<2%

That is our risk of miscarriage now at this point. Less than 2%! Praise the Lord! We had our final appointment with our specialist yesterday and our first official OB appointment today. Everything looked great! The baby was very active and even had the hiccups yesterday. We got to see 5 perfect little fingers on one hand (the other hand was not in a spot where we could see it). The blood in the uterus seems to be absorbing which is exactly what the doctor was hoping for. Everything is going so well in fact that I have been permitted to start vacuuming again! WAAAAAHHHHH! Well it was a nice 6 week ride anyways! Matthew has been amazing. He works all week long and then would have to come home and do a lot of my jobs! He's a trooper! But, it's back to the grindstone for me!

Abbey and Brady had the day off from school and since my dr. appointment was smack in the middle of the day, they were invited to spend the night at Mimmy's house and went to the playground today. After my appointment was over we picked up the kids and took them to the Toy Story double feature! Can I just say I love those movies. I think they are by far the best pixar movies EVA! The story lines are just so much fun...I never get tired of watching them. Plus it was in 3D which was pretty cool. It was a long day/evening but we're back at home and I am fixin to head to bed. The insides of my eyelids are calling my name!

Much to cram...

I know it's been a looooonnnnngggg time since I've blogged. I've been having to save what little mental capacity I have for the kids' homework. As far as Baby Johnson goes, everything is still going well (aside from the complete lack of energy). We had another appointment today with our specialist. I still have some blood in the uterus and although it is not currently causing any harm to the baby, there is some concern that the blood could cause the uterus to become irritated and start contracting. So for now, I am still on very limited activity. My doctor is taking me off the baby aspirin therapy and reducing the progesterone to only once a day! Praise the Lord! I will go in one more time next week to see him and then he will officially release me to my OB here in town. That will definitely be a bittersweet day. On the one hand, it means I'm "out of the woods" and we can actually breathe a sigh of relief and start really enjoying this blessing. On the other hand, it means no more weekly sonograms that provide reassurance that all is going well.

The kids are really getting excited about their future sibling. Brady has been praying for a boy, but Abbey says she is happy with either a brother or a sister. Secretly I think she is just selfish enough to know that if this baby is a boy then she will remain the "princess" of the family. And if the baby is a girl, then she will thrilled because that means she will have a brother AND a sister.

We did, however, have a minor meltdown last night with her. Is is possible to have sibling rivalry with a child who isn't even born yet??? The way the house is set up now, the baby's room will more than likely be what used to be our guest bedroom, which has a bathroom next to it. Abbey and Brady's room share a separate bathroom. According to Diva Abbey, it's not fair that the baby is going to have it's own bathroom. So she is proposing that since she is the oldest, she should have her own bathroom. BUT, she's not willing to give up her room. She'd rather walk out of her bedroom into the hallway through the family room into another hallway and then into the "3rd bathroom" just to have her "own" bathroom! Seriously, where does this kid come up with these things? So we had to have the "sense of entitlement...blah blah blah, ungrateful heart...blah blah blah" talk with her. And then we further explained that neither one of them was going to get their own bathroom until they prove they can keep one clean!

Brady has decided that he WILL change diapers if the baby is a boy but not if it's a girl. Brady is also addicted to the "Froggy" book series. And has decided that if we have a girl, then he wants to name her Pollywogilina. I have officially removed him and Matthew from the naming committee.

Please continue to pray that we will make it safely into the second trimester and that all will go well throughout the rest of the pregnancy. Our official due date is May 16, 2010. May is a very busy month for birthdays and anniversaries so I'm sure we will hit someone's important day.

Are you positive?

Apparently I am!

Over labor day weekend we were surprised with the wonderful news that we are expecting again! Some of you are aware of the struggles we have had over the past few years, so we pray that you all will continue to pray for a healthy pregnancy. The unofficial due date is May 17th. We have already had two doctors appointments and everything seems to be growing exactly the way it should. Praise the Lord. Next week I will go in for a dating ultrasound, but I'm pretty sure the due date wont change by much.

Because of our history of miscarriages, I have to be especially careful out in public because I can not take the flu shot (at least not in the first trimester, maybe later on though). So if I don't shake hands or hug at church or if you see me using hand sanitizer after touching you, please do not be offended!

Thank you again for all your prayers over the next few months.

Dear Mr. Caller ID...

Where have you been all my life. I know, I know, we have run in the same circles for many years, but I have always been intimidated by you. To me, it seemed the price of our friendship was never worth the investment. But oh, how you have proved me wrong. In just the few short days since we have known one another, you have proven your friendship! You have protected me from those troublesome people that never fail to interrupt either dinner time or homework time. If only you were able to protect me from the irritating All State person that called last week to ask me all kinds of questions regarding my auto insurance. Did she forget that I had called numerous companies (including hers) to get prices on auto insurance? And did she forget that she was ridiculously overpriced? So why must she call me while I'm trying to fix dinner for my family to give me information that I already had!

Now, I know you want me to also appreciate the friendship of Miss Call Waiting. I, however, don't fully understand her. I feel it is awfully presumptuous of her to assume that she can interrupt me when I am having a perfectly pleasant conversation with someone to try to entice me with other friends! I do believe I can make room in my life to accept her as a friend, however, she must be fully aware of the boundaries of our relationship. She must understand, that I will only engage in this frivolity under extreme and dire circumstances.

Again, Mr. Caller ID I would like to thank you for coming into our lives. I hope that I will someday be able to return the kindness you have shown me and that this will be a long lasting friendship!

Sincerely yours,

The Happy Customer

Mean Girls!

We have managed to survive 4 years, 1 week and 2 days of school before really having to deal with a "Mean Girl"! I've never quite understood the concept of being mean. In my opinion it is too dang hard to be mean. Oh sure, I've been in a bad mood more frequently than I would care to admit. And I'm sure I've snapped at someone when it was totally unnecessary. But to be in that continuous state of nastiness is just too draining. Where do people find the energy to behave in such a way?

I know kids can be mean and cruel. And I especially know that life is all about dealing with difficult people. So it is important for my kids to learn that early on. I'd say 90% of what they tell me about so-n-so hurting their feelings, I respond with an "oh, just ignore them. They're just trying to make you mad!" But then there is the few times that my radar goes up and the "mom gloves" come off. There have been way too many incidents that have occurred in our area lately that have physically made me nauseous just thinking about. I don't EVER want my kids to think that I'm not willing to stick up for them and fight for them. I want them to feel like they can come talk to me about a problem they're having with someone and together we can work out a solution.

Last night I told Abbey she needs to stand up to this girl. This girl needs to know that Abbey isn't going to put up with any of her junk! Abbey of course was concerned that she would get in trouble. But I told her that the teacher was aware of the situation and said it was OK for Abbey to speak up! So we decided to work on some come-backs that Abbey could use. Here are the two best ones:

"So-n-So, if you're going to be rude like that, then go tell it to the corner, cuz that's the only place that's going to listen to you!"

"So-n-So, I don't like you well enough to miss you if you weren't here!"

I'm am now asking all of my loyal readers out there to channel some mean girl! Give me some good comments that I can give to Abbey to use. Please remember that these are 4th graders and I DO NOT condone violence or profanity...even though I would love to give this child a pop in the face!

Last year for single digits...

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Nine years old! Nine years ago this day, you came into our life. You are no longer my little girl anymore. You like to talk on the phone and "shop" with friends. You like listening to music and get goo-goo over cute boys. I think we're in big trouble once the teenage years hit! You enjoy school and all your teachers love you. You are friendly with everyone, but you have one close friend at school, Laura. Daddy and I chuckle over your friendship because you two are polar opposites. You are still 100% girlie girl. There isn't enough pink princess/diva things in the world. If you could buy every baby doll and accessory ever produced you would still probably want more. You have enjoyed your new baby cousins this year. You always want to be there to feed and change them whenever possible.

I thank the Lord for you daily. I look forward to many more years of teaching and loving you. Happy Ninth Birthday, Doodlebug!

Look what we got on Sunday...

We had such a good time babysitting for Britt on Sunday night while his Momma and Daddy went out on a date. The kids of course had a blast entertaining him. I think they plum wore little man out! He was so tired at 9pm he didn't even drink his milk!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The kids were playing dodge ball with his "tag ball"! Brady of course was being his usual goofy and loud self and Britt loved it!