Eliana Christina Joy DeCock

The Big Day

Tomorrow is the big day. We find out whether the baby is a boy or girl!!!

My friend offered to keep Sammie so Paul and I could go and enjoy the moment, just the two of us. But I think having SAmmie there will be part of the enjoyment.

I have been feeling the baby moving and kicking, very softly though, considering it is only about 4 inches long (24 cm). We are very excited though.

Last night, Paul and I were watching The Kingdom of Heaven. When the battle scenes came on, the baby was really moving around. I love that feeling!!

So, what's the guess? A boy or girl?

Blessings

This is definately worth sharing!

When Paul, Sammie and I were checking out from the hotel room in Charlotte, Paul wanted to mention to the front desk that their advertisement for the room we stayed in said that it provided a whirlpool tub. We did not have one in our room (which was very nice anyway-I slept almost like a baby and that's amazing since I'm almost 5 months pregnant). So I went to wait in the car with Sammie and when Paul came out, he said they totally comped our room. The only thing we had to pay for was the movie we saw the night before. And it was a beautiful hotel with an indoor pool, a waterfall, a jacuzzi (which I couldn't go in), a workout room and a sauna.

So our made-to-order breakfast was free, our three room suite was free and the reception (which had free drinks and snacks) was free. We saved over $200 by him mentioning that misadvertisement.

Can I say ....Praise the Lord on that one?

We're off to see the government...

Today we leave for Charlotte (a 2 1/2 hour drive) to get everything straightened out with Paul's green card. We are going down there a day early so we can just take our time, enjoy a hotel (with an indoor pool- yah), and not have to worry about leaving at 7:00 am to make Charlotte traffic.

This will be the first time Sammie has stayed in a hotel, I'm wondering how excited she'll be. One of my friends told me that she doesn't tell her 4 year old about something exciting until right before they leave. I guess so that she won't hear 1 million and 1 questions but I couldn't do that. I get almost as excited as Sammie....although I don't jump around the house. Maybe I should, then I wouldn't have to worry about the extra weight on my thighs.

Tomorrow Paul gets the necessary fingerprints, picture taken, retna scan, blood sample, promise of next born when we are there. And then it's a waiting game to see if all the people who look over the paperwork are in a good mood that day. God help us!

So we're off.....

A Watered down Gospel

You know, after doing bible study this morning and reading the words of Paul in Galatians, I wonder how watered down we have made the gospel.

For instance, a week ago, I had an old Baptist Minister question me as to why I wore pants. I told him that if my heart didn't condemn me, then I was at peace with God. We continued to argue about it until I finally said, "Hey, I'm pregnant and hormonal. Unless you want me to get really emotional, you should stop grilling me." That quickly shut him up and later he apologized for being so rough.

But it brings me to the point, has not the gospel been poluted? Usually, when someone has a different view like that, we say, "well, he's a baptist or that's just the way those holiness people believe." But Paul the apostle stood up in front of everyone and questioned Peter, the "head" of the church for his motives (Galatians 2:11-14).

I really wonder if we have strayed from the truth of the gospel only to please men. And nowadays, it seems like if you call someone on their contradiction to the word, you are branded holier than thou or just not showing the love of Christ. But where are those who stand up like Paul the apostle and say, "That's just not right, you're not representing the truth!"

Happy New Year's

You know, after celebrating New Year's in Times Square for the turn of the millenium, how better to celebrate this one than to see the pickle drop!!

We have made a second visit out to Mount Olive, a small town of probably 5000 to see this cute but hoeky little event. It was fun to see all these small town folk enjoying old timey hymns with a southern flare and all the free pickles, hot chocolate and cookies we could eat.

Sammie had a ball, saying her favorite part was when they dropped the pickle into the barrel with a splash. (The splash was some man with a bucket of water that he threw out when the pickle came down)

What a great New Year's Eve!! Hope you had a great one!

The Dollhouse

Well, we finally got Sammie's dollhouse put together. Paul did such a great job, putting it together better than the instructions said, by using carpenters glue along with the screws. Sammie has been playing with it all day.

I think it's a nice little dollhouse for $30. All the other ones were at least $150 for houses you had to assemble and paint. This one is wood, was already painted and had furniture with it. Thank you God and Wal-Mart.