High School Girls Outing :)

Our high school girls have been asking and asking about having a scavenger hunt for a long time. FINALLY, this past Friday night, October 5th, we did one. We went to Triangle Town Center, ate dinner, broke up into groups of 3 (plus one leader in each group) and had one hour to complete the tasks. These tasks included things such as: Videotaping your group frantically searching for a contact lense on the floor of the mall Videotaping your group pretending to ride a tractor and serenading some people with a song about tractors, farmers, etc. Videotaping your group doing the chicken dance with other people (which NOBODY would do by the way) Videotaping a couple describing how they met (thanks Don & Susan!) Taking a picture of your girls dressed up in clothes on a mannequin Collecting as many signatures as possible Finding out how many entrances there are to the mall ETC. ETC. BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY --> we had to ask someone how we could pray for them. When my group was collecting signatures, this one lady was reading over our brochure and said "who's the prayer here?" We said "any of us". She starting telling us how her brother was on dialysis and was having heart problems. She then stated to pray for her as well as she was diabetic. We prayed with her right then and there. THIS is why we do these fun things ... there are SO many people who are desperately seeking for "something, someone, anyone" ... and not everybody knows that there is only ONE solution to their problems ... JESUS!! Thank you Lord for our encounter with this precious lady. It was SO much fun! We had lots of laughs and good times and look forward to doing it again. After that, we went to sweet frogs to get yogurt and then went back and all stayed at Amanda's house. We stayed up until 3AM ... I'll be honest, I'm not as young as I used to be. I have been sick for several days now!! haha ... but I love these girls to pieces and wouldn't trade my time with them for anything!

Calling .........

I know my last post was about the birth of Tucker-man, but it is impossible to go back and recap every single event and detail from his birth to now. I will probably periodically post something from within the past 20 months (like first Christmas, first vacation, etc. etc.) but for now, I'm gonna start posting what's going on NOW. Lots of things have happened within the past year and a half/two years. God has blessed us greatly and we thank HIM for that. Before Tucker was born, Jonathan and I really felt a strong call on his life to go into the ministry. We felt the Lord telling us to sell our house, move back to Wendell, start school (seminary for Jonathan) and to continue to serve Him in every area of our lives. Well ... we were anticipating Tucker arriving and what I heard God saying was not what "I" wanted to do. HOW SELFISH of me!! "I" didn't want to sell our house ... we had JUST finished the nursery, I was 8 months pregnant, we didn't have the money, yada yada yada.. LET ME TELL YOU, God always knows what's best, NOT ME!! At that time, we said "OK, God - we hear your call. We are ready - "send us, we'll go" ... but we stayed right here. We didn't actually make a MOVE in any of the areas he was telling us to. We SAID ok we'll do it, but we didn't actually "DO IT". Let me tell you, life is MISERABLE when you are living outside of God's will. Although we had the most precious gift given to us (WHO IS THE LIGHT OF OUR LIFE!! - HE WAS THEN AND STILL IS NOW!!), things were rough. I developed bad anxiety about 4 months after having Tucker where I couldn't stay by myself at all. As anybody who is reading this probably knows, Jonathan is a fireman so he is gone 24 hours at the time. What that meant for us was that my mom or his mom would have to stay with me & Tucker or we had to end up staying with them.. which was not convenient for ANYbody!! We also had one health issue after another (including appendectomy along with other random ER visits and hospital stays) which ran our medical bills up like crazy.. so I thought we "didn't have the money" for school ... well, we really didn't have money now.. (SIDENOTE - this is info leading up to what I'm about to tell you ... we are BEYOND BLESSED so I know our health issues and financial issues could be much much worse) - this was just a time that we felt like maybe we were paying some of the consequences for not being obedient to Him in the first place............. OK so let's move to NOW. Back at the beginning of the summer, God's call on Jonathan's life still remained. Just because we had not made a move up to this point, didn't mean the call had "gone away". When God calls you, HE calls you loud and clear! We said "OK GOD - we are sorry for not making a move up until this point ... what are YOUR plans for us? Because we can do NOTHING without you and we don't want to live outside of your perfect will any longer." So ... God said sell your dad's car (1964 impala), use that money to go back to school, even though it's almost the cut-off date to applications being in, I'll push it through, I'll provide extra finances for you through an internship at church, put your house on the market and I will take care of selling it for you. So, off we went, believing God CAN DO ANYTHING ... Jonathan's dad's car sold and it provided enough money to get him started in school, Jonathan's application was accepted and he was able to start on time this fall (through internet classes to go along with His fire schedule - PTL), God provided the internship for him to also start in the fall, and our house is still on the market but we KNOW that God is faithful and He will provide the right person for this house. Another blessing - through prayer and believing that God can take it away, my anxiety is little to none - PRAISE THE LORD. I never understood what it meant to have depression or anxiety until this past year and a half, but I will pray so hard for anybody who has it. I now get it. I am so thankful He has allowed me to be ok staying by myself (with Tucker). Don't get me wrong, I still have my moments, but they are nothing like what I had several months ago. Our GOD ALMIGHTY is so much bigger than Satan and any doubts, anxieties, or worries he puts in our heads. Thank you, Jesus! I have never seen my husband so passionate about something in his life. He loves the Lord, loves his classes, loves reading God's word and digging deeper into it. We are also soo crazy about our youth group. God has blessed us with awesome friends (other youth leaders) and also these awesome kids who are growing and maturing in God's word. God is faithful. He uses our peaks to strengthen and encourage us, but has also used those deep valleys to grow us into who He is calling us to be. Lesson learned: GOD KNOWS BEST!!

February 24th 2011 - Tucker's Arrival

Ok, so if you are reading my blog for the first time, you will see how far behind I am. I promise I'm not going to go back and recap everything that has happened the past 20 months ... but I thought this one was pretty important :) I want to have it blogged just for me to be able to come back and look at years down the road. I went to the DR for my normal 38 week checkup on Wednesday, February 23rd. I actually overslept (after being up and down during the night) and was running late so I didn't even take a shower - well, I washed off, but didn't wash my hair. By 38 weeks, correct me if I'm wrong, but most mommy-to-be's don't care if they've washed their hair or put makeup on or if they've done the whole usual morning routine. I was doing good to be making it to the DR on time. Besides, I thought I was coming straight home and going back to bed. Since I was running so late, I grabbed the box of cheerios and crammed some in my mouth on the way to the DR. My bags were packed (at the house) but I didn't think there was any need in taking them ... not yet?! Jonathan met me at the DR's office since it was right down the road from his fire station. So I begin the usual process of my DR appt ... peeing in a cup, weighing myself, having my blood pressure taken, all the normal things. Every other morning it was usually a quick process ... but not this morning. When the nurse first took my blood pressure she said, "hmmm ... that's strange" and I thought "WHAT IS STRANGE?!" She then proceeded to tell me that my blood pressure was 138 over 100. I thought ... ok, is that super high or what? I knew my normal range was like 100/80 or something like that ... it had been pretty low the whole pregnancy. She then led me to the room that Jonathan was already in to lay down on the table and see if it would go down. So ... I layed there about 3 or 4 minutes before Dr. Richardson came in. **Now, I'll be honest ... I can tell you why my blood pressure was high. I was working and working and working every day until late trying to finish up different tasks that HAD to be done before I went out on maternity leave the next 6 weeks.. I had worked all day the day before and was still at my desk at 8:00 that night and I was TIRED and ... not to mention RUSHING to my appt that morning** SO ... DR. Richardson comes in and retakes my blood pressure. It was even higher - 150/110 (or 119) -- I can't remember the EXACT, but it wasn't good. She talked to me and Jonathan and said she was going to go ahead and send us over to Labor and Delivery at Rex to monitor me and see if we could get my blood pressure to go down.. she said "if it doesn't come down, you could be having a baby today".... WHAT?!?!?!?!?! TODAY?!?! RIGHT NOW?!! Both of us looked at each other like "so this could happen TODAY?!" :) :) She called over to labor and delivery and off we went! When we got in the car and started driving, we didn't know what to think. We were both sure that my blood pressure would go down and we would be going back home (and back to work). We both called our moms and my dad to let them know what was going on but told them all not to say anything yet and not to move a muscle from their workplaces because we really didn't think it would happen today. When we got to Rex, we drove around looking for the entrance for several minutes - yea, we were bad and didn't go to the classes - so we did NOT know where to go at first, but finally found it. When we got there, Dr. Tosky was the Dr. on call. They hooked me up to all kinds of monitors and I just laid there and laid there. The bad part was that I couldn't have anything to eat..and I had skipped breakfast.. and I was STARVING already (and it was only 10:00 in the morning). By 11:30, Dr. Tosky came in and said he had been watching the monitor and it didn't look like my blood pressure was going down any. He said "we can do one of two things - we can send you home in which you'll probably be back up here tomorrow or Friday and we could risk your blood pressure being even higher and more of a risk of other things ... OR ... we could induce you today and go ahead and take care of you and that baby" ......... Jonathan said, "well, if this was you, what would you do, Dr. Tosky?" Dr. Tosky responded with "I would definitely stay here and go ahead and have the baby" ... (which is what we were both thinking anyway after he gave us those two options!) SO it was official!! We were getting ready to have a baby within the next 24 hours!! We immediately got on the phone and called my dad to go get my bag from the house with all our stuff in it.. which he graciously went and got for us! Jonathan's mom had already arrived and my mom arrived shortly after. THEY ARE NOT VERY GOOD LISTENERS!! They didn't stay put!! :) We got situated in the delivery room and hooked up to all the monitors and were ready to have our sweet TUCKER!! I was induced around 2:00 and honestly wasn't feeling TOO much pain at first (I can say that NOW but ... this is 20 months later). I remember by 5:00 or so, I was in massive pain from the contractions. I KNEW I wanted an epidural before I even went in there. More power to all the women who can give birth without an epidural! I am NOT one of those women! Since I was only a few centimeters dilated by 5:00 or so, it wasn't yet time for the epidural. They gave me a medicine for in the meantime but I can't remember what it is called. It makes you feel kinda blurry.. I remember I felt that way watching American Idol so it had to be around 8:00 or so. I finally got the epidural around 9:30 or 10:00. Once I got the epidural, my pain was very little. The pressure was what was the worst. I remember Jonathan finally fell asleep around 12:30 and I starting calling his name to tell him how much pressure there was and I had to call his name several times before he finally woke up and answered me :) He called the nurse who was AMAZING. She stayed by our side the WHOLE entire time except for about 30 minutes or so around 12:00-1:00 so we could get some rest. After Jonathan called the nurse to come in there, she checked to see how much I had dilated and she realized I was at 9 1/2 centimeters ... it was time to PUSH! No wonder I was feeling pressure! I remember the FUNNIEST thing was while the nurse was getting everything set up for me to start pushing, Jonathan said "on a scale of 1-10, how bad do you think this has been ... I mean because I honestly don't think it has been so bad" ... UMMM, REALLY?!! Of course not! haha you aren't the one in pain!! :) But really, at that point, it wasn't TOO TOO bad ... but we didn't know what was coming next!!!! If only we knew ........... the answer to that question might have been different :) So Jonathan texted our moms and my dad to let them know we were starting to push around 2:30 so ... we were thinking ya know ... 20 to 30 minutes?? Well ... 2 hours and 20 minutes later our precious baby boy was born!! I won't go into all the details but it was something I will never forget. During the process, I thought "how in the WORLD can anybody have more than one child after all this pain?!" ****BUT when I held that precious baby boy in my arms for the first time, I now know how you forget every bit of pain that comes along with childbirth!! Everything that had just happened was forgotten IMMEDIATELY!! I cannot even explain the joy and excitement of holding him and seeing him for the first time. Jonathan and I both were filled with SOO much love. Needless to say, he is the most precious gift from God we could have ever imagined. God has brought our family closer and closer these last 20 months and I pray everyday for a hedge of protection over us. Jonathan and I couldn't imagine our lives without our sweet boy. He is the cutest, sweetest, most loving, lovable, hilarious, full of personality boy I could have ever imagined.. SOO much like his daddy it's crazy! I am one blessed wife/mother!!

SO MUCH HAS CHANGED BUT SO MUCH REMAINS THE SAME

Wow ... where do I even begin?! Since I last blogged, so much has changed. MOST IMPORTANTLY, we have the the most PRECIOUS gift from God ... Tucker Gerald Williams :) He is now almost 20 months old soo forgive me for not posting in FOREVER!! What a wonderful blessing he is to our family. I wanted to post about the experience and the delivery right after he was born but just never got around to it. I can't imagine how it is to have 2, 3, 4, etc. kids because my time is occupied by just one! And he is worth every single second of it! Jonathan and I are soo very blessed and thankful that God has allowed us to be Tucker's parents. It has been a life-changing experience, that's for sure, but one I wouldn't change for the world. He has brought so much life to our family. God has been SO good to us this past year and a half. We have had our high peaks and even some low valleys along the way but those have helped to strengthen our faith as well as grow us into the people God is calling us to be. I'm just going to post a few pictures and maybe, HOPEFULLY, will start seriously blogging again. I am starting to get a little "over" facebook at times so I wanted to be able to do something where I could share, but only with the closest of family/friends. .

The Nursery!

I am still trying to get used to this blog ... still ... after 2 years of having it! I really AM trying to be better about updating it. I enjoy so much looking and reading other people's blogs and want others to be able to do the same with mine.

This is how slow I am, though ... I JUST saw where a few people have commented on my posts back in November and December! If I never responded back, I AM SORRY!! I didn't know to look for any comments - but now I do (so comment away!!) I guess I am used to getting e-mail notifications (like facebook has) ... and I may have gotten them?? but didn't realize where it was. Again ... I'm learning so bare with me!!

I wanted to update, though, on the nursery. We are only 7 1/2 weeks away from our due date and ... wowww is time flying!!!!!!! In one way it feels like 8 weeks is SO close but ... it also seems like it is going to take forEVER to get here!! I think I'm just SO anxious to meet him and ... I know that I just need to enjoy these last few weeks instead!

So ... back to the nursery ... for Christmas, we were BEYOND blessed with the things we received for Tucker's nursery/arrival. All of our family (mom, dad, mother-in-law, aunts, grandparents, friends, etc.) all contributed and I don't know what we would do without them! Now let me just first of all say ... Christmas is NOT about presents and what we or anybody else receives (material-wise) soo don't get that confused with what I'm trying to tell about the nursery! Jesus will always be THE number one in our lives. We HAVE to have a relationship with HIM first or NOTHING else will make sense. We wouldn't even have all these "things" without HIM. On that note, we were very fortunate to be here another year to celebrate HIS birth this Christmas season. All the other things are just added bonuses ... time with our family, being with one another, being off work for a few days, exchanging gifts, etc. etc.

OK soo just wanted to make sure we were on the same page there ...

So ... we were very fortunate to go ahead and start getting things set up in the nursery. Of course, we had the snow storm Christmas night but we were able to get everything back to our house 2 days after Christmas. Jonathan worked hard in putting the crib together first, and then the changing table and the dresser. Of course, I took a million pictures of him setting all this up but I will just post a few. The most exciting thing for me was setting up the bumpers and bed skirt that my sister-in-law made. Now let me just say ........ this was her first attempt at doing any kind of major sewing project ... especially for a baby room and .......... IT. IS. AMAZING!!!!!!!!!! She needs to open up her own place - she has an amazing creative/crafty gene that I do not have!! I just hate that I can't pay her back in that way when she and Todd have babies!!!!!!!!!! I will have to pay somebody to do hers!


Tucker's daddy! Putting all this together for his baby boy :)


The PERFECT bedding that my sister-in-law made! Tucker is gonna LOVE his aunt laine and uncle Todd :)


Me w/ the crib all set up :)


One side of the room ... dresser, changing table, and BLUE wall (thanks to my dad & Jonathan!) :)


The other side of the room - closet, curtains ... and probably where our glider will be :)


We still have several things to do -- buy lamps, glider, things for the walls, etc. but it is coming along! :) And he will be here before we know it!! :)

Emergency Services ... thank you ALL!

So ... the day before Thanksgiving, Jonathan and I were on the way to close on our house (to refinance) and ... we had been running around that morning, getting things together to leave for Williamton and getting last minute things done. We got in the car and were on the way towards Wendell to take our dog (Romeo) to my mother-in-law's house. When we got in the car, I told Jonathan that I didn't feel good ... I felt like I couldn't breath and I felt like I was getting ready to pass out. So ... I rolled down the window (even though it was cold outside) and ... he said I leaned my chair back to lay down and all of a sudden, the next thing I knew, we were in the parking lot at Percy Flower's and Jonathan was talking to me, trying to wake me up. I had passed out in the passenger's seat. He said he thought I was just resting my head at first, but he tried to lift my head (as he was running the red light at Percy Flower's) and my eyes rolled in the back of my head. He said I then coughed all of a sudden and woke up. Now ... I've had this before during pregnancy (the morning I jumped up out of bed and was running late for my doctor's appt), but not an episode where I was just sitting down in the passenger's seat. The ambulance came and my blood sugar was ok ... but blood pressure was low. They suggested we make an appt with my obgyn so we immediately called and they were able to see us in the raleigh office at 2:50. Being the day before Thanksgiving, we were very thankful for that. We just wanted to make sure everything was ok before we left town. The doctor was very helpful and said it was probably my blood sugar - I needed to eat more proteins in the mornings - start exercising more (3 times a week for 30 minutes a day) - and drink more water, as well as 3 gatorades a day.

So ... I've been doing better ... eating eggs in the mornings ... more protein, drinking lots of water (plus gatorade).

Until ... this morning ... I was headed to Greenville for my end of year meeting with my boss to go over goals for next year, etc. (which ... my MAIN goal will not have anything to do with work ;)) ... and all about my relationship with God, my husband, and our precious new addition to our family! .........

But anyway ... I had left the house and got on I-95 and was soo exhausted and tired feeling. I had had a banana and a package of nabs and was planning on stopping at Bojangle's, as we were out of bread and eggs this morning (for my usual egg sandwich). So ... about 10 miles down the road, I started feeling really weak and started to get anxious because I was on the road ... not a good place to be when you feel like you are about to pass out (especially on I-95). So ... I KNEW it was coming on ... my blood felt like it was boiling and I rolled down the window to get some cold air ... and pulled off immediately at exit 106 and put my emergency flashers on. I remember dialing 9-1-1 but ... I don't remember anybody answering or what happened next ... it had happened again ... I had passed out. The next thing I knew, I woke up to my phone playing music (which was my ringer). The emergency services number was calling me back - I guess b/c they heard nobody on the other end when I called?? I didn't answer it in time but called them right back. They immediately got an ambulance to come check me out. By that time, my blood sugar was ok and my blood pressure was ok but they were more than willing to take me to the hospital but felt like I could get home ok since I was only about 10 miles away. They talked to me all about the pregnancy and what I needed to be doing/not doing/etc. and they didn't feel comfortable with me still heading to greenville (which I didn't either). So ... I called Jonathan and my mom and they both stayed on the phone with me, of course worried to death, while I made my way home. I called the obgyn again and ... I already had an appointment scheduled for Friday for my glucose test ... but they moved it to tomorrow morning (12/7) at 8:10. You know ... Jonathan and I have rarely EVER called 9-1-1 before ... I mean, we're ones who don't even like to go to the doctor if we don't absolutely have to, but ... I will say ... I have been more appreciative these last two months for the emergency services (paramedics, firemen, etc.) - moreso than ever. I have ALWAYS appreciated my husband as a fireman, but until you really have to call on them, week after week, you don't realize how truly awesome they ALL are. My husband was actually on a call and wasn't able to answer me when I called him this morning ... but I told him ... "you know?? you were out helping somebody while somebody else was helping me ..." Somebody who was able to get to me much faster than he would have been able to from Cary.

Thank you, LORD JESUS, that you are our comforter and healer and protector. God, we KNOW that you are in control and I THANK YOU for keeping us both healthy and safe.

Crazy couple of weeks ...

Ok soo ... as of my last post ... we were waiting on answers for Jonathan's chest x-ray.

Well ... a LOT has happened since then. That same day I wrote the last post, I got a call that night (when I was staying with my grandparent's in Williamston - b/c I had to work down that way) from Jonathan at work, saying that he had had an attack while out training and they were at the urgent care. Well ... urgent care couldn't do anything, so they took him to the emergency room in Cary. When I got this call, I IMMEDIATELY got on the road and thankfully made it to Cary as quick (and safely) as possible. Since I was about an hour and a half away, Ms. Debbie and my mom went ahead and met him up there. I am SOOO thankful for his "family" (captain and other firemen) at the firestation b/c they stayed right with him and kept me posted until I got there.

To make a long story short, they did a chest x ray first and it was clear. Because they didn't have an ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat Dr.) at that hospital, they came back in and said they were sending us home ........... ummm, excuse me, "WHAT"?? No ... we were determined to leave there with answers!! ... Luckily, they contacted the ENT at the wakemed in Raleigh and they told them not to let him go home ... that they would need him transported there to do some tests. Soo ... in the meantime, they did a CT scan of his neck (all was clear - praise Jesus!) We then waited until about 4:00 AM for the transport unit to come get him and take him to wake med in Raleigh. As soon as we got there, the ENT came right to us. He did a scope down Jonathan's nose and throat and all was clear (THANK YOU JESUS!!) They also did another test (where he swallows some liquids in a bunch of different positions) and they showed a little bit of swelling at the bottom of his esophagus ... and a hernia. We stayed there all day, waiting for a room where they would observe him for 24 hours, but the hospital was so full that he was actually "admitted" and taken to the back of the emergency room. Late that afternoon, the ENT doctor finally came back and talked us through what they thought it was - Vocal chord dysfunction (where his vocal chords actually close when he's trying to cough/breath), hernia, esophageal reflux, and viral pneumonia. Of course Jonathan had not had an attack all day b/c he had not eaten or been to sleep (that's when the attacks normally happened ... during the night or early in the morning). They felt comfortable for him to go home b/c they said that with these episodes ... even though he feels like he's not getting ANY air during the attacks, he is actually getting a little bit ... and if he did pass out, he would "reset" himself and wake back up. Hmmm ............. not what we want to hear, but we were very thankful to rule some things out (tumors, etc.) They gave him a few different medicines (steroids, antibiotics, and acid reflux medicine), put him on a strictly "bland" diet, and gave us their card to schedule a follow up appt with them for the following Tuesday.






Of course, the next morning, he had two attacks. We called the ENT doctor and they sent us some breathing exercises to help him until we got to their office Tuesday morning. Thankfully, the attacks have, for the most part, gotten a little better. He still has them, but they aren't as severe (except for one where he had blood in his mucus). After going to the follow up visit with the ENT, we decided we still needed to go see a pulmonologist just to rule any issues out with the lungs as well. We have that visit scheduled for December 22nd - that was the best they could do.

The last 3 or 4 nights, he has been sleeping in the recliner right beside our bed and hasn't had any attacks - he has had one or two times where he "almost" had one ... but was able to breath and drink water and ween them off. At the fire station, he lifted his bed a few inches at the head and that helped him sleep as well. We are going to do the same thing here.

THANK YOU FOR ANYBODY WHO HAS BEEN PRAYING FOR HIM - GOD IS FAITHFUL!