Children are a blessing from the Lord...

I was sent an email this past week from Kyle's cousin by marriage Amy, who lives in Alabama. She sent me a cool idea that she did when she was pregnant with her boys, which was to look up in scripture all of the verses that mention the word "child" or "children." Then I could pray these specific scriptures for my own child throughout my pregnancy. Very cool! I had some time to explore this in my quiet time this morning. Here are a few scriptures that stuck out to me that I wanted to share:

• "Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure & right." Prov.20:11
• "Train a child in the way he should go, & when he is old he will not turn from it." Prov.22:6
• "As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; & you will be comforted over Jerusalem." Is.66:13
• He called a little child & had him stand among them. And he said, "I tell you the truth, unless you change & become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matt.18:3
• "Only be careful, & watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children & to their children after them." Deut.4:9
• "Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home & when you walk along the road, when you lie down & when you get up." Deut.11:19
• "Children's children are a crown to the aged, & parents are the pride of their children." Prov.17:6
• At that time Jesus said "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven & earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise & learned, & revealed them to the little children." Matt.11:25
• Jesus said "Let the little children come to me, & do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matt.19:14
• "And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them, & blessed them. " Mark 10:16
• "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." Eph.6:1
• "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training & instruction of the Lord." Eph.6:4
• "Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord." Col.3:20
• "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" 1 John 3:1

Even for our future grandparents-to-be out there, I never knew that there was a scripture that spoke about children's children (in Prov.17, see above). I love how alive the word of God is, where the Spirit is able to reveal over time different scriptures, teaching us more about Him. Please continue to keep us & this little one lifted up in prayer. Many blessings to you!

The podiatrist appointment...

Thankfully, I haven't had any complications with my pregnancy so far. However, an ongoing problem of warts on my feet is another story. Sorry if this kind of grosses you out, but I couldn't help but laugh when walking out of the podiatrist's office this afternoon.

As a kid, young adult, & adult I had problems with warts. Since my dad was my doctor growing up, it wasn't a big deal to have him freeze them off & that was the end of it. Now that I am grown & live far away from doctor dad, I've had to be treated like a normal person for doctor's appointments (yes, even making an appointment...I used to just go in the back door of his office at the end of the day).

All summer I had a bad plantar wart on the bottom of my right heel. I hobbled along, fighting to get it taken off until "sandle" season was over. Plus, none of my outfits looked that great with normal shoes. So I just suffered the pain & hobbled. This fall, I couldn't stand it anymore. So I finally gave up and made an appointment with a family doctor down here to get it taken care of. Well, the family doctor said the wart had gotten so bad that I needed a podiatrist. Yikes! I had never been to a podiatrist before. In my mind, podiatrists were for people like my patients with diabetes who weren't taking proper care of their feet. Not for people like me! Anyway, so I made an appointment. The podiatrist cut out & burned the wart on the bottom of my foot, and it felt so much better.

After Christmas, I started noticing pain in that part of my foot again. I looked at the bottom of it one day & noticed that some smaller warts were starting to grow around the area where the podiatrist had removed the larger wart. Man! I was bummed...it was coming back!

So now fast forward to today. I decided to get this stupid wart taken care of once & for all. I wasn't going to suffer like I did for months & months hobbling along, especially now that I'm 18 weeks pregnant. So today this same podiatrist that I used before looked at the area & said that he had gotten the "mother ship" but that there were "satellite warts" surrounding the old area. He said they were too little to cut out, but that he would freeze them out. Oh man did it hurt! I'm hoping that this time, he got them for good.

What I found so humorous at the end of my podiatrist appointment is this: the amount of WALKING you need to do to get to & from this office! If someone has a hurting foot, you would think that there would be close parking spaces & that the office would be close inside the building. I started laughing after I walked out of the office suite on the 4th floor when I was hobbling down the long hallway to the elevator. How funny would it be for the employees to install video cameras to watch how people walk out of their office after having their feet worked on? I guess I'll never know, but maybe they already do this & are watching me at this moment. Please pray that my "satellite warts" disappear forever.

Time to think about baby boy Rhodes, not warts!

Carey's Baby Shower

It's been a busy past couple of weeks. Haven't had much time to blog, especially when Kyle & I have had evening commitments several nights per week. And transplant has been busy...whew! They did 6 kidney transplant in 1 DAY last week, which is the most I've seen in 1 day since starting this job last year. The surgeons were so overwhelmed that they ended up calling in help from Dallas.

Church has also been busy with baby showers, which is always fun. Today we had a shower for Carey who is in our small group. She is expecting her 2nd, a girl to be named Addison. Last week we had a shower for Meghan, but I wasn't the photographer, so don't have any pics. Our Sunday school class is really changing with all of these new babies and families that are emerging. It's been really fun! Some of us have even joked that we could end up being in-laws someday...you never know!

The ZOE Group

I've always enjoyed singing, especially songs that praise our God. This past year I've enjoyed singing on the worship team at North Davis. Through this worship team experience, I was introduced to songs by "The ZOE Group", an Acapella singing/worship group out of Nashville, TN. I find myself singing the songs when I'm happy, sad, or just need to be lifted up. Many are newer arrangements of some older hymns, others are completely new.

If y'all have never heard of this singing group, you are missing out. They are the new, updated "Acapella" group among the C of C (Church of Christ). Feel free to check them out, along with listening to parts of their songs at their website: http://www.zoegroup.org

God bless!

Baby Boy Rhodes 15 week thumb sucker

Paula did another ultrasound yesterday because she figured out how to take longer videos with her machine. Check out what our cute little boy was doing when this video was taken. Enjoy!

15 weeks Baby Rhodes Possibly a Boy?

Here is another view of the baby looking from the bottom up....we think we see a "boy" part, but once again, the verdict could still be out....we will be getting many more videos in the coming weeks/months!

15 weeks baby Rhodes...maybe a boy?

Paula got a shot of the legs kicking, and what we think is most likely a "boy" body part. The verdict is still out, but I'm curious on what y'all think. Enjoy!

15 weeks Baby Rhodes

Here is a short video clip that Paula took as part of a 15 week ultrasound. We kind of think the baby looks like an alien at this point, but a cute one!

15 week doctor appointment...

What you see is my 15 week preggo belly shot. For some of you, it might now look like anything. But I guess it kind of depends on the angle. :)

Presently I'm on the brink of maternity clothes, for those of you who are wondering. I normally wear clothes that are fitted, so most of my fitted things don't "fit" anymore.

Yesterday at work I wore maternity pants & a top with an empire waist for the first time. I got many "preggo" comments, mainly all positive. So right now it just kind of depends on how the pants fit.

My second doctor's appointment went really well. I got a good report overall. The labwork that they took from the previous appointment was all normal. I also got a good report on how I haven't gained too much weight and am drinking plenty of water. I'm glad that as a RD I'm doing a good job at this so far. (even though at times I feel like a total pig with all of my snacks).

The coolest part of the doctor's appointment was that I got to hear the baby's heartbeat, which sounded really swishy. It was in the 140s, which I heard is good.

It's still amazing to me how God forms each one of us in His image. The verse in Ps.139:13 has a deeper meaning now that it ever has: "you made all the delicate, inner parts of my body, and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous- and how well I know it." The way a baby is formed inside it's mother's womb is something so amazing, that even God calls it complex...no wonder us humans can't figure it out!

Kyle & I are continuing to pray daily for our little one. Please continue to do the same. God bless!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2009, everyone! I didn't take many pics to ring in the new year....sorry.

On New Year's Eve we went to Caleb & Audria's house for an evening of fun game playing. We played Buzzword, Catch Phrase, & Battle of the Sexes. I was proud of myself that I lasted until 11pm (which I consider midnight on New Year's since it is midnight in New York).

On New Year's day one of my dearest, best friends, Lisa, was in town to visit. We grew up together at church in Ohio, were roommates at Harding for 3 years, and have all kinds of fun memories. She recently got engaged over Christmas and it was the first time I had seen her since the big news. It was also her first time to see me a little rounder than I usually am at 14-15 weeks pregnant. We had an enjoyable evening catching up over dinner at Chili's. She then came to see our house. We took a picture....I set the timer & Pepper the dog walked up & wanted to be in the picture naturally! Believe me....he is usually really hard to get a good picture of....Lisa & I thought it was pretty funny!

Happy 2009 everyone! I have my next doctor's appt tomorrow, so I'll post anything exciting that I find out on here. :)