3am. Beach trip highlights.

Yes, it is 3 am at my house.
I should be tired, but I'm not sleeping.
This baby is most active between 1-2am! Somtimes later.


I have a doctor's appointment at 10am.
Hopefully I wont be a total zombie.


I am somewhat nervous about my weight gain, because we ate allllll kinds of junk food during our vacation. It's difficult for me to watch the scale keep on rising.... I know that I'm pregnant, and that it's for a good cause, but it still kind of concerns me. I've always been careful about my weight, and it's just hard for me to let go of that.


The first 2 days of our trip were just perfect. Weather was great for playing on the beach/pool, splashing in the water, and flying kites, and Mike got plenty of use out of the hot tub. We all survivied the tropical storm that hit the NC coast last week. Even the house remained intact (minus one small piece of siding!), though the wind and rains got really rough. At times, it felt like we were sleeping in a boat instead of a house! We took some cool pictures and videos of the flooding and storm damage. Friday-Sunday were sunny again, but still not very warm.

Hannah was an incredibly well-behaved girl. She loved doing absolutely everything.... except playing in the sand (why does she hate getting dirty?!). Her favorite things to do were play mini-golf, which was a completely new experience for her, and eat ice cream.

I also got some quailty time with my SIL, which was really nice. We compared dating stories, engagement stories, weddings, and pregnancies. It was fun to hear things from her point of view, instead of just getting our husband's opinions. We also talked about what it will be like next year, with two new infants.

Later in the week, we got to hang out with another couple from college that we hadn't seen in years and years! It made us look forward to our college reunion even more - which is coming up in just two weeks!

We didn't get home until 11pm last night. I spent all of Monday unpacking, doing laundry, and trying to create order in our household again. Hannah needs a re-vamped bedtime; she's been staying up waaay too late for her own good!

To entertain you, here are some pictures from our trip:

Our Miracle Baby

You know that sunday school song about Noah and the ark? Well, it's been stuck in my head all day long!!!

"Who built the ark? Noah, Noah! Who built the ark? Brother Noah built the ark!"
I don't know why it keeps floating around in my head; I haven't heard it in years. But it's getting to be downright annoying!

Ironically, "Noah" was the boy name that we picked out during my first pregnancy. I still love it, but Mike isn't so convinced anymore.

When my mom was here last week, she looked at my tummy and said "Look how big you are already. You're not gonna last another three months, that's for sure. And I think it's a boy. You're carrying differently than you did with Hannah." When she looked at the ultrasound pictures, she also declared "I really think this baby is a boy." Even though every single picture is from the waist up.

Meanwhile, my bellybutton is teetering on the edge between "innie" and "outie" these days. It wont be too long before it just pops!

Mike said something really sweet the other day. We were comparing my first pregnancy with this one, talking about how clueless we were as first-time parents. And the nickname we gave to Hannah in utero, and as an infant, was "Baby Surprise". Well, in light of all the losses I went through last year, Mike dubbed this one "Baby Miracle". It was so sweet of him, to think of it like that. Because I know that this pregnancy truly is a miracle, an amazing gift from God! And I think that "Miracle Baby" is a much more fitting name than "number two" or "Baby H____" (our last name), or "acrobat" or "New Baby", which is what I've usually called him/her.

So, Miracle Baby, will you be a boy or a girl? Everyone wants to know!

Hannah really wants to have a baby sister.
I will be perfectly happy either way.
I'm just content in the fact that you and I are both healthy! :)


It's exciting, to think that we will be a family of four by the end of the year.

MOPS

We had our first MOPS meeting tonight. THREE New moms! I was very pleased and super-excited to make new friends. They all said they were incredibly grateful for the fellowship, and the chance to have some adult conversation.

Thank you Lord, for this great opportunity to reach families with young children.

Now I am exhausted, and after I take a shower, Im going to fall into bed.

Hannah is sick

Mom was visiting is this weekend. She drove home yesterday. When she arrived back in Maryland, there were over 30 people at her house for dinner, for my father's birthday!


My dad has drastically changed his diet and has stopped drinking alcohol altogether. I'm really impressed with the changes he's made. He really wants to stay healthy for a long time to come.


Hannah has been congested and coughing a LOT. No fever, she just sounds horrible. Yesterday, cold medicine helped. But she woke up several times last night, having trouble breathing in her sleep. Now she's wheezing! This morning, I let her lay in bed until 10:30am (hey, I was tired too!).
I'm having trouble getting her a doctor's appointment; we might have to wait until tomorrow. That's what I get for procrastinating. I hope it's not pneumonia!


Mike started taking sleeping pills a few days ago, because he just can't sleep more than a few hours at a time. I feel so bad for him. His work schedule is really wearing him down. He worked 2 overtime shifts this weekend. He has already worked eight days in a row, and he won't get another day off until we leave for our beach trip on Saturday! I think these shift changes are really burning him out.

Sept 11. Mom visiting.

When we left our house on Sept 11th, the radio announced a "moment of silence" and we noticed all the flags flying at half-mast. Hannah was curious. So this is how I explained September 11th to my three year old: "Today we are remembering something sad that happened a long time ago, before you were born."
That's was the best way I could think of telling her without getting too political or detailed. I'm sure that as Hannah gets older, she will understand more, and have more questions. But I think that is sufficient for now.

Thursday was a looong day, I was running on just four hours of sleep, and we were babysitting for almost ten hours. Then Mike left his wallet at home, and at 7pm, when we were exhausted and hadnt even eaten dinner yet, we had to drive out to the ambulance base and deliver it to him. Then my mother drove down from Maryland, and got to our house just as we finished dinner.... at 9pm. Ugh.
I was so wiped out. I was just so drained that all I wanted to do was sit on the couch and cry until I fell asleep. But moms don't get to do things like that until everything else is finished and the kids are asleep.

We are having so much fun with YoMa here!

Tomorrow we have nursery duty at church, then lunch and a planning meeting for Awana, which starts next week. My MOPS group starts on Tuesday; I'm excited because I know that I wont be the only one there this time! Yay! Thank You God for mommy friends!

Nicole