MamaArcher's Blog

She is finally four! She has been counting down and the day has arrived at last!  We celebrated with friends and siblings at Chucky Cheese.  She was thrilled with her gifts!  She especially likes her big doll.  Happy birthday to our sweet, spunky, curly headed little BIG girl!  We love you!!

Hubby decided to go shopping.
Who knew they had a Wal*Mart even in Afghanistan? Hehe

Image by Robert R Gigliotti, HQPrints.net via Flickr

When expecting a new child those little and sometimes not so little kicks are not only exciting but an encouragement that everything is okay.  It is something that I always look forward to.  It is something that doctors even use toward the end of pregnancy to judge the status of a child.

I usually feel those little kicks early on in my pregnancies but this time it was very late (for me).  I figured it was just because I was overweight.  The doctors didn’t seem to think so and just kept saying it was just early and not to worry.  I kept saying but it is late for me.  Just because something is the typical norm does not mean that it is the norm for that particular individual.  That is one thing that frustrates me so much about the medical profession.  People are indeed individuals and not all text book patients.  But that is another rant for another day.

A few weeks ago I did begin feeling little flutters and was excited and relieved.  I was noticing however, that I didn’t feel very many nor were they consistent at all.  I could go days without feeling a thing.  This concerned me.

I went in for my ultrasound and felt a few little kicks.  I noticed though that the baby was definitely moving!  That made me feel so much better.  I did notice that the ultrasound tech was not very friendly.  There was no doctor present.  I assumed that everything was ok since the tech didn’t go looking for a doctor but he also refused to really answer any questions that I had.  He simply said that he wasn’t a radiologist.  It has been my experience that when the tech is overly quiet something is up!  So I did leave a little concerned.

When I went in for my ob appointment three whole weeks later I found that everything was indeed fine!  Note to all ultrasound techs out there, “Be friendly!  Talk!  There is no need to worry a momma!”

I also found out that the location of the placenta is right in front!  That explained the whole “not feeling the baby move” thing!  The doctor told me that I might not feel much and if I did it would only be in a few places.  This was reassuring but also a little sad.  It is hard to go throughout the day with out the reassurance of those little baby kicks!  When I do feel them I try really hard not to even move just so I can enjoy them!  I will still go a day or two without feeling a thing.  That is a very strange reality for me.

When you get close to the end of the pregnancy, how do they gauge the baby’s well being where they would usually do a non-stress test?  I cannot see that being an effect test with this situation.

Has anyone else dealt with this?  Was it stressful for you?  Do you feel like you missed out on one of the best parts of being pregnant?  Just curious.  I am still not sure how I feel about it.

Please leave me a comment with your thoughts!

It seems that when my hubby is gone if something can go wrong it will go wrong.  There have been so many stressful things that have happened since he left.  On top of just being without him it has been doubly hard with all of the added stressers.  I am thankful though that I have a Lord and Savior who reminds me that he is here and I am not alone.  It is still hard to deal with the stress though.  There are days when I know I am not dealing very well with it, I pray for strength to go on.  Then there are days that seem to be almost stress free, I praise God for an easier day.  Then there are those days when I think I am fooling everyone (hehe-yeah right).

This past Sunday was one of those days when I thought I had it all together and was fooling everyone.  As I was speaking with a friend and she made the comment that she could see the stress on my face.  What??  I thought I had it all covered up!

Image by angelsk via Flickr

At first, I was not overly happy that it was showing  but then I began to be thankful.  I was thankful that someone noticed!  It is hard when no one seems to notice or even care!  We military wives are expected to just suck it up and get over it!  That is often easier said than done. It is nice to have someone tell you that you don’t have to be tough all the time and that it is okay to struggle. I tell you, if it was not for my amazing church family here (and one neighbor) I would have no support.  I am so thankful for my church family here and how I can always count on them! I am thankful for how they step in and meet our needs.   I am thankful for how they encourage me, how they remind me to point my focus back on the Lord when I begin to focus more on my circumstances. I am so thankful for the friends that I have there!  I am thankful that  they notice and they care when I have had a rough week!  They have truly shown the love of Christ to our family.

Since my hubby left I have spent so much more time in prayer!  That is a good thing!  I have not had my hubby to depend on and it has forced me to rely more and more on my Savior!  Sometimes though it is good to have that physical hug from a friend.  I am glad that I have that with my church family.  I am thankful that the Lord provided me a family here.

So let me challenge you.  If you have military families where you live (well anyone for that matter).  Take time to notice and take time to care.  If you can see stress on their faces be an encouragement don’t just turn and walk away. Make sure to remember them, their situation, and their struggles throughout the separation not just in the first month. Sometimes just noticing and genuinely caring can make all the difference in their day!

Please leave a comment and share some ways that you encourage others or what others have done to encourage you.

This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Greta

This weeks post is a little different from the norm. It’s honoring the 13 Men and Women who were awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal. People like George J. Weiss Jr. A World War II veteran who has made it his mission to provide military honors to deceased veterans at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis. And Susan Retik who, after she lost her husband on September 11, 2001, started an organization called Beyond the 11th to help women in Afghanistan. And the person Greta wanted to honor. MaryAnn Phillips of Soldiers’ Angels Germany who has made it her mission to help wounded service Men and Woman medevaced to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. You can read about MaryAnn Phillips’s nomination here. These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero. We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

School is going well so far. We are finishing in a timely fashion. Some things are taking a little longer than anticipated but I think that is due to the fact that we are using a few new curriculum items and are still trying to “figure it out.”

We are still on our summer schedule for extra activities and that will soon mix with the school schedule. It seems everything switches from summer mode to school mode at different times which really makes the scheduling interesting.

We have had two field trips in this first week of school and completed four days worth of lessons (more in some subjects).  We took a trip to the Anchorage Museum which also houses the Imaginarium.  The Imaginarium is a hands on museum for children.  Lots of fun learning without realizing that you are learning!  We also went on a berry picking expedition.  You can read a little about that trip on my Soaked in Adventure post.

I think that the first month or so of homeschooling is always such an encouragement.  Most of the beginning of a new year is review.  I know many homeschool parents who tend to skip a lot of stuff located in the front of their books because their children know the material and they want to move forward rather than just having busy work.  I understand that.  I, however, have decided not to do that.  I think the review is good for the children and it encourages them when they can sit down and say “This is easy Mom!!!”

We are able to move through school lessons quickly and the children like that.  It just seems to get our year off to a good start.  We often do more than just a day’s worth of lessons and the children are motivated to do more because it isn’t such a challenge.  It begins to develop a good work attitude before things become more difficult.

Our school year has started out well!  I hope this is a good indication for the rest of the school year!

How is your new school year going?  Even if you haven’t started yet, what is your usual plan for the beginning of the year?  Do you do a lot of review?  What field trips do you have planned?  Share with me!