30 weeks

Well, today, I had a great midwife appointment! My blood pressure is great, I have gained 4 pound overall, and I am feeling super! I asked Anna if I was going to have anymore ultrasounds before the delivery, and she not unless they thought one was necessary. She asked if I was concerned about anything, and I told her that I wasn't concerned...just not convinced that I am really having a girl! So...Anna said, "Well, let's look". She was so sweet to do that! So she was 98% sure it is a girl (which is up 3% from the last ultrasound.) haha...the suspense is killing me, and after having my two boys, it's hard to believe that I might actually have a girl!

My cheerful giver

Last Sunday, at our Spanish church, Luis asked Jonathan to collect the offering. Jonathan jumped up, pulled something out of his pocket, and raced to the front. We had just celebrated his birthday the day before, and he received $10 among some other gifts. With a smile, he placed a five dollar bill in the offering plate, and proceeded to collect from the others. (We chuckled as he asked the first people if they had any money!!) Anyway, Luis made a big deal out of it when we got home, telling Jonathan how the Lord loves it when we are generous and give with a happy heart. Luis told him how the Lord was going to bless him for giving half of his birthday money. So, a few days passed, and we hadn't thought much about it again. Yesterday, I received a phone call from a Mom of one of Josh's soccer buddies. She is studying to become a guidance counselor and was assigned a paper on cultural submersion in Hampton County. Sally, knowing that we are a Hispanic family and working closely with the Hispanic community here in Hampton County, asked if she could interview us, and attend our Sunday service to get information for her paper. So, we stopped by her house after a quick trip to Walterboro to talk with her. On our way out, after talking for a couple of hours, Josh's friend, Mikey, told Jonathan he wanted to give him something. Mikey went to talk to his Dad, and they came back and said that they wanted Jonathan to have a battery operated Jeep that you can sit in and ride. Mikey had outgrown it, and hardly used it anymore, and it was the perfect size for Jonathan. They are the ones that cost about $150 in the toy store. Jonathan was so excited to bring home his new toy! When we got home, Luis had just arrived from work, and I told him what had happened. Luis reminded Jonathan how he gave his $5.00 to the Lord just a few days before. What a great impact that had on Jonathan. He learned a valuable lesson that many adults never grasp...you can never outgive God. Today, after my midwife appointment, I asked him if he wanted to ride in his car. He must have spent a good hour just driving all over our property, with a smile from ear to ear.

Jonathan turns 4!

Although his birthday is actually on the 8th, we decided at the last minute to just have a party for him today. We invited one family over, and kept it really simple. Cook out, cake/ice cream, piñata, and swimming in the pool. It was so hot, I even got in for an hour, and it felt great! Hard to believe my baby is 4 already! The last picture is of Jonathan, at 8:30pm...he fell asleep on the living room floor. Looks like the fireworks are going to have to wait until next year! Happy birthday Jonathan, and Happy 4th of July to everyone!

Whoa Baby!

I received a phone call from a woman last night, whom we met just weeks ago at a wedding that Luis helped officiate. She called me from the hospital...in labor with their first child. I could tell she was very uncomfortable, and she was not progressing very quickly at all. She only spoke Spanish, and there was no one at the hospital that could communicate, so we offered to go and help translate for she and her husband. I was so thankful for my years of translation experience at the clinic in Arizona, and the times of working closely with the doctors and nurses back then, that put me at such ease for this. The attending nurse was SUPER!! I am so convinced that nurses are angels, now more than ever! It was such an awesome experience!! I have never been in any delivery other than my own children, so it was such a blessing to watch the miracle of birth! Finally, at 2:19AM, baby Alexis (boy) came out to see us all! God is so good...how He can put people in the right place at the right time...and we are so fortunate to play a small part in His big picture!

I came, I saw, I ran out of gas...

I woke up this morning with a burst of energy. (Hope that doesn't mean that Little Lily is coming sooner than expected!!) Anyway, so I ventured out to the yard, and decided that I would surprise Luis by cutting the grass. When I was a teenager, Dad used to let us cut the lawn with the John Deere, so it's not like I have never used a riding lawn mower before...but in the whole 12+ years of our marriage, I have never cut the lawn...Luis always does it. I think he enjoys it and he relaxed while getting the satisfaction of having a nicely trimmed yard. So I grabbed the key and went outside. I climbed on the tractor, and being the logical, pragmatic woman that I am...I looked for directions...sure enough...right there in front of me. So I turned the key...nothing. I thought maybe I grabbed the wrong key (Luis is a mechanic...we have thousands of keys!) so I went in the house to search again...then I remembered, there's a safety mechanism on the tractor...I forgot to push the brake to start it. I finally got it started, and began in our "soccer field". It's the largest, most rectangular section of our lawn. I tried to remember how Dad used to tell us to cut, so we didn't leave patches of tall grass...Dad's lawn always looked so beautiful! I got to the last part of the field, made my final pass...then sput, sput, putter, putter...I ran out of gas! So much for my surprise. So, to console myself, Josh and I subsequently consumed almost an entire half of ice cold watermelon by ourselves. (Jonathan detests the taste...more for us!) It's so hot lately, but still nothing compared to Arizona.