The Countdown Begins

Hi Everyone!

As of today, there are only four weeks left of school! Yay! I can't wait to be a little more free, and not have to follow a schedule so closely.

The past week was routine again, so, sorry if it's boring for you!

Monday and Tuesday were normal days again, working on getting back into the swing of things after our "mini vacation" to the marriage conference last weekend. Laundry and house cleaning were at the top of my list, as they are almost every Monday. Both were decent days, weatherwise, so much time was also spent outdoors, we love that!

Wednesday, I had my 20 week OB appointment. Austin came along with me this time. He did really well, I was a little concerned that he wouldn't sit, but he did, and also talked my doctor's ear off. She didn't seem to mind though! Everything is still looking good. The baby's heart beat was nice and strong, I was measuring right on, and my blood pressure was 130/76, which she was not worried about. We are so thankful for an uneventful pregnancy so far. We continue to pray for things to continue to go well. God is soo good to us. This week Thursday, we are looking forward to an ultrasound, please pray that all will be well with the baby, and that they won't find any problems. We are NOT finding out the gender of this baby, we prefer to be surprised! :-)

Thursday, I was able to go to some garage sales with my sisters, Erin and Chelsea, we missed mom though! :-) We went to some neighborhood sales in Byron Center for a few hours. I was able to get a few things for us, though I didn't need too much. It was fun seeing Conner and Malaya again too!:-)

Friday it rained all day long and was quite a bit cooler. I ran some errands with Austin and that evening we went to look at the a duplex that was an option for us to move into after we get out of this house. It turned out to be quite a bit smaller than we thought, and did not have 3 bedrooms, like the owner said it would, so we'll probably be moving to the townhouses, unless another really good deal comes up on another duplex. Things with the house are still moving forward. We get emails from our realtor about once every week and a half, and this is the report she has been giving us. We're trying to be patient, and praying that all will go well with the sale of the house. After looking at the duplex, we headed over to Dad and Mom Lotterman's house for our monthly KWTK. Kleyns, Havemans,and Kooiengas were there, and it was nice to be able to visit again.

Saturday was rainy again and pretty much just a routine Saturday. Russ went out to breakfast with his dad, and then to the bank to sign some papers. Dad also went with Russ to pick up his truck from Jack Huizinga, who was fixing it for what we thought was a blown transmission, which would have costed $800-$1000. Turns out it was only a hose that had blown and the total cost was $60! We're soo thankful that is all it was! Later that day, Russ took the boys mother's day shopping and I went grocery shopping. We spent the evening at home just relaxing and getting ready for the Lord's Day.

Sunday, we were blessed with two wonderful sermons, one from Rev. Eriks and one from Sem. Brian Huizinga, as Rev. Eriks had a classical appointment to Byron PRC. We are so blessed to be able to worship freely every Sunday. May we never take for granted this freedom. Sunday was also Mother's Day. The boys were so excited to give mom their gifts. They picked them out themselves, one was a house plant (we'll see if I can keep it alive) and the other was a lilac scented candle...my favorite. Russ also got me a big table that I can set up for any projects and also will be good to take camping with us. After church in the evening, we stopped by my parent's house to drop off a mother's day gift. We were able to have a quick supper with them, and Matthew and Chelsea. We were all also able to hold sweet Malaya again! I just can't get enough of her! We left by 9:15 so Bradyn could be in bed semi-on time for school.

That brings us to today. I found out some hard news this morning. Some friends of ours from Iowa lost their niece in the past week. Her dad was a year younger than me in school. She was scheduled to be born by C-Section and a few days before, her little heart stopped beating. She was delivered on Wednesday and was still born. They believe the cause is because of a knot in her umbilical cord. Please keep these young parents in your prayers during this very difficult time. May God comfort them as only He can.

On a lighter note, today is bright and sunny, although a little cool. We are anxiously looking forward to the end of the week, when highs are forecasted into the mid 60's. May God bless you all in the coming week, and may you enjoy your week and the blessings that it brings.