Bacon in Heaven?

Friday, September 28, 2007

"Mom, I bet they'll have bacon in heaven!" said my daughter confidently and happily. "And I bet they won't even need to kill pigs to get it!" she continued. "Cuz we like pigs, even if they are dirty, right? They're nice." --Heaven ponderings from my eight year old. :) Also today, we located and colored in the two countries of South Korea and Ghana on our individual world maps. Looking up their flags, we drew them in and colored them as well. Why Ghana and South Korea? Because their grandpa (my dad) is flying to Ghana tomorrow for a conference, and South Korea because their aunt, uncle and cousins are there, getting our new little cousin Jack!! We are so excited to meet this new adoptee. What are you doing this warm, sunny week? :)

Thanksgiving was Tuesday

It's a cool, misty morning. I sit, hearing the soft hum of airplanes overhead and passing cars far away on the freeway. My kids are playing quietly, enjoying some down time after a busy week with relatives. It has been a great week though, enjoying my brother here from out of state. My sister, my parents from Africa and I embrace these rare and special times with all of us together. On Tuesday night, we celebrated Thanksgiving! Yes, laugh with us, but we were feasting on turkey, stuffing, cranberries, pies, squash, mashed potatoes and gravy! Mmmm, mm. I can't remember the last time we had Thanksgiving together, so we took advantage of making it now. (My pumpkin and pecan pies turned out great, by the way.)

Thanks all of you guys, too, for the hugs, prayers and care you gave us as we grieved our miscarriage last Tuesday. We are doing better, distracted by the joy of family in town. The little velcro sandals still sit on top of our t.v., along with a diaper and a tiny pair of grey socks that my sister in law sent, and a hand-drawn grieving note from my niece. We are looking forward to using them someday.

Don't I have a cool brother?! Last night, my sister, brother and I walked around a cool big lake in the city, seeing the sunset reflecting off the sailboats and the water. Later, the half moon shown over the velvet black lake, the city skyline shimmering in the moving water. We ended the walk, with a late night at Perkins. Bottomless pots of tea and pie until after midnight.

What have you been up to this week?

Empty Little Shoes for Now

Well dear Family,

Now we know why people so often wait until 8 weeks... Since the due date calculator said that we were at 5 weeks, we hoped we were close enough to the safety range to share the news with everyone.

The baby miscarried Tuesday night. For almost three hours, I had heavy cramping, pain, contractions and bleeding. We cried. It is amazing how excited we were about this new little one, laughing over his development from the fetal development chart. "His or her heart is beating! The lungs and brain are forming, and this week—his nostrils and eye lenses are forming. Plus he has little arms and legs buds starting! The baby is as big as my pinky fingernail." The kids and I had exclaimed over each new feature. Mark had wrapped his arms around me protectively, and we had thought over names.

Later, during the miscarriage, Morgan was asleep, but John was upstairs when Brian called, and heard the symptoms. He confirmed what we were afraid of and hoping against: it most likely is a miscarriage. Very common at this stage. 1 in 5 pregnancies end this way. It's not for sure, but probably.

Yet it hurts. We miss this little one already, and are sad to not meet him or her soon. We had already dreamed about him, bought cute little shoes at a garage sale for him, made jokes about his or her personality, etc. laughing at the soon to form clubbed hands.

God is still good. Yet it is necessary to grieve, and to cry, and to reminisce.

Thank you for all of your wonderful excited emails! We were so thrilled to have you share our excitement. Each email was fun for us to read and to smile with. Please don't feel odd talking about this miscarriage with us. You are welcome to talk to us.

We are going to try again for another baby. And, yes, we would love to borrow some of that baby equipment soon.

We love you all.

-Jennifer, Mark, John and Morgan

Mountaineers, Sutter's Mill, and Weird Science!

We've been enjoying our first week back in homeschooling. I now have a 7th grader and a 3rd grader, which is crazy to me. I am so excited about this new year of history! We scarfed down "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," reading several chapters aloud a day. Partway through, we learned about steam-powered engines that were being built around that time period, and peered at old black and white photos of some of the first railway cars and steamboats. In the background, a funny polka-inspired steamboat favorite sang "Polly Wolly Doodle all the day," as we tried to imagine Mark Twain strolling the banks of the Mississippi, watching the steamboats unload, and gathering fodder for his books. It moved us to some creative writing too...

Today we read exciting stories of mountaineers racing away from grizzlies and then becoming guides for the onslaught of covered wagons as people started migrating west for gold, land, and adventure. Tomorrow, Sutter's Mill will be discovered again, and we will start reading "Dear Levi," (Yep, Amy, almost) about a young man who heads out west, writing letters home of what he sees.

For a creepy science project, though, I surprisingly had my kids screeching and running out of the room today. "Noooo, Mom, no!" they yelled. "Mom, I'm NOT going to watch," my son insisted, slightly insolently. My daughter ran to the couch too, and covered her face with the pillow.

Well, fine. They are very lucky that the tiny lancing needle for the blood gathering was broken. I had been so excited to try this cool Science lab where you figure out your blood type with this kit! I had laid out all the cool lab pieces that came with the kit: needle lance in small green plastic safety sheath, water dropper, cute little postcard with spots for five or six little blood samples--with chemicals that looked suspiciously like the paint by water books we had when we were little.

But, alas, the needle wouldn't work. It stayed stubbornly in its little green container, refusing to give me the little click needed to prick my finger. Sooo, after trying several times, I finally gave the "good news" to the kids. They were sheepishly thankful, but then seemed slightly regretful at the letdown, I think. :)

I'm going to call that lab and get a new blood testing kit.... Don't YOU think that would be a cool science project?!