Celebrating Both Babies Today

Today was an exciting day for me and Landis.  We had a chance to hear great news about both of our babies - Luke and baby #2.  Our day began at our 16 week check up for baby #2.  As expected, all is well.  The baby's heartbeat was 140 bpm.  My blood pressure, pee pee, bloodwork, etc. was right on track with nothing to worry about.  I've gained 4 pounds since my last visit (which would be a total of 7 up to this point) - not too bad, right?  My next appointment will be the 20 week milestone - we will have our anatomy ultrasound and will get to find out that much awaited news - boy or girl.  That appointment is scheduled for June 6th so we are beginning the 4 week countdown.

As I drove away from the doctor's office, I took the time to talk with God to thank Him for a healthy pregnancy and growing miracle.  I never want to just go through the motions of the pregnancy without taking the time to realize what a beautiful miracle it is and to take the time to think about how thankful I am that Jesus is already protecting this little baby growing inside of me. I continue to be amazed daily at my heavenly Father's love and His outpouring of blessings upon us.

After leaving the doctor, I took a Mommy break and stopped by the nail salon for a little relaxing time and then I headed to Luke's preschool for his end of the year parent/teacher conference. Landis and I were thrilled to hear Ms. Lisa say that Luke is doing great developmentally.  Matter of fact, he is advanced in his language skills and self help skills.  Ms. Lisa says that he is also right on track with his social and emotional development.  She told us that he is like a little sponge when they do learning activities as well as when they learn scriptures and read the Bible. Ms. Lisa told us that he listens to his teachers and is kind to his classmates.  Sometimes he doesn't want to sing the songs that the class sings but as soon as he sees everyone else singing, he joins right in.  Surprisingly, Ms. Lisa claims to never see the stubborn side of his personality or his little attitude that he can sometimes show. We said, "Thank goodness" and, of course, are very proud of our little treasure.  You know, like any 3 year old, Luke does and says things that are not good choices - sometimes I even wonder where he picks up the  the things that he does but then when I hear great reports like we did today, I'm reminded - Luke is just a child testing his boundaries and thank goodness, he seems to test them at home and not with everyone else. Maybe those battles that Daddy and I make a point to win at home are working - he applies the good choices when it's crunch time.  :)  My prayer is that Luke continues to get similar reports (as the one we heard today) each school year. As an educator myself, I was quite proud to be sitting in the parent seat today - quite proud!  :)

And, finally, I have to tell this story just because I like to make fun of myself....after our busy day, Luke and I came home.  It was such a gorgeous day that, of course, Luke wanted to stay outside and mow. Landis has been playing golf and guitars (away from home) A LOT so....the back yard needed mowing desperately and the front yard could use a touch up. I decided that I would just take care of this mowing thing on my own while Luke was playing outside.  I began by using the push mower in the back yard but oh no....that didn't work - the grass was much too high. I moved on to Plan B - I decided to attempt to ride Landis' HUGE zero turn lawn mower (you know the kind that has no steering wheel - only these bars that you use to go and turn). Well, I'm not a good driver of anything that HAS a steering wheel so why did I think I could drive something that has some other kind of fancy steering device??? Well, stubborn me thought I could.  I had my dad show me how to crank it and work the blade and then I began mowing (and my dad went back to work). Before leaving for work, Dad said, "I wish I had a camera to watch this because I have a feeling something out of the ordinary is going to happen." Well, within 20 minutes of Dad leaving, he was proven right....

There is a huge mud hole in the very back of our yard - it's actually like a mud ditch - the same one that you might have seen Luke get stuck in on videos. I knew I needed to stay away from this ditch so that I didn't get stuck so I honestly tried; HOWEVER, I wasn't so good at steering this fancy lawn mower and before I knew it, I had accidentally steered myself RIGHT into the mud ditch - there I was on this huge lawn mower, Luke watching in amazement, as the wheels on the lawn mower spin and spin and spin.  "Oh my gracious!" I say - "This is a disaster," Luke says! :)  Yes, indeed, son - a disaster.  Landis was nowhere close to being home and my dad was still at work so for about an hour, I tried with all my strength and brains to get myself out of the mud. I used pieces of wood under the wheels, I tried shoveling my way out - all to no avail.  Finally, my dad came back home and I reluctantly shared the bad news with him.  After he laughed with me for a minute and said a small, "I told you so" he used all his Daddy strength to get me out of the mud!!!! I was so thankful and very muddy!  :)

Luke enjoyed watching all this transpire and found himself quite muddy too. And, after that, I stuck with the push mowing IN THE FRONT YARD - I left the back yard mowing to my dad.  :)

So...it's been quite a day....I've taken care of baby #1, baby #2, had an ounce of relaxation at the nail salon, mowed the lawn, AND did a quick wash of my car (at the car wash - LOL!).  It might not have been the most relaxing day but it sure was a day worth journaling about - aren't you glad you stopped by?? :)  (Made you smile, didn't I?)

And...now, I'm heading to the sack - I'm tired from my head to my toes.  Looking forward to a good night's rest and one more day of work this week!  :)

Thanks for checking in,
Toddy