And Another One Bites the Dust

Well, another holiday season has passed in our house. All the last minute craziness is over and all the kid's presents are scattered throughout the house.  Our last few days will be spent at the In-Laws just getting a little much needed R&R.  It's also a great time to reflect on the last few days and the passing of the Christmas Season.  What will we do different for the new year? 

This year, my oldest daughter and I spent a lot of time together shopping for the family, wrapping presents, and just talking.  She's getting old enough now that I wanted to make sure that she understood the real meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate it every year.  To my amazement, she already knew and really surprised me.  It really warmed my heart to hear my daughter tell me the story of Jesus's birth and sacrifice for mankind.  She really understands the meaning of the Season. 

Another thing we talked about this year differently then last, was the need out there for people that don't have anything.  If you watch any TV, you see commercials all the time about "for $.25 a day, you can feed this child in Ethiopia."  My daughters saw these commercials and repeatedly asked me why the child was so sad and where their parents were.  It was sad to hear them ask and it really made me reflect again on the meaning of Christmas.  This lead me to discuss needy children and how my oldest daughter felt about it.  Together, we decided next year that we are going to go through our local churches, angel tree, etc and take all the money we spent on ourselves and give to needy children next year.  She really liked the idea of being able to help others and that made me feel good.

This is all a plan to make sure that when my children grow up they understand that you don't have to have a lot to be rich, as long as you have your family and that there is always someone else out there that needs more then you do.  I don't think I said that exactly right, but you get the point.  We have been blessed in so many ways in our life and now is as good a time as any to share those blessing with others. 

So, with that being said, I hope you and your family had a very Happy Holiday.  May you be blessed with more then you can ever imagine and may you share those blessings with the one's you love.  Happy New Year!

New Baby, New Worries

You would think after having three beautiful, happy, healthy girls that the wife and I would be old pros at this pregnancy thing, but alas, we still have more to learn.  We can pull the heartbeat out of the air and read a ultrasound as good as a tech, but is still so much to know, especially with a new one. 

 On our most recent doctor's appointment, the nurse mentioned that my wife's Rubella antibodies were off.  My first response when my wife mentioned that was, Rubella?  Apparently, my wife is not immune and her antibodies were off.  So, the research began.  Nasty little virus this Rubella is and it can do some major damage to the unborn baby.  Great, something new to be concerned about.  Not to mention that since the wife is now 35 (I was being nice, she just corrected me, she's 36), they asked if we wanted amniocentesis.  So, another thing to think about.

With all this little uncertainties, we started second guessing our decision not to have genetics testing.  We started second guessing our thoughts on vaccines and medicines.  We started second guessing everything.  So, as good parents, we tried to become educated and the best place was to ask the Doctor, duh!  So, my wife called and the doctor said there was absolutely nothing to worry about and that everything was fine.  Whew!  False alarm, back to normal.

Long story short, always trust your instincts. You know you better then anyone else and if you take the time to educate yourself and listen to your heart, it will all be fine.  What do you think?

I Am Number Four!

Totally different then the action packed thriller about aliens living among us with super powers, this post is about my family's journey to child number four and all the emotions along the way.  Not any less exciting, just without all the killing and stuff.

"Four kids, really?"  That's the typical response from anyone I tell that we're expecting another child in May.  That and the always classic, "You haven't figured out what causes that yet?"  It's funny that people look at four children as such a high number.  I think in the current world, two or three is the norm.  After having two children, the third was pretty easy to handle, so why not try for four?    It just seems like a logical choice to me.  I can't help it that I prefer even numbers and symmetrical architecture.


With all that being said, I never thought I would be the father of three or even four.  I thought two was more then enough.  God blessed me and mine with a third though, and at that time, I knew in my heart that three kids was good and plenty.  My wife had said she wanted another child, but I had all but taken that completely off the table.   We struggle to raise two, much less three.  There was no way we could afford to have a fourth child.  So, almost two years passed and I woke up one morning thinking about having another child.  My wife and I had not even talked about it.  It was just there.  A seed had been planted and began growing in my mind. Every Dad can probably agree that they want to have a boy, sometime in there life.  I had already been blessed with three beautiful girls, but I wanted to see if the fourth time was the charm.


Several days later, during one of our day off, house cleaning sessions, I proposed the idea to my wife.  I didn't immediately want to start trying, but I could see having another one in the next couple of years.  It took all of a week for us to find out we were pregnant.  Thank God that He had planted that seed in my brain because I was already ready for it.  Now, we are about four months along.  We find out in about four weeks what the sex of the baby will be.  I hope it's a boy, but whatever God decides to bless us with will be more then wanted and loved.  I remember clearly my wife, then my girlfriend, telling me that she had been told since she was fourteen that she couldn't have children.  Every child to us is a blessing.


So, I picture a little boy growing in my wife's belly, sucking his thumb, running his laps, and thinking "I am Number Four!"  He will be blessed with super powers just like the rest of us.  Love, compassion, humor, and smarts will be in his tool box.  And he will be born in May.  I can't wait to see the world premier.