Memories

As we start 2011 and look forward to so many good things to come this year (the arrival of Rozlynn, Lauren and Clay's Wedding, all 3 cousins playing together, Kyle coming back to the states - just to name a few) I have spent a lot of time thinking about 2010 and the journey God has taken me through.

2010 left me with many memories and lessons that I will never forget.

1. Pregnancy #2 and the miscarriage of the baby. God taught us so much through this pregnancy (3 years of trying, many doctor visits, treatments, surgery, and diagnosis). The time of year this all occurred was so busy for us. I was busy with One Act Play, Cheer, TAKS, and Basketball season with both the boys and girls in the play-offs.
I remember the night it started happening officially (the doctor had told us it was going to, we had just been waiting for 2 1/2 weeks for it to actually happen) I was with the cheerleaders at a hotel in Austin. We were cheering for the girls in the State Semi-Final game then driving to SFA to cheer for the boys in the Regional Semi-Final and Final game, and back to Austin for the State Championship. I was in a hotel room with my friend, Frieda aka Mrs. A and her daughter, Carlee. Chris was at SFA with the boys, Katie was the girls, and Mom and Dad where at another hotel with Reese. Frieda was so supportive but I wasn't with my family. I remember very vividly going into the bathroom of that BestWestern in the middle of the night and sitting there for an hour experiencing some of the worst pain (emotional and physical) of my life. It remember getting so frustrated and mad that my family wasn't there for me (I know so selfish in the moment) but because of the circumstances I truly had to just depend on God to get me through. I had a rough night and spent many hours in that bathroom trying not to disturb Frieda. God was with me the entire time and kept reassuring me of my favorite verse (the one I quoted almost daily, the one that hung in my classroom, hung in my living room, and the one I shared with others all the time) "We know that in all things God works together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 I truly believe that this happened at the worst possible time so that I would lean only on my savior for comfort. Now, I am not saying my family didn't support me because they did and they loved me through the worst time in my life, but physically they just couldn't be with me. How amazing is our God, that He can always be with us physically. The next morning I woke up, went to the Drum to cheer for the girls and my sister, and then drove to SFA to cheer on the boys and my husband. I was able to hug my Mom that morning, hug Katie (my best friend and sister), and hug Missy (a friend who just understood me). I had 11 amazing girls with me to keep my smiling, laughing, and remind me of God's love as well as my friend, Frieda. Once we made it to Nac I got to hug Chris and see his family. Yes, it was so hard to sit in the stands, drive from Nac to Austin, put a smile on my face, and answer questions about my pregnancy when I felt like I was going to break at any moment (the community of Martin's Mill could not have loved my family more during this time and I am thankful for every question even if it hurt me to respond because each one was out of love), but I did it. God was with me, "for He hath said, 'I will never leave thee nor forsake thee," Hebrews 13:5.

The plaque that sits on our mantel and angel to remind us of our second pregnancy. My mom gave me that angel it touches me heart everytime I look at it.

2. 20 Children to love and a very special Mother's Day card. After the miscarriage I was still busy with One Act Play. I love OAP and I love the kids I get to work with. We always take the maxium number of cast and crew possible as well as alternates. These students are so inspiring they are all involved in multiple activities and successful at all of them including basketball, UIL, tennis, and track. The truly understand commitment and what it means to be a team. They have been with me through the years trying to get pregnant (they didn't know specifically but they had seen me through surgery and treatments). They were so excited when I became pregnant for the second time, some them were just as excited as me, they were just like my family. So, they went through the miscarriage with me and many of them shared in the pain I was experiencing, they were so sweet. I tried to be honest with them throughout because I wanted them to learn that God is amazing and what was happening was very sad and hard to take, but God was there and His glory would be seen. I told them before our Regional performance that God had not yet given me multiple children of my own but he had given me ALL OF THEM 20 OF HIS CHILDREN TO LOVE. Which I believed with every part of my soul, this is why I love being a teacher because I get to see God's children, build a relationship with them, and love them. I never really thought about what that meant to them, but God did. On our way home from Regional OAP we stopped at a convinence store, they had these gigantic Mother's Day cards and several of the students were buying them, I helped some of them pick some out, etc. What they didn't know was hard Mother's Day was for me, it had only been weeks since the miscarriage and it was just really hard. The weekend before Mother's Day we were having a pep-rally for all the UIL state qualifiers, and at the end of the pep-rally they announced a OAP meeting on the court. I thought this was weird because our season was done, but I went ahead and went down. I was then surrounded by the entire cast and crew who presented me with a giant Mother's Day card full of kind words along with many hugs and tears. It was so overwhelming to me that God knew how much I was hurting and he used those sweet kids who I loved to remind me of His love for me. It was such a special moment and I will never forget it!




The sweet card the OAP Cast and Crew of 2010 gave me for Mother's Day.

 3. Our move to Yantis. I was so against moving to Yantis when Chris first mentioned to me he was going to interview. They were a rival in our district, some of the students from Yantis had thrown and broken Reese's toys at a game in Martin's Mill - I just had a bad taste for them. I was at the Daniel's house swimming with Reese (which was a weekly activity for us in the summer) when Chris got back from the interview. I remember him walking up telling me that Mr. Oakley had already called and offered him the job, and a job for me as well. My immediate response was, no. I was really struggling with supporting my husband not letting my feelings hinder his ministry. I agreed to go and meet with Mr. Oakley a few days later to talk about a job for me and the school. Chris and I had spent the entire night before fighting (well not really fighting but in honest discussion of our feelings) about the possibility of this move. I LOVED and still LOVE Martin's Mill, my sister and her family is there, the staff and community are amazing, and they have given me nothing but love for seven years. I prayed for God to be in control not my feelings and that I would not get in the way of His will. After meeting with Mr. Oakley I was 100% okay with Chris taking the job. Mr. Oakley has the same desire to serve God and reach children, and he made it clear that many others would be in support of that same thing. We could see opportunity for us to be like Christ to the students of Yantis.

It has turned out to be true, the staff are so kind, and we have both got to share our love of Christ to students. Yes, it has been hard with me not being able to work and not feeling like I am not a real member of the team yet, but I know God wanted us here at Yantis. We clung to Romans 8:28 yet again as we moved from our family and our comfort zone.

3. Pregnancy #3 - Rozlynn Faith has taught us so much. The journey it took to conceive her and now the journey it is taking to get her here with us. After being placed on "bed rest" for the remainder of my pregnancy and 8 weeks past delivery we have experienced many more struggles. I can't do as much as I used to, the house is never clean, the laundry is never done, I can't be the coach's wife I want to be for Chris, and I can't do as much with Reese as I want to. Not to mention that I can't work so we are only getting Chris' pay check. We keep telling ourselves not to worry and to just trust God that he will provide for us. HE HAS.

My first two months off of work met us with an amazing blessing. I have said before how wonderful the staff and community of Martin's Mill truly are and here is proof that they are living out Galatians 6:2 "carry each other's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ." Even though we no longer work with or live in the community with these people the staff put together a fundraiser at a basketball game were they auctioned off pies in our honor. They gave us over $1300. Wow, it still brings me to tears - it is so humbling to experience a gift like this. We had a hard time swallowing our pride and taking this kind of blessing, but we told God over and over we trusted Him, who are we to control the way he chooses to provide?

As if that was not enough a few weeks later the Women's Ministry of Martin's Mill Baptist put together a stocking of our pantry. We received 3 boxes of food and $200 in gift cards. This totaled $1500 and a pantry full of groceries God provided for us, we are so very thankful for the people of Martin's Mill and their willingness to listen to God and do His work. We have used and are still using this items while I am out of work.

Rozlynn will have many stories to hear about her "special" pregnancy. I hate wearing this pump, I hate being sick every day, I hate that I am still throwing up 2-4 times a week, I hate the headaches the Zophran causes, I want to sleep without being connected to tubes, but I know it is all worth it and I would go through every bit of this again for this sweet little girl.

Rozlynn Faith, I cannot wait to meet you, to hold you, and to see what God has planned for your life.

4. Reese on the journey. Man, it has been so hard for me in 2010 but Reese went through it all. Reese wanted a brother or sister so badly, he prayed for one every night, and it was really hard on him when pregnancy #2 did not make it full term. Before I found out I was pregnant the second time Reese told me one night that he had a brother and a sister. Reese had been praying for one before the second pregnancy. He told me that some nights he gets to see them, they come to his room a boy and girl but it is not time for them to be with him yet. He told me then he named them Matthew and Carlee. I just smiled and laughed, but the more I look back on this moment the more I am amazed. I believe there is nothing more innocent than a child and that they have a connection with Christ and I also believe that Christ was comforting Reese with these dreams of his brother and his sister. We do not know if the baby we lost was a boy, but a part of me like to think he was.

Before we told Reese about the 3rd pregnancy (we waited just because it was so hard on him the first time) we were driving home from school one day and Reese asked me when he was going to get a brother or sister? He said I know I have one in Heaven with Jesus, but I just want with me to kiss before I leave for school each morning. He was crying and asking why his brother had to be with Jesus. It was so hard for me not telling him there was another one...but I didn't let him know then. Reese was so excited when we told him he was going to be a big brother. He already is the best big cousin and big brother anyone could ask for. He talks and kisses Rozlynn and always prays for her. He bought her presents at Christmas (his own idea) and is already worried that she doesn't have enough toys and clothes. He is so unselfish, I wish I was more like him. I try to talk to him about when Rozlynn gets here and how life will be different. One night we were talking and I told him that the baby would sleep in Mom and Dad's room for a little while, but he would still have to sleep in his room. We've talked about Rozlynn crying a lot and keeping him up. However when we talked about Mommy having to hold Rozlynn a lot and might not get to hold Reese as much my heart was melted. He began to cry. I was thinking, okay he is finally going to talk about himself. I asked him if that upset him or would make him feel sad. He said, "not me Momma what about Nathan, won't you still hold him because it will hurt him if you don't. He doesn't live with us so we have to hold and hug him when we see him" WOW! He was worried about how Nathan would be feeling.

Reese doing one of his favorite things!

Reese Austin you are such an amazing boy. You have a heart for others and I cannot wait to see how God uses your love for people. You are an inspiration to me, and I love you so very much!


The Hightower family cannot wait to see what God teaches us in 2011, and how our new blessings will shape our family. Lauren is joining us in March - she has been such a blessing to Clay and our family I couldn't have asked for a better sister-in-law and aunt for Reese and Rozlynn. (They are getting already have an amazing Gigi and I know Aunt Lauren will be just as special) Rozlynn arriving in April - she already has it good between Gammy and Gigi (Gigi is what Reese calls Katie, he said Rozlynn could call her Aunt Katie - maybe he is a little selfish with his Gigi - she spoils him so much) her room and closet is staring to grow.

We are so blessed!

Under Construction

Hey! It's been forever since I updated, my blog is under construction but I have several blogs I'm working on. I"ll be back into the blogging world real soon =)

Chosen Love

http://thelorickfamily.blogspot.com/

Check out this blog of one of my friends, Jenna Lorick. Read her story and buy her CD, it's great and will bless you in many ways. What her family is doing is truly God inspired and amazing, you don't want to miss this.

The Pump

 

I have really struggled with not getting pictures of "the pump" recently, but today I decided that it needed to be documented, hopefully one day I can look back at all of this and just smile.

So here goes...

I have what is called Hyperemesis Gravidarum - I've been told it happens to about 3% of pregnant women. I also had it with Reese but it was not as severe as it is with this pregnancy. Here is link to a website the explains a little about it if you are clueless.

 http://www.hyperemesis.org/

Anyway,

I have been hooked up to a pump that keeps Zofran in  my system 24/7 - it has been a week and a half now on the pump. Results... well I'm getting better. I only vomit every 2 days or so now, and the most is 3 times in a day...but the last time was just 2 instead of the 8/10 plus. I have gone from being nauseated 24/7 to only 6-8 hours a day. I actually ate real food this weekend, didn't keep it all down, but it was better than chicken noodle soup and crackers.  My family has been so good to me, I know it's hard to put up with this version of Stacy. I really can't do much, I can sit on the couch, sometimes ride in the car, and usually watch TV, but more than that in one day is a little much. I'm grumpy, tired, and very emotional (all great signs that the baby is doing just perfect). I just haven't been much of wife or mother - okay I have not been one the past 3 plus weeks. I am just very thankful for this baby and know that it will all be worth it in April. (My doctor did hint to the fact that this should be my last pregnancy...I think he is right on that one)

I was really nervous about the pump, having to change my site - I am not a big fan of needles so I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do...but I must say, I feel like a pro now - it's not that bad and I use and ice pack to numb my tummy each time so I don't feel it. The only thing that hurts is when I need to change the site because of the Zofran being rough on the skin...and it doesn't look pretty. The little places are read and some bruised, but that is a VERY small price to pay for feeling better.

Here are some pictures of what my site and pump look like



The pump and syringe - the syringe is changed every 20 hours

This is the site



This is the super cool and stylish bag that attaches around my hips...you know you want one!

Well, now I have documented this part of my journey with such a little blessing. I go back to the doctor tomorrow, and we will see if I can go back to work this week as well as check the baby. So far the baby is doing great, he/she gets everything first so it just takes a lot for me to recover from an episode. Even though I am very frustrated, tired, emotional, sometimes mad, and constantly sick I would not change one thing I am going through because I know God is blessing me with a little miracle.

"He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Fall Fun

WOLVERINE

CUTE CLOWN AND AUNT STACY

Last weekend we had 2 Fall Carnivals to attend. Friday we had one at Yantis, I did not get to go but the rest of my family did and Katie took lots of pictures for me. Then on Saturday we had one at Martin's Mill. I had planned on trying to go, after getting off the couch and putting on my clothes and fixing me hair (I think my hair had forgotten what it felt like to be fixed, it had been that long) I got really sick. I called for a demand dose of Zofran in my pump and hoped that in 30 minutes I would be feeling better. I armed myself with sprite and crackers since I have to sip and eat every twenty minutes and we headed to The Mill. I made it through the costume contest without feeling too bad, but I was just sitting on the floor in the gym and had enough sweet little kids to keep my mind off of the sickness. Then we headed out to the games, I did good for about the first 5 games, but once we headed in to check out all of the "baskets" to be auctioned and let everyone else eat some dinner I was pretty much done for the night. I managed to watch the boys play a few more games but was very thankful to get back to Katie's house. Katie let us stay the night which helped as well. Here are some pictures of the weekend, I am so lucky to have such a great support system and such cute little boys to make me feel so much better!

Here are some pictures from night one at Yantis =)

Reese and Nathan on their favorite thing at the Yantis Fall Festival =)

Thanks for taking us, we had so much fun!

I love my Mom's face in the picture, you can tell that she lives for her family, she loves all of us so much! Man, we are lucky to have her and each other!

Fishing Game

Create-a-Ghost, Reese thought this was pretty awesome

Nathan figured out how to win this game!

Fall Festival Night 2 at Martin's Mill

 Costume Contest...he was one of 4 who tied for 1st place, meaning he got tickets to play games! Nathan tied for first too, but I wasn't over there to take a picture.

 Reese sliding down, first game of the night.

 Nathan sliding, it was his favorite! I think you can tell by his face, looks like Katie enjoyed it too!

Got to see Mrs. A at the GT sucker pull booth =) starting the night off with candy!

Reese playing "plinko" he kept winning big prizes and only ended up with a few pieces of candy. 

Throwing the dice...his best bud Ty G. got to go around with us for a little bit, he is the super cook Army man, he had a gun and everything! 

Nathan picking a duck from the pond.  

 Reese taking Nathan around, he is so sweet to him, and Nathan loves it too, he would only let Reese tell him which way to go!

 Spinning the wheel, this booth had the Ranger game playing...Chris wanted to stay for a while.

 Nathan spinning the wheel.

 One crazy Wolverine...he was sweating and rubbing off his paint =) He loves this picture!

 Hoop the Mustang - Reese was pretty good at this one - Nathan was taking notes for his turn.

Thank you PawPaw and Gammy for taking me around this weekend! I love you - Reese

I'm not sure who was more worn out by the end of the night...the boys or the grandparents...I love this picture though...we tried to get Nathan in the picture, but he was really tired and wanted to play ball with the cute girls =)

Pumpkins

Last weekend Uncle and Lauren came to see us! On Saturday we carved pumpkins...it was our first time and we had a lot of fun.

This pictures is staged...Reese would NOT stick his hand inside the pumpkin to get the "guts" out. He made Momma do it, but he was willing to pose with them as though he had done the work. He did sit beside me and cheer me on as I cleaned it out.

Reese and I carving "his" pumpkin. Excuse my looks I had been so sick all week long...my family didn't care though we just had a good time together.

Lauren carving her pumpkin. Poor Lauren, the boys are always trying to find something to pick on her about. She's so much fun!

Reese working hard on his bat...you can see Uncle Clay sitting and staring at his pumpkin...he was the last to finish, but he did free hand his design!

Uncle Clay carving out his pumpkin - he had to start over a few times, but it ended up looking good.

Reese and his bat - he was so proud!

Lauren's cat

The cat and bat waiting for Uncle Clay to finish!

Uncle Clay's bat in the moon.

All three together - I think we did a pretty good job for our first time carving pumpkins. We had such a great day with Uncle Clay and Lauren, we love them so much! Then on Sunday we got to see Gigi, Nathan, and Uncle Matthew as well as visit with two great families in Martin's Mill, it was a great weekend! I needed it after the week that I had.  

The Three R's

Reading, Rangers, and Reese

This past weekend was one of the past I have had in a long time!

The weekend started with Reese getting an award for his Reading - his ability to read his sight words! This made one happy reading teacher Mom. =) Here are a few pictures of the little guy.

Then on Saturday we went to our first Rangers play-off game with Katie and Matthew. I got up at 6:30 and fried chicken breasts and baked cookies for a tailgate lunch. The atmosphere was amazing! Even though we blew the lead with only 5 outs to clinch the series it was  A BLAST!!! The best game I have ever been to, despite the temperature and the 51,746 people crowded in the stadium. I really needed a day of relaxing fun with my 3 closest friends (Chris, Katie, and Matthew).

Ryan and Amanda were at the game and came and tailgated with us! It was so fun to see so many people at the game 3 hours before it started.

I hate my pregnant self in these pictures...so I tried to stay out of as many as possible.=) I love Chris so much! He is my closet friend and my beloved. I'm so blessed to be married to him.

They were free!

Love my sister so much! She's my best friend! Katie bought us tokens and we stood in line with the kids and got tattoos!

Love these two cats! Like I said it was very hot in the bleachers the first 30 minutes.

Claw and Antlers were everywhere!

This lady cracked Katie and I up all game..."hit it right here..."

Phillips, Craig, and Dean sang God Bless America during the 7th inning stretch :)

This guy was a few seats down and did a great job with the bull horn during the game!

Right after Kinsler's solo shot! He is Katie's boy!

Only in Texas...even though they didn't get the sweep it was so much fun!

I have to end the post with some pictures of Reese. As you know, if you have read my blog before, Reese loves to cook. He wanted to make a Halloween cake tonight, and my pregnant stomach could not tell him no. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

I had to start with this picture!

I didn't get pictures of him mixing it all together this time...so we just started with the icing. This was the first time Reese used a bundt pan =)

His face shows the concentration that he puts into his work...LOL!

Sprinkles...

He made a pumpkin if you couldn't tell. =)