37...

and counting! God bless and Happy Monday!

Additional comments: As of this morning Baby J's prep is complete. I washed and folded all of his little clothes yesterday and put them in drawers last night! How great is it that we already have everything we need?! Love it! I guess that's where 3 of one gender really pays off! I also washed the carseat cover and attached the head stablizer to the straps... and washed the Boppy pillow and blue soft cover! This kid is set!

One last remaining item I plan to fetch tomorrow is a SwaddleMe blanket. Many moms have lauded this miracle blanket as it wraps the baby so tightly (better than the receiving blankets from the hospital) and mimics the closeness of the womb. They also say it encourages more hours of sleep for the infant (and the mom!). Sign me up!! I'll buy 10 of these if they work... :) We'll have to let you know.

That's the latest from our little corner of the world on Monday afternoon! Hugs!

Quick Prayer Request

Could you all give a quick shout out prayer for a friend of mine, who is gearing up to deliver twins this afternoon? She has been enduring pre-ecclampsia and the docs say "it's time" to bring the baby girls into the world. Your prayers for both mother and babies during the C-section would be so appreciated... Thanks and God bless!

Quick update: the girls arrived safely and healthily later that night. Thanks for your prayers!

Hanging by a string

You poor folks!

I've left you hanging by a string all day... Imagine my fear when GG said that he'd like to wait to open the gender envelope until tonight! Are you kidding me?! :) I am WAY too impatient to wait all day for such news!! Thankfully, I was able to convince him to a lunch out and celebration of the news with the boys in tow.

We headed to McDonald's of all places (lol), grateful for the boys' distraction and merriment while GG and I talked over the blessing of our HEALTHY baby! Thanks be to God for the blessing of another healthy child. I cannot say how much this news relieves my motherly heart! Whew!! :) The ultrasound revealed a precious baby, complete with all parts and lounging with its feet crossed and hands behind its head. We laughed at the image--already kicking back! :)

Then came the time to open the envelope... where we discovered... we're having...
another boy!

We are absolutely thrilled by this news, knowing our boys will be so blessed to have one another and be so close in age! Hallelujah! Mimi also brought up that with three little guys so close in age, we could actually have all of them share a room--bunk beds and a twin bed. Now that's space efficiency! lol.

After sharing in the joy of our friend, Graeme's, wedding this past weekend, we are especially joyful in learning of our third little man. Graeme is one of four amazing boys, his relationship with his brothers such a testament of God's love and brotherly affection emanating from his parents. I know many all-boy families, who are equally as inspiring! What fun to join their ranks... :) In the words of Graeme, "GG, you only produce men." How cute! :) lol.

And don't you just love how I typed this whole post in pink, just to throw you off?!
So sorry to play with your perceptions. :)

From a male-dominated Gasperini-Ville (4 vs. 1 with a male dog!), I write with complete satisfaction.
Thanks be to God for the blessing of His Love and Provision.
God bless you today!

Oh Baby!

By a stroke of luck, we had our midway ultrasound moved to--TOMORROW morning!

I spent a majority of my morning today on the phone with the insurance company, getting to the bottom of a physician assignment threatening to postpone my appointments for two weeks! Thankfully, after calling my midwife's office, they were kind enough to work me in early, avoiding all sorts of future problems. Now we're good to go and can't believe we'll be meeting our little baby so soon!

One of the traditions I've kept with both boys has been writing letters to them throughout the pregnancy, the first written before the first ultrasound. Guess I'm going to have to squeeze that one in tonight before bedtime. "Dearest little one..." What's fun is that the next letter then addresses the baby by name. We just love to name our little ones while they're in utero. The sooner we can "get to know" the baby, the better. The blessing of time in pregnancy is never to be re-gained

Another of our traditions is to have the ultrasound tech write the gender of the baby on a card and seal it tightly! We will then take it out to a restaurant, open it, and celebrate the new life together!! This is such a fun pastime, introduced to us through friends of ours in Colorado. We've really enjoyed it with both boys. I can keenly remember sitting at dinner with GG before opening our little M's envelope. GG said, "What's in this envelope is the difference between football practices and ballet lessons." I think we were both relieved upon learning M was a little boy! Whew! :) I can also remember GG telling his brother soon after that we had decided to name the baby "Nigel" and Uncle C responding with, "Oh, really?" We cracked up immediately and shared with him M's real name. Too funny! Don't worry, I won't pull any fast ones on you all!

I will write again with news as soon as we know more...
God bless and thanks for your prayers for this little one!

Back to the Drawing Board

Here's what I read today after taking an online "boy or girl?" test:

Congratulations!
You have a 43% chance of having a boy. And you have a 56% chance of having a girl.

Oh Really!?! Talk about inconclusive!!! :)

Here were a few of the predictions according to funny wives' tales:

* Sleeping in a bed with your pillow to the south indicates that you will be having a girl.

* Your feet are not colder than they were before pregnancy. You are having a girl.

* You refuse to eat the heel of a loaf of bread. You are having a girl.

* Dad-to-be hasn't been gaining weight along with Mom-to-be, so it will be a girl.

* You are looking particularly good during pregnancy (oh yeah!). Therefore, it must be a boy, because girls steal their mother's looks.

* Your nose hasn't changed during pregnancy (!!), which indicates a girl.

* You pick up your coffee cup by the handle, so it's a boy.

Hysterical! I spared you a few due to their more graphic detail!

So there you have it... Not one step closer to an answer after all! :)

Hope you enjoyed a brilliant Friday. God bless.

Amidst a Snowglobe

I have to admit, sitting here in our living room and peering out the window at the snowy wonder around us is pretty therapeutic on this Friday morning...

The whole family has been cozied up together since awaking this morning to a real-life snowglobe. While forecasts predicted even more of the white stuff than has actually fallen (when are the predictions really correct? when??) we are still 6+ inches under and enjoying it.

The coffee is brewing, my feet are curled up in the bottom of my pant legs (too lazy to find socks), and the living room is strewn with all the toy fascinations of the morning hours. We are bundled with a few more layers (except for the feet--why are my feet always bereft?) And to top it off, GG has lingered with us rather than rush off to his law school duties.

Ahh... I could take more mornings like these.

I meant to write and report yesterday of my second and *wonderful* visit with the midwife. GG, T-baby, and I were able to immediately hear the heartbeat of our little one with the aid of the Doppler. This was such a relief and an answer to prayer. In the past, it's been difficult to track the 13-week heartrates of our little ones. Not this time! She placed the doppler wand on my belly and voila!, a heartbeat in the mid to high 160's!!

Our midwife's prediction--a girl. She has an unscientific theory that little girls are more obedient on these 13-week dopplers. She usually has to go searching for little boys. lol. :) Seems to fit the bill for us so far! The higher heartbeat is also a potential indicator for little girl status... How exciting!! While a healthy baby is our utmost hope, pink booties would be welcomed in Gasperini-Ville.

As always, my coffee is beckoning and the slow-moving morning is calling me into action.
Blessings to you on this Friday from our little snowglobe to your neck of the woods.
Wherever you are, whatever you're up to, I hope you're well. God bless.

Excuses, Excuses!

I admit to being a less-than-stellar blogger this past week.
For this, I am so sorry...
If you only knew the whole story, though, I'd think you'd understand.

A load of nausea... A lot of fatigue...
A little bit of baby.

YES!
We are expecting again!!!
Hallelujah, indeed.

My excuses actually extend a ways back to about, oh, the Thanksgiving holiday or so.
I've been a little secret-keeper, treasuring my little bit of news and praying for a healthy continuation of the pregnancy. (Please know, though, how I ached to tell you, my blogging readers!!! I'm such an open book, this
was a real challenge for me!)
But now we've made it--Monday I will be through the first trimester!
Woohoo!!

And while all of this has brought about great reflection on our sweet Jude, we know God has the most perfect of plans beyond our wildest dreams. He is preciously caring for Jude and both are rejoicing in heaven with us in this new life!

Here are some other girly details-- I'm due around August 4th or so, which is a week after GG's bar exam! We are already praying for great timing there. This will probably be a first where I'll be praying to deliver LATE! :) lol. Overall, though, the timing (while slightly stressful) is almost perfect because GG won't be starting his new job until September. That means we'll have a month to bond together as a family... Can't wait.

My nurse practitioner took pity on my nerves at my first appt. at 9.5 weeks and gave me a quick ultrasound, which revealed the little squirt with a wonderfully beating heart! What a relief! We were thrilled to know our baby was thriving at that point... And have been praying every day for a continuation of its health and well-being.

Above all, GG and I realized the other day that our boys are GROWING and becoming "bigger" little guys before our very eyes. As of next month, we'll have a 3-year-old under our roof and two boys eating peanut butter (I start it at 18mos.)! M is beginning to share and try new things. T-baby is really starting to say different words and communicate well. Our babies are growing up!

All that said, it's time for another baby Gasperini in the world!
It's time!!

So there you have it, my little piece of heaven.
Thanks for walking this journey with us and praying for God's will along the way.
Thanks for sharing in our joy!

Whew! So glad you finally know...

Hugs and prayers! May God bless your Saturday evening.

And again I say, rejoice!

We are rejoicing yet again today with the news that our GODSON HAS ARRIVED!!!

We've been waiting...
and waiting...
and still waiting some more... until last night when he came!
Baby A was born to our dear friends around 10:30pm after about a week of pre-labor.

How much did our strapping godson weigh, you ask?
A whopping 10lbs. 13oz.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And to think the midwives thought this would be the smallest of my friend's three kiddos.
Not so much.
Way to go, Kel!!!

Prayers for the world's newest little saint-to-be and his adoring family.

Baby Joy

I joyfully write today to announce baby Owen, born at 3:56am to dear friends, Jess and Will (and sister, Carlee Scott!) We've been waiting for the "little" guy to show up, but didn't expect all 9lbs. 4oz. of him!!! Way to go, Jess!!!

GG had the opportunity to speak with Will today and got an *awesome* baby report, complete with weight, time of birth, labor duration, etc. When he got off the phone, though, I still had my typical girly questions: how long was Owen?, is Jess feeling alright?, how long will they have to stay at the hospital??? GG replied, "Honey, guys just don't ask those types of things." So typical, I must say. ;) At least I got a little more information than usual...

Here's an example of our usual friends-have-had-a-baby report from GG:
GG: Oh, so-and-so had their baby. (This news is usually about a week late.)

B-mama: Oh my goodness!!!!!! When?

GG: Uh, maybe Saturday.

B-mama: What were the baby's stats?

GG: Uh, I didn't think to ask.

B-mama: How long was her labor? Is the baby doing alright? How's the mom feeling? Are they home from the hospital yet?

GG: Silence.
GG: Continued silence... Why don't you email and see how they're doing? That might be nice.

lol.
He's so exasperating and so lovable all at the same time!!!
Thank goodness he doesn't have it all together--where would I fit in if he did?

Welcome little Owen and God bless you today.

[*I've updated the prayer requests and ask for your continued prayers. Thank you!]

St. Therese, pray for us.

O my God! I offer Thee all my actions of this day for the intentions and for the glory of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I desire to sanctify every beat of my heart, my every thought, my simplest works, by uniting them to Its infinite merits; and I wish to make reparation for my sins by casting them into the furnace of Its Merciful Love. O my God! I ask thee for myself and for those whom I hold dear, the grace to fulfill perfectly Thy Holy Will, to accept for love of Thee the joys and sorrows of this passing life, so that we may one day be united together in Heaven for all Eternity. Amen.
-St. Therese of Lisieux, morning prayer

Remembering today sweet baby Therese, the daughter of a dear friend.
It has been five years since you came into this world, blessed all who knew you, and went off to spend eternity with Christ in heaven.
God bless you, dear little one.

Beyond Medicine

It would seem appropriate here for God's plan to prevail. Hallelujah, little Gabriel!

Rejoicing

With dear friends (and T-baby's godparents) this morning upon the arrival of their third child, baby M!! She was 8lbs. 8oz. and made her appearance around 2:30am...

Praises for this wonderful little blessing. She follows sister, Lucy, who was born last August with anencephaly and passed away during birth. We're sure Lucy's singing beautiful praises right now from heaven! What a journey this has been for them, their family, and all those close to them.

All the more reason to rejoice today!

Sweet babies, Lucy and Jude, pray for us!!

Have a blessed day... Praise God for babies!

3600

600 crosses
3000 small blue and pink flags

To commemorate the 3600(!) babies dying every day because of abortion.

I saw this scene yesterday while running on campus. My heart ached...

How can I so desperately long for a miscarried baby while others are making the CHOICE to end the lives of their precious children.

It just doesn't make sense.

Not one bit.

And I realize that there are special circumstances and situations...

Yet abortion is what it is.

And 3600 babies die every day.

God help us.

A Name

Jude.

Sweet baby Jude.

GG and I decided on this name last night for our little soul. Because we really don't know the gender of the babe, I feel especially good that Jude (though a male saint) would appropriately fit either a boy or girl.

Jude Gasperini.

And can I take a moment to tell you about our Jude?
[Those of you who know me are aware that I'm somewhat of an open book. Therefore, I feel drawn to telling you about our child. This is my way of healing. Please refrain from reading if it makes you uncomfortable...]

Jude was about an inch big with perfect little human parts. I estimate his gestational age was around 9.5-10 weeks judging from his development. He had sweet little eyes and a large mouth (typical Gasperini! ;) His beautiful arms extended into tiny little hands with small finger buds. He was absolutely at peace while GG and I marveled at our Lord's creation in him. He was beautiful and I am so glad to have had the chance to know him in physical form.

We laid him to rest in a gorgeous crystal box with an etched cross on the lid given to us by our dear friends. We plan to bury him on campus near the breathtaking Grotto, where many go to offer petitions. What a holy place for our little one to eternally rest...

Pray for us, sweet baby Jude.

There's a little piece of my heart on this Tuesday morning.
God bless you and thanks for listening.

The Risk of Love

If having babies can be this painful, is it worth the risk?
I found such hope in the following story.

Yes, I feel the risk of love is always worth it.
To love my boys is to know that every baby is worth the risk.
Every baby, even miscarried ones, is an opportunity to know more love.

Yes, to reap love is to be quite blessed.
Even in the midst of everything, we are still feeling such blessings.
Praise God.

God bless you today.

Gasperini-Ville Census

The town folk here in Gasperini-Ville came through recently, conducting the yearly census and happened upon something... A very little something! :)

Please note our population has changed and will officially be +1 in early April of 2008!

Yes, the Gasperinis are having another baby!

I can't begin to express my joy at this news (the mama hormones are causing me to tear up as I type!) I will be 7 weeks on Friday and wasn't going to share until we were out of the first trimester, but anyone who knows me, knows I have a very difficult time keeping secrets! :) I'm just too honest, I guess. ;)

And whatever God's plan for this precious baby, I want you all praying through it with me... thick and thin. Right now your prayers for my overwhelming, all-day nausea would be awesome!

God bless and thank you for sharing in our joy...
(ps: we really found out about this little one the day before GG's amazing Army news. Can you imagine my relief the next day? Oh my goodness!!)