5 month hiatus over?

Hello blog, it's been awhile. A lot has happened since we last met: Ellie has changed from a 2 year old just transitioning to her big girl bed and beginning potty training to an almost-3 (going on 13) year old girl who is toilet trained, in her new room sleeping in a full-size bed, and super excited to become a big sister! Justin has returned from his deployment, changed jobs (thank you, budget cuts. And THANK YOU, Jesus, for providing a new job at Reynolds HS), and we are about to meet our new baby boy. The transition home from the deployment along with the major life events (new job, new baby, reuniting) has been intense (as anyone could imagine), but I am trying very hard to take it one day at a time and have faith that we will all be stronger on the other side.

I am now 37+ weeks pregnant and VERY ready to be done. Thanks to some awesome contractions and back labor, I am now 3 centimeters dilated and really expecting to meet our son soon. Really, all things considered, this pregnancy has been great. With the deployment and raising a 2-year old, I haven't paid much attention to everything - which really is a blessing. However, I am now not sleeping well at all, have to go to the bathroom 1-10 times per hour, and am very ready to be able to choose from more than 4 different shirts that actually fit. I am also craving to run again. I know it will take time and be painful for a bit, but if anything this year has taught me - I can persevere and do it. I am already planning on running a half in January. I did it with Ellie, I'll do it with this guy too. I need that stress relief back in my life! Hoping to get a double jogging stroller soon. Not sure where we will store it, but that's a detail that will be figured out later. :)

Here are some fun photos of Ellie from our trip to Disneyland last month. We got to go a couple of this times this spring thanks to my sister living in the area. So much fun!

Now that I have this initial "I (hope to be) back" post over with, hopefully I'll be MUCH better with blogging - especially with our boy coming soon! ;)

Yeah, What He Said...

It's been a month since the second part of Justin and my "adventure" began. I am sure you can imagine, but many, many, MANY emotions have taken place in these days. Yes, it's been a month, but really - it's been almost 3 months since this entire thing began. I have really struggled with so many feelings during this time. Never before, in the 14 years of our relationship, have we been through anything like this. And, for those people who say, "oh, 6 months - that's not bad!" or " you only have a little over 3 months left, that's not long!" - I have many things l'd like to share and say to you. But, I won't, because I'm working on those emotions too. However, if you see me twitching, just back away slowly and leave me alone for a little bit. It's the best for everyone. :)

Anyway, we have said from the beginning that we know that Justin joining the Guard is God's Will. Honestly, we do. Unfortunately, that also means this "adventure". It has been the far opposite of easy and most days I struggle deeply with an array of emotions. However, I know God is good and faithful.

Today I did my bible study for church and decided to pull out "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers (edited by James Reimann) and read today's devotion. I haven't read from this book forever and was amazed how the words articulated exactly what I think is going on in our lives right now. Even copying this down to send to Justin and put on here brought chills to me, because it resonates deeply with how I'm feeling right now. Funny how God works. :) So, if you're wondering, "How's Sarah doing...really doing?" Here's your answer.

The Way to Permanent Faith

"Indeed the hour is coming...that you will be scattered..." (John 16:32)

Jesus was not rebuking the disciples in this passage. Their faith was real, but it was disordered and unfocused, and was not at work in the important realities of life. The disciples were scattered to their own concerns and they had interests apart from Jesus Christ. After we have the perfect relationship with God, through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, our faith must be exercised in the realities of everyday life. We will be scattered, not into service but in the emptiness of our lives where we will see ruin and barrenness, to know what internal death to God's blessings means. Are we prepared for this? It is certainly not of our own choosing, but God engineers our circumstances to take us there. Until we have been through that experience, our faith is sustained only by feelings and by blessings. But once we get there, no matter where God may place us or what inner emptiness we experience, we can praise God that all is well. That is what is meant by faith being exercised in the realities of life.

"...you...will leave Me alone." Have we been scattered and have we left Jesus alone by not seeing His providential care for us? Do we not see God at work in our circumstances? Dark times are allowed and come to us through the sovereignty of God. Are we prepared to let God do what He wants with us? Are we prepared to be separated from the outward, evident blessings of God? Until Jesus Christ is truly our Lord, we each have goals of our own which we serve. Our faith is real, but it is not yet permanent. And God is never in a hurry. If we are willing to wait, we will see God pointing out that we have been interested only in His blessings, instead of in God Himself. The sense of God's blessings is fundamental.

"...be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (16:33). Unyielding spiritual fortitude is what we need.

Oh BOY!!

It's official (well, as official as a really clear ultrasound can get): Ellie's having a baby brother and Justin and I are having a SON! Wow!! Many thought it wasn't possible, but there will now be a male in the Pat Vandehey lineage. :)

Justin and I are thrilled and getting used to the the thought of trucks and trains amongst the barbies and dolls. :) Ellie is as excited as she can be for not really understanding at all. :) When I told her she was going to have a baby brother, her first concern was who the baby's mama was going to be. And then she looked awfully concerned when I said it would be me. "Hmmm..." you could almost hear her think. Yes, we will be in for a transition once the little man makes his appearance.

In the meantime, we are excited! The pregnancy is going really well. I am somewhere between 19-20 weeks (depends which doctor or ultrasound technician you ask), so I am choosing the happy medium: 19 1/2 weeks. I haven't been sick since around week 12 or 13 and have almost forgotten I am pregnant most days - only the frequent trips to the bathroom remind me. :) I am steadily gaining weight, but after the onset of quick weight gain at the beginning, I have slowed down and am now gaining at a much healthier rate...for now. :) I think the fact that I don't feel horrible all the time, aren't stuffing my face with chips (as a result of feeling horrible), and that I can actually workout again are the main contributors. Yay!

So now our family will be complete with a girl and boy. Justin will have his son to follow in his footsteps, I will have a little man around the house, and Ellie will have a brother to boss around and force to play dress-up (while he's still naive and before he begins fighting back). But, most importantly, our last name will now continue for another generation. (Ha!)

PS. The short video shows all the "important parts", so don't watch if you will be offended. It is part of a clip that I sent Justin so he could share in the fun. :)

Big Girl Transition

The other day Ellie's beloved binky broke. I've been thinking of transitioning off the binky for awhile, however given how essential this sleep aid is for her and the current events in our family's life, I figured now may not be the time. Maybe this summer when we're all together again, but before the baby is born? However, this must not have come at a very sympathetic time for me, because I decided to look at the broken binky as an opportunity to move on from these glorious plugs. I haven't been sleeping well anyway, so it wasn't like I would lose more sleep.

That night was rough. Poor girl was NOT pleased with my decision. However, we made it and she was awarded with her promised "special treat" (a new baby doll) in the morning. (She still struggles a little, but the transition is actually going better than expected.)

But why stop there? We're working on potty training, binky is now gone, what else can I change? The crib! The morning after our first binky-less night, my parents came by to drop off their dogs for a week. I had a list of "to-do" things for my dad :) and one included transitioning the crib to a toddler bed. I bought special M.innie M.ouse bedding for her big girl bed, we made a HUGE deal about it, and I told Ellie to call me when she was up - no just getting out of bed. (hey, there is a reason she was in that crib for awhile, I need my sleep too!)

Last night was our first night as a "true" big girl. I have to admit, I was pretty aware of her little noises. I wasn't worried that she'd fall out of the bed, but adding the no-binky had potential problems. She did wake up a couple of times and had a difficult time going to sleep, but we made it. I loved how my one friend put it: Doing both things at once is like creating the perfect storm rather than having 2 weeks of drizzle. :) I'll take it. So far, we are weathering the storm alright.

Lucky Justin, he's going to come home to a potty trained, binky-less, crib-less big girl!

Too funny not to post

Here's a picture of Ellie making sure there are no chips left in my little bag of cheetos. It doesn't matter that I told her they were gone, she had to check for herself. She is SUCH a product of her daddy and I! :)

(I think my favorite part of this photo is the double chins... haha!)

"How I Did It"

Do you like the title of my new book? Sounds official and smart, huh? I would like to write a book about how to quickly and painlessly potty train children entitled this, however I can't because it would be one big fat lie. I've done nothing. Literally nothing and Ellie is potty training herself. I'd love to chalk this up to her amazing genes, her progressive development, or my incredible parent skills (I really hope you caught the humor in each of those things), but I think she's just ready. She's done with diapers (who can blame her?) and ready to be a big girl. Sounds good to me!

Potty training has been on my "to-do" list for about a year now when she started showing interest last spring. At that point I thought, "well - I'm going to wait until summer when she can run around outside with no diaper on and we'll work in out then." That quickly turned into, "I'm waiting until she's two so I don't do it too early and it takes forever." I would offer her a chance to use the potty and say she could get 2 M&M's if she went, but that's as far as the encouragement, support, and training went. Then, honestly, I completely forgot about it or got too overwhelmed thinking about strategies that I put it off. At times it would cross my mind and I would think, "I think I'll start that on Monday", but that never happened.

Skip past several Mondays and you have this past week. Ellie apparently recognized I wasn't going to get on the ball with this and decided to take matters into her own hands. On Sunday she only wanted to wear "big girl panties" to some friends' house for dinner. In order to not discourage such behavior (no diaper), we allowed it and prepared for potential disaster at a place other than our home. (no worries, these are really close friends!) However, Ellie did great. She followed suit of the older kids and decided to go "both types" of "potties" on the toilet. INCREDIBLE. All of the adults responded with dropped jaws and quickly praised her for a job well done.

Then today she kept a dry diaper all day (I had to force her to wear a diaper this morning against her desires because we were going to church. A close friends' house is one thing, church is different!). We joined some friends at a restaurant for lunch and Ellie told me she needed to go potty. Honestly, I tried to ignore it at first. I mean, really, she could just go in her diaper, I was probably too late anyway, and I didn't want to deal with it at a restaurant. But, mother-guilt got the best of me and we headed to the restroom. Sure enough, Ellie's diaper was dry, I say her on the pot, and she went! Crazy!!

I'm not saying she's potty trained yet and I am sure as heck not taking credit for it, but I'm kind of excited about this trend. And all I can say is that Child #2 has a high expectation placed on him or her. :) However, given my luck with Ellie's potty training, it probably just means #2 will take over a year of aggressive training. Oh well, I'll be happy for now! :)

Snow Day!

Today we were blessed with a snow day. Well, this morning was an actual snow day - until about 9am. And now it is a typical Oregon "snow" day - one where they cancelled everything in the early morning and then by mid-morning everything melts and there is no indication why all the schools are closed and kids are roaming the streets. Oh well, I enjoyed my Thursday off from commuting and teaching. :)

My roommate, Emily, and I took Ellie on a "snow walk" this morning. As you can tell, the roads and sidewalks were completely bare by the time we got outside (10am), but that's ok. The snow was still out. We got about 2-3 inches total, so that was fun.

Emily teaching Ellie how to make a snowball. However - completely true to her personality, Ellie was hesitant to put her hands on anything that would make them wet or dirty (yes, she gets that from her Daddy). :)

My favorite picture from the morning. :)

Still trying to figure this whole "I think I'm supposed to like this, but what's so great about snow" thing.

Standing amongst the quickly vanishing snow.

Beginning our walk. "Hi, Mama!"