Little Guy, Big Gift

If you haven't noticed, our 3rd son, Hudson, is on the short side. We have done numerous genetic testing, blood work, and X-rays to see why he has fallen off the growth chart. Finally, in January 2014, we did a MRI of his brain. The results came back that he has something called an ectopic pituitary, which to our understanding means that his pituitary gland never formed completely in my womb. There is no known cause, just something that happens. The treatment for this is growth hormones. We honestly were relieved to finally have answers to why our little buddy had been growing so slowly since he was about 15 months old.
   

Tulsa Thursday

It was the kids' spring break week so we wanted to do something fun. We did not make an overnight trip this week because we are going on a few trips between May and August. So we headed about 2 hours west to Tulsa. None of us had ever been before, so it was fun to see a new state. We went and ate at Ted's Cafe Escondido and it did not disappoint. They also serve complimentary cheese dip and sopapillas and both were scrumptious.

All in the name of love

I'm not really a romantic. I consider myself of a more practical person. Every now and then, it's nice though. I love it when Ronnie leaves me random notes or cards. When he surprises me with a manicure or cute pair of shoes. It's just sweet and fun. It's definitely harder to be romantic towards a guy. What do you buy? Golf balls, ping pong paddle, cologne, coffee? I seem to recycle the same gift ideas over and over. Ronnie has been talking about this coffee cup that he has really wanted from Onyx for a few weeks now. I thought that maybe this would be a fun surprise.... until I found out it was $22.  For some that's not a big deal, for frugal Marci, I basically just laughed. I'm the one who has a tough time paying $8.99 for the one from Target.  Anyway, Ronnie has been super sweet to me and I really wanted to do something nice. So I gritted my teeth and happily obliged and bought him this to-go cup. I left it on his desk for him to get as a surprise when he returned to the office. I will admit it is fun to bless others and I always like to see the joy a little unselfishness can bring when I get off my agenda. So without further ado, here is the cup:

Let's try this again

I am absolutely the worst blogger. I've tried, seriously. For whatever reason, blogging and I just have not clicked. However, I'm getting a smidge older and I cannot remember all the details of this life that I would like. Therefore, I am going to attempt to chronicle them here.

Smith was born just over 5 weeks ago. I cannot believe it. He has gained about 4lbs in these 5 weeks, and he is just over 10lbs. He was our smallest baby, but has quickly caught up to where his siblings were at this time too. People ask me all the time what age gap I prefer or I think is easiest. I really don't know. This has been our longest stretch between babies and it has been super sweet so far. It's been interesting to see the kids interact with a new sibling and show their different personalities. Some have already asked for another baby. I attribute this to Ronnie brainwashing them. : )
 

It's been awhile...

It's been awhile since I have blogged anything. In a nutshell in the past 6 months, these things have happened:

• We traveled to Israel to 10 days
• Found out we were pregnant with twins, unfortunately we miscarried them
• Ronnie graduated Southern Seminary
• Jack finished Kindergarten
• I got a kidney stone and had to have surgery
• Ronnie traveled to Canada to visit Crosschurch church planters
• We visited family in Louisville and Knoxville, went to the zoo and aquarium
• A much needed getaway to the SBC in Houston, very encouraging
• took Jack and Anna Kate to Dollywood
• Jack had his tonsils and adenoids removed
• Jack turned 6 Anna Kate turned 4, Hudson turned 3, and Silas will be 2 on the 25th of June.
• and a few other random things, but those are the highlights

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. 
   

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!!