D to the C, part שבע

"Seven" in Hebrew is שבע
(read right to left) and, not-so-incidentally, is the number in Scripture that represents completion. (On the seventh day, God rested after Creation, etc)

So, I thought it fitting to wrap up the marathon postings about our DC trip with a miscellaneous smattering of photos and brief anecdotes. You can thank me for wrapping it up later... :)

This is a picture of one of the statues on either side of the non-tourist entrance to the National Archives. Both Scott and I took pictures of this, as we see the importance of studying the past. Have you ever heard the quote (attributed to George Santayana, I believe) that "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it" ? That is true of the mistakes in the past, and knowing history also helps you greatly appreciate and understand who you are, what you believe, and why you believe it.

We got to stand in line to see the documents from the founding of our nation at the National Archives. I know they take great pains to preserve and protect the originals, and yet I am so thankful for printing presses and facsimiles. You'll see what I mean when you compare the next three pictures: First, an original printed copy of the Declaration of Independence, followed by a facsimile of the original handwritten Declaration, followed finally by the actual original handwritten Declaration of Independence. Flash photos were prohibited, of course, on the first and third, but the middle picture was from the display outside of the protected area housing the originals.


p.s., we were assured that there was absolutely no way that there is a secret map on the backside of the original, a-la-National Treasure.

This is the Supreme Court building. We got a neat tour and description of the chambers and Court history. A pro-life group stood in silent peaceful protest on the left in this pic with their mouths taped to show that the unborn do not have a voice in matters of "choice."

Here is a view of the back of the Capitol from the entrance level of the new Capitol Visitor's Center. The Visitor's center is elegant and matches the rest of the Capitol well, in my opinion.

Closeup of the Capitol Rotunda Dome.


Little Monkey takes the Capitol a-la-King Kong.
(one of the texted pics we sent home to keep the kids involved)

Nancy Pelosi's office (for now)


The Capitol Dome from inside the Rotunda. Gorgeous. Also weighs 9 MILLION pounds. No. joke.



I'm sure our backgrounds have been thoroughly checked. We got to "tour" the White House (which is just a do-it-yourself walkthrough of a couple of rooms) and one of the Secret Service agents was certain that Scott looks just like one of their fellow agents.


Note. to. self. When taking a self-photo, remove the sunglasses to prevent your goofy arm from showing up on your lenses.



Scott should have access to this stairwell in the National Cathedral, shouldn't he?

The restaurant at the National Spy Museum. EXCELLENT Lobster Mac 'n Cheese as a side dish, btw.

Fancy Soda:
Ginger Ale, Lime, Blueberry, and Mint.
Very refreshing. No alcohol, duh. Available at Zola's.

This is the church we visited for their Wednesday night service. It's the home of 9 Marks ministries -- a great resource for churches!

Sesame-encrusted somefishwe'dneverheardof&can'tremember
served fresh at the Oceanaire Seafood Room. Delish, even though I can't remember what it was.

Quite possibly the best burgers we've ever had. 3.6.9 miniburgers with gorgonzola cheese and onion straws from Matchbox in Chinatown.

D to the C, part "Kevin Bacon"

Yes, I said "part Kevin Bacon".

This is D to the C post 6, and it's all about the Six Degrees (or less) of Separation made popular by the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game, amongst other things.

For those of you who may be confused... It's the concept that we really do live in a small world, and if I'm connected by one degree to each person I know and two degrees away from each person who is known by one of the people I know, then I'm at most six steps away from any other person on Earth.

Why do I link that to our DC trip? This turned out to be a real Six Degrees of DC trip.

Well, we embarked on this trip with the intention to spend time with our friend, Nate. YEA!

(yikes. Pregnant picture)

We thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Nate and his great parents. Thanks for the hospitality, Mr. and Mrs. S! Nate celebrates a birthday this Monday: Happy Birthday!!

My dad serves on the board of both a Farm-related bank and also on the National Cotton Council, and it just so happened that he was scheduled to have a semi-annual meeting in DC on our first couple of days there. He invited us and Nate to join him for dinner at a scrumptious and very cool 1930s style restaurant that evening.

Then, we found out that a friend from college (who serves in a covert branch of our military) is currently stationed there with his family, so we got the awesome opportunity to catch up with him in the Ice Cream parlor of the Museum of Natural History. It was great to see you Mark!

We ate lunch at a great little cafe one day, and because it was tiny (not because we were altogether nosey) we overheard some guys talking "church planting". Our ears perked up as we realized they were believers and actually on staff of a church we would be attending that evening. (...and I really enjoyed the plantains from the cafe... couldn't pass up mentioning that.)

We visited that neat church that Wednesday and chatted with some great guys whom we'd never met before: one knows a friend of ours who attends Southern Seminary, another went to our University, and a third lived in Springfield, MO about the same time we did.

Thursday of our trip, we scored some Gallery Passes to the Senate from one of our state's Senators. We went that morning (NOTHING was going on), and then again that evening in hopes of catching some Senate fireworks. The evening didn't disappoint, as we saw Senator Lieberman, and witnessed some incessant slick-talk from Sens. Dodd (CT) and Reid (NV) get interrupted parliamentarily by Senator McCain. Then, to top it all off, three cowboys (in hats) came into the gallery to observe, and would you believe that one of them was a guy who taught small group Sunday BibleStudy for us when we did College Ministry in Springfield? Jason was there as a representative for the Missouri Cattlemen's Association at a conference that just happened to be there that week. We hadn't talked to him in a couple of years, and ran into him in the Senate Gallery!?!

It truly was a small world on our trip!

Ahhh. *pleasant sigh*

Ahem. I'd just like to start by saying I'm loving being a mom of 3. Seriously! Yes, there's a distinct lack of sleep (but not all that dissimilar from the last month of pregnancy), and it's an adjustment trying to effectively meet the needs of 3 kiddos instead of two, but I'm still loving it!

Now, at the risk of irritating those of you who are anxiously awaiting pictures of sweet Abby, I'm going to attempt to start catching up on the blog and at the same time appease the picture appetite. Can you handle the flashbacks and present-days together? :)

Here we go!

[Bear with me, since I'm trying to do this during Abby's naps that coincide with independent-play for Caleb and Anna. I can't promise that will be as consistent as I'd like, not to mention the crizazy amount of emails (over 100!) and Google Reader items (382!) I have yet to read/answer, and the loads of baby laundry]

Praise be to the Lord!

We are celebrating the arrival of Abigail Grace at 6:22 pm, measuring 8lbs, 6oz and 20 inches long. She took her sweet time, :) but she arrived healthy and fairly happy! For those of you who like such details, her Apgar was 9/9!

No, I was not super mom since I was able to post some updates on twitter. Actually, there is a lot that can be accomplished when you have a good epidural! :)

And you'll notice there were substantial gaps in the updates. That's because my epidural wore off TWICE. Once was in the middle, and the anesthesiologist saved the day with the addition of a different med. But...

Ahem. The second time was the last hour and a half. No rescue meds allowed. It was lovely.

But so worth it!

So, there's an update for you! I'm awaiting transfer to recovery, sweet girl is being pampered in the nursery, and Daddy is rustling up some grub for himself and his ravenously hungry wife.

http://twitpic.com/f61z1 will take you to a picture.

Glory to God for this sweet bundle of joy!

Mark this date...

Monday is the day! Most of you will be reading this on Monday, so expect forthcoming news of baby Abby's arrival!

Either Scott or I will be offering occasional updates via Twitter (you can see my account updates at the right of this page) and Facebook (which receives my Twitter updates).

We are scheduled to start the induction process at 6am, so pray for a quick and easy and healthy delivery! :)

The next blog post that appears should have a picture of our sweet girl! You might even get a sneak peek at her via pictures posted on Twitter if you're watching!

We're excited and eager and anxious and relieved that the day is here. Thanks for checking in with us!

Abby-less Abby Update

It's T-minus-a-day-and-a-little-more until the official induction time for baby Abby. Yesterday's doctor appointment showed she was healthy, I'm measuring more than 42 weeks along -- even though I'm just 39 weeks, and for those of you who are pregnancy familiar, we're at 2.5 cm.

The only negative was my doctor having to issue a strong caveat that I'm jeopardizing my own health if I don't confine myself to the couch or bed at this point. Ah, good ol' Pregnancy Induced Hypertension. I thought I'd left you behind after the last two pregnancies. Decided to make a last ditch effort to appear this time around, did you? So, while I'm not in severe danger due to high blood pressure, I very well could reach that point if I don't submit to the order of bed rest.

Now to avoid cabin fever and stir-craziness while awaiting the arrival of our sweet girl! I've already cleared out my massive Unread Items list on my Google Reader, made a couple of blog posts, and played numerous games of electronic Sudoku. Perhaps I'll drive my Facebook friends crazy with notifications from all the random quizzes I can take... just kidding.

Or not.

D to the C -- part fünf

So I LOVE that five in German is "funf", since this post is all about some of the simply FUN things we got to do in DC. Enjoy!

I'm taking the challenge... Join me?

I stumbled across this link thanks to Tim Challies' blog and decided that it would be a great time to take the 30 day Husband Encouragement Challenge.

***Click the link just above to sign up for a daily email challenge that lasts 30 days. OR, click the button below to download a printable document instead.***


I've started today! Will you join me in the challenge and encourage the man God brought into your life to be your husband?

Also available at the challenge website is are challenges for a True Woman Makeover, A TV-Free 30 days, Praying for your Pastor, and Praying for your Pastor's Wife. I haven't done them yet, but I will!

Monsters

We received daily reports from Mimi and the kids each day that we were gone on our DC trip. They were having all sorts of fun while we were gone!

One night was an exception though. Anna was having quite a bit of trouble sleeping. The kids were on air mattresses in Mimi's room, since Pawpaw was out of town.

Anna would wake up every hour or hour and a half, crying.

It went something like this: (story used with Mimi's permission)

Mimi: Anna, are you ok?
Anna: (mumbles, cries) points at light on porch outside curtained windows

back to sleep

Anna: (cries)
Mimi: What's wrong sweet girl?
Anna: (points to shadow)
Mimi: (reassures her)

back to sleep
Anna: (crying) There's a monster.
Mimi: There's no monster in here, sweet girl.
Anna: (insistant) Yes, it keeps saying MOOO! to me
Mimi: (thinking something may be up) It's ok, there isn't a monster. (uh-oh... a realization creeps in) Where did you hear that sound?

Anna: (points to Mimi's side of the bed)
Mimi: (yep, suspicion was right) Oh. That must be... my snoring.

back to sleep

The next day...

Mimi: Anna did you sleep ok?
Anna: Yes! ... Except for the mooing.

Talking to Anna that day...
Mama: Did you sleep ok?
Anna: Yes, but Mimi smells and says moo. (makes "sniffing/smelling sound" for the beginning part of the snore and says MOOO!)

New post alert! :)

I have a little time on my hands for about a week, so don't miss the three posts I've already published and make sure you check back for additional ones this week!

You can simply scroll down, or you can click on the individual post pages:
D to the C part tres
Baby Abby is... (update for week 38)
Rocks Cry Out -- D to the C part quatre

Enjoy!

Rocks Cry Out.... D to the C part Quatre

** continued posts on our trip to DC this past June**

In a city known for its significant part in forming and directing a nation, the very architecture of the buildings proclaims the relative importance of the role of those buildings and their contents. Special thought was given to the style of architecture, the setup of the buildings, and what their structure would proclaim.

Nate had asked Scott if there was anything in particular he'd like to see in DC. I was taken a little by surprise when he answered that he'd really like to see a lot of the churches and cathedrals and religious influences on the town. I wasn't entirely surprised, mind you, but of all the things to do in our nation's Capital, I didn't think that would be tops on the list. Boy, though, I was glad that it was!

Let me preface these next thoughts with a realization: In asking myself "What makes a church?", I am quick to recognize that the church is less a building or place than it is simply the gathering of a group of people who have devoted their lives to Christ. A church building can take on many appearances and still "house" the Body of Christ (the people who are believers).

I've seen many healthy gatherings of Christ-followers meet to worship the Lord in High School gymnasiums, movie theaters, in public parks, in individuals' homes, in refurbished warehouses, in shopping centers, and in buildings that are more easily and traditionally identified as 'churches'.

I've also witnessed religious gatherings (in very capital R Religious buildings) which actually do very little to exalt God or proclaim the Gospel that Christ came to be a substitutionary sacrifice and pay the penalty of sin so that believers could be made right with God and have relationship with Him. The building doesn't make the gathering a Church, necessarily. It's the gathering that makes the Church.

That being said, however, I really came to appreciate the intent of the architecture of the many church buildings we passed by as we wandered around DC. Mostly, these buildings contributed to the understanding that meeting to worship God is an important, intentional, reverent, wonderful thing, and that God is majestic, great, glorious, and powerful, yet He desires fellowship with us. Can I share some pictures?

gorgeous.


purposeful.


Our last intentional stop was at the National Cathedral. The building itself, its gothic architecture, boldly proclaims that the God whom the building was originally intended to represent is one of Glory, Majesty, and Awe.
(even though, sadly, today the building houses more of a mish-mash of religious hodgepodge that may or may not have anything to do with the God of the Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the Lion of Judah, Jesus Christ.)

We visited the Cathedral at dusk. While we didn't get to go inside because of the time of day, we enjoyed walking around and observing the amazing structures, the lush garden nearby, and sitting under some very large tree canopies while talking about and reflecting upon spiritual matters and Theology.














The arches and towers point Upward.

The windows are artistic and majestic.

The very stones-- the rocks-- in their careful placement and purposeful design, cry out that there is a Majestic God who created beauty, detail, order, and that He alone is worthy of our worship, praise, and devotion.

It reminds me that we too are created for worship. Believers, who by Grace have been saved through Faith, have specific purpose and design for our lives, from our Creator, to reflect His glory.

BabyAbby is...

the size of a...

Not one of those "personal size" ones, mind you! We're talking the full-sized variety
.

Ahem... the kind that, were you to strap one to your midsection, would make getting up and down off a couch quite the side-show. Bending over to help a three-year-old becomes a barrel of laughs... for bystanders. :)




I quickly reached the point a few weeks ago where I was sure I'd be pregnant forever. I would have jumped at the opportunity to safely induce labor early -- a week or two early . I'm past all that now... I'm seriously eager to meet our baby girl, but I'm content in knowing that the Lord has ordained the day she'll be born, either on her own, or on the 24th of this month, when we're scheduled to be induced just few days early!

I'm content to let our little "bun" cook as long as the doctor will allow her to, and that will likely be until that Monday, due to her size as estimated by ultrasound (at 38 weeks, already 7.5 pounds!) and due to the fact that my pregnancy related hypertension has shown up this pregnancy like it did with the other two (but to a lesser degree).

Given that fact, here is where I'll be for much of the next 8 days...

(not actually my couch in this photo)

per doctor's orders.

I'll keep you informed!

D to the C, part tres

**sorry for the delay in my posts -- I have about 10 days where I'm not supposed to be up and around much, so it looks like I may have the chance to get caught back up... **

Our 10th wedding anniversary trip continued...

Nate was a pro at showing us around DC. One of the first places we went was to the Old Post Office building, where you can go up in the tower and get a great view of the city. In my visits to the City before, I had never had the chance to go up there. Let me share some of the beautiful sights with you!

Here is the Old Post Office Tower... regal!

*Click to see the full size pictures*
Here is the view across toward Virginia, with The Washington Monument, The Lincoln Memorial (at the right), and the World War II Memorial in between them. If you look on the far left, you'll see the Potomac River and the Pentagon. The Federal Triangle building complex is in the foreground. I love the perspective from this height.

Here is a closer view of the Lincoln Memorial and the state of Virginia across the river. In the top left corner, you may see the Mansion atop the hill at Arlington National Cemetery. We didn't make it to the cemetery this time around, but I'd highly recommend visiting!

What you might not realize is that hidden just beyond the roofline in the foreground (near the flags) is the White House, but I didn't have a great view of it from the tower, so, you'll just have to imagine it. :)

Panning to the left from the Washington Monument, you might notice the Pentagon again, the Jefferson Memorial, the National Mall (all the trees in the middle), the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the Holocaust Museum, Reagan National Airport (across the river), and the Department of Agriculture building (the long white one just on the other side of the trees of the Mall). The large white building in the foreground just beyond the orange roofline is the Museum of American History. The buildings in the foreground with the orange or gray roofs are part of the Federal Triangle.

off to the North is the National Cathedral, where many national religious ceremonies have taken place [State funerals (Reagan, Ford, etc.) , prayer services, Presidential Inaugural ceremonies, etc.]...

...and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, which is the largest Roman Catholic Church in North America.

Here is a view to the east down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the Capitol building, with the Senate chamber on the left and the House on the right, along with their respective Office buildings. Just over the left corner of the Capitol complex is the Supreme Court building. Just behind the Dome is the Jefferson building of the Library of Congress.

This last picture is just a really neat rooftop to the north of the tower that I thought was gorgeous. Sure, it's not a national landmark, but I thought it was yet another beautiful vista of the city.

Thanks, Nate, for opening our eyes to a new perspective on DC! It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip.