Jackson Thomas has arrived!

Last week, on Tuesday November 6th, I went into labor. I had Jackson the next morning at 5:48am. He was 7 lbs 12 oz and 20.25" long. The labor was easier than I had expected! I only pushed for 1 hour and 18 minutes. The twelve hours that I was at the hospital passed by really fast. God really blessed me with an easy delivery!
I may be biased, but I think Jackson is such a beautiful child! I knew I would love him, but I honestly couldn't have imagined just how much I would love him!
Here are some pictures for you to enjoy...also, if you would like to view a video birth announcement that Troy put together, please click here.

Oh, Caffeine...why do you plague me???

I had about 8 oz of Dr. Pepper around 6pm last evening. Here it is approaching 12:30am and I feel I could still be awake for hours. I tossed and turned and even kicked Troy out of the bedroom and into the living room (sorry, Troy!) and I still am not sleeping. Caffeine never used to effect me like this...only after I got pregnant did the very, very, very occasional swig of caffeinated soda keep me up until the wee hours of morn! Why did I give into the temptation of the shiny maroon can? It sounded so good as the air bubbles crackled on the ice! Oh, but how I am reminded that it is not worth it! Caffeine is the enemy...at least for now!

A Few of My Favorite Things

On Tuesday of this week, I started getting sick. I'm still sick and starting to get a bit tired of it. It wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't pregnant, or as pregnant as I am now (5 days shy of my due date). However, the common virus or cold has hit me hard because of the present circumstances. I hope to be well when I go into labor. I've just been laying around all day and night, which is extremely hard for me to do! Troy's been great and he has done dishes and laundry for me. I'm really thankful for him! He's hung out with me every night that I've been sick except for tonight. He's playing softball with a friend. So, here I am...blogging! I thought I would list a few of my favorite things to comfort me when I am sick...
1. A kiss on the cheek from my husband
2. Progresso's Low Sodium Chicken with Wild Rice Soup
3. Boiling mint water and breathing in the steam
4. Soft Kleenex
5. A good movie rental
6. My kitty snuggling with me
7. A hot Epsom Salt and lavender bath (Lavender scented Epsom Salt is available at Walgreen's)
8. Hall's Spearmint flavored cough drops (they are very hard to find!)
9. Good Earth Tea or Peppermint Tea
10. A solid night's sleep

End of the Spear

Last night, we rented End of the Spear and watched that with Matt and Tiffany. It was a good movie, but, I must say we were a bit disappointed that it didn't explain much about Salvation and the purpose and passion of Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, etc. It made me think that a person who isn't a Christian may wonder why these missionaries were "crazy" enough to approach such a violent tribe of people and not defend themselves. It is an incredible story, though. The missionary's widows went to their husband's killers and taught them the Gospel. Mincaye, the man who killed Nate Saint, is now a Christian and lives to tell people about Christ. Steve Saint, Nate's son and Mincaye are brothers in Christ now. They serve the same God. To see the transformation of a man who only knew the violent, vengeful, sinful ways of his people, to a man who passionately shares the Gospel with others is amazing! Its very encouraging to those of us who share the Gospel with people in our own lives! If you would like to see a clip of Micaye sharing the Gospel with Steve Saint interpreting, click here.