Blog – Page 49

24 Weeks and 3 Days!

February 16, 2009 by HappyGoStuckey 8 Comments

Dad getting a little artistic with Camera. We had fun.

And the moment many of you have been waiting for…..

Belly Pictures.

24 weeks and 3 days

24 weeks and 3 days.. Valentine’s Day!

It’s funny though, I didn’t realize how I really looked until we started taking pictures. There are days that I definitely “feel” bigger but I had to laugh when I really got a good look at these. It certainly makes a difference what I wear whether or not you can really tell. In other news, and more importantly, we went to the Doctor this past Wednesday and everything still looks good. Blood pressure, Lu’s heartbeat, my health, etc.
I would like to ask for prayer for this next month’s appointment as it is time for the notorious glucose test. Diabetes runs in our family and I have struggled with my blood sugar from time to time. (By struggled I mainly mean I cannot eat a dozen donuts and feel just fine.) I have had to be careful this entire pregnancy with my sugar intake and have cut out ALL caffeine (except trace amounts in chocolate– haha) just because I do not want to have to deal with gestational diabetes. Would you mind keeping this in your prayers? I very much want to be healthy in every way possible, and while I know that Gest. Diabetes is not uncontrollable, I would just really like to not have to worry about it.
AS always, thank you for your continued support and prayers of our little (growing) family.

Have Basket, Will Travel

February 13, 2009 by HappyGoStuckey 3 Comments

Little Sheep for my Little Lamb

Is it still a “Moses Basket” if her name is Lucy?

As many of you know, the Stuckey’s find themselves in what seems to be a very nomadic time in their life as a family. We are currently still waiting to hear back from several institutions on acceptance into their respective PHD programs. The list contains Duke University, University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University. At this time, none of these schools have made decisions and so, we wait. Some days we even wait patiently.
Those of you who are close to us have shared in the sometimes agonizing experience of not knowing where we will be in the next 6 months. I, personally have struggled with this much more than I have license to. I spent many weeks and even months at the beginning of my pregnancy in a state of frozen panic and some days even denial. Even in all of these doubtful times, I have never claimed to know what is best for our family. That is just it. We don’t know at this point. We know very little. We know Lance is graduating. We know he has a calling and desire in a particular field. We know that this calling requires that we try to go in a specific direction. We know that this direction requires that we may very well be moving somewhere where family is not. We know that we are going to be doing this very shortly after, our life changes drastically. We know we are having a baby. We know she is a little girl. We know her name is Lucy. Now we know that she probably does not and will not mind that her parents had no idea what her physical address would be just months before her birth. We may not even know several months from now. But more importantly, we know WHO knows the answers to these questions. We know HE loves her more than we ever could and HE knows that she needs a place to sleep and live just as we do. One day, we will look back on these times of uncertainty and hopefully we will be able to tell her that we trusted HIM and not our own wisdom. Because our wisdom is so very limited. And HIS is inexhaustible. HE is faithful.

Recently, we found a wonderful treasure in a “Moses Basket” for little Lu. I saw it and fell in love with it because it’s perfect for our upstairs, downstairs-apartment-maybe-moving very soon after she arrives-life. We were able to find a white wooden rocking stand for the basket and it will fit perfectly in a little corner of our room. As a mother, my heart was strangely comforted by this find. Yes, I know it’s just a basket. But perhaps it is the fact that no matter where we are in a few months, she has spot when she arrives. A perfect little, soft, cuddly spot to sleep and lay regardless of the temporary state of the rest of our house. She may not have a “nursery” for several months after she is born until we are somewhere more permanently– but she has her spot. And as strange as it may seem, I feel calmer somehow. I feel that we have at least made the immediate provisions for her arrival which we possible can. And it won’t really matter if her basket is completely surrounded by moving boxes. She will never know. And if any of you decide to tell her, make sure you tell her that she was well loved and looked after during this crazy and wonderful time. Bottom line: we desire that she knows how her parents were learning to trust God. One step, one day, one deep breath at a time.

Lucy’s Best Seller List

February 12, 2009 by HappyGoStuckey 4 Comments

Several people have recommended a certain Bible Story Book that they have had for their children and we decided to invest in it for our little one. The Jesus Storybook Bible begins with the very beginning of the Bible and goes through the stories of the Old Testament, pointing to the Cross and the Gospel. We recently received it in the mail and decided to begin reading it to her at night. So far, we are impressed with the quality of the book. And, it appears that Little Lucy likes it as well. The first night Lance began reading to her, she immediately began kicking and moving around the second he spoke. We were excited that he was finally able to feel her moving!!!

We have discussed for some time how we desire for our children to be well-read.Lance and I, love books. Our tiny little apartment is overrun with them but we cannot bear to box any up for fear that we will want to read one and it will be out of reach. Books are wonderful treasures. I have enjoyed reading books my entire life! And honestly, even as an adult, I admit that I love to read children’s books. Lucy already has a little collection of books which we have accumulated for her. I admit I am a little selective when it comes to children’s books… I have been strangely disappointed by the quality of some of the literature which is intended for young minds. I tend towards the classics and those stories which have actual literary substance. Many children’s books of late seem to be crude and poorly constructed. I’m not opposed to new books at all, I honestly only rarely come across anything of real value published recently. I would like to list several rare treasures which have come about in the last few years.

1. The Olivia Books (Ian Falconer)
2. Angelina Ballerina Series (Katharine Holabird)
3. If you give a mouse a cookie (Laura Numeroff)
4. If you give pig a pancake (Laura Numeroff)
5. If you take a mouse to the movies (Laura Numeroff)
6. Click Clack Moo- Cows that Type

I also would like to mention some oldies but goodies:

Charlotte’s Web
Little House Books
Anne of Green Gables (Can I get an Amen on this one?)
Chronicles of Narnia
Sarah, Plain and Tall
Beatrix Potter

Some of these book series are sweet and some are silly and some are both.. but they are all delightful! What are some of you or your children’s favorite books?

A New Chapter in the Cross House…

February 4, 2009 by HappyGoStuckey 3 Comments

Here’s Heidi and Ryland about to come home from the Hospital! Don’t they just look great?!

She, looks especially fabulous, of course.

(and thanks to the source who posted this on Facebook!)

I just couldn’t be more proud…

February 1, 2009 by HappyGoStuckey Leave a Comment

Congratulations to the Cross Family!!

After a very long day and a half (18 Hours!), Heidi and Paul have welcomed Ryland Martin Cross into the world! Ryland arrived at 1:55am this morning and was 6lbs. 14.5 ounces and 19.5 inches long. He is absolutely beautiful and I hope to post a picture soon. I am aching to get down there and be able to hold him for the first time. The last 9 months has flown by since we knew he was on his way!!! Congratulations to the Cross Family.
And Heidi, I’m especially proud of you! You are such a great mom already!

Here is a recent photo of our last girls’ trip to Charleston. Heidi was already pregnant but didn’t know it yet! I love this girl!!!

Sometimes Flour, Butter, Sugar and Salt bring together more than just a Piecrust.

January 29, 2009 by HappyGoStuckey 3 Comments

Every now and then I become quite disillusioned with my cooking abilities. It may be the single failed attempt at a recipe I know and trust or just several days of lackluster results that might bring this feeling of culinary mediocrity. Whatever the cause, sometimes it bothers me much more than it should– not because I am as silly as this would seem, equating my self-worth with the ability to make a really good chocolate chip cookie, but because cooking is often the therapy I crave at the end of a long and tiring day or week. There is nothing so cleansing and invigorating than creating something lovely from simple, fresh ingredients.

Never the less, I have recently had a chip on my shoulder in the domain which we call the kitchen. This ‘chip’ is about the size of my thumbnail and is made of pure chocolate. That is correct, I speak of the chocolate chip. Be it milk, dark or semi-sweet– this little morsel of decadence has, of late caused me a great deal of grief. Why, you ask? For some strange reason, I have had a serious problem with making chocolate chip cookies. I have tried many recipes and I always get the same results– in short, not the results I want. This past weekend I recovered from the “depths of despair” only to hold my head high as I marched out to Target with a vengeance to buy a brand new Family-Size bag of Tollhouse Chocolate Chips in order to conquer my recent fear not once, but many times if necessary. But upon returning home, I found myself not quite ready for the trenches. Instead of facing my bright red Kitchen-Aid with gusto, I sought to lick my wounds at the proverbial workbench of one of the greatest cooks I have ever known,
Marie Josephine Templeton.

“Nannie” as she was always known to me, taught my mother, her daughter, countless things about cooking and baking and in turn passed on her gifts to me. She was a diligent woman. She cooked for many years in a kitchen that most would deem inferior in size and yet she served our family many things that tasted far better than any thing served from the 10 Foot Maple island of a Southern Living Idea Home. A treasure trove of warmth and wisdom accompanied these dishes as she brought them to the table with a sweet smile and gentle hands. It is these hands that inspire me most in the kitchen. When I think back over my childhood and my years being her grandaughter, it is her hands that stand out to me. Standing on a chair next to her, as she made my favorite Oatmeal Cookies and carefully set them in the cookie jar, I learned that you don’t rush perfection and that cooking and baking should relax you, not stress you out. I try to remember these things in my kitchen today as I cook for my own dear husband. Although from time to time, my ability to control the outcome takes over and Cindy McNasty is suddenly wearing the apron.. and not that little girl in a pink corduroy dress who knows that “cooking is fun.”

This weekend I did something I have never done before. I made a very special Apple Pie. Not just any apple pie, but a pie that has only been made my two other women that I know of, my mother and my grandmother. I was, I admit a little stressed out at various parts of the process… and for those of you who want me to cut to the chase, the pie was not what I would call perfect.. but it was good. The filling was warm and fragrant and sweet and the crust was delicate and flaky– which moved me to nostalgia over the pies of the two women who have bolstered my cooking abilities so.

I must admit, I constantly compare everything that comes out of my poorly calibrated Seminary apartment oven (which has a mind of its’ own and jumps 50 degrees in either direction during any cooking process.) to that of my mother’s and Nannie’s. But it was in the rolling out, baking and tasting of this pie that I found some culinary justice in the world. It really was not bad for a first attempt! Regardless of the outcome though, I was vividly reminded of why I love cooking and baking. Because sometimes, everything comes together the way you plan. Sometimes when you don’t even know what the plan is, you end up with a delicious surprise. And some times, you are gently reminded by the feel of fresh, cool pie crust underneath your fingertips that when you cook for the ones you love, the outcome does not matter as much as the joy you receive from serving them from your heart and hands. I will be trying the chocolate chip cookies again. Very soon. Not because of my Hubris alone, but because I just cannot imagine that it will be easy for little Lucy Stuckey to sign up for a dozen Apple Pies instead of a dozen Chocolate Chip cookies for the elementary school bake sale.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

January 29, 2009 by HappyGoStuckey 2 Comments

Lucy’s Hat from Grammy in Daddy’s Hands… It’s so tiny.

Okay, so today Lance came home with a Raggedy Ann Doll for Lucy. What he didn’t know is that this is one thing I have always looked forward to having for my little girl. She’s going to love it.. and she is totally a daddy’s girl already.

Snow Much Fun!!!

January 21, 2009 by HappyGoStuckey 1 Comment

Snow!!!!

January 20, 2009 by HappyGoStuckey 2 Comments

We finally got a good snow!!!! YAY! Pictures to follow! Wouldn’t you know it, SEBTS is still opening on a two-hour delay so I’ll post some pictures later!!! 🙂 Oh well, at least we get a couple of extra hours to enjoy it at home.
Lance and I started the morning by hopping out of bed at 6:30am and walked in the freshly fallen snow, all bundled up. It was pretty great. Although by the time we walked back, the snow was blowing HARD into our faces… and I’m walking behind him, my trusty snow-shield. Brrr! I was starting to think Lance would live in NC all this time and never see a good snow–so we are excited!!!