Showing At 9 Weeks

I know that every pregnancy is different and with every pregnancy your abdominal muscles get weaker and weaker, but I have to say that I was not prepared for how early I would be showing this time around. I have already started to show and in the past two days, I have noticed that I am already starting to feel ligaments pulling...what is up with that?! That didn't happen until closer to 18 weeks with both girls. Oh well. Other than being totally exhausted (and now showing) I would never know that I am pregnant. I have not felt sick even once and I love that part of it. But I feel like I could sleep at any time...and for a long time. I can't wait to take the Intelligender test in a few weeks to see if it tells me this is a little boy or girl. I have been having the baby boy fever lately. It seems like I think about it constantly. I know I can't do anything about it, but I wanted to prepare my heart if this is a little girl. Shelly told me yesterday that she didn't realize I wanted a boy that bad. I said, "I didn't either!" I asked Ken last night if he would be disappointed if it was a girl. My sweet husbands reply was, "No. Not at all. I am not sure I want a boy. I know my girls. And I love them." I thought that was the sweetest thing and it really helped me to be okay with whatever God gives us. I was looking at the girls walking into church this morning and I thought to myself that we would be just fine with another girl. She would fit just perfectly. Either way, I will have a hint in a few weeks when I take this test that is supposed to be over 80% accurate. Can't wait!

And Baby Makes Five!

We recently found out that we will be adding a fifth member to the Rushing family. I am almost 8 weeks pregnant so we are expecting baby Rushing to make his/her arrival around the end of January or beginning of February. I have been waiting anxiously to make sure that we had a heartbeat and to get pictures of the baby to post it on the blog and tell everyone. One would think that I would remember after the previous two babies that the first ultrasound pictures reveal nothing more than a small peanut-shaped object inside of a black hole. What I also forgot is that how much seeing that small peanut-shaped object and watching its tiny little heart beating would melt my heart. We are so excited to welcome the new baby to our family and hopefully I will be able to make the time to keep everyone posted about the happenings with baby.

We Love You, Julia!

For those of you that don't know, Julia is a foreign exchange student from Germany that has been part of our family for the past nine months. She came to live with us last September and has been part of our lives ever since. Her family came to America a couple of weeks ago. They came to visit the United States and then return home with their daughter that they haven't seen in almost a year. I know that Julia was so happy to see her family. I was excited for her to get to see them, especially her mother. I cannot imagine being separated from my girls for that long.
Today Julia and her family are returning home to Germany. I am so glad that she is with her family again. But I have to be honest, it is quite different around here this evening. We feel like a member of our family is gone. She has been such a part of everything that we do and a part of our everyday lives, that it is difficult to imagine what it will be like now. Ken and I walked into her room tonight and both commented that the room will never be the same. It is Julia's room now.
Julia, by the time you read this, you will be back in your own home. You will be in your own room. And you will sleep in your own bed tonight. You are far away from us now, but you will forever be in our hearts. You will always be in our prayers. We will always remember your sweet spirit. Ashlyn thanked God for you tonight. We hope that we were able to make your dream of being a foreign exchange student something that is a great memory for you. You have a space in our hearts that will never go away. We love you and we will miss you. And this is not goodbye. It is only "see you later".