In My Next Life...

...I will be a HAIR STYLIST! 

Friday night, after we set up for the Yard Sale, we colored and hi-lighted Ali's hair!

The bottom was to be CHOCOLATE and the top would be blonde hi-lights...

However, dear ole Mom bought MAHOGANY!  OOOPS!

We tried to get Ali to embrace her INNER ROCK STAR DIVA SELF

...but she wasn't buying it...

So, after a midnight trip to the local Wally World- and a box of Perfect 10 Light Brown

applied in the garage early Saturday morning during the Yard Sale...

VOILA- BEAUTY QUEEN!

For those of you who don't know, this is MY 15 year old sister- meet Alison!

How beautiful is she?!?!?!?!

So, in my next life,

I'll be a hair dresser and she'll be my first client! 

Lord knows she's been a guiney pig her fair share of the time.

 Thanks for letting me practice on you!

I love you Ali!

14 Week Check Up

Today was our doctor’s appointment. After yet another 45 minute stint in the waiting room we finally went back. I was a bit surprised at the ease and care-free-ness of the tech on duty when we heard the heartbeat. I don’t know, I guess I thought there would be a big production, a smile, confetti, something…but no, a little jelly on the belly- locate the heartbeat long enough to get the heart rate (a solid 146 I might add) and poof- she was gone. I mean, hello- this is our first time to hear the heartbeat and our first pregnancy wasn’t viable, so I would think maybe a little bit of sentimentality would have been on hand. Nope, nada, nothing. Maybe the doctor would have those missing items in her lab coat. Wishful thinking. The doctor came in, said the heart rate was good, and answered a few of my questions and again- poof. I was whisked away to the check out desk to schedule my ultrasound. That has been scheduled for Monday, October 26th at 8am. I’m sure we won’t be sleeping Sunday night in anticipation of what our little baby is! All in all, I’m a little unnerved about the doctors visit today- the bright spot it- our little baby has a heartbeat and all seems normal for the time being!

Next on the list- Flu Shot or Not??? I’m in a bit of a pickle when it comes to the Flu Shot. I’ve had maybe 3 flu shots my entire life- so needless to say I’m not an avid supporter. However, being pregnant puts me at a higher risk if I did get the flu. I’m not sure what to do- shot or not? What do you think? As for the H1N1 shot, I think I’ll pass. This being the first dose that they distribute, I’m a little apprehensive about its side effects and the safety of it. This has brought up an array of questions for me- as far as what to do and what not to do at the time of birth as well. I don’t want to give any unnecessary pricks and sticks to my little one if not needed! I’ll be doing my research on those items coming up soon!

More to come,
Annie

What a nice surprise!

So, today I received a nice surprise on my front porch.  My new internet friend, Rene Williams, sent me a FABULOUS New Mommy Care Package!  In it was an abundance of new mommy goodies!  She had included Your Pregnancy Week by Week, SuperImmunity for Kids, Pregnancy Pampering Kit, some vitamins, a Green Juice and some post-its stating that I am the Queen!  This was such a nice surprise! 

Rene and I became friends by way of her daughter, Scarlett Lillian writer of a blog I love to follow on her life and her incredible photography career.  Scarlet emailed me a few months back letting me know that Rene was coming to Nashville!  I picked up Rene from the airport and we visited a few times while she was in town.  She came back to Nashville a few weeks back for a conference.  We were able to spend time together then, though it was brief.  Rene has become a spiritual mentor to me, as well as a close friend.  I look forward to a growing relationship with both of these amazing women!

Rene and Scarlett are both participating in a Marathon on February 21, 2010.  Rene is a Breast Cancer Survivor and Scarlett decided to run in her honor and in memory of her Father, Johnny Williams had lung cancer and went to be with Jesus on Feb 21, 2009.  Please visit their blogs and even donate if you feel led!  I know they would be very grateful for your generosity!

Thank you Rene for this wonderful Care Package!

XO- Annie

14 Weeks!

Today marks 14 weeks! Yep, you guessed it, we're pregnant! We've held off on announcing it till we made it through the first trimester, but I'm through, so there you have it! We have been to 3 doctors appointments and so far, everything is going well. We had our first doctors appointment at 6 weeks then an ultrasound at 8 weeks. That was amazing- a true miracle. The moment that little wand made it to the right spot- the sweetest twinkle appeared on the screen. "There's your baby- you've got a strong healthy heartbeat!" she said. (The heartbeat was at 160- for what it's worth.) Oh, what a moment! Words I had been praying for now rang loud and clear. It absolutely took my breath away! At that moment, it was real. I was pregnant! Lance and I were going to be parents! She printed our pictures and off we went.

We told our parents the next night- a Thursday night. They were all very excited- even more surprised that we had known for 3 weeks and hadn't let them in on our little secret. We had planned on waiting to tell them until we hit the 12 week mark, but that twinkle was so real, it was hard to keep quiet! Since then we have had one other appointment which was basically a lengthy stay in the waiting room for a 5 minute visit with the doctor.

All in all, I feel good! Weeks 11-13 I felt a bit nausea's in the afternoon but other than that, the nausea has been minimal. I have been VERY TIRED---think...sleep in your car at lunch tired, or prop up in the bathroom stall at work for a few minutes of shut eye tired, or crawl under your cubicle tired---yeah, THAT tired! I'll have to say that when I hit week 13- September 22nd- the nausea was gone. PRAISE THE LORD! I am still tired, but not as tired as I was! I hear the 2nd trimester is when the energy comes. Well, bring it on, cause I've got things to do!

We go for our 14 week check up on Thursday and should be able to hear the heartbeat so we're looking forward to that. We've been praying for this little one and praying that all will be healthy and 'normal.' We would appreciate your prayers for this as well!

I will update more as more comes, but for now, that's a summary of the past 14 weeks- as far as pregnancy goes!

XO- Annie

Confirmation

Well, today was the dreaded appointment. I knew in my heart what the results were going to be but I heard it from a "professional" today. We did indeed have a miscarriage.

Today, as I walked through the doors of my OBGYN's office with Lance, I thought "we should be here celebrating and getting to see our new life on the monitor" but instead through teary eyes I glanced around the waiting room in envy of all the other mothers or mothers-to-be with baby in tow or still as a bump on their belly. This is not fair. I have no clue as to why this happened to us, but I keep telling myself to trust in Jesus. I know that He has a plan and that His ways are better than my ways.

I can tell myself the things that I know all day long like: I know that something was probably wrong with this baby and it is the Lords way of handling it, or I know that God is in control, or I know that this is "common" but I also know that none of those things take this hurt away from my heart. It's a deep ache that I can't explain. It's a hole in my heart kind of hurt that I didn't even know my heart had a spot for. But I know that the Lord is faithful and He will see us through this difficult time.

Proverbs 3:5 says "Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart and lean not on your own understanding." That is my verse for today.

Keep us in your prayers.

Much Love,
Lance & Annie

Until God says No, Keep Believing YES

Yesterday started off with a bit of a stomach ache. Emily and I had Macaronni Grille at 9:30 on Friday night so I figured the chicken canalonni was a bit heavy for me & my little one. As the day progressed the stomach ache subsided but the cramps worsened. By 6pm the cramps were pretty bad and some other less than pleasant "warnings" were occuring. By 8pm we were in our local Emergency Room with family and friends. After an ultrasound and a pelvic exam, the early indications are that we have miscarried. We will not know for sure until Monday or Tuesday when I can get in with my doctor.

Before the ultrasound the ER doctor told us that if we were not very far along then we might not see anything with the scan. After the radiologist read my films he did say that there was a sac in the uterus. However, the later pelvic exam showed some questionable "tissue." The ER doc thought that MAYBE there were twins in there and one miscarried and there is still one in my uterus or that the sac was what became the "tissue" in the pelvic exam. He really has no way to know since we are so early in this pregnancy.

My hCG level was 1733 which shows that we were in our 4th-5th week of pregnancy. I will get a call in to the doctor first thing tomorrow and try to get in there either tomorrow or Tuesday. If the "numbers" go up, then we are still pregnant but if they go down then it is proof of a miscarriage.

I guess I will have to tell work something now, but I feel certain that they will be more than accomidating.

Please pray for Lance and I and our families as we travel this uncertain path. It's hard to know what to think or feel at this time and I know that God's grace and love is the only thing that's 'concrete' at this time. Stacey told me that "until God says no, keep believing YES." That's a hard thing for me to do right now since at the top of our discharge papers it says MISCARRIAGE but I guess the final word will come from my doctor when we can get in to see her.

I will update again as soon as I know more.

Thank you for your prayers,
Lance & Annie

4 Positives

So, after a week of wondering if we were pregnant, it is confirmed! We have 4 positive pregnancy tests, as if 1 or 2 was not enough! Lance and I found out Friday night that we were expecting our first child. I do not know a due date yet, and I don't really know how far along I am, I just know that we got 4 positives! We told our parents, our siblings, our grandparents, our greatgrandparents, our friends and each were elated!

We shared the news with Lance's mom and dad first. They were thrilled. We then went to my mom's and shared the news with her and RG! They could not believe it! I went to tell my dad and Donna and my dad jumped with joy! My mom went with me to tell Ali and she cried tears of joy! More were told yesterday and each response was much the same. Our grandparents found out they would be greatgrandparents and our great-grand-parents found out they would be GREAT-Great-Grand-Parents! God has blessed us with 4 grandmothers, 1 great-grandmother and 1- great-grandfather!

I cannot even begin to explain what I am feeling other than a huge mix of emotions. I feel good; I feel beyond blessed! I know that this child is God's will for our lives and that we will somehow learn how to be parents. We are parents now to Kirby and she has been our baby for 6 years so hopefully a baby will fit right in to our mix. I start my new job tomorrow but I won't be sharing this news right away. I think I will wait till I am about 12 weeks along to tell them.

Please keep us in your prayers as we continue on this amazing journey of becoming parents!