A centimeter and a shower!

This week I had my second weekly visit to the OB. Eli is head down and ready to go. The doctor I saw today (I see 5 doctors at my practice) says he feels like long baby. Which could explain why I have terrible heartburn AND have to pee every 5 minutes. We also discovered that I am 1 cm dilated, which is exciting, but doesn't mean much. Women can go weeks at 1 cm. So Baby Eli may hold out for a while. Matt and I are packing our bags for the hospital this week. Everything is coming together now.

I had a great shower on Sunday hosted by the ladies in my family! This was the rescheduled event due to the "blizzard" that was forecast for the previous weekend. Despite the fact that it was a rescheduled date, the shower was perfect. It was wonderful to celebrate the soon-to-be-arrival with my friends and family. We are so blessed and so thankful to be loved by so many!! Check out these pictures. Someone took a picture of me with the girls, too, but I don't have a copy yet. If you have that picture, please email it to me.

Me at the gorgeous table--yummy, too!

My mom, my grandmother, Eli and me!

The table full of blessings!

Thank you so much to all of you who made this shower so very perfect!

Birthing Class Business

In order to be prepared parents, Matt and I enrolled in birth classes. We are in the middle of a 5 week session on Preparing for Childbirth, have taken Labor Support (for parents who want to deliver naturally), and Breastfeeding 101. I'll just give you some of the most interesting things we've learned and some of the more amusing moments in class!

**There are two other couples (both super nice) who live within 7 miles of us. Which is awesome considering the hospital is more than 20 miles away from us!
**We've decided that Lauren's husband, Bryan, and Matt cannot sit beside each other during any classes. The 6th graders that still live in them come out! Who knew that birth could be so funny!
**Quiet meditation and imagery are not for me. For some reason, it makes me giggle! I guess there's a sixth grader in me, too!
**Labor Support class was AWESOME! I never knew how important my pelvis was until now. Who knew I was actually being blessed those many years ago when I was told I had baby birthing hips. Women's bodies are truly amazing! Childbirth is truly a miracle!
**Natural childbirth is a normal, healthy process. All parties involved instinctually know their part! Amazing again!
**Matt was NOT the only guy in our breastfeeding class, which meant he was not allowed escape to the flat screen TV in the waiting room.
**Talking about my fears (regarding birth, delivery, and bringing baby home) with Matt during a Labor Support exercise makes me cry.
**Watching a video of a woman giving birth makes me cry. Yes, even though she was a complete stranger and the video was from 1973.
**Seeing newborns in the nursery makes me cry...or at the very least get teary-eyed!
**I like the Birth Center at Rex and feel very comfortable about giving birth there. They even have showers with removable heads!
**Knowledge really is power!!
**Matt likes Chick-fil-A's chicken salad sandwiches (snack at birth class last week)!
**After driving to Rex at least once a week for five weeks, I feel fairly comfortable that Matt will not get lost on the way to the hospital! :)
**After driving to Rex at least once a week for five weeks, I pray that I do not need to head to the hospital during a rush hour time frame.
**After driving to Rex at least once a week for five weeks, we are out of gas money...just kidding :)

Well, that's all the rambling thoughts I have for now. I'll let you all meditate on this for a few days, then I'll post again. Love to you all!

P.S. Don't forget to check in on Tricia and Baby Gwyneth. They still need your prayers!!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Wow! We've been so busy! This weekend was wild. Lots to tell, which means lots to read. Let me fill you in!

We invited all three nephews to spend the night with Jacob on Friday night. So, Matt met Amanda halfway (we live about an hour from them) and picked up the boys ages 12, 8, and 5. While Matt was doing that, I was leaving work, getting a much needed pedicure--anything to make my swollen tootsies look better, heading to the grocery store, and handling dinner. Now, when I say handling dinner, I do not mean cooking pot roast and mashed potatoes. What I mean is...ordering pizza. Now, being the planner that I am, I called ahead (3:00ish) to be sure the chosen pizza place delivered to our home which is not in town. I was assured by the nice teenager that our address did indeed pop up on her computer and we would be in their coverage area. Great! I called the pizza place around 5:45 and placed our order. At 6:00, I received a return call from said pizza place. It was the manager! He was calling to ruin my life tell me that they in fact did not deliver to my address. After much discussion regarding the earlier mentioned conversation with the nice teenager and the 4 hungry boys arriving at my house any minute, we decided we could not reach an agreement. I cancelled the order, hung up the phone, dialed Matt's cell phone, and proceeded to bawl over pizza delivery. Yes, friends...I sobbed hysterically because if I can't even get ordering pizza right, then how on God's green earth can I care for this infant due to arrive in weeks!?! How can I be a good wife and mother if I can't get this small thing right!?! This is most certainly the end of everything!! Well, I just thank God for a wonderful husband who was able to fix it all by saying "don't worry" and "we'll take care of this" and "I love you so much" He arrived with 4 boys in tow, we called another pizza place, Matt went and picked up the pizzas, and everything was hunky-dory! I love that man of mine. The boys played hard and had a great time together! They "camped out" in the living room and stayed up late. Of course, I have no idea how late because, you know, all reasonable people are in bed by 10:00pm. Here's what the "campsite" looked like the next morning. Fun was had for sure!

The next day I had a baby shower at church hosted by the Kids' Ministry leaders. We enjoyed breakfast treats, shared baby stories, and I was blessed with some wonderful gifts for Eli!
While I was there, Matt was home making pancakes and getting everyone ready to head out. Jacob had a basketball game and everyone was going. Everything was going great--everyone was dressed, fed, car was packed, and the house was even tidied! So, they head out the door, as do both 100-pound dogs of ours. Now, let's just say...Scout and Eva are not accustomed to freedom. They know fences and leashes. So, once they found themselves across the threshold with no boundaries, they decided to run. And run they did. And run did Matt. All the way down the street. Chasing dogs. That don't listen. Have I said how much I love this man?

We went to the basketball game, enjoyed a lovely meal at McDonald's, and headed to Wilson to get everyone back to their rightful owner. I was able to spend some quality time with my mom and brother. There was lots to talk about with our due date approaching so quickly. Matt and my dad watched a movie, and the boys played some more.

On Sunday, we went to church. Matt and I had a new kiddo in our special needs class, which is always fun and sometimes an adventure as we get to know them. We ran some errands, did some laundry, and then enjoyed a nice dinner together at the Outback Steakhouse (thanks for the giftcard)!

It was a great weekend and we can't wait to do it again!

I'll post again soon. Matt and I are attending birth classes and well, there's just so much to say about that!!!

The newest Sloan's name will be...

Elijah Joseph

Tricia and Gwyneth updates

Happy Birthday, Gwyneth.
Baby Gwyneth was delivered by emergency C-section yesterday. Both she and mom, Tricia, are in very fragile states. Please head over to her hubby's blog here to get the most recent updates. Please continue to pray for this precious family!

PLEASE PRAY!!!!!

Tricia is not doing well and for the sake of both her health and the health their unborn little girl, Gwyneth Rose, they have opted to proceed with a C-section. It will take place either this afternoon or tomorrow. Please join us in prayer for this entire situation. Details of specific prayer requests are available at Tricia's husband's blog. Feel free to click that link to let them know that you are praying for them.

As I sit and read about what Tricia and Nate are going through and reflect upon the many baby and pregnancy blogs that have come in my path, I feel so humbled. I"m brought to tears! Our little Eli is healthy. I'm healthy and everything is progressing normally. I've done nothing to deserve this gift. God has blessed us with it and I am more thankful than I could ever express. It rips my heart out to think of what these parents and families are going through. Truly, it is by the grace of God that they continue to press on daily. Their faith and trust in Him is inspiring! It is such a testimony! Please take the time today to pray for Tricia and Nate!!!


Isaiah 53:5 says "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed."

Belly Pics from Week 33

For a body-conscious girl, posting these pics is a huge accomplishment. Notice my admirers in the mirror in the top photograph (my hubby and my daddy)!!

Eli sure is growing!!

Just for Laughs!

Like father...

...like son!!!

**WARNING-Long winded post regarding the holidays, etc!

I'm back! After a nice break from blogging and the internet in general, I'm back and we've got some catching up to do!

First and most urgent, please pray for Tricia. I posted a few weeks ago about her situation and requested prayer. She is pregnant and has cystic fibrosis which is causing some serious issues and threatening both her and her baby's life. Learn more about specific prayer requests at her husband's blog here. We know that there is power in the prayers of the righteous and that God still heals today! Thanks so much!

Now, onto our family holidays. We celebrated early with my extended family on the 15th. We started this tradition a few years back. At Thanksgiving, all the adults exchange names and the kiddos do, too! This has been a real blessing both financially and organizationally...nothing like trying to find a place for a million new toys in an already crowded little boy's room! We gathered at my brother and sister-in-law's house (we rotate locations year to year) and enjoyed covered dishes like warm potato salad, saucy meatballs, pigs in the blanket, and cheesy garlic bread. There were yummy desserts like my sister's Oreo Truffles and my mom's famous chocolate chip cookies. But the star of the occassion was the pig...nothing says Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus like a good ole' pig-pickin'. Welcome to the South ladies and gentlemen! After stuffing ourselves, we headed straight for the Trivial Pursuit 80s edition. I'm sorry to say that the men beat the women for the second year in a row. I'd like to chalk that up to their average age being higher than ours, but I think we are pretty even!! The boys had a blast running around outside playing and the girls ended up with beautiful fingernails and hairstyles after their makeover sessions. It was great fun!

Jacob spent Christmas morning with his mom and her extended family. We miss that Christmas morning excitement every year, but love that we get him on Christmas Day at 2:00. Then, he gets to stay with us until he goes back to school, so we get a nice, long, uninterrupted visit with him! We ate lunch at my parents' house and then picked up Jacob. He enjoyed opening his gifts and was thrilled with the guitar that Santa brought. No, dear readers, there was no ultrasound machine under our tree. Maybe next year!

We left on December 27th for Matt's family home in Pennsylvania. There's nothing quite like an eight hour trip for a woman who is eight months pregnant. Needless to say, 8 hours quickly (or should I say slowly) turned to 10 hours. After a couple...okay 7 stops, we finally got there. We don't see Matt's family very often due to the distance and it's always nice to visit. There was lots of visiting, catching up, Rummy, darts, and just resting! Just to make up for the loss at 80s Trivial Pursuit, the women did stomp...I mean defeat the men at Taboo! The kiddos had a great time playing together and as always there was lots of wonderful food from Matt's stepmom, who happens to be a great cook! It was a great time spent with family! We drove home New Year's Eve, just missing the 9 inches of snow they got in PA on New Year's Day!

Baby Sloan has been given a first name, but the middle name is still in limbo! So for now, we have a little Elijah _____ Sloan ("Eli"). That was the hardest decision I've had to make so far with this pregnancy. Matt is choosing the middle name and right now he's narrowed it down to Alexander, Joseph, or Matthias. So, keep checking back for that big reveal! Eli is moving so much! He's kicking me in the ribs on a regular basis and sometimes he's so busy you can watch my belly move as he moves about. It's very, very strange, but also amazing. We've almost finished setting up the nursery. It's hard to believe that we only have 6.5 weeks until the big due date. Matt and I start childbirth classes tonight. I'm really looking forward to it! It's all so exciting!

As I type this, I'm keenly aware of how blessed we are. God is such an awesome provider. Our family is healthy and happy. We were able to provide some fun gifts for Jacob this year. Matt and I were able to exchange small gifts with each other. In a little over a month we will welcome a new little one to our family and I will be able to stay home with him. I am so thankful and look forward to a wonderful New Year!