"We are so often caught up in our destination that we forget to appreciate the journey, especially the goodness of the people we meet along the way."



Today marks 29 weeks for our pregnancy - it is hard to believe it has been two months since we found out as we have done so much in those two months, and it also hard to grasp that we only have eleven weeks left (if everything goes as planned) with the knowledge that our son is alive and well in the protection of my womb. A few of my students have been saying my belly is getting big and that when Keagan kicks it means he is ready to come out. My students don't know what is going on with our little guy, but my response is always "No, he's not ready yet and I want him to stay in there a little longer!" Again, I want to thank all of you for following us on our journey as we carry Keagan for "a little longer" and helping us enjoying every day with him! Thank you also for your continued prayers and words - as I have said before, they really help us get through each day. In addition, over the past few weeks, we have received some special gifts from some wonderful people!

 



Another gift from the wonderful Katie! She made this beautiful wreath for baby Keagan. I can't believe the amount of time and patience she must have put into this craft, and we are so appreciative of it. Not only that, but I know the amount of love she put into making it greatly exceeds the time and patience. She is such an awesome person who does these amazing acts simply out of the kindness of her heart. I am so thankful she is involved in Keagan's life and apparently he is too. Last week we were at volleyball and I commented on him moving a lot. While I was talking to Katie he got really active and she was able to feel him move on the first try :) We love you Katie, and obviously Keagan does too!!!

 

I LOVE flowers and I also love one of my best friends, Jessica, who delivered these a few weeks ago. There is a funny story of how Jessica and I met, but the friendship we have developed has been so strong and amazing. When I scheduled our 4D ultrasound, I asked her if she wanted to come, but unfortunately she wasn't able to because of work. So she brought these flowers over the next day just to let us know she cared and wanted to be there - I had no doubt of this but am very thankful for her and for this gesture. 

This book is from one of our volleyball players and her mom, Mollie and Pam. I have never heard of this book before, but it is so cute! Here I go - "digging deeper" again :) It is obviously about a dad cutting down a tree. The book starts off talking about the things that would come of the tree when it had been cut down, and they all seemed like good things at the time. But as the child continues to think of the effects of cutting down the tree, he realizes everything he would miss if the tree were cut down. Ultimately he decides that dad should not cut down the tree, because even though there were some positves to it being cut down, the things he would miss greatly outweighed them. Of course, I can find a connection from this book to our journey :) Just over two months ago, we were faced with the decision of carrying Keagan to term or inducing much earlier. As I mentioned in a previous post, there did seem to be positives to inducing early, mainly that we thought we wouldn't have to deal with some of the hard emotions so often if we delivered early. As we continued to process, we decided to carry to term so that we could enjoy our son's life, have more time with him and have the opportunity for a miracle to be performed. Looking back now, I realize if we would have induced early we would have missed out on so many things - so many kicks, so many firsts, so many minutes of enjoying Keagan just as he is. Just as the boy is happy with his decision to keep the tree, we are so happy and at peace with our decision to carry Keagan to term.

 

Earlier this month, I went to a baby shower for my cousin, Cindy; she is due in April with a little boy. It was a beautiful shower and I was so glad that I was able to be there and share in the celebration of her pregnancy and baby. Even though this was her day, Cindy was thinking of me - not only of how I would be emotionally, but she also brought a gift for us. This is something else I have never heard of, but is also something that I love. Rockabye Baby has several different bands, but Cindy found out that I loved the Beatles so that was the CD she got us. It is very unique - it has several Beatles songs but they are all lullabies, played entirely instrumental. It is very relaxing and I enjoy getting to listen to it while spending some quiet time with Keagan. Thank you Cindy!

This gift set is from one of my (former) co-workers, Annie. I say former because we are no longer in the same school, but I love to stop back over and check in with her. Annie is such an amazing and thoughtful person. She said that her daughters loved this book, and I love the message in the book and enjoy reading it to Keagan and using it as a chance to tell him how much I love him. I think the mini version is adorable along with the perfectly sized little rabbit! I have packed this away with our hospital things because I think it would be adorable to incorporate these into some of Keagan's newborn pictures! Thank you so much Annie!

This picture frame is from one of the aides in our classroom, Rainie, her husband, Eran, and daughter, Eleisea. The quote is absolutely perfect, and Rainie said that is exactly what her family thought when they saw it. It says "Baby Precious one, so small, so sweet, dancing in on angel feet, straight from heaven's brightest star, what a miracle you are!" This is true of Keagan in so many ways! It looks beautiful on the dresser in the nursery, and I am incredibly grateful for your thoughtfulness Rainie, Eran and Eleisea. You are amazing people and I am so glad you are part of our journey!

Our family is so incredibly thankful for our church family. Roy shared our story a few weeks ago and there has been an amazing response of support that has totally blown us away. Sharing was emotional for us, but definitely a good thing. Right after Roy finished telling the congregation, one of the women in the church asked if they could pray for us. We went to the front of the church and many members of our church family gathered around us just to pray for our journey and Keagan. It was a truly great experience and brings happy tears to my eyes to think about. Not only that, but one of the women in the church, Raven, felt led to start a prayer group for us. Between Raven and our pastor's wife, Crissy, they organized for women in the church to meet every Sunday before church to pray for our family and for any needs of others. I am so thankful for this group of women that come together. While it is sometimes emotional for me, it is amazing to know that we have those people praying for Keagan and us every week and to know that the whole church is supportive. And when I say whole church, I truly mean that. These adorable signs were made by the kids/teens of the church. Crissy told me the kids understand that Keagan is sick and that he needs a lot of prayers. She gave these signs and pictures to me after church two weeks ago except for the one on the bottom right corner. One of the little girls, whom I have never talked to before, walked up to me and said in the sweetest little voice, "This is for baby Keagan." This too brings me to tears. I think of this group of kiddos as Keagan's firsts friends and I am so thankful for all of them, their loving hearts and actually for their naivety to our situation. Because they don't fully understand everything that is going on, they are a good reminder of the things that really matter on our journey. (If you can, click on the picture and try to read some of the things the kids wrote. I love their words!)