Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you...

"Before I formed thee in the womb I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee..." Jeremiah 1:5.  These words have come to have a new meaning, a deeper connection to my life in the last 24 hours.  How very true.  How very blessed.  How very undeserving I am...

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted anything.  Life has gotten busy, stressful, crazy...just like yours, I'm sure.  To fill you in on life a little bit, since the time we've found out that we are having a little girl, we also found out that she is extremely tiny.  At the first ultrasound we had back in September, she measured in the 4th percentile for size.  Anything under the 10th percentile is alarming.  At the second ultrasound we had on October 13, she measured in the 3rd percentile.  Because she was maintaining a growth curve, my doctor said that she wasn't too worried.  She thought perhaps our little girl was just small - perhaps she took after her daddy.  Nonetheless, we were given the title of "complicated pregnancy" and were referred to a Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist where I would have to go for a level 2 ultrasound.  I spent much time crying for the first couple of days.  I was worried, even if my doctor wasn't.  But after telling only a few people and asking for prayer, after a couple of days, I felt a great peace about it.  I expected to go to the doctor's appointment with my specialist and find out that everything looked normal...just tiny.  I expected to have to go to have routine ultrasounds once every 3-4 weeks for the remainder of this pregnancy to make sure that she is indeed growing properly.  I was told that if she dropped off her growth curve at any point during the remainder of the pregnancy, they would probably induce me immediately because she'd be safer outside than inside.  This is what I expected to live with for the next few months - a little bit of worry, but a "normal" pregnancy with regular ultrasounds (and, honestly, who doesn't like to see their little one moving around in there)? 

Boy, was I surprised when we went for our first Level 2 Ultrasound yesterday.  I was nervous and was sick most of the morning, but by the time for my appointment arrived, I was doing better.  Chris was with me (thankfully he was able to schedule his clinic for the morning instead of the afternoon on such late notice) and having him with me gave me greater confidence and peace.  We were called back after waiting over an hour in the very busy waiting room and explained that she was very small and there was some concern.  The lady doing the ultrasound was very nice - very quick and efficient, looking at the tummy, head and femur to get proper measurements.  When she was done, she said, "I'm not sure why you think she was measuring so small before - she's perfectly normal!"  She's about the 45th percentile for size now.  Less than three weeks ago, she didn't even weigh a pound.  Yesterday, she weighed 2 pounds.  Less than three weeks ago, she was abnormally tiny.  Yesterday, she was a perfectly normal, healthy little girl (and yes, after we found out she was okay, I did ask if they'd confirm that she IS in fact a girl!). 

I'm feeling very blessed today.  I don't deserve such a blessing.  I'm not as faithful to my God as I long to be.  I don't spend the time with Him like I want to.  I don't spend the time reading His Word or just talking to Him that I should.  And yet, in the few times I did cry out to Him, asking/begging for a healthy baby girl, He heard my prayers and He answered them.  It's not possible for a baby to grow so quickly.  It's unheard of.  It's a miracle.  It's MY miracle.  The Lord is working and moving in my life, and in the life of our baby girl already - before she's even born - what a loving, gracious, dependable, self-less God we serve.  He is good.  His love is overwhelming.  And my heart is very grateful this morning.  And I'm grateful for those of you who did know our situation and spent time praying for us.  He heard our prayers, and he answered them.  I admit, I'm confused - I can't figure out how this could happen.  But as Chris and I drove home last evening after shedding tears of joy and relief, we decided that it didn't matter how it happened - it didn't matter how many questions we may still have - we're just going to claim our little miracle and be thankful.  And so we'll leave it at that: our little miracle, known, loved, and protected by our loving God.  We have much to be thankful for!

IT'S not an IT Anymore!

After months of anticipation, we finally have a gender for our newest bundle of joy!  It's a GIRL!

Here's her sweet little face, with her arm raised next to her head...

And, here's the evidence that it's a girl...hard to see in this scanned picture, but the proof is there, just the same!



First day of school! First day of school!

So today I felt a little bit like Marlin from "Finding Nemo."  Remember how Nemo excited exclaims, "First day of School!  First day of School!" as he bounces on Marlin to wake him up?  That's how I felt with Grant.  And then, remember the part where Marlin says, "You go out, and back in...then you go out, and back in...etc."  That was definitely how I felt today, though I worked very hard not to show it. 

Grant was one excited little monkey today as he prepared for his first day of pre-school.  He even wanted to sleep in his uniform last night.  :)  So this morning, he took a bath, brushed his teeth, donned on his uniform and put on his new school shoes all the while talking about how "big" he was.  We prayed before he went to school and he asked Jesus to help him not to be shy and to be a good boy. 

When we got to school, he met his teacher, Mrs. Morrow, and saw his very best friend, Victoria, in his class.  He couldn't have been happier.  He even humored me while I took a few pictures.  His teacher asked a few questions, and Grant responded confidently and made me quite proud.  I was pretty impressed!  His teacher called each student up to take their picture, then had them take their back packs to their personal cubby.  I went with him and checked everything out.  We came back in the room to watch them get started and to pray; then the parents were going to be dismissed.  Here's where it got ugly.  I prayed that God would get me through it without crying...at least until I got to the car.  Now I'm asking Him if He couldn't have made it a little easier.  Grant turned around and saw I was still there and said, in front of everyone, "Mom, get out!"  Grant never speaks to me that way.  Disrespect is not something that is welcome in our home.  But how exactly was I supposed to handle this in front of his entire class with the teacher there?   I told him to turn around and listen to his teacher, but was so mad, I didn't shed a single tear.  When the parents were dismissed, I waved at him, but he clearly didn't want a hug and kiss.  He wanted to be independent, and didn't want me there.  Sad. 

We talked about his comment at lunch and he clearly felt bad about it.  I didn't mention it the rest of the day, but tonight as he prayed, he said, "God, Help me not to say "get out" any more because it hurt mommy's feelings."  So I think he got it.  But I sure was embarrassed.  And I sure was mad.  So no tears today...we'll see how it goes in the future! 

As for the school day itself, he said he loved it!  He can't wait to go back again on Monday.  Little man is growing up.

It's Official!

Yesterday I went to the doctor and it was officially confirmed - Worley Baby # 3 is well on it's way!  We're 12 weeks along tomorrow, making us due February 2, 2011!  Hooray! 

The picture on the left is of the head and body; the picture on the right is the body, and if you look closely, you'll see a faint little line with a bump on the end sticking out of it - that's the leg and foot!  We'll find out pink or blue sometime mid-September!  Woo hoo!

The Prodigal Ducky has returned

Ducky is a near and dear friend to sweet Mason.  When we returned from Africa, I noticed he had Ducky with him at the airport, but when we returned home, I didn't see him around anymore.  We searched the house high and low, to no avail.  There was no Ducky.  Even a call to the airport didn't unearth sweet Ducky.  He was gone. 

Many tears were shed at bedtimes for the last several months because poor Mason didn't have his sleeping partner.  As I have been packing for vacation this week, I noticed a strange bulge in one of the suitcases...Ducky!  Mason couldn't be happier.  He carries Ducky everywhere with him and the smiles just won't stop.  We're all happy to have Ducky back with us again. 

4/10/2010 Jacksonville Beach

Chris miraculously was off work today (he's on an inpatient month this month - ugh!), so we took the boys to Jacksonville Beach. They were having a Rhythm and Blues Festival, and we went out to join in the festivities. We weren't too thrilled with it actually. One quick lap around the festival was plenty enough for me. Perhaps what we were most excited about was the surfing competition (which we never found). We saw lots of surfers, but no competition. The boys were dying to "put their feet" in the water. I told them since I didn't bring extra clothes, that was not an option, but they insisted they wouldn't get them wet. After a while, I finally gave in and instructed them to only get their feet wet. Who am I kidding? After about 2 minutes of dutifully obeying, the boys were both completely soaked. Chris and I just looked at each other and decided it wasn't work fighting it...they were happy. It was just water. After a little while, one of the surfers paddled right up to Mason and helped him get on the surf board. Grant kept his distance and refused to get on, even after the kind surfer offered him a ride, too. So anyway, we played in the waves for a while, then loaded up in the van and came home (a bit more prematurely than originally planned). But hey, we had a good time! It was nap time anyway.

My little surfer dude...when he heard we were going to a surfing contest, he wanted his hair spikey. Silly guy.

Daddy watching his boys at play. So nice to have a day off!

Just like his grandpa...can't keep that head out of the water!

Our young surfer teaching the boys the tricks of the trade

Grant asked me to help him make "pancakes" in the sand.

Jumping over the waves with the boys

They played so hard that both of them fell asleep in the stroller (NEVER happens!) Yeah!

Easter Sunday

We had a great Easter this year. Chris was unexpectedly off work, so we had a nice time at church, then went to the Hult's for lunch, came home and got ready for the Waltons and our neighbor, Ellen, to come over for shish-kabobs that night. What a fun day!

Wow. Uncontrollable.

Mason went to bed with his hair wet...this is how he woke up. The more I laughed, the harder he cried.

Easter Outfits

I took the boys out for a lovely frustrating morning of taking pictures. Neither one of them were cooperating very well, and I was all by myself...it's hard to get them to smile and take a decent picture at the same time. :) Nonetheless, a few pictures did turn out okay, and I must say, I think my little guys are pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

Grant's such a big boy now...

Sweet Mason is getting big, too!

Sweet Boys!

Mason got ornery and started banging Grant on the head with this stick. Such sweet brothers.

Firetruck to the Rescue!

Aunt Stephi and Uncle Dan gave the boys this cool sprinkler for Christmas. With the arrival of the hot weather, we decided to pull it out of its box, blow it up, and let it spray!! The boys have had a blast EVERY SINGLE DAY for about a week with this fun new firetruck, and I think our grass is liking it too! Thanks, Uncle Dan and Aunt Stephi for rescuing our me with a reprieve from our toasty days. I love watching the boys spray each other down! Love you!

Workin' Hard or Hardly Workin'

Chris' parents took the boys for a couple of days at the end of March. While they were gone, I worked hard on our yard - pulling weeds, cultivating, laying mulch, planting flowers. It looked like a whole new yard when they got home! I ran out of mulch, though, so the boys Grant helped me spread the rest of the mulch the afternoon they returned while Mason pretended to drive the van. They're getting so big! I must say, it's amazing what you can accomplish when you don't have two little ones to run around after!