It begins...

So the painting has begun. I must say, picking out the right color is never easy. It's crazy how different the samples look compared to the actual paint on the wall. Trying to choose the right color yellow seems especially hard b/c we don't want it to be too bright.. or too yellow.. or too orange.. etc. Here is what the nursery looked like for a few days so we could see the samples in every light of day..

So we finally chose a color.. Frosted Lemon to be exact. So far I think it looks great! We chose yellow because we are doing his room in primary colors and thought the blues, reds and greens would really pop against the yellow. I'm getting almost gitty watching it all come together.




Big thanks to our buddy Dave (who will be a new daddy in January) who came and helped G paint. I think I got about 1/3 of one wall done and had to call it quits due to the fumes.. blech!! Once again Gerald has been a trooper!! He leaves for work at 6 a.m. this morning, takes a short lunch, comes home, grills steaks for dinner and goes to work finishing the painting in the nursery. He has been amazing. It's been great having him involved in every aspect of preparing for Jake's arrival. He even put in his opinion on how the crib skirt and curtains should look. He put up with me and his sister being at JoAnne Fabrics for about 2 hours looking at patterns and material. He jumped right in. I love that he gives his opinion! We are suppose to be getting the finished product in the mail tomorrow.. I CAN'T WAIT!! The bumper pad is suppose to be in Monday and the crib should be here Tuesday and my wonderful parents are bringing our changing table/dresser from Dallas on Friday. The room is really going to look like a nursery. Soon all it will need will be baby Jake to make it complete. Well.. and all baby Jake needs is a middle name to make everything complete. I guess we've still got 11 1/2 weeks to figure that one out.

Oh how blessed!!!

Well, we survived a VERY HOT trip to Dallas last weekend. Actually I was there for almost an entire week. While I was there I had my first baby shower for Jake. It was so much more than I could have imagined. I'm still not sure it's hit me that it was a baby shower for ME. A HUGE THANKS to my sister Tonya, and friends, Kelly, Susan and Jami for throwing it for me. The food was amazing and a shout out to my sister-in-law Connie who made the adorable cake. I got a chance to see friends that I haven't seen in a LONG time and catch up with family. I am so incredibly blessed to be surrounded by such love!! It's crazy how even though I do an awful job at keeping up with people, when we do get together it's like we never missed a beat. As I've said before, I don't think I'll ever be able to get across to Jake how loved he was/is before he even made his debut. Here are just a few pics from the shower. I'll post a link to more when I get them.





After the shower to met up with family at Cooper Lake to "camp". We were split up between two cabins and my parents RV. Needless to say I spent most of my time in the cabin where there was good AC with my precious niece Ella.


Joshua stayed cool down in the lake with his cousin.. or 2nd cousin.. or 1st cousin once removed (does anyone understand all that stuff??) Anyway Josh stayed cool with Cody... this is where I believe many of the observing adults picked up some chiggers.


Caleb couldn't swim in the lake due to a yucky booboo on his arm so he stayed cool in the RV with Uncle GG playing with some dominoes.

Before the end of the trip we had to do a group photo of all the cousins. It was great to get together. It was hot... but it was so fun to see everyone and meet some new members to the family.

There were some moments of nephews getting sick :o( which was so very sad to watch, but when all was said in done we are one blessed family. And here was the ending results.... I love you my sweet sister...

A good laugh

Okay, this made me laugh, so I had to share...

Two Beautiful Gifts from God!!

Okay.. Lesley, I hope you don't mind, but I couldn't help showing off your little blessings!! I would like to introduce you to Delaney (the red burrito) and Aubry (the pink burrito). Their Mommy taught with me at Martin E.C. and then became a diagnostician in the schools. Her and her hubby had quite the journey as well to become parents and here are there blessings! They are 4 wks old and I must say the pictures don't do them justice. They are just beautiful!! Holding them today just made me that much more excited to hold my own little miracle. 3 more months!! He will be here before I know it. Anyway, just had to share the joy with our blog readers. I mean.. who can't smile when you see two such sweet miracles. I hope it brightens your day.

25 Weeks!!

Oh my!! Time has really started to fly around here. I can't believe I'm only 15 weeks away from my due date and this is the state of the nursery...

No, we don't typically just throw things on the floor, we just sold a dresser we had back there in a garage sale and now need to find a new home for it's "stuff".
We have decided on the colors for the room. We are just going to do primary colors. We found a bumper that we really like, and my wonderful sister-in-law, Connie, has offered to help us with the rest of the bedding. I'm so excited.

One idea we are throwing around is painting some big letters and numbers we found yesterday and putting them around the room on the walls. Who knows?? Ideas are just starting to somewhat come together. Since we aren't really doing a theme other than the colors our options are wide open.
On Jake news he is doing wonderful and moving around a ton. I actually had a hard time staying focused on the sermon in church this morning b/c he was moving around and had my belly doing flip flops. It still cracks me up. I still can't wrap my brain around the fact that I have a living human in my belly right now... crazy!! Well, I will leave you now with a 25 wk picture, I think my growth has slowed a little (or black is just slimming) If I look a ton bigger to you, keep it to yourself :o) Gerald is working like a mad man getting closets and rooms cleaned out so I had better go help!! He's so great!!

Fun in NM

Well, we had a great time on our anniversary/one last adventure w/o baby get away to Carlsbad. We were both exhausted by our trip home, but it was worth it. We were able to go to the Caverns when we got there on Friday. Needless to say we took the elevator down. I was up for the challenge of walking, but the guy at the counter where we got the tickets took one look at me and said, "You will want to take the elevator 'mam" So we heeded his advice. It was nice and cool down there so the walk around the main room wasn't so bad. We weren't able to go on a guided tour b/c they were all sold out. My one prego moment came about half way through when precious Jake was begging for a snack. Of course they had told us before hand "NO FOOD OR DRINK (except water) not even gum." Well, there I was with a purse full of granola bars, nutrigrain bars, slim fast snack bars and of course gum. So we found a quiet corner for me to take a bite of one of my bars. Needless to say EVERYTHING echos down there. So G was my look out for any rangers that would confiscate my snack. I was successful in opening the package and partaking of my snack bar. Of course after that G just kept telling me, "All I can smell is chocolate." So any time we passed a park ranger I would hold my breath. We made it through successfully and enjoyed the walk. It's pretty amazing down there.
After that we had some wonderful BBQ at the local KOA camp ground (we were told by the couple that ran the bed and breakfast that it was the place to go) It was delicious. That is also where we ran into our 8-legged friend crossing the road. After that we crashed for the evening and woke up to a yummy breakfast and then off to the Living Desert to walk around. It was a really neat place. G was able to feed a blue jay out of his hand. Probably the biggest downfall to this part of our trip was the fact that it was HOT and by the end my toes looked like sausages. It was time to stop and prop the feet. Our last stop was at the local theater (3 whole screens) to watch "The Proposal" before we got on the road home. It was really cute, I would recommend it. So that about sums up the weekend. It was a quick turn around, but so fun and so needed! You can click here if you want to see pictures. Mostly of the caverns, but you can also see the animals and our 8-legged friend.
In prego news I am doing well. I feel bigger everyday and am staying rather warm this summer. We are working on getting closets cleaned out so we can start the nursery. We'll get pictures as the room develops. I keep thinking we have plenty of time and then I realize how fast time is going and realize we need to get on the ball. Jake will be here before we know it!!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

G's taking a day off and we're heading out of to the big town of Carlsbad. It's going to be great just to go and unplug my brain for a couple of days. My wonderful wife surprised me with the new United CD. If you don't have it, get it! After a 2 year layoff from new live stuff, they're back as strong as ever. All the new kids are in and they sound great. The other release we're looking forward to is from
Elevation Church in early July. The other great news here that we've decided on "Jake" as our little man's name. Everyone have a great weekend!

IT'S A........

BOY!!!
We are so very excited. I personally was shocked, but most of you will be saying "I told you so!!" G is just on cloud nine. He has already bought him his first little shirt.


They said HE looks great. Brain, Lungs, Heart, Kidney's, etc. were all healthy and in working order. Those machines are amazing. He is weighing in at a whopping 15 oz. They don't typically do the 3D sonograms this early on, but they did anyway, so he still looks a little skin and bone... but to a mother he is perfect. I think he is going to look just like his Daddy. I can already see features that favor G.
He is breech as of now, but they say not to worry, he has plenty of time to turn around. That explained why most kicks are felt on my bladder. He's really become more active these past few days. It's fun to feel him moving around in there. Now we just have to come up with a name. We're getting close, I think, but the jury is still out. We will let you know when we decide so you can all start praying for him by name :o)
As for me, I am doing MUCH better. I'm over the bronchitis with only a slight lingering cough. I have officially gained 1 lb over my pre-pregnancy weight. So I've gained all the weight I lost during the first trimester plus one. I'm sure that will begin to increase rather quickly now. I still don't have any real cravings and I really don't feel like I'm eating that much more than usual, but I'm sure those days are coming. As for now, I eat when I'm hungry and drink, drink, drink all day long... water that is. I'm am so excited about the journey we are on, yet a little freaked out at how fast time is beginning to go. I don't think it's going to be slowing down any. I'm just trying to take it all in. It's so much fun making on the preparations with G. He's been a blast! He is going to be such an amazing Daddy. This precious son of ours couldn't have a better role model!!
Well, here I am at 21 wks!!

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!!