Smiles all over

After school yesterday, Todd came in and went to his room to play. He had been playing Star Wars while listening to The Lion King soundtrack. I had gone in to check on him because he had been in there for about an hour without any communication from me. He was just totally involved in light saber fights. I returned to my room to continue laundry. In about 10 minutes, Todd comes in covered in smile stamps. His arms and legs were total smiley faces. I laughed and did not think much about it. In a minute, he returned and had continued the stamping to his stomach and face. At this point, I thought it was getting out of control. He ran into his room and was going to add some more but stepped in the ink pad. He then got it on our wood floors and his carpet. Now I was not happy. I toted all 58 pounds of him to the bathroom and went to clean the wood. Thankfully, it came right up. The carpet was another story. As I went to put the lids on the stamp pads, I realized that only one of them was washable. It was then that I began to panic. I mean, he was COVERED in these stamps. I put him in the tub and began to scrub. Thankfully, most of them were the washable and came right off. The others came of with some scrubbing except one. He now has a perfectly stamped smile right on his butt check. Yes, he had managed to put on there and it is the one that will not come off. I guess he has a smile tattoo for now. I should have taken a picture of his modest stamping but when it was getting on my floor, I had to get it off. When Brad asked him why he did it, Todd replied, "I was just so happy to have a long weekend!" I guess who can blame him on that. I thought I might need to watch Brad since he was happy to have some time off, too!

The Results are in..

I went to the Dr. today and FINALLY got the test results back from my whooping cough. The verdict was that I am not immune to it so I could catch it. However, it did not look like I had it. They could not tell for sure because you show traces of it if you have been immunized. Basically, I am fine unless I start hacking my head off. Then, I probably have it. He did say that the baby would not be harmed. All in all, that is good news.

Also, I will have another ultrasound in 2 weeks to double check things with the 2 vessel cord. He wants to do one final check before the c-section. I am anxious to know what his estimated weight is going to be.

As always, please continue to pray that Baby Jackson is safe and healthy!

Prayers

Yet again, I have another issue with this pregnancy. I got a note in the mail from Todd's pediatrician saying that when he was in for his well visit someone treated him that was contagious with whooping cough. He is up to date on his shots, so he should be okay. I haven't had that shot in years. I had to go today and get the blood drawn (16th tube this pregnancy)to see if it is positive. They have not even told me what they will do if I have it. The scary thing is that I had to take medicine for coughing since then. Please keep me and baby Jackson in your prayers. It will be several days before I hear anything. I will keep you up to date!

In Your Eyes

I have always felt like every person has been given special talents that should be used for God's Kingdom. I know that for some people these talents are easier discovered than for others. I, however, have seen this in a different way lately. I have been drawn to the thought that God gives us "different eyes" that allow us to see different people in different ways. I feel like as a church, when we use those eyes, there would be no one left out or excluded. I think that we could not have enough room in any building to seat all of those that we could reach.

Brad and I have spent some time discussing what "eyes" we were given. I have no doubt that Brad was given the eyes for teens. Not only does he do well with teens, he does well with teens that struggle or whose parents do not attend church. He can convince many teens to come to things that do not do anything. He can build relationships with them quickly.

My "eyes" are 2 fold. I have a talent with children with disabilities. Unfortunately, I have never been in a church where this has been used. I have reached many people through my jobs with this gift. My other view is teens. I love their minds. I love that they are trying to find their own faith and are not afraid to be honest when they don't get something.

Here is the thing that frustrates me about all of this... I think even though we are given different eyes, we are still from the same Father and should have the same mindset. I may not have eyes for foreign missions, but I still appreciate that mission and support it because it is someone's passion. It seems that many times, we get wrapped up in our vision that we forget to support others vision. After all, isn't that the purpose of church?

So, what are your talents that you feel that God gave you? Do you think that it is easy for you to use this talent in a church setting?

Double personality

Okay, I wrote about Todd's fits lately. It is driving me crazy. He was good tonight but the 2 nights before were terrible. The thing that makes me frustrated is that the arguments do not even matter. Last night was one of those nights. I was so angry that after Brad got home I left to take a minute before I lost my cool. He actually managed to lose going to see Clone Wars this weekend, lost his Wii for more days, and can not go spend the night with friends Friday night all over a stupid issue.

Anyway, after he has acted this way, I go to meet him for lunch today. Since I use to teach there, our meal gets interrupted many times by teachers. I was talking to my assistant from last year when Todd's teacher came to get them from lunch. She asked how I was feeling and then told me something that just about made me fall over laughing. She said, "He is so sweet. He is the sweetest thing. I ask him to do something and he does it with a smile. I just love him." I wanted to say, "You do know that Todd is my child, right?" It cracked me up. I guess he is taking after me. I could be throwing a huge fit and turn it off just like that. My teachers always said the same about me. Now I know why that drove my mom crazy. I would rather him act that way with us and not at school. I guess he uses all of his energy to be good at school and has to get it out of his system!

Perfect Day

Today has been such a beautiful day! It has been sunny and 84 for the high. It is this weather that makes me get ready for fall and my favorite sport: football! I have such fond memories from this time of year. This year will be no different. Jackson will be born before we know it. I am less than 9 weeks from the latest he will be born. It is such an exciting time of year!

Today has been one of those mornings. It has been a time of pregnancy raging emotions. It all started when Todd got up not wanting to go to school. One thing about Todd, he is very smart and is at the top of his class, but he HATES school. He is often bored and it does not work well with his love of moving and exploring. He often does not want to go to school, but today was hard for me. Last year when I taught at school with him, we had a set routine. We would walk in together and at one particular spot, we would hug and share our "have a good days" and then he would head for the gym and I would go into the teacher's lounge to do all of the morning teacher business. Now, I pull up to a door, get a hug from the backseat and drive off. It seems so cold and lonely for us both. Today, as I pulled away, he mouthed "I will see you later" with his smile on his face. I just wanted to stop grab him and take him back home. I knew he was walking in to a place that he was dreading. I did not want him to have to dread his day. I know that he has to go and that he will have a good day, it is just hard when they do not want to go. I know he will have to encounter many things he does not want to do, but must do them. Anyway, I guess pregnancy hormones have taken over today, because I have cried today over stupid things. Oh well, I am going to surprise Todd and meet him for lunch. Perhaps that will help us both!