More Genes, Luke, and Metallica :)

After my last blog, I heard some interesting comments from people, so I thought I would share them - and clear up a few things too! Heath was the first one... he said, "You give me too much credit!" See, I like the humility in him, too. :) That's another strength of his. -- Next, was my life-long mentor and friend.. he told me he could give me a longer list of my own qualities for our children to get than what I listed (and added that athletic ability wouldn't have ranked as high as I put it). My mom was the last one... she called and said, "I was reading your blog... and the whole point of it was what you wanted your kids to get or not get from you and Heath. And I thought, 'Oh no! She inherited that unworthiness (in talking about my struggles with pleasing God) trait from me!'"

So, here's what I probably should've mentioned... I've had to really reflect on these things in the last few days! But, I'm a really good listener. I am a loyal friend. I'm an optimist. I know how to love. I love making people smile and laugh. I'm pretty selfless and easy going. I'm honest. I'm forgiving. Helping others, for me, can make a bad day better. I'm a prayer warrior. -- These are all things I would like to pass on to my children. :)

Now, let me get back to Luke! I love sharing about him. It's so much easier to type than my good qualities - and more interesting, I think, too!

Praaaaaaisssee the Lord! Luke has FINALLY gotten through this last phase of separation anxiety. I love it. He played in the backyard all day yesterday by himself. When he wasn't doing that, he was in his room watching Toy Story. (Yes, he's 1 1/2.. and yes, I have a TV in his room. I put it in there when this separation anxiety started about 6 weeks ago to help encourage him to play in there.) Life is good.... I can walk out of a room without a whining monkey on my leg.

I would check on him often while he played in the backyard yesterday. One time, I went out to find this - He loves Izzy. He calls her "E-E".

He's putting 2 and 2 together all the time now, too. He knows when Daddy leaves, he's going to the farm. He says, "Dada bye-bye tractor?" -- We usually eat with my parents a couple times a week in town for lunch. So, when I get shoes on him and tell him we're going to eat, he says, "Eat Mimi Papa?" -- He sees Heath kiss me on my cheek every morning before he leaves, and the other morning, he climbed up and kissed me on my cheek and ran towards the door saying, "Byyeee!!" -- Oh, and Woody and Buzz are actually "Woo-ee and Buzz" now.

He loves doing things like Daddy, too. I was going to treat Luke last Saturday and go get us some donut holes. I couldn't get him to take a bite of one. The next morning, Heath got up and warmed some up and Luke ate them like they were going out of style after watching Heath. Easy as that! Daddy do it, Luke do it.

We went to the park and had snow cones on a pretty day about a week or so ago. He absolutely loved it and threw a huge fit to leave.

Now, with this new baby, I've almost survived the first trimester! We've been hearing mixed opinions on what the gender of this baby will be. I'm truly feeling boy. When I think about my complete family, I just imagine Heath and me with 2 boys. I think people assume that we want a girl since we already have a boy, but that isn't necessarily the case for me. I'd be satisfied with 2 boys. I've told people, "I'll be excited if it's a girl, but relieved if it's a boy." -- I've asked Luke if he wanted a brother or a sister, and he said, "Buzz?" I just hope I don't deliver a Buzz Lightyear... of all the things that could go wrong! haha :)

We plan on being through with kids after this one... no matter what. Even my Mom was like, "Really? But I'm so glad I had a daughter." -- Well, I was the girl who grew up with 2 older brothers.... I wouldn't have it any other way, don't get me wrong. I love my brothers to death and probably would've killed a sister. But I was a TOM BOY having 2 older brothers. I had 2 Penny Hardaway jerseys - one from the Dream Team and one from Orlando Magic... and I LIKED wearing them. Like this one....

While other girls were doodling their names with curlicues in elementary, I was doodling mine with lightning rods like Metallica because that's what my oldest brother listened to and had posters of. My name was perfect for it, too. SARA in all caps... written like lightning... with a big bolt of lightning bringing it all together at the bottom. Gosh, I hope I never signed a yearbook like that. haha :) Here's an idea of what I'm talking about.

I was mean, too. I see people now, and I'm like, "Man, I was mean to her. Or, man.. I shouldn't have treated him like that." I can remember fighting with other kids using empty giant pixy sticks as whips at the baseball park watching my brothers. I said "bull crap" in 1st grade and someone told on me for it. ----- So, needless to say, I think I'll stick to my plan and have 2 kids, no matter the gender of this one. Heath's feeling girl a little bit more than me... so, I guess we'll see. We're in the process of getting a bet going about it. Only time will tell!

The Gene Pull

I think it's pretty safe to say that Luke and I are catching up for all the sicknesses we've skipped out on in the last year and a half! We both came down with the stomach bug yesterday evening.. Luke got to experience another first: throwing up! Poor baby. We had just been back to the doctor on Friday, too, to find out that he had a double ear infection. He ran fever through the weekend, and then got the tummy sickness! His doctor thinks he never really got over the last ear infection because of his reactions to the medication and never finishing a full round of antibiotics. So, we're trying a third one... it's seemed to help with that end of the deal. Oh, and I was really proud of Heath again yesterday when he scrubbed Luke's strawberry throw up out of the carpet while I was throwing up in the bathroom. Anyone who relatively knows Heath knows that these things are HUGE tasks for him with his weak stomach. He gagged a few times, but other than that, he did a good job. (TMI for anyone? haha... sorry.)

I'm inevitably going to worry about the health of this growing baby when I come down with any type of sickness. We're in recovery mode now, thank goodness. I'm just waiting on some energy to build so I can get to cleaning..... Pretty sure my house wreaks of vomit. So, in my down time, I thought a lot about being pregnant and the things I've thought about with Luke and this baby. One thing in particular - Heath and I wanted our kids to get the best of both of us. We both recognize our weaknesses and hope that those genes get bypassed to our children. I think Heath and I compliment each other, in terms of those strengths and weaknesses, but to be able to "pull" our own genes and place them in our children would be awesome! So, here's some specifics on what I hope our kids take, and don't take, from us.

- Heath has the most simple way of thinking. I love that. I think I naturally complicate and over analyze things.

- Heath's faith is also simple. He loves God, God loves him. I've beat myself up over the years for mistakes I've made and allowed them to separate me from the Lord. I make myself suffer consequences God doesn't intend for me to. I've tried to live by works and not by faith - Trust me, it got me no where. I've learned a lot from Heath and his simple, steadily growing, relationship with the Lord.

(These are now turning out to be Heath's strengths... it's easier to find someone else's strengths! I'll eventually list a few of my own, too.)

- Heath naturally likes healthy food. Don't worry, he'll also eat a whole pan of blueberry muffins in one sitting. But, in high school, he'd choose strawberries over cookies. Me, on the other hand... I'd put strawberries in ice cream to make it "healthy". haha. Now, he's developed an allergy to most raw fruits (started when he started farming... supposedly it's stress induced). I didn't develop good eating habits until I started my nutrition degree.

- He's pretty tidy. He takes good care of everything he spends money on. He likes his truck clean, his tractor, the camper, etc. I like things clean, but it just doesn't come as natural to me. Sometimes, I feel guilty when he gets in my car and it's messy... I always feel like I could do a better job at keeping my car clean.. again, to show him my appreciation for providing for us like he does.

- Here's one for me! I've always stood up for myself. Do me wrong, I probably won't just brush it off. Heath sometimes goes overboard to avoid conflict. At times, he's let his heart be bigger than his brain. He's a lot better than he used to be. I've even been guilty (in early years of dating) of taking advantage of the fact that he rarely had a backbone.

- A strength that both of us share is how much we care about other people. I think we both have an awareness for other peoples' needs. Examples are anything from helping out an elderly person in the grocery store to having the heaviest hearts for others' misfortunes.

- I always did good in school. I enjoyed it. I love reading. Heath...... not so much! He'd sign his own progress reports. He's said he was afraid to ever actually have his Mom sign it because the signature would've looked different than all the other ones he'd turned in.

- Heath is the same no matter who he's around. I'm not necessarily a "social chameleon" (I found that randomly on urban dictionary the other day. I liked it), but I tend to be reclusive around people I'm not too familiar with. I think any one person who comes in contact with Heath would say the same things about him. I like that.

- I have a touch of athleticism. Not that it really matters in life, and let me emphasize "a TOUCH." I think the importance of high school sports is a bit too much... but I think it's fun to go out and play a game of PIG with just about anybody and stand a chance. I think my kids could miss out on some fun if they get Heath's athletic gene. haha :) I love you, babe, but you can embarrass me with your bank shots in Tony's front yard.

I think that's about all of the big things. Don't think I haven't hoped for our kids to bypass petty things like cow licks (that one didn't work out) and bad toenails... Not that I want them to be perfect. I just want their lives to be as easy as possible. I don't want to see them struggle with trying to hard please people, or please God... I don't want Luke to let a girl break his heart just because she can! But above all, we hope that our kids will seek the Lord with all their hearts... because in the end, that's all that really matters!

A few rough weeks!

It's been a long couple of weeks for us! I'll try to be brief to catch up..... Last week, Luke and I caught the flu, and Luke had an ear infection to go along with it. This is the very first time my little boy has been sick in his life! He took it like a champ though, really. Me, on the other hand.... Well, that's a different story. I was worthless for 2 days! Heath even did laundry (or attempted) - which is unheard of. --- Ok, let me clarify on that. I'm just one to take the responsibilities of household chores. I think his job is outside of this house, and mine is inside. If I worked outside the home, we'd share household chores. But, I'm a "housewife." I don't expect help with dishes, toilet scrubbing, and laundry. Call me "old school" if you'd like.... but I think by keeping the house up, I show him my appreciation for providing for us through his work. If you stay at home, and your husband helps around the house, I don't judge that! It's just what works for Heath and me.

So, we went through our rounds of medicine. And a week into it, Luke broke out in a rash - front to back. Knowing an allergy to penicillin was in my family, I stopped the medicine, and his fever spiked around 103 the next day (last night!). Back to the doctor we went today... to get checked out and confirm the penicillin allergy, and on to a new round of antibiotics. I'm getting time to write this blog because I'm waiting 45 more minutes to sneak Luke some more Tylenol to help keep his fever down throughout the night! This sick stuff is for the birds.

All of this, while the Mama is in her first trimester of another pregnancy! I'm 9 weeks along now.. saw a good strong heartbeat at the doctor earlier this week. Praise the Lord! With Luke, I battled nausea throughout the first trimester, I had been to the doctor 10 times by week 16, they found a growth on his brain in an ultrasound of my second trimester, I was hospitalized for a kidney infection at 6 months.... Needless to say, this pregnancy is starting out MUCH better. My only complaint is fatigue.

Oh, and we are thankful for the snow. Very thankful. We needed moisture any way we could get it.... even if it meant subzero temperatures!

Now, this is just gonna sum up where I've been lately. It's 2 Corinthians 4:16-18....

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are acheiving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

There it is. I'm just comforted knowing that I am ultimately His. I am grateful that I can look back on younger memories and take pride in the fact that my faith has grown..... no matter how well, or not so well, I end up aging!