We Have a Heartbeat!!!!

Sweet Baby Bettis has an audible heartbeat. A dear friend sent me her doppler to use for a little while. On the 1st attempt I tried only to come up with my own pulsing femoral arteries. I was quite disappointed and as much as I tried not to let it bother me it still did. And then of course you go into the guessing game of wondering if all is well. My midwife says that she only tries at 12 wks given the fact it is definitely not a guarantee of hearing it before then. I think we tried with Garrett fairly early and came up with nothing though when I returned at 12 wks it was a hard and thumping little beat. So, with my own personal doppler-on-loan in hand I set out the next day to find it and alas a rhythmic thumping little beat could be heard in a very large way. It just never gets old. Hearing anew heartbeat for the 1st time is like hearing your 1st baby's all over again. It is an absolutely amazing experience in every way. There are no words. The children were gathered around and once it was heard the house was filled with glee and a happy chaos celebrating this new life that will join us in only a matter of months. Garrison and Grant now come to me and press their ear into the growing little baby bump and tell me they can't hear the baby. So, then excitedly they ask for me to go get the "baby thing".

I love the sound of a beating heart.

While out picking up some stuff for Garrett's birthday I ran across this shirt. I laughed when I saw it and knew it was a must have for our little family. It's cute but I think the size of our family and combined with the looks and comments make it a hysterical addition to our outings. So I finally wore it out a couple of days ago. Brad was on shift and the children and I headed in to get some grocery stuff done. I've had Rosa's stuck on the brain for a week now. It is a rarity that I will ever take the children out to eat alone. I figure we only do it every so often so we might as well wait until Brad can accompany us and make a fun day out of it. So it is a pretty much non existent thing for me to do any kind of sit down restaurant without the companionship of Brad. But with the children growing older they are quite the entertainment and quite the source of company...even on those shift days. So with Rosa's deeply embedded into the gestating hormonal brain we set out that way.....with me wearing my new attire. The children were so proud and could not wait to hear the comments. I think they're old enough now to really get some entertainment out of the entertainment the world thinks we provide. So, upon entering Rosa's I held Garrett, Evye held Gavin and Grayson kept track of Garrison and Grant while Aubrey had strict instructions to stay close to me. It didn't take me long to forget about what I wore and focus in on what we were going to order and making sure everybody was corralled since it was packed and everywhere we turned there were people. A group of 3 women stood behind us and said they loved the shirt and wanted to know where to get one. I laughed and said it was a good way to have some fun. I told them how I thought it would be cute anyway but with our brood it just made it funny. This horrified look shadowed their faces as they tried putting it all together. The older one in the group said, "Well, honey.......there not all your's are they? You are babysitting , aren't you?" I laughed lightheartedly and said, "Oh no. They're all mine. That's the fun of the shirt." Then one of the others asked, "So, it's true then?!" Grayson chimed in and said he is hoping for twin boys. The air filled with all kinds of remarks and praises of the children and then one spoke up, "Ok..now I just have to count them". Grayson, OUT LOUD, just spouted out, "Well, there's the 1st one of the night." I gave him a stern, be quiet look and he grinned knowing full well he was having his own fun.

So, we get up to the register and then girl ringing us up is 7 months pregnant so she comments about how bad she needs the shirt. We talked babies and when she was due and eventually we got around to the exact same conversation I had just ended with the group of ladies standing behind us. So, then she has to start counting. Once we were finally finished there we filed through the seating area and out to the patio where we could breathe and be away from the crowds. Grayson and Evye were given the responsibility of getting drinks for everyone and then Evye sat with them while I got the food. The looks we got were worth every cent the shirt cost! We had looks from complete and utter disdain to absolute stares following us every step we took and then turning to watch us walk the rest of the way by. Some people huffed and grunted while others praised. All seemed to want to know Grayson's age. And he was quite comfortable being in the spotlight of so many questions. I started feeling kind of odd after awhile though since the attention it got was more than I ever anticipated as I laughed at the thought of wearing it. I just figured it'd be a funny joke for all of the crass comments we get about "Can you possibly have another?" Little did I know what we were in for. It didn't help that I chose to wear it when I actually take everybody out without Brad. For whatever reason people feel much more freedom in speaking out....be it good or bad....with Brad absent. We still get tons of comments with him there but when he is not the comments probably triple.

By the end of it the same group of ladies that were so full of praise ended up sitting on the patio at a nearby table. The children and I ate and our table was full of obnoxious laughter and interesting conversations. It was a normal meal for us with everyone eating, talking and laughing with the older ones instructed to help the smaller ones to help make it all work and make it go a little faster. By the end of it Aubrey was feeding Garrett. I even laughed at that one and she was quite proud of herself...Garrett quite intrigued by the fact he was being fed by Aubrey and his fork had begun to be a moving target in her hands. This seemed to get the attention of everyone who sat even remotely near us. It was quite the scene though and it had all of us laughing. Once we were done the children cleaned off the table and gathered everything together in a neat little pile, something that we have always taught them. Grayson, Evye and Aubrey always go around and gather plates and stack them neatly on the tray or table and then gather the cups up and put them neatly with the plates. All napkins are gathered that were dropped and any large chunks of food dropped by the younger ones are picked up and put on plates so that it does not look quite like the disaster zone that one expects with that many kids. We have taught them that this is one way in which we can minister unexpectedly to employees and bless them for the job they do. NO one wants to be treated like hired help and when you treat someone like royalty then you may be opening up the door to minister to them later on or lift their day when they are having a really bad one. You just never know what a person is going through and if we can ease their pain or lift their day in some small way. And they are old enough now to also realize the attention that that many children in one family draw. We have told them that someone's decision to have more kids may lie in the impression our's make and watching their behaviour. With all of that in mind that is what they have been taught at home and what becomes most apparent when we are out.

These 3 ladies turned to us and we gathered everything up to leave and told us of how they had intentionally followed us out there and sat beside us because they were so intrigued by the children and how well behaved they seemed. They figured they would go sit near us and watch us while they ate. They went on to say how amazed they were by them and that they were the most well behaved group of children they had seen. They complimented each of them on certain things they had seen them do, how they were dressed, what help they were and how incredible their behaviour was. Each of them said a polite thank you except for, of course, Aubrey who hung her head upside down until she was eye to eye with them in a very upside down way. Then said thank you after bringing attention to her black patton shoes that she wore.

My heart was encouraged and we set out to conquer the rest of our to-do's. I said all of that to lead into our trip into Wal Mart. Now wearing the shirt with pride I walked in with my entourage. We only had a few things to get so it was supposed to be a quick trip in and out. I wore Gavin on my back and Grant and Garrett were in the double stroller. Garrison has proven himself to be quite the walker that can keep up responsibly so he is allowed to walk now on certain occasions and when there are no crowds so he can easily be kept track of. Of course, Grant is jealous of this fact. But Grant being Grant lolligags around and trails behind by a mile as he browses his way through at his own pace and convenience. So his freedom has not yet come. In Garrett's sleep deprived state growing agitation has now set in. Being behind Grant he takes to bopping him on the head with anything and everything he can find or reach. Grant, in his huffy state over being pinned up in the stroller, is now outraged at the injustices of life and that he has to be imprisoned with Garrett. So, they take off and start an all out war. I gently and quietly seek to reprimand while speeding up the process of getting through. In the meantime Brad has gotten a call to await an incoming flight crew, taxi them to the hospital and then deposit them back at their plane and doesn't know when he will be able to talk again. So, he tried giving me his list of needed items for the next day's OT shift on the medic out at the Eldorado situation. At this point they were requiring a fully staffed medic be out there at all times and he was one of the ones to sign up for it. We went through a hurriedly put together list of needed items to get through his upcoming 12 hr day stationed there all while I was trying to reign in Evye and Aubrey who were now tearing up and down the isles with glee and Grayson was picking anything and everything up asking to get it. Garrett was still beating the crap out of Grant with everything he could find and Grant was smacking him back. Having longer arms he could just reach far enough to bop his head and send him into fits of helacious cries. At this point I am looking for anything and everything that will somewhat cover up on my shirt what it broadcasts in bright pink bold letters. The looks we were getting now were far from the precious adoring looks that were given in Rosa's. I deposited a rowdy Aubrey into the toddler seat of the grocery cart and pushed her closely in an effort to kind of blur the words on my shirt. I backed Gavin up into some hanging pans on the kitchen isle and I'm sure all 7 million square feet of Wal Mart heard the pan hit the tile floor just as Grayson and Garrison were yelling back and forth to each other from one isle to another thinking for some reason it was hysterically funny and for some unknown reason would send the two of them along with Evye and Aubrey into fits of laughter. It was funny enough and obnoxious enough that I finally started laughing. I reigned them all in and gave them the "within an inch of you life" talk and all seemed to quiet down a little. We finally checked out as the same familiar conversation started up with the register lady. Read shirt, count kids watch in awe...or horror depending on who you ask....and then the life long story of her parenting journey and how off track it has gotten. She went back to work just to get away from her 4 yr old. It was so sad to me. Despite the ups and downs and harried moments there is still something within me that longs to be with them and raise them up to be the absolute best they can be, not only for me but for the rest of their entire lives. To give them the tools to make the most of themselves and to equip them with the confidence, level headedness, values and ethics to make it all happen. She went on to say that her husband gives in to her son's every whim, need and want and they have now raised a nightmare. And she thinks the damage is irreversible. So we stood and talked and I offered her what comfort and encouragement I could, praying all the while that the Lord would speak through me in a way that would lift her heart up and minister in ways that I could not. It was now nearing 10 and Grant had released himself from the stroller, with permission from Grayson, so that he could share as the gum passing out made its rounds. Having grown bored with chewing his new gum he now chased his little Rosa's car all over the floor. I talked patiently and focused on this woman's needs as I watched out of the corner of my eye in sheer horror as he touched and sat on the nasty tile. He, Garrison and Aubrey were now in fits of rolling giggles and they played. As the conversation came to a close they lady looked at them all and said in awe, "And they're all so well behaved." I laughed and just said, "Ohhhhhhh..........you should've seen us shopping." With Gavin now wearing thin and wanting his last meal of the day and no bottle on hand I ran back into Wal Mart with Evye and grabbed a few jars of baby food. We headed for the station despite Brad's absence and I fed Gavin while Grayson and Evye ran around the parking lot like wild little orphans and the others screamed that they couldn't get out too.

I couldn't help but look back at the day and laugh. I just figure from here on out that I'll wear my shirt with pride but then take a change of clothes for the 1/2 way point.