Three weeks to go!!!

Well, 3 weeks from now, we'll be on our way to Cleveland Clinic!  Hard to believe... that sounds way too close!  Here I go again, trying to grasp the reality of this... it's just not happening.  I'm sitting here at 5am typing because I couldn't sleep.  I came downstairs around 4:15am and was feeling shaky so I checked my blood sugar.  It was 58.  I had a yogurt and then saw the sugar-free popsicles in the freezer and just had 2 of those, although I'm now sitting here freezing with a jacket and a coat on trying to warm up but still wanting another popsicle... It says it's 32 outside right now and we turn our heat down at night to 62, so it's not warming up very fast in here even since I turned the heat up.  Brrr.

So, I'm still kind of stuck on the "only 3 weeks left" phrase.  I don't think I'll be able to make enough announcements and get all the addresses I need in time, so I might have to just send out what I can and buy some others.  We'll see. Seems like so little time.

Dr. Rajabi said the other week that delivering Cayla Joy will be his first time delivering a baby in the brand new Special Delivery Unit (SDU) at Cleveland Clinic.  He couldn't quite remember where the new SDU was, so I was joking with him giving him directions and floor numbers and such.  He said he'd call my cell if he got lost that morning.  :o)   He'd been on a tour with a bunch of other doctors seeing all the changes and such, but between catching up and talking with all the other doctors, he couldn't quite remember where the SDU actually was.  I believe he's going to go check it all out again before the surgery, but his comments were kind of funny at the time.  He's off these next 2 weeks to Dubai for business he said.  So my next 2 appointments will be with his OB partner and then I'll see him that final week before delivery. 

I would like to ask for prayer that I don't go into labor prematurely.  The longer Cayla can stay in the womb and grow, obviously the better.  That's true for any baby, but especially helpful for Cayla right now.  I also would love prayer for my sugar levels too.  If I have issues that morning, it will postpone everything.  He's already changed up my insulin timing and all the night before, but still I'm just wanting it to be right that morning if possible.  We check in at 6am and surgery is at 8am. 

I don't think I'll get any pictures of Cayla taken today like I wanted to, maybe tomorrow.  Main problem is, I have to be in the picture too... I know I'm going to crash today, but we'll see how long I can make it.  We get Elise this morning.  Yay!  She's so funny and at such a cute age.  She was picking on Samuel yesterday, making us laugh so hard!  Of course the more we laughed, the more she did!  Too fun.  Samuel looked at me again yesterday with Elise in my lap and shook his head saying that it won't be long until we have Cayla here to hold like that!  We are all very excited.  I was going to say that I think Lowell's looking forward to me not getting up 3-4 times or more each night, but what am I thinking... this is just the beginning of sleepless nights.  Oh my, what a thought.  Just made me put my head in my hands and feel a little overwhelmed.  Does God really think we can handle a baby right now?  I guess so, but it's going to be drastically different around here.  Can't quite imagine it.

You know, I wondered what "ministry" God has for us now with the store closed and all, I went through this in another post, but it's so obvious right now that our little family is our ministry right now.  Cayla during her 1st year of physical struggles and Samuel during his last year of high school is exactly the ministry God has for me and Lowell right now.  Others will come in our path through all of this that will encourage us and that we can encourage too, but I feel like this is a season of family right now.  It will change as they grow and Samuel makes decisions on his future, but I'm excited to just take the wonderful ministry God is giving to me and Lowell right here in our family.  These seasons come and go so quickly, I want to enjoy every moment God gives us while my family is my focus.  I like the sound of that.  I have felt for years that there are so many things I need to be doing, that I've missed out on what God was showing me He wanted me to do.  God puts a great importance on parenting and raising godly children, it is a wonderful ministry that can easily be shrugged off as "not as important" as a job or something else.  I know it's our responsibility to raise our children in the Lord, not the church's, youth group's, Sunday school's, Christian school's, teacher's, daycare's, other family member's, or anyone else's, but ours.  It really is a vital ministry to raise the next generation especially as Christians, yet somehow with the need in this economy for both parents to work, especially in places like Ashtabula, parenting can get inadvertently pushed aside as almost secondary to everything else in our lives somehow.  I've been there and done that.  I'm sitting here thinking about this and really feeling blessed that I am able to stay home again.  God has done that.  It's not been easy financially with only Lowell working, but Jehovah Jireh, our Provider, has done great things for us.  We are still waiting for our tax return, but until then, our needs are being met daily, by a caring and loving God.  God knew that I wouldn't be able to be the mom Cayla needs right now and in the upcoming year with her heart defect and still be working.  He allowed me to not get any jobs I applied for last fall. It's all good.  Like I said, it's a season.  We won't have our children in our home forever, but I am so thankful that for now, I get the privilege to be home with them and am praising God for providing my hard-working husband with a job to make that possible!  Love you Lowell! 

So it's now 11:30am and I fell asleep after and partly during our Bible time.  Samuel's reading out loud and next thing he knows he's being interrupted by my snoring.  Sorry Samuel.  I fell asleep before 9 and didn't wake up on the couch until 10:45.  I still feel a bit drugged or something.  Here it is, my big goals for the day... clean the bathroom sink, floors and toilet; finish all the dishes; make sure Samuel does his chapter review for Algebra 2 and takes his test; and maybe stamp a few more announcements.  I'm thinking if I get any part of the bathroom done, that will be an accomplishment.  :o)  Samuel will be gone all day Thursday from sun-up to sun-down helping Chris Purdy reroof his parents house in Perry.  He's looking forward to that, but I need to enlist his help around here today and tomorrow... :o)

Oh my, I left my phone upstairs next to my bed and haven't heard it ring.  Elise's dad David had called saying he was on his way, but I missed the call.  When he got here, I was sound asleep on the couch (other end of house from the door) and Samuel was playing video games in his room next to me.  Neither of us heard him knock, so he ended up taking Elise to work with him this morning.  Oops.  Sorry David.  It's a short morning since her mom is done about 12:30, but still, I feel bad.  I think I've told him just to come on in, but oh well.  We didn't get Elise today after all. Totally my fault.  It's nice they're flexible with his work as an Air Force recruiter, but I'm sure they'd rather her not be in the office... I feel horrible the more I type.  Oh well.

Thursday for me and my mother-in-law will be a little busy too while Samuel's gone and Lowell's working.  We get to go to Cleveland Clinic for my morning of pre-op appointments starting at 8am till noon. Whoopy!  Then we get to swing by Hillcrest for my weekly OB appointment after lunch.  I thought I was done at CC, but alas no, I have to do this series of 5 appointments that morning.  Oh yes, and my niece Sheylyn will get to go with us that day too since Grandma is watching her on Easter break.  It'll be a fun day for the girls I'm sure! :o)

Well, off to get some work done!  Thanks again for all the prayers and encouragement!  God is working in all of our lives and especially Cayla's heart.  Thanks!