Answered Prayer!

Once again GOD IS SO GOOD!! RICH HAS A JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And he starts Monday! We are soooooo excited! He will be working with a company that deals with the oil industry (I believe) and will be doing 3-D drawings! Rich got a call yesterday and the lady said that they wanted to skip the second interview and then asked when he could start! WOW!! We have been in prayer about a job for Rich for months, and our faithfulness has paid off! The Lord definitely has His Hand on our family! What a blessing! All we can do is give all the praise and glory to the Lord! Because of our trust in the Lord to provide all the things we needed the past few months, God has blessed us with a great job for Rich! Thank you to those who have been in prayer with us, we truly appreciate your faithfulness as well! 'Thank you Lord for this wonderful opportunity for Rich and our family!'

Birth Order of Children

My sister-in-law sent this to me in an e-mail and rather than bore everyone with yet another forwarded e-mail, I thought I'd post it on my blog, so that if you want to read it you can. I thought it was just hilarious! Any of us with children (and any # of children) will understand, and since I'm going to have baby #2, we'll just see if it will come true! I hope you laugh as much as I did! Enjoy!



Birth Order of Children:
1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.
2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.
3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.

Preparing for the Birth:
1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.
2nd baby: You don't bother because you remember that last time, breathing didn't do a thing. 3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your eighth month.

The Layette:
1st baby: You pre-wash newborn's clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby's little bureau.
2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains.
3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they?

Worries:
1st baby: At the first sign of distress--a whimper, a frown--you pick up the baby
2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.
3rd baby: You teach your three-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.

Pacifier:
1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.
2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby's bottle.
3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.

Diapering:
1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour, whether they need it or not.
2nd baby: You change their diaper every two to three hours, if needed.
3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.

Activities:
1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, Baby Zoo, Baby Movies and Baby Story Hour.
2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.
3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaners.

Going Out:
1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home five times.
2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.
3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.

At Home:
1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
2nd baby: You spend a bit of everyday watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.
3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children

Swallowing Coins (a favorite):
1st child: When first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays 2nd child: When second child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for the coin to pass.
3rd child: When third child swallows a coin you deduct it from his allowance!

Our New Miracle!

Yesterday was my first OB visit! And boy was it exciting!! My OB is the sweetest lady and she's really great! I love her! She delivered Jeremiah, so I'm siked that she will also deliver our second child! I think that's really cool! Rich and Jeremiah went with me, so that made it even more special! My Dr. did and ultrasound (don't ya just love those!!) and it was the neatest thing! It's comforting to see what is making me sick all day! haha! This visit I was a little farther along then I was with my first visit with Jeremiah, so the baby didn't look like a peanut! You could actually see the arms and legs, just a moving and kicking! How sweet! I love it!! Jeremiah was fascinated with seeing the baby on the screen! He kept saying, "Baby, WOW!" I'm excited to see how he will be once the baby gets here! I just love seeing the miracle of a baby being developed! How can anyone say it's NOT a miracle! Children are defiantly a blessing! Maybe we don't think so when they get into the pantry and dump the huge bag of craisins on the floor! But, God blesses us through that huge smile when they look up at you after dumping it all over thinking they've just scored the jack pot! :) How can you not love that face! (Wish I had a picture of that day!) I will leave you with our new baby's first picture! Enjoy!

That's Right!!

You got it!! The Army of 3 will soon be the Army of 4!!!! We will be adding a new little Bates into our family sometime in October!! We are very excited!! One thing I'm not so excited about is the morning sickness, well for me, it's been ALL DAY sickness!! I don't remember being this sick when I was pregnant with Jeremiah, although my Mom and Rich say that I was! It's a yucky feeling!! My Mom tells me all the time, 'Just think about the end result, it will all be worth it then!' Yes, Mom, I agree, and there is no greater feeling than seeing your baby for the first time!! I must give some thanks for the WONDERFUL hubby that I have!! These past few days when I've seen more of my insides than I really ever wanted to, he's been a saint!! He takes care of Jeremiah (not to mention has changed EVERY poopy diaper since I've been pregnant!! I can't handle the smell or....yeah, you guessed it!!), does the dishes, laundry, etc. Poor guy, now he knows what it's like to be a stay-at-home mom!! haha!! He really has been great, and I really appreciate all that he's done for me!! I don't know who's more excited about the baby, me or him! :) Jeremiah is such a sweetheart! When I wake up in the mornings and am hunched over the trash can, he comes up to me and says, "Mommy, U OK??" Aaaww, isn't he just cute! I guess the next big challenge we will have with him is getting him adjusted to being a Big Brother! We tell him everyday, but I guess he won't understand until the baby gets here. Please keep us in your prayers as we venture through this journey. Please also continue to pray for my dear hubby, he still has not found a full time job (he looks and applies all day!!) . He was doing some contract work with a company in Matthews, however, they do not have enough work to keep him there full-time. So, in the mean time I am working my 2 part-time jobs to help make ends meet. Rich is also picking up a few hours working with my parents, so I know that will help. I know that God will provide for the needs of our family as He has shown me several times in the past! How Great Is Our God!