Christmas 2008

This Christmas Jason and I received wonderful gifts. However, we were truly more blessed to give than receive. My parents have a beautiful Chalet home and they are always "doing" for others. It is actually hard to give to them, because they are so giving of their time, finances, care, etc. to others. Last Christmas my dad was bragging that in their 35 years of marriage they never had to purchase a new TV. Their current TV is HORRIBLE. It is an old Curtis Mathis in an ugly old wooden console. This was the same TV they had when Ryan and I were growing up. So, we shopped around, looked at Consumer News and Reports and in June we (Ryan, Jason and I) bought them a brand new 46" flat panel TV and stand. I was so excited to give this to them the night before Christmas that I could barley sleep!

Here is the old clunker!

Ryan and Jason hauling the new TV upstairs

And here it is all ready to go! They LOVE the TV and can't get over the quality of the picture! (I posted 2 today, so keep scrolling down)

White Christmas

These were the views we woke up to Christmas Morning! It was beautiful. We went to open gifts at my parents and the farther south we traveled the less snow there was.A view down the road of North Summerwood

Jason walking in the house after shoveling the driveway.

A picture of our house taken from across the street.

Great News!

Today Jason and I went in to find out the genetic testing results that were done on our baby. The baby had Trisomy (sp?), which was good news. People have 46 chromosomes. Our baby had 69. In other words instead of having one chromosome in each of the 46 chromosomal areas, the baby had three. Our Dr. said this was just a glitch. Pregnancies with that many chromosomes can't continue. She said either 2 sperm got caught in one egg, or the egg didn't split completely. So, nothing is wrong with our genetic material, this was a fluke of nature, and she was confident we would get pregnant soon again! All is well!!

Theraflu

This morning I woke up fully intending to go to church. As I was getting ready my body felt achy, I had awful chills, a headache, and stuffy nose. So, when Jason came home he made me some Theraflu which I had never tried before. The box has great claims of reducing flu like symptoms, but boy does it taste rank! However, the citrus smell is deceiving. It tasted like warm NyQuil and bitter lemons....yuck! I hope the great claims on the box come to pass soon.

Staff Christmas Party Progressive Dinner

Last Friday night was our Staff Christmas Party Progressive Dinner. It is always a lot of fun. We went to Bonna's house for appetizers, our house for crock pot soups, and then the the Feasel's house for desserts and games. There were four games we played (Yahtzee, Scrabble, Skip-bo, and Apples to Apples) in 1/2 hour segments. Each player kept a score card for the games and added them up at the end. The grand prize was 4 movie passes to the movies, and coupons for popcorn, along with 4 DVD's and movie candy. Brenda won that prize! Jason won the next prize which was the 4 movie passes and coupons for popcorn. Then there were about 12 other prizes the people with the next highest scores chose from. It was such a busy week that Brenda nor I had time to shop for the prizes. I have the most amazing and wonderful mom, as she was the one who spent Thursday shopping for us. Jason and I hauled chairs from school and tables from church, as we took out some living room furniture to fit every one in our house.

Jason and I spent Wednesday and Thursday evening getting ready. We felt like mechanics being under the tables to secure the wrapping paper.

Tana made a really YUMMY french bread with spinach, butter and garlic!We were SOOOOOO glad Kristina could make it! I sure miss her.

Let the games begin (and desserts)!

A Big Sigh...

I haven't created a new post in a while, because Jason and I have had a hard time dealing with our recent loss. The hardest thing was dealing with the shock, which left a painful sting. After the D&C, I went back to work quickly so I could get back into a routine. This is the hardest thing I have ever had to walk through. When I stay busy, I am okay....but the loss still hits me in quiet or down moments.....in the middle of the night when I roll over, seeing another pregnant woman in the grocery store, etc. When my heart gets troubled, I am already thanking the Lord for the blessing of the baby that he will someday give us. Jason said when he found out the news he went for a very long drive, cried, screamed, yelled and was okay. It has been a bit harder for me, and still is at times. My doctor is amazing! She said I am one of her healthiest patients and she was confident that we should be pregnant very soon again. One of the things we did find out was that the hives were not in any way linked to the pregnancy (great news!) like the allergist thought they were. We decided that next time we are going to wait until we are through the first trimester to share the news. In talking with others our loss seems very common, in that it has happened to a lot of other people. So, thank you for such comforting comments, prayers, cards, gifts, hugs and shoulders, and for caring.

Blessed Be Your Name

Today was my 10 week appointment. Sadly to find out, the baby passed away about 2 weeks ago while in my tummy, due to fetal cardiac arrest, meaning that the heart stopped beating. Early tomorrow morning I have a D&C. Our hearts have been shattered through this news today. However, we have a peace and hope as we trust in the Lord. Even in this circumstance, though the Lord gives and takes away, out hearts will truly say, "Lord blessed be Your Name."