Big Baby Girl!

Hello All,

As some of you know, Shaun and I had a little adventure this past Sunday and got to have a quick stay in the Labor and Delivery portion of the hospital. Now, no worries! I started having contractions Saturday night. I didn't know that was what they were though. I just thought it was weird cramping. They continued through the night and finally Sunday morning we left church and went in. They gave me some meds to stop them and a bag of fluids to rehydrate and ordered rest. I wasn't in labor, just having contractions. So, we are totally fine! I am resting as ordered and bought a baby book so I could read up on preterm labor. Hadn't thought that far ahead yet! :-)

In the hospital, she was very active. Her heart is strong and she was just kicking away. An active baby is a healthy baby, so we are very blessed. It was neat to see and hear her moving and kicking.

We went to the Dr. on Thursday and had a sonogram. Good news is that there wasn't too much fluid and Elliott is measuring almost 2 weeks ahead. That means that I am 25 weeks and she is measuring 27 weeks. Right now, that isn't enough to move the due date because she may have a had a growth spurt and will level out. If next visit, she is measuring progressively larger, then they will move the due date. I have a great picture of her face, but can't upload it right now due to our office being a disaster in prep for the remodel. It looked like she has my eyes and Shaun's nose! She was asleep the entire time, so they were able to get some good measurements and still photos. Of course as soon as we walked out of the sonogram suite, she was wide awake and kicking up a storm!

I wasn't put on bed rest, but ordered to start taking it easy and no lifting over 20 pounds. We can still go on vacation to Arkansas with Jan, Gary and the Boys. It is a 9-11 hour drive, so I'll have plenty of time to rest. I was told that there will be no cave exploring for me. Maybe they can just take a picture of me in the helmet with the light and the knee pads?! I am still able to do everything else, so whoo hoo!!!

While we are gone, the remodel of the house is to be completed. That means that the cabinets in the office will be installed and the baby furniture will finally be brought in. I need to be cleaning everything out right now and will quit procrastinating soon. Ughh.

So when we get home, we will have a nice surprise and can finally get things ready for baby. Shaun put together the glider and ottoman that Rachele and Patrick bought for us. It looks great! Thank y'all! We also received and awesome gift card from Grandma Stella to use to purchase baby stuff. Thank you!!! I think that a baby shower is being planned here for us at the end of the month of August, but the girls won't tell me anything, so I don't know! If you get an invitation, please do not feel like you have to come! Save your trip for when you can actually meet Elliott!

We also took Tyson to the specialist this week. He is doing better. He was placed on a new antibiotic and seems to be responding well. They gave us permission to board him at our vets office, so that is a HUGE win as before, they had said that wouldn't be good due to his immune system being weak. So, he is getting stronger! His first birthday is August the 8th. Poor pup has survived so much his first year and he is a fighter! We love him so much and can see glimpses of Jackson and Sebastian in him. Of course, Preston is still the same stubborn, goofy pup that he always is, except his is now quite plump.

We have to get a new windshield for the Tiguan now thanks to the intelligent city planners in New Orleans. On the way there, the windshield got hit with a rock from a truck and it cracked. Someone in the City thought that it would be a good idea to place palm trees covered in pea gravel in the median of the freeway. That's Katrina recovery money in action folks! Seriously!! So, our car gets to have a new windshield now. It has been ordered, so hopefully it will be soon. Thank goodness we have insurance! I swear since we moved here, we have replaced more windshields. This will be our 4rth! I miss the nice and smooth roads of Texas!

That's all the updates for this week. Now, off to get that office cleaned out!

Love,

Jessica

24 Weeks

Hello All!

We have officially made it to the 24 week mark. That is a great milestone. At 24 weeks, babies can survive outside the womb with medical care. Due to Elliott measuring 29 weeks, we have moved the sonogram up to this Thursday. That way, we will know if the due date is off or if something bigger is happening before our vacation. I am thinking that the Doctor is going to put the kibosh on my cave exploring expedition on vacation. Guess that means I'll just spend the day at the pool instead. :-) Maybe I'll even get time to read a book for fun?!? I haven't been able to do that since I started the second masters. Yeah that I am graduated!

Also, about this weather system Bonnie, we should be just fine. They are now projecting that it will hit us as a tropical storm. This means tons of rain and wind, but nothing too serious. It is projected to hit us tonight at 2 AM. The weather and tides here are already changing in preparation for the storm. We are fine and grateful that it is just a tropical storm.

Tyson also has a doctor appointment on Tuesday to see about his infection. His immune system just isn't fighting things very well and that is the reason for the skin issues. He is responding well to the new medication and we will find out Tuesday what course of action to continue on as well as if we can board him when we leave or if he has to come with us. Poor pup! He is a trooper though and you'd never know he was ill except for the baby booties on his feet to prevent scratching.

Have a great weekend!

Jessica

Extreme Week recap and Baby news

Hello all!

It has been a BUSY three weeks. We have been preparing for our huge children's summer event Extreme Week. It's like vacation Bible school, but not cheesy, boring, prefabbed, or full of Christian subculture garbage. It is an event written to be culturally relevant and to reach kids in real and life changing ways. It takes more work that your traditional children's event, but His kids deserve that! I write the teaching and the skits and the drama is written as well. Snacks were created and survivor themed and craft was created and included all of the day's teachign and the theme. We had over 150 volunteers and over 160 kids in attendance. And the theme this year was LOST: The wait is over... yes like to tv show. We also tied in survivor into the theme.

My friend Steph came over from TX to lead the worship band and it ROCKED!!! I am so proud of her and how she lead our band. We did the worship for the main services this weekend as part of Extreme Weekend and our people really enjoyed it. Most asking if we could do those songs as part of our weekend services. Thank you Steph for everything! I heart you and am glad that we got to feed you all that the Gulfcoast has to offer! See you soon!

The event was a huge success, despite the air conditioning in the building crashing, me throwing up one day before the start, a volunteer fainting, and video issues. Day One focused on the fact that we are all LOST. Day two: Jesus was never LOST. Day 3: We don't have to be LOST. Day 4: Our friends don't have to be LOST. Day 3, we had 42 kids become Christ followers! THAT IS AWESOME!!!

Needless to say, I'm still really tired and have missed a lot of phone calls due to all the week's activities. If I missed your call, I'll get to you. I just need to rest for a week. The event was more of a challenge for me this year being preggo and all. :-)

Speaking of bun in the oven, Elliott is doing well according to today's visit. Her heart is strong and she is kicking up a storm. Those kicks are getting more powerful too. The Doctor is a little concerned because she is measuring 28-30 and I am only 24 weeks. Typically they measure the area from your pubic bone to the top of the uterus and for every week that you are, you measure that in inches. For example, 24 weeks= 24 inches. I am larger than that, so they have ordered a sonogram to get a more precise measurement. Causes usually are that the due date is off, there is more fluid than typical, or it could be a larger baby due to gestational diabetes. I get tested for that soon too. Or, it could just be a big healthy baby! We will know more next month and this is no real cause for concern.

Other than that, we are doing great. We are gearing up for the Fall and hopefully the baby nursery will be done soon. I've got the crib, changing table, dresser, and bedding already. I'm just waiting to get the furniture back from being refinished. I am registered at target.com, babiesrus.com, and jcpenny.com. My friends here are also busy working on the baby shower stuff. I am hoping for a small, quiet, uneventful shower. No pink, no games, and real food!

Thank you for your continued prayers an support. We will be in touch again soon!

Jessica