Guess what?????!!!

You guessed it, we got PREGGO!, but keep reading

      So, I've been trying to think how I would write this post. I'm not the most politically correct person. I probably won't ever be, but I still do not want to offend anyone purposefully today. Here we go.... Ronnie and I have 4 wonderful kids, with which we are very thankful. We have been preventing pregnancy since Silas was born. We haven't taken extreme methods as in surgery, but we are very cautious in the preventing method. If you want further detail, ask later. To my sheer shock I found out Thursday, the 15th of November the most crazy news. Blood tests confirmed, sure enough I was 5 wks pregnant. The irony here is I had just finished my period. Therefore, we did follow up blood work on Monday. I knew deep down this pregnancy wasn't going well. We still told our parents and a few close friends so they could be praying for us. Monday came, I was having pain on my right side and still bleeding. Due to an error by a staff member, my doctor didn't receive my blood work results until Tuesday morning. I was beyond aggravated, I knew from being a nurse (specifically OB triage), I should have been in the doctors' office Monday with an ultrasound. I guess God really wanted to test me here? Tuesday came, blood results showed an atypical HCG rise, so an ultrasound was scheduled to deduce if I had an ectopic pregnancy. Sure enough the ultrasound showed a mass at the base of my ovary connected to the fallopian tube (which is the ectopic) along with an even larger cyst. 
    We proceeded with emergency laprascopic surgery to confirm ectopic pregnancy, to possibly remove the tube and ovary. Right before surgery my pain level increased, turns out my fallopian tube had started rupturing. Thank the Lord for His grace and that I was already prepped for surgery. I had my right fallopian tube removed, and the cyst drained; thankfully I kept my ovary. I guess I have a very high pain tolerance because several doctors, nurses, and sonographers questioned me on why I hadn't been to the ER given my situation. So, please do not ask me for mercy, I will tell you to "suck it up". Ha, well maybe. Back to the story. Thank the Lord for friends, they were life savers!! Several people took care of our kids, came to the hospital, prayed for us, and provided comic relief. I suppose you can say that Ronnie and I are very fertile. His little guys managed to defy our methods, fertilize, and implant an egg by my ovary. There is less than a 1% chance of this happening, just FYI.  Really though, I think I had a few lessons to learn about me and God. First, God is the opener and closer of the womb. I try to control and plan, but I am living proof that God can intervene whenever He sees fit. Second, I honestly had been prideful. I felt like something was special about me because I had four pregnancies that took absolutely no trying to happen, and I had no miscarriages. I really didn't realize it before, but I had really boasted myself up in that regard, if I'm being completely honest. I think I needed to be humbled too. I think God in His infinite wisdom orchestrated all this so that He and I could walk through this together and I could become more sanctified. Don't get me wrong, I was not a willing participant in some of the tests he challenged me on this past week. However, I am thankful for forgiveness. I'm still in somewhat of a state of shock, still don't know exactly how I feel. Thankful all I've got is today to ponder it.
   Also, I'm also not saying I'm going to be the next Mrs. Duggar here. Ronnie and I will talk about what we will do for our future family planning. I trust that the Lord will lead us and imprint on us what is best for our family. If we get it wrong, I'm sure He is more than capable to kick our hind ends and get us where we need to be. While I was waiting for all of this to unfold, I think back to a song we sang on Sunday the 18th. So thankful for Jonathan choosing this song and Bethany for singing it. It was just such a blessing from the Lord. He is constant, He is good, and He is sovereign! Don't you love it when He does that for you? I'll leave you with the lyrics below. 


                                                        "Not For a Moment"

You were reaching through the storm
Walking on the water
Even when I could not see
In the middle of it all
When I thought You were a thousand miles away
Not for a moment did You forsake me
Not for a moment did You forsake me

Chorus:

After all You are constant
After all You are only good
After all You are sovereign
Not for a moment will You forsake me
Not for a moment will You forsake me

You were singing in the dark
Whispering Your promise
Even when I could not hear
I was held in Your arms
Carried for a thousand miles to show
Not for a moment did You forsake me

Chorus:

After all You are constant
After all You are only good
After all You are sovereign
Not for a moment will You forsake me
Not for a moment will You forsake me

And every step every breath you are there
Every tear every cry every prayer
In my heart at my worst
When my world falls down
Not for a moment will You forsake me
Even in the dark
Even when it's hard
You will never leave me
After all

Chorus:

After all You are constant
After all You are only good
After all You are sovereign
Not for a moment will You forsake me
Not for a moment will You forsake me
Not for a moment will You forsake me 

Do you think they look alike

People tell me all the time how much my kids look like Ronnie. There is one in particular who not only looks like him, but acts like him. Jack and Ronnie are both such fun-loving, people crazy, friendly guys. They both like to talk, neither can stand for anyone to be mad at them. At young ages you could/can see the Lord pricking at their hearts. They are both thoughtful and love to make people feel included. These 2 are some of my favorite guys!!

So what do you think? Are these two alike?

Have you heard, it's not me, but you.

I have got several friends who are pregnant right now, trying to get pregnant right now, or in the process of adopting. In no way am I pregnant, hence the title of this post. The waiting period is full of  emotions, ya know? Good, bad, ugly, fun, scary, doubtful, joyful, painful,  & etc. To encourage my fellow women out there. I looked through our photos and found pictures of me preggo with each of my kids. Photos are great because they instantly capture a memory. So without further ado: 

I'm about 35 weeks pregnant with Jack. I made it to week 38 and my water broke!

This is the day I was induced with Anna Kate, only one I carried to 40 weeks.

This is me with Hudson.  I think I'm about 32 weeks.Praise the Lord for Dr. Price!
She let me stay at the hospital at 38 weeks and helped get him out fast.

Sweet Silas, I got pretty big with him!I think I was 26 weeks here. We made it to the day I was 37 weeks.

Kids' Books

I thought I would post 4 books that I really like for our kids. I know there are several other books out there, and some I even have on my shelf. However, I'll just tell you about these four and why I like them.

I really like this book for our kids. I think from about 18 months on, any child           

can interact with this book. It is colorfully captivating and Biblically based. All the stories point to Jesus!

This is for us mama's and daddy's, but it will immensely benefit out kids. It helps us see that all the parenting. discipling, correcting, and shaping is all to bring our children to a growing relationship with the Lord. Our goal is not to change the behavior, but the heart.

 I know, I know.... Baby Wise. It's 50/50 amongst mother's. However, I'm not legalistic about it here. I take from the book and make it work for our family and the season we are in. It helps new moms come up with a game plan for their newborn and infant. All I'll say is scheduling helps :)

 This is a cute book that teachers kids about prayer and different types of ways to pray. How God listens and why He cares. My kids seem to really like it. Honestly, it's also helped our 5 year old develop a more theological prayer life vs. praying for " a good day".

Hope these books prove to be helpful to you all!!

ahh...water

This summer we have been soaking up the water activities. Given that Arkansas has been exceptionally hot and humid, we are extremely thankful for the water!!

We have been to the lake 

And on the boat

and had a ball

we went to the splash pad

Hud in the Pool

Our neighborhood has a pool
and we've had so much fun!

We've had fun in the backyard too
with our inflatable pool and slip n slide

Race to Remember

I am SO thrilled to have run my first race in Arkansas. It was a 5k at 8am on July 21. I have recently gotten into running and I could not think of a better race to run for the season of life I am in. I was so honored to run this race and run it especially for Abigail Wright. So many precious babies were remembered this day and it was a fun day honoring them. I have been running with my friend Jennifer and our goal was to finish the 5k in under 30 minutes and we met our goal! Running has been a fun time of bonding and a de-stresser for me personally. Here are a couple of pictures:

Holly and I- we ran for her daughter Abigail

Jennifer and I running, we are so graceful!

Silas turns 1

So, sweet Si turned 1 on June 25. I know we should do a big party and all, but with our family we have a party in and of itself. Silas got some presents from his brothers and sister. We took him out to eat and got him a birthday cake. I think he had a fun day and so did we. Silas is so precious to our family and we are so thankful for him.