time from home

So life in the Bay has been okay. First of all, we are SO glad we are here and not in Sac at UCD b/c here we have family. The Marik's have been a huge blessing to us, we got to see a bunch of Yaya's at Susan's last night, and being the holiday season, families are traveling from home to home so we get to catch up with other's we haven't seen in a while too. We would be so lonely and bored in Sac! The hard part about the Bay is how far away it is from Redding. We miss our Stirring family up there, not to mention Elliot wanting to see his grandparents all the time.

He's doing pretty good, but he doesn't like being away from home. In as much as we can't get out of the door fast enough for him when we are headed over for him to play with Ethan and Tyler, he hates coming back to the RMH. We will say that we are going "home" for the night, and when we get in the room and he is lying in his pack'n'play he says he isn't home and he wants to go home and not go night night here. It breaks my heart. Last night, on our way back from Susan's, he asked if we were going home or to the "Donald" house. We said the Donald house and he sighed heavily in the back seat and asked why we couldn't go home. We let him know that Mommie and baby sister Arden need to be close to the doctors that are here and that after she is born and the doctor's say it's okay, we'll go home again. He sighs again and my heart breaks a bit more. He's such a trooper and definitely finds joy everyday, but we can tell that it is taking a toll on him. Poor guy.

Eric and I are okay. We seem to be on edge more here. Elliot's behavior isn't the best lately which we assume has to do with the above (and we're told with the fact that he will be three in two months), but it makes Eric really frustrated. There isn't much privacy here, so any disciplining or fighting we do is for people to hear/watch and that causes me stress too. The RMH is great and has so much to offer, but b/c of who they are offering their services to, they have a lot of rules which are taking some time for us to adjust to as well. No food or drink in the rooms (or outside the kitchen area) is a hard one for me b/c I'm suppose to eat every two hours. So I either stick with the nuts in my purse (okayed by the night super when we checked in) or I travel from the 3rd floor to the 1st floor to stand my our mini fridge and eat a stick of string cheese. We can't leave Elliot unattended - which seemed like a "duh" rule, but the first time we put him down for a nap, made sure he was asleep and then headed down stairs to check out the house, eat something, whatever, we were questioned as to where he was. We said he was upstairs sleeping and we were told that it was not okay that we were not with him yet alone on another floor. So now we sit in the 3rd floor family room for a few hours while he sleeps, and take turns going down stairs to eat or whatnot. Today Eric discovered that the key they gave us to get in and out of our room and the outside doors does not work on all the doors. So when he took Elliot to play on the play structure, he was stuck outside until someone walked by and let them in. When he asked the front desk about it, they said that was just how it worked.

Arden is doing good. She's still baking. We are told that she will be delivered by c-section now. I think my pre-term labor scare has pushed the doctors to wanting a more predictable delivery. So unless we are told otherwise tomorrow at my OB appt, Arden Jane will be born on January 19th. It's weird KNOWING the date of her birthday. I guess I knew Elliot's too since he was induced a day before he was due, but this seems different. Thanks to all my girlfriends who have had c-sections and helped me know I can do it too! Arden has an ultrasound, a stress test, and an amniotic fluid level test tomorrow and I have an OB and an appt with the diabetic counselor. Any new information, we will pass on.

Back on Online

Since I left for the Bay Area, a lot has happened. Now that I'm finally back to myself again, I thought I'd update you all on what happened. I know you've received updates from Eric, Melissa, Juliette, and Renee, and that is good, because to be honest, I don't remember much about the time I was in the hospital.

I was admitted Sunday morning for dehydration and malnutrition. Although, I was eating, my body wasn't processing anything I was eating and after so long, my body just started rejecting the food I was eating. The combination of these (plus a bit of the stomach flu from Elliot probably) sent me into early labor. Praise the Lord we were down in the Bay anyway so I could be admitted to Stanford. They gave me Magnesium Sulfate to calm my muscles and stop the labor. It worked, but man was it awful! I felt like the Sun was inside my body I was so hot. Apparently I was quite out of it as well and looked fairly close to death. Glad to be off the drugs. I was finally released from the hospital Thursday afternoon and have been lying low ever since.

I get to stay at my cousin's house with his family which has proven to be pure entertainment. Eric will show up tomorrow with Elliot (I miss my boys so much!) and we will be at this house for one more night. Then on Sunday we'll be able to get into the RMH, which is great... although when I stopped by today for a quick tour to see what Eric needs to bring and what he needs to leave behind, I was told our housing arrangements were still up in the air a bit. Get this: so we will be staying in the weekend manager's room (room for one person) which is open from Sunday to Friday. They said that if there isn't a place for us to move to by Friday, we will actually have to check out of the RHM and go on the wait list again. He said that when they do that, they obviously don't want to have to check someone out, so we become top priority... but I'm not sure how that matters since no matter everyone is waiting on a doctor to say someone can go home. We decided to go ahead with it b/c it would be a cat-free place for Eric at the very least. It wasn't until I got back to my cousin's that he looked at me and asked: "So if they don't have a place for you they will be kicking you out on Christmas?" Yeah, didn't think about that. So this year for Christmas, we are asking Santa for a room that we can STAY in (and not be kicked out) and will hold all of us. Good grief Charlie Brown!

For now, Arden and I are doing good. My weight is back in the 120's and my blood sugars seems to be more than in control. Tonight I had spaghetti and meat sauce with green beans and I tested at only 107! I'm drinking eggnog now to celebrate. :) Thanks so much to EVERYONE who has supported us through this, we continually have need, but are continually given more than we could even ask for. We are blessed to say the least. As more happens (hopefully nothing too eventful) I will keep you updated.

Please keep praying for us. Eric is finally done with school but still battling with one of his teachers over his grade. He will start his job at my cousin's pizza place at some point once he gets down here and continue to be amazing at supporting his family. Please pray for his stress levels, a place for him to vent if needed, safety on the job as he drives around, and continued support from his friends while we are away. Pray for my health: sugar levels, nutrition, weight, sleep, stress, and anything else that pops in your mind! Elliot has been doing great with his support team up in Redding. Pray for him as he transitions to a new "home", and as my appointments increase that he will still feel the attention and love he needs. As for Miss Arden, we need to be praying that she stays put! None of this early labor nonsense! Continued prayer for her heart as always. The two holes they found in her heart that she had made to alleviate some pressure are getting smaller so that points to more immediate surgery after birth instead of letting her adjust to life out of the womb for a a day or few. The doctor's are saying that I will for sure have a c-section now for predictability sake, and until then, I'll have weekly OB apts and Arden will have weekly echo's to follow her heart's progress. Our next apts are this Monday. If I find out more then, I'll let you know. Thanks once again!

more prayers

I was putting Elliot down for his nap the other day and this is what happened:
Me groaning when I get up off his bed
Elliot: mom, you're belly hurts now?
Me: no sweetie, its my whole body.
Elliot: oh, you feel better soon?
Me: well I'll feel better if you pray for my body.
Elliot: okay mom. night.
Me: sweet dreams.
I start to walk downstairs and hear elliot talking so I pause to see if he is talk to me and hear:
Elliot: Lord Jesus, i pray my moms body feel better and my moms body not hurt anymore. Amen.

It was so sweet I started to cry. He's only ever prayed before meals and sleeping times, never in response to a request. And you know what, I was able to lay down and take a nap while he napped that day. :)

1st OB at UCD

Okay, so here is the latest update. We went down to UCD Thursday for my first OB. We left early so we could tour the Ronald McDonald House and the Kiwanas House before my appt. They both offered about the same things, but the RMH was half the price (if there was a price at all). That could have settled our decision right then and there, but the KH would allow us to stay there the week before I'm induced since the doctors want me local just in case I go into labor on my own. RMH can't do this because they are a children's organization. I think we are still leaning towards the RMH though because their bedrooms were bigger and would allow for family and friends to stay a night or two on the futons in the room where as the KH had very small bedrooms.

After a quick trip to IKEA, we went to my OB appt where we met a student, a resident, and the big head honcho dr. they each asked their own questions, we heard Arden's heart again (means something so different now that we know what her heart looks like), and spoke with them about more testing. Apparently some of the tests done up here weren't done correctly or they still don't have the results. So they are waiting on Mercy to get all the results to them so they need to know what tests I need to redo and what they can use. They also said that my lightheadedness could be normal in pregnancy... that some woman do pass out (this has only happened twice), but it is usually associated with other health issues with the mom. They are scheduling some testing for me as well.

I also heard back from Arden's cardiologist and she is referring me to Standford so another team can look at the heart so the UCD team isn't the only one looking at the results. I've contacted Stanford and they are in the process of getting my files copied and faxed to them, and coordinating a time for me to come down. Once they have their own echos, all the teams working with us will look at all the results and decide where the best place will be for Arden to be born. We'll let you know more when we do.

One more thing, I just got a call from UCD and they finally got my 3 hour glucose test results and it turns out I'm a Gestational Diabetic again. Oh well. I had a few bites of cheesecake yesterday just incase. Guess that will be it for me. Please keep praying for health all around, for our finances as we are adding more trips to UCD and now to Stanford, and for our marriage. Eric and I have grown closer to each other through this and we want to make sure we are praying against any attacks that could come and try to get us at each other's throats. Thanks again to you all.

Arden's 2nd Echocardiograph

Eric and I took this trip solo. We got in an hour late b/c they were behind schedule, but we got to watch some families that were there with their kids... somehow that was encouraging. We went back into the echo room where the same tech did all the imaging and Dr. Bhat came in as well to talk with us and oversee the captured images. We were VERY impressed with her again. She came in and started talking to me and then remembered Eric's hearing and apologized, looked at him, repeated what she said and asked if he could hear her and see her in the dim lighting. She then made sure that she spoke up and faced him. When it was time to do the "UCD talk to the med student" thing, she explained to both of us that she was going to switch from bedside talk to medical talk and if we needed to, we could interrupt her and the student, but would probably be mumbling and was that okay with Eric. He said fine and we smiled at each other. Such different treatment than Mercy.

Dr. Bhat explained that in her experience there was a loose 30/30/30 rule. 30% of babies will go downhill, 30% will stay the same, and 30% will improve... we didn't talk about the last 10%. After looking at the images, she said that Arden's heart looked about the same as it did last month so she felt we were in the 30% that would remain the same. This means that I'll hopefully be able to carry Arden to term and the future procedures will be able to be planned a bit more instead of reacting to an emergency situation. Dr. Bhat said that the only difference really was the pressure building on the left side of the heart, but that the heart had created two extra holes in the atrium septum to help release some of that pressure and that this was both unexpected and good! So PTL for that.

After our echo, we met with the pediatric heart surgeon that would be working on Arden's heart. He told us what we might expect after Arden is born but that we wouldn't know for sure until she was actually born. He talked about using a bypass machine that would breath for Arden along with pumping her heart so they could watch the pressure on the left side of the heart after she was born and go into surgery with more information. It was hard to hear that she might be on a machine, but that it was to give everyone more time: doctors to gather information, Arden to grow/develop more, etc. Again, we won't know if this is needed until after she is born. One uncomfortable moment was when he said that UCD would not be equipped to deliver the baby the first week in January due to staffing problems. If I naturally go into labor during this time, I will be forced to deliver at UCSF or Stanford. We asked if we should just transfer our care down to Stanford (our choice of the two) now and they said it was our choice. Although me going into labor 2-3 weeks early probably won't happen due to my history of having to be induced with Elliot, we didn't want to walk into a hospital without them knowing who we were. So Dr. Bhat said she would share all of our information with the dr. at Stanford in her position so if the situation arises, they would know who and what they were dealing with. This made us much more comfortable!

After the appts and meetings were over, Dr. Bhat said she had also scheduled a tour of the NICU for us if we had the time! Of course we did! So we drove over to the main hospital (a dry run for January), found the maternity parking, and went to the NICU. They were great. The security, the cleanliness, the personnel. All of it was above our expectations. The hardest part of the tour was actually walking into the rooms. We thought we'd just be shown the outside of the rooms b/c we weren't parents of the children, but we were cleared by those inside before we walked in, and we were hit with a serious taste of reality. Seeing the babies with tubes, and bandages, and breathing machines was really hard for both of us. Thinking of your child in that condition and seeing what it will look like were two different things for us that suddenly were crashing together. We cried. Well I did, Eric teared up and then gave me a big hug which seemed to shut off his tears and make mine fall harder. How does that work? While on the tour we were also able to see Labor and Delivery (huge rooms!), and the PICU where Arden will go after her surgeries before going back to the NICU.

All in all, it was a good trip with lots more information and experiences that gets us one more step closer to her birth. Please keep praying as we continue forward. Prayer for the team of doctors that will be working with both Arden and me, prayer for Eric and I as we continue to rely on our faith (have no idea how we would be still be going if we didn't have Jesus), prayer for our support networks as they continue to help us and process all of this in their own ways, and prayer for little Arden that she would remain strong and continue to do things (like making more holes in her heart) that pleasantly surprise the doctors. Elliot is doing better with our trips to the doctor which is a huge answer to prayer! A family friend has stepped in and said she would walk with Elliot as we have more and more appointments, and the consistency (not to mention her amazing personality and way with Elliot) has done him wonders!

The next appt is tomorrow (thursday) for my first OB at UCD. I'm praying that we'll catch a break somewhere and by a miracle, I'll have passed my 3 hour test. If this is true, you are all invited to a cheesecake feast at our place! I'll let you all know what happens tomorrow. Thanks once again for your humbling support and prayers!!! It is the most you can do and we are honored. Thank you.

Quotes from Elliot

Tonight Elliot said two things that I thought were note worthy:

1: I was just about to brush his teeth when he burped. He smacked his lips together and said: "Mmmm, that's good french fries!"

2: We were praying and he thanked God for me and Eric and I asked him: "What about baby sister Arden?" To which he started praying again: "Lord Jesus, thank you for my... Lord Jesus, thank you for my Arden and thank you for your Arden. Jesus name, Amen!"

This is where we sit

https://www.google.com/health/ref/Hypoplastic+left+heart+syndrome

We've heard numerous stories of miracles, healing, and positive outcomes. We are praying to be included in this group. Already we've been told that our faith has encouraged others and is confronting those without faith. Praise God for this! We pray that as we journey through this, our faith and strength in Him will bring Him glory.

Thank you to you all who have partnered with us in prayer. We know we haven't been the best at returning calls or emails, so thank you for your understanding in that area as well. We are blessed to be part of your life.

Level 2 Ultrasound Monday 28th

Tomorrow (practically today) will be our level two ultrasound with UC Davis. We check-in at 2:30, our counseling appointment is at 3 and the u/s to look at the heart is at 3:30. For those of you who don't know, at our first u/s they were able to see all four chambers of the heart, but one of the chambers appeared to not be working properly. The doctor said it could be nothing and felt it wasn't necessary to send us down to Davis, but could still be something big enough that we needed this second look.
Please pray for a healthy baby with a healthy heart! My grandmother had five children, one who died at 9 months old because she was born with only two chambers to her heart. We've seen the four chambers which was the most important developmentally, but it still wouldn't be a reach for a heart defect to be genetic.
Please also pray for us as we prepare our hearts for news on either side. Eric and I feel both comfortable and confident that we could raise a child with health issues with no glitch, especially with Eric's childhood experiences and my undergrad focusing in special ed and health... but hearing that YOUR child might be affected with ______ we are assuming isn't really something school or your past can prepare you for and don't want to walk into the appointment naive.
We will let you all know what happens ASAP, in the mean time, please be praying for us, the baby, our support networks (this includes you), and the rest of this pregnancy as it seems to drag on for me.
A quick update on me: we hope for another u/s on my leg sometime in Oct or Nov to let us know what the status of the clot is. Since being covered in prayer for healing for a week straight (quite randomly actually) I haven't felt ANY pain in my leg related to the clot and it hasn't become swollen once. Praise God! We can only assume prayer worked and it's gone, which we hope the u/s will confirm as I get closer to delivery. Unfortunately, they discovered another blood clot on my right hip (clot in leg is on the left) that was apparently caused by the blood thinning injections I receive twice a day. This basically pissed me off b/c I hate the shots. They are making it so I don't clot, but we supposedly hit a vessel one time that started some small internal bleeding b/c I'm not clotting and eventually that ran out of room to bleed out and clotted by default. I now have a hard lump on my lip that is turning the various shades of bruise as the body works to absorb this clot as well. I'm up for my gestational diabetes test this month and covet your prayers that I am in the very small percent that don't get it again. I desperately don't want to add three more needles to my day!!! Other than that, we are chugging along as usual, praising God for our ups and trusting Him with our downs. Thanks to you all who have supported us along the way and to those who have been able to continue to do so. We love you each dearly for this!

Elliot's first prayer

As we were putting Elliot to bed tonight we asked if he wanted to pray and he said yes. So we all held hands and closed our eyes and waited for him to pray. Normally about 20 seconds go by of silence until he asked me or Eric to pray instead. Tonight about 10 seconds passed and Eric and I heard:

Lord Jesus, thank you for this food, pray for my dad and my mom and pray for my dad and for my mom and and and pray for night and love you, amen. :)

It was the best moment of being a mom thus far. Pure joy.

Public Service Announcement!

I thought since I know so many moms and pregos right now, this would be a great thing to pass on. Hope it helps!

Toys R Us in baby gear exchange program

The retailer will give a 20% discount to shoppers who bring in used cribs carseats and highchairs.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Toys R Us Inc. has launched a trade-in program for potentially unsafe used cribs and other baby gear, the toy giant announced Wednesday.

Between Aug. 28 and Sept. 20, all Babies R Us and Toys R Us locations nationwide will accept returns of any used cribs, car seats, bassinets, strollers, travel systems, play yards and high chairs.

In exchange, shoppers will receive 20% off the purchase of any new item in those product categories, from select manufacturers.

"We are all looking for ways to stretch our dollars, but in doing so, children's safety should not be compromised," said chief executive Jerry Storch. "[It's important to be] vigilant about potentially unsafe children's items that may still be in the marketplace."

The trade-in offer aims to educate consumers that certain baby items should not be reused or resold. The program also seeks to call attention to the fact that only 30% of recalled baby products are ever actually returned, the company said, which means that many dangerous items remain in circulation.

Beyond recalls due to safety hazards, used baby products can pose further dangers, Toys R Us noted. For example, the materials that car seats are made of can break down over time, making the product less effective in a crash.

I felt the baby kick for the first time tonight!

God is so amazing! We've been bummed that our ultrasound was moved from tomorrow to Sept 9th, over three weeks away, because I've been looking for another connection to the baby. So tonight God let both of us (the baby kicked again for Eric too) feel a kick for the first time! It just makes the joy of having a baby that much more real, instead of focusing on the pains and medical limitations I'm under because I'm pregnant. It was so great to feel s/he. I'm just so happy knowing that s/he is doing okay in there and growing as s/he should be. Praise God for his faithfulness! If you haven't read 2 Samuel 22 lately, read it. It is empowering. I keep trying to just pull out a few verses for you all, but I can't narrow it down. So go ahead and read the whole chapter. Go ahead... I'll wait.

Wasn't that amazing! Don't you feel stronger? More confident? Like you can accomplish anything? Quick, while you still feel this way, go do something you've been dreading and draw on his strength to help get you through to the other side. It's beautiful over here.

God and Sean Gafner are amazing!!

So today is our first Monday without a meal being provided to us in two weeks. Who knew food could be SUCH a blessing!! (Thanks to Becky and everyone who provided food for us!) So Eric and I are sitting around trying to wrap our minds around cooking and really don't have a clue what to make. Asides from PB&J's, we didn't have the ingredients for much. So we decided to use some of Eric's birthday to eat out. Eric said he felt like eating pizza and that actually sounded good to me, so we start looking for coupons online and in the phonebook. Suddenly, Eric gets a text from Sean asking if we want dinner! Huh?! Ah, sure! And from Sean - of course! He asked if we had any preferances and Eric just said I didn't like spicy food. About an hour later Sean shows up with two home-made PIZZAs!!!! They are by far the BEST pizza's I've ever eaten.

Isn't God crazy? Not only does he provide for our huge financial, physical, and spiritual needs and everyday meets our daily needs, but he even sees fit to meet our whimsical wants for pizza! Why do we ever worry about anything? So thanks to God for being bigger than anything and thanks to Sean for listening to him. You don't know how God has used you in our life.

It feels like chaos, somehow there's peace

"There's a wave that's crashing over me
All I can do is surrender
Whatever you're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos somehow there's peace
It's hard to surrender to what I can't see
But I'm giving in to something heavenly...
Whatever you're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but I believe
You're up to something bigger than me
Larger than life something heavenly"
-Sanctus Real, Whatever You're Doing

This seems to sum up what the last two weeks (or really what the last month) has been like for me. The month started with attacks on our marriage, then struggles with family, then finding out about a life-threatening health condition, and now struggles with insurance over the meds so I can literally stay alive. I don't know what God is doing or allowing to happen, but our faith is seriously being rocked. And although we don't have a clue as to "why us", we are daily praising God and trusting in his heavenly process.

I'm pretty sure that any of you reading this know that about two weeks ago doctors discovered a blood clot in the main artery of my left leg that starts somewhere (that's right, they aren't sure where!) above my pelvis and ends at my knee, plus extends halfway down both branches of the artery as well. Doctors said they weren't necessarily impressed by the extent of the clot but more by the fact that I was still alive with this clot. They said with the size of it and with my continued activity, I was "lucky". Praise God that he has a plan for me past today!

The last two weeks have been a roller coaster of emotion for us. One day I will be okay. Mostly upbeat but tired, and wanting to participate in life around me. Other days, like today, I am so overwhelmed with frustration, stress, fear, and grief that I just want to close the doors and windows and cry in a dark room until I fall asleep. Yet I'm clinging to Job 2:10: "Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?"

Our most recent debacle centers over our insurance. First of all, praise God we were accepted to Medi-Cal the end of June at 100%! God knows everything! Now, we've been "working" with our pharmacy to make sure that Medi-Cal will pay for the shots I need to inject myself with twice a day for the next 6 months (yuck). Apparently Medi-Cal usually only pays for about a week and my pharmacy knew that I would need a TAR (Treatment Authorization Request) since my prescription is for longer than the week! They put this together, sent it off to Medi-Cal and we called at the end of the week to check on this b/c I was going to run out of shots today. Yesterday the pharmacist said they should hear back by the end of the day and due to my situation, it shouldn't be a problem. So I took my last shot this morning and we called the pharmacy to see if we could pick up my next six shots (I know, 3 days at a time is all we get, good grief!) and they said Medi-Cal deferred the TAR b/c they were unsure if my due date was 1/09 or 1/10 and since it's deferred, I can't have any shots. Interesting. Don't you think it's common sense to assume my EDD is 1/10 if I'm PREGNANT!!! We called the on-call doctor and they were amazed at the stupid error and told me to make sure I got the shots I need from somewhere because (and this is a quote) "if you miss a shot, you could die." Awesome. Thanks for that. So we spent the morning driving from pharmacy to pharmacy to find someone who would help us and finally landed at Owens. Other pharmacies said we could buy one shot for $60 (that's $240 to get me through Monday morning!) but Owen's said they would give us the 4 shots in good faith expecting that Medi-Cal will start using their brain and approve the TAR for the shots for the rest of my pregnancy. Here's a huge shout-out to Owen's Pharmacy and their workers! I love them!

I love how God works with messy situations. Although each step of this blood clot has been really hard, he's provided every step of the way. Even today, my mom drove by the pharmacy and saw our van and stopped by to trade cars and take Elliot so we didn't have to entertain him while all of this was going on and then told us to go out to lunch together when it was done. Then a friend stopped by with some basic pantry items for us that we were running low on and handed Eric a check (without knowing what happened today) that will cover the cost of the shots we got today if we have to pay for them. God is CRAZY amazing. He knows EVERYTHING!

Anyways, I haven't been on here since all this happened b/c I just didn't know what to write since each day is so different. But I thought since today started with me crying through the morning and is ending with me still loving the Lord, it was a good day to share. Eric and I want to thank EVERYONE who has been praying for us, who has visited, called, emailed, texted, etc, brought food, encouraged and so much more that we will never be able to repay. We are both overwhelmed and humbled by your love. Thank you.

Funny baby video

I have yet to figure out how to post a video from youtube in my blog, so until someone teaches me, you'll have to keep following the links. I got this from my mom. Babies rollerskating... with attitude! I love it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQcVllWpwGs

It's too tired

I'm absolutely spent. Work has kept up until 1:30 last night and 11 tonight. I close every night this week with one day off. We just lost one employee to college down in Sac last week, and this week one employee starts a two week vacation and another is due in four weeks so this is her last week. We are down to 6 employees for the next two weeks. I just read that ALL developmental and physical disabilities that my child could have are set by the end of the 10th week and I'm dying thinking about how I've taken care of myself (or not) this last week and what the next week looks like. Please be in prayer for the health of the baby and for myself. Emotionally, I've also taken a hard hit this week. Yeah, so that sucks too. Spiritually - well, I made it to church this week for the first time in about a month or something ridiculous like that but was 1/2 hour late due to extented family drama and just found out that I can't make life group this week. I'm reading the Bible when I can, but mostly it's been Air 1's verse of the day b/c extra time I find I try to devote to sleep or eating. I just don't haven't anything left. I want to ask for help, but I don't know what you could help with. Prayer I guess. Just pray. Thanks

To the women in my life.

I was sent this video by one of the Yaya's. For those of you who don't know who the yaya's are, they are like the pigeons in the video. I thought was appropriate to pass on to all of you. Enjoy.

I am too!

Just instilled a fear of spiders - oops!

We've tried really hard to not pass on any of our "irrational" fears or food preferences to Elliot. So even though I hate onions, I feed them to him. And even though Eric hates snakes, we'll show them to him when I find them in the garden. But today I failed!

Elliot needed to go potty so we went to the toilet and he said there was an "owie" in there (owies are hair that isn't on the head - like on the ground or in his mouth). He went to reach to get it out and I told him not to take things out of the toilet but right as I was reaching for his hand he touched the "owie" and it moved across the bowl of the toilet. As I saw the spider that was bigger than a golf ball (I'M NOT KIDDING) we both screamed and jumped back. I screamed b/c it was way too big to be in my house and I think Elliot screamed b/c the sudden movement startled him and then my scream just reinforced his feelings. Poor guy.

I ended up flushing the thing, but Elliot was wary to go potty after that. He finally went, but only after I explained the spider was all gone and down the toilet like his stink and he looked inside to make sure. I felt so bad for the kid I had to confess to someone! Thanks for being here!

Gymboree Memorial Weekend Sales!

Our store has some killer sales right now! These prices apply not only to our kid/baby boy and kid/baby girl lines but to out newborn lines as well!

$4.99 and under - Winter and prior lines
$6.99 and under - Spring Transition and Spring 1 lines
$9.99 and under - Spring 2 and Easter lines

$6.99 - Tanks and knit shorts in our new Summer 1 & 2 lines
$9.99 - Woven shorts in our new Summer 1 & 2
$9.99 - ALL Swimwear

The sale ends after Monday, so make sure you come in and get it while the prices are good!

2009 Mother of the Year

Eric sent this to me. Apparently I was awarded 2009 Mother of the Year on CNN news. Check out the video. I think the baby talking and the tattoo are my favorite parts.

Most Embarrassing Moments

Anna Moseley inspired this blog. Everyone must comment back with their most embarrassing moment and we will all relish in each other's crazy stories.

Here is mine:
So I was 7 to 8 months pregnant and fairly big. I was just wasting time wandering the department stores after Christmas looking at all the discounted junk that we all seem to need in early December when I saw a massage chair. My pregnant body was all for a massage in any form so I waddled over and decided to give it a go. It was one of those portable chairs with just a back and arm rests that would sit against your wall on the floor. After I finally get it set up and get me on the floor to use it, I turn it on and it is fabulous. I'm loving this chair. I lean back, relax and close my eyes to enjoy a free post-holiday massage but suddenly realize I had relaxed a bit too much! Yes, that's right, I peed my pants! Just a small, small bit, but enough for me to take my sweatshirt off and tie it around my waist. OMG, I was so embarrassed. I immediately got up, pushed the chair in the corner, squirted all my purse-size purell on the floor and then lied to a nearby cashier that I "spilled" my purell and it needed to be mopped up. I don't think I went back into the store until after Elliot was born and I no longer had him squeezing my bladder. I was SO embarrassed!

Okay everyone... I told you mine... you tell me yours! Spill the beans!

Moving Sale

We are having an in-home moving sale before our garage sale in hopes to off load some of our bigger items. Please see our craigslist post for details. We are WAY squishy on the prices, I always list high knowing people will offer less. We'd love to cut you all deals!

http://redding.craigslist.org/fuo/1131379995.html

Verse of the day

I signed up for Air 1's verse of the day years ago and I get it about once a week - don't ask me why there is a difference - I haven't a clue! Anyways, this was the verse for the day and I thought it was pretty hard core. Read it.

"Examine yourselves to see if your faith is really genuine. Test yourselves. If you cannot tell that Jesus Christ is among you, it means you have failed the test."

2 Corinthians 13:5, NLT

Did you pass the test?

Interesting Article about Obama and Easter Sunday.

I found this article and thought how crazy it must be to be the President. He can't even sit in a pew on Easter without being picked apart! Good luck Mr. President - We'll be praying for you!

D.C. churches anxious as Obama picks Easter church

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Obama and his family are looking for a new church, but his decision represents more than merely settling on a pew.

The Obamas planned to attend Easter services Sunday, marking the president's first visit to a Washington church since taking office in January. Aides have been secretive about which church the first family will attend, citing security and the desire not to disrupt services for other worshippers. They also caution that the church Obama visits might not signal that the president has decided on a permanent place of worship.

Obama's choice of a permanent pastor is sure to draw scrutiny, given his history with a pastor in Chicago whose bombastic sermons almost destroyed Obama's presidential bid.

"On one level, I think he's just getting acclimated to DC. He's still feeling things out. Easter is a very important day in the Christian calendar; he's a Christian," said J. Kameron Carter, who teaches theology and black church studies at Duke University. "But you are the president. Whatever decision he makes is going to be analyzed with a fine-tooth comb against the backdrop of the Rev. Wright."

Obama's presidential campaign was blind-sided last year when video surfaced of his friend and pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, condemning the United States and suggesting the government was to blame for the HIV/AIDS scourge on black communities. Wright's sermons forced the then-senator to deliver two speeches: the first, a tempered defense of the pastor whose rhetoric inspired the name of Obama's memoir; later, a speech about Obama's views on race that has been viewed almost 6 million times online.

Wright followed up with a media tour that personally frustrated Obama and politically enraged his aides. Obama left Trinity United Church of Christ and has been without an official house of worship since then, instead relying on a close circle of advisers and pastors to help him in private.

"What the president should do — and I believe would do — is find a church home that's good for his family," said Jim Wallis, a progressive evangelical who speaks with White House aides several times each day and Obama frequently.

"In the post-Jeremiah world, he can't just do that," Wallis said.

But Obama has told his advisers he needs a church, and he faces choice.

He could join a historically African-American church in the nation's capital, where 55% of the population is black. It would be a nod to his family's roots on the South Side of Chicago, a signal to his black supporters who helped fuel his rapid rise and a cue to his two young daughters. It could also be a danger if a message from the pulpit comes anywhere close to Wright's heated rhetoric.

Aides say he could just as easily select an integrated church, similar to the one his visited immediately after his South Carolina Democratic primary win last year. Obama made his first appearance after the victory at an interracial and interdenominational church in Macon, Ga. The move helped him with whites concerned Obama was merely a candidate for black voters and helped him win that state's nominating contest.

Experts caution reading too much into what Obama does on Sunday and beyond to address his personal faith.

"At the end of the day, whatever way he finally goes is going to be dissected," said Carter of Duke's divinity school. "I think it gets in the way on some level."

So far, Obama hasn't really needed a church to call his own; he spent last Easter in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Christmas in Hawaii.

But for his first major Christian holiday as president, Obama is publicly marking the celebration. Obama enlisted aides, friends and advisers to scout out more than a dozen churches in the Washington area.

Since the New Year, the Obamas have only attended church services twice in Washington. Two days before the inauguration, Obama visited 19th Street Baptist Church where worshippers lined up three hours before the service.

"Just another typical Sunday," deadpanned the Rev. Derrick Harkins of 19th Street, one of the oldest historically black churches in Washington.

Aides this week said the Obamas would not be visiting 19th Street for Easter.

Obama and his family attended a private service at St. John's Church on Inauguration Day, a tradition for those about to become president. The Rev. Luis Leon welcomed the Obamas to the Episcopalian church and noted every president since James Madison has worshipped at the church at least once, "some of them kicking and screaming."

White House aides note the Obamas have spent several weekends at the presidential retreat at Camp David, where there is a chapel. Aides say there would be no way to know if the Obamas visited the chapel for private prayer with a guest pastor.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Elliot and his girlfriend in highschool

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Mamma Mia Pictures

As some of you know, I recently went to a Mamma Mia party. Here are some pictures from the night.

Below are some pictures from out last party where "old lady" was our theme. :) Enjoy!

Current sales at Gymboree

The spring transitional line and the first spring line is up to 40% off, the second spring line is 20% off. Older winter lines are up to 60%. Lots of pastel long sleeve shirts for girls around 2.99-5.99. Christmas shirts at .99 cents. Let me know if there are things you are specifically looking for and I can let you know when they go on sale.

Day Light Savings Bloopers

Okay, it happens to someone every time. Who was it this time? Who got up late, showed up late, etc. I just went to bed late forgetting I was losing an hour of sleep. That was obnoxious in the morning.

The best story I know of is the missionary from Arizona that came to help out at the church I was working for and somehow made it through school w/o knowing the rest of the country adheres to DST. He showed up an hour late to the morning service and it took us 1/2 the day to convince him that everyone actually turned their clocks forward b/c our calenders told us to and it wasn't an elaborate prank on his behalf. it was classic!

What other great DST stories are out there?

What ever happened to the Slurpee?

Tonight I had the biggest craving for a Slurpee but couldn't find one. We actually drove to a handful of places and couldn't find them. I found Freezies and other wannabees, but not the Slurpee.

You know what I'm talkin' about! The kind you would rummage through your couch to find extra change just so you could rush to the closest gas station for a cup of multi-layered refreshment. You'd find the biggest cup you could and then place the dome top on and fill it until Splurpee oozed out the top. Then you could eat it with the coolest straw/spoon thingy that was only slighty annoying when you got to the bottom and the spoon got in the way of the straw function. But they were syrupy and crunchy and they'd give you the best sugar high. It would hit the spot every time.

Now all I can find are those ridiculous Icies. Only half sweet and filled with weird foam or air so you are kinda burping for an hour after you're done - not really burping and accomplishing anything - just kinda burping. It's just not worth it.

Where did all the Slurpee's go?!?! I miss the Slurpee. If anyone knows where they still exist - contact me immediately.

Happy Birthday Elliot!

Elliot has had lots of fun celebrating his birthday this year. Just wanted to share some pictures. The first party is at my mom's house with my parents and Eric's parents.


















The second party is at Chuck E. Cheese's with the mom's group gang.
Thanks to anyone and everyone to made this year special! We love you!

Will You Marry Me?

Four years ago today Eric made a surprise visit down to Mill Valley from Redding and sent me on a scavenger hunt all around my campus that ended at Pelican Bay - a restaurant on the water in Sausalito. I walked in and was told the man at the bar was waiting for me. I looked over and saw a hairy, older Asian man drinking beer... the waiter laughed and apologized when he realized Eric had been seated and I was NOT excited to see the guy chugging beer at the bar. Eric gave me the best hug ever, bought me crab cakes, and so sweetly and nervously got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. Less than five months later we were married in beautiful Kauai. Less than a year later we found out I was pregnant. Nine months later Elliot was born and added to the joy that is our family. And next week we'll get to celebrate two years of baby kisses. What a beautiful life.

ZUMBA!

So I went to the gym today for the second time. It was a mixed experience. After finding out that the Hartley's and the Bram's are members there, it was fun to watch Nate walk out as I walked in. Looks like that is the gym of choice for the Stirringites. Perhaps we can find workout buddies. One notch on the "yea" side.

I did ZUMBA for the first time today and loved it. I didn't wear enough deodorant though, so that didn't help me make any friends while I was there. Cei la vie. (Wow, spell check didn't pick up any of those words - did I really spell that right? Cool.) Zumba was so much fun and I loved seeing women in their 60's shake it next to women in their 20's. And boy was it a workout! Who knew!?!? One more notch for "yea" with a note to bring more deodorant.

I went to see how Eric was doing and while we were talking near the kid's area, we saw Elliot escape with another child after an older kid left w/o closing the door. The supervisor didn't notice immediately but when she did she corralled the Elliot and the other child back into the room. No go for Elliot though, he saw his freedom get taken away and I'm pretty sure saw his parents too. Letting our child escape gives one notch on the "boo" side of our tally sheet for the gym.

I think working out there could be great, but we are still rather undecided and only have about a week left on our free pass. I really want a place to workout that has childcare so I can go anytime I want and this place could be free if I help in the kid's area once a week for 3 hours. The tallies equal themselves out there: free membership but more time away from the house I'd like to keep clean and the family I'd like to be with.

So tell me what you think. Membership? Time in the kid's area? No exercising and only watching tv with cookies and milk? Wanna come exercise me and we can encourage one another?... ZUMBA is a lot of fun! Give me your feedback. Thanks.

I don't even know what to title this?

Okay, what is the deal. So last I blogged, my hair was turning gray. Now I'm getting smaller too! And unfortunately I don't mean my waist or pant size... Check this out: I wear 7 1/2 size shoes, can't get my foot in a 7 and my foot swims in an 8. But lately all my shoes haven't been fitting right and when I go to the store I seem to be bouncing back and forth in the size sections because I can't find a size that consistently fits. Well I finally got my foot measured to see what in the world was going on and I'm a solid size 7! I've been a 7 1/2 all my teen/adult life! Now suddenly I'm a 7? She even said I was just over a 6 1/2 if I wanted to look at the shoes there - WHAT THE HECK?

My head is changing colors and now my feet are shrinking. I don't even want to know what is next!

I don't want to dye!

Okay, so I just finished pulling 6 (that's right six! More than one hand of fingers) gray hairs from my head. Up until now I knew exactly where the 2 gray hairs were on my head. And I know there are more than 6 today b/c I saw them, but I just decided it was better to have a gray hair than no hair.

I remember being little and looking at my grandmother and thinking her gray hair was beautiful! I remember telling her that I couldn't wait to have gray hair like her's because it was so pretty and shiny. Yeah... I can wait now. I still think gray hair is beautiful, but I don't think it's beautiful on ME! Come on! I'm 28! Can't I at least get to 30? Or 40 even?! I suppose I have to either deal with it or start dishing out the coin for hair dye. I don't want to do either. Humpht!

Okay, there is my pity party post. I'm off to mope in a dark room with no mirrors or tweezers.

The Frey "You Found Me" Discussion Blog

A friend of mine in CO is having a discussion group at his weekly Tribe of Jesus meeting about the Frey song listed above and asked for those far away to give their input to help with the discussion. I thought it was interesting and wanted to see what you all thought as well. Here is a copy of what I emailed my friend with some links to videos we discussed. Please post your responses to the lyrics, videos, or my thoughts. Thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obhdTlImFBo
I couldn't figure out how to email ToJ so I'm emailing you. I first searched for the song and the video for Lost came up. Having never watched Lost, I hated the video and was confused by the song. Everyone else seemed to love it. Here's the link to that: http://www.musicloversgroup.com/the-fray-you-found-me-video-and-lyrics/

Next I read the words below the video and it seemed to be a fairly hopeless song. I thought it was interesting how the main character is upset that God didn't find him. I've always thought of my journey with God as me chasing after him, and following him... so to think of someone being upset that God didn't follow them was interesting - eye opening. I thought that the girl he talked about was placed in God's role in his life and that is why he was so hopeless... to believe that she was the only one to know him and really be everything for him leaves him "lost and insecure" when she is gone. From a Xn perspective, it was nice to think that my identity was placed in something or I should say someone bigger. That thought right there made me want to evangelize (if you will) the neighborhood: "There is something bigger, permanent, all-encompassing, and cannot let you down people!!!"

I toyed with what the person was "surrounded" with for a while. I went from despair, to the Holy Spirit, to blood. Blood made me listen to the song a few more times and made me think that the person died and that is why they "found" God. This made sense with the "just a little too late" part.

Finally, I went to comment back to you and realized I could see another video of the song that was probably the music video you were talking about and not the Lost trailer I found.
I liked this video much better. It was obviously a take on the City Of Angels movie with the band members being the angels. On one hand I liked the irony of God's hosts being all around the person who died in the video and they just missed God's presence because (as I believe anyway) God is always here, regardless of if he is recognized by others. But I thought the band members played the angels with a nonchalant attitude, as if God was around, but didn't care. This, I think, is a very real assumption many people have. If they can allow a god in their reality, I think many feel s/he just doesn't care about us.

I finally read some comments on the song from other youtube users and was intrigued by the sense of power people felt when they belted this song out in the shower. I couldn't decided if misery loved company or if they felt justified in their anger because others had spent time waiting to hear from God and didn't... this justification meant their pain was not a repercussion from their prior action but God's fault for not lighting a burning bush in their apartment.

Overall, I think this song is mostly about expectations and the disappointment felt when these are not met. Interesting how those who do not believe in God or a god at all still blame God when their expectations in life are not met. Lots more thoughts, but hard to get them out when I'm not in a discussion and only writing solo. :)