The Perfect Advent Calendar

It's been a long time since I've blogged, but I really wanted to capture this Advent season as we try something new this year. We purchased The Perfect Advent Calendar several weeks ago at the Teapot Depot and Bella has been asking every day if it was time to start yet. I'm very excited about doing all of the fun activities with the kids this Advent season and love that each day has Bible verse and prayer for the family. I'm committing to blog about each Dayton keep myself accountable! Here are a few pictures from day 1 when we put our calendar together and hung it up.

Cooper is here!

I'm going to have to figure out how to change the title of my blog.  Cooper Rogers Chapman decided to make his appearance in the world 5 weeks early on last Thursday.  My blood pressure was just getting higher and higher and my doctor felt it was best to go ahead and deliver the baby before my health and his became more at risk.  So at 8:44 PM, Cooper made his debut.  He weighed 5 lbs. 15 oz. and was 17 1/2 inches long.  He was having trouble breathing so he had to be inutbated later Thursday evening.  We had another scare when one of his lungs collapsed over the weekend, but the doctors were able to quickly fix the problem and he had to have a chest tube put in to avoid the same problem.  They are trying to get that out soon.  It will be the next big hurdle for him to overcome. 

He has steadily gotten better over the last few days.   We went to see him several times today before I was discharged and each time he was obviously better.  By the last time we saw him he was awake and alert.  It was the first time Kyle and I had seen his eyes open and he was smiling!  He had been very agitated when he was touched earlier, but this afternoon he held our fingers, let us touch his feet and was responsive to both Kyle and I when we talked to him.  I've included a couple of pictures here.  I'll try to keep updating here as I can. 

Glory in the Highest

Well you know we all put the Chris Tomlin concert on our calendar as soon as we found out he was coming back to town. Ever since we told Bella months ago that we were going she keeps saying "At Christmas I get to see Chris Tomlin and Santa!" She was just beside herself excited about going. Of course, Kyle and I were also excited to go. It's no secret we are all huge fans of Chris and have been since our high school and college days when he was just the local Texas guy doing camps and youth events. I spent two summers on the ETBU rec team and of the 10 weeks each of those years I'd say probably 1/2 of them were with Chris and his band. Even back then, before he was "famous" God's anointing on his life and ministry were so evident. The best description I ever heard was that he is truly a "lead worshiper" not a "worship leader".




As a bonus, Louie Giglio was on tour with Chris. Louie is another person we first came in contact with back in our college days at camps and college events. Kyle and I were at ETBU when the Passion movement really got started. I have always loved to hear what God has to say through Louie. Saturday was no exception.



The worship experience on Saturday night was amazing. In the midst of the craziness of the season it was exactly what I needed to be reminded of the reasons we really have to celebrate. We so rarely take time out of the busyness of this season to truly worship and focus on what God did at Christmas. Several points from what Louie shared stuck out to me:

• God had been silent for 400 years (the interbiblical period) and when he chose to speak again it was through the cry of a baby. Definitely not what the Jewish people were expecting.

• Nothing about that first Christmas night was perfect except for the baby. Mary was in the worst possible situation for her baby to be born in. Her prayers that night, prior to Jesus' birth were probably somewhere along the lines of "Please God, not tonight."

• In the first chapter of John, when the Bible says "the Word became flesh" it means God came to us where we are, He moved into the neighborhood! Or the NASCAR version as we learned "Jesus bought a motor home and moved into the driver's paddock!"

I have to say that there is just something special about watching Bella worshiping God in her own way. I know she doesn't fully grasp the concept of Christ and what He did for us on the Cross, but she just lights up when she is singing songs to God. During the concert she asked my sister "Aunt Kristi, where is God?" and she's asked me the same thing since then.



Hope Chris comes back to town soon. Bella has already asked if we can bring the baby with us next time we see Chris. She said "Mommy I think the baby will love to go to the concert to see Chris Tomlin!" Somehow I think she's probably right!

News from the Chapmans

As usual, I’ve gone forever between blog posts. Things have been so busy around here and so many of the things that have been going on have been things I wasn’t ready to share just yet. Now that Bella knows, the cat’s pretty much out of the bag that we are expecting a baby in June. I’ve had a pretty “normal” pregnancy so far, well “normal” is a relative term, especially when you have my pregnancy history. I’ve been seeing my doctor every two weeks since I first found out I was pregnant and after the last regular visit he finally told me I could wait 4 weeks between visits. Of course, I started having pains a week later and ended up at the hospital getting everything checked out by another doctor while my doctor was on vacation. Thankfully the pains are just from my ligaments and after several ultrasounds of both the baby and my abdomen I’ve been assured that the pains are not harmful to the baby, just miserable for me. That at least is something I can deal with. I’m ok with the pain as long as it’s just hurting me and I can know the baby is ok. Tylenol, and particularly Tylenol PM, has become my best friend! :-)


Kyle and I have known for months now that we were expecting and held most of the worry and anxiety to ourselves. I very strongly didn’t want to tell Bella about the baby until I had gotten through my first trimester, but that also meant not telling anyone else. We were blessed that she wasn’t old enough to understand when I miscarried before, but I knew it would be hard to explain to her if the same thing happened again. I’ve worried and struggled with a myriad of emotions in the last few months and even now that my doctor has assured me this pregnancy is going great, I still have this small voice in my head that worries. The baby is measuring a little big, which is comforting for me. It probably means nothing at this point, but Bella was always small for her gestational age, which got progressively worse as I went through my pregnancy and eventually led to her coming so early. It’s just the reassurance I need that this pregnancy is different than either of my first two.

Bella is absolutely beside herself. Of course the first thing she asked after we told her was “What’s the baby’s name going to be?” Most of the time she is convinced we are having a girl. I’ve tried (without much luck most of the time) to remind her that God has already chosen this baby just for our family and he knows if we need a boy or a girl. She seems to accept this most of the time, but her usual response is “but God wants us to have a girl!” She’s been praying every night for God to help the baby grow big and strong. She will also insist to you that she is already a big sister, not that she is going to be when the baby comes, but she already is right now. I think the baby is more real to her right now than it is to me. I can’t wait until she is able to feel the baby moving. She had a doctor’s appointment the same day as me last week and since our doctors are in the same building we took her with us when I had my ultrasound. She was fascinated! She is already learning to adjust to some of the changes though. She’s not real happy about the fact that I can’t carry her around as much as I used to. She’s excited about helping pick out things for the baby and can’t wait to get a new stroller that she and the baby can both ride in.
We appreciate all your prayers as we are trusting this will continue to be a healthy pregnancy.

Bike Ride

Kyle completed a 32 mile bike ride on Saturday to raise money for the American Diabetes Association. He rode with 4 other people and they all completed the race together in about 2 1/2 hours. I was impressed, there's definately no way that I could have done it!

Here they are right after finishing the race.

Bella cheering all the riders as they finished the race

After we dropped off Kyle, Coby and Lisa, Bella and I went to get some breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Bella loves to rock in the little rockers there. I wish we had a big porch so she could have one at home....maybe some day.

Hallie

Kyle finally got to meet Hallie on Sunday. Bella and I went to see her right after she was born, but Kyle was stuck at the church for workday, then we were passing a cold around our house, so we couldn't go see her. Needless to say, Bella was very excited about seeing Hallie again. She is a little confused about the fact that Hallie can't "play" with her yet.

Bella, Hallie and Aunt Kristi (who spoils them both!)

Bella "holding" Hallie and giving her a kiss

Can't you just see the excitement on her face? As much as she loves having her picture taken, she was not overly excited that she had to look up from watching Hallie.



Helping Lacey feed Hallie

Pray for Africa Shirts

I wanted to quickly update you on something that is going on in our lives. An opportunity arose this week for Kyle to go with my sister and our good friend Philip to go on a Mission Trip next month to Senegal, West Africa. As many of you know our friends Jason and Dorothea Lee are serving as IMB missionaries in Senegal ministering to the Sereer people group. Kyle is very excited about this opportunity, but he needs to raise about $2000 in the next three weeks. They are selling shirts to raise money for the trip. The shirts are available in dark pink/green, black/white, and red/white. The front of the shirt has an outline of Africa and says "Pray for Africa" and the back has Habakkuk 1:5 "Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told." (see the pics below) They are $12 each for adults and $10 each for kids. Email me at a_chapman12@yahoo.com or leave a comment if you want one or some! Also, if you would like to help out, please post this on your blogs! Thanks!