Invent

Comings and Goings


making a SPLASH!!!

We’ve had a busy week around these parts, but it’s been great!  By mid week, I decided to get a relaxing tub bath, but I had a very alert baby!! So, I made her a blanket and let her play in the bathroom floor with her toys while I de-stressed.  She didn’t seem to mind much at all.

Later in the week, Grandma Bendy, Aunt Sarah and Cuz Henry came down. They went to the beach for a night with a friend then came up to spend some time here.  Of course, we had to go swimming.  So we enjoyed the pool at Aunt Cathy’s and cooled off.  The next day, Sarah and I took off to hit a few stores, mainly Once Upon a Child, where they were having a clearance sale.  That’s where Sarah got these great sunglasses for the baby!  She seemed to like them okay but she seemed to like having them on her head better.

Either way, she loves to hang out with Henry!  They love each other. She loves to watch him and he lights up every time she touches him!

We ended the weekend with a SPLASH! as Robbie was baptized at Black Jack!  Woo hoo!! He didn’t drown and we’re officially church members!

More of our adventures to come!! :)

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here comes Peter Cottontail…

When I first found out I was pregnant, I was so excited.  We got online, found a due date calculator and were so excited at the due date, 3/26/10… my grandfather’s b-day!  One day before my sister’s b-day.  Very exciting… then, we went to the doctor and they wanted to do an ultrasound to confirm 1. a baby in the belly (instead of the tubes) and 2. the number of babies… in our case one.  But, I didn’t expect to hear a due date change… to 4/4/10… Robbie said, “That’s a Sunday.”  I said, “That’s EASTER Sunday!”   I wasn’t expecting a change in dates, especially not Easter.  It made for a lot of fun jokes with the church family about singing in the cantata this year and with my family about Easter bunnies and having babies on Good Friday because of the state holiday schedule (most of my family members are state employees).

But it took me until a couple of weeks ago to see the significance of an Easter due date.  God made the greatest sacrifice he could possibly give when he let his son die a painful death on a cross for our sins and we celebrate that at Easter.  A morbid story, sure, but only if you skip the part where he rises from the grave to defeat death and sin once and for all.  It’s not about cantatas or bunnies or baskets, eggs or dresses..  It’s about forgiveness, mercy, grace…. there was a significant message in the Easter due date for this girl who struggles with forgiveness. I see my past in my head, sometimes daily. I know where I’ve been, what I’ve done. I know how badly I let God down, also sometimes daily.  I’ve known people with bad outcomes from pregnancy for mom or baby.  I’ve heard them say, “I deserve this” or “What did I do to deserve this?”  I didn’t have to say those things.  I look at my beautiful little miracle and say “How could I deserve this gorgeous, sweet gift?”… it’s like God was reminding  me again that my past is forgiven  by giving me a perfect gift of life due on the same day we celebrate the death and resurrection of his son. It’s also a reminder of how much I need him, DAILY, to know how to guide her and raise her to know Him and just to know what to do even about simple things as a parent. I hope she sees him early and never takes her eyes off of him.

This Easter, think about your blessings, all the grace God has extended to you and say an extra prayer of thanksgiving… if you don’t know God, then it is time to figure him out. He’s been looking for you and wants you to come home to his family. It’s time for your spiritual re-birth.

Here are some more pics of our new little one, Emily!  All these pics were taken by a local photographer and close friend, Heather Sullivan. Her website is www.heathersullivanphoto.wordpress.com . Please contact her if she can be of service to you/your family  She is an awesome photographer!

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It’s all over but the shoutin’

Well, things are progressing well with things in baby world, as far as we know.   The baby has been growing and growing and moving and moving! I remember reading  a few weeks ago in the baby books that after 34 weeks her movements would be “less pronounced”… they must not have met my child!  This baby moves and kicks and ROLLS alot!! Sometimes it will just about make you sick she’s bouncing so much in there.  Granted, it doesn’t help that I didn’t give up all my caffeine or that I like brownies, but still, dang!  :)  I enjoy it so much when she does get on a roll though.  This morning, I actually felt a new feeling.  HICCUPS!!  She had this really regular movement, always in the same place, like a kick that was really steady…. she’s never “steady,” she likes to keep me guessing… I was like, oh, oh hiccups!! :)  Very cute.

We’ve done the “oh my gosh, we’re pregnant”…. we’ve done the “Honey, I feel sick…”… we’ve done the “Did you feel that?”  …… we’ve even done the “Could you help me tie my shoes?”  Belly pats/rubs (from strangers even),  smiles and advice (solicited and unsolicited).  Who could forget the showers??? We have been SOOOOO EXTREMELY blessed with showers and more showers of wonderful gifts.  Even from my patients who have brought me handmade items and frozen meals for after the baby comes.

We also had the experience of childbirth education class today.   Robbie was worried about going b/c 1. it was an all day Saturday ordeal and 2. he just wasn’t enthused and felt like it was something we didn’t need.  By the end of the class though, I think he had learned a lot and felt like maybe some of it was worthwhile. :)  He continues to crack me up with his comments about the instruments that were passed around or the information on the videos we saw.

Now that I’m crossing the 36 week line (tomorrow), I think we’re both getting anxious about what is to come…. labor.  We have a lot of friends who have had babies and they all love to tell their stories about how they were doing pretty well and then things got pretty uncomfortable for a while. Then they got an epidural and slept for a while, then it was time to push that baby right on out….  some of course had c-sections after trying to push for a while or even elective c-sections depending on the situation.  Even in class today, it seemed as if most of the people there were just learning techniques to keep them comfortable until they could get their epidural.

But I can’t get an epidural.  Unfortunately, as a child, I had a form of spina bifida and had to have surgery on my spine.  After an anesthesia consult, I recently found out that the word epidural is not one I will be able to use in my birth story.  This is a little disheartening, but I know for a fact that for YEARS women have had babies naturally, even without IV pain meds. So, now, my goal is just to prepare my mind and body for cooperating for this natural process.  But you know what? I’m very hopeful.  I’m looking at a trial in my future, not unlike other trials I’ve had in the past and I didn’t face them with a “spirit of timidity”…. so why this one?

2 Timothy 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

God is faithful. He will guide me through this just like everything else, if I’ll let him.  He has given us the power we neeed to overcome trials, the love to have grace in them and the self-discipline to have some sense of control.  I need to commit this one to memory so I can’t forget it when those really BIG contractions come!  So, please keep us in your prayers over this next month that I’ll be completely surrendered to His will and peaceful and comfortable knowing I have His power and strength.  Thanks for all your support!!  Hopefully I’ll be able to post again in a few weeks with a picture of “baby girl” and even her name! :)

from the church shower at 35 wks

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No, she looks like ME!

So, we went to the doctor today for a 4D ultrasound… very neat technology…. when your kid decides to cooperate!  At first, she was laying head down, kind of in my hip socket, facing my spine… great… she wouldn’t even look at us.  But, the U/S tech was very nice and patient.  She kept checking different aspects and did a few measurements, etc, to help us pass the time and coming back trying to bounce her into deciding to roll over.  Apparently our little baby-who-has-”no-name” is measuring a little bigger than my due date and if born today is estimated to weigh about 4 lbs…. if born to term gaining the max weight per week between now and 40 weeks… just over 9 lbs… I still maintain this will not happen!  Robbie and I both weighed in the 7′s, so that’s what I’m holding out for darn it!  It also looks like in 2-d view that she has quite a bit of hair…. Robbie said, “Now, if you could only tell us what color it is, the mystery would be solved.”  As if. Maybe he doesn’t recall my hair was dark at birth (like almost black) and that it fell out and came back in RED!

Nonetheless, 4D u/s is a great experience. I loved being able to see her move and feel her kick at the same time today and then getting to see the 4D rendering of her features is really neat.  From the emails already sent out today, everyone has an opinion on who she looks like or how…. and now even more family are pressuring about names!  Robbie’s mom tried to trick him into telling her name for the first time today. I could hardly believe it when he told me b/c she had been sooo good about it!  But, I guess it’s getting to her as well…. oh well, another 8-10 weeks and they’ll all know her name is _________ _________ Stokes.

Here are some pics for you to see.  We decided not to post all 58 of them as some of them are “boring” or hard to tell what they are.  Here are some of our favorites!!

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new chapters

Life is so full of changes and new things… just like this blog!! Previously, I kept 2 blogs. One was for updates on me/family called “Comings and Goings”, the other was “Clearing it Up”–a blog devoted to my spiritual journey. Now, thanks to my fabulously sweet husband, it’s all been combined in one joint effort at a new location… here at RobbieandKim.com!!  Now we both can make posts!  And, it’s so timely!! New year, new blogs!! :)  2010 is going to be interesting to say the least.

I’m really really glad for this new blog, actually, b/c before I felt like there was a chasm between Robbie&Kim and Kim&God when it came to my blogs (even though it all runs together in my mind and daily life). So, symbolically I guess I’m integrating the two. Which is exactly what we’re supposed to do as Christians.  How can we separate our lives from the image of God if we are truly walking with him, seeking him, following him, trusting him?  The Bible is clear that a man can not serve two masters. “A man is slave to whatever has mastered him.” (2 Peter 2).  If we’ve chosen to follow Christ, we’ve accepted him as our “Master” or mentor or leader,  then we need to emulate him daily.  I admit, some days I go into the day thinking I will be able to do it, but I fail at this miserably. I sincerely hope and pray I can get better before our next chapter begins….

So, the next big chapter in 2010 is our biggest news. I don’t think I’ve actually posted it anywhere in previous posts as I’ve been waiting for this one to be built…. We’re gonna be PARENTS!!   Yep, God has seen fit to bless us with a baby girl who is due this Spring…. on Easter Sunday 4/4/10!  You would know the baby would be due on a holiday… I’m a tax day baby, we got married the weekend of Thanksgiving…. so Easter!  A new beginning and lots of learning experiences.  I’m excited about becoming a mom though and I think Robbie is excited about becoming a dad as well (actually, I know he is).  It’s approaching rapidly and I think we’re both beginning to see the urgency to get things ready!  I hit my third trimester this week!

So, keep your eyes open for new posts in the upcoming weeks!!  Let us know what you think of our new site as well!!  (Oh and don’t worry, all the old posts got to come over with the new blog! So you can still search the archives for things like the funny pictures from our trip to Mexico in 10/2008 and the God’s Chisel skit from earlier this year).

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

baby girl, about 24 weeks

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