Jacob's first week

Jacob William Cain

December 22, 2008

7 pounds, 14 ounces

20.5 inches long

Cov Com shower

Warning: Very pregnant, only posting for you people thousands of miles away!

My dear friends at church threw me a lovely shower! Here are some of the pics!

It was very frog themed and cute!

Some crazy ladies I love with some of the delicious food!

My big ol' belly (and face).

(Tracy and Patricia, you better appreciate me posting this)

Joceline and I listening the the sheep pray!!

A cute little bear outfit. . . look for the ears up top!

All my cloth diapers! Yay! I was soooo excited!

Such a huge blessing to have this one time cost delivered to me as a shower gift!

Props to Joceline for inspiring and educating us!

A scrapbook of sweet sweet prayers for our sweet sweet baby!

I cried when I read them at home!

Attention K-mart shoppers

After living in Waxahachie, Texas for a year, I avoid any shopping experiences at Wal-Mart because that was my only choice when we were there. I avoid K-mart mostly because I was coerced at a young age by the movie Rainman to think, "K-mart sucks." I ventured into K-mart, however, because they had a giant banner that stated, "STORE CLOSING SALE" and I thought maybe a I could find a couple bargains for my classroom.

Instead, this really old man, whose wife was pushing the cart and making it no more than about 10 steps a minute, sees me and grins. He says quite loudly so that the entire front half of the store can hear, "LOOKS LIKE YOU WERE CAUGHT IN A SPERM STORM!" I nervously laughed and bolted for the game section.

What does that mean? That is the oddest thing that has been said to me since I have been pregnant. . .and it just confirms. . .K-MART SUCKS! I should have listened to Raymond.

Family Baby Shower

Some pictures from my family baby shower.

What pregnancy has taught me

I was pondering the spiritual as well as the practical things that pregnancy has taught me. I thought I would jot those down before I am in a new stage and have so quickly forgotten the former days. I'm not going to seperate my little lessons into categories. I'll just list some of them as they come to mind:

* God is in complete control over every situation and I feel rest in His SOVEREIGNITY!

* God is in charge of my child's salvation as much as I think I would like it to be me.

* I never knew I could detest vegetables as much as I did in my first trimester.

* I finally knew what Amelia feels like (on a permanent basis) around raw meat!

*Just when you think your belly could stretch no more it amazes you and stretches beyond your wildest dreams!

*I HAVE THE BEST HUSBAND EVER. He has been quite the stud not only picking up the large amount of slack that I am leaving behind but also his love of me and our child!

*Being pregnant is like being in a secret society. . .you get all the juicey details of labor and delivery, raising children and marital relations afterward (whether you want to know or not).

*It's harder to not know the gender of our child than I anticipated.

*I really don't like for things to be unplanned or unorganized (like not knowing when my child will arrive)

*Arrested Development is a really funny show (I learned this while on my short lived bedrest and many DVD series to accompany me).

*I stink at accepting help.

*I have an excellent family and Adam does too! I don't know what I would do without them!

* I laugh everytime I see my belly morph into some odd shape!

*I never knew I could be this disproportionate. My belly can be off center for hours at a time!

*I understand the Lord's love and sacrifice for me a little more than I did 8 months ago.

*I understand my own mother better than I did 8 months ago! :)

*I am a lot more selfish than I gave myself credit for.

*I am thankful that everyday is full of new grace and mercy!

*God knew what he was doing when he put me in my career. . .I have taught younger and younger students each year which has really helped my develop patience with very young (and disabled children). I don't think I could have recieved better preparation for having my own children (not to say I won't learn a ton from that!).

*I love Jesus Christ and what He did for me on the cross more than anything else in life. I pray everyday that our child will know Him at a very young age and walk with Him forever!

pics!

BEWARE: Content of this blog post may scare you

Halloween costume thanks to my creative sister, Tracy

the great pumpkin

How I look at 33 weeks

How I feel at 33 weeks!

Witches' Night Before Halloween

I never anticipated how exciting it would be to work at a Deaf school and be pregnant. Today was the funniest story yet! My friend had just finished reading Witches Night Before Halloween to her class. A character in the book is named Potbelly Pat. The teacher explained to the students that you get a pot belly if you eat too much food like candy or too many sodas. They headed towards the playground after their class period ended. As one was headed out the door, he turned to me and stated, "Miss Michelle, you have a potbelly!"

I couldn't help but laugh as I shrieked, "NOOOOOOOO! I HAVE A BABY IN MY BELLY! NOT A POTBELLY! The teacher emerged from her room down the hall laughing and said as they read the story, she explained the meaning of a potbelly. Seeing that they had referenced my belly in a previous story when the character was pregnant, the children asked, "Like Miss Michelle??" The teacher said she replied, "OOOH NO! Miss Michelle has a baby in her belly. Her belly is not from candy or soda!"

I'm guessing that didn't sink in with a select few but it sure made for a good laugh in the hallway!

Unsolved mysteries. . .solved

Shortly after we moved to Phoenix, Adam and I got new cell phone numbers. We received numbers with the Scottsdale area code, 480. Shortly after that I started receiving weird messages from this girl named Charlee. I didn't know if she was slightly confused or if I was. My message clearly stated that anyone calling had reached the voicemail of Michelle Cain. Here's how some of the meassges on my voicemail went:

#1: Hi Michelle! It's Charlee. I wanted you to know I found those black pants you were looking for down in a shopping center on McClintock. Ok, talk to you later" (WHO IS CHARLEE? I'M NOT LOOKING FOR BLACK PANTS)

#2: MICHELLE! We are so sorry! We know you are already at the club and we wanted you to know that we are stuck in traffic. We will see you in about 20 minutes. I promise we didn't forget you. (I AM NOT A CLUB TYPE PERSON NOR WAS I AT A CLUB WHEN YOU CALLED)

#3: Hey Michelle. We are going to get together at AZ on the Rocks tonight at 7. Hope you can join us! (THOUGHT ABOUT JOINING THEM. . .I DO ENJOY CLIMBING WALLS)

At this point I programmed Charlee into my phone. Sometimes I debated answering but really I was curious how long this would go on. How many times would the person she intended to reach miss out or argue that her friend Charlee hadn't called? This went on for a better part of a year and then the phone calls stopped. I still kept Charlee in my phone. Thought it may be fun to tell her where we were going and see if she would show.

Well, the mystery resurfaced this past weekend. I was in charge of our women's retreat at church. I was making and receiving numerous phone calls Thursday night and Friday morning about maps, directions, carpools, etc. etc. etc. My friend, Tracy had called because she was going to drive up with a bunch of ladies in the church van but her sweet baby boy was sick and she was looking for a later ride. She and I called each other a couple times and then she said she would call me once she got a ride. Our phone calls had been pretty frequant in a short amount of time so I thought it funny when 20-30 minutes had passed. She called and this is what she had to share:

Tracy: "Michelle??? It's Tracy."
Me: "Hey Tracy! How are you?!"
Tracy: "You are never going to believe this. Your phone number is 330-19## right?"
Me: "Yup."
Tracy: "Well, I have your number in my phone without the area code. After I found a ride I just figured it would be easier to text message you. I think I just assumed because of where you live that you would have a 602 number. So, I sent you a text."

Here is how the texting conversation went:
Tracy: "Riding up with Gail at 2:30"
Michelle: "Who is this?"
Tracy: "Tracy."
Michelle: "WHO?"
Tracy: "Tracy C*****"
Michelle: "And who is Gail?"

Tracy, then thinking I am playing a joke on her, picks up the phone and call 602-330-19**:
Tracy: "Michelle, It's Tracy.
Michelle: Hi!
Tracy: "I've been text messaging you."
Michelle: "I know, I don't know who you are!"

So that's when Tracy called me at 480-330-19**. Michelle and I apparently have the same cell phone number, just different area codes. I had suspected this early on but Tracy confirmed our suspicions in a slightly embarrasing but hilarious way.

Semi-belly pictures

Still haven't had 4 spare seconds to take a dumb picture of my belly. So here's my friends and I at youth group tonight. My belly is real. . .theirs are balloons. Hope these hold you over.

Me and Anna


Val, me and Anna

My life in list form

Coming soon to this blog:
*belly pictures
*some quotes from the book I just finished, "Created To Be His Help Meet"

Things that are exciting:
*buying a new used car (with cash, booya!)
*getting my shower dates on the calendar
*seeing my kid move through my clothes
*watching our child respond to my singing (it probably wants me to can it)
*4 weeks until I get a two week fall break
*3 weeks til the women's retreat (that I am the director of )is over

Things that are sad:
*I am wearing my slippers at work because my feet are so swollen
*I cannot wear my rings anymore because my hands look like creme puffs
*sometimes I put on my maternity clothes and they are too small.
*my butt
*saying goodbye to my Dodge Ram truck

How God is good to me:
*He gave me a husband who loves Christ and loves me
*I am carrying a miracle in my belly
*provision to buy a new used car without a loan (i.e.- a hard working husband)
*steadfast friends (sisters included) who listen really well

My kid rocks out

I can tell our baby is already going to be musically inclined. For one it is part Hagenbuck so it has to love music but the thing that leads me to believe our child will be a music lover is the amount of movement that goes on when I sing. When I sing at school during music time, I get a little movement.I am aware that the baby is there. When I sing at church during worship time, I get a ton of movement. I am sure having a congregation singing and a band adds to the volume of what the baby hears. This past Sunday though, our kid rocked out to one of my favorite songs, Glory in the Highest by Chris Tomlin. I couldn't help but think of the passage in Matthew about John the Baptist leaping for joy in his mother, Elizabeth's, womb when Mary came to announce she was pregnant with Jesus. There was some definate leaping for joy. You could see it on the outside of my dress! SOOOO, below are the lyrics!

You are the first
You go before
You are the last
Lord, You're the encore
Your name's in lights for all to see
The starry host declare Your glory

Glory in the highest
Glory in the highest
Glory in the highest

Apart from You there is no god
Light of the world
The Bright and Morning Star
Your name will shine for all to see
You are the one
You are my glory
And no one else could ever compare To You, Lord

All the earth together declares ...
Glory in the highest ... to You, Lord
All the earth will sing Your praise
The moon and stars, the sun and rain
Every nation will proclaim
That You are God and You will reign

Glory, glory hallelujah
Glory, glory to You, Lord
Glory, glory hallelujah

Check-up on Baby Cain

We went for the 6 month check-up today. This was the last one before they start coming every two weeks til December and then every week after that. Adam and waiting are enemies. I think this is a product of his lack of medical issues. He never has to go to the doctor so he never really has to wait for much of anything. He was getting fiesty again. Knowing our track record however, I begged him not to make me laugh when Dr. Jaacks was diong the doppler to find the heartrate. (See last post on check-ups if you don't understand.)

Dr. Jaacks finally came in. She gave us a speech about how now the baby could live outside the womb if s/he were born early. And then gave us a speech about all the things that should send me to the hospital before my due date. It was rather comforting (sarcasm). Finally, it was time to listen to the heartbeat. She slathered the goo on my stomach and pushed around to find Baby Cain. She did and had stopped moving the wand long enough for our child to beat the crap out of it seconds later. Baby Cain has some pretty good hand-eye coordination in there because it hit the wand dead on 4 times. I couldn't believe it the first two times and it almost made me laugh (the one thing I am trying to avoid!). The third time the doctor said, "Wow, you've got an active one in there. Doesn't like to have it's space invaded either" Adam was a very proud father at this point. He shared with the doctor how every time he pokes my belly, the baby responds with a hearty kick or punch (so much fun for mom). I think it is probably a sign of what's to come. . .a very active child with a very tired momma! SOOO, everything was normal. Heartrate was 154.

I am having some psychological issues. I know weight gain is normal but it's a killer to get on that scale at the Dr's office. She assured me that 14 pounds (yes, I said 14 pounds) was perfect for this point in the pregnancy (25 weeks) and that it was only going to add up faster from here. It's fun when you weigh more than your husband. Adam was glad she said something because I am sure he is sick and tired of answering me when I say, "Are you sure the rest of me is not getting bigger? Are you SURE it's only my belly??"

My other psychological issues include the rate at which the future is coming. I think summer gave my a false sense that this process was gonna take a while. December is so far away! Now that school has started and the weeks rush by, December is looming. We scheduled the rest of my doctor appointments through December when we were there yesterday. I felt like I was going to throw up. I am excited to meet our kicking creature but there is some anxiety involved in the process! I know millions of people have done it so I will be fine but it's freaking me out right now! Trust in the Lord, right?

Belly pictures will come soon. I will try to take some today in between scheduling birthing classes and test driving cars. Much love!

Pee is not funny.

Pee all over my circle time rug is even less funny. I don't understand how we can have kids move up from the Toddler Program at our school when they are peeing in their pants MULTIPLE TIMES A DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 4 has been the record so far. Somehow I have avoided pee in my room until this morning.

The Lord is really training me up to be a mother right now. I have actually thought that about my entire career. In Dallas, I worked with predominantly high schoolers when I was itinerant. When we moved to Phoenix my caseload shifted to only elementary/pre-k. Boy did I learn patience over those two years. . .or so I thought. Then I started my current job where I have only 3 and 4 year olds. I've learned that my markers will never again be in color order or my books as organized on the shelves as I would like but that's ok. The Lord has taught me a lot about my control issues through that and what a joy it is just to enjoy relationships. I have learned even more about patience through my little friends. This year might be the kicker, though. The Lord looked at me and laughed when I thought the lesson was learned.

God:"Patience?? You think you are patient?? Here are some more situations where you will be tested. . .be faithful to me and I will bless you."

I want to be faithful to Jesus and what he has taught me in how I respond to everyone and every situation in my life. I want to filter the words that come out of my mouth and make sure they all glorify God. That isn't easy. I learn more and more about my own depravity every day though. . .which leads me to be more and more thankful for the grace God has shown me through His Son! You can pray for perseverance in these things!!!

Yearbookyourself.com

Just in case you get bored one day. . .yearbookyourself.com

I only did four and then i had to get back to work. . .maybe more later because I think this is hilarious.

1952

1958

1964

1968

Have fun!

Momma to a big baby

Here are two pictures that are proof to being a mom of a big baby. The two pics are two different big babies. So I guess I am a mom to two big babies. . .

Here's a pic of me at 22 weeks. You can go back and compare it to the 14 week one. It makes my 14 week pooch look pitiful! We have a very active baby (who would expect any less though) that moves constantly. For a while it was just before and after meals and when I laid down to go to sleep. But now it's pretty constant and I notice only when the baby is not moving. Baby Cain is also comparable to a cat with the midnight crazies. . .excpet it's the 10:30p.m. crazies. That's when the movement is the biggest and most violent. Adam thinks it's funny to push on my belly and get kicked back really hard. We have a good time laughing about it!

Here's my other big baby. His parents recently gave him a box of his stuff. It was entertaining to go through. . .4 canteens, 4 ponchos, camping pots, poop shovel, old cards from previous girlfriends, 2 sets of boxing gloves and this at the very bottom. A tabletop pinball machine. I wouldn't usually mind because we goof off all the time and have a great time but this thing is obnoxious. And Adam, of course, has it all figured out to get the maximum points so the noise this thing puts out is unbelievable! So, if anyone every doubted my ability to be a mother, you forgot that I married a giant 4 year old!

They're baaaaaack!

School is in full swing and the munchkins are back. I had a hard time believing that my class was going to be as fun and funny as last years was. I had so many kids move up to kindergarten that I couldn't envision what my new class would be like. I have 7 returners and 7 new kids. My returners have blown me away with intelligable full sentences or new intelligable vocabulary! It's so satisfying to hear them speaking so clearly. My seven new ones are a handful but it's such a blessing! They are so exciting and such fun personalities Some of my favorite conversations over the last two days are as follows:

A is my student that was naming things at the beginning of last year and came into our school six months before that only smacking her lips. Some background so you understand why I fell over after this conversation:

A: Miss Michelle, you came back and your belly is bigger!
Me: You're right! I have a baby in my belly!
A: I know. You will go to the hospital and not come to school for a while.

E is no longer my student; she's in kindergarten now, but very excited about the baby. Today when she saw me in the hall she said:

E: Miss Michelle! I see your baby! (touching my belly button)
Me: THAT'S MY BELLY BUTTON!
E: No, that is your baby's finger poking out!

Here are some one liners! They may amuse me more than you but they all made me laugh:

T: Wow Miss Michelle! Nice catch! (upon catching several sheets of paper after I pushed them off the counter)
A: Soap (pointing under the sink with soap), no soap (pointing under the sink with no soap. . .to our surprise she was right and the no soap sink was missing the container that hangs underneath. . .this is coming from the girl with NOOOOOO VOCAB last year!)

Still cookin'

Our baby is now 20 weeks cooked and needs another 20 (or so). We had the 30 minute anatomy ultrasound today! We were good and we didn't peek even when we knew the ultrasound tech was looking at the gender determining anatomy! Very tempting though. I so badly wanted to turn my gaze from Adam but I am sure he would kill me! We got a whole CD of pictures but I am just sharing the best ones! So here goes. . .

Best Profile

Some babies suck their thumbs, ours sucks it's entire hand! Naturally!

Arm

Leg

Feet

Fishy pics

Silly me forgot to charge our camera battery before leaving for Minnesota so here's 3 of the 5 pics I have from our week long vacation! I took a lot of pics with Dad's fancy camera though. So I will share those when he shares them with me!

First two pics are me and my two large mouth bass caught on Monday night and the last pic is Dad and I with our large mouth bass caught on Wednesday morning!: