My body doesn't like having babies I guess

First of all,

HaPpY NeW YeAr!!!!!!!

I know it has been forever since I posted, but let me tell ya, it's been a crazy few weeks.  So this is going to probably definately be a jumbled mess of a post.  Hang on, here we go!

I am 31 weeks preggo now and I can't decide if I have 9 LOOOOONG weeks to go or ONLY 9 weeks to go.  It seems like it's flying by sometimes, like when I open the door to the junkroom nursery and see stuff everywhere instead of a crib and glider rocker waiting for me and Jaxten.  I just couldn't force myself to even think about all things nursery during the holidays.  That would be sensory overload for me right now.  But now I have no excuses (other than the whole not being able to move heavy furniture thing) so my husband and I will be tackling this job very soon.  Thank goodness we don't have to paint.  Just place, arrange and go.  Sounds so easy in a sentence.  Don't think it will go quite like that.  But, we do have to get on the ball a little bit.  Which brings me to my next point. 

You know I have mentioned the really bad heartburn I've been having.  Well, I starting getting another pain on my right side and last Sunday I had excrutiating pain for about 12 hours.  I had already been to the doctor about it once and they just brushed it off and told me it was probably round ligament pain, or in other words, just muscles stretching and hurting.  Well, after this 12 hour ordeal, I went to the doctor on Monday and again they were trying not to make a big deal out of it and I almost had to get downright mean with them.  I told them I thought I was dying while the pain was bad and there was no way that could be from a muscle stretching.  So they ordered some bloodwork to appease me and my liver enzymes were elevated a little. They sent me for an ultrasound of my gall bladder and sure enough, I have gall stones.  I felt like saying a big fat "I TOLD YA SO!"  I am a baby when it comes to pain, but even I knew it was a bit more serious than a stretching muscle. 

I had to go see a surgeon about it and the plan is to try and wait until after I have the baby to perform surgery to remove my gall bladder.  If we can wait until about three weeks after delivery, they can do it laparoscopically and I will only spend 1 night in the hospital.  If we do the surgery now, they will have to make an incision of about 7-8 inches below my right ribcage and there is a risk that all the tapping around my uterus could send me into pre-term labor.  The only reason they are thinking about doing the surgery now is because some of bloodwork came back abnormal.  My liver enzymes were elevated a little, meaning I'm just shy of being jaundiced.  A normal biliruben level is up to 1.0.  Mine was at 3.0.  At 4.0, you start turning yellow just like babies that are jaundiced.  By 5.0, I would probably need the surgery now.  So they want to check my bloodwork every Monday and I'll see the surgeon every Tuesday until either I have the baby, or the numbers change.  In addition to seeing my OBGYN every 2 weeks right now.  Dr appointments every week......happy happy joy joy. 

Oh, and to top that off, they put me on a "bland diet".  Nothing fried, fatty, spicy......in other words, taste-free food.  No salads, no green vegetables, no sauces....and the list just goes on and on.  It is so hard to figure out something to eat that fits in these restrictions.  I guess it's grilled chicken and mashed potatoes everyday.  But, if eating different saves me from having a painful attack, I'll just suck it up and do it.  Cause let me tell ya, a gall-bladder attack H.U.R.T.S! 

So that's where we are right now.  I'll update again after my next bloodwork.

Introducing.....

Jaxten Scott Speer

27 weeks 4 days

Look at those cute little fingers!

His eye is open in this picture.

Too cute!!

He already knows how to pooch that lip out and pout!

I love those little lips!

I think he's grinning!

The most precious face ever!  He has his daddy's lips, which is one feature I have always loved about his daddy!

He kept his feet up in front of his face half the time we were there!  Flexible little thing!

I am completely over the moon for this little man already.  It's amazing to see him moving and making faces.  It's neat to compare his features with Caden's ultrasound pictures.  They really don't look alike.  Caden looks just like me, so I am kind of hoping this one looks more like his daddy.  I do think Caden is the most beautiful child I have ever seen (even if he does look like me), so if Jaxten looks like him it would be just fine.  But it would be neat for Scottie to have one that looks like him.  I am just amazed at this technology.  We get to do this again in 4-5 weeks, and I can't wait!!!!!!  See ya soon my precious baby boy!!

Cars, Cars, Cars

Well, I guess I'd better post something since it's been about a month!  My computer at home checked out again.  So, we got a new one.  But, I haven't put any pictures or anything on there yet and sometimes posts without pictures are just a little boring.

Nevertheless, here I am.  I guess quite a bit has happened since the last post.  I had taken my car to be checked because it was making a clicking noise and they told me it was the engine.  So I decided to get a second opinion and sure enough, the engine was blown.  We had just bought my husband a car several weeks ago because his Explorer wasn't really reliable, so he said he would drive his Explorer and let me drive the new car until we decided what to do about my car.  The first day he took off towards work in his Explorer, guess what happened.  I'm not even kidding, that ding dong truck's engine blew and left him on the side of the road.  Isn't that just a great Christmas season for ya.  Two car engines down in one week.  Amazingly enough, someone Scottie works with had bought a car like Scottie's new one just a few weeks ago, (they bought them through the company so they both got killer deals).  He bought it with the intention of selling it for more money than he paid.  Well, when he found out about our car situation from Scottie, he said he felt like God would want him to sell us the car for what he paid for it. So even though we had to buy two cars within two months, we got them both for the basically the price of one! 

God is good.........ALL THE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Songs of Praise!!!

***These are songs that my group, CrossView, sings or just songs that mean a lot to me.  We only sing songs that lift up the name of Jesus Christ our Savior. I hope you can let the words minister to your heart even though there is no music.*** 

That's All That Matters To Me

I believe there are streets of gold, but it's alright with me

If there's nothing more than one old gravel road

And I know a mansion's waiting, but a cabin suits me fine

Just a place where I can rest my heavy load

Oh they say there is a river that flows beneath the throne

And the surface there reflects that holy place

Oh I'm sure that all the splendor will be so grand to see

But what I long to the most is Jesus' face

Cause' that's all that matters to me

To bow my head and thank my blessed Savior on my knees

On those peaceful hills of glory in his presence I will be

To know I'm home

That's all that matters to me

Oh the lights of that fair city will never fade away

It's a perfect land where night will never come

But all the beauty I'll behold there can't compare to how I'll feel

When I hear my precious Lord say well done

Cause' that's all that matters to me

To bow my head and thank my blessed Savior on my knees
On those peaceful hills of glory in his presence I will be
To know I'm home
That's all that matters to me

Well, that's just great.

Well, I guess I'm going to have to read my post The Same God over again.  But this time I need it for me. 

My car started clicking and purring on Friday, and let me just say that I never heard it make a sound before that.  I drove to the Advance Auto store and had them check the oil.  They said it was pretty low so they filled it up for me.  (I also found $3.00 in the parking lot which paid for Caden's happy meal, well, almost, it was $3.01.  And yes I fed him a happy meal, big deal).  Anyway, it slacked off a little on the clicking, so I went Saturday morning to just have the oil changed.  I thought maybe it could use a clean filter too.  And again, it helped the clicking a little bit. 

I got in my car this morning to drive to work, and what do I hear?  Clickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclick.
Great.  That's just what I need.  So I took it to be checked out at a garage today and they didn't tell me something I wanted to hear.  They said they wished they had some better news for me, BUT..........

The engine is dying.  

The engine.  The motor.  The very life of the car.  DYING.  It's just a matter of time, but it's coming.  Could be tomorrow, could be next week, could be next month.  But either way, my car will die.  He said the clicking will just continue to get worse, (from what my non-car-knowledge brain can understand the clicking is stuff knocking together in the engine which is tearing it up) until one day the lights will start coming on and going off inside the car and it will just go crazy and die. 

GREAT.

Do you want to know how much this is probably going to cost?  A WHOLE ARM AND PART OF ONE LEG!!!  In other words, a used engine and the cost of labor to put it in will run about $4000.00.  Or the alternative is to buy a new car. 

Again, GREAT.

So, I'm trying to remind myself that the same God that was walking around in the fire and saved the three Hebrew boys from being burned CAN and WILL help me with my car.  There is a reason this happened, and although it really stinks right now, I have to trust in God that he knows what he's doing. 

I do wish he would let me in it though.  Just a little heads up would be nice!

Songs of Praise!!!

This is my first Songs of Praise post.  I sing with my family in a bluegrass gospel group called CrossView.  It's my dad, my uncle and me singing, my husband playing the guitar and dobro, and a teen from our church playing the bass.  My dad also plays the guitar, banjo, and mandolin.  I play the mandolin too.  We sing all over North Carolina and sometimes Virginia and South Carolina as well.  My dad's family has been singing since he was about 5 years old and they used to go by the name Middle Cross Quartet.  We only changed the name when my grandma became to sick to travel anymore and we just didn't feel like it was really Middle Cross without her.  I want to share with you the words to some of the songs we sing. (And also some that we don't sing but I still really love)   We only sing songs that lift up the name of Jesus Christ our Savior.  I hope you can let the words minister to your heart even though there is no music. 

HE LOOKED BEYOND MY FAULTS

Words & Music by Dottie Rambo

Amazing grace will always be my song of praise
For it was grace that brought me liberty.
I can not know just why He came to love me so;
He looked beyond my faults and saw my needs.


I shall forever lift mine eyes to Calvary
To view the cross where Jesus died for me.
How marvelous that grace that caught my falling soul;
He looked beyond my faults and saw my needs.


I shall forever lift mine eyes to Calvary
To view the cross where Jesus died for me.
How marvelous that grace that caught my falling soul;
He looked beyond my faults and saw my needs.


He looked beyond my faults and saw my needs.

I know that I know!!

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.                                             I John 5:13 KJV

This is one of my new favorite verses in the whole Bible!  I've actually always believed it, but never knew where to find the verse to tell someone else who may have questions about it.   This verse is so important to anyone who is a born again christian. 

The day I got saved is the single most important day of my entire life.  Of course my wedding day and the day my son was born are a real close 2nd and 3rd, but my eternal salvation definately tops the list.  Without being saved by God's amazing grace, I would be doomed to spend all of eternity in hell.  Yes, I fully believe there is a heaven where saved people go to be with Jesus, but to believe that, you have to believe in hell also.  It's just as real as I am sitting here typing this.  Not having to go to that awful place is very important to me as I'm sure no one really wants to go. 

The thing is, no one has to go.  The one and only thing that makes a person go to hell is not accepting Jesus as their personal savior.   The one and only thing that will allow you to go to heaven is fully accepting Jesus as your personal savior.  It's not by the works or good deeds that you do, just like it's not about the rotten ugly things that you do either.  
(For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  Not of works, lest any man should boast.  Ephesians 2:8,9  KJV)

It's simply believing with all your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord, and asking him to come into your heart. 

That's it. 

Period. 

It's not some big complicated thing. 

Then, once you get that concept, some people start to question their salvation after they get saved.  They begin to realize that they are still flesh and they still sin.  They don't feel perfect and good all the time and that can be scary.  But christians are NOT perfect and sinless.  

Christians are simply sinners saved by amazing grace and forgiven.  

You are still gonna mess up.  You are still gonna do the wrong thing sometimes.  You are still gonna fail God and disappoint him at times.  

But God is very good about forgiveness.  Thank God for that!!!  When you realize that you have done wrong, (that is the conviction of God, like him whispering (or shouting if needed) to you that he's not pleased with how you are acting) all you have to do is say you are sorry (and mean it) and he will forgive you. 
(whew, that's a whole lotta ( ), sorry!)

Now, here is the good part!!!!

You cannot be un-saved.  Even when you have sinned, you will never be un-saved and have to get re-saved.  Salvation is eternal.....forever.....for always.....never ending.....Do you get the point?!?  That is what this verse is saying.  You don't have to worry about it.  If you ever get saved, and I mean truly get saved in your heart, you will always be saved.  God knows you will mess up sometimes, and he loves you anyway! 

Without this verse, I would be so scared that if I died at the wrong moment I might not go to heaven.  I would have to ask forgiveness almost everyday because I'm sure I sin almost if not everyday.  I could never be "good enough" to deserve heaven.  No one that has ever lived or ever will live (besides Jesus) could ever be "good enough" to deserve heaven.  But what a blessing it is to know that I don't have to worry about that.  Don't you think it would be kind of mean for God to say ok, here's your salvation from an eternity of hell, and then take it back the next time you sin.   Our God is not like that.  Our God sent his only son to die on a cross so that ALL of my and your sins could be washed under the blood!  Past. Present. Future. 

Our God is awesome and his plan of salvation is perfect!  I'm so glad he extends salvation to anyone who truly wants it.  If you'll just let him in, you can know without a doubt that you are his child from now to eternity, and what a great thing that is to KNOW!!!