TRUST

Hello all!
I tried to give you a few pictures to fill in the last few months of our lives here. They range from our family vacation to a cottage on Lake Michigan to the first day of school. We are doing very well over here and have MUCH to tell you.

First of all we are expecting baby #3! Yes, yes we are. All four of us are very excited about this. The girls are hoping for a girl and Matt is hoping for a boy to join him. (: Above all these requests is a prayer for health. How our perspective has changed over the years. We no longer take health of a baby for granted and pray frequently and fervently for this. With this announcement comes many questions from people and I will try to answer the most common so far.

1. What are the chances this baby will have spina bifida? Just like Whitney, it should be 1/1000. We have been taking all precautions the doctors have advised.

2. When does the spine form? In the first 10 weeks. So, we are at 12 weeks and the spine has formed. However, we still ask for your prayers for the health of this little one.

3. If you have one child with spina bifida could you have another? Yes. But all of the families with a child who has spina bifida that we know have had additional children without spina bifida. We could be the exception, but we hope not!

4. How am I feeling? Tired but great.

5. Are we anxious? No. Months ago we had to work through the possibility of having another child with spina bifida. This is where the trust title comes in. Personally, I, Susan, had to work through this process a little more. I had to ask myself hard questions. Did I still trust God? Do I trust Him again? What if God gave us another baby with a disability? And how would I respond? This took me several months of soul searching and I still get emotional thinking of these questions. The conclusions I came to drove my fear away. Here are a few truths that speak to my heart:

Isaiah 26:4 "Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal."

Psalm 112:7 "He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD."

Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."


Here are a few updates on the family:
Fiona started pre-school this fall and is loving it. She goes two mornings a week and is happy to fill us in with every detail of the days events. She attends Bible study with me two other mornings and still has one special morning alone with me.

Whitney comes with Fiona and I to Bible study one day a week and attends the Conductive Learning Center four mornings a week. She is learning, growing, and gaining strength. The biggest news is that she has taken her first steps with her walker! She is now able to walk across a room and as of this past Thursday can now step AND pull the walker with her. It is simply amazing. I have to say I doubted that I would ever see this day. When you are in the situation it is very slow but looking back is so exciting. She has continued to maintain her great attitude and works very hard. She is very proud of her recent accomplishments and asks to walk throughout the day. God has blessed her greatly with her wonderful disposition. She is the enthusiastic one around here.

With both girls in school I am now blessed with 4 hours 'free' a week! It is fantastic and knowing that this will be a fleeting time I am cherishing each moment. (:

Matt is doing great. He is still loving his work and has been having fun keeping up on all of the upcoming elections. He is such a fantastic dad and husband. All three of us girls feel very blessed over here in the Nelson house.

This coming Friday we have an ultrasound scheduled at the specialist office. They will be looking the baby over from head to toe. The ultrasound as well as the quad test should give us a pretty good idea of how the baby is doing. I will keep you posted on the results.

Thanks for thinking and praying along side us.