Baby Ragan -- 13 1/2 weeks

We had a more in depth sonogram this past Friday at GBMC hospital where the boys were born. They were looking for anything that might be out of the ordinary with this baby. An answer to prayer- Baby is growing absolutely perfectly with all his/her parts and nothing extra! We are thankful that this is another item off the list of "to-think-abouts". Praising the Father for His continued care of me and this Baby.

This picture below is actually a 3D picture of Baby. If you look closely, you can sort of see that it's an aerial shot and Baby's right arm is up by his head. The bright white spot is about where his belly button would be. There are eye and ear buds forming. It is absolutely amazing to me that they can see all the parts when Baby is only about 3 1/2 inches long! What an amazing Creator God we have!

13 1/2 weeks along - 3 1/2 inches long

Santa Claus visits Giant food stores!

Abraham and I went food shopping today at Giant and look who we ran into on our way into the store!!! Abraham climbed right up in his lap and started talking away! This Santa actually had a personality and went right along with Abraham's nonsense! He was a happy boy!

Remembering Moses and celebrating new life

Four years ago today, we released Moses to the loving care of our Heavenly Father. It is something that I would never wish on any parent. The loss of a child, no matter how old, is devastating. It's nothing that you can ever get over. Nothing that you can ever forget. But you know what... I don't WANT to get over or forget him. It's the remembering that keeps Moses' life and memory alive to me.

For the past 2 months, there has been a little boy at school named Jackson. Jackson is 8 years old and has Downs Syndrome. The first day I met Jackson I bent down to say hi and he responded by giving me a bear hug. In an instant, I felt this was my touch of heaven from the Father. It was as if Moses was hugging me. Today, Jackson was taken from our school to move with his mother to another state. My touch of heaven is gone. It seems ironic to me that Jackson is gone on this day. I don't know but I kinda feel that God had Jackson at RFE for ME. That he was there to get me through today, specifically. There were many days I'd look at Jackson and smile, something he did that made me laugh. He is a sweet little boy.

I don't know how much truth there is to that -- but that's what I'm believing today. Proof to my sad mommy heart that HE knows my emotions and cares.


Today I remember and honor Moses' short life --- and I celebrate the new life that the Father has allowed to grow within me!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Abraham and I are enjoying a relaxing, lazy Thanksgiving morning today. We slept in, made a breakfast of eggs and pancakes and have been watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for the past 2 hours. It has been a nice morning, although Daddy isn't with us cause he went fishing :( We are missing him. But Abraham and I have been talking all morning about those things that we are thankful for. Here are a few things that have come up in conversation:

- clothes
- house
- healthy heart
- eyes, ears, mouth
- toys
- friends
- our family
- our new baby!
- Daddy and Momma
- Abraham
- strong muscles
- food
- Mustangs! :)
- Mommy and Daddy's good jobs

We are eternally thankful for all the blessings that God has given to our family. He is good all the time! We thank HIM for you and for the blessings that you are in our lives.
What are YOU thankful for today??

Prayer Request

Please pray!

We put a bid on this totally cute Rancher yesterday and are waiting to hear back from the sellers. This house is perfect for us - 4 bedrooms, hard wood floors, great yard, basement, and is in move in condition. Please pray with us that if this is the place God has for us that all will go smoothly. Thanks! :)

Birthday Pictures

My mom and I went to Picture People today and had Abraham's 4 year old pictures taken. Oh my head! I don't know whose child this is but he was quite the comedian. He had the photographer in stitches! There were quite a few to choose from, of course, but these are the 3 we came away with.

Ahh.. my sweet boy. Where have these 4 years gone? Weren't you just my 4 lb 6 oz baby boy coming home from the hospital? You have grown so much and have become such a big boy. I am proud of the boy you have become. I look forward to many more years of being your Momma! :)

Answered prayers for Stellan

Unexpectedly this sweet little boy above, Stellan from MckMomma's blog, had to have heart surgery today. His heart completely stopped much to his momma's horror and the doctor decided it was the time to perform surgery to stop his SVT.

What an answer to prayer all the saints got a little while ago when MckMomma posted this post about Stellan's miracle!

Thank you Father for the way that you have met this family in their moment of need and answered their biggest prayers for their sweet boy. You are truly the Great Physician and we rejoice that you saw fit to heal Stellan! Go God!! :)

The Ragan 3 + 1 more in June!!

Our Heavenly Father has seen fit to bless our family yet again with another baby! We are due in early June - I'm about 9+ weeks now. He allowed us to get pregnant without medical intervention, for which I am very grateful for :) Please pray with us for an "uneventful, normal" pregnancy (whatever that might look like!)

Most recent Sonogram - November 4, 2009

Second Sonogram - October 28, 2009

First Sonogram - October 14, 2009

Happy 4th Birthday Abraham!

We celebrated Abraham's birthday last weekend at Chuck E. Cheese - kids love it, parents hate it! :)

Abraham's friends from day care were able to come as well as his "best friends", his cousins Alex and Chloe. We had fun playing on all the games and eating chocolate cake. He got lots of great presents -- more cars, just what the boy needs :) It was a fun afternoon.

Daddy and Abraham playing air hockey

Cameron, Abraham and Keagan


Yes, it's MY birthday!

High fiving Mimi - they share a bday so we sang to them both.

James and Nicholas got Abraham this really cool green Mustang that plays "Life is a Highway" which is one of Abraham's favorite songs.

Cousins!


Momma, me and Kari

Family hug :)

Ahoy Matey! Trick or Treating 2009

We had one busy weekend this past weekend. Grandma Kay and Grandpa John came up to visit for Abraham's birthday. They arrived early Saturday morning and we got to spend some good times with them. Kay went with Abraham and I trick or treating with our friends, The May's. Other than being rained on, we had a great time together!

Nicholas, James and Abraham

ARGHHH! Ahoy Matey!



Abraham tuckered out about 45 minutes into trick or treating. Here he is sitting on this woman's stoop, picking out candy! :)

Grandma Kay braved the rain with us -- she's a good Grandma! :)

The May's cute puppy Molly kissing Abraham

Is this not the CUTEST little pirate ever??

New York City - 2009

Yet again mom, Kari and I have made our yearly trip to New York City. We had a great time despite the rain all day Saturday. We walked ALL over the city -- what felt like miles! We hit Greenwich Village, Financial District, Wall Street, Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge, Herald Square AND Kari and I managed to squeeze in a show that she won tickets to. Do you wonder why I came home exhausted?? :)

These are some of the pictures from our visit.

Central Park in the Fall

Greenwich Village - the apartment building where Friends was filmed

This is mom VERY happy with how far we had to walk to find the Friends building... NOT!! :)

At Washington Park Memorial - Greenwich Village

The Longacre Theater where we saw Burn the Floor -- GREAT show!

Cameras weren't allowed in the theater so this is our "contraband" photo!

Herald Square

The largest Macy's in the world - 7 floors full of STUFF!

The ever amazing Brooklyn Bridge - so much more impressive in person.

Smiling even through the rain :)

Our framable picture from this trip -- I love these women with all my heart! :)

Jackson

Today was the first day for a new 2nd grader at our school. He is in the classroom right next to mine. His name is Jackson. Jackson has Downs Syndrome and is autistic. He spent most of his day in the Special Education room with an aide. I saw him in the hallway a few times and found myself staring at him. When I went to lunch, I stopped in the Special Education room. I stooped down and got myself on his level. (He is about the same size as Abraham). I said "Hi Jackson!" Jackson looked at me, got up and came over to me... and out of the clear blue, gave me the biggest bear hug around my neck. Oh my heart! I totally lost it within 5 seconds of his hug. I was in tears and had to remove myself from the room to compose myself. All I kept thinking about was my sweet Moses... this little boy could have very easily been him, with his light blonde hair, being petite... God allowed this sweet little boy, who is non-communicative, to communicate HIS love loud and clear to me. It was my touch of heaven today.

Thanks Father for the physical touch from Jackson today.

Patterson Mill Homecoming Football Game

Yea, so I'm a bit late with this! But better late than never I guess :)

About 3 weeks ago, the high school where my students go had their homecoming football game. Since this is a milestone year for me (my first class is graduating!) I wanted to go and see these kids play and cheer. The fact that it was homecoming was an extra added bonus!

We took along Alex, my nephew, and he was very excited to go to a REAL football game! Course he thought he could buy a jersey or trading cards with the players on it -- too cute!

Abraham was more interested in playing with some of my former students, girls of course!

We had a great time together... even better cause Patterson Mill won and one of my former 5th graders won Homecoming Queen! Go Stash!

Before we left, Uncle Mike showed Alex how to tie the flies that he fishes with.

Go Huskies!

Alex loved watching the game.. and we DID end up buying him a PMMS shirt!

My sweet Dani girl- she paid her cousin $3 so that Alex could have one of the footballs that the cheerleaders threw into the stands! I had her brother, Anthony, my first and third years of teaching. She has a special place in my heart! :)

Sofie was my student 2 years ago and Abraham attached himself to her throughout the game. He had a good time playing with her.

Abraham and all his girls!

We went to Barnes and Noble yesterday. Michael checked out the magazines... and Abraham and I headed to the train table in the Children's Section as we always do. Only yesterday Abraham and I were joined by not one, but TWO sets of fraternal boy twins. My heart immediately froze.
If I were being honest, I think about Moses probably every other day. I wonder on a daily basis what it would have been like to have two boys around. But yesterday it smacked me in the face. To add to the slap, as I talked to the one dad, he shared that his boys were born after his wife was on 6 weeks of bedrest at 26 weeks. Man did that strike close to home.
Abraham played with these 4 boys for a good 30 minutes before I could take no more. It just put me in a place of wishing things could have been different. My humanness and perhaps my mother's heart makes me wish that even though he had Downs Sndrome, he could still be with us. I'd give my right arm to have him with us, healthy or not.
Some days are harder than others... yesterday was one of those harder days.

Birthday Treats

Mom, Kari and I have started a new tradition for our birthdays. Instead of buying gifts and dragging the WHOLE family over to Mom's place to celebrate (you KNOW how much fun that is for the men!), we have decided to have a girls day... DO something together. Last year, we went to NYC for Kari's b-day on her request and had an amazing time together. We went to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We hit Time Square at night and the next day went to the Top of the Rock to have an amazing 360 view of NYC. We ate pizza and went to FAO Schwartz. It was SOO much fun!

Well this year we have decided to to NYC again but this time we want to see a show. 5 Minutes for Mom is having a giveaway for tickets to a Broadway show that looks like something we'd like.

So this year I'm gonna try and win these for us... nothing like a free Broadway show eh? :)

Wish me luck!!

Back to School 2009

If only I had a student who would do this tomorrow!!

(thanks Mel for the picture!)

Tomorrow is the first day of school for the kiddos and I have to say that I am quite ready to get back to the routine and "normal-ness" of school! I got to meet many of my students tonight at Open House and it just reminded me again of how much I really enjoy my job. I have been entrusted with 24 kids, for 7 hours a day, 180 days of the year -- what an incredible mission field I have! I pray each year that I will be the teacher that these students need and that I will be love them with the Father's love. Tomorrow will be no different...

Naming our boys

Just today I have stumbled over the blog of a dear sister in Christ who has gone through the heartache of losing a child, as I have. Her blog certainly struck a chord in my spirit as I spent nearly an hour reading through her many posts, all of which have been so encouraging to my mommy heart. One of her recent posts asks about how the names of your children were chosen. I thought this would be something I could do for posterity sake! So here goes...

Michael and I hadn't really thought too much about names in the beginning stages of being pregnanat. I think the shock of parenthood was still on us! We had thought about naming Baby A with an 'A' name and Baby B with a 'B' name but decided that was a bit weird! Once I went on strict bedrest we became more intense on thinking about names for the boys. And once we had confirmation that Baby B had Downs Syndrome, that made it a bit different. I was intent on having names for the boys that had some kind of meaning. Michael thought of the name Abraham. I wasn't so keen on it because it was a BIG name for a little boy (and it means Father of Many.. yikes!) But in the end, I really liked it. Abraham's middle name is Connor which was Michael's grandmother's maiden name.

Moses' name on the other hand was decided a bit differently. Since Abraham had a Biblical name we wanted to give Baby B one too. Michael jokingly threw Moses into the pile with the rest of the possibilities. As I laid in bed for those wonderful (HA!) 5 weeks, I found a meaning of Moses that fit him perfectly -- Created for Special Purposes. I knew that was to be his name immediately. We already knew he had Downs Syndrome but we also found out that he had a severe heart condition as well. We felt (and still feel) that God gave him to us for a reason and that this name would fit him perfectly. What we didn't know was that we'd have to give him back to God so soon after he was born. Moses' middle name is Mackay which is the last name of a singer from a band Michael likes. (Fugazi)


So I guess Michael basically picked out the boys names! But have no fear... if (or when!) God gives us a girl I have a name all ready for her... and NO I'm not spilling the beans now! :)

Chalk the Walks

I took the kids to Chalk the Walks at our local library last week. I had thought it would be something that they'd enjoy -- well, I was 1/3 right! Alex and Abraham decided it was much more fun to dig in the dirt to see what treasures they could find. Oh well! You can't win them all!

Chloe on the other hand thought it was cool! She and I drew HER together. It was her idea to lay on the sidewalk for me to trace her body outline. I did that and then she and I filled it in to look like her. I had fun with her! Honestly though, she is pretty easy to entertain, especially when it comes to art stuff. Next time we'll just make it a girls day!