Merry Christmas!

Fall (and a little bit of winter)

We are a happy family of three now! Andrew's been "outside" for two and a half months now, and we are enjoying him so much. We tooks some family photos near the beginning of November. This is as close as he got to a smile.

We've been truly blessed to live in such a beautiful place! We sure do enjoy the fall colors of our pretty little French town.

Andrew is always very impressed.

But, we have to tell you, at about a month and a half, he really started "waking" up to the world. And we LOVE it! His facial expressions and and antics keep us laughing with joy.

Andrew and Mommy usually have what we affectionately call "wakies time" (awake time) every morning. Daddy joins in when he's not at school. We read a Bible story, sing, and play with some toys. The singing is usually exceptional... too bad you can't hear it!!

This is Andrew in his first Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes. He slept through the whole service.

PRESENTING: the first big smile (caught on camera)!

Andrew and Mommy at Thanksgiving

Daddy and Andrew decorating our little tree. It's small but looks quite pretty, and it just fits our little studio.

A big part of Andrew's day is distracting--- I mean, helping us with our daily work. Here he's helping Daddy tackle French.

Our town had the largest snowfall it's had in 50 years at the end of November- around 2 - 2.5 feet of snow! It was incredible and beautiful. John went out to document it for us.

Two adorable boys!

Tummy time!

On December 9th, we had the great chance to visit Lyon (about an hour away by train) where they were holding their annual Festival of Lights (La Fete des Lumieres). It was quite impressive, although somewhat hard to show off in photos....sorry.

We had a really good time, despite being quite cold!

Andrew kickin' back on the train home.

Now we're gearing up for the celebration of Christmas, and we are anxiously awaiting two groups of visitors! We can't wait to see Karen, Sara, and Mark and Roxanne and Rochelle!

YEP, we're pregnant!!

We are so thankful for this blessing! After waiting so long and going through so much to get here, we're just thrilled.

Here’s the story of our first doctor appointment! (pregnant lady's point of view)

The appointment was for 8:20 am on Friday, March 5th. We walk everywhere, of course, so we left the house about 30 minutes before that. We were afraid that we weren't going to make it, so we opted to catch the bus that would take us to "downtown". Once there, we remembered we needed cash to pay the doctor, so we ran to our bank and got some.
We weren't really sure where the doctor's office was because we'd only looked at in on Google maps. It's on a little side street that Google didn't even really show on the map. Anyway, we found it without any real problems, but we were rushing and rushing and all I could think was, "Great, now I'm going to be all sweaty for this examination."
However, when we arrived at the door and buzzed the bell, no one answered. So we waited a few minutes until someone came in with a pass key. Most offices here are in large buildings that house other offices and sometimes residential apartments too. The front door is usually locked and you have to buzz up to the place where you want to go to be let in.
The office was on the second floor, and we were greeted by a woman who directed us to a little waiting room. We didn't sit there long, maybe 2 minutes. The doctor herself, Dr. Charra, came and got us and we went to her office.
First, she did a general consult time. She asked a lot of questions, (yes, all in French) and we answered them. I had written out my rather extensive medical history for her and she read over it, making notes of when all my surgeries took place. She understood us, which was great. We mostly understood her and were able to clarify what she meant when we didn't. All in all, pretty satisfying as far as a language experience goes. Not perfect, but we'll take it.
The French doctors count the pregnancy differently than US doctors do. According to the internet (my source for US info), I'm 9 weeks pregnant and the due date is October 9th or 10th. According to Dr. Charra, I'm 7 weeks pregnant, and the due date is October 16th.
Next, she had me go around this corner to a sort of nook in her office for the examination. I had to remove all my clothes- no gown! and she checked me out. The funniest moment was when the doctor was feeling the size of my uterus. She said something that I've loosely translated as, "You feel good and pregnant!"
After that we went to the ultrasound room, where John joined us. She put the jelly stuff on my stomach and away we went. What a moment to see a tiny perfect little baby there! WOW! When she let us hear the heartbeat, it was amazing- such a miracle moment! Then I was laughing and the baby moved too! I was starting to get all emotional when I realized the doctor was still talking and I reminded myself I could be emotional later and to pay attention to the French words coming out of her mouth. =)
According to Dr. Charra, everything looks great. She said my uterus is a little big (2nd doctor to tell me that.... hmm) but everything looks fine, just as it should. The baby is just 2cm long but we could clearly see the head, the body, and the little arms and legs that are starting to grow.
We went back to her desk and she wrote out our bill. This is the 2nd time we've seen a doctor here, and both times we've paid the doctor directly in cash. Funny, huh?
After we left the doctor's office, we had to go to the lab just around the corner to have blood work done. They took like 9 little vials of my blood. Whew! Then they gave me a little cup to take home for a urine sample and told me to bring it back Saturday morning. I went back to the lab to pick up all the results a few days later. They also had to get another vial of blood for some test that must be done twice, so I did that too.
We went back to Dr. Charra March 31st. The ultrasound picture is from this second visit. The baby is now 10cm from head to toe!

Doing all this in a different country, in a different language, for the first time is a little challenging. I'm happy to have all the info, all the experience I can get. I will also see a midwife for info, etc., because that's what they do here. I think this will be an interesting experience!

Waiting and Putting it into Perspective

At the beginning of April, we had a final post-op check up and the doctor was so pleased with how I have healed. For having three surgeries in a span of seven months, I am blessed to tell you that I healed nicely and everything is working perfectly.
WELL, ALMOST anyway. There is still one very small area that the doctor is concerned about-- could be a fibroid, could be scar tissue. So she is going to have me do another test in May to take a closer look at it. Either way- fibroid or scar tissue- Dr. Wilson thinks it needs to be taken care of before we start trying again due to increased chances of miscarriage. This most likely means another day surgery for me and at least three more months of waiting to start trying to get pregnant.
At first, I was really frustrated and couldn't BELIEVE that I was going to have to have one more surgery! I kept thinking, "God, what are You doing?" But that was such a human reaction! When I think of all the things I have to be thankful for, I'm overwhelmed. My body has been through a lot in the past year, and the Lord has kept me healthy, whole, and happy. In reality, this isn't bad news (as I orignially perceived it). It's another reason to be thankful that I have access to great healthcare and a great doctor. Now is the best time to address these issues, and John and I feel good about following our doctor's advice.
We do continue to ask for your prayers as we continue this journey of trying to get pregnant.

Recovery, among other things

I (Elizabeth Renee) wanted to give you an update on how I'm doing... The surgery went well, and I spent two nights in the hospital. John brought me home on the Sunday before Christmas, and then my mom came and stayed with us a few days. We all traveled to Tulsa together on Chrsitmas Eve. Although I was slow moving during the holidays, we were able to enjoy the time with our families.
Now, I'm doing great! I feel like myself again, able to do anything and not be worn out by the end of the day. I am so thankful for your prayers and God's answers as I've been recovering. I will go to see the doctor again at the end of this month, so I'll give another update when that happens.
We are busy studying French! We're enjoying learning with Rosetta Stone and another great program called French in Action. It's so good to have these resources and the time to spend on them.
John's cell phone is no longer in use. Over the holidays we switched over to just having one cell phone. So the number you can always reach us with is 918-857-5202.
We hope you all are enjoying the new year so far... we can hardly believe it is already February. We'd love to hear from you!

Our Anniversary!

We're celebrating our 3 year anniversary on December 17th! We are so thankful that God put us together and has allowed us to share our lives and families with each other. We love being married, and we recommend it!!
How are we celebrating?? Well… not exactly the way we'd like to, but that's okay. We have to go to see our fertility specialist for my pre-op appointment on the 17th. My next surgery is Friday, December 19th. Please join us in prayer as we trust the Lord for a smooth and successful procedure, wisdom for the doctor, and a speedy recovery. Please pray that God will give us a baby as soon as possible!
This surgery is much like a c-section (minus the baby that usually comes with that!), and so the recovery process will take longer than the previous surgeries I've had. I will have to spend a couple days in the hospital. After that, my mom is coming to help John take care of me. I think I will be extra spoiled with two nurses! =)
Our plan is to drive home to Tulsa on Christmas Eve morning so as to miss as little of the festivities as possible. Although I know I'll be moving slow, we plan to enjoy our time in Tulsa with our families to the fullest. We'd also like to visit with as many of our friends as time and strength will allow, so we're including John's cell number below.
To everyone, we'd like to wish a very MERRY CHRISTMAS! We hope you will thoroughly enjoy the season with friends and family, remembering the great gift we have in Jesus Christ our Savior.
John's cell 918-406-6721

Surgery coming up

Thank you all for your many prayers! We have felt them all, and are so grateful to be guided by God's wisdom and peace.I have another update: I talked to my doctor last week after the tests, and she told me that getting rid of the fibroids will be a 2-3 step process.
Basically, I'm going to have to have at least 2 surgeries. One is scheduled for Nov 20th, and it is an outpatient surgery, so I'll come home that same day. With this surgery, they will have to wait until they are doing it to know if they can complete it that day or not. (That's why I might have to have it again later.)
The other surgery is called a myomectomy (spelling??). They will basically be making a c-section incision and going in that way. Of course, that will be 2 - 3 days in the hospital and several days recovery at home. We are hoping to schedule that at the end of the semester.
Will you all keep praying for us? Please pray that everything will go well with the surgeries of course. Could you also pray that I will just have to have the 2 and not 3? Please pray that I would be completely healed and be able to have a baby. Also, please lift both John and I up as we are studying. The course we are starting is very challenging and is 6 credit hours. Please pray that we can work doctors appointments around our class schedule and that it will all work out smoothly. We really want to have the surgery before the end of year.Thanks again for all your love and support!