I just wanted to thank everyone for your kind words of encouragement. I am just so overwhelmed at all the people who came out of the woodwork to express their love and concern. People I haven’t seen or spoke to in years! I am overwhelmed and speechless. Thank you. It’s a huge comfort to know we are not alone in this fight!

The weirdest thing happened today. Mike and I had some friends over for dinner. These are dear friends of ours and Luke especially loves them. He knows they are good people. He knows neither one of them would ever hurt his momma.

Or so I thought.

At one point after dinner some rough-housing occurred between me and my friend. He was trying to go to the kitchen and serve himself dessert and I was insisting he sit his butt back down and let the hostess serve. Well, he picked me up right off the floor and started carrying me back to the living room. I started screaming, the laughing kind of screaming, but Luke thought that I was being hurt in some way and he totally FLIPPED OUT. I looked over and he was sobbing and crying “Momma”. His face was just beet red. I swooped him up in my arms and held him tight and assured him that Momma was okay. I just kept saying it over and over until he calmed down.

I’ve seen empathetic behavior like that in dogs but never in a child. I’m sure it happens, I’ve just never seen it. And I’ve certainly never seen it in my child. The whole brief incident has affected me in a strange way and I won’t soon forget it.

Uh, Christmas is next week? Really. Wow. I’m sure it will be fun once it’s here, but I’m lacking a little of that Christmas spirit this year.

What happened to my Christmas spirit? Welll, we didn’t put a tree up because the cats usually just knock it down anyway. Then throw little Luke into the mix… we just didn’t think it was a good idea. And I get frustrated with all the craze and hype surrounding all the presents you’re supposed to buy and the whole Santa thing is annoying and it seems so easy to forget the real meaning and blah blah blah…

Okay, here’s the real deal: My mom moved to Oklahoma just before Thanksgiving. So it’s still new and I’m carrying around some hidden sadness because I’m not going to see her for Christmas. Or her birthday. Or my birthday. Or Easter. It’s sad to me, you know? I guess I just really miss my mom.

With that said, I still have been blessed with lots of other wonderful family members whom I will be seeing around Christmas time and I can be thankful for that. This weekend we will go see Mike’s family and I am thrilled because I haven’t seen his mom in quite some time and I can’t even remember the last time I saw his stepbrother. It will be a weekend full of delicious food, entertaining conversation, and hopefully a few good games of Texas Hold ‘Em.

On the Saturday following Christmas we will be traveling to my dad’s house where we will have our first ever apple fritter taste-off. I imagine my stepmom will take some intriguing photos of the apple fritters before we devour them, so I’ll give a full report once it’s all over. For this family Christmas is almost always about the food. Well, first about Jesus but after that it’s all about the food.

Then we have some dear friends coming to Michigan from southern Illi so we plan on spending some time with them around the first part of the new year.

I don’t care for the travel and busyness but I do love seeing family and friends. That’s the best part, in my book. I guess the only true Christmas wish I have left is that I get some napping done somewhere in there

Today is Vicki’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Vicki! I can’t think of a better day to list all the things we have in common. Vicki and I have been friends for around a decade, and in all that time we keep finding weird things we have in common. We believe we may have been twins in a previous life. Either that or the masters of the universe (He-Man and his cohorts, obviously) are telling us we are so totally meant to be friends forever.

We currently own (or have owned at one time) identical:

1. Red teapots

2. Bread boxes

3. Skirts

4. Cell phones

5. Televisions

6. Remote controls

We also had matching hairdo’s in high school (we didn’t know each other then). She has this senior picture that if you just stuck a cut-out of my face on top of hers you would think it was me. I’m pretty sure I have the same photo; same hair, same outfit, same pose.

So we have similar style. Big deal, right? Wait! There’s more:

1. Her brother’s birthday is the same day as mine and Mike’s. (Yes, Mike and I share a birthday. We know it’s cool. We planned it that way.)

2. Her dad collects Coca-Cola paraphernalia. I collect Coca-Cola paraphernalia too. 

3. Her mom’s birthday is the same day as my mom’s birthday.

Any one of those things alone is not all that interesting, but when you add it all up it’s just wild. Wild, I tell ya! Okay, maybe wild is a bit strong. How about weird, uncanny, peculiar or kooky? (I love the thesaurus.)

Just for the record, Vicki is none of those things (weird, uncanny, peculiar or kooky). Unless she wants to be. However, she is kind, sweet, thoughtful and funny - whether she wants to be or not. Love ya, Vicki!

I received word this morning that my good friend was in labor and my youngest sister is scheduled to be induced tomorrow! Two brand new babies, just like that! I’m working just a half day tomorrow so I can go and meet the new little boys. I just hope my sister has the baby before the end of the day, otherwise I’ll have to come back another day to meet the little guy.

I tell ya, I’m way more excited about new babies now that I’m on this side of the infertility fence. Pregnancy news was always tough to swallow when we were trying to conceive, but since having Luke it’s a heck of a lot easier now. I still feel somewhat torn because I’ve been on that other side and I feel a connection with those who are still there, but there’s nothing I can do to help them hop the fence. The most I can do is meet them at the gate and let them know that I’ve been there. There is green grass on both sides, you just need to know where to look.

Hop over to MomTeacherFriend and wish her a Happy Anniversary – As of today, she and her husband have been married 10 years! In honor of the occasion, I’ve deviated from posting “on the 8′s” so you’ll notice the time matches the date. (Like you care, but it amuses me.)

Happy Anniversary! We love you both!

Here is a nice shot of our friends’ son Poet being so gentle with Luke… for a second. Almost immediately after I took the picture Poet raised his arm up high and whap!… hit Luke square on the head. Luke didn’t even flinch. He was apparently sleeping pretty hard. Michelle did mention Poet had entered into a “hitting phase”. We made sure to keep him away from Pele, aka “Mean Kitty Ow”.

Seriously, where has my blogging motivation gone? It disappeared somewhere in my first trimester.

These days have been flying by. Work has been both busy and stressful and I am really looking forward to having the time off when the baby comes. That will be a busy and stressful time but it will be much different, mainly because there will be a cute baby involved. At least I hope he’s cute. I guess I’ll love him the same either way.

Last weekend Heather and Sarah came over to help me organize the baby stuff we have received so far. I have the best friends ever!! Now everything is categorized and in bins. It’s still in the living room, but at least there is some order to it. I was so overwhelmed by it all that I know I couldn’t have done it myself. I would have given up way too early.

I had a baby shower a couple of weeks ago that went really well. It was for my family, put on by family, and it was a great time. Mom and Kari have posted pictures, so check them out. I have another shower with my friends a week from Saturday and I am so excited for it. The best part of these showers is getting to see all these people I haven’t seen in awhile. And also I’m just blown away at everyone’s generosity. We are so blessed.

I’ve been cross-stitching for the last few weeks. It seems to occupy my mind better than crocheting or knitting, so it’s been a good stress reliever. I’m working on the Christmas ornaments I started years ago. I hope that’s not what brought the snow in April. If it is, I apologize. But it’s probably not because really I don’t hold that kind of power. God does, but I don’t think his sense of humor is that twisted.

Please, please pray for my co-worker and his wife. She is 6 months pregnant, not due until March 6, but last night her water broke. I’m not sure what the outcome looks like, or what kind of medical treatment they can do for this sort of thing. They are young newlyweds and this is their first child. I can’t imagine what kind of emotions they are going through right now. They are devout Christians but that doesn’t mean that in times like these they still aren’t scared. So let’s just pray for a miracle and peace for the two of them and their extended families as they muddle through this time of uncertainty.

Thank you!

**UPDATE: She gave birth to a healthy baby boy on Tuesday night. He weighed in at 2 lb. 7 oz. He cried as soon as he was delivered (a good sign!) and he is already breathing on his own without the respirator. He’ll need to stay in the hospital for a few months but all signs point to a long and healthy future for this new kiddo! Thank you for your prayers!

Oh my, I cannot contain my excitement! It’s all starting today! Mom-in-law and I will be making appetizers tonight and then we’ll go to Mike’s dart tournament afterwards. Tomorrow is turkey day! Lots of great food, great family. Mom is bringing homemade mac and cheese and Dad is bringing homemade banana creme pie – YUM! Friday is an all day fun fest with friends – Tracy and Christie are both in town so we have a ton of catching up to do. Saturday I’ll be chillin’ at Mom’s eating my all-time favorite food, pizza. Who knows what Sunday will bring? I predict lots of napping.