Elmo, Birthdays, and More!

We have had a fun couple of weeks as we've attempted to fit everything in before the baby comes!  Jared and I wanted to do something special with the kids before we become a family of five, so we got tickets to Sesame Street Live in Dallas.  Julia and Kai are obsessed with Elmo ("Melmo!").  I don't know what it is, but they loved Elmo before they even watched a single episode of Sesame Street.  They have Elmo summer shirts and Julia used to drag hers out of the hamper so that she could wear it again and again!  Kai loves looking at his Elmo characters on his diapers, which actually makes diaper changing time much smoother!
As we got ready for Sesame Street Live to begin, we were thinking that the kids would love it or they would be completely terrified of giant monsters on the stage.  Well, they ended up loving it!  They sat mesmerized for over 1 1/2 hours.  They clapped, yelled "Melmo!" and said "bye" everytime a character left the stage.  It was a success right until the time to leave came.  That was a long trip home!

The following week, we celebrated my 30th birthday.  The kids and I enjoyed some shopping and lunch.  Then Jared and I ventured away from the suburbs and went to a nice dinner in Dallas followed by a huge Ben & Jerry's ice cream cake creation.  I'm noticing that the day's highlights were food and family, a few of my favorite things!  

I was remembering this week of a silly dream that I have had since I was in highschool/college.  As I thought ahead and dreamed of my future, I told myself that I would be so happy to be married to the man of my dreams and have three children (or be pregnant with my third) by my 30th birthday.  Even though it was just a fascination, and one that I would never believe could have been true just 2 1/2 years ago, I am so thankful that the Lord has given me more than I could ever "ask or imagine!" 

As we realize what God has entrusted us with, we are reminded of how dependent we are on Him as we raise our children.  Now that the baby stage is almost over with Kai and Julia we have been faced with a lot of discipline and character issues as we try to "shape" them into people who love the Lord and bring delight to Him.  We pray for a lot of grace!

Speaking of children, we are looking forward to meeting baby #3 this coming Friday!  We have scheduled a c-section for the 18th, which is just four days shy of 40 weeks.  The doctor and nurses are surprised that I have made it this far.  Praise the Lord!  I have actually loved being pregnant and will be sad that the pregnancy is over.  It is such a special experience that I am so thankful to have.  Besides not being able to sleep well because of seasonal allergies and a very active baby, I have not been very uncomfortable.  But, I will be ready to meet him in just five short days!  Jared has been amazing as he has been preparing for the big day.  He has almost painted every room in the house and is now doing yard work outside.  He will be thinking that he's on vacation once the baby gets here!  I think that it's funny that Jared is disturbed by the thought of a living being living inside of me and doesn't like to watch and feel him move around, but he is totaly fine with watching the entire C-section and looks forward to it again.  Crazy! Unfortunately he only has 3-4 vacation days built up since starting his new job.  He will be able to take a few days off and then we'll be dependent on grandparents to make it through the next few weeks!

We will update the blog soon to introduce you to our new son!  Stay tuned........!

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."          -Ephesians 3:20-21