If any of you were paying attention this weekend, you might have noticed that my baby countdown has officially reached two-digit numbers. WOOHOO! I know I am still three months away from seeing that sweet little face, but I'm postive it will go by quickly!
I am getting so excited for Liberty. She just won't know what to do with herself once her new baby sister gets here. She absolutely has a heart for infants and is going to be the best big sister in the world! Yesterday we had lunch with friends after church who have a five month old little girl (love you Finley) and Liberty was all over her. She just wanted to be as close to her as possible, so she could hold her hands and kiss her face. Thankfully her parents were very patient with Liberty drooling all over their sweet baby!
I am officially in maternity clothes now. I still have one pair of nonmaternity capri pants that fit and a couple of shirts, but that is about it. Liberty and I are heading out today to pick up a few more shirts. I would show you all a picture of my growing tummy, but I broke my camera. Hopefully I will have it back in a couple of weeks.
Other than the fact that my back is killing me and I don't sleep well, this pregnancy continues to be awesome. I can't believe its been so easy. Keep praying the delivery will go just as well. We will probably do the 3D ultrasound sometime around 30 weeks. I can't wait to get an early glimpse of what Emory will look like when she is born.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
My thoughts on education
I have been debating on whether or not to blog on this subject because it is controversial and will probably offend most of my readers, who consequently are some of my dearest friends. Despite these facts I am writing anyway because I am truly passionate about the topic and because it is raining like crazy and I have nothing better to do.
The subject of education has occupied a great deal of my thoughts lately simply because Liberty is rapidly approaching the age when her formal education will begin. Scott and I have decided to home school Liberty. We are committed to this decision primarily because we feel it is our right and responsibility to educate our children and because the public education system is a complete failure. My goal here is not to defend our position on the matter. My only purpose here is to organize my thoughts on the subject.
I specifically want to focus on our two primary reasons for choosing to home school. I am actually taking some liberty in including Scott in this thought process. He can come back and correct any point which he feels I have incorrectly assumed he agrees. First, the government funded, public education system is, without a doubt, a complete and total failure. It cannot be reformed and therefore should be abandoned entirely. While this may seem completely irrational and perhaps even crazy, I stand wholeheartedly by this statement. I firmly believe the government has no obligation to provide free, public education nor should it. The reasons for this catastrophic failure can be linked to the motives and priorities of our government which are not are not to provide our children with quality education, but to empty our pockets of the money we have earned and deprive us of our truly inherent rights (one of which is not education). With that being said, I do believe there is a place for privately owned institutes of learning as it applies in the context of capitalism. This, however, is entirely a subject of its own.
Furthermore, we feel as parents that it is not only our right but also our responsibility to educate our children. My primary concern is not that the government has created a system that fails to meet my expectations. It is the nature of government to impose regulations and strip us of freedoms it claims to protect. My bigger concern is that parents have so willingly given up the responsibility of educating their children and delivered them into the hands of the government. Not only have parents submitted to this failing system, they believe that the government should and must provide public education. I simply cannot justify or support a system that exposes my child to a code of moral depravity abhorrent even by the lowest standards and permits mediocrity as the highest level of achievement.
Again, my purpose is not to defend these statements, therefore, I will not attempt to provide facts to validate my position. We have chosen this course based on these convictions. Scott and I are really looking forward to educating Liberty and providing her with a foundation of faith and values that will serve her as an adult. These are things a public education cannot and should not provide.
The subject of education has occupied a great deal of my thoughts lately simply because Liberty is rapidly approaching the age when her formal education will begin. Scott and I have decided to home school Liberty. We are committed to this decision primarily because we feel it is our right and responsibility to educate our children and because the public education system is a complete failure. My goal here is not to defend our position on the matter. My only purpose here is to organize my thoughts on the subject.
I specifically want to focus on our two primary reasons for choosing to home school. I am actually taking some liberty in including Scott in this thought process. He can come back and correct any point which he feels I have incorrectly assumed he agrees. First, the government funded, public education system is, without a doubt, a complete and total failure. It cannot be reformed and therefore should be abandoned entirely. While this may seem completely irrational and perhaps even crazy, I stand wholeheartedly by this statement. I firmly believe the government has no obligation to provide free, public education nor should it. The reasons for this catastrophic failure can be linked to the motives and priorities of our government which are not are not to provide our children with quality education, but to empty our pockets of the money we have earned and deprive us of our truly inherent rights (one of which is not education). With that being said, I do believe there is a place for privately owned institutes of learning as it applies in the context of capitalism. This, however, is entirely a subject of its own.
Furthermore, we feel as parents that it is not only our right but also our responsibility to educate our children. My primary concern is not that the government has created a system that fails to meet my expectations. It is the nature of government to impose regulations and strip us of freedoms it claims to protect. My bigger concern is that parents have so willingly given up the responsibility of educating their children and delivered them into the hands of the government. Not only have parents submitted to this failing system, they believe that the government should and must provide public education. I simply cannot justify or support a system that exposes my child to a code of moral depravity abhorrent even by the lowest standards and permits mediocrity as the highest level of achievement.
Again, my purpose is not to defend these statements, therefore, I will not attempt to provide facts to validate my position. We have chosen this course based on these convictions. Scott and I are really looking forward to educating Liberty and providing her with a foundation of faith and values that will serve her as an adult. These are things a public education cannot and should not provide.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Happy Birthday to me!
Tomorrow is my 29th birthday! I really can't believe I am fast approaching 30. I don't feel 30. In my mind I'm still 25. This birthday is somewhat strange because I have spent the previous two birthdays in the hospital with Lilly. I'm not really sure whether to celebrate big or just stay home and mark another day off my calendar.
This is a tough week anyway as we remember the last couple of weeks we shared with our princess. It seems unbelieveable that it has been nearly a year since Lilly went to be with Jesus. When you have a child that is critically/chronically ill, you mark the passage of time with anniversaries such as ER visits, hopital stays, med changes, and other important medical emergencies and changes. I sort of feel like the anniversary of Lilly's death officially ends this weird calendar and forces me to move into a new chapter of our lives. We will no longer refer to months of the past year when we were experiencing some sort emergency. We will simply talk about Lilly's life in terms of the years she was with us. How strange that she is no longer with us...
On a brighter note, I am now 25 weeks pregnant which is a milestone I have been waiting for. Emory moves much more now and Liberty is constantly trying to wake her up so she can feel her move. Waking Emory up involves yelling very loudly and shaking my stomach as hard as she can. While cute, it is sometimes very uncomfortable :). I'm just glad that Liberty is excited about her baby sister. It is going to be so different having an active, healthy baby after only having Liberty for so long. I do hope that Liberty adjusts well. She is already feeling a little overwhelmed about not being the baby anymore. She constantly wants Scott and I to do things for her that she can do herself and says things like "I just want you to treat me like a kid." I'm not sure what is going on in her little brain. Does she think that after the baby comes she is suddenly going to be all grown up just because there is someone smaller or is she afraid she isn't going to get as much attention so she wants me to do everything for her? I don't know. I just try to reassure her that we are going to love her as much as ever.
This is a tough week anyway as we remember the last couple of weeks we shared with our princess. It seems unbelieveable that it has been nearly a year since Lilly went to be with Jesus. When you have a child that is critically/chronically ill, you mark the passage of time with anniversaries such as ER visits, hopital stays, med changes, and other important medical emergencies and changes. I sort of feel like the anniversary of Lilly's death officially ends this weird calendar and forces me to move into a new chapter of our lives. We will no longer refer to months of the past year when we were experiencing some sort emergency. We will simply talk about Lilly's life in terms of the years she was with us. How strange that she is no longer with us...
On a brighter note, I am now 25 weeks pregnant which is a milestone I have been waiting for. Emory moves much more now and Liberty is constantly trying to wake her up so she can feel her move. Waking Emory up involves yelling very loudly and shaking my stomach as hard as she can. While cute, it is sometimes very uncomfortable :). I'm just glad that Liberty is excited about her baby sister. It is going to be so different having an active, healthy baby after only having Liberty for so long. I do hope that Liberty adjusts well. She is already feeling a little overwhelmed about not being the baby anymore. She constantly wants Scott and I to do things for her that she can do herself and says things like "I just want you to treat me like a kid." I'm not sure what is going on in her little brain. Does she think that after the baby comes she is suddenly going to be all grown up just because there is someone smaller or is she afraid she isn't going to get as much attention so she wants me to do everything for her? I don't know. I just try to reassure her that we are going to love her as much as ever.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Tired, Tired, Tired!
I know I'm supposed to have the most energy this trimester, but I'm exhuasted. I just want to sleep all the time. Poor Liberty. I get up and do a few chores then lay down for 30 min to an hour. I do this at intervals all throughout the day. I'm sure she thinks her mommy does nothing but lay on the couch! It definitely helps when I'm out and about so I don't think about it so much. Other than being tired, the pregnancy is going really well. It has definitely been easier than my previous two. Still quite a ways to go, lets hope it continues to be this easy and enjoyable!
The trees we planted last year for Lilly are blooming and reminding us that almost an entire year has gone by since our princess went to be with Jesus. Scott and I are running the gamut of emotions as we remember Lilly and prepare for our new arrival. Neither one of us is quite sure how our new little one will make us feel in regards to Lilly. Will she make us miss Lilly more? Will we think of Lilly every time we look at the new baby? Nonetheless we are getting more and more excited everyday. We are so ready to see her sweet face.
The trees we planted last year for Lilly are blooming and reminding us that almost an entire year has gone by since our princess went to be with Jesus. Scott and I are running the gamut of emotions as we remember Lilly and prepare for our new arrival. Neither one of us is quite sure how our new little one will make us feel in regards to Lilly. Will she make us miss Lilly more? Will we think of Lilly every time we look at the new baby? Nonetheless we are getting more and more excited everyday. We are so ready to see her sweet face.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Family Fun
A couple of weekends ago we headed to Texas to celebrate my Great Grandpa's 90th birthday! It was tons of fun. Grandpa wasn't expecting a big production, but tons of family surprised him by coming in. My sister and her kids came in from Pennsylvania, his two daughters (my grandma and great aunt), and two of their kids, plus two of my cousins and their kids all came in from Indiana. He was so excited to see everyone and it was so great to spend time with family we haven't seen in years!
Grandpa enjoying his cake and presents!
All the kids had a blast. There was plenty of activities planned to keep them busy and it was nice and warm so we could get outside. We kicked things off with bowling, which is one of Liberty's favorite things to do. The outing landed Grandpa in the hospital for about 24 hours because of a bad fall :(. Despite the fact, that he couldn't walk, he still enjoyed having everyone around.
Liberty Bowling
Check out this HUGE fish Liberty caught!
She loves to fish and has actually gotten quite good and casting and reeling. However, she still refuses to touch a worm or a fish. Someone has to bait the hook and remove the fish :).
Liberty and Cutie Pie
Last summer my Dad decided it would be great if the kids had a horse. He ended up with two little ponies. The kids absolutely love riding. Dad just leads them around and they can't get enough!
Lilly, Justin, Payne, Liberty, Madi, Bradley. All of our kiddos.
It's so hard to believe that we are all grown up now with kids of our own. I remember playing with my cousins when we were just barely older than our kids are now. Time really has a way of flying, especially when I am rapidly approaching the big 3-0 :(.
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