt tiny little flutters and bubbles every couple of days. In the past week, They have become much stronger and I swear I am feeling the baby do back flips or something. My stomach feels like I am on a roller coaster and there's just something crazy in there. At first, it made me feel a little sick. Haha. Now, I am getting used to it, and I love feeling it. If Baby keeps up all this activity, it looks like I'll be feeling it A LOT! And to answer the question of everyone's mind: no, I don't know what we're having yet! I had an ultrasound at 12 weeks to determine the EDD, and it showed I had marginal placenta previa. Because of that, the midwives told me I would have another ultrasound at 26-28 weeks to check on that. For some reason, I thought I would still have an ultrasound around 2o weeks. No such luck. So, it looks like I have about another 2 months to wait until I know if we're having a boy or a girl. It is a little frustrating to know that we could find out now if we looked, but I guess God is just working on my patience. Sigh. Also, at my last appointment , my midwife congratulated me on my great weight gain (or lack thereof). I have only gained four pounds, which is perfect considering I was told to only gain 15-20. Yea! Sorry, I had to toot my own horn a little bit. I feel generally very good, but my nausea has somehow returned. Yuck! But, it is not as bad as before, and it is random, not every day ALL DAY like the first trimester. Also, my twin brother, whom I love so much, is coming home tomorrow from Texas. He has been gone for six weeks helping my sister and her family with their landscaping business and the new baby. I can't wait to see him. Besides all this, Mark and I have been enjoying lots and lots of time together, spending time with our friends, sleeping in together and doing spontaneous things that will be much harder after baby comes. Life is so good!

These last couple of days have been great. I just love having Mark around. He is the best husband EVER. I know I always go on and on about him, but really I am so incredibly blessed. We just have such an amazing marriage. He is so much fun, and loves me so much. He always calls me "Little Girl" (is that creepy?) and makes me feel so safe and comfortable. He has been talking to my the baby through my belly all the time and always starts out by saying "Hi Baby. This is your daddy. I love you very, very much." It just makes me melt! So, last night, I had the most amazing dream. I dream every night, and sometimes they are just plain crazy. But, last night, God totally gave me a dream that I will, never, ever forget. So, my dream started out with my whole church setting up a free health clinic in San Francisco. We all went to work there, and there were tons of pregnant woman coming to give birth there and other people just getting treatment. One person was this teenage boy who seemed to be mentally impaired and physically handicapped. He was wearing a a shirt with bold black and white stripes and he had black Emo hair. And no one was really paying attention to him, which bothered me. So, then, I watched him leave. Then, myself and about 10 other people were in a supply room, and and there was this door in there. Suddenly, light appeared all around the door, and I got all nervous because I knew something spiritual and important was happening. Then, the door opened, and the teenage boy walked out. Everyone kinda sighed with disappointment, and then I said "Wait. This isn't just a boy. I know it!" and then there was another flash of light, and Jesus was standing where the boy stood. I was so excited!! And everyone was on their knees and worshipping and stuff and I remember thinking "He is here for me! I have to get what I need from him before he leaves!!" And I walked right up to him and then I was so overwhelmed I couldn't speak. And I remember thinking "How should I talk to Jesus?" And then I decided to tell him "I'm with child" (which makes me laugh because I would never use that phrase in real life.) And then Jesus looked up and smiled and although he didn't physically speak, I remember hearing someone saying "Whatever you ask of me, I will give freely to you." And I told Jesus "I just want my child to be healthy, perfect and to be a strong man or woman of God." And then Jesus smiled again, put both his hands on my belly and closed his eyes. Then he gave me a look I will never forget. It was so full of peace and confidence and...so beyond that. And then he walked away. I woke up feeling better that I have felt in so long. Any fears, doubts or worries about this baby totally melted away. I feel so strongly about this dream. This baby is already powerfully blessed and completely in Jesus' s hands. I woke Mark up and told him and he cried. It was just so powerful. I know that God sent me this dream for a reason. I feel so at peace about my pregnancy now. And I am so looking forward to meeting this little baby!! So, that is that most important thing to happen in the last couple days. Other notable things include, having out with Morgan and her fam on Thursday night, and then meeting up with Allison, Ani, Jenna and other assorted folks later that night. We hung out at Thursday night market and had a great time catching up. Also, Mark and I have been having devotional together (reading the Bible) and it has been so great. He such a good leader and I get so much out of our time together in the Word. Awesome! So, life has been good. And I have my next midwives appointment on Tuesday and I am really hoping that we schedule my next ultrasound that day. And I can't wait to hear Baby's heartbeat again, that's my favorite part!

Story Hour and other stuff...

So, Mark went to the doctor yesterday, and the doctor put him on two more weeks of worker's comp, which means two more weeks with my hubby. I am being so spoiled by this. I get to wake up with him everyday, and we get to spend lots and lots of time together. I really want us to be more strategic about these upcoming two weeks, and spend time in fellowship with lots of our friends, and really use this time to further our relationship with God. It's just so easy to hang out alone, because we're best friends and he's basically my favorite person ever. I did hang out with almost all the ladies in my cell group (although Mark came, too!) today at Barnes and Nobles story hour. I go probably about once a month with Morgan, and it is always fun to see the kids playing and interacting. After story time was over, we spent a long time trying to figure out where we could all go to lunch (we had 8 adults and 8 kids, all 3 and under). It is really hard to have a group like that and not be an annoyance to everyone else in the restaurant. We had all tried to go to Morning Thunder about a month ago, and it was really stressful and definitely not something we wanted to do again. So, we all went to La Comida. Besides some stares and some playful joking from the owner, nobody seemed bothered by us at all. I can't wait for the summer, when we can all go on picnics and avoid restaurants all together. Does anybody have any good suggestions for dining with a group like that? Anyways, I have been working for my dad these past two days, and as usual, I have been doing something completely random. My dad owns a floor covering business and he also has a side hobby/business of rebuilding antique cars. He buys and sells lots of antique parts, and he hired me to polish this crazy spotlight thing from like 1915. It was actually pretty big, and had lots of parts and was apparently very pricey. It was all brass, and I spent about 12 hours polishing it. Ahhhh! It was tedious, but not a bad job. He's starting his Ebay business soon, which I will basically be running. I'm really excited about this because I'll be able to do almost all the work from home. Perfect for now, and after the baby comes, too! Mark and I have been debating about moving, and we having been praying, trying to figure out God's plan for us. We live in a one bedroom, very small house that we don't pay rent for. It is a super sweet deal, but the place is seriously small. We were going to move to a two bedroom apartment, but with our pets, we could only find one apartment complex that we could afford and accepted pets. And it looked like a prison. So, we decided we're just going to stay here, at least until the baby is like six months old. Then, we'll re-evaluate things. When we told my dad we are going to stay here, he offered to help us out financially to fix up our house...and soon!! He's going to give enough enough Pergo to do our living room and bedroom, which makes me so excited. It is just so easy to clean Pergo floors! No more vacuuming for me! And, we're going to totally redo our kitchen and get a new roof. And fix some other stuff around the house. I am so, so happy! I'll keep everyone updated with pictures.

Easter

Easter was a great day. I wore my new dress from Old Navy, which was really cute. Church was packed, and there were so many kids there!! It was great to see so many people come to service and hear the message. After service, we went over to my parent's house and I made scalloped potatoes to eat with our turkey. It was so yummy, even though the house seemed so empty. All of my siblings were gone, so it was just Mark and I and my parents. It was the first holiday this has happened. I missed them all so much, although I did talk to Michelle and Alan on the phone. In a weird way, it was like fulfilling my childhood fantasy of being an only child and getting all the attention from my parents on a holiday. We talked a lot about the baby and it is so awesome to see how excited they both are. I know they are both going to be great grandparents! I can't wait to find out if I'm having a boy or a girl!! I want to know NOW! But, I am trying not to get inpatient, because it won't help anything, and who knows if baby will even cooperate when we try to find out. On Saturday, we celebrated Easter with Mark's family by having a picnic in Bidwell Park, which was so nice!!! Mark's youngest cousins were so adorable looking for eggs, and I loved watching them. They are so cute!! It was a good weekend, and I really enjoyed hanging out with our families. It makes me so excited to think about holidays in the future, when our baby will be here with us! It is so funny to be showing, finally. Some clothes really accentuate it, like dresses. I like wearing stuff like that, because then no one doubts if I am pregnant or just big. That's my current paranoia. I really try not to do this, but I am always asking Mark "Do I look pregnant or fat?" and of course, he always answers "pregnant". Still, I love being in the 2nd trimester. I feel like this pregnancy is sailing by, although I have a feeling it might slow down when it hits, say, June.

I'm not dead!!!

Sorry, sorry, sorry. One of things that really annoys me in life is when a regular blogger doesn't blog for say...three weeks! I hate it! So, I am sorry to put anyone else through that, and I promise to return to my regular blogging. I just have not been into the computer at all lately. I have been checking into Myspace like once a week at the most, and I haven't been reading blogs, either. For the first week, I was way busy and super tired. So, I let blogging fall off my list of priorities. And then, Mark hurt his back at work and has been home for two weeks. This has completely changed everything and we have spent so much time together lately. But then, I got sick. I got a nasty cold from Mark, which for some reason made me puke as well. And then, my cold turned into infections in both of my eyes!! I have never had anything happen to my eyes, not even itchy eyes from allergies or even pinkeye as a kid. And let me tell, it is SOOOO not fun!! It started out with itchy eyes and long strands of mucus coming from my right eye (sorry, that was really gross). I went right to the doctor after that, and that was an experience by itself. My doctor barely spoke English, and since it was late, they were practically shoving us out of there. And it was one of only a couple walk-in clinics in town that accept medi-cal. So, I'll let you just picture how efficient this place is. Anyways, I got prescriptions for two antibiotics and left there hoping the worst was behind me. Boy, was I wrong. That night, it spread to the left eye as well, and I woke up four or five time that night because my eyelids were glued completely shut and it was driving me crazy. The next day, my eyes were BRIGHT red, swollen, and so uncomfortable. They were leaking some weird fluid all day and my eyelashes kept sticking together. The next day, they were much less swollen and stayed pretty dry, but I could not see stand any light in my eyes. Sensitive isn't even the word for it. I had to stay in the house all day, with all the blinds drawn, the lights off AND I wore sunglasses! Mark had to use a flashlight all night, and when he turned on the TV, I made him turn the brightness down so much, you could barely tell what we were watching. Ha ha. At least it didn't hurt my eyes. By yesterday, my eyes had pretty much returned to normal, except that the eye drops have made my vision blurry, and I'm still sensitive to the light (I wear sunglasses everywhere!) But, I cannot see anything!! I can't read street signs or see any details from far away. I hope this goes away after I stop using the drops. Okay, here's a list of everything I can remember from the last 2 1/2 weeks:

1. Mark hurt his back at work and has been on workman's comp for two weeks. He's also been at physical therapy 3 times a week.



2. Mark's Dad visited for the weekend. It was nice to spend some time with him, especially since Mark hadn't seen him since the wedding in July.
   


3. I had my second Midwife appt. I got my blood work back, and everything looked really, really good. Apparently I have crazy high levels of iron, higher than she said she could expect in a non pregnant, really healthy woman. Thank you, I am proud of this. Baby's heartbeat was 150 (or was it 155?) bpm, and it was really strong. Baby also moved around a lot while she was trying to find it, and she said that's a good sign. WE have not scheduled the "big" ultrasound yet, so i don't know when we'll get a chance to find out the baby's gender. I do have another midwife's appointment on the 17th, and I am sure it will be scheduled then, since I will be 20 weeks! So, hopefully in the next month or so, we'll know if we are having a boy or a girl! But for now it's enough knowing that Baby and I are healthy, strong and LOVING being in my second trimester. I cannot believe I am almost 18 weeks! Ahhh. It is going by so fast, I love it. And, I am definitely showing. And, yes, I will finally share a picture with you.


4. My sister Sarah (not the one who had a baby) and her husband, Russ and their Yorkie, Jack McGee, came and spent a few days hanging out with the fam. Very, very fun as usual. I wish they lived closer, we love hanging out with them.
   
5. My friend Kelly, and her husband, Nelson, came to Chico for their spring break and we hung out one day and it was awesome. Kelly and I have known each other since 2nd grade, and we were in each other weddings (which were 2 weeks apart!). She lives in Portland, so we don't get to see each other very much. This was a great treat, even though it was the day before I came down with my cold, and it was hard for me to keep going through our packed schedule.


6. I spent a Saturday shopping in Roseville with lots of awesome women from church. We had an amazing time, but, boy can these ladies shop!!! We left at 8:00 in the morning, and got back at...9:30 pm. I was, so, so exhausted and it was really too much for me. Morgan and I were both dragging our feet and trying really hard to stay upbeat. The next day, I woke up puking and couldn't even make it through worship at church. The day after that, I developed my eye infections. But, the shopping was fun and it was a good day spent in fellowship.
   
   

That's all I can remember right now. That's enough for the past couple of weeks, though, right? Here's some recent pictures to give you an even better idea of what's been happening. Except half of them are of the dog. Sorry. I'm slightly obsessed. At least this means I'll be a good mommy picture-taker, too. And yes, I also included a much asked for belly shot. It's of the "I'm not wearing any make-up and I look bedraggled-and-I feel really fat" variety. But, anyways...

Th last one is of Mark when I flung open the shower curtain to take a surprise picture of him showering. So funny!