I’m hanging in there on this day 2 of the 14-day wait. Seems an eternity away but I know it will be here before I know it.

And there are lots of fun things in the near future…

My Aunt Naomi flies in from Texas tonight around 10pm to be here for Grandmother’s 80th Birthday. Since we live 5 minutes from the airport, she will spend the night with us tonight. I am looking forward to that.

Then, tomorrow we have a Woman’s One-day Retreat at our church. While I’m at the retreat Dave will be fixing our fence that broke during Tropical Storm Faye. It’s a good thing because Pretinha has decided escaping is her new favorite thing to do while outside.

Monday and Wednesday I get to spend the day with Ella and Ava and call it "going to work". I tell you, I love my job! It is so awesome how God worked this out for me.

Tuesday will be spent preparing for my Grandmother’s 80th Birthday party that night. This party will be very special as we honor a woman who has spent her lifetime serving the Lord.

Thursday, Dave, Amanda and I will drive to Ridgecrest!! Dave’s parents have never been there and wanted to see Fall leaves, so we decided to make an October trip to Ridgecrest. The leaves at this time are gorgeous there! I can’t believe it’s been almost 2 years since Dave proposed to me at Ridgecrest on October 20, 2006!

Then, two days after we return from Ridgecrest, it will be Blood Work Day.

I’m still praying believing I am pregnant.

Eggs? Check. One, possibly two.

Sperm? Check. 137 million frozen. Hopefully 40-50 million survive the unfreeze.

Injectibles? Check. 7 vials of it.

hCG injection? Check. Tonight at 9pm.

IUIs? Check. One scheduled for 2:30pm Tuesday. The other scheduled for 9am Wednesday.

As I mentioned before, this has been a whirlwind of a cycle. It is only by the grace of God that ALL this has come together to be ready for 10/7 and 10/8.

God, this cycle has been Yours since Day One. Do as you please but can you please, please, please let it happen? Amen!

No matter what happens this time around I can rest assured God will do something amazing…like He did through Cycle 1 (Tina), Cycle 2 (taught me Who He is) and Cycle 3 (sent me immediately into whirlwind cycle 4).

Aren’t you excited to see what happens next?

I am!

Poor puppy…she’s getting nervous with all this “Faith Blanket” and “Faith Rocking Chair” talk. She thought she was going to just always be an only [furry] child!

The Cowsert Cottage

Sitting on the porch at Pritchell Hall at the Ridgecrest Baptist Conference Center

Our neighbor gave us tickets for a tour of Asheville. We went on a tour through famous writer, Thomas Wolfe’s house. “The Kentucky House” was a boarding house run by his mother, Julia, back in the early 1900′s. It has 17 bedrooms and only 3 bathrooms!

Here we are at the Nibble Nook! Yes, even I had some ice cream and it was so good! I allowed myself to cheat on the diet for some Nibble Nook ice cream.

We went to the Charlotte, NC area to visit Aunt Helen Cowsert and Aunt Helen Short. Aunt Helen Cowsert took over the Cowsert Cottage when her father died just two week after he had bought it.

Aunt Naomi, Aunt Helen Cowsert, Mama

See the deer? After picking Wesley up at the airport in Charlotte we spotted two deer near the side of the road. We stopped to take pictures and they just stood there and posed for the camera. It was an amazing sight to see.

Eating lunch at the Dr. Pepper restaurant located on Cherry St. in Black Mountain, NC.

Meet Ridge! One of the first days we were there I saw him at The Town Hardware store in Black Mountain. Later my dad bought him for me as a surprise after Dave had gone to buy it for me and told me, “Sorry Elaine, but the frog has been bought and they don’t have any others in the store.” Dave was in on the surprise and knew my dad had bought him!

Aunt Naomi and Uncle Jay started dating at Ridgecrest too! They had their first kiss here on the tennis courts of the Ridgecrest Conference Center!

At the Lake! The water is so low the dock was at an angle.

Ellie, Daddy, Mama, Wesley, Aunt Naomi, Elaine, Pretinha, Dave

Winner of “The Race”! Near the tennis court there is a huge field where the dogs just love to run wild. We had a race to see who could run the fastest. Pretinha won because Ellie got distracted in the race and started trying to bite and wrestle her sister in the middle of the race – typical Ellie! In the individual races Ellie was the fastest runner!

The Prayer Garden

The bench where it all began!

I just have to comment on how Pretinha got her name. I wanted to name her something in Portuguese. Grandmother actually is the one who came up with that name one day while we were eating lunch at the mall. Pretinha is a Portuguese word for something that is little and black.

In naming Pretinha I wasn’t thinking about people asking me, “What’s your dog’s name?” only to hear them say, “What??” or a very chopped up version of “Pretinha”.

We walk the dogs a lot while at the Ridgecrest Conference Center and people are always coming up to pet the dogs and inevitably they ask, “What are their names?” One day my dad and I were walking them and someone asked the question. My dad told the lady Ellie’s name and then quickly mumbled out “Pretinha” since even he has a hard time saying it right. The lady said, “Virginia?” and my dad said, “Yeah.” as he gave me a look that said, Why did you name her Pretinha?

I am seriously considering answering “Virginia” to the next person who asks me what my dog’s name is. Especially if I’ll most likely never see them again.

AND…

When we go to name our children we are using names that are easy to spell and easy to pronounce!

But I still like the name Pretinha. Even though for some reason she usually just goes by “Puppy” – even by me. Maybe I should just say that is her name when people ask!

Yes, Pretinha is my puppy and yes, today is her 3rd birthday!