What's up now.

So I am very pregnant and want the baby out now. I'm getting very uncomfortable, but I still have one more week to go before the baby wouldn't be pre-mature, so I guess it's good the baby hasn't come quite yet.
The Dr.'s can't find anything wrong with Cecilia. Kind of frustrating, but she hasn't passed out since State.
Faith hasn't eaten any more lady bugs, but she did eat an ant and I don't think she will ever do that again! She wanted me to get it out, but she had already swollowed it.
Noah is starting a new job next week. He is still going to be in construction, but with a different company and he will actually be employed with the Laborers Union. It will be a little over an $8 raise plus full benefits.
Noah and I also went up to Seattle last week for a church planting conference through Acts 29. Noah and I have been praying about this possibility for a few months now and it really looks like this is where God is leading us. The conferences only confirmed it more for both of us. We were originally thinking of planting in Portland, but while we were at the conference, we were told that we should really know the culture and neighborhoods of the area we plan to plant. Neither one of us knows Portland very well and we know Albany like the back of our hands, so it looks like we will be planting here. This new job that Noah is getting will be able to provide for us in the first couple years until the church can provide a salary for him. Jared Hernandez, one of Noah's good friends has committed to helping Noah with the church plant. We're still praying for God's direction in all of this as there are a lot of details that need to be panned out. Non the less, we are very excited about it and hopefully we will be able to buy a house in the next 3-4 months.

1st at State.......ewww, a lady bug?

Cecilia's team recieved 1st at State! She was very excited. She had to compete again on Saturday and she did pass out after her dance routine, but she was able to finish the dance and get off the floor.
Faith, however, was enjoying a much more delicate meal. Faith was watching a Veggie Tale movie and I was on the computer when she told me she had to go potty. I got up and saw that she was chewing with a wierd look on her face. She told me she was eating. I asked her what she was eating since I did not give her anything I was quite interested in knowing what she got her little fingers on. She told me, "A bug." I asked her if she really said a bug and she nodded and told me it was a lady bug.
*SIDE NOTE* ever since my parents have lived here there are lady bugs that come into the living room somehow through the ceiling every spring. Occasionally they are found on the floor or the couch.
So, I guess Faith thought it would be a good thing to try and eat one. Even though she had a strange look on her face, she insists that it taste good. My mom had mentioned (in front of Faith) that when I was a crawling baby I would eat spiders if I could catch them. Faith then asked me if she could "eat spider". I of course told her "No, and we don't eat lady bugs either." We'll see what happens. If she thinks lady bugs taste good, she may just eat them whenever she can get a hold of one.

Cecilia's State

Cecilia had her first day at state yesterday and my parents said she did well. She was able to complete the dance and get off the dance floor before she collapsed. She didn't completely pass out this time. (That's twice now where she didn't completely pass out after she danced!!) She also recieved All-State and a scholorship. Only 4 girls in the state recieve this award. Please continue to pray for her as she still has to dance a few times tonight as well.

Birthday!!!

Today is Faith and Cecilia's Birthdays. Faith is now 2 and Cecilia is 18. We celebrated their birthdays last Sunday due to Cecilia having State Dance competition starting today through Saturday.
Cecilia hasn't had any more episodes, but she also hasn't danced. They did an echocardiogram yesterday, the results will be in this morning, but the technician said everything looked perfect from what she could see. They were going to check her adrenal gland if her heart looked okay, but the Dr. said her salt levels looked good from her previous blood work from last week. We're not quite sure what to think about this Dr.'s thought process. He just thinks these are just fainting spells. But the Dr. she saw on Mon. (the original Dr. wasn't in and we wanted her in right away) didn't think these were just fainting spells. However, she has clearance to dance this weekend and Cecilia loves to dance so she's going to. We're all really nervous and have people ready to catch her as soon as she comes off the dance floor. It's almost a given that she will pass out right after she dances. Please continue praying for her health and safety and that we can find out what is really wrong with her. This has been a very stressful week for our family.
I haven't mentioned much about the pregnancy for a while and that's probably because everything has been going quite well. The preterm labor has stopped, pretty much since we moved back to Albany. I've started walking a couple miles a few days a week (if it's not raining) and no contactions!! I was surprised at how far I was able to walk, with Faith I would walk out of the driveway and have to pee and so then couldn't walk very far (I think that also had to do with the fact that I had diabetes with her though). I only have 3 weeks and the baby would not be a preemie, six weeks to my due date. I hope with all this trouble with the pregnancy it doesn't come late!

Update on Cecilia

Well, Cecilia is still having some issues. She passed out again on Sunday right after she got off the dance floor. However, she didn't stop breathing this time. So far she has been very lucky that there has been either a soft bed for her to fall on or someone to catch her when she goes down. She's been to the doctor now twice. The first Dr. played it off as no big deal, it was just fainting spells, the second Dr. which she saw today, after passing out again thinks there is more to it. She is going to have an echocardiogram and stress test done hopefully tomorrow, if not on Wednesday. If everything looks good with her heart, they will then start doing a lot of blood work. There may be something wrong with her adrenal gland, causing more than enough adrenaline to be released when she dances. We're hoping they can find out what is wrong with her very soon, especially since State Competition is this weekend. Cecilia has a big part in the routine and she really wants to dance since this is her senior year. My parents have been advised by some medical professionals not to let her dance until we find out what is wrong with her, since it could be a life threatening issue. Needless to say, stress around the house has been very high the last few days.
On a happier note, Faith has been using the toilet for both potty and poo-poo for over a week now. (Even when we are in public places!) She still wakes up from naps and night time wet, but I would expect that to take some time. I can't remember her last accident. I've started putting pants on over her panties when we are around the house to see how good she is. Once she can go at least a week like that without an accident, and she consistently keeps a dry diaper (for that time) while we are out and about, I think I will try taking her out of the house in her panties. (With an extra pair of pants just in case.) I'm quite excited because it is looking as though she will be out of diapers (other than naps and night time) by the time the new baby comes. That will save us some money.
I'll keep you updated on the tests for Cecilia. Please pray that the doctors are able to find out what is wrong with her and that it is an easy fix.

A scary night

So, it's 1:30 in the morning and I'm on "check on Cecilia" duty.
Every half hour I check on Cecilia to make sure she's okay. This is the story, Cecilia (my sister) has dance class every evening. We all ate dinner when my mom and her got home. She got in the shower and got ready for bed. Faith and I were waiting outside the bathroom door so I could brush Faith's teeth. When Cecilia came out I noticed her face was white and she was walking like she didn't feel good. I got my mom's attention to check on her. (Cecilia had a dance competition last weekend and past out, and earlier last week she was feeling really weak and sick feeling after one of her dance classes.) So, I assumed something like that was going on. My mom went into Cecilia's room and soon I heard my mom calling her name in a very panicked tone and soon my mom was calling for my dad. I immediatly knew Cecilia must have past out again and I began frantically calling for my dad. After my dad came, my mom was still calling out Cecilia's name very frantically. I asked if I needed to call 911 and my parents said yes. (I didn't know it at the time, but Cecilia wasn't breathing and my dad had to give her mouth to mouth to get her to start breathing on her own. She wasn't breathing for about a minute.) By the time the paramedics got here and took her vitals, they were all normal, but told my parents they would get more detailed tests if we took her to the emergency room. At the emergency room, the doctors couldn't tell us much more, everything came back normal. So, she will not be dancing for a few days and she will be going to the doctor tomorrow to see if there are more tests that can be done to see if there are any underlying health issues causing these fainting spells. We're just all very glad that we saw her and got to her right as she passed out, there's no telling if she would have started breathing again on her own. So, since I'm the only one who doesn't have to go anywhere tomorrow morning, I'm staying up to check on her periodically until 6:00. I'm not really tired right now anyways, which is quite surprising, probably the adrenalin. I don't think I've ever been that scared. Faith started crying with all the panic she saw in all of us adults. I'll keep you up to date with any new news.