July 21....

First off, thanks to those of you who wished Luke a "Happy Birthday" on my previous post.

Today, July 21, was Luke's actual birthday. This blog post may get long and much of it will be for our memories, but please enjoy reading and looking at the photos :)

Here's a photo of me, taken in the morning one year ago today. I was induced, so this photo was taken about 10 minutes before going to the hospital. Wow! Was I really that big? Apparently, I was.



After arriving at the hospital and the pitocin getting started, labor progressed at a nice slow pace. But, I did dilate O.K.

I remember all day being HOT in the labor room! So, the nice nurses kept the room cold and even got an extra fan. Then, everybody except for me was COLD. Here's a photo of Marc that we laugh a lot about now. He was so cold that he ended up with a blanket around him during all of my pushing. The nurse took this photo between contractions. Some might say that was tacky, but really, if you would've been there, you'd laugh like we are laughing.



Finally, after waiting all day to dilate to a 10, I started pushing around 7:00 or so in the evening. That's when things went south.

I pushed for several hours. Luke did not want to come out. So, around 10:00 P.M. one year ago (almost to the minute as I'm typing this), the dr. said we'd need to do a C-Section. Though I was disappointed, I didn't protest. I was EXHAUSTED. I was emotionally drained from things not going too well. So, Luke was born at 11:02 P.M. via C-Section.

Here's one of the first photos of our little boy.



I remember seeing him for the first time. It had been such a long day. I was still lying on the table while they finished up on the C-Section. I couldn't see him real well, but I do remember having tears come down my face -- out of joy as well as thankfulness that he was out and safe. The nurse anethescist at my head wiped my tears at that point.

The next four to six weeks or so seemed like a bit of a hurricane. Breastfeeding didn't go well at all, and I made many trips to the hospital to visit the lactation consultants. Because Luke didn't feed well, he didn't sleep well -- even for a newborn. I was exhausted. Marc had started a new job two months before, and so, he didn't have bunches of time to take off.

Then, things started to improve. By 8 1/2 weeks, Luke slept through the night, and he has done very well with that ever since. We're SOOOOO thankful for that.

Even through the challenges, we have THOROUGHLY loved and enjoyed our son. He's such a gift from God, and we're amazed that God has entrusted him to us.

******

Now, to his big birthday (or our big day since Luke didn't realize this day was any different than any other day)....

Marc is currently home on a required furlough for his job. So, even though he's not getting a paycheck for a couple of weeks, it was nice to have him spend the day with us on Luke's birthday. I don't go into work on Tuesdays, so I was home as well.

This morning, we took his usual photo in the chair. Also, he wore his "1" shirt from his Grandma Koehn.

A little flashback, though....

Luke, at two months....



Luke, at four months....



Luke, at six months....



At eight and ten months....





Tired of photos yet????? Here's today's photo!



After the photoshoot this morning, Luke played with some toys -- how many of his days go.



Now, if you know Marc, this won't surprise you. Marc said, "I think Luke would like to go and get pizza for his birthday lunch."

So, because Luke said so, we went and got pizza for lunch -- a buffet, nonetheless. (We did have a coupon, though -- that always helps).

Here's Marc, demonstrating his happiness for pizza and of course, Pepsi!



Each time Marc went back up to the buffet (which was several times), Luke had to watch his Daddy -- very cute from my perspective.



Other than that, Luke did very well for our lunch out. I had brought a few things for him, and he also really enjoyed the cinnamon sticks off of the buffet.



After his afternoon nap, Luke's friend Ava came over to bring him a present. It was a NEW BATHTOY -- definitely something he'll use. Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of that.

This evening, I made him his favorite meal -- grilled cheese! Then, Luke and I went for a nice walk and even met up with his Daddy, who was on a run.

What a fun day for our family!!!!!

Again, thanks for reading my long post.

Happy 1st Birthday Luke!

It's a Party....

Yesterday, we had Luke's first birthday party. Technically, his birthday is Tuesday, the 21st of July, but weekends work better for parties.

We decided to keep this birthday party small -- just family. And since our families are small, SMALL it was.

Both sets of Luke's grandparents made the party. Luke's one and only great-grandparent was able to come, thanks to my dad picking her up and taking her home. Luke's only two cousins made it. Unfortunately, Luke's only aunt and uncle, Joel and Amber, weren't able to make it. They both had to work.

Luke decided (really Marc decided) that he wanted to have a "brunch" for his party. So, we had egg casserole, fruit, coffee cake, and juice. Then, to shy away a bit from the brunch, I did make a chocolate cake for Luke's first cake.

Thanks to Lori J., I made the chocolate cake in the shape of a "1."

Here's the cake....In case you can't read my writing on the cake, it says, "Let's Celebrate! Luke's 1."



I stored the cake in none other than a "DQ" cake box. So, I had a few fooled when they first arrived. Some thought that we might just be having a "DQ" cake. Nope! We had that the night before for a "Community Life" Group gathering.



I didn't want to spend bunches of money on a party that he wouldn't remember or even remotely realize what's going on. However, I didn't want a non-festive party either. SOOOO, I managed to find some 1 year decorations on sale at Target. May I just say that Target NEVER lets me down?

Here is the basic theme of the decorations? See -- nothing special. BUT, it does let everybody know what the party is for.



Here's our table set before everybody arrived. See what I mean -- a small party!



I did go on ahead and buy Luke a "Birthday Boy" t-shirt. Here he is in the shirt. He has another birthday shirt coming for his actual birthday -- yep, there will be photos then as well.



After eating, Luke had some play time with his cousins. Then, Marc helped Luke open some gifts.



One thing that Luke got was a book about "Trains." He seemed to like looking at the photos and of course, putting the book in his mouth. If any of you know my dad, you know that my dad has a train hobby. So, this book is perfect for Luke's grandfather really.



Besides the book, Luke received a new outfit, a bib, and very importantly, some money to add to his savings account (you know, the one Marc and I desperately need to get started). Luke most enjoyed, however, playing with the gift bags. What 1 year-old wouldn't enjoy that?

Shortly after presents were opened, Luke started getting a bit tired. This next photo is so "Luke." In the last couple of months or so, Luke has gotten VERY attached to a blanket that my mom made him. He likes to suck his thumb and put the old smelly blanket up to his nose. I've seen other kids do this before, but when it's your own child doing it, it's really quite funny. So, I had to capture this photo at his own birthday party -- the one of him getting tired. This was taken close to 1:00 P.M. -- you know, naptime.



By that time, we knew we were on borrowed time with Luke. So, we pulled the cake out, lit a candle, and sang "Happy Birthday." He definitely liked the singing -- as he always does.

We put him in his high chair on a mat (since this was all on carpet).



Then, we put the hat on -- which he actually didn't mind.



Then, I put the piece of cake on his tray. No, he's never had cake before.



He looked at it funny. Then, he tried to move the piece away from him -- he just didn't know what it was. Luke's not extremely outgoing, and so it probably didn't help that grandparents were snapping photos of him during this process.

Finally, I crumbled it up for him.



He still looked at it funny. FINALLY, I took a bit of it to show him. Then, he took about two bites before telling us (in his own language, of course) that he was done. That was IT. It wasn't too exciting probably for most, but for us, it was! It was our little guy's first birthday party.

Then, it was naptime. ALL DONE!

Marc is on furlough the next two weeks. So, he'll get to be home all day with us for Luke's birthday. We'll probably do something fun that day with him -- not sure what that is just yet, though.

**On a side note, this past Saturday, the 18th, (the day of Luke's party) it was Marc's dad's 85th birthday -- yep 85th! So, we did also have to wish Alvin a Happy Birthday! I think that in the last year, Marc's dad's been slightly disappointed that his first grandchild wasn't born on his birthday (he's mentioned several times that Luke's birth missed his birthday by 3 days). But, we hope at least he's happy that their birthdays are close. So, Happy Birthday Dad Friesen!

All for sick kids and their families....

Most of you who know me well know that a good chunk of my life has been spent in one way or another with Dairy Queen. You know, I started working at one in high school -- worked there for awhile. Then, I went to college and graduated with a business degree. About two months after my college graduation, I landed a job with the big DQ corporation and worked there for 10 years. After Luke was born, we decided the travel involved with my corporate job wouldn't be good for our family, so I left. Now, for almost the past year, I've worked at a DQ store in Wichita -- very part-time. I've been working as a training and marketing manager.

So, I figure I better make some sort of blog post, talking a bit about my job.

Many of you ask what a DQ Grill and Chill is....I like to describe it as a "Panera Bread meets Fuddrucker's." Basically, it's DQ's new image. It's a remodeled DQ. It's an upscale DQ of sorts. It's a nice, modern looking restaurant that serves wonderful DQ burgers and of course, wonderful DQ soft serve products. The particular location I'm working at is in northeast Wichita. It is officially a DQ Grill and Chill. Here's the actual sign.



Anyways, on to the real important part of this post....

DQ, as a system, has supported an organization called Children's Miracle Network (CMN) since 1984. In that time, the system has raised over $77 Million for CMN. The money that each location raises actually stays in the community. In other words, where I work, the money raised at that location actually stays in Wichita to help Wichita and surrounding area sick kids and their families.

For this area, Via-Christi is our Children's Miracle Network hospital. If you're reading this and not in the Wichita area, there are 169 other Children's Miracle Network hospitals in the USA and Canada.

Here are some other important CMN facts:

**CMN hospitals treat 98% of all children needing heart or lung transplants.
**They treat 88% of all children with cancer.
**They treat 76% of all children with cystic fibrosis.
**They treat 90% of all children with sickle cell anemia.
**They treat 72% of all children with pediatric AIDS.

I could go on and on and on and on about the importance of CMN.

For quite a few years now, participating DQs throughout North America, during the summertime, sell "Miracle Balloons." Here's what they look like this year -- very similar to years past.



Each balloon cost $1, and 100% of that $1 goes to CMN. Then, in return, you receive some coupons to DQ. This year's a great deal. You donate $1 to CMN, and you receive $2 in coupons to DQ.

The DQ I am working at is VERY MUCH participating in this event. We started selling them the other day. We will be selling them through early August. The top three employee sellers will receive some prizes.

Here are four employees, displaying the balloons.



We're finding places in the store to display all of the balloons. Right now, we're hanging them underneath the menuboard...



And, we're hanging them in the drive-thru window. Here are two employees (Kathy and Kyle) hanging their head out of the drive-thru window with the balloons above them.



AND, the biggest day of the year will be August 13. That's a Thursday this year. We've been doing this for several years, and this year's no different. On that one day, 100% of the proceeds from each Blizzard sold will be donated to CMN. **Of course, what I just said applies to participating DQs. And, once again, the store I'm working at does participate 100%. Yeah!

So, if you're in the area on August 13, swing by for a Blizzard. Sick kids and their families may just benefit from your donation.

We already put the banner up the other day (it's the bottom banner in this photo).

Only One More Week....

Luke only has one more week of being less than a year old. Yep, Luke's first birthday is a week from today -- July 21. We can't believe it. It's gone so fast. But, EVERYBODY, and I mean everybody, has told us that time only goes faster after the first year.

I'm very excited for Luke to reach this milestone. It's very exciting to see him learn new things and do new things. However, part of me is also kind of sad. There are so many things that we'll never do with Luke again. For instance, bottles are almost done. I even packed a few of them away the other night. Also, it seems like babies go through so many sizes of clothing in the first year. I've packed so many clothes away.

Perhaps we'll have another boy someday? Who knows? Perhaps God has a girl in mind for us (Nope -- I'm NOT pregnant).

This past weekend, we cheated just a bit and flipped Luke's carseat around. He was starting to really dislike not seeing us. He'd fuss nearly everytime I went somewhere with him. Then, a couple of weeks ago, he started stiffening up everytime I tried to put him in the car -- really, not a fun thing.

We knew he was well over 20 pounds. He's almost a year. SOOOOO, we did it. We just wanted to make sure he was as safe as we could keep him in the car.

(And yes, we know many of you did this as well).

Luke LOVED seeing us by being forward-facing. Does this smile say it all?



There was just so much to look around at....



This morning, I took him to his 12-month well-baby check-up. He did fairly well except for during the dreaded "shot time." That was sad -- more so for me, probably.

Here are his stats.

Height: 30 3/4" (83rd percentile)
Weight: 24 lb. 7 oz. (75th percentile)
Head Circumference: 18 1/2" (76th percentile)

So, Luke is a big boy. We're thankful for his growth.

But, here's what I told the nurse, "It's interesting that he's only in the 75th percentile for weight. EVERYBODY comments on his chubbiness. You'd think that he'd be in the 125th percentile or something."

So, I guess his weight isn't as much as most would think.

Luke's starting to develop a bit of orneriness lately. The other day, he was in his room. He hadn't been left alone very long at all. Here's what I walked in his room to find.



I absolutely LOVE his smile. It's one of my favorite traits of his. So, when I see this smile when he's done something like take most of diapers out, I just grin.

Uh-Oh...he's got himself wrapped around my finger, doesn't he?

It's Brown Belt Time....

But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31

I started this post with that particular verse because this verse is about Marc, my husband -- with a little Luke stuff thrown in, of course. I knew he liked this verse, and last night, when I asked him which verse he wanted on this post, he told me that one. Plus, having known Marc for awhile and having been married to him for a little over 5 years now, this verse fits him. Marc does have his hope in the Lord. So -- PERFECT!

Anyways, last night, Marc became one step closer to a Black Belt in Taekwondo by earning his Brown Belt. I'm not real sure of the "belt order," so I don't really know how much further it is to his Black Belt. You'll have to ask him on that one. He, however, does want to have a "Black Belt Party" at our home when he earns it, so those of you close by, be watching for the progression. You'll probably be invited over. And, you know, the Friesen's throw some "happenin' parties."

Luke and I did go (for a bit, anyways) to watch the belt testing.

Those testing for a brown belt and above had to attend a "sparring" class as well as the actual class to test for the belt.

When we first got there, we saw Marc, all dressed in protective gear for the class. When I took this photo, he didn't even see us -- let alone even see me taking this photo. Funny, Funny Marc! Marc's the person on the right, with the big blue dot on his chest.



Here's a photo of Luke, watching the sparring class.



Here's a closer shot of Marc in his sparring gear.



Here are a couple of photos. The first one is of him doing some kicks on the "bag."



This next photo is one of Marc sparring with another student. In this photo, Marc actually has his back toward the camera. He has a red protective head covering on.



It was at this point that I had to start "entertaining" Luke with some snacks and a sippy cup. I also took him out of the stroller for a bit and walked around closer for him to see his Daddy. I'm not sure he recognized Marc with all of his gear on.



Shortly after that photo was taken, Luke had enough. It really doesn't take too long for an 11-month old to "have enough." Here's a photo of "Fussy Luke" right after I took him outside.



After taking that photo and walking about 10 feet (yep, that's all it took), Luke was instantaneously happy again. I guess he just wanted to be outside instead of around all of the sweaty people in "Ultimate Martial Arts." So, Luke and I walked around for awhile. He had a bottle (it was supper time, so I probably was pushing my limits). Then, he was better. So, we went back in for a bit.

By that time, sparring was over, and the actual "belt testing class" was taking place. There were quite a few there that day; however, only a small number were actually belt testing. I managed to snap one more photo before Luke really said, "Enough, I want supper now." (Imagine that phrase in baby babble). Marc is actually just slightly to the left of center in this photo, in the black uniform.



Luke and I then went home so he could eat. Shortly after that, Marc showed up at home, sharing with Luke and me that he did indeed earn his brown belt! Yeah for Marc!

I had him put his white uniform on with his brown belt for a photo. He graciously did so for the benefit of this blog :) So, this photo was taken in our lovely, albeit not so clean, kitchen.



Congratulations Marc! Luke and I are proud of you!

Happy 4th Everybody!!!!

For those of you here in the great USA, Happy 4th. It's our country's 233rd birthday -- 233 years since the Declaration of Independence was signed, officially freeing us from the British. 233 years seems like a long time, but it's really pretty young compared to some other countries.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance. Psalm 33:12

I LOVE that verse. If you read my previous post, you'll know that two years ago, on July 4, I was in the hospital. When I received my breakfast that morning in my hospital room, that verse was on my tray. I took that verse home and hung it up in one of our bathrooms. I still have it up. Here's what it looks like -- not on the mirror. I really like the fact that at the hospital I was at (here in town for those of you local readers), somebody took the time to make all of those and place on all patients' breakfast trays.



Our country was founded on Christian values and principles. Sometimes, it seems as if those principles have gone by the wayside. We want Luke to know about our country's Christian heritage. We want Luke to know that many people have died, fighting for our country's freedoms. We're so thankful for those freedoms, and we don't want to take them for granted.

We proudly fly the American flag outside of our home. Luke watched Marc put the flag up today. Though he's still too young to know what it means, I'm still glad he is already watching Marc do things like that.



Today is the first 4th in three years we're able to celebrate with others. Two years ago, I was in the hospital (see previous post). Last year, I was VERY pregnant with Luke. My blood pressure had crept up slightly, and so, I was officially on restricted activity. My dr. had even specified, "No 4th of July parties for you guys this year." So, we stayed home. This year, however, we're all good.

This morning, Marc ran in the Chisholm Trail Run here in town. He's been fighting a hamstring injury for several weeks now, and during the race this morning, it acted up again. Therefore, he ended up having to walk most of the race. But, he did finish. Luke and I met up with Marc at the end. I had to get Luke up about an hour earlier than normal for this event. So, he was a bit sleepy at the race. Lately, he's gotten VERY attached to his "bwankie." (blanket) So, it definitely went along to the race.



Since then, we've been hanging out at home, watching the Tour de France bike race. That's a HUGE thing in this house during the month of July. It started today in Monaco. Watch out -- you'll probably see a blog post in the near future about this.

Luke is wearing his flag shirt from The Cora Shop. It's very cute on him!



Tonight, we're going to Joel and Jess' house for the annual Young Married Sunday School classes' 4th of July party. We obviously haven't made it the previous two years, so we're excited to finally be going. Thanks Joel and Jess for hosting again.

Happy 4th Everybody!

July 3....

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:13-14

Tomorrow is July 3. For us here in the Friesen household, it will always be a day we remember. Two years ago, on July 3, we officially lost our first pregnancy.

Here's the brief story.

After battling infertility for awhile, I finally got pregnant. We started telling everybody around 8 weeks or so. Nope, we hadn't heard a heartbeat yet, but I wasn't having any typical "miscarriage symptoms" either. We thought it was all probably O.K. Nope, it doesn't always work that way.

So, on June 25 of that year, we found out there was no heartbeat. I was most likely on my way to a miscarriage. My dr. told us to wait. Hopefully, my body would shed everything on its own.

By July 2, nothing was going on. The waiting was horrendous. Finally, after some "whacky" bloodwork, my dr. decided to do a D & C the following day as well as some exploratory surgery. He wanted to check for some things since my bloodwork was weird.

Early in the morning on July 3, Marc and I went to the hospital for a final sonogram -- just to completely be sure that baby wasn't living. I WAS SO THANKFUL for that sonogram. I knew for a fact nothing living would be terminated. After the sonogram, we went back home for a few hours. Finally, we got the call that there was nothing on the sonogram and to go on to the hospital. I checked into the hospital. They took me back for surgery around 1:00 or so in the afternoon. The surgery was supposed to take an hour to an hour and a half.

When I woke up, the very nice nurse told me I'd been in surgery for three hours. When my doctor visited me in the recovery room, he explained to me he had to actually take out my right ovary. It wasn't attached properly to the tube. The right fallopian tube was blown apart, and there was a build-up of scar tissue from my ovary down to my bowels. WHAT A MESS!!!!!

At that point, I was able to remember (even while still coming off of anesthesia)that when I was 22 years old, I had some SEVERE pain on my lower right side. At that time, my dr. (a different dr. than now) diagnosed it as a really bad urinary tract infection. It eventually got better with heavy doses of antibiotics.

After this surgery and seeing what was inside, my dr. thinks I probably had a cyst rupture and cause all of the damage. The nurse practitioner (who assisted in surgery) later told me that a ruptured cyst is extremely dangerous. I possibly could've died. I've since read that as well. So no, I never had that urinary tract infection, most likely.

So, I'm extremely thankful that my body fought all of that mess way back when I was 22 years old.

After a night in the hospital and a few visits from friends and family, we went back home. For the next couple of weeks, some wonderful people from church brought us meals and took care of us.

The physical healing from all of this wasn't too bad. Yep, I was sore from the surgery. I really disliked how the anesthesia seemed to mess my sleep up for awhile. But, all in all, it wasn't that bad.

The emotional recovery from a miscarriage (as well as finding out about my messy reproductive system) was a bit more of a challenge. I think that the world kind of "blows off" miscarriages. They're treated as no big deal. They are a big deal. I was a mess for awhile. I still, to this day, get sad sometimes about it.

Fortunately, the surgery did help, I think, with the infertility. I was able to get pregnant with Luke fairly quickly. Almost a year to the day later, Luke was born (July 21 -- one year later). How amazing is that?????

Now, I don't want to use this blog as a debate about abortion. Quite frankly, I believe there is no debate. But, I've heard some pro-choicers say that an unborn child may not have a purpose anyways.

I FIRMLY believe that our child we lost had a purpose. Had it not been for that child, we never would've been able to figure out what was going on inside of my body that wasn't originally allowing me to get pregnant. I had previously had all kinds of fertility tests. NONE of that mess inside of my body was showing up on sonograms, x-rays, etc.

That little unborn baby, the way my body didn't lose it naturally, and the whacky bloodwork (as well as my dr's concern for the whacky bloodwork) all helped correct some things that needed to be corrected. I sincerely believe that we wouldn't have Luke had it not been for that unborn baby.

I also believe that some things in my heart needed to change before we had a child. Things in my heart like not working so much, putting family first, learning what my purpose as a mother is, etc. I believe that our miscarriage taught me about some of those heart issues.

I do often wonder if that baby would've been a boy or a girl. I wonder about his or her personality. I guess I'll just wait until heaven to find out :)

Miscarriages, unfortunately, are all too common. I don't know completely what God's purpose was for our miscarriage experience, but I believe I do know what I believe that baby's purpose was.

About 4 weeks after my surgery, Marc and I took a trip together. We flew to San Francisco and rented a car. In the span of a week, we drove up the entire coast from San Francisco to Portland, OR. Then, we flew home from there. The trip was planned before the surgery, but it was the BEST thing for us at the time. We just needed to get away. We still have such fond memories of that trip.

Here are a couple fun photos from that trip, just to lighten up this post a bit.

Right outside of Sacramento, CA, we visited the Jelly Belly Factory. They don't charge for tours (if you're ever out there, we recommend it). On the tour, you have to wear a hat. Here are our goofy photos.





On this trip, Marc found a race to run (go figure). It was on the coast a few hours north of San Francisco. It was a 50 Km run (31 miles), so it took him a few hours. I didn't mind a bit because the scenery with which I sat in front of was phenomenal. There's nothing like reading a good book in front of the California coast while your husband is running in a race. This was far enough north where everything was COLD. So no, I didn't play in the waves.

Here's a photo of Marc at the starting line of this race. He's the one with the red bandanna on.



Marc actually WON this race that day. YEAH! Here's a photo of him at the finish line. The funny thing was that the wind kicked up fairly strong right when he was finishing (remember, we were on the coast). So, the finish sign was blowing down as he was finishing. Some of the race organizers were quickly trying to put it back up.



**Marc has since said that next to running through the Grand Canyon, this was the prettiest race he's run in. Perhaps we'll go back someday :)

**And, another side note. I had unexpected lower abdominal surgery on July 3, 2007. I then had unexpected lower abdominal surgery on July 21, 2008, since Luke was born via C-Section. So, my goal for this month is to go a July WITHOUT surgery. I think my body needs a rest from surgery. Believe me, this is not something I'm proud of. It just worked out that way.