New Fun!

Bailey has now figured out how to roll down the driveway on his ride on toys. He just took off the other day and put his feet in the air. I had to chase him down! He absolutely loves it, and it is definitely his new favorite thing to do!



And he learned how to push it back up the driveway for another round!

Happy Birthday Eliza Kate!

We had a great time at Eliza Kate's Birthday Tea Party! She turned 3 on August 25th! Happy Birthday Eliza Kate and thanks for letting Bailey play on your piano!

Amazing!!!

We went to the doctor this morning and left in amazement! I did have a good feeling about the appt beforehand, but had no idea it would be this great! The cysts are all gone and Garrett looks perfect. They scanned me for about 30 minutes and could not find a single thing wrong! We are so blessed and our prayers were answered. We have all of our prayer warriors to thank!!! God is so good! It has been a pretty stressful 28 weeks, but they said it looks like we will have a healthy baby boy! He is a big boy too! He is measuring 2 weeks ahead so we will see if they move my due date up at the 32 week sonogram. I cried many tears of joy today with the great news and all the sweet phone calls, messages and emails. Thank you all so much and continue to pray that Garrett will remain healthy.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace that passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus!!! Phillipans 4:6-7. That is the verse I have been clinging to, and I did receive peace and many answered prayers!

Devotion

Here is a copy of the devotion i was talking about in my last post! I love it! I get the Proverbs 31 devotions online daily.
August 11, 2008

Tight Places
Marybeth Whalen

“Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer.”
Psalm 4:1 (NIV)

Devotion:
If someone asked you what it feels like to be stressed, anxious, worried or overwhelmed, how would you put it into words? The best way I can describe those feelings is that it is as though something is pressing in on me, pushing me down emotionally and preventing me from escaping my situation. It feels I’m in a tight place. The more these feelings build up, the more I want to lash out, strike out, or push back against my burdens. Though I might look okay on the outside (oh, those masks we wear), inside I am screaming and flailing about. Do you ever feel this way?

Stress comes at us every day, in a thousand different ways. Job stress, money stress, kid stress, house stress, medical stress, relationship stress—the list goes on. Try as we might, we can’t escape it in this broken world. We feel trapped and imprisoned by these things we cannot change, and they weigh heavily on us. When I read the verse for today, I was struck by the explanation in my Bible for the word, “relief.” It literally means, “make room for me in tight places.” Wow. I can totally identify with that idea!

I know what it feels like to want someone to come along and make room for me in my tight places. Someone to remove the boundaries and burdens which threaten to smother me with their nearness. My stress level mounts, my blood pumps in my ears, and my hope takes flight. Whether it is the little irritations in life like being stuck in a car with a screaming toddler, or the big burdens of wondering about the future of my husband’s job, I know these tight place feelings all too intimately.

We all do.

I love that this verse shows us Someone who can come and offer relief. So many times, we try to make our own space in our tight places—handling things on our own and attempting to solve problems without ever calling on the One who best knows how to make room for us. He is faithful to give us emotional elbow room, easing our burdens and offering us His wisdom. He shows us mercy when we call on Him, hearing our prayers and rescuing us from tight places. The next time you feel stressed, anxious, worried or overwhelmed, call out to Christ and let Him find you in your tight place, and make room where you thought there was none.

Dear Lord, thank You for being the God who is near. When our tight places press in on us, Your presence is what we need. Thank You for offering us relief no matter what our circumstances. Help us to remember to call on You in our tight places. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Peace

A quick update on what is going on with us. I went back to the doctor last week for my 3 hour sugar test and guess what??? I PASSED!! Can you believe it? It was completely by the Grace of God! I felt like He was sparing me from having to deal with gestational diabetes so I can focus more on Garrett. I was really shouting up and down the halls of the doctors office in excitement! It was the best news I had gotten in a long time. To say the least, I went straight to raising cane's which was the closest fast food restaurant I could find and had a huge chicken tender/french fry and texas toast meal. It was delicious!!! :) I am being careful though and not really eating many sweets to make sure I keep my sugar down. On the other hand, we go back for another sonogram on Thursday. We feel your prayers and ask that you continue to pray for us and Garrett. I really have worried more this time just because of the unknown since our last appointment, but every time I start thinking about all the horrible possibilities, I try to think of scripture or an encouraging Christian song to get it off my mind. This past Sunday morning, I woke up really thinking about the whole situation. I told Paul that I was not really looking forward to our appointment, and that I really wanted answers this time. At the end of church, we sang 2 of my favorite songs that I try to think of when my mind wanders about Garrett. On Christ the solid rock I stand and It is well were the two songs. I felt like God was definitely reassuring me that everything would be fine! I really did feel at peace about everything. Then, my devotion today was about stress, worry and letting God handle tight, uncontrollable situations. It was perfect for me before this appointment. I will attach it if I can. Paul also told me that he had a dream that everything was fine with Garrett and the cyst was gone. I really do feel good about this appointment and can't wait to see how Garrett is doing. He sure is growing because so am I. He also moves twice as much as Bailey ever did. He's an active little fellow! Thanks for all of your prayers thus far, and we will continue to keep updates posted.

Football 101

3 point stance from Mamie Kosko on Vimeo.
Just had to catch this on video. It was too funny! If I would not comment on the videos they would be much better!!!

How Weird

OK so I have finally figured this pain business out. My doctor did think I was having non-functioning gallbladder problems last week when I had those 2 pain attacks. I have not had one since last Wednesday afternoon until tonight. It did the exact same thing! I was doubled over in pain and vomited again! I pondered on the whole idea and a lightbulb went off in my head!!! IT IS NOT MY GALLBLADDER! IT IS BANANAS!!! I ate a banana about 30 minutes before the pain/vomiting started ALL 3 TIMES including tonight! I have no idea what in the world could be in a banana that could make this happen and I have always eaten bananas. You can bet one thing - I WILL NOT EAT ANOTHER ONE!!! Crazy huh!?

Fun Sunday Afternoon!

Addison came over to swim in the backyard with Bailey on Sunday afternoon! They had fun splashing around and playing in the sprinkler. They also found a way to both squeeze in the cozy coupe somehow! Oh to be little again!!!

I love summer and fudge bars!!!

Bailey loves being outside!!! In these pics you can see that he is enjoying playing yard golf with daddy and bigdaddy after swimming with suga and eating fudge bars (or at least half of one because the other half is on his face). He wants to be a big boy though and hold it himself. His faces tell all!

Lots of preggers!

We had a baby shower for Emily Stringer last Saturday in Starkville. Good thing because she had baby Smith on Tuesday!!! He is precious. You can see pics of him by clicking on their blog from our page. Anyway, a group of our high school friends gave it and we are all pregnant except 1. You can see our line up in the pics- Emily just had Smith, I am next with Garrett, then Mere with Mary Cameron, Suzanna does not know what she is having yet, and then you have Foley who is not preggers and looks like a million bucks! I hope I can look like her after this baby! HA! Love your faces in these pics Emily so I had to post them!

Nashville Star

My cousin Garrett works for Nashville Star and we went last week to the show. It was me, my mom, my aunt Amy, aunt Cheryl, my cousin Taylor and my grandfather "Paw". We also went to the bluebird cafe to hear upcoming artists/songwriters perform. It was so much fun!!! The pics of me and my cousin Taylor where my face looks sooo fat are with Gabe Garcia and Coffey - both contestants on Nashville Star. They were all so nice. We got to meet and mingle with them during rehearsals before the live show. The sign that my grandfather is leaning on in the last pic is his own personal parking space. All the "important" people had signs where they were to park in the back like Jewel, John Rich, etc.. so he was so excited about that! Thanks for hooking us up Garrett!

Our Appointment today

Alright - Here it goes. Our appointment went pretty well this morning with a few little kinks. I failed my sugar test - no surprise! Guess I am just tooooo sweet :) The sonogram was OK. One of the cysts is gone!!! YEAH - that's the good news! The other has not shrunk but nor has it grown which is good news since his head/brain is growing. The only thing now is that they are not sure it is in the choroid plexus and that is iffy. It seems a little lateral to the choroid plexus so they really are not sure where exactly it is. This could be nothing or could be a whole different problem. Who knows. I have to go back for another sonogram in three weeks to see if they can see it better, if it has shrunk/grown, etc... They also did a gallbladder ultrasound on me b/c I had this severe pain on Tues and Wed that was right where my gallbladder is, did not seem like indigestion, and was not relieved by Tums or Maalox. It only lasted about 2 hours each time but it really hurt. No gallstones so that is good news but she says it sounds just like a nonfunctioning gallbladder. If I have another flare up I have to see a GI specialist. :( To say the least, I am now on a low carb, low sugar, low fat diet so if anyone has any extra cardboard laying around, send it my way since that is about all I can eat ! :) I did not have any pain today so hopefully it is not a gallbladder issue. All in all we are very happy that one of the cysts is gone and ask you to continue to pray for everything else. Garrett really is growing and the rest of the sonogram looked great. He was sucking his thumb with his finger over his nose just like I used to do when I was a baby. It was so cute! Thanks for all the prayers thus far!!! I know God is going to take care of us no matter what!