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Ethan is 2! September 15, 2009

Filed under: Uncategorized — elizabethholloway @ 12:24 pm
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9-13-09 075We had a great weekend celebrating Ethan’s second birthday.  I wanted to do something special for him since my mom is throwing a party for him.  So, I figured I could at least bake my little boy some cupcakes.  After searching the internet, I found some pretty cute Cookie Monster cupcakes, right up his alley.  I was happy with how they turned out, so was Ethan.

We had a meager budget for Ethan’s birthday presents.  He doens’t need much, but the more I see the more I want to give him!  I see so many things and think to myself, E would love that.  While preparing to celebrate Ethan’s birthday I was able to reflect on this passage is Matthew 7 (ESV)  in a way that I was unable to before I had children. 

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Certainly I am evil, but it is true, I know how to give Ethan a good gift.  God is willing and waiting to give us good things, he just wants us to ask him.  How much would it show God’s glory if there was something we wanted, asked God for it, and got it.  It would show His glory in a great way.  We have already seen God’s glory in asking him to help us with our debt.  He has done incrediable things with our finances which has allowed us to pay off all our debts but one (which we are diligently working on paying of).  It is only a matter of time before he continues to show his great glory by allowing us to pay off our last debt quickly too.

 

Long while September 10, 2009

Filed under: Money,Uncategorized — elizabethholloway @ 1:43 pm

It’s been a long while aye?  Being the mother of two gives me a lot to keep up with!  I can’t imagine what things will be like when I have more (and am homeschooling).  Or maybe I just need to manage my time better (yeah, that’s really it).  We’ve been doing a lot of fun things this summer.  We have been taking the boys on picnics, to the zoo, parks, museums, the mall, and just spending time together.

8-4-09 001

 

 

We are now the proud owners of a 2007 Hyundai Elentra.  We are well on our way to becoming debt  free. This  goal has become even more important to us in the recent months.  We noticed that we have been slacking a bit on paying things off so quickly.  We are doing well, yes, but we haven’t been pursuing it with quite the same vigor as a year ago.  We noticed we were not really praying for God to work through our finances to help us pay off our debt more quickly.  Recommitting to that prayer has helped us gain a better perspective on using our finances to help others the best we can while we get out of debt.

God already answered a prayer of ours as soon as it was out of our mouths and we were able to come to one mind as to how to spend some of our money.  He is so good!

Hopefully, I’m back on the ball again and will be posting soon.

 

Birth Story-Titus James April 7, 2009

Filed under: Uncategorized — elizabethholloway @ 7:11 pm

Two weeks have now  passed since we were blessed with Titus.  I wanted to share my experience.

I woke up Sunday morning (March 22) at about 1:30am and my water had broke.  It was just a trickle every once in a while, no big gush.  I tried to go back to bed but couldn’t sleep.  I knew there was no immediate rush to go to the hospital because I was not yet feeling contractions.  I woke Trevor up a while later to let him know that my water broke but told him to go back to sleep.  At about 2:30am I began feeling menstraul like cramps.  I was not sure if they were contractions or not because when I had Ethan I was induced and those contractions felt different to me.  The cramps continued to get stronger and more painful.

I woke Trevor up at about 5am and told him we should call the doctor and see if we should go to the hospital.  Our doctor told us to make our way to the hospital.  Trevor took a quick shower so he wouldn’t be smelly during labor (thanks Trevor) while I finished packing our bags (one for us, one for Ethan).  We woke Ethan up to leave only to find he had thrown up in his bed overnight 😦  I felt so bad leaving him when he was not feeling well, and I couldn’t believe I was up that whole time and didn’t know he had puked! 

We then took Ethan to our friends house and checked into the hospital around 6am.  I was checked and was 3cm dialated and 90% effaced (the last time I was checked at 38 weeks I was 0cm and 50% effaced).  I got a hep-lock put in and continued to labor on a birth ball we brought with us to the hospital.  We called our parents to let them know I was in labor.  Trevor also called our friend Jenny who was going to help us. 

The birth ball worked very well during my contractions and Trevor massaged my back and was so sweet and encouraging.  The contractions were getting more painful and we asked the nurse about getting into the shower or tub.  Our doctor has told us at an office visit I would be allowed in the shower, but when the nurse called to ask her she said no shower or tub.  We were disapointed in that and I was upset. 

At that point my contractions were becoming very painful and I had to get into the bed for a check.  I labored in bed on my side  for a while but I told Trevor I needed an epidural or some kind of drugs (we had wanted to have a natural birth with no medications and had been studying and practicing the Bradley Method of childbirth).  He of course tried to talk me out of it because he know how much I wanted to avoid medicine during labor.  But I knew the two things to say that would let Trevor know I was serious and I needed and wanted some pain medication.  I told him Iwas panicked and I was unable to relax (the whole idea behind the Bradley Method of labor is to relax during contractions so the uterus can work effieciently).  Trevor then knew I was serious.  We talked about our options with the nurse and decided upon an epidural because it does not cross the placenta.  It was about 15 minutes until I was able to get the epidural.  We decided that the epidural was the best decsion becaue if I could not relax my uterus could not do it’s work effectively.  We were also apprehensive because sometimes an epidural can stall labor, but thankfully it didn’t, it just slowed it down.

At this point it was 9am.  The nurse checked me and I was 8cm dialated!  That was great becaue I was in transition, the hardest part of labor, no wonder my contractions were so intense.  I then was able to rest for a while and by about 11:45am I was 10cm and ready to have a baby.

Pushing was very exhausting, but Trevor and Jenny were so helpful and encouraging.  The pushing was by far the hardest for me because besides being tired I was very emotionally exhausted thinking about my last labor and how long I had pushed for that the end result of that labor was a c-section.  The clock on the wall was staring me in the face the whole time (I had pushed for about 2 hours with Ethan before my doctor decided to get the opinion of an OBGYN).  I was getting nervous that I would be unable to have my VBAC.  At that point my epidural was wearing off and I was once again in pain. 

We then had a decsion to make.  Should I get more medicine or not?  We didn’t want to get more medicine because then my pushing could be less effective because I wouldn’t be able to feel it.  I could tell from the nurse that we may be in for the long haul.  She suggested that we have the doctor come in to acess my progress and see if she thought an episotomy would speed things up. 

Our doctor came in and checked on my progress.  She said that she believed an episotompy would get the baby out soon or she could try the vacum if I wanted.  I was worn out from pushing and we decided to get an episotomy hoping it would move things along.  Well, not only did it move things along, but the Titus was born about 3 contractions later at 1:48pm.  He weighed 9lbs and was 19 inches long. 

I cannot even describe how wonderful it felt when I saw Titus and he was put on my chest immediatly, oh how I ached to have that with Ethan’s birth.  Trevor and I are so happy and pleased with how everything went.

 

It’s D Day! March 19, 2009

Filed under: Uncategorized — elizabethholloway @ 12:22 pm

Today is my due date, that means I only have 2 weeks and 4 days or less of being pregnant! We can’t wait to meet Titus and are exited for labor and delivery to begin.
We are praying that I have a successful VBAC with no medications, no tearing, and a healthy baby and mommy. We are also praying that breastfeeding would go well.  Please join us in praying.

 Although he was told he would get laid off we found out last week his company decided to keep Trevor and 3 other agents through April and most likely through the summer. We are not convinced of the stability of his current job. Trevor was in the process of interviewing with State Farm and continued the process.   Yesterday, he got offered a job working for an agent at State Farm Insurance.  We are both excited for him to start his new job!  He will begin April 1st.  He will get a base salary that will be enough to cover our basic needs but he will also earn commission.  I know he will do wonderful and can’t wait for him to start!  I know he will enjoy this job much more than working at the call center and I’m sure he will blossom as an agent. 

I won’t make any promises, but I hope my next post is to announce the birth of Titus and his birth story.

 

Paul Washer’s Shocking Message January 28, 2009

Filed under: Uncategorized — elizabethholloway @ 3:03 pm

Trevor and I listened to this message a bit ago. It got both of us really thinking about the state of Christianty in the United States today. It also got us thinking about our own personal walks with Christ and made us examine ourselves as Scripture commands. I hope you find it as thought and prayer provoking as we did.

Here is the link. I would love to hear what you think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuabITeO4l8

 

3rd Trimester December 18, 2008

Filed under: Uncategorized — elizabethholloway @ 7:13 am
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I’m in the my third trimester today!  The time has gone by much more quickly than I have anticipated, for that I am truly thankful.  I went to the doctor today and had my glucose test done.  I found out our baby is head down-yay and that we are looking good.  My scheduled c-section, in case I do not go into labor on my own, (it is not usually practice to induce a VBAC because it increases the risk of uterine rupture) will be in early April, so I can wait until I am 42 weeks pregnant.

I was a little disapointed because my Dr. is pregnant and due on March 14th, 5 days before my own due date of March 19th.  We really like our OB/GYN but hope that I will just go early so she can still deliever baby boy Holloway #2.

This pregnancy has been much different from my first.  The main difference is that I am so busy and involved with Ethan my focus is not often on his little brother inside me until Ethan is in bed.  My thoughts and attention are so much on my devotion and service to Ethan (and Trevor of course) that I don’t have the same time I did to focus on myself.  I don’t know that I was necessarily selfish when I was pregnant with Ethan, but I will say I did enjoy the attention.  This time I am fully content with all the attention still on Ethan and the soon to be new baby. 

I think I have also grown a lot in my role as wife besides mother during this pregnancy.  I have seen some extraordinary wives and mothers at my church who are great role models. I see all they do for thief husbands and children that I just hope they grew into those roles and that it is not just who they are (that thought gives me hope in becoming the wife and mother God wants me to be).  Although I loved the attention Trevor doted me with while Ethan was in utero, I am so glad that I have time to really be the helper he needs me to be right now while he is working so hard for us. 

I am also making sure to enjoy these special days when it is just me and Ethan.  I am so looking forward to seeing Ethan as a big brother, but right now I am trying to enjoy each moment with him because I know things will never be the same once I have this child.  I love him so much, it is unbelievable and it is hard to believe soon I will two people this much (Of course I love Trevor the most, sorry Ethan and baby, that’s how God designed it.)!