More details!

I'm glad you all enjoyed our announcement. We actually told our church family the news a couple weeks ago when Andrew just wore that shirt to church. None of us said anything, we just wanted for people to notice. Our pastor's wife is Andrew's Sunday School teacher, and a very, very good friend of ours. She didn't notice until halfway through class; when she did the door burst open and she came running out asking "Is this true??!?!?!?" Not exactly a shirt you put on your kid as a joke! :)

Here are a few more details: I'm just a bit past 10 weeks, so we're due May 25. Very early in this pregnancy, when we knew but Andrew didn't, he and I were eating lunch one day when he started talking about being Butterscotch's big brother. I reminded him that he could only be a brother to a person and asked what he'd think if that happened. He thought it would be "cool." Then, out of Andrew's mouth came this sentence: "If I were to have a person baby brother [a sister isn't even a consideration in his mind], I think he should be born in May." WHAT??? When I asked why, he just said it sounded like a good time. I knew already that he would be right, but my goodness!

We told Andrew shortly after this conversation, and a bit earlier than I would have initially liked, because I have been fairly sick. Way more than with Andrew, although I don't think as sick as Sarah seems to get. One day Andrew told me that I needed to stop throwing up so we could leave for school. I was trying, buddy! I have started having some better days, so am hopeful that as the end of the 1st trimester approaches, I'll start to feel better. It is pretty funny, however, because even Andrew has started to blame Tater (our in-utero name for this child) for about everything...

The other amazing part of this preganancy is it's timing. Some of you know that we lost a baby 2 yrs. ago (we're very comfortable talking about it at this point, although Andrew does NOT know about it). It was a pretty rough road for Mike and I, and each year I have struggled around the anniversary of the miscarriage. We found out about this baby on the 2 yr. anniversary of my D&C to treat my miscarriage. Literally, on the day. For us this was a beautiful gift from God and a redemption of a day that held such sadness. It doesn't take away the pain of the loss, but it does add great joy to that date. Because I have lost a baby, I have been monitored closely and all is progressing well this time around. We saw Tater on ultrasound around 4 weeks ago and they picked up a heartbeat--earlier than the normally can. Again, another blessing of comfort that all is well.

So, we're super excited, and maybe a bit anxious about what it will be like going back to a helpless being! Andrew has become pretty self-sufficient in many things and it will be a big change to have a newborn in the house. But, he's really excited to help, often asks how big Tater will be when he's born. We've been looking at various websites that track the growth of the baby and loves to think about Tater as the size of a kumquat! We do, of course, covet your prayers as we continue through this pregnancy.

Love,
Heather