"Mama Said There'll Be Days Like These..."

So today has been a beating. Anna Lee woke up this morning in a very excited and/or agitated mood. She spent all morning either very happy or very upset. It was draining. Seriously, how many fits can one little person throw within an hour? It was like she was trying to set a record. Jim was there too, and at one point he came in and threw his hands up saying, "I am done with her." He was throwing in the towel. I completely understood.

Anna Lee and I went to her music class, where we had a lot of fun together. On our way home, I decided to run into Central Market to grab a sandwich. In hindsight, I should have gone through a drive-thru. Anna Lee is usually extremely obedient and sweet, even when we are out in public. Well, not today. She thought she would play a new game with me to make me run after her and then yell "No!" when I caught her. The new game made me look like the greatest mom ever. So I finally had had enough. I left my cart, took her into the bathroom and spanked her bottom. I kept wondering if the lady in the next stall was going to call CPS on me. Well, it turns out I should have let Anna Lee use the bathroom in the stall instead of spanking her. As soon as we left and went back to the deli, I looked down and Anna Lee was standing in a puddle of urine. She said, "Oh no, my Zoe panties are wet." And everything else!!!

There was a really sweet lady in the deli who came gave me towels to clean up the mess. I felt lots of eyes on me. The people around me were either feeling sorry for me... or wondering why I was crazy enough to have a second kid!

Anyone else had days like these?

Thankful

Well, we had a bit of a scare yesterday with J.D. Everything thankfully is ok. But it was a strange day. Yesterday morning, I mentioned to Jim that I hadn't felt J.D. move very much. He usually kicks around a lot in the morning, some in the afternoon, and a lot at night. Throughout every day, though, I feel random movements and kicks. Not yesterday. I pushed on him around 10 am, and finally got him to kick me back once.

Jim left yesterday afternoon to go to a meeting and dinner at ACU in Abilene. Anna Lee and I were planning on having a fun evening together. Around 4:30, I got very concerned that I hadn't felt J.D. move at all since that one kick at 10:00. So I pushed on him, went to lie down, drank something, pushed on him some more, etc. Nothing. It was very strange.

I called my doctor, who I expected to say, "Go try doing this," or "Wait a while and see if he is just asleep," but she didn't say that. She was very serious on the phone, and said that if I really hadn't felt him move except that one time all day, I needed to go straight to Labor and Delivery immediately. Well, needless to say, I freaked out. I tried calling a million people, and no one would answer their phones. My sweet friend Abbe called me right back, and was exactly what I needed. She came immediately over to take care of Anna Lee for me while I went to the hospital...crying all the way. I was so scared that they were not going to find a heartbeat.

My wonderful sister, Kasey, met me at the hospital (after she had had a really long day at a competition with her kids from school), and I was trying really hard to hold it together. They put a monitor on my belly and soon were able to find a heartbeat. I cannot explain the joy I felt at that moment. J.D. immediately started hiccupping. I LOVED it. Apparently all he needed to move around yesterday was for me to squirt some of that cold gel on my tummy. If I had only known.

Yesterday made me thankful for so many things. Most obvious, I am thankful for our sweet baby boy. I think yesterday made everything seem a bit more real...that we are going to have a new little person with us in just 8 weeks! I am thankful for his health, for his life, and for every little movement I feel him make now. I was thankful that I had a sweet husband who was willing to climb back in the car after just arriving to Abilene, and drive a million miles an hour to come home to me, whether something was wrong or not. He knew I needed him. I was also thankful for the overwhelming help I got yesterday from friends and family. By the time I got home from the hospital, Anna Lee had gotten to play with our sweet next door neighbor and her two kids, my wonderful friend Abbe and her baby Avery, my sister's boyfriend Justin, who we love so much, and her grandparents, who had driven all the way here to help me. In addition, I didn't have to be alone at the hospital. Since Jim was out of town, Kasey came to be with me...good news or bad. While I was there, I got texts from Jim's family that they were all praying for J.D.

We are so blessed. And yesterday made me remember that. I couldn't stop saying prayers of thanksgiving as I went to sleep yesterday. Thank you, Lord, for all you have given us.

A Lot of Love from a Little Sweetheart

Anna Lee had a great Valentine's Day and week! Besides spending all week working on her valentines, (I have seen enough glitter to last me a lifetime!) we got to have a fun party with her friends and have visits from both of her sets of grandparents. She had so much fun! Jim and I even got to go out on a really nice date on Saturday night thanks to Mom-Mom and Grandad. We know those nights are going to be few and far between in a few months! We hope all of you had a great Valentine's weekend!

2 Year Portraits

Anna Lee had her 2 year portraits made last weekend.

Here are some of our favorites.

I wish the photographer had thought about using a different colored background on these. I am not big on having "belly pictures"...I don't really even like having my picture taken while I am pregnant at all. But Anna Lee is so sweet when she talks to J.D. We can't wait to see how she acts with him when she can actually see him!

I had to have a picture of her curl. There is just one...but it is growing. We will get her hair cut for the first time soon, so I wanted evidence of her first little curl.

Here is a picture from 2 years ago exactly... It is amazing how much she has grown up in such a short time. There are no words to describe how thankful we are for our sweet girl.

Iced In

Last week, we had a pretty bad ice storm hit Dallas. Schools were closed, roads were closed, and we were basically shut in the house for a couple of days. My mom had been in town the weekend before just for fun, and I was so excited she got iced in with us! It made the week so much more fun! Despite the awful weather, Jim was having to work crazy hours-- and Mom-Mom, as Anna Lee calls her, was exactly what Anna Lee and I both needed for a week stuck at home. Mom and I spent so much time talking, and Anna Lee and Mom spent enormous amounts of time playing, reading books, and watching princess movies. Thanks for coming, Mom! We would love to be iced in with you anytime!

(Gotta love the random little guy who wanted to ride the train with them...and posed for the picture with them too!)