Cayson's BIG Arrival (coming soon!)

Finally a new update. I know that all of you have been waiting on pins and needles to find out about Cayson. So let me fill you in on the past 3 days.

Wednesday morning:
I went for another ultrasound at about 9:00. This makes 5, I think. Doc just wanted to see how big Cayson has gotten. Well, he's very healthy, I must say. 9 pounds and 1 ounce!!! Yes, you read it right! At 37 weeks! Now, keep in mind that my doc had already said he wouldn't let him get that big, but I guess Cayson thought otherwise!!! Dr. Wharton hadn't come into the clinic yet, so they promised to tell him as soon as he got there about our little man. See, Shaun was supposed to leave after my ultrasound to go back to Lavaca. But I didn't want him to leave if Doc decided to induce or something. So, as we were leaving, he is pulling in. So Shaun just pulls around to the employees' parking lot (acting like we were turning around) and Doc spots us. He came over to the car and asked how it went. He was very surprised, I think, to hear how big Cayson has gotten. So he told me to come in Thursday at noon and he wanted to check me again. Then Shaun dropped me off at my grandmother's house (everyone is afraid to leave me by myself!) and he left for home.

Thursday:
Shaun got back into town at about 11:20 and met me at my grandma's house. We then we to my appointment. Didn't have to wait long either. They checked my vitals and everything looked good. When he checked me I had dilated to 1 and a half centimeters. This was pretty exciting for me. I just knew that he would send me back to the hospital and induce. This was not to be the case, however. He asked me what I thought about C-sections. This isn't my first choice, but I want what's best for me and the baby. He decided that he would give me a couple of steroid shots to help make sure Cayson's lungs are fully developed and if nothing happened this weekend, he would induce. I was pretty disappointed about that, mainly because Shaun has to go back to Lavaca on Saturday, unless we have the baby before then. This will make the 3rd trip in a week. However, I do want the best for Cayson, so I agreed.

Mom decided I needed to walk so we went to Wal-mart that afternoon to get some groceries and eat at Amecca. As we were walking around Wal-mart, I started having contractions. At first, they were coming about 10 minutes apart, pretty regularly. I thought, this is it! But after we finished our shopping and went to the cars to drive to Amecca, I felt better when I sat down. Then at Amecca, they started again. Still about 10 minutes apart. I couldn't even eat hardly anything. After we finished there, me and mom went outside and walked around and they actually started feeling better. Then we had to go back to Wal-mart because Shaun's sister needed some freeon (sp?) for her car. So back we went. And they started again. But this time pretty irregular. They would go from 10 minutes to 5 to 3 to 10 again. Then while Shaun was fixing Kelly's car, they completely stopped. My back was still hurting a little, but mostly I felt a lot better. So as tired as we were we decided to go back to my parents' house and rest and see if anything else would happen. Once we got to the house I was feeling much better, but completely exhausted. (Oh, I forgot to mention that on the way back, our car battery decided to die. So we ended up staying in Monticello until 10:30.) As tired as I was, I couldn't sleep. I finally got some decent rest from 5:30 to 8:10.

Friday Morning:
This morning we had to be back at the doctor's office to get another steroid shot. We were supposed to be there at 9, but that was just a tentative time, since it was just for a shot. Or so I thought. We woke up late, at 8:10, and we would have had to leave at 8:30 to make it there on time. I jumped in the shower and got ready quickly, but I had a hard time getting Shaun up. These trips to Lavaca and back are wearing him out!

We finally get to the clinic at 9:30 and they call me back fairly quickly. But they took my vitals again. I wasn't expecting that since they had just done it yesterday and I was only getting a shot today. I wasn't even supposed to see the doctor. However, they led me to an examining room and informed me that he wanted to see me since I'd had contractions last night! I hadn't even mentioned that! Apparently, my loving, meddling mother had seen him at the hospital (she works there) and he asked about me so she told him about the contractions. He checked me again and there was no change since yesterday. He told me to get dressed and he'd come back and talke to us. He said that he'd changed his mind about inducing me. That I would probably have a long hard labor and it would still end up in a C-section. So he just wants to go ahead with the section. Monday morning. Unless, of course, something happens this weekend. But it cannot. I have lectured Cayson that he has to stay put now until Monday, or at least late Sunday night. See, Shaun has to go back home AGAIN. Saturday morning. The good news is, they aren't going to make him stick around for the Sunday night service. So everyone pray that Cayson will stay put until Shaun gets back! Plus, I really do want to make sure his lungs are fully developed. So, the officialy report right now is I have to be at the hospital at 6 am Monday morning and they will probably do the section at around 9. I'm excited to finally have something set, but I'm pretty nervous about the section, too. This will be the most major surgery I've ever had. So be in prayer for all us this weekend and Monday. That I will calm my nerves and be able to get some sleep, that Shaun will have a safe trip home and back, and that Cayson will be born without any complications.

Thank you so much for your support during this time. This blogging adventure has made dealing with my doubts and fears and excitement so much easier to experience. And, if you read my blog and pregnancy does not interest you at all, I'm SO SORRY!!! It will be over soon!

Baby Update

I went to the doctor today for my weekly check-up. I was really, really hoping that he would tell me that I was thinned out and dilated and we were ready to have a baby, but, alas, that didn't happen. He did say that everything looked good, as usual, and that I had started thinning out. So maybe it will happen soon. He wants to do an ultrasound sometime this upcoming week to see how big Cayson has gotten and because my fundal height is not matching up with my due date. So Shaun had to go back to Cow town tonight (Lavaca) and I'm here with my family. I was very sad to see him leave. It's hard to be separated from your husband anytime, but in the 9th month of pregnancy it's horrible. I'm so afraid that I will go into labor and he won't be here and then he'll drive like a maniac to get here on time. Ok, there I go worrying again. At least I don't have to worry about going into labor in Lavaca and having to get to Warren to have the baby. For that I'm very relieved. Just keep us in your prayers, as always!

Just to let you know

If I don't post as often in the upcoming days (pray it's not weeks!!!) it's because my parents have dial-up. (Oh the horror of it all! LOL) They live in the country and their phone company only has a certain number of people who can have DSL, or something like that. So, just pray that this baby comes soon! (And I fully realize that after the baby comes it is very likely that I won't have time to post a lot anyway!) Oh, and I was just wondering, how many of you have or know women who gave birth very soon after having a baby shower? It seems like the majority of women I know have told me that they had their baby shower one day and a few days later went into labor. (I realize this is not a scientific thing, but it is interesting.) I say this because I have a baby shower on Friday...

Sad/Excited

I'm a little sad tonight. It set in while I was at church that the possibility is there that I might not be back here for 4 weeks. Or maybe more. There is so much going on that I don't want to miss out on. Like, on Saturday we are throwing a back-to-school luau for the students. And the next Saturday we are having Christmas in August for the choir members in order to introduce our Christmas Cantata. And we are learning some really awesome songs in choir rehearsal that will be ready to sing soon. And we have some really great friends that we hang out with a lot. So I'm a little sad tonight.

I'm also excited. I get to spend a lot of time with my family. Also, I will probably get to see people I haven't seen in a while. And I will probably get to worship in my home church again. And the best thing is I will soon get to meet my son! So that alone makes up for what I will miss.

Another cause for my sadness tonight is a very good friend of ours from church, Miranda, had another seizure tonight. That makes 3 in a year, I think. She's a year younger than me (22) and it really gets her down when this happens. For good reason. So please remember her in your prayers.

Feeling Fresh

Today, I woke up feeling much better, as far as worrying goes. I still have some back pain, though. But it's not as bad as normal. So it's all good. I'm actually getting things accomplished around the house. And since I felt better, i thought I'd freshen up my blog a little too.

Tomorrow I will be 36 weeks. The time has flown by. Hopefully one day my posts will have a little more direction. Right now most of my mind is consumed with thoughts of becoming a mother. Last night I dreamed about being in labor! It was pretty crazy.

Well, I guess that's really it. I just wanted to let everyone know that for now, my panic has subsided. Just keep us in your prayers!

Oh, I almost forgot, if you need something to watch on tv tonight, check out the Miss Teen USA pageant on NBC. The young lady that is Miss Arkansas was in our youth group in Pine Bluff. She's a sweet girl!

Newsflash

I got some news this afternoon. My mom works at the hospital in Warren, so she sees my doctor a lot. Apparently she saw him this morning and they got to talking about me. She told him that my dad was really hoping the he would tell me that I have to stay in Warren last weekend. And my doc replied, "I thought she was already staying." Of course, I'm not. I'm back in Lavaca. So he said I better come prepared to stay this weekend! So now I'm trying to get everything in order at my house so I won't worry about anything while I'm gone. Plus, Shaun is going to have to come back to cow town to be here for church Sunday. And then he'll come back Monday. This makes me nervous. I'm so afraid that I will go into labor while he's gone, or that he'll have an accident or something. Be in prayer for me this week that I will just give this up to God and let Him take care of us.

Home Again

Well, after 4 hours on the road, we're home again. This was a pretty good weekend. We got to spend more time with my family than usual. My doctors appointment went great. It was the shortest appointment ever. From the time I walked in the door it took 20 minutes and we were gone. He said my blood pressure was good, my weight was good, baby's heart rate was good. Everything looked good! Next week he's going to start checking my cervix.

Oh, we also went and saw World Trade Center with my parents. It was really good, but it made me cry. A lot! Especially with these pg hormones! I hope everyone else had a great weekend and that you have a great Sunday!

Much Better

Sorry about all the complaining yesterday. I guess 8 months of pg just caught up with me. This whole time the only person who's really heard me complain has been Shaun. And I really haven't done much except the past few weeks. But I guess yesterday something just snapped. All those pg hormones, I guess.

Church was pretty good last night. We had a good turnout for youth and choir practice. And after choir, the choir members surpised us with a diaper pounding! It was a huge surprise since we just had a shower on Sunday. They decorated so cute, too. And we had cute baseball sugar cookies.

I started working on the baby's bag last night. We decided that since we're going every week now for check-ups, we'd better be prepared. Now, I've just got to wash all the new clothes. This is hard because I can't seem to get caught up on our own laundry! Maybe today...

Pray that we will have safe travel today!

I know, I know

Again, it's been a while. This has been a hard 2 or 3 weeks for me. The hardest of the whole pregnancy so far. I haven't even been on the internet since my last post. Which is unusual for me, because I'm usually on there several times a day. First of all, we had VBS last week, which took up a lot of time. I had to rest all day so that I would be up for it at night. Then Friday morning we left to go to Warren. Then Saturday we came right back after my dr's appointment. And my family came back with us so they could go to my baby shower on Sunday. Speaking of Sunday, it was incredibly busy. We had church, my shower, Shaun had a meeting, and then VBS family night. On Monday, we went to Rogers to return some VBS decorations to First Baptist. And we ate at Copeland's. Which is wonderful, by the way. And yesterday I stayed in bed all day.

To add to all of that chaos, I now have 3 different kinds of back pain. There's the normal pain, which is just caused by so much added weight. Then there's the sciatica. Which hurts. A lot. Sometimes it makes my whole leg feel numb. And then on Saturday a new pain was added. I really don't know how to describe it. Just that it's the worst. My doctor said I was probably just experiencing some Braxton Hicks in my back.

To add to that pain, I have injured my shoulder somehow. I thought I slept on it wrong, because it went away after a couple of days. But then it came back. Add to that some minor swelling and occasional Braxton Hicks (other than the ones in my back) and you have my life for the last couple of weeks. This makes it incredibly hard to sleep, as well. Oh well, it will be over soon. I'm sorry about all the complaining, but I needed to get it out. I know my husband gets tired of hearing it, even though he never says so. He's been so supportive throughout this whole thing. And it wouldn't be too bad, except I have so much that needs to be done and I just don't feel like doing it.

Ok, enough complaining. There have been some positive things. First of all, my appointment went great. I have to start going every week now and next week he's going to do another ultrasound and start checking me. Also, it was wonderful having my family up here for church and my shower. And speaking of my shower, it was wonderful!!! And VBS was a huge success! We averaged about 77 kids every night and at least 1 accepted Christ. She was baptized Sunday night. And today I am 35 weeks which means I'm almost there! Just pray for me in these last weeks. I'm so ready to meet my baby! Well, I guess that's it for now. Thanks for bearing with me!

It's been a while

I hadn't posted in a little while, so I feel need to let the world know what's going on in my life. Crazy, I know. Anyway, we're in VBS this week. It has been awesome! We've averaged about 75 kids every night. Last year, the most they had was about 65. And the neat thing is, almost half of these kids are bus ministry kids. That don't go to church anywhere. Last night, Russ, our pastor, talked to the older kids about salvation. We haven't heard for sure how many made decisions yet. I hope to find out tonight. Also, in the last week we've had 2 families want more information about joining the church. And another lady who is interested in visiting this Sunday. So, all in all, it's been a great week. Oh, our children's coordinator just walked in and said that her niece got saved last night. We thought she did, but we were waiting for her to tell someone. How awesome! Well, I've got stuff I've got to finish up for tonight. Please keep praying for tonight and tomorrow night!

My Crazy Dream (Inspired by Lee Ann)

Well, the dream wasn't inspired by her, but posting it was. First here are the main characters involved:

Me (Duh)
Shaun-my husband
Russ-our pastor
Angel-a worker at the daycare I worked at until this past Thursday
Morgan-one of the kids

Ok, I dreamed that I was taking a class at University of Arkansas at Fort Smith. It was Music History. (This is crazy because I've already taken it. I'm done with my degree!) The first class I was late to so I didn't go. The next class was on a Friday. Shaun and Russ had decided to have a weekly morning prayer meeting with all of the college kids from our church and this was the day for it. So we all met at the church and prayed. We still had a little time before class so we decided to go to Sonic and get something to drink. When we got there, everyone got out of their vehicles and ordered in the middle part where the picnic tables are. Russ told me that he always got a "student water". (Which was just a bottled water.) So that's what I got. Well, everyone had gotten their drinks and were leaving and I still hadn't gotten mine yet. Shaun, Russ, and I were all in different vehicles. Shaun and Russ took off and I noticed that there was a whole case of "student water" in the trunk of Shaun's car. And the trunk was open. Also, our brand new car seat was in the trunk. Shaun was driving really fast too. So I took off to catch him and warn him about the trunk. (We don't have cell phones.) I really don't know if I caught him or not because then all of a sudden I was driving by the daycare and I noticed that Angel's van was the only vehicle there. I was worried that she was by herself with a lot of kids so I stopped to check on her. When I got in there, she only had 2 kids but she wasn't by herself. A couple of ladies from our church were there with her and they were all decorating for something. (This is kinda funny because we decorated for VBS today.) So, satisfied that she was ok, I walked out the door. Just as I was getting in my car, Morgan runs outside. He's yelling "Bitney, potty! Bitney, pee pee in potty!" Now, Morgan is not potty trained yet, nor have his parents started working on it. So I was so surprised that he wanted to go potty. I ran him inside and helped him. And he did it! He was so proud of himself. And that's when I woke up and had to go visit the bathroom myself!

Isn't that crazy? It was the most detailed dream I've ever had.

By the way, I love the discussion from the last post on what to pack so keep it up!

Help me pack!

Today started out kind of scary for me. Early this morning I experienced something related to my pregnancy that freaked me out a little bit. (I won't share what it was on here, it's a little TMI.) But thanks to Suzanne, Brandy, my mom, and the nurse at my doctor's office, I was reassured that everything is okay. But I was advised that I had been doing too much lately and I needed to rest. So I spent the whole day in bed. Not as fun as some might think. But I do feel more rested and I haven't had the problem again today. Praise God. I did have to get out tonight, however. After all, this is our normal date night. So we went to Marketplace (one of our favorite places to eat) and to Kohl's. As much as I didn't want to, I had to buy some new pants. Mine are getting tight. But they lasted a long time. I think I bought them pretty early in the pregnancy.

This morning's experience did get me thinking that I better start working on my bag to take to the hospital. Now, I've read all kinds of checklists, but I want to get a discussion going about what item(s) you couldn't have done without at the hospital.

Free Woman

Well, as of today, I am no longer employed at Lavaca Learning Center. I've been looking forward to this day for a while, but it was really sad, too. I am going to miss those kids so much. And even though I might see them around town or something, it just won't be the same. I'm very glad that I took this job, even though I didn't want to at first. I've learned so much about childcare that I didn't know. I feel a lot more prepared to take care of my own child now! I'm just thankful that one of the kids, one that I latched on to immediately, finally said my name last week. Ok, so it came out "Bit-ney" but it's something!

We start vacation Bible school on Monday. I'm looking forward to it. It's nice to be around lots of kids again. At Immanuel in PB we didn't have many at all. We had a pre-registration kick off on Wednesday night. We registered 66 kids. I thought that was great considering we kind of threw the kick off together and didn't advertise much. The neat thing about our church is we have a huge bus ministry so we get a lot of unchurched kids. Please remember our VBS in your prayers, especially those precious kids.

Baby Update:
I am now 33 weeks as of yesterday. I think I finally experienced some Braxton Hicks contractions today. Well, I think I've had some before, but I wasn't sure. But these felt exactly as I've heard them described.

Also, I got my first baby gift today. A lady from our church left it in Shaun's office. She thought my shower was this coming Sunday and she was going to be out of town. But the shower is next Sunday. So I restrained myself and didn't open it! I figured it'd be nice to save for the shower. I was very proud of my self control!

I go back to the doctor next weekend. And he's doing another ultrasound in 3 weeks to see how much more Cayson's grown. (I hope I haven't already written that. If I did, I'm sorry. My memory has got to pot these days!)

Well, I guess that's it for today. I get to sleep in tomorrow! Everyone have a great weekend!

I'm so tired!

You know, carrying 5+ pounds of baby is awfully tiring! Plus add in the fact that I'm not sleeping very well at night, it makes for a long day. I've been so tired for the last couple of days that I have not even touched my laptop. That is amazing for me. I'm usually on it 2 or 3 times a day. I probably wouldn't have bothered with it today, except my husband had invited some of the youth guys over to play the new NCAA 2007 football game on X-Box. So I pretty much left them to their game and went in our room to watch tv, get on the internet, and catch up on my reading.

In other news, today was my next-to-last day of work. It's been kind of sad this week because they hired someone to replace me and I have to train her. And the kids really like her. I felt kinda weird because part of me wanted that to happen so it would make the transition smoother. But the other, more selfish part of me wanted them to be upset or something that I'm leaving. It's not fun being replaced. Fortunately the better half of me is winning this battle!

Also, my mom called yesterday and said my doctor had tried to call me to talk about the ultrasound. But I never saw where he called. Anyway, she said that basically he just said it was a big baby (duh!) and that he wants to do another ultrasound in 4 weeks. So we'll see.

To answer all the questions about our plans after the baby is born:
Yes, we are planning on staying in Warren for about a week after he is born, then my mom is coming back with us to help out. Also, I'd love to have everyone come visit. I'll have Shaun call Lee Ann, or it may be my mom. Anyway, someone will call Lee Ann and she can get the word out.

Well, I guess that's it. Pray for my last day (Thursday) at work.

Names

Just for fun

I discovered this on MySpace. I thought it was kinda cute. Some of them anyway.

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet and current street name)
Alexis Birch

2. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME: (grandfather/grandmother on your dad's side, your favorite candy:
Dorothy Snickers

3. YOUR "FLY GIRL/GUY" NAME: (first initial of first name, first two or three letters of your middle name)
B Mi

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Pink Dog

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
Michelle Warren

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 2 letters of mom's maiden name and first 3 letters of the town you grew up in.)
Marbrclwar

7. Terrorist Name: (middle name spelled backwards, your mom's maiden name spelled backwards)
ellehcim notnalc

8. SUPERHERO NAME: ("The", your favorite color, favorite drink)
The Pink Tea (That one doesn't really make sense.)

Whew!

What a weekend! We just got home a few hours ago from the great Warren, AR. We left Thursday night after we both got home from work. Which is another story altogether. I did not have a good day at work. Anyway, we pulled into my parents' driveway at about 10:30 Thursday night.

Friday morning we woke up at 7:30 and got ready to go to Crossett to see Shaun's grandmother. She had gotten us some fresh corn from Esau's in Dumas. Yummy! We visited with her until about 10:30, then we realized we were supposed to be in Monticello by 11 so we had to hurry.

We got to Monticello and picked up some lunch, then headed over to Suzanne's house. It was so great to finally put faces with the blogs I'd been reading! After we left Suzanne's, we had to hurry to Fred's, where Shaun's sister Kelly works, to deliver her a computer chair that her parents had sent.

Then we headed to Warren for the doctor's appointment. I'll actually give the details of that in a minute. When we got there, I signed in and sat down. Well, about 45 minutes later, one of the receptionists called me up and told me that my appointment wasn't in the computer. I wasn't too happy about that, but mistakes do happen. We cleared that up and I waited some more. Finally, at about 3 they called me back. Then I sat in the examining room for another 45 minutes or so. Finally my doc comes in, checks the heartbeat, asks if I have any questions, and lets me go. That took like 10 minutes! Then I had to go get an ultrasound. But I had to wait some more. Finally at about 4:45 we left the doctor's office.

We had to hurry back to my parents' house because they had planned a cookout for my grandpa's birthday. And Shaun was supposed to do the grilling. And I was making baked beans. My dad ended up having to grill most everything since we were so late. But everything turned out good. It was especially great to see some of my extended family that I hadn't seen in a while.

That night, after everyone left, we got to watch the video from my brother's first Sunday morning sermon. He did a great job, I am proud to say. It's wonderful to see how God is using him. We also watched the video from the ultrasound.

Friday was definitely hectic!

Today when I woke up, my grandma was there to visit with us and to find out what the doctor said. We had a good visit. Then we got ready and went to my other grandma's house so she could see the ultrasound pics and video. We finally got on the road to go home about noon.

Ok, here's the part everyone really wants to read!

Baby Update:
First of all, when my mom first saw me, her exact words were, "Whoa, Momma! You've dropped a little!" Which was news to me. My dad kept saying, "I just don't think you're going to make it until September." And Kelly, Shaun's sister, claimed that I had grown 5 inches! I have no idea if that's true, but apparently I have gotten bigger in the last week or so.

When I finally got called back at the doctor's office, Wanda the nurse immediately said, "You won't make it to September 13; you've dropped a little already." She took my vitals and my blood pressure was fine. I gained 6 pounds though. I didn't expect that. I was a little depressed because I was really trying to watch my weight for this appointment. Oh well, the doctor didn't say anything about it so I'm not going to worry too much. My overall weight gain hasn't been that bad. Not as bad as I always thought it would be. The baby's heart rate was 132 beats per minute. It never gets old hearing that! It's so amazing. My doctor thinks Cayson might come the end of August or beginning of September! He said he definitely wouldn't make me go over my due date, which is a relief. Shaun asked him when we needed to plan to come down and stay until the baby comes. He said probably the last week in August.

Now for the ultrasound. Everything looked good, he's just big. He was about 5 pounds 1 ounce! The due date that the ultrasound gave was August 19! That's almost 4 weeks early. We have to go back in 2 weeks, so hopefully we will get an even better idea of what to expect. We did get some good pictures and a video this time, but Shaun still hasn't hooked up our scanner so I'm not promising anything!

I think that's about it. I am so glad to be home! Everyone please just keep us and Cayson in your prayers!

100 Things About Me (Thanks Suzanne!)

Well, Suzanne tagged me, so here it is. Warning: it is very random and potentially boring!


1. I am 23 years old.
2. I lived in the same town my whole life until I got married.
3. I went to the same church my whole life until I got married.
4. My husband, Shaun, is a minister of music.
5. My brother and Shaun's brother are both named Kevin.
6. Shaun is 5 years older than me.
7. His brother is my age.
8. When I met Shaun, I was told he was 10 years older than me.
9. He told me on our first "date" that we would be married someday.
10. I first saw Shaun in a musical at UAM.
11. I thought his name was Mark for the longest time.
12. I once dated a guy with a mullet. (DON'T ASK!)
13. Another guy I dated transfered colleges so we could go to the same school. And then I broke up with him because God had convicted me that he was not the one for me.
14. I really felt bad that he did that for me, but it's okay now because he's now engaged to a girl he met at UAM.
15. I majored in music in college.
16. I play the flute.
17. I have been in 4 operas.
18. I once played a courtesan in a musical in college.
19. In another musical, "Pirates of Penzance", Shaun got to kidnap me.
20. I was a cheerleader in junior high and high school.
21. I also played fast pitch softball.
22. I was a "goody two shoes" all throughout school.
23. The worst thing I ever did in high school was date a guy that my parents did not like.
24. I didn't like coffee, Chinese food, or root beer until I met Shaun.
25. Until my junior year in college, the only job I'd ever had was packing tomatoes for my grandmother.
26. Now I have worked as a dental assistant, a music teacher at Grace Christian Academy in Monticello, and now a daycare worker (which I'm quitting next week.)
27. I used to want to be a music therapist.
28. I have a 17 year old brother who surrendered to the ministry last year.
29. I have never been to another country.
30. I love to read.
31. I got my very first pedicure last Thursday.
32. I loved it!
33. I have a dog named Batgirl.
34. Shrimp is my favorite food.
35. Purple is my favorite color, though I seldom wear it.
36. My favorite color to wear is pink.
37. I love candles.
38. And shoes.
39. My baby's name will be Cayson Elliott Martin.
40. My husband thought he made the name Cayson up, but we later found out that my great-great-uncle was named Cason. We just added the "y".
41. When I started college I was an alto.
42. When I graduated, I was a soprano.
43. I still am.
44. I got married at Christmastime.
45. Our dog got pregnant on our honeymoon. (Thus, we have Batgirl.)
46. I love sweet tea.
47. I have made my own arrangements of music.
48. I took 11 years of piano lessons.
49. I wear contacts.
50. I have an "innie".
51. It's on its way to an outie.
52. My favorite reruns are Golden Girls and Designing Women.
53. I committed my life to Christ when I was 10.
54. I once made my husband fortune cookies for Valentine's Day.
55. My favorite summertime pie is my grandmother's green tomato pie. (Don't knock it till you try it!)
56. My favorite Disney movie is Beauty and the Beast.
57. My favorite movie period is Phantom of the Opera.
58. Out of the 12 bridesmaids and groomsmen in our wedding, 6 are now married.
59. Out of the 6, 4 are married to each other.
60. My favorite band is Casting Crowns.
61. I tore my ACL while snow skiing.
62. I had to have surgery to replace it.
63. I have never seen any of the Star Wars movies.
64. Nor do I care to.
65. I like to eat Miracle Whip on Saltine crackers.
66. This is not a pregnancy thing. I've always like them.
67. I recently left a frozen tub of orange muffin dough in my car and forgot about it.
68. I mix my own lotion.
69. I had a different roommate every semester I lived on campus.
70. My last roommate was my favorite.
71. Rosie was my last roommate.
72. My favorite ice cream is Blue Bell Banana Pudding.
73. I could watch Steel Magnolias every day and cry every time.
74. I took 3 pregnancy tests to be sure I was pg. (Not counting the official doctor's office test.)
75. I had menigitis in the 2nd grade.
76. I used to compete in pageants as a girl.
77. I sang on a radio-a-thon once.
78. In my freshman year of college, I cut my hand while washing dishes and had to have stitches.
79. Shaun had to cut my waffle at Waffle Inn because of this.
80. This was before we started dating.
81. I talk in my sleep.
82. Shaun and I have been together for almost 5 years.
83. We've been married for 2 1/2 years.
84. I was drum major for our band my senior year of high school.
85. I once dressed up like the Pink Panther for our show my junior year.
86. My first car was a '96 Toyota Camry.
87. It actually caught on fire my senior year of high school.
88. My second car was a '00 Alero.
89. Now I have an '03 Kia Spectra.
90. I am now 32 weeks today.
91. My most prized piece of furniture is a grandfather clock that my great-uncle made. It was given to me and Shaun after his death.
92. This is the first home since we got married that we actually have cable.
93. We've moved 4 times since we got married.
94. I am now taking 4 different kinds of vitamins a day.
95. I am a procrastinator.
96. In college, during a video scavenger hunt, our small group accidentally got a car stuck in the mud at Weevil pond.
97. Shaun proposed to me at Lake Chicot on June 21, 2003.
98. I paid for our first date.
99. Our first date was at Popeye's. It was during a marching contest that we were working.
100. He has more than paid me back!

Whew! That was hard! I am so glad that is over. I'm tagging Shaun and Lee Ann.

Trevor Thomas Drama Ministries

Okay, I realize that I just posted, but I had to post about this as well and the two subjects just were not related at all.
Tonight at church we had a guest christian comedian/dramatist/whatever else you want to call him. He does a little bit of everything from skits to comedy to pantomiming to impersonating Elvis! He is a good friend of Shaun's from Florida named Trevor Thomas. He is an awesome actor/comedian who loves the Lord. We had a great time visiting with him tonight. I posted this to give him some publicity because he's always looking for new places to go. And believe me, as talented as he is, he truly does this as a ministry. So if your church would be interested in having him come do a presention, his website is www.trevorthomasdramaministries.com. You can view video clips of his presentations and also get contact information. We have had him at every church we've been at and everyone seems to really enjoy his acts. If you do contact him, tell him Shaun or Brittany sent ya!

This Weekend

Ok, I decided to answer Lee Ann's question (see yesterday's comments) in a post because it relates to lots of you. Well, Suzanne, Mandy, and Lee Ann, anyway. Yes, we are coming to the Monticello-Warren area this weekend. I have a doctor's appointment on Friday at 1:45. Since we've never really met Suzanne and Mandy and we'd like to, we propose that we meet for lunch on Friday. But, it'd have to be early, like 11 or 11:15ish. So if that's ok with whoever wants to meet up with us, please just comment me back and let us know. We need to know soon because we have to schedule time with our families too. If that's not ok, the only thing that is set in stone right now is our doctor's appointment, so we might could do it at a different time. Oh, we're coming in to Warren late Thursday night and we will leave to go home sometime Saturday, preferably mid morning or so. So just let us know!

God even uses pedicures!

I just want to say pedicures are awesome! For my birthday my friends Miranda and Derenda gave me a gift certificate to get one and I finally got it today. All three of us, in fact. I had never gotten a pedicure before. But it was awesome! A much needed pampering time for me! Now I say all that to tell this story about what happened while I was getting my pedicure. It's awesome how God works!

The lady sitting in the chair next to me struck up a conversation with me about being pregnant. (It seems all women love to talk about pregnancy!) So we were talking and she all of a sudden says, "Do you live around here? You look really familiar." So I told her that we lived in Lavaca, but had only lived there since March. She then proceeded to tell me that she and her husband had been living in Lavaca for a year. We kept talking and found out we'd both gone to UAM. They had moved here from Monticello. Talk about a small world! But I didn't really recognize her still. I also found out that she went to 2nd baptist while they lived there. And that we knew a lot of the same people. So then I asked her what her name was. And then I knew who she was. She is the mother of one of the kids that I keep at the daycare. One of my favorite kids, might I add. Now this is the awesome part to me. I had been worried about this kid because I had never met his parents and didn't know if they went to church anywhere. I pretty much knew about the rest of the kids, but not him. They always dropped him off before I came to work and picked him up after I left. So when she told me that yes, they were attending a church in Fort Smith I was very happy. I was just so excited that God arranged this time for me to finally get to meet her and to be assured that Morgan was in church. And I felt like I had made a new friend. So now my prayer is that God will put their family in contact with us more often. Especially since I only have 2 weeks left to work at the daycare.

So that's my awesome experience getting a pedicure! I told Shaun that I will definitely have to have more! LOL.