I think I know how those contestants on American Idol feel...

Some of you know and some of you don't that Jason and I have been trying to get pregnant for about 9 months. It's been a long process, and every month that passed added to my uncertainty that God would actually provide us with another child. I told one of my friends at school that every time I took a home pregnancy test and it was negative, it felt like I was a contestant on American Idol coming out of the audition room shaking my head no.

Well, about 5 weeks ago, I got my golden ticket so to speak. WE'RE PREGNANT! It was an amazing mix of emotions: relief, joy, excitement, a touch of sadness when I thought about telling friends who have been trying longer than we have, fear that things wouldn't go so well this time around.

We've been really good about keeping the news to ourselves, waiting to make sure that nothing was going to go wrong. I'm now 9 weeks and feeling pretty good.

I went to the doctor two weeks ago, saw baby Looper's heart beating, got the okay that so far so good.

I think that I may need to just go ahead and rent a room in Greenville since it seems that I'll be spending a lot of time there. My OB said that they would do LOTS of ultrasounds to make sure everything was okay with this little one; they'll even do an ultrasound around 28 weeks on this baby's thyroid since I have serious thyroid issues. It's crazy, I know!

Speaking of thyroid, that's another reason I need to rent a room, I'm going to see that doctor every 10 days and have blood drawn almost every week. I wish they could just put a port in and be done with it. They have to make sure that all the levels are okay and that I maintain a correct thyroid balance.

The baby makes no thyroid hormone the first trimester, so he/she is completely dependent on me for that hormone. Since I make NO thyroid hormone, they've got to keep up, up, upping my levels to keep it in the correct range. Sounds fun, right?

Anyway, all of that to ask for your prayers and to officially release it to the world that sometime around February 2 (hopefully no sooner) we'll have one more human in the world.

More Sunshine

We captured Abby tonight dancing and singing to "Walking on Sunshine." I know we're Southern Baptist, but the girl's got moves. Please forgive us if she looks a little rough; we had just gotten home from swimming. Look closely; I know it's dark.

Just Thought I'd Share

There's nothing earth-shattering here. I just thought I'd post a couple of sweet pictures that you might enjoy.


It must be tough being little and getting to sleep in the car instead of drive it.


Abby loves Leia and Mommy loves that Leia now lives with Kenny and Debbie.


This is just too cute for words. Abby with her cousin Colby Memorial Day.


And finally....Mommy and Abby. Awwwwww....

I'm Gonna Rock and Roll All Night...

And then nap all day!

No, really, with an almost two year old, napping is a thing in my distant memory somewhere - college I think.

Last night was one of those kinds of nights that parents hate the most. I knew it was going to be bad when Abby fell asleep on her daddy's shoulder at 7:00. She had been acting puny all day, and that's never a good sign for the nighttime.

We loaded her up with ibuprofen, laid her down, and all was peaceful until midnight. I think it really is the witching hour when you have sick kids. They must somehow know that you have crossed from one day to the next. It's always midnight when she screams.

We got her up, gave her more medicine, changed her diaper and laid her back down. Nothing doing. She wanted us.

Jason did the noble thing and got her. He laid with her on the couch and then I hear it, "Alicia, COME HERE!" When you're asleep and it's 1:00 a.m., something about those words scare the everloving life out of you. I jumped up, and knew before I got in the living room, vomit was in my future. That's right, all over Jason, the couch, the blanket and strangely enough, not on Abby.

It is amazing to me that she can throw up bucket-fulls and never get any on herself. Anyway, I got a wet rag, cleaned her up (what little there was to clean) and traded places with Jason on the couch, praying I wouldn't be the next victim of Abby's sickness.

About 2:00 a.m., she wanted to "lay down, Mommy", so I took her to her room where she slept until 6:00.

So, here it is, 3:45 p.m., the day after. I snoozed on the couch a little after Abby got up from her nap, but I sure wish she'd go down for about 2 hours.

Oh, the joys. But seriously, I wouldn't trade this face for all the naps in the world!