Change..

Change is in the air. Lots of changes are happening and about to happen. Two of the doctors here in Cushing (a married couple) are leaving. One is an OB and one is a Family Practice doctor that delivers babies as well. The full ramifications of this we are not sure how it will play out. The OB is my doctor. I am so sad to see her go but am excited about a new opportunity for them in a new setting. They have served here in Cushing for 26 years! With children all grown they have decided to move to Nashville, TN so that the husband can pursue his dream of song writing and music. Change. With them leaving it will leave Cushing with 6 doctors, with only 3 delivering babies. This is going to be interesting. We do have one family practice doctor coming in July that will deliver babies as well. Needless to say our easy, slower days seem to be coming to an end. Dustin is expecting to be completely full by April. Which is good. Please join us in praying for this time of transition for Cushing. Please pray that God would protect our family time and that Dustin's office will be able to effectively manage the surge of new patients. Pray that in the immediate time of adjustment and transition that the focus of his clinic would remain ministry. Pray for open hearts and a fertile ground for receiving the gospel within his new patient pool. We are so grateful to the Lord and the town that he has brought us to serve in. We are really enjoying becoming Cushingites and look forward to the plans He has in store. Change. In the midst of this we will be meeting our second little girl in 9 days. 9 days! I had my last doctor's appointment and pre-registered at the hospital today. We have been praying about induction with this baby because of the difficulties that Abigail had at birth because she was so large. She had a broken collar bone, torticolis and pretty severe hip displasia where she had to wear a full body brace for about 5 weeks. Her delivery was scary. We did not realize that she was going to be so large, weighing in at 8lb 15oz. Her Daddy was going to deliver her but when he saw how big her head was he quickly stepped aside for Dr.Ross to take the lead. This pregnancy we did a fetal growth ultrasound at 35 weeks and it was reading that Claire was already 6 1/2 lbs where I think normally they weigh around 5 lbs. Guess we just make big babies! Anyway, so we have decided to go ahead with an induction at 38 weeks. In my doctors visit today I was already very thin and at 1 cm so we will just be using pitocin. It seems strange to know exactly when I will go into labor and that she will most likely be born on Sunday, February 6th. With all of the other kidos we hadn't known when they might come. Carson was two weeks early weighing 8 lb 4 oz. Andrew was a day late weighing 8 lb 14 oz and Abigail was three days early weighing 8 lb 15 oz. Change. I have this immense sense of change in the air. My days with just Abigail at home are numbered. Last week I tried a new schedule with dropping the boys off at school which I thought would work. I was told that if I took Andrew to school before 8:15 I could drop him off at the cafeteria door and he would go and check in there. If you come after 8:15, like we have been doing, you have to walk the kids into the classroom and sign them in everyday. This I was very leery of at the first of the year having Abigail and being pregnant but we have actually managed to be there in the classroom by the time the bell rings every morning. With Claire coming I was worried about how I was going to take a newborn and a 21 month old with Andrew into the school every morning to check him in and thus was excited to hear that perhaps if I could rearrange our morning a little then I could drop him off at the cafeteria door before 8:15 then I wouldn't have to get both girls out of the car and into the school and then back into the car (in winter by the way) every morning. Well, come to find out even if you drop your kids off at the cafeteria door before 8:15 you are still required to walk them in and sign them in. Needless to say I was very disappointed and stressed out to hear this. I just thought I had all my ducks in a row. So...I have been praying. Andrew's teacher has been really sweet and has even asked another Mom to walk Andrew into school every day but I just cannot ask someone else, whom I do not know, to wait for us and take Andrew into school for four months. I feel like I have no other option than to keep him home and do the rest of his pre-school with him at home. The more I have been praying about it and thinking about it I have become really excited about this little extra time with Andrew at home. Abigail will looove having him here and it will be fun to work with him on some pre-school material I have found. I hate it for Andrew only in that he has done soo well and really likes going to school but at the same time he is now excited to get to stay home and do school with Mommy when Claire comes. Change. A new baby. A busy husband. Teaching pre-school at home. A new schedule. Less sleep. More laundry. Bring it on! Let the madness begin! What I am most thankful for is that even amongst the changes that are happening and going to happen we serve a faithful God who is ever constant, in whom we can trust has complete control of all these things within the grasp of His hands. Yee-haw God! (this is what one of my Cushing friends says alot and I think it is very appropriate here!) :)