GRANDPARENTS TWICE AT THE SAME TIME

Kristi is mid-way through her 3rd pregnancy and went yesterday to find out what the sex of the baby is so they can plan names. Their blog even had a "guess what the sex of the baby is" on it. Well, the doctor blew everyone out of the water by telling them baby #3 is a boy...and so is baby #4. She is carrying identical twin boys! My mom was a fraternal twin and two of her sisters had fraternal twins so it runs in the Shaw family. However, it always takes one by surprise.

Kristi measures 26 weeks at this 19.5 weeks point. We all should have thought something other than, "It must be a BIG kid!" The doctors will either induce her or take them Caesarean between weeks 34 and 36 which moves the due date from mid-August to mid-July. Guess I'll be leaving California a month earlier than I planned...and possibly earlier if she has to go to bedrest. I hope she doesn't have to for Ben and Gabe's sakes. But I'm willing to go and can get ready.

We recently were looking at family descendants. My mom did a lot of work on the Walkers and Shaws which she documented very well. It has been neglected since a while before she died. Wayne has said he would like to keep it up so that would be good. Kristi is looking at the Cook/Dodd side of her family and found a lot of work already done. It looks like the Cooks came from John Cook who was a resident of Chatham county, North Carolina. Some migrated through Hopkins County, Kentucky, to Boone County, Missouri. There is good documentation on that. I think someone should add the Octive Cook downline to the history. Bob might go talk with Aunt Margaret (Dad Bob's sister)so we don't lose it.

The reason Kristi was looking was to find some possibilities for names for the newest addition. Now she needs 2 names (4 total) to add to Benjamin David and Gabriel Stephen. As long as they aren't Jacob and Esau!

Well, we are gearing up to move again this coming week. Are going to ask the new landlady if we can take some stuff over early so it doesn't get lost. Still have to do the taxes and don't want that misplaced. Think the IRS wouldn't accept that as a reason to postpone turning them in.

Reports are that Mom (Elsie) is doing OK. She still hasn't gotten used to the idea that she has a roommate and sometimes ends up in Helen's clothes or using her stuff. The staff said she was standing in the middle of the hall at 2:00 a.m. with 2 sacks full of stuff saying she was "going home". Now people will believe us!

Life has been more than full this year! On the stress Richter scale we have been at the top and it's only March. As long as it slows down soon, maybe we won't age so quickly.

Well, we're off to do errands, wash the car and generally rest off-and-on today. Pray for us!

Virginia Trip

We got to go to see the boys for their (very close together) birthdays. Gabe turned 1 on March 16, the day I left; Ben will be 3 on April 1.

Dave found a "Lightning McQueen" Power Wheels car here and had to jump through 72 "hoops" to get it on the airplane to take to Ben. However, he did it and it was worth the unveiling hoopla! Ben kept saying over and over, "It's a race car!" and his face was so cute. Matt tried to sit Gabe in it and Ben started to cry and tell Gabe not to eat it! (Gabe is putting everything in his mouth now...) Quite hilarious from our point of view. Gabe got a "Tow-Mater" push/sit-and-ride scooter. It would have been a great photo opp if we could have gotten them to sit still.

I got an eye infection somehow and, by the time I got home, had blossomed a sinus infection too. The foliage was just blooming out there and I'm sure the different plants got to me. Whatever--I'm on meds now so I hope to pull out of it soon. After all, as discussed in the last post, we have to move again in a couple of weeks!

Homeless again...

Well, the condo we found got sold and we got 30 notice. Actually, it was a pending sale when we signed the lease--which was not disclosed to us--and they actually wanted us to move out by March 15. We had just gotten all our stuff over there by March 4! I'm so upset and overwhelmed. We can't unpack any more than we have so we live out of boxes and have to start looking for a place all over again!

Then Dave got the final word that we will move to Maryland August 1. That area is pretty foreign to us so we're not sure where we want to be and where we'll end up. Finding a place to live for the next 4 months is going to be "tricky" I'm afraid. However, God knew it was coming so He must have the next place ready for us. Wish it was a little more obvious. I find this is a great lemonade opportunity!