Kids Say the Darndest Things

I told my first grade group the other day that I was going to have a baby in April. One of the girls said to me, "I was thinking that, cuz first you were skinny and now you're fat." :)

Some thoughts

So, the polls have closed and it's kind of clear that what's going on in our lives is what people want us to post about, and maybe not commentary, but guess what you're gonna get....

When we got the first screening results fo DS about a month ago that gave us a higher risk, I was stunned. I of course spent the next few hours researching DS screening, DS and anything else that I could find to figure out what we were dealing with. I prayed to God. I prayed for acceptance of His will in our lives. I didn't pray for my baby to be healed, or that he wouldn't have this problem, just that we would accept whatever God gave us and be content. After talking with some friends and with Natalie, I realized it was ok to ask for healing (duh!) and have been praying continuously for our boy to be healed of his heart defect and for him to not have DS. The example of David asking God for the punishment of his sin with Bathsheba to be given to him and not Israel showed me that God can be moved even when he has made a judgement. There are a ton of examples in the Bible that show the effectiveness of prayer, somehow in the recognition of God's sovereignty I forget that He allows us to ask of Him and receive from Him. Sovereign but loving and responsive, my God.

This idea of "praying without ceasing" has always eluded me, but not this week. To me it was waking with a song of praise in my heart, even the morning after hearing very worrisome news about our baby. It has been going about my business with my mind focused on how BIG God is; seeing Him in everything. It has been keeping an open dialogue all day with God, like I was talking to Him, our conversation paused while I did some aspect of my job that required focus, then picked up the conversation where we left off. It has been knowing that He is watching, listening, caring, supporting and comforting me in all that I do. I have never felt this at peace with my life before, and this is a time when people without the Lord would be fretting the most. (Isn't it strange that we run to the Lord when things are "out of our control" but we sometimes are not as close when things are "as they should be"?) I know that the God who created the heavens and earth, who flooded His creation, who parted the sea- twice, who sent His Son from heaven to earth, who ascended from the depths of hell to His throne, is intimately involved in my life- and He can heal our child if He desires. I ask this of Him in every breath, and I realize that if He ultimately chooses not to He will be correct in His decision, and every need that we have in raising our baby will be met. This is the comfort that I have: the Creator will sustain me.

Isaiah sums up how I am feeling like this:
But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (40:31)

Ultimately what matters is that we show our boy his need for the Lord's provision of salvation, and that the Lord draws him into His family so that He can renew his strength. So in that same breath of begging the Lord for healing, I should be pleading for our sons' salvation, because a physical ailment is temporal, and salvation is eternal.

Please join me in these prayers to the Lord.

Follow-Up Ultrasound

Tuesday we had the follow-up to our 12-week ultrasound. First of all, we found out we're having another BOY!! We're excited for Graham to have a pal!

There were several things the doctor noted during the ultrasound:

1) The baby's nasal bone was still not able to be detected.

2) There is a whiter than normal spot in the abdomen.

3) The baby's femur bone in relation to the head was much smaller.

4) The baby has a heart defect (which at this point they say can be corrected with surgery - good news)

All these things can be found in perfectly normal babies, but when they are all present together, it gives the impression that the baby has Down Syndrome. So.....with all this, they say our chances are now 1/2 that baby boy has DS. After talking to my doctor some more, they seem pretty certain.

We do have to remember that these are statistics only and we are praying for complete health for this baby. God can heal all of these things.....He can even change chromosomes! Thank you for praying for us as we are believing God for healing as well as trying to prepare for what may be ahead. Our next step is to do an ultrasound probably every four weeks, as well as see a pediatric cardiologist. Thanks so much for all of you who have taken time to listen to us as we try to work through all this....and just to encourage us. We feel very loved by you all!

Here are some sweet pics of Baby Boy Braun #2.....known as "Dos". :)

We can't wait to hold him and see his sweet face!

The Many Uses for Bowls

There are many uses for bowls:

To build a tower.

As a mixing bowl......

For serving Mama.

Hat!

As a drumset.

Cycle helmets.

Bubye!

Our Little Puppy Dog

Here are some highlights of Graham's first "trick-or-treating" experience" (and Mama's too!).

Getting ready to go out

Had to show his tail.....when he would walk it would wag back and forth. It was my favorite part of the costume, next to his sweet little puppy dog face!

Waiting patiently....when we would tell him to say "trick or treat" he would say, "treat!". He's got this down....no need to say the first part.

Walking away with the treat. He always wanted to have one of them in his hand. I didn't think he was going to be very into it this year, but he surprised us all and loved it! He even kept on his "dog hat" the whole time (probably helped that we had a couple practice runs).

Pumpkins

So...a pumpkin patch in Gilbert, AZ means a fenced-in area with barrels of hay and pumpkins scattered about. That's good enough for me (since Fry's was all out the day before Halloween and the produce lady tried to make me feel "crazy" for not getting one sooner). Ha! Found one! Graham got to pick out a little one...or five little ones. Each one, he dropped on the ground to go look for another. I quickly picked out our carving pumpkin so we wouldn't get kicked out.

Carving....Graham watched Daddy carve out the top and then helped him pull it off. After he saw what was inside, it was all over. He didn't want to have anything to do with whatever that icky, gooey stuff was. He doesn't mind getting into mud, throwing sand in his hair, eating sand, etc. But....he didn't want to get in on the "gutting" fun. So, Daddy finished it off, with coaching from Mama. It was a fun first carving experience.

Graham holding what I thought was his pick of a pumpkin, but obviously, his eye was on another.

Wonderful News

For those of you who do not know, Eric and I are expecting our second baby April 28! We are so thankful for this addition to our family! Graham is going to be a great big brother.

Here are some pics from our 12-week ultrasound.

We would like to ask you for your prayers. This ultrasound was the ultrasound to screen for Down Syndrome. Before the screen, based on my age, the chances of DS were 1/659. After the ultrasound and bloodtest, which showed a high level of HCG and low level of Pappa, our chances are now 1/10. They call it a screen positive result and would like to have me back for another ultrasound at 17 weeks. We, of course, were surprised by the results, but also realize this does not mean the baby has DS. It's just a long time to wait to find out for sure (6 months!), as we have decided not to do an amniocentesis (which would tell us for sure, but has a chance of miscarriage). We know this baby is supposed to be a part of our family, and we trust that God will give us the strength, resources, etc. to care for this little one no matter what. We just ask that you lift this up with us to our Heavenly Father, who cares for us. Thank you for celebrating this perfect little life with us!!