Gideon and Mr. Jinx make peace

Throughout my entire pregnancy, each time Mr. Jinx would jump onto my lap and purr.  Gideon would respond to this invasion of his space with strong kicks!  So strong that Mr. Jinx eventually leaped off my lap at times.  We were unsure as to how they would respond to each other once he came home.  It has been a couple of weeks now and Mr. Jinx has mustered up the courage to snuggle beside me while I fed Gideon.  As Gideon reached for his ear, he felt some kitty fur.  He grabbed it and pulled it close to him.  Mr. Jinx thought it was me petting him, so he pushed his head closer to me.  This is the picture I got. How cute!!!!

Belly pictures

My mom caught a few good pictures of me with my pregnancy belly.  Eventhough I no longer have it, I thought I would share them. 

HE’S HERE!

Saturday afternoon, I received the phone call from my doctor giving us permission to come to the hospital, settle in with some medication for the night, and begin induction Sunday morning.  About 2:30am, I awoke to consistent contractions about 3-5 minutes apart.  Between contractions, I began to pray for my day, Jeremy, Lynn, my mom, doctors, nurses, and all who would enter my room during my stay.  As my contractions grew stronger, I turned on the TV as a distraction.  I found a favorite show of mine, “Glenn Beck” on Fox News.  He was interviewing Dr. Martin Luther King’s niece, Ted Nudget, and a professor from Princeton.  If you would like to see the interview, click here.  Not to sound as though I am off track, but Glenn has been a part of our lives for quite some time.  We started listening to him as a local radio show in Philadelphia.  Seeing him on TV that morning reminded me of his words he shared of he and his wife’s journey in their domestic adoption.  Shortly after his adoption was finalized, his wife discovered she was pregnant!  I thought of our stories similarities and differences.  I remembered the night I picked up one of Lynn’s baby dolls, cradled it, and began weeping uncontrollably.  I felt the Lord comforting me.  Little did I know, I was 2 weeks pregnant!  By the time Jeremy arrived at 6am, I was unable to speak through anymore contractions.  It was time for my epidural and start the induction. 

I had an epidural with Lynn birth, but this one was far more painful getting started.  After Lynn was 1 year old, she and I were on a car accident that left me with some major lower back injuries.  I was so thankful Jeremy was there to hold me as the epidural was put into place.  Once it was working, we were all in bliss!!  Hours passed, but I was not dilating past 3 centimeters.  By 4pm, my doctor made the decision to break my water.  Shortly after, Lynn came to visit because delivery looked to be later that night.  Not long after she arrived, I was in hard labor.  My mother rushed her home and rushed back to find me fully dilated and ready to push.  I pushed only for 7 minutes and Gideon Zachariah Horner was born at 6:07pm.  He weighed in at 6lbs. 1oz.  It went flawless.  I did not tear once and he looked great!  Thanks for all of your prayers!

It’s the 24th and no baby…..

My mom arrived safely and on time!  Little did we know, her arrival was the only arrival we could count on this weekend.  Jeremy and I have been dragging ourselves out of bed at 5:30am for the past two days only to call the hospital only to find there is no rooms available for me.  At this hospital, the room you deliver in is the room you stay in for the next 48 hours.  It appears there was a room available for me last night to take this morning, but a woman came in and her water broke in the middle of the night.  Jeremy and I went in today to talk to the doctor and ask what we are to do.  Our case was concidered an emergency situation until Thursday when they found the baby to be 6lbs. 13 oz.  Now that I have family from out of state to watch Lynn and Jeremy has time off, denying me of care because they made a mistake is not excusable.  For now, we wait.  God knows the day and time this child will be born.  Pray for us to have wisdom, discernment, and we will not have to be nasty just to have this child.  We don’t want to have to find a new hospital or new doctors just to make things happen.  I am praying so hard my mom does not have to go home without seeing her grandson.  Please pray!!!

Gideon will arrive on April 23!

What a day for news!  My day started at 8am in the doctors office.  Until the baby arrives, I am required to have ultrasounds twice weekly.  Gideon is extremely active, strong, healthy, and a full head of hair.  He keeps the doctors concerned because he is a little on the small side.  Today, he weighed in at 5lbs. 8oz.  He has moved to the 18th percentile in growth.  He is gaining, but I lost a pound this week.  My doctor has decided he needs to come out and see the world a couple of weeks early.  I will be induced friday, April 23!  His birthday will be one month before his dad’s.  Keep us in your prayers for this big day!

In case any of you are wondering why we are not using the name we chose for our adoption, there are a couple of reasons.  First, Levi was selected for that child alone.  We believe Levi was our child that has been taken away.  As families whose child dies, thier name is not simply given to another.  Second, Levi means joined.  He was joining our family.   Gideon means mighty warrior.  It seems to suit him well.  His middle name Zacheriah means God remembered.  We believe God remembered us and redeemed us by giving us another son. 

Other news we received today was that Lynn school has decided to close down for good.  There was the possiblitity they would keep thier doors open for K-4th grade.  As of last night, her school will not be operating next year.  This is sad news for Lynn, but for the family it is another sign for us to move on.  Pray for us to have clarity in God’s direction.  These events cause me to feel deep within I need to be still and know…… where, what, and when is next.

Gideon’s room is coming together

Over Lynn and Jeremy’s spring break, they work up early to start painting the baby’s room.  We are excited to be blessed with all we gave away from Levi’s room.  We have many clothes, crib, swing, and other toys.  I am anxious for garage sales to get a changing table and a few other things.  God has been so good that we have all we really need if he came soon.  It is nice to see this room as a bedroom again.

Grandma visits, Lynn’s birthday revisited, and Easter

Lynn was in heaven the last week of March.  Not only was it Holy week, but grandma Horner came to visit in time for her birthday!  She got to open more gifts, eat cake, color eggs, go dress shopping, read books, and grandma all to herself before the baby comes.   She tried so hard to not miss a moment….. by the last two days, she was exausted and cranky from trying to stay awake.  Once grandma returned home, she caught up on a couple of early nights and 12 hours straight.  Easter was nice.  We had our annual egg hunt and were invited over for dinner by some friends we haven’t seen in a while.  Celebrations seem to be over for now, but the candy still remains.

Church in Minnesota

My writing is of my point of view of the three churches we have/are serving since moving to Minnesota.  Never have I found such difficulty in finding one church home in any other place we have lived.  Nor have I found myself constructing such words about any church in other states we have lived.  I entitled this “Church in Minnestoa” because I do believe these words to be exclusive to this area of the country.

Church in Minnesota

Three times is exhausting.

Third marriages don’t always seem worth committing to either.

If you see the same over and over, what’s the difference?

Just pick one.

 

Invite others to these country clubs?

To find salvation, grow, and be asked to leave or find a reason to walk out the door?

Why participate in this vicious cycle?

Stay home.

 

As I sit inside, I am surrounded by the culture of this land.

You can grasp it without a word said, nor eye contact made.

They come dressed in a suit of scales and bear the unforgivable cold climate within their beings with enormous pride.

Gossip and judgment is what they thirst for. 

It is what got them out of bed and an additional bonus of the church experience.

Soon you can see you are surrounded by pasty, white Pharisees.

Their pores excrete bleach that burns my fair skin. 

 

My words may be read, but never confronted.

I embrace their fear of me.

They should be scared of something.

Their words and actions are not hidden from He who matters most.

 

I long to be delivered, but my work is not done.

Lord, please deliver the handful I have found who refuse to put on the scales.

May my sentence come to an end soon. 

Three times is exhausting.

Lynn’s Birthday Party

Once again, we used the YMCA to put on a party for Lynn.  It was a success!  We had a game, “crabby patties”, DQ cake, and swimming.

Some news of this and that

Lynn is having her birthday party tomorrow at the YMCA once again!  She is super pumped and can’t wait.  I will post how it goes with pictures this weekend.  She wanted to invite her whole class.  Luckily, her whole class is only 8 kids!  

The power plant is getting ready for another outage starting in April.  

We had another ultrasound was done today.  It went well and we saw another 4D picture of our little boy.  His small size has some doctors concerned and I feel adding unnecessary stress in our lives.  He is extemely healthy, just small in weight.   It makes me wonder if my due date is off.  I have asked Jeremy to be in charge of naming the baby.  He has finally made a decision….. Gideon Zacheriah!!

Lastly, Today I received and email from America World updating us on changes at the end of the adoption process.  I couldn’ t believe it.  Perhaps it was a feeler to see if we changed our minds.  I told Jeremy if I wasn’t pregnant and read that email, I would have cried when I read that email.  I just found it kind of hurtful, cruel, and insulting.