9 days into the New Year

...and I'm just now posting. Oh, I've had time lately, just not motivation. It's one of those situations where you have SO much you want to post, you just don't have the energy to sit and create posts! I think I may work on several and save them as drafts to post throughout this week. I get so afraid people will miss posts if I continually post! So for my peace of mind I will say, check back often! Especially this week!

::singing:: Sunrise, sunset. Sunriiise, sunset. That was the theme of our return trip. We saw the sunrise on a plane. We saw the sunset on a plane. This is why. (And the pic is the sunrise. we didn't get the camera out fast enough for the even more incredible sunset.)

We got home safely (obviously). But safely does not mean easily! We left Little Rock Monday Jan 2 around 7:00 am. Got to Chicago...after what seemed to be an enormously long decent through incredible clouds. Why a "long" decent? Because the clouds were SO tall! I timed how long it took for the wheels to touch the ground from the time we first glimpsed the ground...30 seconds exactly. Never seen Chicago weather before. Don't know if I want to again. It was POURING down rain when we boarded our next plane. We sit for a while. Pilot says the hydrolics are being checked, a part being ordered, the wait will be at the very least an hour. We know we will miss our flight in Orange County. We get off with the rest of the passengers, change our flight from OC to San Jose and walk around. We board the plane again, sooner than expected (hurrah), and sit for a bit longer. The plane taxis to the runway and we sit...and sit...and sit...as it pours outside. Pilot says "When it rains it pours" and informs us we have to wait for planes to take off one at a time and pick their way through the weather. We look to the right across the runway. There are 15 planes waiting over there. We are second in line on our side. Each side takes turns, right? No. All 15 planes take off before us...about 10 minutes apart. We miss our re-booked flight in OC. We FINALLY arrive at OC airport and ask around about what we are supposed to do. We go down and outside to an annex building where commuter flights go to San Jose. The door is "locked" so we go all the way back up to the main terminal and find someone to help us. Apparently someone had booked us while we were in the air for a flight that was supposed to be taking off that very moment...but hadn't yet! So we argue with the lady about the "locked" door to find out you don't have to turn the handle, just pull the door open. Duh. So we run back to the annext building (fastest I've moved this whole pregnancy), PULL the door and make the flight. Praise God Moses was able to still pick us up in San Jose. But did our luggage make it with us? Nope. It came later that night and was delivered two days later. Truly the hardest day of flying I've ever had. And yes, pregnancy had something to do with that -- protein bars CAN get you through a day, but they get old after a while and sitting for that long isn't the best feeling in the world. I'd rather have the customs issue comeing back from Guatemala than a day like that again.

After having a few weeks to decide what to do with Matt's re-location bonus (totally unexpected provision from the Lord!!!), we went out looking for a bed frame. And found it in only a few hours. Ashley Furniture here was having a remodeling sale, so we decided to give them a shot (they are usually quite pricy you know). They had several beds in there we loved...but then we saw one that we loved AND was the price range we saw with online deals. We walked around one more time and came back to it and still loved it. We chatted over price...and God gave us quick wisdom. It is wiser to get the matching dresser (that was also a good price) than a sewing machine because sewing machines are always available, improving, and lowering in cost. Matching dressers are hard to find years down the road. Matt was able to get $400 knocked off the total cost of bed and dresser. I'd post the link....but I think I will wait until I can post real pictures of it with our bedding and such. I'm awaiting a call from them to set up delivery this week. It'd be SO cool if I could suprise Matt with it since he's got several long school days this quarter!

I wake up every morning now and smile just thinking about having a REAL bed instead of just a mattress on the floor. I told Matt it's like we're going to be OFFICIAL parents now. We have a big bed that our kiddos will be able to climb up on when Saturday morning rolls around so we can cuddle and laugh as a family. I guess it's part of what I consider the "American Ideal" for a family. Parents who have a nice big beautiful bed. Thank you, Lord, for ONCE AGAIN providing for our desires...however silly they may be!

Meanwhile, Matt and I have decided to get the last of the desired decorating done, mainly hanging frames. It's is SO amazing the transformation that takes place when you put stuff on the walls. It makes a place look truly lived in and cared for. I will post pictures of this project when I post pictures of our new bed and dresser. So I guess a Home Update is up and coming.

AND...without further ado... We had another Judah appointment and ultrasound last week. Dr. Goodwein was able to get some good 3-D shots of Judah. He said that Judah is DEFINITELY still a boy, which was comforting. Judah, again, kept his hands and arms (and legs and feet this time) up by his face. But Dr. Goodwein had a bag of tricks he used to get satisfactory pictures. Everything is still going swell, though I need to be careful from here on out with how much weight I gain. I'm already at the upper end of what is normal to gain. My main concern is that I want my body to be quick to return to normal as soon as I have Judah rather than have so much weight to lose and muscle to tone that it takes FOREVER. Pray for me as I try to be disciplined! Here are the pictures... and explanations in case you can't make out his form.

This is a profile shot. You can see his upper arm extending from the lower left hand corner, bending at the elbow, and his forearm and hand verticle in the center of the picture. To the left of his forearm is his head. The black area is his brain cavity with his forehead the lovely curve touching his hand. The "indentation" black area next to his wrist is his eye, and his chubby cheek is below that cradled in the crook of his arm. To the right of his elbow is his bent knee with his lower leg extending towards the right of the picture.


Again, his head is in the upper left of this picture. Forehead slopes down to darker area which is his closed eye. The line extending down from the dark area is his chubby cheek. His nose is a little distorted but is to the right of his eye, and his lips are below his nose (duh). His entire leg and foot is on the right side of the picture, with his flexed foot at the top. For those who are really good at interpreting this photo, you will notice the light colored curl between his toes and forehead -- those are curled fingers.



This was the best shot of all of little Judah's face. His head is still on the left side, but the angle is more frontal so you can see more of his face rather than a profile. In the very center of the picture is a triangular shaped object, that's his little nose (that I claim is Matt's!). To the left of his nose is his closed eye, down to his chubby cheek, and his sweet lips are below his nose followed by his chin. His arm and hand extend up over the right side of his face next to his nose, the hand resting on his forehead. I really hope you all can see it! These are simply amazing!


My appointments have now moved to every two weeks rather than once a month...a marker to me that the time really is approaching! My next one is actually on my birthday...Jan 19. I think more often now about the reality of giving birth to a child (and what the pain will be like) as well as the reality of actually having a child that is my own. One that I can not give back. One that I will be responsible for 24/7. These are not bad thoughts to me...just major reality checks I am grateful God is giving me now instead of when the moment comes! And it is SO fun to see Matt's eagerness for Judah to be out and in his arms to play with and cuddle. I thank God for a husband like Matt. He is perfect for me! We start our childbirth classes tomorrow evening, and my one-time breastfeeding class is on Saturday. I am hoping this will help our perspective on the coming events become more focused and even more realistic.