On the road again...and again...and again

Well, I'm trying to pack for our first road trip this weekend. We are going to Atlanta for Chris' grandad's memorial service. It is so hard to pack for a 3 week old who has LOTS of poopy diapers--whoever says 4-6 poopy diapers is normal, hasn't met Josiah yet! It seems like we change his clothes at least 2-3 times a day. I'm just putting things in the suitcase that I think we may need and hopefully will have a much better idea on how to pack when we go to Charleston next weekend to see my family. Josiah is going to meet his Great Gram Ila, Auntie Sue, Uncle Toady and Cousin Tayler for the first time. The weekend after that we will be traveling to St. Matthews, SC for a church interview and the weekend after that we will be going to Reston, VA for another church interview. We continue to pray that the Lord will lead us in the right direction and we won't jump at the first opportunity. We truly want to be where the Lord wants us to be--the place where He will be glorified. Please pray for safe travels and that Josiah will be a good traveler. He usually falls asleep as soon as we put him in his car seat, so we are praying that it will be a good indication of how he will travel. Please come back and visit the website to see pictures from our great adventures!

Joyful and Sad

Well, it is hard to imagine two weeks has come and gone. Sara and I have been running around like chickens with our heads cut off. Josiah has been a model baby up until about 2 days ago. Things began getting a bit more difficult. He still sleeps like a champ. The only problem is he has started that sleeping later and later. We are now around 11:30PM when he actually sleeps his first good block of time. This has been a big change for his mom and dad since he was going down around 8-9:00PM. We are learning as we go. We haven't allowed him to cry himself out at night because we want to be sensitive to our living arrangements. Dr. Joe at our 2 weeks checkup told us to make sure he adapts to our schedule not us adapt to his. Well, that is proving slightly harder than we anticipated! :-) Other than some sleeping rough spots he is a great little guy and is doing very well.

This last weekend was tough for me (Chris) especially. As I was trying to celebrate the two week mark, I got a phone call Friday night at work saying that one of my grandfathers, Granddad Freddie, was not doing well. In fact, he had been moved into hospice and was not expected to make it much longer. The following night we found out he had passed away. There are so many reflections for this event it is hard to communicate them all. He was my first grandparent to experience the sting of death with. I have been blessed to have so many grandparents who are now great-grandparents for so long with me in this life. I find tremendous comfort in knowing he is with Jesus right now. He loved the Lord deeply, and I have no doubt about his eternal home. The hardness comes from the quickness of the news and his passing. I wish he had had a chance to see Josiah. I wish he had been able to see him smile and hear from our lips that we desire to raise him to understand the deep and rich heritage of the Christian faith. That great cloud of witnesses the author speaks of in Hebrews chapter 12 has taken on a new meaning to me as I imagine Josiah's great-granddad looking down and cheering him on. He was a good man. Good because he knew a great Savior.

As we travel to the memorial service next weekend, please be in prayer for us. We have a good amount of distance to travel and it will be a challenge for all of us. I want Josiah to at least meet his Great-Grandmother Imogene. It has been hard for Sara and I to make it over to the Atlanta area since we moved to NC, and we want to take advantage of the time we have to travel. Losing a loved one is never easy, but there is a peace that surpasses all understanding when we know that he is enjoying the company of Jesus.

Thank you for your prayers and support through it all. We are more grateful then we can ever express.

1 week today

Well, it has been a busy week! We have been so encouraged and excited to read all of the e-mails and guestbook entries. Thank you so much for your kindness and support. Josiah is doing great and we are learning the ropes of being parents. As you look at the pictures, you might have noticed we went to see the doctor a few times this week. Josiah has had a hard time shaking his Jaundice. We had to get him tested three times this week (Wed, Thur, and Sat). It about broke Mommy's heart on Wednesday when the nurse kept squeezing his little foot to get some blood. Daddy asked the nurse if we would have to get Josiah an IV after all that blood being taken. The nurse on Thursday was much gentler and just tipped his foot back and forth to get the blood. After the results on Thursday, we were told to get a special UV blanket to help his body work out the remaining junk. The doctors were never panicked about his Bili-Rubin results, but they wanted to go ahead and knock it out. We went back today and his number had dropped 2 1/2 points, so we are moving in the right direction. We have another appointment on Monday and hopefully that will be the last one for this issue.

Josiah had quite a day on Thursday when Mimi and Mommy took him to the doctors. There was a family at the doctor office who had a child who had bruises on his back side. The child wasn't allowed to be released back to his parents. The child's aunt, grandma and grandpa were there along with his parents. A lot of finger pointing was going on. Things started to escalate pretty quickly, and we were sitting right next to them. When the grandpa came around the corner and started accusing the dad of abusing his grandson, we got up rather quickly and left. It got bad enough that the police had to be called in. Please pray for this little boy that seems to be going through a lot right now. It breaks my heart to even think about this child being abused. Mimi and Mommy went to another waiting area to wait for the test results. While I was in there, the lactation nurse came in to talk with me to see how Josiah is doing with nursing. She asked me to explain how his bowel movements looked. I explained to her, and she said that my milk has started coming in. I told her that I thought it had. Then she responded with, "No, your milk has definitely come in. You have leaked all over your shirt." In a rush to get out of the waiting room where all the chaos had been going on, I had forgotten to latch my bra! I was so thankful that Josiah was there to cover me up as we walked out of the doctor office. After the doctor appointment, we had to head to the pharmacy to pick up his bili-blanket. Josiah and I waited in the car. I was sitting there looking at him and talking with him. I heard the car door open up, and I just assumed it was my mother. When I looked up, there was an elderly man sitting in the drivers seat. I told him I thought he had gotten in the wrong car. He was a little surprised and apologized and shuffled back to his car. Today when Chris got to go rent some movies, I asked him to go ahead and lock the doors because I didn't want any unexpected visitors.

Other than that, he is doing wonderful. He still likes to sleep a good bit and does a great job at night. We are excited about having him around and he is fun just to watch! So far he has peed on Daddy, snotted on Mommy (sorry no pic), and had a blow out on his Mimi. All we are missing is a throw-up. Any takers? :-)

He is working on his smile, but has got his grumpy old man look down cold. He is extremely mellow and doesn't cry all that much. We are working him towards a passy to stretch out his feeding times and to keep him away from his fingers. He has told Daddy he can't wait for football season to support a quarterback other than Eric Ainge.

Thank you again for all you have done. We are humbled and grateful for this wonderful gift from above. All we can say is we are honored to have been chosen to be Josiah's parents.

2 cm and walking

Well, we are just getting back from the doctor and running some errands. Josiah has been working hard this past week. I am now 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced with his head down. The doctor went ahead and removed my membrane in hopes that this will help with labor. We have an appointment for Tuesday, but he said that the chances of me making it until then will not be very likely. He says if I do come back on Tuesday, they will probably help the process along. I will probably be doing lots more walking with the encouragement of my husband and mom--they've had me out and about for the last two days. We will keep you posted. Thanks for the continued prayers and please continue to pray as we wait and prepare for Josiah's arrival.

A little sweet nothing

Well, nothing has been happening over the last week as far as Baby Josiah is concerned. The doctor said that I haven't dilated and that my cervix is still back. So all those Braxton Hicks were for nothing! : ( That's okay though because Josiah isn't ready to make his entrance. If he needs more time to grow and prepare, then we will try to wait patiently for him. The doctor did say that he is head down still, so that is a relief. Josiah didn't really like the doctor checking me out today because he was doing quite a bit of kicking! My blood sugar was a little high today. A bit of advice--don't treat yourself to a sweet tea before going for a doctor's appointment! The doctor wasn't concerned about it, but I will remember that for the next visit.

Well, that is it for now. Chris can go to SC with little fear of me going into labor this weekend. We'll keep you posted if anything changes.

A word from dad

It's late, and I just finished watching "The Great Debaters" with my dad. I would recommend the movie to anyone who wants to experience the pain and hope of the 1930's. I was most struck by the role Forest Whitaker played in the movie. He played a father figure which I must say I greatly admired. He was firm and tough on his son at times, yet was not to proud to humble himself for the sake of his family. He defended the right for his son to walk a walk of integrity and did so by modeling that life throughout the movie.
I hope to be that kind of father. I hope my son sees me as a father who is firm and tough, yet loves him with all that is in me. I pray that I can teach him what it is to walk humbly before the Lord. To love justice and defend the weak and downtrodden. I hope to teach him that "an unjust law is no law at all." - St. Augustine.

I am not a perfect man, and those of you that know me at all have probably seen my imperfections in one way or another, but I often wonder is the mark of a Godly man perfection or the willingness to never give up seeking to follow the One who was perfect? I feel unprepared to be a father, and yet I feel I was made to be one. I can't wait to see my son for the first time within the next few weeks (I have him penciled in for next Monday...we'll see HAHA). I wish I could maintain an ongoing to see Jesus with the same intensity I long to see my son. Alas, the world is so enticing and deceitful it is hard to keep the main thing the main thing.

Well, I suppose I have rambled enough. I would like to close this posting with a prayer for Josiah. I would encourage any of you to pray this with me over the next few days until he joins us out here where the air is, but if you have your own words by all means pray away.

God of Abraham, Isacc, and Jacob
will you on this day please be with Baby Josiah.

Will you please nurture him, protect him, and
strengthen him for the trials that await him in this world.

Will you so surround him with your presence
that even in his sinfulness he might know true peace.

Will you place in his spirit a sense of longing
to know you in your fullness and glory.

Will you guide him towards all that
brings you glory as he lives in this world.

Will you lead him away from all glory
that distracts him from seeking you.

Will you give him the wisdom to
look past his parent's faults and see your face.

Will you grant him a ministry that will usher in the
coming of your Son and the declaring of your Name.

I ask that you do all of this for one sole reason:
The magnification of your name throughout the earth.

In the name which is above all other names
The name of the Hope of the world, Jesus Christ

Amen.

Almost 39 Weeks

Tomorrow we go to the doctor's, and he will do our first internal exam to see if the process of having Josiah has started. It looks and feels like he has started dropping, and I have been having some mild "cramping" the last week. I am hoping the doctor gives us some good news even though Daddy says Josiah can't come until after this weekend because it's not a good time for him! : ) The reason Daddy doesn't want him to come until after this weekend is because he will be going to SC on Saturday to preach at a church that is a good possibility for a position. My mom will be coming into town on Friday and staying with my cousins just in case Josiah decides to not listen to his daddy. We will be planning a trip to VA after Josiah arrives to visit another church that is interested in Chris. There is still a church in MI, but they won't be meeting for a couple of weeks due to committee members being out of town. Doors seem to be opening up, and we continue to pray that God will give us a clear picture on where we need to go.

We had a great, long weekend. Corey and Simon flew in from England on Friday, and we have had lots of fun catching up. We had a baby shower for Baby Girl Gildener on Monday. It was so nice to be able to celebrate this new life while they were here. We can't wait for Baby Gildener to arrive--but not too soon because she needs to grown some more in her mommy's tummy. Corey and Simon are talking about coming home in January. We will make sure to come back for a visit then so the cousins can meet.

Not much else is going on here. Just anxiously waiting for Josiah to arrive. We will post any information we find out tomorrow after we get home from the doctor's office. Make sure to check out the new photo album to see all the pictures from the "family visit." Keep us in your prayers as Chris travels this weekend and we prepare for Josiah to come.