10 days and counting. . .

Ava pretending to have a baby in her tummy!

I am up again way past bedtime reading random blogs because I can't sleep. I am ready to have this baby. Or I'm as ready as you can be, I guess. I am going to enjoy some down time this week. I took off from work, so maybe I can get a few last minute things done or clean, or I might just rent a good movie and put my feet up since it might be the last time for a while.

My friend, Becky Brooks, is speaking at Lectureship, and I am glad to be living in Abilene so I can take advantage of the great wisdom that will be pouring out of ACU the next few days. I hope to attend at least a few of the lectures. I look forward to hearing Becky speak about being transparent tomorrow; she is a great public speaker, and wise beyond her years.

Today, we passed by a homeless man who hangs out in a parking lot not far from our house. Chad has had a couple of conversations with him, and actually wrote a blog about him recently. As we passed by, Ava noticed him and asked what he was doing. We told her that he didn't have a house or a car, so he sleeps right there in the parking lot. She asked, "But does he have a pillow?" Chad explained that his name is Roland, and he has backpack he uses as a pillow, but sometimes he doesn't have food, so maybe we could bring him some lunch on the way home. We talked about Roland in the car for about the next 15 minutes. On the way home, she reminded us to get a snack for Roland, which she wanted to hold. She was very excited to give it to him. He thanked us and told us,"God is so good," before he sat back down on the side of the road. When we arrived home, Ava was still talking about Roland, and said, "I want to go sit by him." There is nothing sweeter than trying to teach Jesus' love to your 3 year old, and realizing that she is teaching you.

Ava has been nothing but excited about being a big sister until today. It may have just been that she was so tired, but as I tried to put her down for a nap, she threw a fit, and let me know she didn't want a baby! I reminded her that it was going to be fun having a baby because she would get to be a big sister! She cried as loud and hard as I've heard her cry in a while saying that she did NOT want to be a big sister. She fell asleep curled up on my shoulder repeating that phrase over and over. It was actually pretty pitiful. I know that Pierson's arrival into our family will be such a blessing, but I am reminded that it may also be a difficult transition for Ava. After her nap, we spent some time at the Sheets' house and she loved getting to help take care of the twins, so I am hoping that her meltdown was more from exhaustion than real emotion. I think once he's here, she will be excited. . . at least for a while!

Hopefully the next time I post, I'll have some new pictures to share.