Home of the Brave

I am so proud of my family.  I look at my two little ones and I think about all they have been through and every good and bad thing they have experienced in their short lives.  Yet, every morning they get up, get dressed, trust us to care for them, feed them and love them.  They go into a school and they are brave enough to keep trying to speak the language, interact with kids their age and try all kinds of new things.  They do these things without fear and it is awe-inspiring.

By the same token, Leigh and I have  adopted two kids, moved, started new jobs and now have a little one days from making her entry and, although it's been tough, we've taken it in stride and somehow have managed to keep these kids happy, productive and adaptable. 

When I think about all these things I think about how there are very few people I know that would be courageous enough (or dumb enough?) to embark on this journey.  Maybe it was foolhardy, but I prefer to think of it as simply brave.  My home of the brave.

Reluctantly, but by popular demand

Many of you have been curious about what I look like 9 months pregnant.  I'm not sure what all the interest is about.  Maybe because I'm so old to be pregnant for the first time, or because I've always been so thin?  Anyway, I figured I'm likely only going to be pregnant just this once, so I had a proper pregnancy portrait taken.  Hope it satisfies all the curiosity!

The pregnancy has, overall, been going well.  However, last week I had an ultrasound and it showed I had a low level of amniotic fluid and a "non-stress test" I had on the baby in the hospital showed I was having a good deal of contractions that I wasn't feeling.  These things together led my doctor to put me on bedrest for the rest of the pregnancy, so I officially went off work and on leave last week.  Since then, I've had another ultrasound that shows that the amniotic  fluid increased with the bedrest so they were pleased with that progress.  As of today, I'm at 36 and 1/2 weeks, so our little one will arrive any day now.  Keep us all in your thoughts and prayers.