Polishing the Pulpit Audio

I just discovered yesterday that the PTP audio is available in sets smaller than the set of everything.
Here's the link if you would like to look at it:
http://www.housetohouse.com/store/Search.aspx?search=polishing
You can also search by title (if you know the title of one you are looking for) or by speaker - and it goes back several years.
I hope this is helpful to you.
I have had some questions about the Brad Harrub Contraceptives session that we attended. Here's the link to the set of ten that includes that session: http://www.housetohouse.com/store/Product.aspx?pid=452

Zzzzzzz

Why am I so proud of myself? Because I slept SEVEN hours between feedings last night!!!!


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PTP Odds and Ends

There were a few random things that I didn't post before because I forgot about them or didn't know where they fit in. As you can tell by the previous posts, we loved PTP and are excited to return next year!

*One morning I was sitting in the hall with Hannah Kate waiting for our session to start and an older lady stopped at us and said, "Thank you for starting her off right!" and then she went on. I thought that was pretty sweet!

*We heard an EXCELLENT lesson by Brad Harrub about contraceptives. I have searched online for an article by him or something that summarizes what he said, but I haven't found anything. I wanted to do a whole blog post on just his talk, but I don't know how to go about doing it. So for now, I encourage you to explore exactly how your birth control works. Unfortunately, I think a lot of us are just doing what our doctors say and not investigating the details. This is something for which we will be held accountable. We wish that we had been more inquisitive when we were in that situation. He also said that we have an "infertility epidemic" in the church because of birth control use. Our family is a perfect example of this! He also referenced the American Association of Pro-Life OBGYNs and their stance on the birth control pill and IUDs. We have a CD of this session, so if you would like to borrow it, please let me know. I am thankful that this topic was chosen and that he is presenting this lesson in different places because this is something that needs to be discussed. (*On a random side note, I thought it was pretty funny that we heard this lesson on the year anniversary of us finding out that we were expecting.)

*There was an awesome lesson by Kathy Pollard on modesty (and I loved her lesson about Hannah-of course!) and Cindy Colley directed a modesty fashion show for the ladies/teen girls. This was extra great because they showed immodest outfits and then showed how to make them modest (and I also appreciated that most of the outfits were outrageously immodest but what some would consider okay). This morning during services, I thought about how you don't really think about moms having a hard time being modest, but it is difficult! Your body changes after pregnancy and then you wrestle a baby/child and your clothes do not always stay where they started out! Good thing I have lots of long skirts, huh?! :)

Hope everyone is having a great Lord's Day!

PTP

So, the PTP blog shared three blog posts from different people about their week at PTP. I clicked on one and then clicked on another from it and somehow got here (that ALWAYS happens with me and blogs!). And look what I found......can you spot Wesley (with Dempsey and Chris).....He's standing outside the ladies ballroom waiting on Hannah Kate and me. I loved reading other people's favorite things about PTP. One person described it as church camp for grown ups.....with maid service. What is better than that?!

Big girl

Hannah Kate hasn't had early intervention in 2 weeks bc of her preemie appt & PTP. Mrs Diana couldn't believe how much she has changed! She laughed so hard for the longest time at her stuffed bee. It was so fun! She's such a big girl!


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Laughter

The video below is the night before when Wesley was tickling her-her laughter is awesome!

We LOVE this sweet girl!

Vocal

Hannah Kate has been very vocal lately! This video I took yesterday as she was "singing" with her Bible songs.

Polishing the Pulpit Part 4

At Polishing the Pulpit, there was a session about what to do with the baby Bible class. Kellee and I were excited to go to it. I wanted to get ideas of things to do at home with Hannah Kate. Teah and April had a quilt laid out on the floor with baby dolls in a semi-circle like the babies would be (in a table) during class. They had a little mini-class and taught class to the "babies." I really enjoyed getting to hear the different songs and see what types of manipulatives (for lack of a better word) they used. Wednesday night, I took Hannah Kate to the baby class (because Kellee scoped it out for me Sunday morning!). I thought it would be better for Hannah Kate because there would be lots of singing, etc. to keep her interested and I wanted to see a full class session! Brody and Hannah Kate were so tired and they both ended up asleep by the end of the class! Ms. Teah is amazing! She had TEN babies total......eight on a QUILT in the floor of a meeting room at the convention center. Think about that just a minute.......not in a nice table where you can strap them in......a QUILT. Most of these babies were mobile! She never stopped talking or singing. They were focused on her (most of the time) and only a few were crying (but BOY were those few crying!). When she finished class, she just said, "Whew. I'm tired!" I was amazed. I don't know how she did it! Hannah Kate was so funny. She just watched Ms. Teah with HUGE eyes while we sang different Bible songs and she handed out different related objects to the babies. Then, she started fussing and went to sleep. :)

Of course, she woke up RIGHT as we were taking a picture with Ms. Teah-this was Hannah Kate's first time to go to her own Bible class.
After the baby class, the next session was Sheila Butt "Help! How Do I Discipline My Child?" It was fantastic. Mindy took Hannah Kate-who refused to go back to sleep-during this session. I was sitting about half way up in this huge ballroom and I could hear Hannah Kate, "Ooooooooooo, oooooooooooo, oooooooooooo." I looked back once to make sure she wasn't fussing and Mindy was in the very back of the room with her. She said Hannah Kate just "talked" the entire time. She really started "talking" while we were at PTP (of course, this would begin when she was supposed to be quiet!). It is so fun! See how alert she is for 9 at night?!
On Thursday morning, a few boys from the Future Preachers Training Camp were selected to present their sermon to parents and anyone who wanted to come. Andrew was selected. He did a GREAT job presenting his first sermon! We were very proud of him!
After that session, there was a 20 minute "Final Charge" session and then it was time to go home. Here's our little family at the end of PTP (and in front of the bathrooms no less!).

We ran to the outlet mall for me to run into two stores and then came home.

Hannah Kate woke up Thursday morning VERY congested. It was so sad. She was having a hard time breathing and we had to suction her nose (which is much more difficult now that she's bigger!). She was a pretty sleepy girl most of the day Thursday and Friday. We were very careful about people touching her and even more cautious since we were in a group of large people. I don't know how she got sick. I guess it was inevitable, but I was hoping to hold it off for awhile longer. She seems to be doing a little better now.
Our favorite parts of PTP:

Hannah Kate: there were TONS (over 2000 to be exact) of people to look at her and smile and talk and say that she's the cutest baby ever. She pretty much thought that everyone was there for her entertainment!

Denise: being around faithful Christians all day and hearing excellent lessons all day! I also love that there are so many young Christian family examples for us!

Wesley: fellowshipping with our church family and spending time in Bible study.

Wesley said he struggled with what to put on his suggestion sheet for PTP-he said he wanted to put that it should last all year long! Last year, I remember him talking about how it's a foretaste of what Heaven will be like. He said that if you don't like PTP or going to something like that (with fellowship, study, singing, etc.), then you aren't going to like Heaven! I think this is totally true.

If you are a member of the Lord's church and did not attend PTP this year, would you please prayerfully consider going next year? It's not cheap, but we considered this our vacation for the year. (What better way to spend your money?! and there are scholarships available for those in need.) There are many ways to save money throughout the year to attend and to save while you are there (there are examples on the PTP website). I promise you will not regret attending. You will learn so much from the Word of God, be able to hear many different speakers and topics, have opportunities to praise God in song each day, and meet many different faithful Christians. We are anxiously awaiting PTP week next year!

I also wanted to mention that we met two people who had been following our blog who we didn't know before PTP. After Kellee introduced me to the first person, I told Wesley that there were probably more people at PTP who knew about Hannah Kate and us that we didn't know. After one of the night sessions, someone else came up and introduced herself to me and said she had been following our blog and praying for Hannah Kate and us. How neat is that? We are thankful for the prayers of our fellow Christians-those we know and those we haven't met! Thank you!

Polishing the Pulpit Part 3

We really enjoyed the sessions we attended and had a ridiculously long list of cds (for the sessions we couldn't attend or liked so much that we needed the cd too!). My favorites were: Brad Harrub-Contraceptions (this was the only one of his I attended, but we got almost all of the cds of his sessions), Sheila Butt, Kathy Pollard, and Teah & April's Bible class teacher sessions. Wesley's favorites were (I think) David Shannon, Joe Wells, and Dan Winkler (I didn't get to hear any of his sessions completely....thanks to sweet Hannah Kate....so we got a lot of cds!). I am guessing about those being his favorites...that's who he talked the most about!

Renita did a great job presenting in her session. Hannah Kate even slept the whole time so I could listen.Jaina and Abigail with us-we have a picture of us from last year's PTP when we were both expecting (I had just found out and she didn't know, I think). :) These girls are sweet blessings from God!We stayed at the hotel that is right beside the convention center since we had Hannah Kate. I was so thankful. It was very convenient and definitely worth the extra money. We also loved getting to spend so much time with Wesley!
David Henry (from Jamaica) led singing one night-it was almost like we were in Jamaica!
Kelly and Hannah Kate in the Book Room one night. Hannah Kate was cracking up at Kelly. It was hilarious.
Hannah Kate did great in the Pack n Play (I was a little nervous!). Her hair looks so red here!
We had lunch with the Jordans/Pinedos one afternoon. Moises and Wesley were reunited again! :)

I forgot to get a picture with Kimberley.....I was holding Hannah Kate the whole time, so that's probably why.
And Mrs. Charlotte got to enjoy Hannah Kate!

Tisha-do you love Hannah Kate's dress? :)
The Duncans rented a house with some friends that was very close to the convention center-it was SO nice! We went over one afternoon so Gracie could FINALLY hold Hannah Kate. She had told Mindy a few weeks ago, "People say I am going to get to hold her, but will I EVER get to?!" She had been a patient girl! Mindy told her to go wash her hands, then added, "Up to your elbows!" Gracie came out and asked if this was good enough :) Yes it is and thank you!
I handed Hannah Kate to her and she said, "Yay!! I thought this day would never come!!!!!!" It was so sweet.....and then Hannah Kate projectile spit up all over poor Gracie. She was a trooper though!

Wesley and Dempsey
We were excited to see a family from Crieve Hall. This is Tonja-they were so good to us when we worshipped there while Hannah Kate was in the hospital. They have four (I think) kiddos and the younger daughter would see us and say, "Look! It's Hannah Kate! She's awake! I've GOT to get Mom, she will want to see this!" It was so funny. Tonja said they were glad to see us but "mostly Hannah Kate." We take what we can get! :)
As you can see, we got to visit with lots of our church family. We also met new people who we look forward to seeing again next year. AND....we started scoping out a husband for Hannah Kate (arranged marriages take a lot of work!).

Polishing the Pulpit Part 2

I was pretty nervous about how Hannah Kate would do during the sessions. If you have to take your noisy baby out of a session, you get the cd for free.....I expected to have LOTS of free cds! I was especially thinking this would be the case after we only made it 22 minutes into the 45 minute first session. We got the hang of things though. In the mornings, Wesley would help feed her and go to the 8:30am session, then Hannah Kate and I would go down for the 9:30 session and for the rest of the day. There is a break for lunch and a break around 5 for supper and the sessions usually ended around 9pm. We were pretty exhausted.

Hannah Kate really did great. I had some quiet toys for her and we spent a few sessions standing up on the side or in the back. Wesley took her to several sessions with him, so that was helpful. And "Aunt Mindy" was more than willing to help out too :) I tried to watch to see what other moms did to get ideas for next year. At one point, I remember thinking, "I just wish she would eat food and I would stuff food in her face!" Ha! Maybe next year!

Polishing the Pulpit 2011 Part 1

We spent last week in Sevierville at Polishing the Pulpit. It is an awesome week of Bible study and fellowship with brethren from across the country (and even some other countries). A friend had on her Facebook at the end of the week, "Polishing the Pulpit should be on every church member's calendar." I think this is so true! We encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ to put this on your calendar for next year! You will not be disappointed!!

We loved getting to see friends from various congregations all in one place.

I had 40 pictures selected as my favorites to share on here.....that's way too much for one post! So, this will be just for the weekend. :)

Wesley had to work on Friday, so Hannah Kate and I rode with Kyle, Kellee, and Brody. We enjoyed the "early bird" and Friday evening sessions and Wesley got there around 9:30 Friday night. I took the stuff that I had to have for Hannah Kate and all of the rest of our stuff was packed in our car. The van was so full that Wesley's parents had to go by Kyle and Kellee's house and pick up our strollers because they wouldn't fit! Oops-that was a close one!

Mindy and I were VERY excited to see each other!

Wesley and Roby (preacher from Elizabethton) with Hannah Kate and Abigail.
Sunday morning after worship. I wrestled Hannah Kate all morning and had to take her out to the hall because she just wanted to "talk." There were at least 20 moms/dads and babies out there! I wish I had gotten a picture of that! I went back in before the invitation and Wesley took Hannah Kate. I promise, he hadn't even finished getting her situated on his arm and she was OUT. He got lots of comments all week about holding her like this. She loves it!
The Duncans were pretty excited to see Hannah Kate!
Wesley saw Eric from across the ballroom before worship began. He lives in Louisiana and had been on several Jamaican campaigns with East Side. They were excited to see each other!
Wesley's parents were at PTP for the weekend.
After Sunday morning services, we went to eat lunch with the Duncans.
Hannah Kate was in her car seat and kept laughing and smiling and cooing. We finally saw what she was looking at.....(look below).....

Apparently, she thought this creepy surfboard guy was making eyes at her!

Gracie painted this rock for us when she was at camp. So sweet!

Okay, more to come later!

Ma Coley and Hannah Kate

Preemie Clinic Visit

On August 10th, we went to Vanderbilt for Hannah Kate's 6 month Preemie Clinic visit. We got to Nashville late Tuesday night and stayed with Celia. She and Charlie were excited to see Hannah Kate! We had to get up super early to get to the hospital in time for Hannah Kate's appointment and to see some nurses. Unfortunately, we somehow missed our night nurses who were on duty the night before (Michelle and Jenna)-we were sad. We got breakfast and went to the Preemie Clinic. They weighed and measured Hannah Kate and she spit up all over me. Fun times.

Weight: 6.6 kg=14.52 lbs

Length: 62 cm

Head circumference: 41.3 cm

They have a growth curve specifically for preemie girls age 6 months born at 28 weeks. Hannah Kate was in the 87th percentile! She was above 60% on her length, head circumference, and length/weight proportion.

The neonatologist was one that we had seen in the NICU-Wesley remembered her, but I didn't. She was super nice and did a developmental assessment of Hannah Kate. She said she was right on target for 3-4 months which is her adjusted age, so she was very pleased. She suggested waiting until Hannah Kate holds her chin up a little better before we start her on food. I also asked her about letting Hannah Kate go to the nursery class for Bible class and she was pretty iffy on it. She first said, "She has a whole life of Bible study ahead of her." When I told her that I would be with her and that there were only 2 other babies, she decided that it was probably okay since that is the case and that it is summer. We will still have to be extra careful about people touching another baby and then touching Hannah Kate (as in, it can't happen) and during the fall/winter. She will get the flu shot when it is time-which is actually TWO shots for her-as well as the RSV shots. The RSV shots will be one shot every month from October thru March (I believe). I hate that she will have to have so many shots, but we do not want to take the risk of her getting RSV!

I think those were all of the highlights of her appointment.......I intended to write this blog post quickly after then so I didn't forget anything, but that didn't happen. :)

After her appointment, we went to see Dr. Carroll (the high risk OB that I saw at Vanderbilt) and Ms. Patti. They were so excited to see Hannah Kate (and us)! They don't get to see many happy, healthy babies after they are out in the world, so I think it brightened their day!

Ms. Patti cracked me up. She kept referring to them as Auntie Patti and Auntie Mary (Dr. C) to Hannah Kate. :) We LOVE them!
Then, we went to the NICU waiting room to see two of our day nurses who were working that day. This just happened to be Allison's last day, so we were glad we got to see her before she left!
Scarlett was excited to see how big Hannah Kate is now and even asked if it was okay to write a blog post about her on her blog (we said yes, of course). I think it was encouraging to her to see a healthy former NICU baby!
We also got to see Carol, the NICU Lactation Consultant, who has been AMAZING to us. She has emailed back and forth with me ever since we came home and has been so helpful. Unfortunately, I am a loser and forgot to get a picture :( I was so sad when I realized this!

We left Vanderbilt and went to my parents' house so that we could see them while my dad was on his lunch break and also Ma Coley. YUMMY lunch including my favorite chocolate pie by Ma Coley!

Ma Coley was VERY excited to see her and reminded me several times that she hadn't seen her since "April 16th!"

1/2 !!

I have tried for days to get these pictures uploaded--seems like that is how I have been starting several posts. Crazy internet!
Kellee and I saw some cute sidewalk chalk pictures on Pinterest and had to try it out!
The only trouble is, Hannah Kate does not love the sun. In fact, she hates it. (and these were UNDER a patio cover!) See.......

I did move her a little and tried to keep her away from the sunlight.....this was the best we got!