really long day

We are counting down the weeks until the baby's arrival. Today I had an appointment with the doctor and everything looks great. The baby is now head down and curled up in a cute little ball. Unfortunately this doesn't change the fact that I will still be having a scheduled C-section based on my docs advice. The baby is approximately 5 pounds 4 ounces as of today and doing great. The only complaint I have these days is that I can't walk without pain. I seemed to have pulled something in my butt! Needless to say I did some stretches that were recommended and now I feel worse off. Matt had to help me out of the car and off the floor tonight. So your prayers would be greatly appreciated.

We are coming off of a very long week with Casey. My friend Elizabeth reminded me that since Casey was a baby he has had great weeks followed by really tough weeks. I was kind of hoping that he would grow out of that and just have a few tough weeks a year...no luck! Today he was really good though. Which is really good considering the story I am about to share with you.

Just about everyday after lunch Casey and I take a walk before we read books and go down for a nap. I usually take the same route because it is about a mile and it consists of staying on the busy streets that keep Casey occupied. Today it was a but gray out and I was in some pain so I thought I better just walk around the park that is near our home. My guess is that it is equivalent to a walk around the block. There appeared to be a school using the park for an end of the year party so that kept us busy. As we approached the side of the park where the playground is located I heard a loud noise that appeared to be a gunshot. Of course I have never heard a gunshot so in my mind I was trying to think of anything else it could have been. The gunshot was followed by yelling which appeared to sound very close. About 10 seconds later I heard a man screaming to call 911 and he came running out of the house with blood running down his arm. He was screaming at me and screaming on his cell phone. There was a city worker in a pick up truck that he asked to follow a car of men who had just held him at gun point and robbed him. You can imagine my reaction...hormones and all. Some people came up to me and asked if I was ok because I was hunched over crying. More than anything I was scared and happy that Casey was ok all at once. A nice man walked me home where I ran into my neighbor (fireman) who had a story of his own to share. It turns out that yesterday at 2:00pm my neighbor 2 doors down was in her backyard and someone walked into her home and stole her jewelry and money. I then shared with him what had happened to me and he walked me back to the scene so I could make a statement to the cops. We found out that the robbers had terrorized this poor man by putting the gun in his mouth and beating him. He is ok physically but not emotionally. Matt came home right away to be with me as I was a wreck.

Between the flooding in the area and the numerous break ins around our neighborhood the past couple of months we are just so thankful that God has kept us safe. We are sad because we had finally come to peace about staying in this house with the new baby even though it is small. We tried to look at the positive aspects of the neighborhood including that fact that I could take walks with Casey and go to the park everyday. Now we are concerned for our safety. Matt and I will be praying for guidance about what we can and should do in our situation. Please join us if you would.

To end this long story on a good note we had a really fun night together. Matt came home from work early and we really just wanted to get out of the house. We took Casey to Southridge to get him a luau shirt for his cousin's birthday party. He rode on the choo choo train all by himself like such a big boy. The look on his face said "did you see me dad, did you see me mom, I did it!" We than let him play in the play area before heading to McDonald's for chicken nuggets and fries. It was nice to spend time together as a family and watch Casey smile and giggle. Right now I can hear him laugh as his daddy reads him his bedtime stories. A great way to end a long day.