3.7 miles today

Yep, that's what we walked @ Riverside park. What an accomplishment, and boy, did we feel good afterwards. Well, not TOO good b/c we made some fudge a few nights ago. rats. To our credit, we shared with our pastor and his wife. phew.

Thank you, Christy, for putting a new pic of me and baby girl up!! Pretty soon, we'll need a new one. As hot as it was today, that snow is sure to melt:-) I do wish I had some sort of computer skills. I can type a mean letter on MWord, but that's about it.

I had horrible time today making fish. I bought some cod and thought I could accomplish great things by baking it. Not so. Let's just say that we ended up having cereal for lunch, and we were very happy to do so. Jody hugged me and said I was a good cook, etc. So, that made me feel lots better.

I got an invite tonight. Hooray. I'm not quite sure yet what all it will entail, but with CC and my parents and Mikayla, it's bound to be a blast. I'll have to give an update after then fun ends. I know everyone's itching to know more.

I'm off to get some housework, reading, and resting done. Probably in that order.

"I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me."
-Proverbs 8:17

ps. Misty, if you're reading this, please tell Mike it's time for a new memory verse

Almost 7 years!

On Monday, Jody and I will have been married for 7 years. What a complete privilege to have such a wonderful man to be my husband. I thank the Lord a million times over for the honor to be his wife!! We celebrated today by enjoying an outing to Abilene, where we had a yummy Mexican meal, went to Target, and the mall. It was an extremely enjoyable time. My sweet mommy and dad watched our Mikayla. sigh. They took such good care of her:)

And while celebrating our marriage, we also celebrate the birth of our nephew Ian Gregory Ledbetter. What a boy he is!! He'll be 5! on Monday, and he'll be starting school this year. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! It doesn't seem too long ago that I saw him enter this world. He's SUCH a joy. I always tell him that he's my favorite Ian Gregory Ledbetter EVER. I think he likes that. His mommy sometimes tells him that he's special, and he says, I know, Aunt Sarah always tells me that. Yay:)

THANK YOU, sweet sweet ladies for your kindness, prayers, and all you've done for us. We got a very pretty plant from the florist today with NO SIGNATURE, which reads:

As you mourn and rejoice over
Jada's brief life, we pray
that God's peace will rule in
your hearts.
We love you

That was so beautifully put. It definitely made me cry for happiness- that somebody would think of us so lovingly. I'd better hurry and post this before it kicks me offline. We've had a most blessed day and we thank the Lord for that!

ps. We ordered a mother's ring today- should be coming in the mail in 2-3 weeks. It means so much to me that Jody would want to do that for me.

Jada Dodson

That's the name we've given to our baby. I love it. In Hebrew it means "He knows." No middle name, just Jada. Somehow naming our baby was bittersweet (mosty just sweet). My mom gave us the suggestion and we both loved it. It can be a boy or girl name, which is really neat, we thought.

Thank you all for your love and prayers. Today went better than I could've imagined. I got to the hospital @ 6:15 and left around 10:45. The nurses were great, actuall pretty comical at times, and Dr. Neel was fantastic. I remember NOTHING, praise the LORD! I don't say that lightly. I'm extremely grateful for that. Other than a few mild cramps, I feel really good.

It's been a good day of closure; a day to be thankful for the opportunity to be blessed with a second pregnancy. Our hearts have already begun healing. The Lord is good to us. Another blessing is that the Lord's blessed me with very good sleep. How could I ask for more? And my husband has taken the whole week off:)

It was pretty sad this morning. I told Grace that I needed her here to fix my hair the same way she fixed it when I had Mikayla. but Jody did it for me (pigtails). (Grace and family might be coming this weekend for a short visit- yay!) And Jody wore the same outfit he wore when our first was born. Also bittersweet.

The Lord HAS given peace and great comfort. Before we left the hospital one of the nurses asked if we needed a grievance counselor. I politely declined, but I should've told her that I've already been helped( and will continue to be helped) by The Couselor- my precious Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Hope you are all doing well. Much Love.

Psalm 57:1

Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me:
for my soul trusteth in thee:
yea, in the shadow of thy wings I will make my refuge,
until these calamities be overpast.

This is a verse that Mikayla's Aunt Laura shared with me and Joseph today, and I thought I'd share it as well. What an appropriate and wonderful verse it is. Of course it's not a "new" verse, but it's interesting the verses you can tend to overlook, and then when the time is right, it becomes precious to you. Thank you, Laura D!

I think you all know by now that I've officially had a miscarriage. In the morning I have a D&C scheduled @ Brownwood hospital at 6:15am. I'm SO thankful to be getting this done in such a timely manner. That is indeed an answer to prayer! Thank you all for your prayers and for the love shown to me (and my family) at this time. It's unreal to be shown kindness in so many ways. I'm in awe of how the Lord's been using others to help and encourage.

We're doing pretty good. Like my sweet mommy told me today, our babies are in God's hands. And Lord willing, someday we'll meet the ones we never got to meet on earth. The Lord does ALL things well and whatever He chooses is perfect. It's such a wondrous thing to be able to rest in that.

Hope you are all doing well. I appreciate so much the comments left on my previous post. Good night, dear ladies.

No heartbeat seen

I had mentioned in my previous post that I was hoping to see a heartbeat today at my first appt. Well, I didn't. I'm estimated to be 10 weeks along, but the baby measured 6 weeks, 5 days. With no heartbeat. That means one of two things. I'm either not near as far along as I'd thought OR we've lost our little baby. It saddens my heart to type that, but that's the reality of it. It's been a hard day, but a good day. Every day the Lord gives is good.

My dearest friend Christy SO kindly watched our Mikayla today while we were gone over 3 hours. While it's been a hard day, I've experienced several acts of love and kindess. It's wonderful. And I've fallen in love all over again with the beautiful daughter the Lord's so graciously blessed us with. To see my husband in pain is not an easy thing.

"The Lord will give strength unto his people;
the Lord will bless his people with peace."
(not sure where it's found)

That's the verse the Lord has brought to my heart during this time. After my appt, they sent me to the hospital to give blood so they can measure the "pregnancy hormone", I guess is what it's called. I'll go back on Monday morning and they'll take blood again and compare. If the number has stayed the same or decreased, it's a pretty sure thing we've lost the baby. So, we'll see . I don't mean to sound pessimistic, but I'm not too hopeful, and maybe I need to be. Just looking at that sonogram screen and seeing no movement spoke volumes to me.

The thing that gives me a little hope is that I've not had pains/cramping/bleeding or the likes. The Lord knows and He does all things well. I prayed this morning before the appt that if it wasn't the Lord's will for this baby to l ive, that He'd show me and help me. He's been good to me today. I thank Him for the great grace He gives in comforting my hurting heart. I just want to rest in his will quietly. I don't want to ask "why?". I don't think that's for us to know.

When I know the results on Monday or Tuesday, I'll give an update. Either way I want to be thankful and fall more in love with my Lord and my family. Thank you for your love and prayers.

My heart is sad

I just read a blog this evening that made me cry. A woman who struggles/struggled with infertility (sorry I'm not good at links) lost her little baby. I feel for her so much. She had a sonogram yesterday and saw no heartbeat. That is incredibly sad to me!

My first appt is Friday and I'm hoping to see a heartbeat. It seems strange to be pregnant and read of others who no longer are. I feel so sad for them and for others of you who read this who have experienced the same thing. I don't know that kind of pain. But I know it would truly HURT to go through that. She has a wonderful testimony of clinging to Christ in her pain. How I admire that.

I had intended to post something totally different, but after reading her post, it seems quite petty/insignificant. I AM thankful that I can pray for this dear, hurting lady, who I don't even know. That's the awesome thing about it.

A Vera Wang mattress

What is that all about?? A new Serta Vera Wang mattress. Hmmm.. I'm sure it's well worth the added cost, just to have her name on it.

AND what's with Cinderella 3? Just when you think the story is over, they add an extra "element." I don't get it. I'm glad they've not done that with Beauty and the Beast (or have they?)- the very best Disney movie. I mean, what more can be said?!

Enough of that. I had a special day with my sweet family. We even got out (yes, outside!) and took a family walk. Mikayla is hilarious when we take walks with her. She's SO sober looking and then we'll get in front of her and say HI! and smile and she'll give a huge smile. Then it's back to the walk and the sober look. It's great. Makes me smile just thinking about it. :)

And I got to watch my friend Reva play in a basketball game. I think it was her last game of the season; I'm so proud of my friend:) And she SCORED. More than once! Gooo.... Reva!

Then my parents had me over for a yummy dinner of pork chops, mashed taters and corn. And delicious hot chocolate with a little ice cream in it. Very good! It might not seem like it goes together, but believe me (and my mom and dad!) it's good.And it cools it off quite nicely. Especially when it's boiling. THANKS, MA!

And tell me this one thing. Why is it easier to blog than clean our bathroom?? Unreal. Well, it's almost time for my lovebug to come home. Now THAT'S when the fun starts. :) I guess when we go to bed, we'll have to settle for our back beauty mattress, which works out perfectly well for us!

The heaven and heaven of heavens

I love it. I'm reading through the Bible in 90 days, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. When Solomon dedicated the temple to the Lord, he says:

"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?" -1 Kings 8:27

Such good stuff! What an awesome/huge/wonderful God we serve. And to think- he loves ME?? Yes! Totally humbling thought...

I'm enjoying this pregnancy and am really feeling it right now. The mere thought of food makes me feel quite ill. For some reason, the evenings are worse. Will have my first appt on Friday- definitely looking forward to that! :)

I loved reading your comments, ladies, about the kind of police you are. What a hoot! I can definitley relate to some of those. :) Thanks for sharing.

I hope you all have a good week. Tomorrow morning, I'm off to the dentist. It won't hurt my feelings for THAT appt to be over with. ha! Good night.

ps. I just HAD to have a new post; my previous one was starting to grow mold, seriously! Ok, not really:)