The time is near...

So the day is almost upon us!! As you can see from the poll most of you think we have a son on the way. You've got a 50/50 shot, so we shall see. I hope I'm able to sleep tonight, I can hardly wait. I am just hoping boy or girl that they are healthy and cooperative. Baby has really been moving a lot these past few days so hopefully they will move and give us a good shot tomorrow. It's always amazing to feel the movement.
This past week was crazy. I ended up coming down with Bronchitis and needing to get on an antibiotic. It's crazy how much slower your body heals when your pregnant. Guess the body is working way overtime. I'm feeling a ton better today. Again G was a trooper dealing with me being sick and just wanting to sleep 24/7. He's going to be such a good Daddy. If we do end up with a little girl, her future husband will have a lot to measure up to in comparison to her Daddy.
Speaking of Daddy... we are again depending on our Heavenly Daddy to take care of us. (Which I know He will!!) We got news that they are doing away with the amazing maternity plan that I am on. Without going into the crazy details they are raising our monthly premium and now the new plan they are putting me on is quite crummy in comparison to what we had. On top of that we have to start paying some of my prenatal care (which we haven't had to do on the old plan) and the cost of having the baby has pretty much tripled. G and I are budgeted for our old plan so the numbers on paper don't work so well now.. but I can't tell you how many times things on paper haven't worked yet the Lord provided more than enough!! I have been reminded by so many that the Lord has not brought G and I this far to just drop us here and walk away. I know He has an amazing plan in store. I just think of it as another opportunity along our journey to tell of the Lord's greatness!! The enemy means to stress us out.. the Lord means to bless our socks off!! So now we sit in a position to receive all He has for us!
One last note, I would like to say HAPPY 40TH ANNIVERSARY to my wonderful Mom and Dad. I love you so very much!!!!
I'll post baby news tomorrow along with a baby and prego pic!!

Boy or Girl???

So many of you have asked if we know what we're having yet... No.. not yet. We will find out in a little over a week. I'm so excited. I know this next week is going to creep by.
So a quick update, we had our regular Dr's appointment this week and everything looked great. I'm just about 2 lbs short of being back at my starting weight so that's good news. The Doctors were pleased with that. The nausea has pretty much completely subsided unless I let myself get dehydrated, but then it's easy to solve. I measured right at 20 wks which is pretty much where I am. The heartbeat was between 142 and 144, it was hard for them to tell b/c the baby didn't want to be still. Looks like we have an active one on our hands. I'm feeling the baby move a lot more these days. Gerald actually got to feel it for the first time this morning. It was pretty cool. I had been feeling faint kicks for a little bit but when G got his hand on my tummy the baby gave him a good strong kick. G didn't believe it was the baby at first, he thought it had been me, but nope, it was that miracle!! It's fun to feel it move more, it makes it all seem even more real. Now if I could just get over this sinus congestion I would be perfect. I know that some sinus congestion is caused by the pregnancy, but I believe this is above and beyond. I've got some food allergies that we're trying to figure out, so please be praying that I can get over this. It's now starting to cause a cough which makes sleeping even harder... if you can imagine that. This poor baby doesn't get a moment of peace between my coughing, sneezing, blowing my nose, sniffing, wheezing, etc. At least he/she won't get startled easily by all these noises once they are in the real world. Before I sign off for now I have to brag once again on my wonderful husband. I had one night that was just tough allergy wise and it really zaps my energy when that happens. So while I'm sitting on the couch with my feet propped up coughing my head off my sweet husband cleaned the entire house.. bathrooms included. Then the next morning I got up and he had gotten up earlier that morning and cleaned out the fridge before he went to work.. I'm talking wiping down the shelves and everything. What did I do to deserve such an amazingly patient, servant-hearted, loving, compassionate, caring husband?? I am one blessed wife and this baby has an incredibly daddy waiting to meet him/her. Well, that's it for now, I think it's about time for another belly pic. so we'll probably take one this weekend. Hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day weekend!!

Baby Names

Well, Wendy and I are in the midst of choosing the name for our baby. I thought I had the perfect name, but Wendy had another opinion. Here's how our the conversation went down.





Needless to say, I didn't get my way.

17 weeks

So I am still alive, the pregnancy hasn't completely done me in... yet. I'm am feeling SO much better these days. I still get a little queasy now and then, but I think it's from not drinking enough water, so I'm trying to remedy that. I'm able to eat three meals a day and snacks in between. I've been told I don't look quite so fragile anymore :o) We don't have a scale here at the house so I'm not sure if I've gained any weight back (I'm sure I have) but I know I haven't lost any so that's the good thing.
G and I had the amazing opportunity to get up and give our testimony at church last Sunday. It's been such a blessing to have others come up to us and tell us how they needed to hear our story and how much it blessed them. Isn't it amazing when we get to be used by God? What an amazing God we serve. I know that anytime during our 4 1/2 year journey that I needed a word of encouragement the Lord would either encourage me Himself through His word, or place someone in my path to do so. I am so grateful to have such a loving Heavenly Father. One of the things that G and I spoke about during our testimony was, "Is God enough??" That was something that the Lord really impressed on us through this journey. If we lost it all.. our house, our money, friends, family, our desires, would just having Him be enough? So many times we go to the Lord asking, asking, asking. We want His healing, His provision, His direction, His mercy, His grace. When all we should really be asking for is more of HIM!! G and I knew that we would have a baby. The Lord had promised us that and He is not capable of lying. He MUST keep His promises and He does. In that time of waiting He wanted us so desperately not to seek His gifts, or His promise, but to seek Him. I'm not going to say everyday was just peachy b/c it's hard to wait even when you know it's coming. It was always amazing how on the days I would struggle the most and begin to get angry and frustrated with God, G would be there to hold me up and remind me of The Lords Truths. "He will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is set on HIM because he trust HIM." Then on the days when G would be having a hard time, the Lord would have me in a place to encourage and lift him up. I would encourage you to share your burdens with others. If you are struggling, bring others into that journey with you. The Lord tells us to lift each other us, to be there for one another. Not to mention when your current struggle is through, and it will end, it's amazing to have the body of Christ to celebrate with you. I think there are many people who would love to claim part ownership of our baby b/c they have walked this journey so closely with us. Oh if only I could express to our precious baby how loved and prayed for they were before they were even created. There is so much love waiting to be poured out on him or her when they get here. How amazing it is to be part of the body of Christ!! I could go on and on about the Lord and how amazing He is, but I will stop for now... only on paper.. my heart will continue to celebrate!! So I will end with a picture we took this morning. 17 weeks... wow. I must say there was a time when I just didn't think I would make it this far. The start of this new journey was a tough one, but having come through it, I know it's all worth it!! I can't believe we are almost to the 1/2 way point. CRAZY!! Oh and many of you have asked about names. We have started a list, but are far from narrowing it down. We'll start to focus on that a little more when we find out the gender. It will be soon, so vote if you haven't already. Just want to say how much I appreciate those that have followed our journey and say don't stop praying :o) The Lord hears your prayers.