A Week of Firsts

Ella had her first full week of school last week. She seems to love it. The first day we picked her up she was a little quiet, but the rest of the week she had lots to say. Apparently there is even a boy in her class that is "cute." Of course John and I suffered from a case of whiplash after this enlightening comment. WHAT?! We have never in our lives heard her refer to another boy as "cute." This is only kindergarten! Is that even normal?! We tried to play it cool and act neutral as John endured heart palpitations and breathed into a paper bag. Okay, maybe not the paper bag part. He did notice six gray hairs that evening.

Now, Ella seems to have forgotten about her disclosure so we are not pursuing it. Yet. We wonder if she heard a classmate say something similar or maybe it was in a movie she watched. I reached far back in my memory and vaguely remember thinking boys were cute in kindergarten. John said that he didn't think girls were cute until he was about 23. Just kidding. But he did say it happened much later in elementary school for boys. In case it does come up again, we are prepared and are determined not freak out like the first time.

Over the course of last week, I tried to snap a couple of pictures before school each day. It is a shame that Ella is so shy in front of the camera that I can barely get her to smile. The last thing she would ever do is pose: I mean, I have to force her to take more than one picture: We are really going to have to work on that camera shyness:In other news....I am officially in the 3rd trimester! 28 weeks to be exact. Here are the stats: I have seen my regular OB 2 times in the last 4 weeks, I've seen the high-risk fetal specialist 3 times in the last 4 weeks, and have had 3 ultrasounds in the last 4 weeks. So this has been a busy month. I am on "modified bed-rest" due to my symptoms of pre-term labor. I always thought it would be wonderful to be on bed-rest because you could just read the whole time or watch TV. But it is really horribly boring. And my house is a mess, so that makes me irritable. John is doing so much, and I know that must be hard to work a full day and then come home and do everything.

One of my toughest symptoms is not being able to breath very well when I lay down. It feels like breathing through a straw sometimes. I have heartburn often too. Other than those two things, I don't have too much to complain about.

Before church:Ella loves to take pictures with our camera. She took this one of her sunflower that she planted in the spring and just recently bloomed: Ella and Snowflake: This past summer I was blessed to be invited into an amazing Bible study by my sweet neighbor, Hannah. It was Beth Moore's Fruit of the Spirit Bible study, and it was truly life-changing. I met an incredible group of girls that also happened to throw me a surprise baby shower on the last night. I had never done a Beth Moore Bible study so I had no idea how much homework was involved. In fact, it was a little overwhelming at first. But it was truly one of the best time/spiritual investments I have ever made.

This week I have two more doctor appointments. Hopefully, they will both yield positive feedback. Thank you to those who have kept us in your prayers. It is so comforting and so much appreciated.