This Week

A busy week with work, but there are many more fun things to post about than that! Here are the highlights:

~Mary-Michael was put in time out for the first time...I told her "No ma'am" (I can't even remember for what!), and she proceeded to grab my hand and bite it. After a few moments of disbelief I sat her down and counted for 15 seconds. It's small, I know, but for this busy bee, it was enough to make her mad. No more biting has occurred, so either my time out worked (doubtful) or it was a fluke (hopefully).

~I had my 16-week check up on Tuesday, and everything is going swimmingly. I've gained 4 pounds, which is just fine the doc said. I had been worried I wasn't gaining enough weight because I still have a day or two a week when I get sick, and I just haven't been that hungry. I heard Skittle's heartbeat, which always makes me smile - he/she was coming in at 150 beats/minute. And I scheduled our next appointment, which will be the big reveal with the 20 week ultrasound on August 10!

~While I was at Skittle's appointment, Geoff was with Mary-Michael at her 15 month check-up (one month late). He had the fun job of shots and pinning Mary-Michael down so the doc could just look in her ears. She certainly knows right where she is (and doesn't want to be) when we enter that patient room. She is on track with her age milestones and growing! She's 83% in height (32 inches) and 4% in weight (21 lbs), so my suspicion that she was too skinny was confirmed. So, now we give her a snack at bedtime to see if we can get a few more calories in our girl. Her chart shows that she has done this before though, so I'm not too concerned - she grows taller and then a few months later her weight catches up and she's near 50/50 in percentiles, so we'll see what the 18 month check-up brings.

~The week rounded out with my 28th birthday! My dad watched Mary-Michael (thanks, Dad!), and Geoff took me to Acacia, a lovely restaurant in the city. We sat on the patio, I had a mocktail of kumquat juice and other delicious things I'd never heard of, and we both enjoyed really good dinners. I was needing a date, so this fit the bill. And my present from my wonderful husband is a cleaning lady once a month for the rest of my pregnancy. Woohoo!! Thanks to everyone who made me feel very loved on my 28th birthday.

~And lastly, I ask for prayers for my Grandad who is not recovering well from pneumonia and a wound that just won't heal. My mom flew to Las Vegas yesterday to see him and help my Mimi out. He made it through a tough battle with Lymphoma in his seventies that many say is a miracle he survived, so here's hoping he will gather the strength and will again.

I will get some pictures on here soon when I get my camera back from my dad's where I keep forgetting it! Have a great weekend. I hope you make some time to spend with family and those that you love.

And the Lawrence Family Grows...

So, remember a while ago when I wrote about starting the adoption process? Well, we had a great meeting with a lawyer we felt confident would guide us through private domestic adoption (where we find the birth mother vs. an agency) and then settled on an organization to conduct our homestudy. We had our first meeting with Jewish Family Services and scheduled our in-home meeting for the first Friday of May. We were excited! The first part of the week I was scheduled to go to Indianapolis for a work conference. My mother-in-law was kind enough to come down to stay with M&M while I was gone, so she and M&M drove me to the airport. On the way, I had her stop at the store so I could pick up a few things. One of these items was a pregnancy test because most people take pregnancy tests at the airport, alone, right?! Well, I had to squelch a tiny part of me that thought my nausea and other no-need-to-name symptoms were more than a bug. The joke was on me - that test was POSITIVE!!!

So, here I am alone in an airport bathroom stall (on my way to go out of town for 4 days, nonetheless) with a positive pregnancy test. I could hardly believe it! I called Geoff who also couldn't believe it and insisted I get more tests when I arrived in Indy. So, I did just that, and the results were the same. Then and even a little bit now I was/am in shock. We were told by the fertility doc we'd have to come back in the next time we wanted to conceive. Boy was he wrong. I know God is laughing with joy right now. The awesome thing is we were ready to grow our family, but we thought this would be through adoption when actually it was through me - on my own - no drugs - no fretting - surprise!

So, here I am at almost 16 weeks with a beautiful Christmas present on his/her way (due date is Dec 26). We have affectionately named this little blessing "Skittle" to keep with the candy theme (thanks, Canon!). I have been nauseous longer with this one and definitely more tired. I hear that happens when you're chasing a toddler around who is quite active.

M&M has no idea what's happening, and that might be for the best. She seems to do really well with little babies, though I have to teach her while she can point at her own eyes and mouth, she cannot do that to other small children.

So, what about adoption now? Well, we put that on hold for the next go round. We will be able to pick our homestudy back up when we're ready, and we know we'll be ready at some point and that adoption will still play a role in our lives...just not right now.

Pictures and more updates coming soon. I waited to post our super exciting news so we could tell some key people - we haven't reached all of them but I couldn't not share any longer.

Please pray for us in this exciting time. And for a few short months when I have two children under 2, I will really need your prayers. What a crazy, awesome journey we're on!

Meat and Eggs

Yes, these are the staples to many of our diets, but while we were busy grilling steak and chicken with friends our chickens were busy laying their first eggs. Woohoo!


How pretty!


Smores in the outdoor fireplace.


Lacey and Emily.


Renee and her sweet daughter, Avery, the youngest of the 7 kids that romped and rolled at the house.


Brayden checking out Avery while M&M passes by without a glance...

Veggies from the Garden!!

Southport

Last Wednesday night I made a last minute decision to join my Dad and Nana on a trip down to Southport, NC where my aunt and uncle live. It's a lovely little town on the water about 5 hours from here. After checking with Geoff a half dozen times to make sure he didn't mind we would be gone most of the day on Father's Day, Mary-Michael and I headed out. Dad and I hit a few roadblocks on Friday morning in our attempt to pick up the rental car, but in the end we ended up with a better car than we had planned - a white Lincoln Continental. Yes, your grandmother might have this car, so you can imagine how happy it made my Nana when we pulled up. And I must say, that car was comfortable and complete with bells and whistles I have never seen nor will probably ever own. Mary-Michael really impressed me with her 5+ hour car ride there and back. Me being in the back to entertain probably helped but still, we were all happy to have her giggles and squeals throughout the trek.

We had a really nice time during our relatively short stay and Nana, in particular, really enjoyed being waited on and spoiled with good fresh seafood, and her joy was really what we focused on. Especially me - when M&M failed to sleep well either night, which is very unlike her. I even resorted to putting her in the bed with me, which we've never done, and will probably never do again because she spins like a little tornado and doesn't stop moving. And then she woke up both mornings at 6am while the rest of the house was sleeping, which forced me to go out and take her for a walk, which was probably a good thing because I need the exercise. And my little energizer bunny was in a home that has beautiful paintings, dishes and many other "no ma'am items", so there was A LOT of me chasing her around. Needless to say, I was ready for a nice long nap by Sunday.

We did enjoy some great food and company, as well as a visit to the ocean, which Mary-Michael couldn't get enough of once she got over her fear of the waves. That only took about 5 minutes, and then I realized why some parents leash their children, which I vowed I would never do (sorry if you're one of those parents).

We returned on Sunday around 8pm to a very well-rested husband who was able to play some softball and work around the house on the projects he wanted to work on (not ones on my honey-do list) while we were gone. And I can't end this without saying how blessed I am to be married to such a wonderful, well-respected and generous man who loves me even when I'm not that loveable. And not only that, he loves and cares for our daughter in a way that I know will positively impact her life and the decisions she makes in a way that only a Daddy can. Already, I can see what a special place he holds in her heart as she pretends to talk on the phone to Daddy and heads to the door when the dogs bark while saying "Da" because she hopes it is him coming down the driveway. Thank you for loving us darlin!


A group photo attempt with the timer on my camera. It's clear I need some practice but photoshop will do in the meantime.


Aunt Barb, M&M and my Dad heading to the ocean.


My beach baby.

Lately

The start of summer is always fun and always busy around our household, and this year is no exception. Here's what we've been up to.


This girl loves the water!


Sprinkler time with Nonnie!


A visit from Faith, one of my favorite UVA pals who I don't get to see enough!


But we always love when we do get to see her, and she's always so generous and brings presents!


The three recent additions to our farm - 3 pregnant cows! We invested in them with a friend, and while they're not staying with us yet becaue we lack fencing we're hoping to bring the babies over next Spring. Ever seen a cow being born?! I haven't, and I'm kind of excited...


Grandma and Grandpa came to play this weekend and watch Daddy and Uncle Kam play softball. If you can't tell by the picture we were all glistening (aka sweating).


Watching the game with Grandpa.


Loving on my Daddy in between games.


More water time (and yet another new suit - thanks Mimi!) at Micah's 4th birthday party.

River Fun

Snuggling with Aunt Lem (Emily).


While most of her time was spent playing in the sand, we did get Mary-Michael out in the water for a few minutes so we could get a picture in her new suit.


1 - 2 - 3 Jump...Uncle Geoff? Why am I jumping alone?


That was a rotten trick Uncle Geoff! (says Micah)


Sherry Lee, may I see that ball?


Thank you. (we haven't learned about sharing yet)