Last words

I've been reading (off/on) a book called All the Last Words of Saints and Sinners by Lockyer. It's SUCH a good book and as you can imagine- very sobering. I would highly recommend it to anybody. ( I believe it's my mom's book) I want to share an excerpt that I liked.

Constantina Bellone was a martyr of Roman Catholicism. Because she refused to go to mass, a priest ordered slices of flesh to be cut from various parts of her body. Finally the priest ordered a company of musketeers to fire upon her, and as they raised their muskets, the brave Protestant said:

"I was brought up in a religion by which I was taught to renounce the devil, but should I comply with your desire and go to mass, I should be sure to meet him there in a variety of shapes. What horrid and lasting torments will you suffer in hell for the trifling and temporary pains which I now endure."

WOW. What boldness. what faith. There are MANY more that really touched me. I'll problably share a few more in the near future.

17 weeks pregnant!! Priase the Lord all is going so well. I'm looking forward feeling the baby move. Maybe tonight! :)

Oh yeah. It's Luke EArnest Risse. In my previous post, I left out the a. oops.

Mister Luke Ernest Risse

Yes, my nephew was born today to Michael and Misty Risse, weighing in at 6 lb. 13 oz. and is 20 inches long. Whoo hoo!! I'm SO thankful to the Lord for a good delivery that (I hear from Mike) went very well. I know Misty is happy and relieved and is probably flooded with so many emotions right now.

The Lord is so good!

Just had to share!

Happy Birthday, Gracie Girl!

Yeppers, it's my dear sissy's birthday today!! She (finally) turned 25. Wow, is she ever OLD! She's certainly a huge joy in my life; I thank the Lord that I have her as a sister- I couldn't ask for a better:)

Well, our family fun weekend was SO great and here are some of the highlights:

• a clean, (a DEFINITE requirement) very comfy hotel room
• my absolute favorite meal @ Abuelos (shrimp with jalapenos and cheese wrapped with bacon and grilled- YUM- with cheese sauce, steamed broccoli and rice). My PRECIOUS husband insisted on it for me :) (yes, CC, this time Mikayla got her own side of fries with her own dipping container and LOVED IT!)
• We got to see Dan Edwards!! (anyone know who that is??) and didn't talk to him- rats! we had so much to say...
• we didn't get TOO much rain, but we did go through some very deep water while driving around and going to the mall
• I GOT SOME NEW MATERNITY CLOTHES! and my Joseph was extremely patient and kind as I tried on clothes and then tried on more clothes
• we saw a good air show and it was LOUD; we had to cover Mikayla's ears- it really scared her:( but they had yummy cheeseburgers, so that made up for it (kinda)

Ok, enough on that. It's good to be home. We had a terrific Lord's day, for which I'm so grateful for. The men decided next Sunday after morning services that they'll be cooking for us women!!! Grilled steaks, baked potatoes, beans, salad and bread. Who knows if they'll remember drinks or dessert or anything like that, but who cares, right? :) How fun.

16 weeks now!! 3 more weeks till we (hope to) find out the gender of baby D #3. PLEASE pray for Misty! If she doesn't go into labor on her own by Friday, they'll induce. WHEEE!

Goin' shoppin'

Tomorrow evening we're planning on staying the night in Abilene where we want to:

• Relax and have fun
• Shop for MATERNITY clothes- yay!
• Eat @ Abuelos (our favorite restaurant)
• go to the zoo
• watch the air show on Saturday

Now doesn't that sound nice?? I sure think so. I know it's close to home, but it will still be nice to get a night away with my little family :)

On September 10 @ 4pm, we're hoping to find out if I'm carrying a boy or girl!!! I'm so excited. Less than 4 weeks away! And we've invited my dear mommy and sweet CC to be there. :)

AND, my in-laws are coming for a visit this coming up week. Does it get any better than that?? Maybe Jean will (once again) try to teach me to crochet. I really want to make a blanket for this precious life inside of me. I've never made more than a row:(

So, it's off to Wal-Mart today for a few things we're needing. milk. chocolate. You know, the norm.

Thank you, ladies, for your sweet comments. It sure helps to make my day extra special reading them:)

Be still and know that I am God. ~Psalm 46:10 (love this verse)

A truly beautiful sound

I had my 2nd appt today and heard a heartbeat!! I love it, and we're so thankful for a good report from the dr. The scale was off, so they thought I lost 7 pounds. I told them no. I'd gained 3. Then the nurse said she'd put a ? by the weight. How funny. Then the dr said he wasn't concerned about the weight loss. Ok. Makes me laugh just thinking about it. :)

Christy watched Mikayla for us- great girl she is! We're pretty fond of her. And very thankful for her help and sweet attitude.

All in all, a terrific day. Praise the Lord!

night.

15/40 weeks

We had such an enjoyable evening with my dear brother/sister-in-law and our niece and nephew. We got to SWIM, which is very unusual for our family. It was really nice. I asked Jamie if I was the first one to ever wear capri pants in their pool :) Kinda funny. (Grace would appreciate that!) They cooked yummy hamburgers for us with corn on the cob, potato salad, and chips and dips. In other words, they spoiled us;-)





I'm hoping this link I'm going to try will work. I want to show ALL of you how the baby looks right now @ 15 weeks. It's truly AWESOME! Just click here. (???)

So soon? Yeah, I had to

So, we had a nice Friday evening with Christy and my dear parents coming over for fajitas. Although it was HOT, everyone was very gracious concerning the temp in the house and the lack of ice for tea. NOT a good combination. Lord willing, we'll be getting a new air/heat unit soon. That will be so nice. What we have right now certainly meets our needs, but it would be great to have central h/ac. We'll see how the Lord leads and provides.

The good news is that Christy got a great pic of Mikayla with bloomers on her head. (I love it!)

My girl

Thanks to Christy for taking this photo, I have a current pic of my girl. I love her like crazy!!!! She's a HUGE blessing in my life. I love being a mommy and the fun times we have together. I love kisses on her nose (I think she does, too!), I love holding her hand a walking together, I love her toes that are webbed together, I love her chubby, sweaty hands and feet. I love waking her up in the mornings and having her milk ready for her:))) I love to watch her play quietly, pull Tiger's tail and think that he enjoys it (??). I love that it's hard for me to type this post right now b/c she'd rather sit in my lap than play with her toys. She's great. I thank the Lord for the blessing of my precious daughter, a true answer to prayer.

ps. Almost 15 weeks. No more nausea. Feeling terrific and GROWING. Maternity clothes, here I come!