Simply Hopey

I have nothing truly epic to say, just wanted to show you a picture of Hopey! For some reason this was the picture that popped out at me this week, therefore, I'm sharing!! I don't know what it is...must be that Alfalfa look...

When God Says No

Last October, I got one of the best phone calls of my life. My sister-friend Amy called to tell me that she was getting married to the love of her life in February! I had known before they got engaged that the wedding would be in Colorado, so from the moment she called, I knew it was time to start conquering my fear of flying. Over the last couple of months, I've worked really hard to try to overcome this fear of planes. Finally, last month I worked up to my first practice flight. Even though it wasn't perfect, I did survive the trip, and it at least quieted my fears a little. I'm sure some of you even remember my posts about it. But how many of you remember this sentence from the post I wrote after returning from Chicago?

"I won't go so far as to say that I'm looking forward to flying again, but I will say with complete confidence, Amy, unless God has other plans for me, I'll be at your wedding!!"

And for reasons I don't yet understand, God said no.

Almost three weeks ago, Hopey got sick with what seemed to be a cold. I waited a little less than a week, and then I took her to the doctor and was told that it was just a virus and would be gone in a few days. One week later, Hopey had gotten significantly worse. Besides cold symptoms, she started vomiting, running a fever of 103, she was wheezing, and she stopped eating and sleeping. Obviously, I became concerned again. I took her back to the doctor and was once again told that it was a virus and would be gone in a few days. Two days later, her symptoms had continued to worsen, but now she was breathing rapidly, struggling to breathe at all, coughing violently, and still running a fever of 103. I took her back to the doctor again, and this time she was taken much more seriously. This time they checked her oxygen levels, x-rayed her lungs, tested for RSV, and gave her a breathing treatment. We found out that her oxygen levels were low, her bronchial tubes were inflamed, and their main concern was Pneumonia. Very fortunately, she does NOT have Pneumonia but has some kind of upper respiratory infection, and she's on breathing treatments. The doctor told us to "stay close to home" as it could develop into something else. And so ended my plans of being at Amy's wedding.

Of course I was willing to do whatever it took to help Hopey heal, but at the same time, I was devestated to know that I would not be a part of Amy's wedding. I cried myself silly for a couple of days, but I finally took a look at the big picture. Despite all of my planning, practicing, and determination, God said no. When Hopey first got sick, we came up with a million different ideas of how we could still go to the wedding. In the end, God closed all of those doors and made His will perfectly clear to me. For whatever the reason, it was not part of God's plan for me to be at Amy's wedding. It may very simply be that God wanted to remind me that "The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." Proverbs 16:9

Amy and Aaron, I know your wedding is going to be absolutely amazing, and I can never apologize enough for not being there. Please remember that no matter what happens on Saturday, your wedding is just a wedding, it's the marriage that counts. God gave you to each other, and I couldn't be happier for both of you! I love you to pieces, and we'll come visit you this spring...... Lord willing! :)

A VERY Special Day Indeed!!

If you happen to bump into this little cutie today, please wish him a very happy 32nd birthday!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIAN!!

Love,
Your girls

Happy Valentine's Day Faithy!

Yes, I logged into your blog. You really need a more secure password, but that's what you get for marrying a nerd. I just wanted you to know that I'm always thinking of you and that I love you so much more than I ever thought possible. Every day I thank God for bringing you into my life. I love you so much my little pearl!

Love,

Your loving husband

The Almost Valentine's Day Post!

Before I get going on Valentine's Day, I just wanted to give a quick update on Taylor. First of all, thank you all so much for your prayers. She did finally get to go home from the hospital on Monday, and she even got to come off oxygen today. Debbie's parents flew in to spend the next 10 days helping them, so things are looking much better. Praise the Lord for healing!

As for the sweet and sugary holiday coming up in 3 days, do you remember exactly what you were feeling and experiencing last Valentine's Day? Will February 14th, 2008 forever be etched into your brain? Maybe some of you are saying, oh yeah, that was one of the best memories of my life! Maybe others are saying, I can't distinguish one Valentine's Day from another. And yet others of you may be saying, I don't celebrate Valentine's Day because it's a made-up holiday for the greeting card company to make more money. Fair enough. Whatever your feelings are on the subject, that's A-OK by me! But I've loved Valentine's Day for as long as I can remember. Not because it was a lovey dovey, mushy holiday, but because no matter what happened that day, my mom had bags, literally BAGS of candy waiting for me after dinner!! There's no hiding the fact that I'm a serious sugar junkie, so it was one of my favorite days of the year.

Now, you might be thinking, what in the world does all of this nonsense have to do with last February 14th? Good question! I will never forget that day as long as I live. Never. And I can sum it up for you in three simple words, I was pregnant. You all already know how rotten my pregnancy was, but just let me explain why it truly ruined Valentine's Day. Raise your hand if you remembered that I had pregnancy glucose intolerance, couldn't have ANY sugar, and was on a diabetic diet? High fives if you did! Not only was it dangerous for me to have sugar, but if I accidentally ate something that might have sugar in it, I was promptly reprimanded by having to hold my head over the toilet for the rest of the day. So, my usually candy filled day passed me by without even so much as a lick of sugar. Truly, that in and of itself is enough for me to say the day was rotten. BUT, that's not all.

In an earlier post, I had mentioned that I avoided leaving the house for the last 6 weeks of my pregnancy due to the gawking. However, my sweet and wonderful husband had gotten us our yearly reservation at Eddie Merlot's, and neither one of us wanted to miss it. One day a year, we like to sit in a ridiculously expensive restaurant and giggle uncomfortably about how we don't fit in. Against my better judgement, we went. Please remember, I was a walking watermelon at this point, and because Hopey was a chubby bear and squeezing my lungs so badly, I wound up with pregnancy induced asthma. Anyway, I walked into the restaurant waddling, wheezing, gasping for air, just minutes away from viewing my lunch in the toilet, and knowing that the moment I made eye contact with someone I was going to want to go home. Also, keep in mind that I had pregnancy pytalism, so I was drooling and spitting into a cup for all to see as well. Let me tell you, the evening did not disappoint! Not only did the waiter have to get someone to physically move our table because I couldn't fit my belly into the booth, but I also left my spit cup behind and had to have someone help me find it... Of course there was the ever present pointing and staring, but there were also those wonderful people that came up to me because they thought my belly was fake. They wanted to touch it to see if it was real or "go get one of their friends to see too." Ahhh, memories...

Ya know, looking back on it now, I guess I really was just feeling sorry for myself. But do you at least see why I'll never forget last Valentine's Day? Anyway, let me tell you, I'm looking SO MUCH more forward to this Valentine's Day! Just for fun, I'll leave you with last year's picture. Please remember that I still had a month left before Hopey was born! Tune in around the middle of March to see my final picture before delivery!

Prayer for Taylor

Our good friends, the Andersen's, have a beautiful little girl named Taylor who will be a year old in a little over two weeks. This precious little lady has had her fair share of sickness in the first year of her life, but they especially need your prayers right now. Taylor was taken to the Emergency Room on Friday and later admitted to the hospital for a very bad case of RSV/Bronchitis. She's breathing very rapidly, and she's been on oxygen ever since they got there. The doctor's also have to suction her nose out every two to three hours. She's running a very high fever, and possibly has an ear infection to top it all off. They don't have family in Colorado, so Marc and Debbie are doing the best they can to keep up a very rigorous schedule of caring for her. Please be praying for healing for Taylor, peace and rest for Marc and Debbie, and that they can take their sweet baby girl home from the hospital as soon as possible. Thank you all so much.

New Faces and Fun News!

It's been a bit of a blah week, so there's not too much to report. Although, to me, my fun news makes the whole week just super! Anyway, Hopey started out the month of February trying out some new faces. Of course, I just had to share a few of them with you!

So annoyed...

Shocked...

Pretending you don't exist...

Duck impression...
The Godfather...

The glare...

I suppose it's perfectly obvious that Hopey's beginning to develop her own personality...or attitude... Anyway, on with my fun news!! Brian finally had his interview with the journalist from the L.A. Times last night! Clearly, the article hasn't been published yet, but I'll post a link to it as soon as it is. For the time being, you can always click on the album cover of Volume 2 below to see what Brian's been up to.

And last but certainly not least! Shock Training System has FINALLY been released!! I kid you not people, this is one of the most amazing workouts I've ever done! This 41 disc, 12 week program will have every muscle in your body screaming for rest! It was released two months late, so I've only completed a few of the discs, but even I can barely move after one of these workouts! But if you're looking for something a little less intense, I would recommend any and all of Cathe's dvd's. Just be prepared to hurt!