Thursday, March 30, 2006

Not much to pen....

It's hard to believe that it's been an entire week sine Grandpa's surgery. What a roller coaster of emotions. It's almost like I've been living in an extended universe. Very odd. Grandpa is still here, although more than once, I thought for sure he was leaving. Not much to report, not much change. He is awake more now and knows who we are. My kids are very sad that they cannot see him. We wave at his window as we drive by. It's still very hard, but we continue to pray that God's will for his life will be revealed.

Nothing much else going on. This is the kid's last day of school before spring break. I for one am so excited about not having to get up and out the door every morning by 8 AM. Hallelujah. Maybe I can get caught up on laundry....We'll see :) I'm getting bigger by the day it seems. People have started making comments like, "Wow, you're really starting to pop out there!" Whatever, the stuff they are seeing isn't even baby, it's all of my other organs scrunching together. Ah well.

The sun is out and we are headed to the park, thank you God for Spring!!!

Friday, March 24, 2006

My spirit is tired, and sad. Here's what's going on.

Last weekend, my grandpa was sick. He couldn't keep anything in his stomach. So they did some tests and discovered that he had a bowel blockage, which turned out to be scar tissue from one of his 15 surgeries. They decided that yet another surgery was needed. Surgery for my grandpa is never a great idea, all the issues with his heart, etc. So they did the surgery, the doctor saying it would take 1-3 hours. 3 hours in, the doc calls and wants to talk to us. She comes out and says that the surgery was going great but she just happened to put her hand slightly lower and felt something. It turned out there was a tumor (she thought most likely malignant) in his colon. So her question was, do I remove it and all the pieces of the colon that I need to with the knowledge that he might have to have a colostomy bag??? Huge decision for my grandma who knows that his wishes are to NEVER have one of those. She says go ahead. The doctor (praise the Lord) is able to reattach the colon to the small intestine so no bag. However Grandpa has now been un der anesthetic for 6 1/2 hours.....not good. He came out of surgery great, everything looked good. Then his blood pressure crashed. Now they think he made have had a stroke, they can't keep him awake, he barely recognizes us.......

This is devastating for me. I mean, we've had him for a lot longer than we'd ever expected. But seeing a man whom I consider one of the strongest people I know, reduced to how he looks now...It's awful. Death is a natural part of life.....I'm just not ready to let go. I want so much for him to survive to see this baby, his namesake, his "Chip". Plus there's a million other things going on, so we're filling in with Noah so Mom and Dad can spend as much time as they need to at the hospital. Just feels so hopeless and sad......

So if you think of it, could you pray for my grandpa? That if this is his time, that the Lord will be working in our hearts and if it's not his time, that he would heal him?

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

I can't believe I'm doing this.....

So I've talked about the my housework abilities and the fact that during the first trimester I rarely can get anything done, the energy just escapes me. I think some of you thought, Oh I'm sure it's not that bad. Well Matt and I finally decided to dig out our bedroom from the months of grossness. We took all the laundry and just piled it in the kitchen. Here's what it looked like.....

This pile is probably as high as my stomach. And these are just the clothes from MY bedroom, that doesn't include anything from upstairs in the kid's rooms! So now my filth is posted for all the world to see.....yikes. So if you ever think you have a lot of laundry......Remember this!






oh my Posted by Picasa

Saturday, March 18, 2006

Well I'm back. After three longs days of fighting with SBC (the anti- Christ, I'm telling ya) and learning more code than they know and learning to speak Indian so I could communicate with the people there, I'm back. Turns out we had a hacker. Never a good thing. But today I finally demanded to speak to someone who 1. spoke English and 2. knew what the heck they were doing. And we fixed it. come to find out our online security had expired and the hacker knew that....ugh. So there we are.

Nothing much new to report around here. Sydney was sick again the beginning of the week, but is now recovering. She has slammed into the terrible twos and is dissolving into a whiner, God help us all. Had another parent teacher conference at Jonah's school. They tested him for a learning disability, but he does not have one. His IQ is average. Thank the Lord. So the speech gal is going to do some language testing to see if he qualifies to have some special time with her twice a week where she could help him more one on one with his letters and reading. His math and science scores are off the charts, however. And his teacher said that unless things take a very bad turn, he will go on to second grade. So all around, a good meeting. We go on Monday to register Emma for pre-K. Wow, three kids in school, that'll be different.

I hit 12 weeks this past Wednesday, and I'm feeling slightly better. Not quite as tired all the time. I get so sleepy at about 11:30 AM, so our schedule goes like this. I get Molli off the bus at 11:50, everyone has lunch, Sydney goes down for her nap, the girls pick a movie and snuggle up to rest and watch a movie while Mom hits the lazy boy and passes out for about an hour. It's really great and has helped me make it through the day. Thankfully the girls understand. Emma says, (everyday!) "Mama, you sleep now. The baby makes you tired. We'll be good." LOL, she cracks me up.She, above all the other kids, is fascinated with me being pregnant. She talks to my stomach all the time, and she can't do it through my clothes, you know. Oh no, we have to lift the shirt all the way up! (we've talked about that this CANNOT happen at Wal-Mart again!) Too funny.

Well I guess I had a little more to talk about. Hehe, that's what happens when I can't get to my blog for a few days.

Monday, March 13, 2006

Friday, March 10, 2006

Again, my apologies for my absence, we are definitely on the upswing, I hit twelve weeks this coming Wednesday. HALLELUJAH!!!! Finally my life can resume some normalcy.

I'm sitting here consumed in thought. We got a phone call from my cousin and his wife the other day. She's expecting as well, due in July. They went in for their 20 week ultrasound and the baby has severe spina bifida. Please pray for them, this is their first child and they are crushed. They've been told that the baby might not even survive to be born. They are not believers, which is our ultimate prayer. I seriously don't know how people who don't have the Lord cope with devastations like this!!

Of course this has made me constantly rub my belly and pray for our little guy. Ultimately he is the Lord's hands and I have to trust that God's ways and his thoughts are higher than mine......

On to other things, I in the midst of packing as Matt and I get a mini retreat this weekend. There's a church ministries conference in Grand Rapids that we are attending. The kids are headed to Grandma and Grandpa Kurtz's overnight as we get to stay in a hotel.....ALONE!!! The kids are so excited about the time with Grandma Grandma Kurtz (as Molli calls them) and we are excited about a little time away, even though it's a conference.

Speaking of which time to fold laundry and finish packing!!

Monday, March 06, 2006

Very busy weekend. Saturday was Sydney's birthday...hard to imagine that she is two already!!! It was so beautiful here on Saturday, sunny and 40 so we headed out. We went to Kellogg Forest and hiked a little bit. Jonah gave us the laugh of the week as we were driving. He spotted a pair of fake deer in someone's yard. (sidenote: Jonah is obsessed with deer and hunting since his father told him that they could go someday!!) "Mom!!!", he yells. "There's a buck and a.....a.....a.......WOMAN deer!!" We laughed and laughed about that one! Then we headed to the Bird Sanctuary. It was so much fun. I took a video of Sydney dragging her bucket of corn while being followed by 25 ducks!!! I can't figure out how to post it on here so ah well! Trust me, it was priceless!! Then we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's (my parents) where we did more outside and then took another walk. The kids were so excited to just be out of doors! Hurry Spring!

Then it was time for our Dora party. My very talented friend made another masterpiece cake which Syd was thrilled with! Dinner followed by cake, ice cream and presents rounded out the day. The kids were falling asleep by 7 PM after being outside most of the day. It was a great day.

Below are a few of the highlights, check them out!!

Molli wearing Sydney's new backpack Posted by Picasa

Noah with a ponytail Posted by Picasa

Then things got very silly.... Posted by Picasa

more presents Posted by Picasa

Yes, more Dora movies and a Diego one as well Posted by Picasa

Sydney and her Dora cake, again made by Mindy!! Posted by Picasa

hiking Posted by Picasa

Sydney and Daddy Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Baby Kurtz













So here he is ("he" being wishful thinking, we can't tell yet) I was really nervous going in. I was so worried that I would get there and they would tell me that the baby's heart wasn't beating or something awful. So imagine my relief as she turned the screen towards me and there he was, kicking his tiny legs and swinging his arms. Even though this is my fifth pregnancy it is still miraculous to me to see that little person in there, growing and forming. What a cool God we have!! I'm right on schedule, 10 weeks today. Thanks for the prayers for strength......Monday I finally found the kitchen! Praise the Lord! Now, if I could just find the laundry......

Not much else to report.....More later!