First Day in Pool

The kids and I (Hudson is in the Gulf fishing) headed to the pool today to enjoy the wonderful weather. Thankfully, the water wasn't as cold as I thought it would be and we spent a good 2 1/2 hrs in the pool. Maxwell wore himself out jumping in and out of the pool...Olivia swam all over the place and was exhausted as well. But it was Maxwell that came home and crashed!

We are headed down to Warner Robins tomorrow and then meeting Hudson in Orlando for our week at Disneyworld with my sister and her family. The kids are so excited! Maxwell was too young to remember his first trip, he's definitely looking forward to all of the rides. This will be Olivia's third trip and she's excited that she's finally tall enough to ride the Rockin' Rollercoaster and brave enough to ride the Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM).

Great Friends

Saturday was a day of pampering for this pregnant lady. The day started with Maxwell's soccer team pool party (sorry, no pics, I forgot my camera). He had a lot of fun sliding and jumping and playing with his friends. Afterwards, around 3p, Hudson very mysteriously got me in the car and then dropped me off at my favorite spot, Zen Massage. I had a wonderful 1 hr pregnancy massage; it was sooo relaxing. When I got home Hudson told me to be ready to go eat at 5:30 and not to ask any questions. So I assumed he had gotten a babysitter and we were going to dinner. Well 5:30 rolls around and the "babysitters" show up. Only they weren't my babysitters, it was a group of my friends that had come to kidnap me for the night! Woohooo, girl's night out! They took me to a restaurant that I had never been to before, The Sundried Tomato. YUMMY!!! They arranged a baby shower as well, little Abigail got some really sweet things. Unfortunately, since this was a surprise, I was completely unprepared and didn't have my camera...I'll upload some pictures as soon as I get some. I will definitely remember my camera for my church shower on June 22nd. :)

It's been such a blessing to me and my family to have made such thoughtful and generous friends since moving here one year ago. I know that God's hand was, without a doubt, in our decision to move to the exact area that we did. Thanks to my friends for my wonderful massage, fabulous dinner and baby gifts, you're all very special to me!

New Bike

This morning at school, Olivia was given a new bicycle as a reward for having one of the highest Accelerated Reader point totals in her entire school (K-5). (Accelerated Reader is a reading program that involves reading a chapter book and then taking a computerized comprehension test, points are awarded for the difficulty of the book and the score on the test.) It was a complete surprise to Olivia. She was presented the bike during the school's daily E-TV program (the news program they broadcast each morning to the classrooms). She was really excited!

Our Big Reader

I'm not usually one to brag on my kids (except to grandparents) but Olivia has worked so hard this school year and had such a wonderful 2nd grade. Not only did she make honor roll both semesters, but she also placed 3rd school-wide (K-5th) for the most Accelerated Reader points (258.3 pts). Her passion for reading is amazing, she absolutely loves it!

Busy Weekend

This past weekend we had four soccer games and Olivia's choir performance of "Life School Musical" at church. Soccer has been so much fun, the kids have really enjoyed it and can't wait to play next year. Below are video clips of Olivia scoring a goal (excuse my cheering please) and her little duet during the choir performance.

Field Day 2008

Olivia had her Field Day at school today and had a lot of fun. Her class has been practicing for it for a while and did a great job! Thankfully, the rain was all gone and they were able to enjoy their races.

Maxwell's Preschool Graduation

It's hard to believe that Maxwell's preschool years are over. Yesterday he celebrated his graduation with a Fun Day at school and then had his graduation ceremony last night. He's sad to leave his teachers behind but very excited to start Kindergarten next fall!

Thankful

I hope this Mother's Day has been wonderful for all the moms out there that read this. I think it's the perfect time to praise God and reflect on the blessings He's showered on us. I look at my life and feel so unworthy, unworthy of the precious children (two here, one in heaven and one on the way) and husband I have and unworthy of God's grace and love. At times I worry that things are too good and I wait for something terrible to happen. God doesn't promise us a perfect and fair life, but He promises to be there for us, to relieve us of our burdens and to hold us up as we struggle through hardships. One and a half years ago, Hudson and I lost our precious baby girl. We then struggled with infertility, through it all, God held us in His grip. We never knew if we would be blessed again with another child, but as I sit here and type and feel Abigail moving in me, I am in awe at how good our God is. Even if He had decided that our family was complete, it is His will that we constantly seek. What a comfort to know that God is in control as long as we continue to give Him that control. Thank you Lord!

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all you heart and lean not on you own understanding: in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Sweet Abigail

She was definitely more cooperative this time around, but she did enjoy trying to suck on her hand for half of the ultrasound. It was amazing to see her moving around, blinking her eyes and yawning (quite a bit). She has very chubby cheeks and looks a lot like her big sister. Click on a picture to make it bigger.

Here's a picture of her yawning and pointing.


Cute little foot


She's trying to get her hand in her mouth


Chubby cheeks and eyes wide open!

The Visitor in our Backyard

Maxwell discovered a visitor in our backyard earlier today. I thought he was just kidding or just pretending, but he wasn't. As you can tell from the pictures, he wasn't getting too close!

Ultrasound

Everything went well yesterday, our little baby looks nice and healthy and was very active during the ultrasound. The perinatologist was in the room talking to me and the ultrasound tech during the scan, and for some reason, I only ended up with one printed picture from the ultrasound. I consider myself pretty savy when it comes to identifying parts in an ultrasound, but this one picture we have leaves me absolutely confused. We did see the baby in 3d for a bit but she had her hand in front of half her face. We could see one of her eyes, her nose, her cheeks and lips. She looked sooo sweet!! I've scheduled a 3d/4d ultrasound for Saturday evening, we cannot wait to get a better look at our Abigail!

Not so big anymore!

Well it looks like it was just a growth spurt. At my appt Thursday I measured a week behind, so maybe we don't have a big baby on the way! Due to my diagnosis of gestational thrombocytopenia (fancy word for low blood platelets due to pregnancy) I get to have an ultrasound on monday! We're hoping one of the more experienced techs will be doing the ultrasound so that we can see the baby in 3D. Regardless, a perinatologist will view the ultrasound and let us know what he/she thinks. Hopefully my platelet count will stay at a level that won't prevent me from receiving an epidural during delivery. I'll post pics of the ultrasound on Monday.