Bun in the Oven

Last Saturday, August 22nd, I woke up early to take a pregnancy test. I had taken enough tests over the past few months to know not to get my hopes up. In fact, I thought I'd test, grab some water while I waited, view the negative results, and get back in bed with my sleeping husband, confident that I'd be opening a bottle of wine that evening. So when I returned to the bathroom with my water after doing the test and saw two pink lines in the display window, I didn't believe it. I stared at it for awhile, pulled the instructions out of the box, read the "two lines" part over and over. "PREGNANT. Two pink lines in the result window. One line may be lighter than the other." I was preggers.

I pulled out the Scrabble board and sat at the kitchen table making baby-ish words fit together for Tommy to see when he woke up. I thought maybe I would keep it on the table and make him breakfast, but I couldn't wait that long. I snuck it upstairs and put it on the counter of our bathroom. Then I got back in bed.

I got him to wake up (slowly) and make his way to the bathroom. His first word was an awestruck "Really?" But he believed it more than I did.

I took another test the following morning, and the same two lines appeared. We still read the instructions over and over in case we were wrong but found no way we could be. I made an appointment for the next Saturday. Two plastic sticks I could be skeptical of; a report from a doctor I could not.

We made it through the week (my first week of school) telling only our parents and siblings and a couple of close friends, and yesterday morning (August 29th) I met our doctor, a jovial and very likeable man. He confirmed the pregnancy and put the due date tentatively at April 6th, 2010. Tommy and I will be going back in two weeks for a sonogram, and we should know for sure how far along the baby is then. We are anxious to be able to know just how big it is week by week and what is happening to it. We are so thankful to God for this awesome blessing, and we are thankful for family and friends to share in our joy.

Sprout's first gift from Blake and Lydia

Summertime and the Livin' is Easy

After a few weeks of being at home with no work responsibilities, I cannot imagine going back to the grindstone. There are too many things to be done, learned, enjoyed, and experienced to have the burden of a daily job. I have not, however, been frivolous with my time. My house has experienced the shock of a healthy deep cleaning that it hasn't felt for awhile. Room by room, I'm scrubbing baseboards, vacuuming up those little spiders, cleaning off the dust that seems to hide until I've turned my back just to settle right back in its place. But it feels good.

I have also been putting my sewing machine to use. Over the school year I learned how to use the machine by making a pair of pj pants under the mentorship of my school's home ec. teacher, Mrs. Willard. It took all year... My classmate, Sandra, and I called our projects the "eternal pants," but thankfully they were completed in late May. At home (under no supervision!) I have made a couple of skirts (wrap-around - no zipper) and some cloth napkins. The hobby is addicting, and although I may think I am being frugal by making my own clothes, the materials add up to be more than I would usually pay.

These weeks have kept me homebound for two reasons: I am saving up for our trip coming up, and it's too bloody hot to spend much time outdoors. The energies that I put into springtime planting have turned to dust, both figuratively and literally. I watch my flowers dry to a crisp and my vegetables die before their prime from my air conditioned haven behind the windows. And just like last year, I care little and merely scoff at my vernal idealism. How could I have thought anything green and lush and not native to Texas might survive this year? I shake my head in despondence...

Tommy and I will soon be shaking the Texas dust from our feet and heading north via Natchez, MS, Memphis, and Indiana. We haven't roadtripped just to roadtrip since our honeymoon, and we are looking forward to hitting the highway. Tommy especially can use a break from work as the summer season is in full swing with VBS and mission trips. We will be attending my cousin Heidi's wedding as well as Kristen Barz's wedding, both in Ft. Wayne on the same day and both with grooms named Andy. There should be plenty of stories and pictures we will share when we return later in July. Until then!

Camp Luther `09

What better way to kick off our blog than by writing about our trip to Camp Luther in the north woods of Wisconsin? My mom and dad and sister, Lisa, came as well as my Gram and Aunt Mary. The cool weather came as a great relief since the Texas summer is in full swing in San Antonio. Tommy and I resurrected sweatshirts and jackets we hadn't seen since January. We had a few rainy days, but we still crammed in all the Luther activities that have become tradition in the decades that my family has made the trip.

Most mornings started with a hike in the woods, and during the days, depending on the weather, we kayaked, canoed, played Scrabble or shuffleboard, and soaked in the wildlife. Tommy discovered biking on the trails, and the two of us got away for a spin down the road from camp. He also took the sunfish sailboat out on a sunnier day. On Monday it rained all day, so Dad, Tommy, and I ran to the Tree House Village and played a game of Scrabble. Dad won.

Gram dominated the shuffleboard court. Together, Tommy and I were a 100% defeated team. We just couldn't hold a candle to that lady. Of course, there were campfires and s'mores, card games, moments sitting on the beach or the dock of the cabin, mosquitoes and ticks, deer, and best of all for me, the tall trees of the north woods. It was great to be together for a week and sad to leave. -L