Blessings and an introduction

I'm so glad that I can access my blog again! We've been having internet trouble for a week, and although I've still been able to log into blogger, for some reason I wasn't able to post anything. We have some blessings to share that I've been wanting to tell all of you about!

*The blessing of divine appointments

Just over a week ago, I went to Walmart on a Saturday (against my better judgement) because I had procrastinated too long so we had nothing to eat left in the house. I h-a-t-e grocery shopping, or any kind of shopping, on Saturdays. Especially at our Walmart, since it is the only attraction in our small country town. With a cranky toddler in tow, I went to the store, spent two hours doing a 45-minute chore, fought intense backpain and sciatica the entire time, and was close to limping when I made my way to the check-out. There was some sort of womens' health fair going on in front of the checkouts, which cause even thicker crowds and annoyed me more, but this one table was offering free samples of applesauce - just the thing to appease Taylor as he was pretty hungry by that time. As I was trying to leave the applesauce table, I spied a free sample of Bio-Freeze at the next table. Since I was in a lot of discomfort I asked if I could have one, and found out that the display belonged to a chiropractor just one block away. So I mentioned that I was in need of chiropractic care since we had moved away from my former chiropractor in the fall, but hadn't started care with a new one because of the huge initial exam fee (usually $200 or more, not covered by insurance). The chiropractor told me that he would give me my exam and follow up-visit for $20 ($20!!!), offer me affordable adjustments and physical therapy, and accept the Care Credit program (for which I was already approved)! Amazing. I have visited their office three times already, had my exam, consultation, two major chiro adjustments, and therapy, and haven't paid a penny more than $20. What a great blessing the Lord had in store for us when He sent me to Walmart that Saturday. That is what I call a Divine Appointment. We don't believe in coincidence.

My back is not something I usually mention on here, but to help you all understand just how relieved I was to find this man, the pain in my back has been getting increasingly worse and worse. Sciatica occured frequently for several days at a time, and I was having 2-3 full blown migraines a week. In-between migraines there were constant headaches, muscle spasms, tightness and back pain. My condition isn't always that bad, but pregnancy hormones have compounded the back and joint problems, and being pregnant meant I couldn't take pain-killers. (Tylenol doesn't work.) I'm not complaining about my back --- God's grace has been good every day! Just emphasizing how happy I was to find a chiropractor that wanted to make things affordable for us, and what a truly BIG blessing this will be for me. Between the chiropractor and foam mattress, I am hoping that my second half of pregnancy goes much smoother than the first. I think it will!

*The blessing of a little girl!

My 5-month sonogram was this past Saturday, just in time for mother's day. We were excited to find out that our second baby is a GIRL! Her name is Anna Grace. The sonographer was great and put some pictures onto a CD for us to keep. The machine at the hospital was much newer than the machine that was used for Taylor's 5-month sonogram. We were able to see details of her ears, nose and lips, the size of her leg muscles, the smallest details of her vertebrae, and even the lenses of her eyes. I remember Taylor's session being much more grainy and blurry. We were told she has strong "dancer's legs," which I already knew because she kicks me surprisingly hard for a 12-ounce baby. :) We are looking to her arrival in September! Allow us to introduce you to our Anna:

*The blessing of our little boy

Taylor has been an active, funny, tired little boy these past two weeks. I believe he is learning the fine art of mockery/sarcasm, which he is picking up from his father, no doubt. :) His communication skills are steadily growing, but he is stubborn and selective in how he communicates with us. One of his current favorite activities is lining up 4 or 5 of our toiletries (hairspray, etc) on the ledge of the tub and counting them over and over again. As soon as he wakes up in the morning, I hear him counting to himself in his crib (uhhn, tsoo, geee, gour!) and then clapping. :) He also thinks it's hilarious to run into a room, slam the door behind him, and then knock on the door to be let out.

Walking with daddy back to our house.

Counting bottles!

Happy about counting!

*The blessing of cuddly things

Two weeks ago I heard a kitten crying late at night. This seemed odd to me, since I only heard one kitten, and it was 10pm, and it sounded very young and scared, and I hadn't heard it crying before. Jon found it under our trailer and brought it up into the house for a while. We fed it, named it, cuddled it, and took pictures before we put it back for the mom cat to find. What a cute little furball. This is "Fishy" :

Hope you all had a Happy Mother's Day!!!!!