22 Weeks

Today, I am officially 22 weeks and things are going great. I had a check-up appointment today and Dr. Williams said everything looks great. I go back in 5 weeks for the glucose test which isn't fun, but that just means we are getting closer to meeting our little guy. Makenna is very excited now about her baby brother and she even talks to him sometimes.

I had some time between school and my appointment so I stopped by a fabric store just to look at material. I have decided that with the help of my mom I am going to make some burp cloths and bibs and I found some CUTE fabric for the burp cloths. I can't wait to attempt making them.

If you read my last post you remember me mentioning how we got unexpected good news, but I couldn't go into much detail. Well, now I can say that since everything has become official I can share that Justin got a merit-based promotion at work. I am SO proud of him.

I only have 7 more days of summer school and then 4 days of curriculum work and then it will officially be vacation time for me. Justin and I are looking forward to our babymoon/5-year anniversary trip to Chicago in the of next month.

Unexpected Surprises

I absolutely love it when something unexpected happens and I realize that it is a total blessing from God. Today, the Coffer family got some very exciting news and although I can't go into great detail about it (or at least not yet), I can say that God is good and it is in situations like this when I feel bad that I ever doubted His control over our lives.

This weekend is my 10-year class reunion and tomorrow will be spent catching up with my high school classmates during a family gathering at the park and an evening dinner in downtown Springfield. We have a good family friend, Leah, coming to watch Makenna--this will only be the second time we have had someone other than family watch Makenna. Then on Sunday, we are going to church, taking Leah to lunch to celebrate her recent birthday, and then taking her home in Bolivar. It will be an eventful, busy weekend. I will try to post pics after soon.

It's A.......

BOY!

We are very excited and Makenna is getting used to the idea of having a brother instead of a sister. We can't wait to meet our little guy.

A boy or a girl?

We find out tomorrow and we are so excited! Makenna is dead set that see is going to have a baby sister. Guess, we will know at this time tomorrow. We will definitely let everyone know.

Waiting No More

We finally received word that we will be having summer school. So, it looks like my next few days will be spend getting ready for 19 days of teaching credit recovery before school ends on Friday. I also have next week, but I have already committed to help work on writing math assessments for 9 hours a day, so I don't believe there will be much time for summer school planning.

Speaking of waiting, we only have two weeks until we find out if Makenna will be having a baby brother or a baby sister. Today we scheduled the ultrasound for June 2nd and we cannot wait.

We are also in the process of planning a vacation to Chicago in July. We are riding the Amtrak there from St. Louis and we have our hotel booked. Other than that, we haven't planned anything so if anyone has any suggestions please let us know.

All I can say is bring on the craziness of summer.

Still Waiting...

That's right--we are still waiting to hear about summer school.  We were originally told that we would find out about state funding by May 7th.  Well, tomorrow is May 7th and we have now been told that they will make a decision by next Friday.  I just want to know if I am teaching or not so I know if I need to keep materials out or pack them up as I prepare my classroom for summer. 

In other news, Justin and I have recently made the decision to become the leaders of our small group at church.  I have lead Bible stud ies in the past, but Justin has not and since he isn't the type that is outgoing in groups he and I thought that he would never want to.  However, I guess God had other plans and when this opportunity was laid before us it was Justin who was first to say that he believed this was something we needed to do.  We absolutely love the other couples in our small group and we are excited to see howthe Lord blesses our group. 

3-Month Check-Up

I had my three month appointment on Tuesday and Dr. Williams said everything is going great.  Somehow, I have managed to lose 11 pounds in the last month, but he didn't say anything about it.  Justin and I have joked about what organ on mine is going to go bad with this pregnancy since it was my gall bladder that caused my extreme weight loss with Makenna.  We heard the heartbeat with the Doppler and based on the speed Justin and I both think it is a boy because it seemed a lot slower than Makenna's.  I guess we will find out if we are correct the first week of June.  Makenna now says if she has a brother she wants to name him "Water" and if she has a sister she will be named "Dora."  She is so stinkin' funny.   Dr. Williams also discussed with us his policy and feelings about being induced early, etc.  He said he would induce at 39 weeks and he won't let anyone go past 41 weeks.  So, that means that they baby will be here on October 27th at the latest.  Justin and I have discussed it and we neither one are too crazy about the fact of me being induced so the baby will get to decide when he/she makes his/her appearance up until 41 weeks.  My prediction is for October 25th, but Justin refuses to make a prediction yet.  I will be sure to post it if and when he does.

God's Unexpected Answers to Prayer

Not much has been going on around here so that is the reason for the lack of posting.  This week is the most stressful week of my entire school year--MAP testing--so I will definitely be glad to see this week come to a close.  Then only 4 more weeks until summer.  However, I am hoping that my summer break won't begin until the end of June because I am still holding out hope that I will get to teach summer school.  But with the current status of state funding that is completely up in the air at this point.  The good news is that if anyone in my building teaches summer school my name is in the top two due to the fact that I teach credit recovery instead of enrichment classes.  But I am not holding my breath.  Justin and I will just view it as another huge blessing if I get to do summer school.  I have been VERY fortunate to have the opportunity to do an after school program with two other co-workers this semester to help prepare kids for the above mentioned MAP test and the extra money I have made from that has allowed us to establish a nice financial cushion.  Last week I also was asked to do some work writing some assessments for our math department and that will just add to the cushion.   Justin and I had had a plan of when to have baby #2 and I would just pray for the Lord to provide and ease my financial worries and boy, has He provided.  These have been two very unexpected sources of extra income and fortunately, I will get to continue my afterschool program next year.  When we first found out about the afterschool program, Justin and I decided immediately to put every penny into savings.  Due to our diligence about saving, we will have enough money saved to cover the daycare expenses for both children next school year.  I don't want to sound like I am bragging, I just view this as an example of how God truly blesses His children.

I have my monthly check-up with Dr. Williams tomorrow.  We will once again get to hear the heartbeat.  Next month we will get to find out the gender.  We think we also have finally agreed on names, but we have decided to not share them just yet.  We probably won't share until we know the gender.  Makenna has finally stopped saying she wants Baby Jesus.  She now wants a baby "sisher."  She is so funny.  I will be sure to post how the appointment goes tomorrow.

First Haircut and Pre-Easter Festivities

Today, we had a great day as a family.  We started the day by going to get Makenna's first haircut.  We took her to Cookie Cutters here in Springfield and we would highly recommend going there.  It is a VERY kid friendly environment and as soon as we walked in Makenna loved the place.  She got to sit in a pink car and watch an Elmo movie while the lady cut her hair.  It isn't anything drastic, but she now has a few layers which make her cute curls more defined.

After Makenna's haircut we did some shopping and then we came home to dye some Easter eggs.  Makenna had a great time.

   

                                       

                                      

                                      

                                      

                                      

                                      

                                      

                                      

                                      

And finally, here are a few pictures from our recent vacation.  Justin wanted me to make sure to include the last one.  It is his car after is snowed 1 foot in a short period of time.

                                         

                                        

                                                    

                                         

                                          

One Proud Mama

I just have to share what happened in the car this morning on my way to drop Makenna off at the babysitter and then head to work.

One of my favorite songs Mighty to Save came on the radio so Makenna and I listened to it.  After the song was over I thought I would share with her what the song meant.  Since she is only two I figured she wouldn't care what I was about to tell her let alone understand it, but I believe one is never to young to hear about Jesus.  Justin and I have already had several conversations with her about spiritual things, but her interest and excitement about our conversation this morning just made my day--so much so that I had to call Justin immediately and tell him about it.  Our converstaion went like this.

Me:  Makenna do you know what Sunday is?

Makenna:  No.

Me:  It's Easter.

Mak:  Yeah, Easter.

Me:  Do you know why we celebrate Easter?

Mak:  No.

Me:  It is because Jesus died for us on a cross and then rose again.  We celebrate all He has done for us.  Do you remember who Jesus is?

Mak:  Yes, Mama

Me:  All you have to do it ask Jesus to come into your heart and you will be saved and spend eternity with Him in heaven.  Daddy and I pray that you will ask Jesus into your heart one day when you get older.

Mak:  Oh, yes!  Cool!

Her last reponse is something I will always treasure.  She seemed so focused on what I was telling her and really seemed to comprehend it.  I honestly believe it was on of my proudest moments as a parent thus far. 
With all the craziness I and we as a family have been going through this week, Makenna's conversation reminded me that there is nothing more important in this life than family and making sure they will be with us in heaven someday.  Oh, to have faith like a child!