More Sledding Fun!

Here's another video of Molly sledding.

Sledding in the Back Yard

We had a longer, much more entertaining video that I couldn't get to upload to the blog.....so, this is what you get. She's still pretty cute, though.

It's only Friday.....

....but, it FEELS like Saturday! To me, that is one of life's great rewards. Once again, while we were sleeping last night, it snowed......and HOLY COW, did we get snow! Molly, Gretchen and I slept in this morning (another one of life's great rewards is a child that will sleep late when I want them to) and Chris worked from home all day because he couldn't really go anywhere. So, when he was finished doing what he needed to do, he and Molly headed outside to shovel us out.

My job was to keep an eye on Gretchen and run outside on occasion to take pictures. Molly had a big time building snow castles....of which I never did get a good picture. If I didn't have an infant to look after this fine winter season, I might have constructed something like this...

...or maybe even something like this...

And, if I had a couple of extra hours, I might even build something like this...

But, because I have an infant to care for this winter, you'll just have to wait.

ANYWAY, I got to thinking about how much I would've loved growing up where it snows. Snowplows are really cool. I know I would've gotten a kick out of them when I was little. They have the ability to move HUGE amounts of snow effortlessly...something I now have great respect for....which causes me to rethink the whole "growing up where it snows" dream. I'm sure my father would've had me out shoveling the driveway and I can imagine that I wouldn't have enjoyed that very much. But, I do love hearing the plows come down the road at all hours of the night. It's a pretty cozy feeling and, in case you haven't noticed, cozy is one of my favorite feelings.

Here's a plow coming up the hill in front of our house....

....and going....

For those random folks who might read my blog, I apologize for the "cheese" factor. I do this mostly for the grandparents.

Here are a few more pictures of our fun.

Coffee filter snowflakes.....

cozyness.....

Chris' hard work....because shoveling snow is only fun the first time.....

a little girl having SO much fun......

the silver maple in the front yard.....

She pretty much wallowed in the snow all afternoon.....

and, if you can find my car, would you please get my sewing machine out of the trunk?

And, for good measure, here's the littlest Dempsey!

She had her own fun inside....mostly napping.

Snow

I have to say, being from South Georgia where I grew up with stifeling humidity and big bugs, I don't know that I'll ever get used to seeing snow falling outside my door. I pray God always keeps it fresh for me. The feeling of being snowed in (not like 5 feet of snow piled high against my door, but snow that's big enough that I have to shovel myself two little pig tracks to get out of the driveway....but even when I DO get out of the driveway, there's no place to go because everything's closed) is the most wonderfully coziest feeling in the world. It makes me want to make a big bad breakfast (involving BACON), drink coffee/tea/cocoa all day long and get absorbed in whatever random movies come on the television. We have a 3-year-old so our "snow days" always involve sledding and snow fun in general. The last big snow we had, Chris brushed up on his Boy Scout survival skills and built a huge snow cave. Pictures of that are still on my camera, but I do have pictures from earlier snows. The one below is from about a year ago.

So last night, while we were sound asleep, the snow started piling up and we awoke this morning to a winter wonderland. Somehow, I was thankful that Molly wasn't begging us all day to go outside. She did ask once or twice, but we were able to distract her with other interesting things. The snow will still be there tomorrow....and probably for many days following.

I love the deafening quietness of snowfall. There's so much movement....so much activity....and yet, if I never look up and out of the window, I'd never know it was snowing. Of course, this made me think of Jesus. I'm am in CONSTANT motion these days. There's always something to distract me from my "center", pleasant or unpleasant. I often miss beautiful moments in my life because I don't slow down, shut up and just listen. I feel like I rob myself of so much because of this.

God is also in constant motion....always aware, always active, always working to teach and bless and discipline. He is the Quiet Presence. He is the Gentle Nudge. If I don't look up, if I don't slow down, if I don't quiet myself and listen, I might miss out on some of the most precious, beautiful moments of my life.

By the way.....

It's been so long since I've blogged on a regular basis that I'm having to back track a bit in our life so you don't miss the big stuff!

About a month after Gretchen was born, I had surgery to remove my very large thyroid (because we don't say the word, "goiter".....because it's a gross word). Anyway, a week after surgery, the pathology report revealed that I'm cancer free! This seemed to surprise every doctor in our life right now (count 'em, FIVE)....including our pediatrician. The roller coaster ride is OVER!!! Needless to say, we had quite a bit to celebrate over the holidays. Gratefulness can't begin to express our mood. We are overjoyed and moving forward with fresh perspective and insight.

Our New Addition!

On October 14th, we were completely caught off guard when our little Gretchen decided to join us an entire month early! She wasn't due until November 12th, so when I started contracting around 3PM that afternoon, I thought to myself, "Hmmmm, maybe I should go home and lie down on the couch."

Well, I didn't take my own advice and at 5PM, as I sat at my friend, Stephanie's, kitchen table, I began contracting every 5 minutes. Twenty minutes later, I was in my driveway barely able to speak, so we thought calling the Birthing Center might be a good idea. Molly was promptly packed and collected by the Fitches to spend the night at their house and off we went to the hospital.

We spent the next 6 hours trying to stop the contractions, which was a tricky process because of the thyroid disease. I received an epidural at midnight and started pushing about 25 minutes later. Gretchen Virginia was born at 12:31 AM weighing in at 6 lbs 7 oz and 20.75 inches long!

We soon discovered the reason for my early labor. I had an abruption (the placenta had separated from the uterine wall) which is a common symptom of thyroid disease. If my contractions had been stopped, it's likely that Gretchen would've been still born. PRAISE THE LORD everything happened as it did! Gretchen came into the world perfectly healthy and never had to visit the NICU.

Whoa.....

It's been WAAAAAAY too long, almost a year and a half, actually, since my last post. Life has been a whirlwind for the Dempseys....a lot of "hurry up and wait" and learning to rest in what God has for us.

In March, we learned that we were expecting our second child! The timing couldn't have been more perfect and, in some ways, we had yet to learn why. Molly has been VERY excited about baby's arrival and gives my tummy lots of hugs and kisses and talks to baby about all the things she's been learning at preschool.

Preschool!!! Oh, how I love preschool! This has been Molly's big milestone this year, aside from potty training, that is. I'm not sure who enjoys Tuesday and Thursday mornings more...me or her! She comes home reciting poems and singing songs and has arms full of cool art projects and other accomplishments. I return home feeling refreshed after a 3 hour break! Here's to hoping all of this "excitement" for school sticks!

A few months after learning I was pregnant, we learned that I have thyroid disease....something that never would've been discovered if I hadn't become pregnant when I did. More testing brought doctors to the conclusion that it is likely I have thyroid cancer. A biopsy would be pointless because of the large size of my thyroid, so we're having to wait until surgery to find out for sure if cancer is present. Surgery can't happen until after the baby's born (due date...Nov 12th!), at which point, they will remove my thyroid in it's entirety and then, I guess, we'll go from there, based on what is discovered. The good news is, if it IS cancerous, thyroid cancer is 98-99% curable. The bad news is, the longer you have it, the more likely it is to spread elsewhere. My doctors seem to think I've had it for quite some time. SO, the roller coaster ride of emotions continues! We're leaning heavy on Jesus. It's out of our hands. We're at peace with all of it and turning our focus toward our new baby! That's much more exciting to talk about, don't you think?

We found out this summer that we're having another little girl! Chris and I never dreamed we'd have SISTERS running around our house, but we couldn't be happier and look forward to meeting her. We've decided to name her Gretchen Virginia. Gretchen means "little pearl"....something we discovered a few weeks after learning about my thyroid situation. Virginia is a family name on my side. With the COUNTLESS doctors appointments (averaging 3 a week) and endless questions and concerns, this sweet baby girl is certainly the "little pearl" to come out of all of this mess.....proof to our family that God knows our name before it's ever uttered.

Needless to say, the holidays will be a crazy time for us this year! HOPEFULLY, I'll pick up this blog again before this time next year! People like me drive me nuts. Anyway, we appreciate your prayers and hope to have some positive news to report around Thanksgiving.

I'll try to post pictures soon. :o)