A Baby? A Baby!

October 5, 9 and 10, 2010

I took Landis with me to the ultra sound on Tuesday afternoon, October 5, because he had a Tae Kwon Do lesson following my appointment. Shortly after we left the house he asked me where it was we were going and why. I reminded him of the time he went with me to Faith's ultra sound. I quickly assured him I wasn't pregnant but I just wanted to go and make sure everything was OK inside of me. That answer worked for him and we arrived a few minutes early for the appointment. When I stepped in to see the doctor, I asked Landis to wait outside because I wanted to be able to speak freely with the doctor and keep Landis from hearing things that might cause him to worry about his mom.

The doctor asked me about my concerns and I shared with him briefly what I had been thinking. I told him that I had been, what I would call, “bloated,” but it was much more than that. He told me to just get on the table so that we could take a look. As soon as he put the scanner on my stomach I thought, “I'm going to look at the monitor because I need to see whatever is in there for myself. I'm not afraid. I can handle it.” As soon as I looked at the monitor I saw a perfect circle with a spine coming out of it and I recognized the picture. At the same time the doctor said, “Well, you're 'bloated' because there's a baby in there!” I felt incredibly dizzy and overwhelmed. The only thing that came out of my mouth was, “Oh my goodness!” over and over again. When the doctor asked me if I wanted to know the sex of the baby and that it was a boy, I so wanted Landis to witness this event but I hesitated in calling him in because I didn't know if I should tell Bobby first. But the doctor told me I was 17 ½ weeks along and he encouraged me to go ahead and let Landis in on the joyful news since I wouldn't be hiding my little secret much longer anyway. When Landis came in the doctor asked him what he saw on the monitor. Landis told me later that he recognized a baby but was doubtful because I had specifically told him an hour earlier that I wasn't pregnant. So I said to Landis, “Go ahead and tell me what you think that looks like.”

“A baby?” he asked.

When I told Landis he was finally having a little brother he clenched his fists and pumped his elbows back at his sides with an excited,”YESSSSS!!!”

As we drove away Landis told me that he'd stopped praying for a baby brother a long time ago but that night he was going to pray again. I asked him what he'd be praying about that night.

“To say thanks!” he said simply.

Both mine and Landis' thoughts were on the new baby and how we'd tell Bobby that night after getting our shopping done. We did a little bit of clothes shopping for Landis and then got groceries. I found the perfect card of congratulations for Bobby and then Landis and I schemed on how to deliver the news.

I knew that Bobby would not ask me about my doctor appointment until the kids were in bed so after everyone was tucked in, Landis, who had taken a picture of the baby in the ultra sound with my phone, would send the picture to Bobby's phone as soon as he heard Bobby ask me how my appointment went. So I'm standing just inside the door of his office and he asks me how it went. I spoke slowly in order to give the picture time to be sent and I started with, “Well, do you want to the good news or the bad news?” With a serious look on his face he replied that he didn't really care he supposed which came first. Then I really hesitated because the picture seemed to be slow in sending. When I only paced and stalled in telling him anything, he began to get a little nervous and thought, “is the bad news so bad that you don't know how to tell me?” It seemed like an eternity for the picture to send so I asked him where his phone was. Just as I asked the question, his phone chimed, telling him he had a message. As he reached for his phone, I reached for the card I had bought for him. He looked at the message on his phone, saw that it was from me, saw the picture of the ultra sound and I handed him the card at the same time. He recognized the picture of a baby and said, “A baby?” and smiled. Then he opened the card and saw that it was light blue in color. He opened it and read, “Congratulations the new 'little man' in your house!”

I thought it was the perfect card because in every concert Bobby sings a song called, “Little Man,” that talks about our sons (children) watching what we do and how we live our lives. It's a reminder to fathers, in particular, that they need to be careful because the little eyes of a little man are watching.

After he sat there for a minute taking everything in, Bobby stated, “I'm happy!”

Our second trip to Ohio was a quick one. We sang at New Haven Baptist Church on Sunday morning where Bobby only had about 10 minutes before the sermon. Of course I didn't speak. Many of the people were out sick, including the pastor, and a guest speaker filled the pulpit.

We wouldn't have been surprised if my dad had walked through the doors that morning because my brother had mentioned the possibility of Dad coming to Ohio that weekend and surprising us. He didn't show up that morning but later that afternoon on the way to Vanlue, I thought about it again and not long after I had thought about it, Dad called. He didn't say anything about seeing us, we just made a little small talk so finally I asked him if he was on his way to see us that evening in Ohio. He wanted to deny it at first because he wanted to make it a surprise, but he finally confessed to his whereabouts and told us he'd see us in an hour or so.

He did meet us about an hour later at Harvest Time Chapel, where we sang that night, but he wasn't alone. He brought a friend with him, Joann Riley from Three Rivers, Michigan. They'd been seeing each other for about a month and we'd heard some wonderful things about her from her long-time friends, Pastor Randy and Karen Helms when we sang at their church a couple of weeks earlier in Tampa, Florida.

We had a nice visit before church and then a service that started out very laid back but ended up being a meaningful time after all with God having a word for us. Then we went to eat with Dad and Joann back in Upper Sandusky where we visited for quite a while before saying goodbye to them. We went across the street to our hotel and they drove back to Michigan.

On our way home the next day we took the time to stop and visit some friends in Fairborn, Chris and Christine Rupp, and their two children, Conlan and Claire. Christine, who we still refer to as “Miss Bates” from time to time, was Grace's teacher at the Christian school she attended in Smyrna back in 2003 and 2004. We have kept in touch over the last few years and when she saw that we'd be in central Ohio she contacted me and invited to stop by for a visit. I'm so glad we had the time to do it. It was great to see them again and see where they live. She even made homemade bread to go with soup and salad, a delicious and healthier lunch than fast food. Thank you, Christine!

We got home a little later because of the stop in Fairborn but it was worth it. A few days at home before heading back to Ohio once more.