A fresh perspective...

Many of you have been praying for me over the last 5 days or so. Thanks so much. For those of you who haven't heard already, Christmas night, I had a very interesting evening. The doctors think I had a TIA, a mini-stroke. Mom and Dad came over to help me get dinner on the table-everyone was on their way over and within 15 minutes I lost the peripheral vision in my right eye, the feeling in the right side of my face and tongue, the feeling in my right hand, and I started having a really tough time getting the right words to come out of my mouth.
Nate and I went to the ER and sat for at least 4 hours. We finally got into the ER around 9 or so, and then I was admitted to the hospital around 3:00 AM. Long night...but before I even went back to talk to a doctor all the symptoms had subsided and all the function returned-a headache showed up, but other than that I felt fine. Sorry about the run-on's-they are not a result of the stroke!! Ha!
CAT scan of my head and Ultrasounds of my heart and neck all came back fine. The most popular speculation is that it was caused as a result of the baby we lost back in October. They told me at that point that the baby would reabsorb into my bloodstream-weird-but apparently a blood clot went to my brain and they think that's why.
So here we are feeling SOOOO blessed, so grateful for health, life, everything.
Mia was an angel through it all-both parents kept her for a night-which, had it been in my control, I would have stressed over leaving her...not an issue.
Nate was able to stay with me the whole time-He is such a Rock. A dream to have as the head of my home. He wasn't detached, just focused on not panicking.
Neither of us had to take off of work...we were already off for the holiday.
Our families still enjoyed their dinner together (and cleaned up my house afterword-thank you!!)
I found out what was wrong with my throat for the last 8 weeks-a wonderful doctor (Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist) came to see me while I was in the hospital (which helped with insurance issues) and was able to find an ulcer on the back of my voice box that no one else could see (he used a scope down my nose-that was something!) and now its being addressed.
My sister brought me good food, my brother in law brought me flowers, and God just brought me a new perspective on how awesome He is. I just love Him so much.

In the Busyness

Christmas seems crazier than ever this year. I think I am learning my limits a little more clearly. It's not the first time this Christmas season that we have planned to go to a party or event and have just had to maintain our sanity by staying home instead. Not that we wouldn't love the fellowship, but our sanity and stability is tied much more to the status of one little person in our lives. She knows when too much is too much, and she knows when Mommy and Daddy should just slow down. And she lets us know!

She is getting big so fast...making us laugh all the time, finding more personality in that little body...we just adore God for the joy that He has brought us through her precious self.

Today Nate did the Christmas monologue at church and the choir (I'm in that) did a few songs. Its really awesome to be involved in a church we love. Family was there to support...so appreciated! A few days before Christmas and only a few more (thousand) things to get together. Trying to put it all in perspective...what's worth stressing about and what's worth saying, "I'll do the best I can and that's all I can do".

Christmas isn't worth celebrating if it's not focused on what it was truly for...just trying to keep my head focused in the busyness.

Big girl is gonna be a big sister!

Another baby is on the way! That's the news that's been so exciting lately. We definitely planned it, but obviously it must have been OK with the Big Guy too! Due May 12, a few days before our anniversary, a day after Shawn and Kristy's anniversary, and around some big event for just about everyone we tell! Gonna be a busy time of year, but we are so excited.

I had lost 12 pounds by week 7 of the pregnancy and was eating everything in sight, and was very very nauseous so I had a feeling something (like twins) was going on. Well, last week we had an ultrasound at 9.5 weeks and we were having twins. Sadly, one of the little ones didn't make it. So, we are having just one baby, but we are so grateful that this baby is OK. We had another ultrasound yesterday and were again encouraged that the baby's heartbeat, size, and movements are healthy. We were definitely sad when we found out we had lost one of the babies, but we are fully trusting that God knew what he was doing. All of the medical professionals who worked with us during this time were so encouraging, never calling the baby a "fetus" or acting like it wasn't a loss. That little one was conceived just to go be in His presence (and maybe Mom-mom finally gets to meet one of our kids).

Mia is completely clueless about the idea that the world won't revolve only around her precious head!! She has always loved to jump on my tummy and bounce when I'm holding her, so that surely isn't going to stop anytime soon, and I sure don't want her to. I figure she'll catch on when the baby is here. Nate and I have both already struggled with wondering if we could ever love another child as much as we love her, but what makes us love her so much is that she is our child, and so will the next one be.

The anatomy ultrasound is set for Christmas eve. We think it's pretty fun that we'll see all those incredible little baby parts and (hopefully) find out the gender of the baby around Christmas.

So Mia is definitely using her feet as her primary mode of transportation now. She's also talking all the time, busy, busy, busy, and busy!

Birthday Babies!!

She's one...for real! It's been such an incredible year. Mia's saying so much now! She says Ma!, Da-da, Nee-Nee, Pop-pop, Ma-ma, Pa-pa, Bubba, please (pease), this (dis), that (dat), toes, teeth, NO, Nate (nay), chair, go, ball, juice, bop (for balloon), uh-oh, down, want dat (thanks, Levi!!) baby, and ooh...that's all I can't think of right now.
Just after I blogged last time (8-4) she stood for 30 seconds without support. Just a few days ago (9-4) Mia took her first step while Daddy was with her. Today while we were both here, Mia took 5 consecutive steps with a giant smile!! So incredible. She must know how proud we are of her! It won't be long!! Once she figures out that she can go, she will and won't stop!!
The day after her birthday we stopped using bottles completely! So fast! We had 2 nights of transition, but after that, she caught on, and we were done with them. She has been on whole milk since a few days before her birthday, and there have been no major issues.
Yesterday (Friday 9-5) Mommy and Daddy went to the doctor's with her and she weighs 21 lbs 5 oz (53rd%) and she is 29.75 inches long (75th%).
On Sunday the 31st we had Miss Mia's first b-day party. So much fun!! It took her a bit, but she ate just about her whole cupcake!! Didn't get the presents thing...but she had a great time.
On her real b-day, Mia got the best present! A new baby cousin. Toby was born at 9:36 in the morning after a nice and quick labor. Kristy might not say it was nice, but after only 3 hours from the first contraction he was here, 8 lbs even and over 20 inches long. What a cutie...he actually looks like his Momma~
So awesome!!! We just can't even begin to count the blessings that have come to be over the past year! GOD IS SO AMAZING. His blessings are so rich and full and I've felt so overwhelmed by it...it's crazy to step back and realize how much has been given and how none of it is deserved. So blessed.

What a summer!

Has flown by so fast!!! Seems impossible that we are already into August and starting to plan a precious little girl's first birthday party. A year already. Unbelievable. It's been such a wonderful summer so far. FULL!!! But wonderful. Among the amazing things are longer naps!!! Waving a lot, she says "uh-oh" all the time. Her first sentence, "No, Mommy" (figures!!) Crawling all over the place, pulling up and furniture walking, and just recently starting to let go and stand unsupported. In a big girl carseat-for a while now...just got really tall really fast! Lots of teething...and now EIGHT teeth! What a carnivore! Eating a lot of finger foods, gives great kisses and snuggles. Hugs her baby dolls and toys, claps during music or applause.

We were at Aunt Lacey's graduation from nursing school and Miss Mia was fast asleep on my shoulder. When everyone started applauding, she automatically woke up with a great big smile on her face and started clapping with everyone.

She rode her first ride at the OC Boardwalk with her Ayden and Levi-whom she just adores. She beats up on them a little bit, but she just loves to be around her boys. We're still working on the bullying bit.

Levi's 1st birthday celebration was that trip to the boardwalk. Really fun...

She asks to get down and lifts her hands up when she wants to be picked up. She had her first trip to the beach during our Baptism with Beacon. Mommy didn't bring her bathing suit because it was evening...but Miss Mia loves any kind of water so much that it really didn't matter...because she went right for the water anyway...She had to swim naked. She loves to swim at Grumpy and Grams pool and is truly a little fish. Still thinks the bath is a very happy place to be!

She had her first trip on the boat and loved it...another Bay Mouse in the family...life jacket and all...didn't bother her a bit. Fourth of July fireworks...it was a really nice night...but Mia wasn't crazy about them...not sure if it was the fireworks or just the extreme exhaustion that hit her by that time of night. She fell asleep on my shoulder in the middle of it all .

Here's the Fourth of July outfits Nee-nee and Pop-pop bought.

Besides smelling the flowers (scrunching her nose and sniffing) she now tells us what a lizard does (sticks her tongue in and out) and gives high fives. She be-bops to music now and loves to throw everything. The biggest challenge is usually meal times...no throwing food! We usually just put one piece of food on her tray at a time now. She boycotted baby food for a little while, but now she likes to help feed herself with the spoon. Most things are fun to do as long as they are her idea. You can make a suggestion, but she might not agree until she is the one that has th idea. WE definitely don't have a girly girl on our hands. Loves mud, dirt, grass, and grass stains, rocks, bugs, thinks ants are funny, and loves getting as dirty as humanly possible for a little person (which is pretty dirty). Not to mention crawling is just a dirty deal anyway. And she loves to climb on everything!!!

We've had lots of fun at Daddy's church softball games this summer and Mia loves to go to Illuminate-the Bible Study Daddy and Mommy lead with the 18-30 y.o.'s at our church. Daddy is doing such a good job with it!

She's helped us a lot packing up the house-she can now put things "in"...though her preference is still to take things "out"

Mia loves her new room (which looks a lot like her old one!) and loves her new house. More places to get into...more room for toys...we are still trying to get it all in order and probably will be for another 3 months!!

She loves to make cheesy faces for the camera now...we love it too.

Just three days ago we went to great adventure with Uncle Shawn, Kissy, Ayden, and Levi. Toby came too...no rides for Kissy. It was an amazing day...I don't think any of us knew what to expect from a long hot day in a busy amusement park with 3 kids 3 and under and an 8 month pregnant woman, but it couldn't have gone more smoothly and been more fun. It is official...I am a Mommy (and an Aunt)-I didn't ride a single rollercoaster all day (besides kiddie rides with Ayden) and I loved every minute. It was so much fun to see him having such a good time. And all of them were soooooo good. They took naps, ate good lunches...and it was just really awesome to spend time relaxing with Kristy and Shawn. Love you guys so much.

What an incredible blessing life has been since our little girl has showed up on the scene!

God has done a real work with our old house. We still own it-we have had a few people show interest and put contracts in, but for some reason, it never had worked out. Well, we know the reason now. There is a couple in our church who we recently found out needed a place. They had been renting a place, but were told they needed to find a new place because the people that owned the house they were renting needed to move back in. So they were left with a couple of months to move their lives and no where to go. God knew they were supposed to get our house. They are going to start leasing it from us starting today, and in the future they would like to pursue buying it. The house will be 20 miles closer to work for them both and much closer to church so they can get more involved. Such awesome people and we are really excited to have them in our neighborhood.

We are going to be leaving for Ohio on Thursday, because Shelly and Frederick are getting married (hooray!) and we can't wait to see the Hummel clan!

A couple weeks ago, Mia and I were in a car accident. COMPLETELY my fault! Just a fender bender and no one was even hurt. When I said "Oh, no!" Mia appropriately chimed in "uh-oh" and God knew I needed that laugh at that moment. It was a 16 year old girl with her permit on her way home from driving lessons....poor thing. I went over and apologized to her and tried to make sure she knew that it wasn't her fault at all and that she was a good driver, but she was so upset...I felt horrible. The police officers were soooo nice. I asked to make sure that the accident wouldn't show up on the girls record and he reassured her it wouldn't affect her getting her license in any way. The officer didn't even give me a ticket. Car got fixed and I have it back now. Everything (after the accident) went so smoothly. Hooray Geico! And praise God that no one was hurt at all.

Sorry no pic's of the house yet...still working on that. Love you all. Smooches from Mia.

Seizure

On Saturday morning I was giving Miriam her bottle before she went down for her 1st half hour nap (of 2-that's right, she only sleeps an hour all day long!). Just as I took the bottle out of her mouth because she was falling asleep, she had a seizure. It was only about 10 seconds long, but it was definitely a seizure. I have seen plenty of seizures while I was in school and working at the special services school, but it is so different when it is your child. I put her down in her crib, because I couldn't wake her up-which I knew in my head was normal after a seizure-and she was breathing fine-but the emotions started when I was on the phone with the doctor's answering service. They asked me her name and for our phone number so the doctor could reach me and I was surprised they could understand what I said. Before all this happened, I wondered how I would react in an "emergency" situation with my own child. I have experienced situations with other people's children in the past and was able to react without emotions, but it was almost a relief to me that it was so different when it was my own. Then I called Nate who was on his way up to Island Beach State Park for work. He was so concerned, but so calm. He told me to call when the doctor called me back. Then I talked to my sister-who is always there for me-thank you! Yet another person God put in my life to anchor me to Him in stormy moments. The doctor called shortly after that and was in agreement that it was a seizure. He told me to watch her very closely for 24 hours to make sure she didn't have another one. If she did, I needed to take her to the ER to have an EEG done.

Praise God, she has not had another seizure now for 72 hours and we are guessing that she had a fever (from teething) that I didn't notice and it spiked to high. Doctor says that it is more common than most people think and that most kids grow out of it by the time they are 6 if they continue to have seizures periodically. By the way, Miss Mia has her 3rd tooth now! The middle top left tooth broke through on Sunday.

We had bible study last night, and Nate shared how he had so much peace while he was away on Saturday and not really knowing what was going on with Mia. Even through my emotions, I knew she was in His hands. There really is no reason to fear, ever, if we trust Him with our lives. And we do. I am grateful for the reminder.

Moving!!!! Why? Because He is so good.

Crazy story how it has all worked out. God is so amazing...I was walking down the street with Mia, it was the first chance that I had had in quite a while to take a walk around town just with her. I just decided to pick up real estate info to see what houses are going for around here right now. We just started our walk and the house around the corner from us which had been for sale for over a year, was still on sale. It is a house that I have driven past or walked by 100 times and said, "wow I love that house but I know we can't afford that"...It was priced around 320,000 last time I looked for curiosity's sake. I picked up the paper that described the house and all that is in it and it was priced at 205,900!!! We were definitely not thinking of moving yet, and certainly not selling our house! I told Nate that night and we decided just to look through it out of curiosity. So we met the realtor two days later and another couple was looking at it before us. Of course, we loved it (it is another old home-1929, which is our preference) and it has so much charm. 3 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bath, living room with a fireplace, dining room, kitchen, mud room, screened in porch, yankee basement, and completely unfinished second story (which could fit another bathroom and at least 2 more very large bedrooms, plus storage space. It has 2x's the amount of land that we have now and a 2 story garage and shed in the back. It has a white picket fence that surrounds the yard, room for a small garden, flowers, window boxes on the front...truly, our dream home.
So 2 days later I called because we decided to put an offer in on it. The realtor told me that we could set up an appt, but another couple was putting an offer in on it that day and he was sure it would go through.
I was so upset, because by then of course my hopes were in the clouds! But I talked it through with God, and He reassured me that it was ok, because He knows better that I do what is truly best. I fully accepted His reassurance.
That evening, the real estate agent called and told me that the other couple decided against putting an offer in because he had had cancer in the past, and they felt it was best if they stuck with a 1 story home.
So...we went ahead and put the offer in and they accepted it without a counter offer or anything! Our family has all walked through it and was amazed. We got the house for 200,000. Now we are trying to sell ours...not sure what His plan is...as we have toyed with the idea of keeping it as a rental property, but He has provided the down payment whether or not we sell our house or not. HE IS SO INCREDIBLE.
Later on, after we signed contracts and all, I asked the real estate agent when the owners of the house on Wyoming decided to drop the price. It was only a few days before I Mia and I went on our life changing walk. SO PROVIDENTIAL!!! Makes me want to dance in amazement of the LORD, OUR GOD!!!
At the same time as all of this happening...we were asked to lead a Bible Study that had already been in place without leadership. We began leading it just before this whole house thing started. It is currently taking place in the church, but the members of the study expressed that they would love to have it in a home...can I just tell you that the house that we currently live in cannot accommodate 15 people for Bible study and a baby trying to sleep, but the new house can! AHHHH! SO AMAZING!
God is so good! Can't say it enough.

So how about the Little Miss? She is 8 months old now, blowing raspberries, laughing alot, smiling all the time. Her personality is showing more and more everyday. So much fun.

I am working just 2 days a week now. Two 8 hr days...but I get to work no later that 6:30am so I am done by 3ish and still have time to spend with the grandma's and make dinner at night (if I don't fall asleep first).

Nate is working 3 jobs right now. Pilgrim, Stockton, and Clamming. He is such a hard worker. Mia and I are very blessed to have a man in the home who is so willing to do whatever it takes to make life work. Pilgrim will be over in about a month, Stockton will turn to a Mon, Tues, and Wed schedule, and clamming will be up and going shortly as he will be planting some clams within the next few weeks. He is also playing softball for the church, which we both love!

The Bible study is going well-there are usually at least 10 people there. We are excited to see how and where God wants it to go. We are currently studying 1st John. Please pray for us as we lead, we want to be faithful to fill the need that has been presented to us. We know we can only do it by His strength if we want it to be a purposeful, thriving, unified group.

I don't know that I will have the opportunity to write again until after we move. Pictures of the house to come.

Bigger and Bigger!

Today was Miriam's 6th month Dr.'s Appt...Unbelievable...how is it possible that she is 6months old already?!?! Actually 6 months and 8 days!
As fast as time goes by, she grows bigger! Mia is now 17lbs 4oz (75th%), 26 3/4in long (80th%), and her head is now 16in around (15th%). She's a big girl!
We'll go back to where I last left off...I went back to work the middle of last month and everything is fine...the last thing I want to do is leave her, still, but she is so fortunate to have 3 grandma's right here to watch her! She has been an angel for them all, too!
We had Mia's dedication on the 24th of Feb at Beacon. It was such a nice time...we felt so supported by our church and our family and friends.
A few days later, Little Lady popped through her first tooth!!! We didn't even know it was coming...and she still doesn't put everything in her mouth...she is very selective!
On leap day, Uncle Shawn, Kissy, Ayden, and Levi all moved into their new home! What a testimony to God's faithfulness that whole story is!
Pop-Pop's 57th birthday was on the day Miss Mia turned 6 mo.

Daddy started his new job at Stockton (yup, God opened that door!) on the 3rd of March. He will be working 4 days a week at TPA, so that he can fulfill his contract and keep our benefits until the end of the school year. Then he will work a few hours after work each day at Stockton, then Fri and Sat are dedicated to Stockton too, just until the end of the school year. Amazing that God worked it all out so perfectly.

Ayden's Birthday (the 7th) and Birthday party (the 8th) came shortly after. Mia was so exhausted by the end of the night, that while Andrea held Mia so I could feed her cereal, by the 6th bite her eyes were rolling and by the 8th she was counting sheep! So precious! She's been doing a lot of growing, so she's been doing a lot of sleeping...doesn't matter where, doesn't matter when, but when she's tired, she's gonna sleep! A huge blessing!!!!
Mia is still refusing to roll over! The only thing she is stubborn about! She's been teasing us with that since before she was 3 months old. Aunt Kassie can attest to that!
Things are great...We have wonderful conversations, lots and lots of giggle time, and we all sing songs while Daddy plays guitar. We love to watch her when she really concentrates on figuring something out.

God is so Good....He's been really challenging me at work. There is an older woman there (60's) who has been cancer free for the last 15 years. I was there with her one morning when she received a phone call saying that her "cancer numbers" were up on her blood test. The Holy Spirit threw the words "Do you want to pray?" out of my mouth. Since we have been getting pretty close and we're always saying things like, "God is always worth trusting" and "He knows what He's doing"...she's had to go through 2 more sets of testing and each time He has prompted me to encourage her through scripture and prayer...Saturday night, she called me at 8:00 at night to tell me she got the results of her PET scan (which she was terrified of, because she is claustrophobic) and she is cancer free! She has been a church goer as of recent, but I am not so sure how her walk is. It is so amazing to see how God used this trial to increase her faith! So exciting to know that I am where I am supposed to be right now. She is probably going to be switching facilities soon, so she won't be around that much longer...but the timing is so cool...that God had me go back to work when He did. He is soooooo GOOD!!!! So awesome!