Back at school

Many are wondering how my first 2 days back at school went. They, of course, went very well. I do love my job, my students, my co-workers and everything about it; however, I love my child and our time together more. Each morning I think will be easier, but thus far each morning has been harder than the last. Kirby is getting to the stage where she really smiles and laughs at her momma. It is so exciting to go wake her up in the morning and see her get the biggest grin when I get to her bed. When I sing, "This is the day" to her she almost moves her body along with excitement. I just love it and it only gets to last about 30 minutes before I must leave for work. Of course as soon as I get home I get it again, but for 9 hours I have to miss what she is learning to do. I DO NOT LIKE THIS. I know that my mother-in-law is doing and will continue to do an amazing job with Kirby, but that is my job that God blessed me with. So again I find myself pondering and praying about stay at home options. There are many I am looking into:

1. I am going to start really selling Mary Kay ... I have done this for 5 years now for myself and family, but over the next 6 months while still teaching I am going to see if I can actually get some clientele built up. Don't worry, you will be getting an email soon enough about it and promotions! I believe in this product, use it myself, so I am going to put my heart into it.

2. Teaching at a community college in the evening. I am looking into Del Mar to see if they have late afternoon classes I could teach (1 or 2 a day would be ok).

3. Offering TAKS tutoring for all age levels in writing.

4. Making wedding,birthday, special occasion cakes and cupcakes.

5. Medical transcriptions - suggestion from someone at church and they said it is in high demand.

Please join with me in prayer. I know the Lord has a plan and a purpose. I know I have a gift to teach, and that gift will not be wasted but possibly put on the side while I raise children up in the Lord.

Cancer and Sin

Has it hit anyone else like it has hit me? Cancer is really overcoming the human race. In this month alone, two people personally close to me have gotten news that they have cancer. Two beautiful, young women who have children and have wonderful things ahead of them. My cousin Jenny's cancer returned. I am not clear where exactly it is, but it was in her uterus before so it may be there again. I know it is in that area. The doctors are hopeful and said that it looks like with chemo things should be on the positive side. She begins her first treatment tomorrow. Please pray that her blood levels stay well and that she has the strength that she needs. My friend Shayla is the epitome of a healthy woman. She is in her early 30s, runs all time (encouraged me to run my 1/2 last year), is full of life and has 2 sons (a first grader and a 2 year old). She has Hodgskins Lymphoma (spelling is probably wrong). It is the bad kind. However, her doctors say that the treatment plan they have her laid out with has a very high success rate. Please pray that this is true for Shayla's case. Pray that her body accepts the treatment. Pray for Shayla's heart, the boys, and her wonderful husband.
This cancer stuff just seems to take over our bodies just as sin takes over our hearts and minds. It starts slow and then begins to cloud our bodies and our very being if not taken care of as soon as possible. As soon as they find cancer, they have to attack it or it may take over every part of the human body. As soon as we find sin in our hearts, we must attack it with every effort or it will take over every part of the human body. Weird to me how they are so much alike.

Kirby is doing well. I am still researching internet plans for our new house so that is why there are not many updates or posts. I think she is growing way too fast. She will be 2 months next weekend. They say that really she is only 3-4 weeks old gestationally, but I do not believe that. Here is why:

She engages very well.
She holds on to whoever is holding her.
She tries to stand on your lap.
When she lays down on the floor on a play mat, she kicks the ball that hangs above her feet.

All things that are right on target for 6-7 weeks.

We are going to be in Montgomery next week and I can not wait!

Family

Since the last Thursday in September - don't ask me the date - Kathernine, Jody, Caleb, Porter, and Anna Kate have been in Texas! Whohoo! The first week they stayed with the Simmons and this last week they have been with the Patrick's. It has been such a nice time having them around. It is bittersweet that they have to leave. I know they are going to do God's mission He has set them out on, but it is going to be hard letting them go. The church had a wonderful reception for them the first Sunday they were here. They had pastor's from around the area come and speak some wise words of wisdom to them. They had other mission families there and they had local church choirs come together for a big presentation. It brought tears to my eyes to see God's love pouring out to them as a family - even people that had no clue who they were, were singing their hearts out and showering them with prayers. This weekend we had Shannon, Ken, Sadie, Meg, Rob, and Eva out to the house for a nice family dinner with everyone. It was such a blessing to get to have everyone together one last time before they head off across the world. Even though I was pretty busy with Kirby Rose and did not get to visit as much as I would have liked to with our company, I could tell that everyone else really enjoyed the time they had together.

The boys showing Eva how to play the piano.
The Patrick children with all their kiddos!

Shannon and Anna Kate.

The choir presentation for Katherine and Jody.

Granny and Grandaddy with all their grand kids.

Thank you Lord for blessing me with this wonderful family. Thank you for not letting me let CR go when I thought that is what I needed. Thank you for your province, your mercy and your grace.

"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife ... " Eph. 5:31

With Christ

Yesterday we went to the orthopedic. Her left hip is not completely developed. From the way they showed us on the xrays and a drawing, basically her ball and socket are not fitting together right now. There is a gap between them. She will need to wear this brace for up to 4 months. It could come off sooner! They will check with an ultrasound every month and then update the brace or take it off completely. Yay! She is just like her mother ... this is similar to the brace I had to wear when I was born. It doesn't seem to hurt her in any way, she just seems uncomfortable. However, she is such a happy, easy going baby she is really taking it well. This combined with her gassy/colicky tummy was not fun at about 1:00 this morning. I ended up taking the brace off so that she could kick and pump her legs around like she likes to whenever she has a belly ache. Then we both slept well. They told us the more she wears it the better, but that we could take it off for a period of time each day to let her move; that might end up being middle of the night.
I am so thankful that this is all that we have to deal with. Yesterday while we were at Driscoll Children's Hospital I was very humbled. There were children there from about 1 to 15 that were in permanent braces, casts, wheel chairs, and walkers. There were children there for occupational therapy and mental issues. I kept thanking God over and over for the blessings we have. If this is the cross we have to bear for the moment, thank you Jesus, for it is a learning and growing of our faith even more.
I keep thinking about part time work, and then another doctor bill comes in. Where in the world do they come from and why can they not bill everything at once?! I know I need to work and I am reminded every day of that, but come October 28th it is going to be really hard. There is something that I am thinking about and going to propose to our ESC. Be praying for that, please. I am constantly reminded, though, of that simple and oh so known verse, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Phil. 4:13. I know that many people think it is cliche, but that verse does speak volumes and volumes. There are so many things we can do with His strength and His strength alone. Kirby can get through wearing this brace and Lauren can get through going to work!

Prayer Request

Don't have a lot of time (we have to go take care of a pig that has prolapsed - don't ask!), but I have a huge prayer request from you all. My cousin Jenny has cancer again. I do not know all the details but I did get to talk to her this morning. She is still in the hospital in Katy where they discovered this, but will move to M.D. Anderson soon (hopefully). She has to get her blood pressure down before they can release her. She will have to do Chemo instead of radiation because she did too much radiation before. She has 3 beautiful daughters and is young. She has so much life left to live. Please pray for comfort for her, for knowledge for the doctors, and for the healing hands of God to work wonders only He can. Thanks and I will try, I promise, to update with some pictures and info soon! Kirby goes back to doctor for well visit Friday ... :)

Refreshed and blessed!

This past week Kirby and I were able to go visit Montgomery for 5 days. It was much needed! Since we have been home from the hospital, every time she is resting I have been trying to organize or clean up the new house. Since we were not home, that could not happen. I was able to rest easily while we stayed with Kirby's great grandma. This is my grandmother's 5th great grandchild, and yes they are all girls! What a blessing it is for mine, Elizabeth's, and Jenny's children to get to know their great grandmother. She loved having us stay with her and Kirby snuggled up in her arms very well. While there, the rest of the Hemken side of the family got to come over on Sunday to meet Kirby Rose. Megan was a natural at holding her, and Aunt E got some good snuggle time in as well. Cousin Kyleigh was such a big help changing diapers and cuddling with her. Paw got to play with her and watch her grow everyday. Each day while we were there she changed in some way; the biggest was her legs - she has started to actually keep them straight now instead of so tucked in.

Update on her hip: we got the sonogram done yesterday and now they referred us to an orthopedic specialist. We go on September 29th. We are praying that it is not anything major and just something that her pediatrician needing clarification on.

She is such a great baby. She has some signs of possible colic - she gets very gassy, but I am hoping it isn't colic. We are trying some remedies :). When she isn't hungry or gassy, she is a happy, happy baby. She contents herself very well and smiles often. She doesn't LOVE tummy time, but she is getting to like it better. She doesn't cry when she is on her tummy, just kind of scoots and moans.

Her hair is growing in and this morning it was super crazy bed head (see pic above). I love it! Her eyes are still deep blue and her belly button is an outie! I love to smell her and rub my cheek against hers. Every time she cries I hold her close and remind her we are learning together and that her daddy and I are so blessed to be holding her in our arms. God is so good and His timing is impeccable!

Short and sweet

Happy birthday to my best friend and the best daddy Kirby could ever dream of having!

Gotta make this quick before dinner, but so many are wondering what is going on. Tomorrow I go to doctor and Wednesday Kirby Rose goes for her 2 week check up, so I will sit and update details then.

As for now ...

1. I can not believe she is already 2 weeks old. I cried for about 20 minutes today while I was holding her thinking about having to go back to school at the end of October. Please, share with me any ideas you have for me to be a stay at home mother - ideas where I can work from home. All suggestions will be thought and prayed about because my heart really wants to be home and not at school.

2. Kirby scoots up my belly and holds her head up for a little bit. She is very strong. I noticed today that she has her daddy's long arms. Sometimes when she has her eyes open she looks a lot like my daddy.

3. I got to make CR a birthday cake today and even put away clothes and kitchen items from some boxes, but I mainly snuggled and loved on Kirby.

4. God reveals Himself throughout our daily lives and it excites me when I just know it is all Him.

What's important

Besides the whole rushed birth and emergency C-section of Monday night, we had another fun event. CR lost my wedding ring ...

Since I had no idea I was going to the hospital, I of course had fun jewelry on for the first day of school. I took off all the junk jewelry and put it in my purse, but gave my Aggie ring and wedding ring to CR to put in his pockets. If you know him, you realize this is perfectly fine because he is a "cowboy" and does not wear loose jeans. Anyhow, when we went to the OR we did not have our camera ... it was in the car and CR did not want to leave my side to go get it. So he put my phone in his pocket with my rings so he could take pictures with that. He had to put scrubs on to be able to go into the room. Still all was ok; he remembered checking for my rings often. Then when Kirby was born he was whisked away to follow her to the nursery and to strip down his scrubs. Meanwhile he is pulling my phone in and out of his pocket to answer texts, etc. After about an hour we got to go to a room and he begins emptying his pockets. No wedding ring ... actually, my wedding band was there; it was the solitaire diamond (engagement) that was missing. He told me and I looked at him with my daughter in my arms and said, "That's ok ... it doesn't even matter." What? I honestly felt that. Yes, the idea of the ring matters. What it represents and means matters, but the material part of it doesn't matter. I had my "diamond" in my arms. He went and asked the nurses for a lost and found and let me tell you, those nurses went on ring search lock down. An hour later one of the nurses comes in with my ring ... she had found it in the bottom of the nursery trash can, underneath his scrubs. I still feel the same though. I have always tried hard not to be a materialistic person, but even more so now. God has given us the gift of life here on Earth and eternal life with Him when it is our time. Soak up time with what God has granted you and realize what matters most. It isn't that drink at the end of a long day, that new outfit that makes you look smashing or the huge new home you just built. Yes, these things are nice but they are temporarily going to fulfill that desire.

Speaking of new home ... Saturday we had a moving party with about 5 guys from church and one of my students. They got all of our big stuff moved in! We are still in the other house until they finish up a few final things, but the big stuff is in and settled. CR wants to sleep up there tonight but I want to wait until the other things are finished. We may go eat up there tonight though, so that should be fun. I will post pictures once it is all in and mainly set up.

Here are some pictures of Grammy and Paw's visit this weekend. Mother was able to stay here all last week (such a blessing) and dad came down Friday. They of course had to head back yesterday, but it was hard. I wish we didn't live 5 hours apart; hoping that may change sometime in the future, though.

Remember how I said God laughs at our plans ....

well Poot is here. She got here the day after I wrote the post about having a "planned" busy week. The Lord blessed me with the opportunity to meet my students on the first day of school. While there, I really decided I should call my doctor to see about the possibility of leaking amniotic fluid. I knew that my water had not broken, but I just had a feeling something was not right. My contractions that I had been having really weren't there anymore so I just put in a call. This was at lunch. I was determined to meet everyone, so I stayed until 3:45 (the Lord really watches over me, I tell you). Then I picked CR up in Driscoll, we stopped at TCBY for yogurt because I was starving and thought it may be my last time to eat for awhile, then headed to the ER at Bay Area. My doctor was not in the office but thank the Lord he was on call. I had to go through the ER to get checked out. They totally admitted me and then did a swab to see if it was amniotic fluid. It wasn't, but everytime I had a contraction (that I still never felt even though they showed to be decent on the rector scale) baby's heart rate dropped significantly for a few minutes at a time. Once I heard that, my eyes were glued on the monitor and I just kept praying it would all be ok. Dr. Supnet came in immediately because apparently he gets the monitor screen on his phone and he said this wasn't good. I wasn't leaving and I had 2 options. 1) was to induce labor and have baby that way ... caution: every time you contract baby's heart rate may drop more and more and there is only so much she can take. 2) have a c-section and get her out of there as soon as possible. So I said, "well, we need to do what is best for the baby". "Lauren, if you go through labor we worry about cerebral palsy or still birth because of the heart rate ..." "ok, well then to me there is only 1 option, let's get her out!" 35 minutes later I was receiving my epidural and soon after that baby was out. IT'S A GIRL BY THE WAY! Kirby Rose Patrick was born at 8:36 pm weighing in at 6 lbs, 7 oz and 18 1/2" long. They said, "You have a little peanut!" The whole time I was being cut on I kept praying and saying, "You know the number of hairs on this precious baby's head. You have brought us so far with this pregnancy and the issues that it brought; I know this is the big finale and you have something so amazing to show me soon." Sure enough, I can not imagine being any more happy or in love with what He has given us while we are here on Earth. This was not the route that I of course would have chosen, but this is the route God took us through and He was amazing (did we ever doubt) the whole way through. I immediately began praying as soon as I heard I was for sure having the C-section and a minute later God sent me an Angel ... the nurse that was with me the whole time was the best thing I could have had while there. I have heard many bad stories about people who had horrible nurses that just did not empathize at all. Not Kris; she loved on me, rubbed my back and made me feel so warm and safe in this time where I was really concerned. CR took everything with stride, too. Over this last week in the hospital God just kept reminding me how blessed I am to have him for a husband. I will update more later, but mom, dad and Kirby need my attention right now. Enjoy her beautiful pictures at the new shutterfly ... I had to make a new one because somehow I was always a guest on my own and couldn't change things. So here is the new link :) ... http://kirbyrosepatrick.shutterfly.com/

Progress all around ...

So this next week is "planned" to be a very busy week. Wednesday we should finish with all the corn in the field, CR promises we are moving in on Saturday, and baby is scheduled to be induced on Tuesday (August 31st). Talk about everything coming together at once! Eek! and Yay! However, we know from our experiences that things do not always go as planned. I have heard the phrase many times, "God laughs when we make plans." Sometimes I agree with that, but to an extent as humans we have to have plans. Otherwise we would all be running a muck and it would just be the Pitts ... or as the Patrick's say the Dickens. (One time I asked if the Dickens were the Pitts neighbors! That one got a laugh for the books!)
When we went to the doctor last Thursday we got to see baby on the ultrasound. They were very cautious about not showing us any areas that we didn't want to see. According the them the baby weighs 5 lbs 10 oz, which the doctor said is a little small for being this far along, but that I have been measuring about a week smaller all along and all looks healthy. CR even asked to check for a hair lip or something like that ... I never would have thought about that. The lips looked good though. They confirmed that a foot has definitely been between my rib cage and its booty was to one side. I knew this because my belly has been slightly tilted ... Kyleigh lays like that when she is tired so I knew for sure that was what Poot was doing. Funny huh? I was still at 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced. They scheduled an induction for 5 am August 31st, but that I was "ripe, so really any day now ..."
I went and spoke with the person in our district office in charge of insurance and disability. I am going to end up taking 41 days ... just a little over 6 weeks. This poses a bit more of a funds gap than we were predicting, but my heart said to do it and I felt Jesus' hand reminding me He would take care of everything. With the weekends and such it ends up giving me almost 2 whole months to just think about baby. I know they will fly by and I will not be ready to go back, but it is what I could do.
School starts back tomorrow with the kiddos. It is going to be an interesting year. I am excited that I really do not know any of the students in my classes. I know a few, but nothing like the previous year where I got many of my old students back. I get to start fresh with these guys and that gets me excited. I am still co-teaching, which means that my classes are pretty stacked with what they call "SPED" kids. We know labels are often wrong, so I look forward to seeing what God is going to do with these kids minds, my heart, and my co-teachers talents. I have a new "partner", so this will be a learning experience as well. I love her so far ... she has lots of great ideas to bring to the table it seems like and her kids did awesome on TAKs last year. Ours did too, but maybe with her we will get that boost we need to send CHS into exemplary (we were 3 dropout kids away last year).
CR is frantically trying to get the house ready. He keeps saying, "I promised you we would be in before baby came ... and I let you down a lot with the farm so I am keeping this promise." I just love his sweet heart. I told him that it really didn't matter at this point, but it does to him because it is the principal of "letting me down". As I write this that brings tears to my eyes because his heart is so true. I am so blessed to have a husband that empathizes yet is also so much fun. I am so blessed to have a Godly leader. I am so blessed God lead me to CR for the 2nd time so that I wouldn't miss him again. I love how God sometimes just drops things in front of us and says, "TAKE IT".
No pictures to post right now because CR wants the rest of the house to be seen in person. I will tell you the fireplace got all finished up on Wednesday and it looks better than I could have ever imagined. The man that pieced Grandmother's rock together is a true artist. I am so excited that they got to use her rock ... I never got to meet her and now I feel like in some way she will be a part of us forever.
We will keep you posted on the progress of Poot. Pray with me that Poot stays put till the 31st because then we I go back, it will only be 3 weeks until Thanksgiving break!