Just Showing Off

Matt and Dillon have been doing stained glass pieces. It has been so great for them to have this hobby together.
Matt is currently working on a 4 foot by 6 foot piece for the church, with another lady.
He is also doing custom orders for people. It's pretty cool.
Here are a couple things they just finished up.
Dillon made this eye for our pastor's wife. She is starting her ophthalmology residency this year.


Matt made this for the same person. I wish the picture were better, because it is an amazing piece.

Big day yesterday

Yesterday was quite the day.
First of all, Matt got Lasik done. He had a hard time of it. The doctor said he has bigger than normal pupils. He had a really hard time with the brightness afterwards, even with sunglasses, but that seems to be getting better today. Poor thing woke up with a bad back today so he is in more pain in his back than his eyes.
Good news is, he is 20/20 in one eye and 20/15 in the other. Once the brightness issue goes away this will be well worth it for him.
I'm happy for him because he really hated wearing contacts or glasses.
Then in the afternoon, I had an appointment with the perinatalogist.
The tech came in and did the ultra sound and it was awful. The picture wasn't clear at all. I did find out that I have an anterior placenta, which means the placenta is in between the baby and my belly button, as opposed to being between the baby and my spine. It has caused fewer movements to be felt. It's good to know, because honestly, it freaked me out.
The tech wasn't able to get a good look at the baby's face and the baby's legs were crossed again.
I was so upset and was nearly in tears. I told Matt that the ultra sounds were pointless at this point because we couldn't tell much about the heart, or the face, or even the gender.
Now, logically, I know that the reason they even do these ultra sounds is to check for blood flow. To make sure no blood clots are forming in the umbilical cord. But in my head, all I could think about was a fuzzy ultra sound and no news.
The doctor came in and I told her what I had been saying.
She was so kind.
She was able to get much clearer shots. She looked at the baby's face and all looks well there. She was also able to look closely at the heart. She saw two pulmonary veins that look to be draining in the right spot. She'll do a fetal echo at 28 weeks to look further, but as of right now, the heart looks good.
I really have no idea why I think we would repeat a defect, because we always just seem to get new different defects, never repeats. Still, I feel the need to know.
Then she was able to get the baby to move it's legs. She told us she was 90% certain we are having another girl. It was so funny because I asked Matt if that was a good enough percentage and he said, "it is for me!" This cracks me up because last time he would not believe that Emily was a girl.
It was so cute, all night he kept rubbing my belly saying, "we're having another little girl" We are both on cloud nine. We would have been just has happy with a boy, but think it will be so nice for Emmie to have a sister.
We wanted to do something special to tell the kids, so when we got home we baked a strawberry cake. We then frosted it white. They were so excited to see if the cake would be blue or pink. Everyone guessed right except Collin who really wanted a brother. They were so excited to cut the cake!
So good news all around yesterday! I could use more days like yesterday!

Warm Fuzzies

As you may or may not know, Matt and I are very involved in children's ministries in our church.
Matt leads the junior class and pathfinders. I float and cover for Kindergarten and Cradle Roll when the need arises and help lead Adventurers. Until this year, we were VBS directors.
We love being involved with the kids.
Today, a family gave us a card and a little gift (ok it was a big gift..one I am still shocked about) and thanked us for being such a good influence on their kids and that they appreciate us and all that we do.
Wow. Someone cares about what we do.
It makes us feel good!

I just have to say..

I have the BEST husband in the world. He doesn't read my blog, but I wanted everyone to know just how much I love him and how wonderful he is.
I have been having a really hard time the last couple of weeks. All sorts of things have been bothering me. And he has walked with me every step of the way to get through.
While someone we know would say, "you're just being an emotional woman," Matt hasn't said it or even thought it. I think. And I say that because he has specifically said how much it bugs him when said friend says that.
On the other side of all this stress I have no doubt that I will be a much stronger person. I always am. But going through it always really stinks.
So to his parents, thank you for giving me such a wonderful man to share my ups and downs with.
And to Matt, should you ever read this, I love you more than you can ever imagine. Thank you for being my very best friend.

All's right in the world

Matt is home. Where he belongs.
Safe and Sound.
Yes, things in our world are back to good!

I had such high hopes

It is two o'clock.
My beloved will be home at 11 o'clock tonight.
My house looks like it threw up.
Emmie is in a foul mood today and it is making it impossible to get anything done today.
Thank goodness he loves me for more than my housekeeping abilities!

Safe and sound

Matt just called me and he has arrived. Safe and sound.
He sounded so tired and frustrated. It was a long, long day of traveling for him. Most of it quite uncomfortable travel.
But he's there. And he's safe. And really, that's all that matters.
I already miss him so much. I'm such a loser. :-(

Doing the single mom thing

This morning we were up at 3 AM to drive Matt to the airport.
As I type this, he is on his way to Honduras. Far, far away from here.
He got to Miami to be told their flight to Honduras had been cancelled. When I talked to him, he was talking about the possibility of having to spend the night in Miami. The next time I talked to him, he was telling me they were getting ready to board the plane to Honduras. Only to a different town. Where they would then be bussed to the original destination.
We have already discussed another bus trip he will make while there (to the ruins) and how funny it would be if there were chickens and whatnot on the bus. So, I should hear by tonight how the bus system is in Honduras.
I told him I was going to lose five pounds while he was gone. He said he would too. I asked him if he meant from sweating so much, and he told me no. He said he would be too afraid to eat anything there! He's been told of their taste for guinea pig there. Since we've owned several piggies in the past, this turns our stomachs. Not that he'd want to eat a piggie anyway. So, he's nervous about what will be served in this foreign land.
He'll do great though.
When I met him, he had been on an airplane once, I think. And hadn't really traveled that much.
Since joining the military, he's become quite the world traveler! Too bad he doesn't bring us with him!
And so, for the next two weeks, I'm doing the single mom gig. At least it isn't like last time when he was gone for 8 weeks. We'll survive, somehow. Little Miss Em has been quite the handful the last couple of weeks. I'd like to think it's her teeth, but who really knows. I can feel the outline of one of her bottom molars, but I've felt it for weeks. The stupid thing will not come through. It may be getting close, because the last 3 days have been especially pleasant. Note the sarcasm! She has screamed so much that her little face gets red and splotchy. Something that hasn't happened for quite some time. And she pushes everything away from her. Her appetite has been low as well.
Oh the joys of being a baby! Poor thing.
I still have those great posts in my head, and sometime I'll get them out.
For now though, I'll leave you with a Collinism.
We've been going to the pool for several days since last week. The second day we were there, Collin kept asking me why it was deeper than last time. I was stumped. Nothing I said seemed to satisfy him.
Suddenly, he yelled, 'mommy!!! I know why it's deeper!!"
"you do?? Why??"
"Because I'm not standing on my tippie toes today!!"
Yep, that will do it!

Long time no post

I go through these times when I just feel I have nothing exciting to say.
This is one of those times.
Life is just truckin along, like it does.
Last Sunday, we had an impromtu birthday party for Emmie. I wanted it solely for the purpose of cake pictures.
Unfortunately, the girl is not into eating these days. She is, however, into nursing, all the time. But since being sick, she just hasn't been eating.
So, we sat her in her chair, gave her her own cake, and she stuck a finger in the frosting. She then tasted it, and squirmed to get out of her seat.
That was it. No devouring of cake like I wanted.
Zachy did this too. My first 3 just gobbled it down, but not these two.
I do have pictures, but haven't uploaded them.
The weather here has been wonderful. We've been taking walks in the evenings and just enjoying the Texas spring.
On Sunday, we plan on going to Six Flags. It should be fun. Especially now that Emmie is a walker! Too bad she hates shoes. She just takes after her mommy, I guess.
Next week is full of doctors appointments. Almost every day we have something. Matthew is getting a new appliance in his mouth on Monday, so that should be exciting.
Speaking of Matthew. He saw the glaucoma doc last week. His drop wasn't working to bring down his pressure. So he is now on a different drop. We are praying this one works. If it doesn't, we will add another drop and hope that works. If THAT doesn't work, they'll try surgery. But his eye is funky, so that might not work either. At that point, he will just go black blind. Right now, he can see shadows in his right eye, so is able to at least not run into things. Although, he still runs into lots of things on the right side! We're just hoping that the drops work. I remember when he was 2 weeks old and the pediatrician told us it looked like a cataract or glaucoma. I was so afraid it was glaucoma, and so relieved it was just a cataract. I had no idea I'd be dealing with BOTH! The thing that stinks the most about the glaucoma, is that it hurts him. He frequently complains of his eye hurting. Poor thing.
Oh yes, I almost forgot...we found out last week that Matt gets to go on a humanitarian mission trip to Honduras in June. He'll be there 2 weeks. I know he'll have a wonderful time. I can see mission work being right up his alley.
OK, Emmie is sitting here demanding my attention, so I'm off. Have a happy Easter.