Friday, July 31, 2009

Good-bye, July!

Can't even believe that today is the last day of July! How did that happen? That means that school starts for the kids next Friday and move-in day for Keri Lynn is the Thursday after that.

We finally told Keri Lynn that we changed our minds about her going to college. We have the perfect solution for her! She can still learn all there is to know about early childhood education by staying home and helping take care of the baby! It's PERFECT! We don't have to say good-bye or miss her or anything! She only laughs and shakes her head and thinks all matter of silly things about her parents. It's getting to be that I can hardly stand the thought of her going away, but this is what we've been working for all these years -- to send her off into the world as equipped as possible to meet all of life's challenges. We are so proud of her!

Everything is all squared away for Keri Lynn for school. She has her school card that gets her everywhere she needs to go on campus, her parking permit for a car she doesn't have yet (we're planning on using it when we come for visits for now), her textbooks are pre-ordered, she's made contact with her roommate. It's all kind of exciting!

I've started getting to bed a little earlier and getting up a little earlier so that my body won't be in complete shock when school starts. It's still going to be painful for the first month!

I've been working like a dog to get all of my paperwork and stuff done for acceptance into University of West Georgia. I had been dragging my feet on this, thinking that I could just tell the schools that were interested in hiring me that I was in the process of applying, so I wouldn't necessarily have to start classes in the fall. Well, as it turns out, schools can't hire me in a provisional teaching position if I'm not officially enrolled in a school to get certification. So now I'm scrambling to get the rest of the last items checked off the check list. Official transcripts -- check! Immunization report -- still working on that. Where DID I put that pesky immunization record? And I KNOW I haven't had a Tetanus shot in the last 10 years, and CAN I get a Tetanus shot while pregnant? Still making calls to figure that out. All these little details take time to iron out and now I'm feeling foolish that I didn't get more of it done over the summer. But then again I was not feeling at all well through June or July. Thank goodness I'm starting to come out of the first trimester when the nausea starts to go away!

Still, I'm applying at all the counties near our county in hopes of snagging an interview. The plan is to get through the interview process without saying anything about the pregnancy until the end when it's time (hopefully!) to sign papers. Then, I plan to say, "So in the interest of full disclosure and because I want you to know that I am trustworthy, I have a little glitch . . . " And then proceed to tell them about the baby. Then it will be up to them to determine how desperate they are to place me as a special education teacher! Such fun!

I will be having the amniocenteses done in two weeks. This is the big test that I've been waiting on pins and needles for. It will tell us a ton of information, from the sex of the baby, to any genetic problems (like Down Syndrome -- I have a 3% chance of having another baby with Down Syndrome) to whether or not the baby is sensitive to the Kell antibody. If the baby is not affected by it, then that will eliminate all of the usual fun tests that I went through for the last three pregnancies. That is an amazing and absolutely new test that wasn't available before! Whoo-hoo!

My blood pressure remains relatively stable. My feet swell sometimes as the day progresses, but we are in the hottest part of summer. I keep cranking up the air conditioning when no one is looking. And I adore going to the OB because they keep the offices like meat lockers for all of the hormonally challenged ladies coming through.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Monday, July 20, 2009

The Fire Part 01

We Christians let too many things slide because we don't want to repent. This is convicting. It's a message to Christians whose lives aren't much different than those who don't go to church.

The Fire Part 02

Saturday, July 04, 2009

Friday, July 03, 2009

Pray for Kate McRae

Would you please pray for this sweet family.

What are we going to do with her?!

Keri Lynn went on a Rebellion Rampage yesterday. I'm pretty sure her Grandma helped her. I was completely innocent in the activities. Really.

The three of us went out to El Charro for a Mexican lunch. (Keri Lynn's idea) So yummy! When I go eat Mexican, I get the salad, but I know I'm still pushing it with my salt intake! So maybe I was a little rebellious, too! My swelling remains down, though, and my blood pressure has been steadily making its way back to normal. Not there, yet, but it's getting better!

Anyway, back to Keri Lynn and her rebellious ways.

She had been talking about donating her hair to Locks of Love again. This time last year, she got a cute cut. Alice happened to be in town for that, too, so the three of us got to enjoy the experience. When you give to Locks of Love, they need at least 10 inches of hair, and since Keri Lynn's been keeping her hair a little shorter this year, it was going to end up being a drastic cut for her. She finally decided, in the end, to just go ahead and pay for a cut because it would have been shorter than she wanted. She still ended up getting it shorter than she's worn it since she was 10. In fact, it reminds me of the way I used to cut the girls' hair the way I liked it. Now they have their own ideas! I love her new look! And since this time I didn't cut it, she loves it, too! Very cute.  

So after the haircut, we made our way to Big Lots. We were all sitting around testing the couches there, when Keri Lynn says, "I think I'd like to go get my ears pierced! You said I could when I turned 18," she said with a gleam in her eye.

Let the record stand that Keith is the one not terribly excited about the girls getting their ears pierced. I think it looks nice, but I've backed him up since it's not a crucial issue for the girls to have unpierced ears. Keith also doesn't like short hair, so it was going to be the double whammy for his oldest daughter -- short hair AND pierced ears?!? So I had Keri Lynn call her Daddy to get permission. Later he said to me, "Well, I knew YOU had not said NO or she wouldn't be calling me? What was I supposed to say?"

Off we went to Claire's, the place for all fashionable accessories. Alice paid for her ear piercing kit as a birthday present. So sweet! The whole "free ear-piercing" thing, I discovered, is a thing of the past! There may be signs saying that the ear piercing is free, but only if you buy the ear piercing kit, which costs a lot more than it did when I got my ears pierced at 18. Good grief!

And now Keri Lynn is looking just as cute as can be! She was already beautiful, but now she's all stylish and ready to go off to college. Sigh! It's nice to be able to go out with her during these long summer days, and it's especially fun to go off with her on a Rebellious Rampage!

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Plans and trips

We've got definite dates for our trip to California. If all goes according to plan and we can get on our plane, we'll be there from Wednesday, July 8 through Wednesday, July 15. On July 16, I've got not one, but two doctor's appointments, one to the perinatologist and the other to the OB.

While we're there, we're going to try to fit in a trip to the Observatory and to the Getty. One of the things I like most about Georgia is that it has all these amazing beautiful trees, yet one of the things I like least about Georgia is that you can't see anything from anywhere. There are no wide open spaces, except for maybe Stone Mountain! Maybe that's why I like to go to the top of Stone Mountain so much! But in L.A., there are lots of places to go up and look out! I like that! So while the Getty might have all these amazing art exhibits, I'm more interested in taking the cool tram ride up and looking out over the city!

We also plan to hit the beach, too, of course, and my Mom's pool! I'm wondering what California summer is going to feel like after these muggy Atlanta days.

One thing I absolutely have to do, with the help of a few of my children, is to WASH CLOTHES! We literally go from one emergency load of laundry to the next to survive and we really just need to put nose to the grindstone and get that laundry done. I think I'm going to have to go through clothes again and cut back on unnecessary clothes. There's no sense in washing extra clothes!

Meanwhile, Alice has made it safely to our home for a visit. She will be here for the next week. We may end up going on a plane trip back to California together! All depends on flight availability. We plan on hitting thrift stores and also going to Keri Lynn's college for a tour. It's been cooling down just a little, so hopefully that trend will stay!