Has it really been 4 months?!!!

Wow! How time flies! Has it really been 4 months since the blue screen of death came upon my computer?! I am still without a computer at home,  but am currently borrowing one to live stream the conference that my husband is at.  This made me think that maybe I should log in to my blog and update! Though I have no pictures to share, I can at least let you know what is going on in our home.  So, here goes!

December brought issues with my heart (no, not spiritual, but physical!! Lol!) I started having episodes of major heart racing to the point of seeing lights, becoming dizzy, and nearly passing out.  My resting heart rate was high and the Dr. had me wear a heart monitor for 48 hours.  The funny part is that I was told to keep normal activity levels while wearing this thing but became sick that afternoon, requiring rest.  My results came back normal though the episodes continued.  Next came Christmas, which is always exciting in the Houston house!  We were actually going to have a wonderful day spent at home with just us.  What a lovely thought this was! Until I cut my thumb and had to go to urgent care to get stitches!!  This was my first experience with having to get stitches due to injury, so needless to say, I was a bit nervous. The Doc was great, though, and kept us "in stitches" the entire time! (pun absolutely intended!) We went to Astoria, OR the last week of Dec to visit family. Heading home on Jan 3, I made a decision based on feeling so sick for a few weeks (with familiar sickness for a few days).  I took a pregnancy test and received wonderful news!! Baby #11 is on it's way!!!! And quite possibly, the reason for the heart fluttering has been revealed!!!!

The end of January, we spent several days in Cannon Beach, OR for a pastor's getaway at the Cannon Beach Christian Conference Center. They have a program that allows pastors and their families to stay there free of charge for 3 nights every other year.  This has been a tradition that our family looks forward to each year we go! Many memories have been made and good times had by all. We enjoyed clam chowder and garlic bread at Mo's, a walk on the beach to Haystack rock, and even a trip to the candy store.

In February, we had our first ultrasound.  I am always amazed to see a baby being formed in the secret parts of the womb!  God's creation is truly miraculous! We went in being unsure as to how far along we were, thinking we could only be about 8-12 weeks tops. You can imagine our surprise when we saw a very developed 15 week baby stretching, kicking, and waving it's little arms around!  What a glorious surprise, once again! This is the first time EVER for me to be told that I am actually a whole month further along than I thought possible!!!!  And this will be our very first summer baby!  Our due date is August 16, so I expect a first week of Sept delivery.  This does create a bit of a dilemma for family camp, though, as it starts Aug 15!!  =-)  I have recently started feeling the very first flutterings of baby kicking for which I am thrilled!  We are so very blessed!  Our children are excited, though they were all hoping for twins =-/,  though they are ok with the idea of getting to meet this little one a month earlier than expected!  This baby will also be the tie breaker as we have 5 girls, and 5 boys.  The children are divided in which gender they want (and it's not just girls wanting a girl and boys wanting a boy!)

We are currently trying to get everybody healthy. Our family has had much sickness, including stomach yuckies, strep throat/scarlet fever, and an ear infection.  I don't know of any other time that our family has experienced such a long and drawn out time of sickness!!  It seems like forever since our whole family could be at church at the same time!! God has a reason and a purpose to all things, so I know it is not all in vain! It definitely has slowed us down for a season and I am thankful for that!

Lastly, but probably the most exciting bit of news, is that our daughter, Julia came to a saving knowledge of Christ after the Sunday evening service! She went forward during the invitation and asked her daddy to pray with her.  This is something she has been talking about for over a year now, just not ready for, so I started praying that this would be the time! I then looked up and saw her bent over, shoulders shaking. When she got up, she had tears running down her face with a big smile!!!  "I got saved!" is all she said.  I am so blessed when a child of mine accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour!! And I know that it blesses the Saviour even more!  One more child in the fold! Praises to God!  There is such excitement in her countenance and she wants to tell everyone!

Well, I don't know exactly when we will be getting a new computer, but I do know it will be fairly soon.  So it shouldn't take me 4 months to update again!! And next time I should be able to post pictures, too!! Hope you are all doing well!