Me and Grandpa in 1987

Grandpa, Grandma, and the grandkids

Grandpa...

Two days have passed since my grandpa's death, and I am failing to grasp the reality of it all. A short time ago he was sticking his fingers in my ears, chatting with me on MSN, teasing me about my growing belly, and blending his famous peanut-butter shakes.

It will be a big slap in the face to walk into his house on Thursday and not be met with “hello Annie Jo Lover-lump.” I won’t get the same thrill walking to the post office in Milton to get the mail where he used to be post-master. It won’t feel right to dress up in my mom and aunt’s old clothes if he won’t be there to take my picture.

I have always been blessed with the presence of four wonderful grandparents (and even some great-grandparents), all young, generally healthy, active, vibrant people. I was looking forward to my daughter having the same – four wonderful grandparents - plus all of her great-grandparents and two great-great grandmothers on my side of the family. Though much of this will still be true, my ideas have been shattered by reality, and the death of Grandpa Lacey.

I only wish that I had one more day with him. I wish I had the chance to tell him his first great-granddaughter’s name…he was so excited to be a great-grandpa. Though these opportunities would be ideal, I know that they are not possible. I must be content with the honor I have of carrying on his memory.

Happy Father's Day...

My Grandpa Lacey, who suddenly became very ill only a short time ago, died today. He went in for surgery at 7 this morning, where he stayed until his death just after 2 this afternoon. It has been a hard time for me, and for the rest of my family as well. These hard times will continue for some time, though I am comforted with the thought that my grandpa is no longer suffering. Please keep my family, especially my grandma, in your prayers.

Gaining...

My darling husband called me fat (again). I know that he is only joking, but I seriously feel huge! I guess I should start at the beginning...

Baby, Aaron, and I had an appointment with Dr. Green on Tuesday. This time we had to stop by the laboratory before going on to our normal appointment, where I had to drink an ice cold bottle of Glucose in three minutes. Mmmm...n-a-s-t-y. (I had to drink the Glucose so they could test me for diabetes). Then we went upstairs to our regular appointment, while the glucose traveled through my system. At the beginning of every appointment, I have the pleasure of peeing in a cup, finding out how much weight I have gained since the last visit, and getting my blood pressure checked. My weight gain has been "normal" through the pregnancy thus far, but when I stepped on the scale this time, it told me that I had gained a whopping 10 pounds. My nurse (who happens to be a very nice lady) said, "did I read that right? That's a lot!" My reply: "Yes, thank you, I know." Though astounded at my weight gain, Nurse Brenda kindly reassured me that it is common to have one large weight gain throughout the pregnancy. She also said that, since it's so hot outside, I am probably just retaining more water. Though this sounded like a nice excuse to me, I have a feeling it's not water that I'm retaining...it's ice cream. Ice cream, chips and dip, chocolate milk, and all of the other foods that my tummy has been craving...I bet that's what I'm retaining.

After my appointment was over, Aaron and I wandered around the hospital for a while before reporting back to the lab (the glucose has to be in your system for exactly an hour for the test to work right). We then made our way to the lab, where I had to had my blood drawn. A lot of the people who work at the hospitals in Columbia are medical students at the University of Missouri, and one of these students happened to be drawing my blood...this made me very nervous, to say the least. But, to my surprise, she did a wonderful job. It was the best blood-drawing experience that I have ever had.

On Wednesday, Nurse Brenda called my cell phone and left a message saying that she needed me to call her. Now, just try to imagine the fear that traveled through my body (which happens to be a longer trip than normal). After a joyous game of phone-tag, I was finally able to get ahold of Nurse Brenda, and she told me that my blood test was perfectly normal (woo hoo!), but...yes, I know, but...my urine test showed that my iron is low...ugh. So I'm now taking an iron supplement along with my regular prenatal vitamins.

So that is my latest story. I hope that I haven't bored you too severely. I pray that everyone's summer has been safe and enjoyable thus far. I will write again soon.

So Much to Say, So Little Time...

Since school got out in May, Aaron and I have continued to increase in busyness. I spent the past couple of weeks in an intensive course of sociology at the community college here in Moberly. It was Monday through Thursday, from 8am to 2pm, for nine days. It was an extremely demanding class (time wise, work wise, and brain wise), but I can honestly say that I very much enjoyed it. It's the best class that I've taken since Life and Message of Paul with the famous Mr Gareth Reese.

I finished sociology last week, just in time for Aaron and I to start our two summer courses at CCCB on Monday. We’re taking Philosophy of Religion and Early Church History, both of which are based on a subject that I detest – philosophy. As much as I love the professors, the classes are nearly unbearable for a philosophy-despising student. Speaking of unbearable, I also started a Fundamentals of Algebra class at the community college Monday, which I attend every Monday and Wednesday, from 7 to 10pm.

Aaron continues to endure his job as night supervisor at the Moberly Athletic Complex, where he is still being over worked, underpaid, and just isn’t very happy. He has been searching for another place of employment for quite some time, but the only options demand time and sanity that he doesn’t have to give. His true desire is to find a church where he can be youth minister, and be paid enough to support a wife and baby, but nothing of this caliber has come to his attention yet.

In our limited free time, Aaron and I have been preparing our home for the invasion of a little girl. We went crib shopping in Columbia on Saturday, and though we didn’t find a crib, we didn’t come home empty handed – Wal*Mart had a Pooh Pack ‘N Play on sale for $75 dollars, and though it wasn’t the exact one that we wanted, it was cheap enough for our liking. For those of you who are not up to date in the baby furniture department, I will explain to you the purpose of a Pack ‘N Play. A Pack ‘N Play is a play pen with a bassinet (removable), and a diaper changing area (also removable). It is a wonderful invention that no new parent should have to do without. Another invention that has been added to our baby equipment collection recently is a Travel System. My Aunt Tammy found a one that was very much on sale, and she bought it and sent it to us in the mail. I absolutely love getting mail, and this was especially exciting. Again, for those of you who are not up to date, a Travel System is a stroller and infant car seat/carrier all in one…these are also quite wonderful inventions. (Too bad these companies don’t give me anything for my commercials, eh?) Aunt Tammy, I can’t thank you enough!

As far as we know, baby McDonald continues to do very well. We (I use the term “we” loosely, for it is usually me) are now able to feel and see her move quite regularly throughout the day. Her movements are really the only indication we have that she’s doing well…and from the force of some of her movements, I’d say she’s doing very well. My tummy is really starting to stick out now, and people are saying that I finally look pregnant…I don’t know who these people have been looking at for the past few months, but I certainly noticed this lump growing a long time ago. For those of you who have requested pictures of the lumpy me, I am working on it, I promise.

I wrote quite long today, hoping that it would make up for my lack of posting this past month. I will do my best to update more frequently in the months to come. Thank you all for your continued support, whether it is with baby clothes/equipment, encouraging notes, or prayer we appreciate everything that everyone has done to help us.