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!!

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.

Pray for this family...

I know I'm due for a post and maybe I'll do one tonight. I just had to sit down and ask everyone to please pray for this family. It's no one I know personally, but I got lead to their blog through a family from my sister's church up in Charlotte. I've been following sweet Kayleigh's story for some time now. It will take you days to catch up so I'll try to give you a quick, very brief run down. This precious baby was born three months premature. This family has been through so many ups and downs. There have been a few opportunities that they thought they were on the road home and then something else would happen. She was now at the point again of maybe going home in the next month or so and now she is showing no brain activity. It is a heartbreaking, yet amazing story of faith!! This family has been through so much yet they continue to trust and glorify our Lord!! At this point it looks like after 10 mo. in the NICU they may never get to take their baby home. It brings tears to my eyes to even think about such an ordeal. Please pray for this family!!

Devine Revelation...

So it's been a little while since my last post and I have good reason. My best friends have been the toilet, trashcan (when the toilet is too far away), and my bed. Yes the nausea of pregnancy still haunts me... or does it??? I had a Dr. appointment on Thursday and found, hopefully, a light at the end of my tunnel. After finding that I had lost another 4 lbs it was time for Dr. Devine and I to have a little chat. She believes that the nausea I'm having now isn't necessarily pregnancy related. She thinks that since I have been so nauseated and thrown up so much that I have really torn up my stomach and G.I. tract. She said she wouldn't be surprised to find a stomach ulcer if we looked. Her first suggestion was a 48hr stay at the hospital to give me a little boost, and give my stomach a rest and a chance to recover. That was also the more expensive rout, so we opted for the at home treatment. I have gone in the past two mornings for a shot of phenargan *OUCH* home to sleep for about 4 hrs. up to take some prescription strength antacid and then stay away from food until I'm really hungry. The goal is DO NOT THROW UP!! We are really trying to give my stomach a rest. So Wed. and Thurs. I had a handful of mashed potatoes and by Friday evening I WAS HUNGRY!! I was able to eat a toasted turkey sandwich, 1/2 a graham cracker and lots of poweraid. IT STAYED DOWN!! Oh the little things that get me excited. So today is the real test. I'm trying to go without the phenargan shot and just do the antacid and still stay away from food until my stomach asks for it. If I can get through the days w/o the shot I don't have to sleep half the day away, though if it doesn't work, believe me, I will do WHATEVER it takes to get over this hump. I'm not sure why but it helps to know it's probably a GI issue and not the baby/hormones anymore causing the nausea. So please be in prayer for me that we can round this corner and I can begin to really enjoy this pregnancy. I will do my best to keep you posted on our progress.