Baby Blessing: 20 Weeks

Half way this week!

What makes it even better was that all of us got to sit in for the ultrasound on Monday. It was so fun to watch the littlest member of our family wiggle around. Although I've known this for a while and my last OB appointment confirmed it, this baby is content to sit very low. Even the ultrasound tech had a tough time getting a good look at baby's head since he/she is sitting way down in my pelvis. It added to the fun of the ultrasound experience when the tech had to keep tilting the bed that I was on, until finally she got the views she needed by having my legs W-A-Y up in the air! Baby just was not going to cooperate for nothing.

In even more exciting news, I just heard back yesterday from Dr. K with the results from my ultrasound regarding the marginal placenta previa condition. The placenta has moved up and is in a much better position, so things should be back to normal. Hooray!! I got the green light to resume my normal activities again! Everything is looking great once again and normal. I am so looking forward to getting outside some more and enjoying autumn walks with my family. Thank you again from the bottom of our hearts for all of your prayers you sent our way in the last four weeks. I know that we were blessed by them immensely.

Lily was especially looking forward to the ultrasound and couldn't wait. Ever since our early look at baby when I was in ER a few weeks ago, I think she's somehow felt left out and so disappointed that she missed it. Poor girl. Over the last four weeks since our little hospital stay, Lily has also been asking me several times a day whether I have felt the baby moving or not. It's cute, really. I do think though that she just wants to be sure that everything is okay with her sibling and knows that if I'm feeling movement it's a good thing. She's eight now, so she is so in tune with this sort of thing.

Both of the kids regularly acknowledge baby most every day now. I blame the growing belly and the reminder that is quite obvious. Lily has no problem patting or rubbing my belly, even outside of our house. The kids will even tell baby good-bye if one of us is leaving the house or we'll be apart for a little while. We also make sure that baby gets hugs and kisses at bedtime too. Although Jonah is still working on his aim for kissing my belly. Depending on where I'm sitting at bed time (most often lazing on the love seat) I may get kissed much higher or much lower than my belly (*ahem* if you get my drift). And Lily, well, she's also noticing that other things grow much bigger during pregnancy as well. I suppose she's at that age to be aware of that kind of stuff. It does catch me off guard though, especially since it's becoming ABUNDANTLY clear that things are getting much bigger. Yup, we're all in for some changes around here.

Here are the latest updated photos. Yes, I've grown! I still have to pinch myself sometimes when I realize that I.AM.PREGNANT. Only mere months ago, I was uncertain whether I'd ever feel a little one stirring within me again. We have not forgotten how truly blessed we are to be expecting and waiting on baby.

For This Child....

...we've waited, hoped, wept and prayed for so long...we are so in love with this little one and can't wait to meet him or her!

This week we are half way there! 20 weeks!

For Your Monday

I couldn't pass up posting this spoof (or reality check) of Taylor Swift's version of 'Love Story'.

This is for you moms of little ones who may be up to your ears in laundry, many diapers to change and the mac n' cheese that's burning on the stove. I admire and applaud the reality you dwell in daily. May you be reminded that these are days of blessing. Your husband loves you and cherishes you, no matter how hectic things may be today.

30-60-90....Countdown!

For planners like myself who thrive on numbers:

30 days until my 32nd Birthday!!

60 days until Thanksgiving!!

AND, My Personal Favorite,

90 days until Christmas!!!


What do these numbers mean?

Well, (besides counting down days left for shopping) because after we get through these next 90 days I am only 6-7 weeks out from my due date. Woo-hoo!! Now that is something we're all really looking forward to!


Not that you'd ordinarily catch me counting down the days and weeks leading into winter, but this one is completely different.

Wordless Wednesday: Eight!

Protector, Overheard

While playing Wii, my little boy talks to the screen and the other Mii's almost constantly. He was playing Sword Play recently and this is what I heard:


"My mom is prenict (pregnant) and if you hurt her baby I'm gonna send you into the seven seas!!"


I guess someone is getting a little protective in preparation for becoming the Big Brother.

10 Surprising Things

I was tagged recently by Joy Beyond the Cross for a 10 Surprising Things about Me post. Since I've got time to spare lately, I figured I could hack out a response. I'm sure there are a ton of things you might not know from reading here, but I had a tough time thinking up things I may not have written about. Guess I maybe over-share here? Hmmm? Any way, here's what I came up with not that it's anything overly exciting or even enlightening!

1. I don't drink milk. I will have it in my morning cereal and eat dairy products, but I really cannot recall the last time I drank a glass of milk. Okay, maybe that isn't true. I did recently have a glass of chocolate milk, otherwise no white milk for me.

2. If I'm watching a program on tv, say like some type of reality show, and I can tell that someone is about to do or say something very embarrassing (say sing and they really aren't a very good singer), I turn the channel. I cannot bear to watch someone else humiliate or embarrass themselves in front of so many people. It's just too nerve-wracking to watch!

3. I have never fired or even held a gun of any sort. I know, not a whole lot of you maybe have either, but in these parts even young children learn how to use guns and hunt. I just have no desire to even put one in my hands. Not to mention I wouldn't have a clue how to hold it.

4. I played basketball in 7th & 8th grade in school, tried track and also cross country. I didn't like any of them. I discovered that I am not competitive and I really couldn't care less whether our team won or not. And so ended my sporting career. And I'm fine with that.

5. I chose not to attend college. My choice and fully supported by my parents. At the time I just felt in my heart that God's calling for me was to be a wife and mom and to me it was a waste of time and money for me to spend time at college when I would end up being a stay at home mom. Good thing I was drawn to a man that ultimately supported that decision and agreed for me to stay home with our children. I did start the process of getting into a business college a year or two after high school graduation to study tourism/hotel management, but quickly decided that my heart just wasn't in it and waited for God to provide a way to serve the Church and worked youth ministry for a couple of years instead.

6. In the winter after graduating high school, I spent 10 days in Guatemala with a group of adults as part of a service mission. While there, I experience my first (and only) earthquake tremors, worked hard every day in the heat, met the girl that my family had been sponsoring for years and saw my first glimpses of poverty. It was an eye-opening experience to say the least.

7. I grew up in a rural town of 700 and today live in a town of 250. I guess I am just a small town girl, but still like the benefits of driving a short (15 miles) distance to reach civilization (ie. restaurants and stores). I also grew up with a grassy meadow between my parents house and my grandparents who lived on a farm. It only seemed appropriate then that hubby and I built our house just down the driveway from his parents and one of his brothers and his family live next door to us here. My children are growing up almost the same as I did, with family nearby.

8. When I was young, I liked to play endlessly, quietly in my room. I was always married and had nine children. Each of them were named, although I don't remember any of those names any more. I'm not sure why I thought nine was a nice number of children, but I did. I grew up with just one brother, my mom is an only-child and my dad came from a family with five children. Then I married Reed who come from a family with seven children. It doesn't look like we'll make it to nine children in our home, but we've always said that we wanted to have at least three. Is it weird that even throughout the last couple years as we've struggled to make that happen, that I still daydream about #4 and #5? I guess time will tell.

9. While I do have a special fondness for our neighbor's cat, Louie, I am not real big into dogs and cats. Sorry animal lovers out there! They're ok, but I've never had a strong desire to have either one and don't particularly like being around them. Maybe that's because we didn't have pets when we were growing up and my mom is not fond of animals either.

10. I come from a family with a number of women who have 'grayed' early. Yes, I was blessed with those genes and have followed as I've gone through my twenties and now into my thirties. It shouldn't bother me, but it does. As the number increase, so does my feeling for the NEED to keep it colored. Still praying for that PERFECT hair color that is closest to my natural. So far I've been unsuccessful in finding it.



Thanks for hanging in there and reading these not-so-exciting/surprising things about me. If you'd like to join in, consider yourself tagged and leave me a comment and I'll hop on over to your place to read your list!

Have a wonderful weekend!!