Results from 12/20/2007

I received my results from this month's blood work and they are negative! Yeah again! Each month I worry and expect the worse. I really prepared myself, again, for bad news and God was again faithful to heal my body! These last few days have been a little rough as my due date was January 6th. A friend who was due the same day is going to have her baby any day now and it has made me think about it a lot. I know we are going to be just fine though and that God has a bigger plan that what I can see right now. It has been hard to think that we could be having a baby today! But at the same time I can't imagine having a baby today! Thanks for your continued prayers!

Christmas 2007

We survived another Christmas. It was really great and so much fun with Mali. She would ooh and ahh as she opened presents and was very thankful. Mali got a lot of wonderful gifts. Among her favorites are her chair, pink fishing pole, trunk of dress up clothes, huge paper doll book, wooden frog from Thailand, Ratatouille DVD, stuffed bear, REI pink down vest, all her pink clothes, and princess pajamas. We are thankful for all that she got and blessed to receive so many wonderful things through love! One of my favorite memories this Christmas was hearing Mali sing "Joy to the World" after the Christmas Eve service. I'm so thankful for the seeds that are being planted in her heart for Jesus through our celebration of Christmas. Mali also took her first communion...oops, we just didn't want to make a scene by refusing her grape juice and a cracker! But I did explain to her that this is how we remember Jesus and what He did for us. I'm sure she doesn't get it, but I think God is probably okay with a 3 year old "doing this in remembrance of Him". One of many funny stories that happened was that some of Rory and Judy's friends came over and brought their new baby grandson. When the grandmother put him down, Mali said "is it baby Jesus?" I wonder what I can learn from her childlike anticipation and excitement over baby Jesus?! I've added some pictures of our Christmas celebrations to our website. Hope you enjoy looking through them. Merry Christmas for the last time this year, and Happy New Year!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/briegomez/

Our Christmas tradition

Here are pictures of our own celebration of Christmas, yes we celebrated last night which is early. Eric and I have done this since we got married so that we could have our own time to start traditions, carry on traditions, and open our presents from each other, since we still celebrate Christmas Eve/Day with his parents and mine. So, we celebrated last night since we thought Eric was going to be gone tonight and then we will be in Dalhart this weekend. It was great. It was so fun to watch Mali because she would get so excited and say "oh thank you" or "this is great" or "this is my favorite". She was so expressive (imagine that) and fun. We laughed and had a good time. This year Eric and I didn't get each other presents and just did stockings for each other but it was still really fun. We got Mali 3 presents besides her stocking just like Baby Jesus got 3 presents. We ate Rosa's and some what watched "The Elf". Mali got a viewfinder, Leap Pad and Leap Pad Book, plus some really great stocking stuffers, and yes she did get candy but has done a great job brushing her teeth (also got new toothpaste and toothbrush) and limiting her candy intake. Eric got me some great girly things and shirts. I got Eric a really good pillow (best Wal-Mart had to offer) and some manly pampering product. Eric and I also received our Christmas gift from my parents...chairs to go with our big table. We are looking forward to only having one table in our kitchen and are so excited about our nice chairs. We have been using my table that I've had since 1999 that came from Alco! It has lasted a while surprisingly. We are planning on staining our chairs today so that it will be all ready! So enjoy the pictures!

Another appointment

I had another follow up appointment to make sure that the molar has not come back today, and praise God again, everything is still normal. I did talk with my ob again about getting pregnant again and she was pretty firm that we needed to wait until I was cleared on September 1st, 2008. As she put it, you're only 4 months into it now! She asked me if we were ready again which made me think. In a way I feel ready physically, but also terrified of what lies before us. I'm not sure though that I can ever say that I'm ready to get pregnant, that has to be God. Clearly, I do not know what is best, but He does and sees the big picture. So, my appointment was great but also discouraging to be reminded that Sept. 1st is the only time it will be okay to get pregnant.
Another praise is that God has provided me friends. Yesterday two of the women that are in my BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) Group came over with their children and we had a little Christmas party. I was hesitant to attend BSF since I was in a new city, and my fear was this, that I would not meet any young moms if I were to go to BSF. Isn't God amazing, and He does know best! I have met new friends, young moms, through BSF. One of the moms even watched Mali for me while I went to the doctor. Mali also has a friend through this moms daughter. God has been faithful to care for me and bring me under His wing since our move to Amarillo. I certainly miss my friends in Lubbock and they will never be replaced, but after such a short time I can say that I have friends, I don't want to take that for granted.
Thank you again for your prayers!

Quote

I came across this quote that I had written down almost a year ago. I think God intended for me to find it today. It has been one of those days that I'm very discouraged by my abilities at...well...everything, especially parenting. Maybe that is the reason for so many posts today!:) So, I wanted to share this quote and hopefully encourage others.

"We are designed to function poorly, to feel overwhelmed and alone apart from our relationship with Jesus. We are made to be lost without God."
Angela Thomas Guffey
from Tender Mercies for a Mothers' Soul (highly recommended this book)

Mali's 3 year portrait

At her 3 year well visit, Mali weighed 28lbs and was 37 1/2 inches tall! It looks like she will be in a car seat indefinitely!:) (The rule is 40 lbs and you're out!)

Pediatrician Woes

As soon as I found out that we would be moving to Amarillo I began searching for doctors for myself and Mali. I soon came to the realization that in Amarillo, you must be born here to get into a doctor, and especially one that everyone else has heard of. It took me forever to get into a pediatrician for Mali. Our preference was for a female pedi., as Mali has always seen a female pedi. and we just thought it would be convenient for the future since Mali is female. Needless to say, no female pedi's would accept new patients that were toddlers...only newborns. Come to find out, no pedi's in Amarillo would accept new patients unless they were newborns. I finally got Mali into a male pedi that several people had recommended on the basis that I was expecting another baby in January. Even when I miscarried they allowed Mali to stay as their patient. Mali saw this doctor a total of 3 times. For various reasons we were not satisfied with that doctor. Primarily because Mali cried and would not let him examine her (in Lubbock our pedi had referred to Mali as the perfect patient and always told us how she wished all of her patients acted like Mali when they needed to be examined. We always left so proud of Mali and her achievements as a model patient.) So, we decided to get a new pedi. I finally found a female pedi that would consider Mali as a new patient BUT Mali had to go through an approval process first. This took a few weeks and they accepted her. I was so happy. Then they informed me that Mali could not be seen for her 3 year check up until they received all of her medical records. It took 6 weeks and about 6 annoying calls from me for our Lubbock pedi to send the records to the new pedi. In the meantime, Mali's 3 year well visit approached and our 1st Amarillo pedi would not see her for our scheduled appointment because we were in the process of changing pedi's. Finally, Mali had her exam yesterday. I really liked the new pedi, and Mali did great with her. We did spend a total of an hour and a half in the office, but we had waited that in Lubbock too. When we went to check out I tried to schedule Mali's 4 year well visit just to be on top of things. The receptionist informed me that Mali could be seen April of 2009!!!! I'm sure I looked at her really strange and said "her birthday is November 23rd". All of our previous well visits have been the week after Thanksgiving. She then informed me that our new pedi only sees children 2 years and younger for well visits during the winter, so we will have to wait until April for Mali's 4 year visit at which time she will be 4 1/2 almost ready for her 5 year visit! So, it seems that, again, we will be switching pediatricians. I plan on waiting a while because I'm too tired of dealing with this all and I do like our new pediatrician, but not the well visit policy.
I just felt like venting about this crazy ordeal! On the positive side, almost all Amarillo pedi's do have a separate sick and well waiting room! I'm sure only mothers, and mothers who have moved, can relate to this!