My major prayer request is for baby caroline. she didn't grow as much as they expected on my ultrasound yesterday. She dropped down percentile wise. On her first growth scan, she was 32%, on the second growth scan she was 40%, and on Thursday, she was 30%. Could you just keep her in your prayers. There are still some cocnerns about Down Syndrome since she had the echogenic intracardia foci on ultrasound, but we didn't do the genetic testing. I realized we may need to start preparing our hearts a little more if she is born with Downs. but how do you even start doing that? If you prray, please pray for preparation on our part and for Caroline to grow and be a healthy baby.

Another request: I got a call from my employer asking if I wanted full time hours starting in june. I don't know what to do. I will have two precious babies under 2, but even just working 12 hours a week, I am the breadwinner. This is a great financial opportunity that hasn't been available to me since coming back to Charleston. But I am torn. Motherhood is a job of mine now too, and I don't want to miss out on that too. Plus if Caroline is born with special needs, it wouldn't be fair to be away but we won't know until the time comes. I need wisdom, guidance, and discernment making that decision.

Which means, Isabel is taking a nap. :)

I did my Christmas shopping for Isabel off of Craigslist. Which is something that Garrick had never thought of, but I figure I might as well get lightly used things while I can because right now, she doesn't know any better. We got her two big things: a Fisher Price Rock, Roll, and Ride tricycle (she loves the neighbor's) and a Fisher Price kitchen set. If I remember, the kitchen set was $30 and the sellers threw in a Step 2 oven and a baby doll high chair for us, and the tricycle was $12.





For her stocking, I was just at Lowe's and got her a children's watering can. She loves to pretend to water the garden with our watering can, and Snow White DVD (she probably won't watch it for a while, but you never know how long those Disney releases will stay out until they put it back in the vault). We also got her some play food and she already has play pots and pans, so her kitchen set will be done (with the exception of some plates)

I would have never thought about buying things used before especially for Christmas, but the baby doesn't know the difference right now.

She finally got into what her auntie got her last year for Christmas: a rocking giraffe:



But now the real question: WHAT TO GET CAROLINE? She'll only be like 3 days old, but I don't want her to not have a first Christmas...

A. Apple juice is what I always get to drink on air planes and was my favorite juice as a toddler; my sister’s was orange juice. Amazing is something I wonder if my husband still considers me to be. Amazing Grace used to be my favorite church hymns until my best friend died and it was sung at her funereal. Now, I can’t hear it without crying.

B. Babies: Isabel and soon to be Caroline. Bible study-actually got involved in one to everyone’s surprise.


C. Canna Lily is my favorite plant in my yard. Church. Wish we could find a church here in Charleston that we love. Catholic-I was born and raised. Craigslist. Since having a child, I surf craigslist a lot.


D. Dogs. Gotta love them. Got 2 of them. Dust. I am allergic to it.


E. Education. I have my master’s degree in nursing and I used to teach Nutrition for Nurses while pursuing my mater’s. I wonder though what the trend will be when my babies go for higher education. The trend right now seems to be technical routes, which doesn’t bother me. I just want my children to be educated and well rounded people who can sustain themselves.


F. Frank was the name of one of my childhood friends. I wonder what happened to him.


G. Goals=be a good mom and wife. God and grace interest me. I didn’t know what the word “grace” meant until last year. It means: undeserved kindness. I still don’t know if I really know what grace means.


H. Husband’s name is Benson, but he goes by Garrick.


I. Internet can be an addiction of mine. Ironing is my least favorite chore.


J. Jill is my name. :) Not Jillian, just Jill.


K. Kids. Gotta love them. Krispy Kreme is my favorite donut; just plain old glazed ones made fresh and hot.


L. Love life, love learning, love laughing, love married life. Laundry is something I am never caught up on.


M. Marriage is hard work, but worth it. Mother Theresa is someone I admire


N. Nose. We’re working with Isabel right now to identify her nose.


O. Organization is one of my strong suites. Oranges. We have a Mandarin Orange tree in a pot on our patio and it produces sweet fruit!


P. Pumpkin. I never carved a pumpkin until college when my ex wanted to carve pumpkins. But I like Pumpkin Spice Latte's iced.


Q. Questions. I always question whether or not I am doing the right things especially when it comes to parenting.


R. Running. I wish I was into running, but I am just not.


S. Sports is something I got into because it was something my husband was into.


T. Traveling. I wish Garrick had decent vacation time so we could travel even just to take a long weekend. I have been to the Philippines, NY, FL, GA, AL, CA, TX, Bahamas, St. Lucia, just to name a few places.


U. Underprivileged children causes is a cause I support. Umbrella. I don't own an umbrella, believe it or not.


V. Vacations=I need one. Volunteering=I need to do more often. I used to volunteer a lot until college. Vacuuming=I love the way carpet feels after it is vacuumed.


W. Watermelon is something I cannot keep in the house. My husband loves it and eats it before I even get to ask for a piece, and my baby and dogs love it too.


X. Xtraordinary people inspire me. Xrays I've had: lungs, right wrist, and my right ankle.


Y. Yes is a word I wish my husband would use more.


Z. Zoo. I used to be excited to live in a city with a zoo; it wasn’t all that great actually.