Breathing

We take for granted the little things in life all the time! Hezekiah is napping soundly in his crib and I get out of the shower to check on him and I rest my hand on his chest just to check to make sure he is still breathing... I know it might sound a freaky to always check to make sure they are breathing but nonetheless every mother tells me they do this like in the middle of the night too (which I have done also). As I rest my hand on his chest, he gets startled and his hands and feet both flail out and then they quickly go back to where they were before I disrupted him. It's so amazing being a mom, I am changing his diaper this morning and I am talking to him in this high pitched voice and telling him that his diaper stinks and he gives me this toothless smile and I can't help but just LOVE him so much more. Yesterday after bath time, I laid him on our bed so I could put some baby lotion on him and he is just so enthralled with me talking to him and massaging this lotion on him that he lets out this little "Ahhh" and then gives me another smile and I think "MAN, I LOVE THIS LITTLE BOY SOOOO MUCH!!!" I am finally at a point where sleep deprivation is no longer an issue because Hezekiah lets me sleep a few hours at a time which does not seem like a lot (I know), but when you look forward to getting 1 hour of sleep you know it's sad! Now, Hezekiah has kind of gotten in his own sleeping and eating routine and it helps me soooo much now and I am starting to feel somewhat like a normal person finally.

How many times do we in our own lives take for granted the little things in our life. Unknowingly breathing, having a roof over our heads, a job to pay our bills, friends who genuinely care for you, a family who loves you no matter what! My little baby boy, no matter how I am feeling or how bad of a day we have had, I feel so blessed just when I look at him because his presence just makes me feel so special that God chose me to be a mother to him. It's crazy how much God blesses our family, and we choose to dwell on the great things that GOD is doing in our lives. Satan tries to bring people into our lives with their drama and crap and cloud our blessed life, and even in spite of Satan's best efforts, we still keep positive and do what we know GOD would want us to do not try to please the people. We are seeking to please the Savior and do what He wants us to do because ultimately He is the One we want to please. Only through prayer and petition has God given me a peace about the choices I have made and I do not have any regrets!

Everyone has a choice in their life, either you are going to choose to be the kind of person who focuses on EVERYTHING that God has NOT given you, or you can chose to be the kind of person who focuses on EVERYTHING that God HAS given you and give thanks. What kind of person will you choose to be? I take a big breathe in and deep breathe out and Give Thanks to God for giving me breathe today :)

All smiles!

Gosh, time passes by so fast! Hezekiah, we've noticed, the last couple of days has actually started smiling... like in reaction to something we do like make a funny face. Of course, every time I go to grab the camera to tape or catch a picture we looks at me with a blank stare like "What is that thing you are holding?" I am so excited to see him smiling, I cannot wait for more milestones to come it's so cool to see little progressions in him just in 5 weeks time. Crazy!?

Huggies vs. Pampers

After several frustrating days with the Huggies diapers, I have come to the conclusion that Pampers currently works better on Hezekiah than Huggies. For whatever reason the Huggies don't quite fit well on his legs and he is constantly leaking. So I totally trust pampers and have not had any incidents so far with leaking with the Pampers. Yipeee!!

On a side note also, Hezekiah is slowly slipping into more sleep... YEAH!!! He went from sleeping 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours and is working his way up to 3 hours at a time now which for me feels great because I finally feel like I am sleeping more. Amazing what 1 more hour of sleep makes you feel a ton better!

Just when I think...

That I have Hezekiah figured out... he pulls a night like tonight. I am sitting here at my laptop with the radio playing while he lays in his baby carrier trying to get him to stop crying. Because at some point tonight his sleep schedule must have gotten all jacked up... plus he was a little colicky tonight because of some apparent gas he could not get out. We both once again at our wits end were willing to try anything so we both tried every position known to man to try and get him to stop crying. Gave him some Mylicon thinking that it should help, then resulted to the carrier with the radio playing.

This would happen on the night before Andrew has arranged to go on an overnight hike starting tomorrow. Not really a great idea to be sleep deprived when you need to hike.

Who does Hezekiah look like more?

Poop

Today, Hezekiah's diaper was not as tight as I thought it was and he pooped and it leaked onto my shirt, my pants, the boppy, and the couch.... fun stuff!!!

1 month old

Today Hezekiah turns 1 month old today, and I still cannot believe it has been 4 weeks since he is born. His face is changing so much and I cannot believe how much he has grown already. Here are some pictures I took at home of him here at home. We plan on getting some portraits at a studio done of him so we have some nice ones to frame.

Also, after several nights and not getting hardly any sleep we decided the Hezekiah does not sleep well in the cradle. We would lay him down and 15 minutes later he is waking up. So, we thought that maybe he does not like the cradle very much anymore, so we set up the crib in our bedroom to try and see if he will sleep better in there and sure enough he was sleeping in 3 hour increments 2 nights in a row now. So, it looks like at 4 weeks Hezekiah is already sleeping in his crib! Which is great for me because I have finally been able to get some more sleep other than 15 minutes at a time. Seems like his little growth spurt is finally coming to a close, he was up and wanting to nurse every hour during the day... so hopefully this will be ending here very shortly.

On another note, we are still keeping our eye open on the housing market right now to see if something worth our money will actually come up. Keep this in your prayers.

**Update** Possibly looking at buying this house?

**Update** So we met the realtor for this property last night and to take a look at the house and everything looks so great and yeah it is pretty small but it will be our first home it's not like I can expect a brand new home for our first one. Anyway, after some talking about it and crunching some numbers we still think it would be better at this point to wait a little bit longer and continue to save for a better home in better condition than this one. Keep us in prayer as we continue to save.


This property came up for sale recently, and it is a short sale which means that they want to try and sell it as quickly as possible but also means that they will be more willing to drop the price more. As you can see it is only a 2 bedroom 1 bath house and is pretty small in square footage but would be a great stepping stone to getting in the housing market. We are keeping it in prayer and leave it up to God to see if this is something we will be able to do. God has really and truly blessed us so much already that if we don't get it that will be exactly God's will. Very exciting and also pretty scary at the same time, Yikes a mortgage!!

I have the best Dr. and Sleep! What's that?

I had a check up with my Dr today to check my incision from the surgery and I have to say I love my doctor! Dr Bryan has been the best Dr so far and I totally love her, she always makes me feel so comfortable. The last 2 appts I have had with her she gave me a HUG (people, she gave me a HUG!) before I left the exam room... I have never had a Dr treat me so well and make me feel like she is like a friend rather than a number on her to-do list. If you are looking for a Ob/Gyn I highly suggest Dr. Bryan, she is so awesome! She asked me, "How are you feeling?" And I responded by saying, "Other than the lack of sleep I feel pretty great!" She responded back by saying, "Ehh, Sleeping is overrated, well, at least that is what I keep telling myself!"

Sleep is definitly not overrated at this point...Sleep, what is that? Last night seemed to be a pretty rough night once again. Hezekiah only slept a total of 4 hours last night, the nights before we was sleeping at 2 hour increments but this started at 9:30pm, so me only sleeping 2 hours at a time until 7am was fine with me because at least I was getting more sleep. Last night he decided to stay up until 12:30pm and falling asleep only when I held him and waking up as soon as I laid him down in the cradle. I finally got him to sleep and laid down in my bed to get some Zzz's and about 2 hours later decided to wake up again for a diaper change and a feeding. Again, he did not fall asleep unless I held him... so I found myself at 4am looking down and realizing that I had fallen asleep holding the baby on the couch with my head against the back of the couch... I must have been really tired. Finally, got him to sleep again and then he was up for the morning at 6am. Luckily, this phase will not last for very long... before I know it Hezekiah will be sleeping a few hours more at a time.

Losing track of time

Seems like since the baby has been born I have not been able to keep my days straight. Mainly because I am at home everyday with the baby and I cannot seem to remember what day is what and what we have planned. Tuesday marks Hezekiah being 3 weeks old already and man these last few weeks have seemed to just fly by.
I have begun the process of trying to pump extra milk so when we are out and about I don't have to breastfeed the baby in public. Plus anytime, we have people over or we go to visit someone the baby and I usually have to disappear for an hour or so to get his feedings in. It makes me feel very anti-social at most times because I don't like to necessarily feed the baby in front of people and I haven't mastered using the blanket because it was just so dang hot to put a blanket over me and the baby. I have every intention of still feeding the baby breast milk as long as I can, so hopefully this pump will help a little bit with the feedings, slow going on the process of pumping for now I am sure it will pick up quickly.

Summer coming to a closing

So this is the forecast for the next couple of days, surprisingly, I woke up this morning to it raining and I thought... Summer is going to coming to close very soon here. Cooler temperatures, sweaters, fires, hot chocolate, Christmas- just some of my favorite things about winter time. This is going to be such an exciting time because of the baby. He gets to go through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, He probably won't remember any of these first holidays for him but nonetheless it is exciting for me to think about all the fun stuff we get to do with him during the holidays. Getting a Christmas tree, yippee, Okay I know I am thinking a little too far ahead here, huh?

One of the hardest things about the holidays this year will be that my Grandma Betty passed away just a little over 2 weeks ago and will not be here for any of these holidays, Thanksgiving will be the hardest as we always went to her house for this. There are just so many changes to the people in our lives this year that will make things so different than any other years. Either way, I still look forward to the holidays despite some changes that have gone on.

2am

So, as it is anyway I am up feeding the baby at this time last night but Andrew was asleep and everything was all quiet.... except for the lovely sound of someone banging on the neighbors door ridiculously loud for like an hour. With the baby still attached I seriously almost went outside and yelled at whoever was out there because I was so tired of hearing them bang.

Later, we found out that a friend of theirs left their phone and keys in their apartment and they apparently were not opening the door or answering their phones... gee I think they might have been asleep. Had it not been for the fact that I am up already as it is I was about to be very mad!

Last night was pretty nice finally, after a few days of being up every hour with the baby... I finally kept Hezekiah up most of the day during the day and only left him sleeping for an hour at a time- Took him in the carrier and walked around the apartment complex to keep him awake. And so around 8:30pm, he fell asleep and stayed asleep for 2 1/2 hours and then woke up, ate, changed his diaper, and then went back to sleep again for another 2 hours, same thing, he went to sleep again, and hen finally stayed asleep for 3 hours.... who0 hooo finally a little more sleep last night! I am hoping tonight I will be able to do the same thing again.

Boys are fun and 4 diapers

Why do I label my blog this? Hmmm... well tonight I am in the midst of feeding the baby and I decide to change his diaper to wake him up a little so I can finish feeding him. (With boys anytime cold air hits their little private parts they are likely to pee so you have to let it hit the air and then quickly cover with the diaper until he is finished.) Now, I thought I was doing pretty good so far but tonight I am changing his diaper and I look down for just 1 second and I look up to find pee hitting little Hezekiah's face and the changing pad so I screamed for Andrew to bring me more diapers and attempted to clean up the little mess he had made... I went through 4 diapers once I got it all cleaned up. Boys are fun! Then again just a few minutes ago, Andrew finishes changing him and gets him all settled and what do we hear from him but the sounds of little poop... we both said "Are you kidding me?" so I changed his diaper and got him settled and Andrew is trying to rock him to sleep and what do we hear again but the sound of poop so I change him again and as I am changing him I do my little trick with the cold air and I waited about 5 minutes and thought for sure he was done and I get about 3/4 way done with the diaper change when he starts to pee almost on me again... so I had to get another clean diaper... so once again went through 4 diapers in 1 changing!

My new favorite song

We've been keeping the radio on at night while the baby sleeps because it helps him get to sleep faster so we've been keeping it on 89.7 KSGN since the music tends to be a little softer. And of course I am up in the middle of the night with the baby and the song "East from the West" by Casting Crowns comes on and I was really impressed by the song and lyrics. Song was written based on Psalms 103:12 " As far as the east is from the west, So far has he removed our transgressions from us." The song talks about forgiveness, and how we as sinners feel like we are one-step away from God walking away from us, so in the song he asks the question How far is the East from the West? Where does God's forgiveness end? It never ends, because He is a merciful God. Awesome song, listen to it when you get the chance.
Here is a video I found on youtube of a live performance of the song, but the studio recorded song is better than this:



Casting Crowns "East from the West

Here I am Lord,
And I'm drowning
In your sea of forgetfulness
The chains of yesterday surround me
I yearn for peace and rest
I don’t want to end up where you found me
And it echoes in my mind,
Keeps me awake tonight

I know you cast my sin as far as the east is from the west
And I stand before you now as,
As though I've never sinned
But today I feel like I'm just one mistake away
From you leaving me this way

Jesus can you show me
Just how far the east is from the west
Cause I can't bear to see the man I've been
Rising up in me again
In the arms of your mercy I find rest,
Cause you know just how far the East is from the West
From one scarred hand to the other.


I start the day the war begins
Endless reminding of my sin
And time and time again your truth is drowned out
By the storm I'm in
Today I feel like I'm just one mistake away,
From you leaving me this way


Jesus can you show me,
Just how far the East is from the West
Cause I can't bear to see the man I've been
Come rising up in me again
In the arms of your mercy I find rest
'cause you know
Just how far the East is form the West
From one scarred hand to the other.


I know you've washed me white,
Turned my darkness into light
I need your peace to get me through,
To get me through this night
Can’t live by what I feel
But by the Truth your work reveals,
I'm not holding on to you
But you're holding on to me,
You’re holding on to me

Jesus you know
Just how far the East is from the West
I don't have to see the man I've been,
Come rising up in me again
In the arms of your mercy I find rest
'cause you know just how far the East is form the West,
From one scarred hand to the other.

Week 1- Diary from a new mom

It's 1:55am on Wednesday morning and I am sitting here thinking about how I should be getting sleep instead of writing this blog-

Having a baby there are just sooo many changes physiologically going on, on top of being exhausted and the baby screaming his head off. Right now Hezekiah is sleeping soundly in his cradle and probably remain that way for maybe 2 more hours and then will be starving.
Yesterday marked the baby being exactly one week old, he has had a few appointments these last few days and they are so exhausting and traumatic for him and for me as the mom- taking labs and then the circumcision... So what is it like being a mom now?
Means only getting 2 hours of solid sleep, changing diapers, and nursing. Newborns don't require much at this point, just some good TLC :)
I look at Hezekiah and think, strengthened by God, and I just smile and think- WOW- this baby was in my belly and now he's all ours to keep! All the funny little faces he makes and cries when he's upset make me just love him even more. It's such a big responsibility that God has entrusted us with, but I am loving every minute now. I never thought I would love someone so much in such a short time, but I love being a mom... Here are some pictures of us and the baby this last week:

Welcome to Motherhood: My first 4 days as a Mom!

As I hope everyone has been able to keep up on the pictures from Andrew's website and updates on his blogs on our new little baby Hezekiah... God is so good to us- Having a C-section was definitely not by choice but GOD knew that I had to have it done in order to have the healthy and happy baby. I thank the Lord for watching out for Hezekiah and myself during the whole surgery and just pray that I will have a fast recovery :)

I realize now that when other mother's told me there is no book in the world that will prepare you for motherhood- How true this really is. There is nothing anyone could have told me that prepared me for the exhaustion. At the hospital, it was different because you have nurses waking you up every couple of hours but home the only thing keeping you from sleeping is the little baby who decides that he likes sleeping more during the day rather than at night.

So our fun last night was that Hezekiah literally wet through his diaper, onesie, and blanket not just 1 time folks... try 3 times having to change his clothes along with his diaper. The pictures here I took with my phone because I was too afraid to get up since I finally got him to sleep. The outift he is wearing here was the 3rd outfit we changed him into. My milk finally came in the other day which is GREAT, however, this also means the baby will be hungry more often.... again exhausting!

Thank goodness for such a wonderful husband... these last few days recovering from the surgery Andrew has been such an amazing help. Getting me things I can't reach, helping change the baby, helping me take a shower, just picking up the baby and calming him down... so many things I can't list them all. I fell so much more in love with him seeing him hold our baby and kiss him... ohhh- How could anyone have a baby 0n their own without someone to help them?

Updates

Can be checked on Andrew's website for my labor progression at:

http://web.mac.com/unchew/Travels/Blog/Blog.html

Reflections

Being home has been able to allow me more time to reflect on life and realize how much GOD truly love us. When I was younger I always knew that God loved me and provided for me but since being married and now expecting our first baby- literally anytime now- God's grace seems even more apparent to me and real. We have been given so much, we have an amazing marriage and soon to be family, air conditioned apartment, food in the refrigerator, clothes in the closet, baby stuff up the wahzoo... endless amounts of things that I know that we totally do not deserve. I find myself crying most times because I REALIZE that these things are given to us even in spite of the sinners that we are, the crying might be the raging hormones but still I find myself being humbled by how GREAT our God really is. So great that he has created this life inside my body and has kept me and the baby Holybee healthy all 9 months. So great, that I know that when I go to deliver this miracle (eeek!!!) that we will still be protected by His grace! I don't think I could ever in this lifetime say Thank you enough to the Creator for His wonderful blessings, and I just look forward to being able to serve him more through this new addition to our life :)

Say Buh Bye....

This morning I lost my mucus plug... which is a good sign that things are progressing still and that I am still dilating! However, does not necessarily mean that I will go into labor anytime soon. I could stay like this for another week or so... let's keep praying that I start having some contractions soon!!

Watch my belly!

39 weeks **Update**

So I had another Dr's appointment this morning, Dr checked me out and I am still dilating, I am between 1-2 cm right now but cervix has not softened or widened any- she stimulated my membranes to hopefully bring on some contractions. I arranged another appointment with her next Thurs. Since I told her I think this baby will be coming late we looked at the calendar and she is on-call Sept 12th, so she scheduled an induction for Sept 11th 8:00pm at the hospital. Let's all pray that I do not have to be induced!!!

Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD (Who will win?)

Nikon vs. Canon

With both companies announcing a new DSLR, Nikon announcing the D3 at 12.1 megamixels and the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III at 20 megapixels. So here are some remarks from the Popular Photography article comparing both cameras- Click here for the article:

"In some very real ways, Nikon, with the D3, is a clear-cut winner -- especially for ultra-loyal, long-suffering Nikon shooters who have been waiting and waiting a la Godot for the fabled, rumored, full-frame pro Nikon DSLR with every product cycle and Photo Show, ever since Canon introduced the 1Ds and the 5D a web lifetime ago.

It's not a simple matter to declare one brand or the other the winner -- the war is still on. But if we must put a win in each column, Canon wins big with the first 20+ megapixel SLR. And Nikon's 920,000 pixel 3-inch LCD sets a new standard for on-camera image quality, and no other camera line in market comes close to this -- it is that awesome, based on our first impressions."

My own opinion... I still prefer Nikon over any Canon because of the color metering system which has been patented by Nikon... overall better color from Nikon. Although a 20 megapixel camera sounds very impressive... When would you ever need quality like that? I would never need quality like that because no picture I print would be bigger than a 16 x 20.

I hate ANTS!!!

I hate coming home and turning on the lights to our place and seeing nothing but a line of ants coming from my stairway into the doorway of our place across carpet and into the kitchen latching on to who knows what since I am clean freak there was nothing in there for them to try and get but oh well... some windex, vacuum, and a swiffer later- I think I might have gotten them all but I don't think that will stop them from outside. I am going to have to let the manager know tomorrow so they can spray around the stairway and underneath.

1 cm

Had yet ANOTHER Dr's appt this afternoon and checked me to find out that I am 1 cm dilated, although there is no change in the presentation of my cervix- meaning that it will be yet another week AT THE VERY LEAST before I will go into labor. So, I have made another appt with my Dr to check on me in another week. Sounds like things are progressing- slowly- but nonetheless progressing. If I have to be a betting person, I would bet this baby is either going to be right on time or a week late at this point. That's all for now!!

Cutest little things ever!!!

Looking at the Target website and saw some of the cutest little Halloween costumes... couldn' t help myself so I thought I would share them with you!!

38 weeks!!!

And yes nothing is happening, so I am still waiting for baby!!!

Almost Done!!!

Today marked the last baby shower I will be having... It seems like the pregnancy has gone by so fast up until these last couple of weeks where I feel like time just keeps dragging on and on and I just cannot wait to have this baby out of it's temporary home- otherwise known as my belly! I cannot wait to see what it looks likes, what it's little cry will sound like, and most of all to know what it feels like to hold that baby in my arms... I just cannot wait :)

Tomorrow I will be washing all of the baby clothes, blankets, and towels I have gotten at the showers that way they are ready to use and also have to have the baby's pediatrician sign off so they can come to the hospital once the baby is born. As I am pulling all of the onesies and everything out of the packages, it is a surreal feeling...thinking back to when I was a teenager and wondering if I would ever get married and have a family. All of these things God has granted to me, a loving and most passionatel husband (who by the way has been extremely understanding through all my moodiness in pregnancy), and now the beginnings of our own family.

Looking back on the pregnancy and in general God's path He's taken us on these last 9 months... it's been really exciting and very inspiring to see God providing for us in every way. When we found out I was pregnant, we knew that God had a plan and since that moment we have seen His blessings being laid before us. We are by no means financially rich, nor do we ever wish to be rolling in the dough...but God has made us rich in so many other ways that we don't ever need to worry about finances because God has been so faithful- we are Rich in Love, Rich in Friendship, Rich in Faith, Rich in Grace, and the list could go on and on! I am so excited to see the many Rich things God will put in our life in the future!!

Latest update

There has been no changes in my body right now, so looks like yet another week or so and the way it's looking now this baby is in no way coming out early. Next friday, yet again another Dr's appt.

Dr did an Ultrasound to check on the baby's weight and growth, baby looks to be about 7lbs give or take 10% for error since they can only estimate. Maybe some more exciting news next week huh?

Hot Pockets by Jim Gaffigan

Okay, I normally do not share videos but this one on youtube totally had be dying when I watched it. I hope you all love it too!!

37 Weeks

Just waiting for baby :)

36 weeks and Maternity leave here I come!!!!

Ending my 36th week here and I have yet another Dr's appt Friday. No activity yet, the baby has not dropped according to my Dr- we will have to see what she says this week. Pregnancy has been so far a pretty great experience with the exception of a few GI issues I don't mind being pregnant. It's getting extremely hard to sleep at night, no position seems comfortable. I am looking forward to sleeping on my stomach one of these days....

We have the cradle set up in our place now and looks sooooo cute with the bumpers in them :) We are working on the last few items for my hospital bag ( I bought 1 girl onesie and 1 boy onesie for the going home outfit ), we pre-registered at the hospital last night so I can walk in when the time comes. Car seat is NOT in the car yet but that will be Andrew's next project. Stroller is all set up and ready to use :)


Friday is my last day working and I cannot tell you how excited I am to be able to sleep in a little more since I have been so exhausted waking up at 6:30am and getting just a few hours of sleep each night. During leave, before the baby comes, I have to wash all the baby clothes blankets and get them ready to use. I still have 1 more baby shower through my church on the 19th.... and that should wrap it up.

My feet have only been a tad bit swollen not horribly bad, although I am down to only wearing flip flops all day now.

I can't believe I only have 3 and 1/2 weeks left- cRaZy!!!! ooooohhh I just cannot wait to see this little baby and find out if it is a girl or a boy :) Anybody have predictions??

Sneak Peek!!!

Had a wedding this morning/afternoon, here is a sneak peek at some of my initial editing- there will be more to come later!

Testing Testing 1...2...3

I purchased my new lens today for the wedding I am shooting this weekend and of course I am taking some test shots around the house to get a feel for my new baby. Okay, now I only spent $120 for this Nikkor lens it is a 50mm 1.8D and HOLY COW I am impressed already. Anybody up to be my newest model before Saturday?? Below are my test shots with the new lens. The depth of field is really awesome!

Ut-t-tah

So we finally made it home safe last night just before 10pm... MAN, all I have to say is I am so not ever doing a road trip like that 8 months pregnant-crazy!!

So our week was filled with some AWESOME speakers, and I know this trip is supposed to be for high school kids but I really enjoyed myself other than the 1 mile walk down and 1 mile hike back to our main stage area. Convention had about 900 kids (most of them from Michigan, ha ha all dutch boys and girls mainly). I think we were the only group from California there, it was funny hearing everyone ask us if we surfed and did we know any celebrities!

My favorite speaker had to have been Doug Herman
Doug had to have one of the most powerful testimonies, lost his wife and child of 2 years old to AIDS after a blood transfusion given at delivery. After losing some faith after this, God showed him amazing truths and since been re-married and has 2 more children. We are made in the image of God "Imago Dei". He is so animated and funny, we could not help but keep laughing, we ended up buying his DVD.

"Doug Herman is an international speaker and author who has spent over 20 years in youth and family work. Not only has he been a youth pastor at small country churches as well as one of the nation's largest multi-cultural churches. Having lost a wife and daughter to AIDS while he was a minister, Doug has emerged from this tragedy strong and true.

"Like few pastors I've known, Doug has learned and grown from the toughest of life's lessons….. Doug has a theological understanding that probes deeper than many ministers' because he’s been through the fire. I recommend you journey with Doug." - Philip Yancey, author

Another awesome guy was Ben Glen

Ben did some awesome chalk drawings, Has an awesome testimony about how he thought God had messed up on him because of his dyslexia, but God has made each one of us perfect. If you can believe it Ben Glen is standing in front of one of his drawings, and YES he did this pictures with nothing but chalk.

33 weeks & Utah here we come :)

Here is the most updated picture I have taken, now at 33 weeks!

Dr's appt went well today, everything is still looking good with me and the baby my next appt is in another 2 weeks which then they will do the checks on my cervix and see if any effacement or dialation is occurring. All is well so far.

Tomorrow morning 5:30am rolls around and this is when Andrew & I, Kendal & Katie (youth leaders) and 4 other kids (Jessica, Kayla, Michael, and Jerry) leave on the road to Utah. Why Utah you ask? This year's youth convention will be held in Salt Lake City Olympic Village, tons of kids from all over the nation come together for a convention with speakers, bands, etc. Great experience for the kids. We're taking 2 cars, lots of toys, and junk food for the 10 hour drive. Get your camera ready, cause Utah here we come. This should be fun since both Katie & I are pregnant, Katie of course is due in January so she will enjoy this trip much more than me who has to pee every 2 minutes :) Anyway, I have tomorrow through Tues off work- so this should be interesting coming back after a few days off. Keep us in your prayers for safe travel to and from Utah!

My new favorites

Okay I have found some newer artists that I totally love and my favorite songs of their's are right below:

Jon McLaughlin
"Beautiful Disaster"












Brandon Heath
"I'm not who I was"










Disciple
"After the world"







Wavorly
"Praise and Adore (some live without it)"

Thursdays

The next 3 weeks on Thursdays we will be completing the childbirth prepared classes, as one the ladies in the class said so eloquently they're called prepared classes so you can get prepared to scream!

No not really! The classes have been very informative, Andrew and I have homework we TRY to do every night. Andrew was told he has to practice massaging my back every night (which has been soooo nice) and I have to do some exercises that he spots me on in case I lose my balance or something like that- Squatting, lunges, etc.

This last week has been hard as far as sleeping goes since you are only supposed to sleep on your side, my thighs and hips have been extremely sore when I wake up because I lay on my side, so I switch sides in the night but that doesn't help just makes both side sore so I walk like I am hobbling all day because my muscles are sore there. Other than that the baby doesn't wake me up with the kicking or anything in the middle of the night.

As to be expected, I am only 8 weeks away from my due date and of course I am getting anxious and nervous, wondering how I am going to do in delivery, will I have any complications, how long will I be in labor? You know the normal questions I am sure every mother who will be in labor ask themselves. I only have about 4 weeks left of work right now before I go on materity leave which I can't wait for. Work has been so exhausting and I can't seem to keep up like I would like to.

I have a lot of information I have to look up before the baby comes, like insurance for the baby after it's born because Andrew's work does not have good group rates and I won't be eligible for insurance once I go to part time status. I have been given some great information from IEHP and also the EDD for compensation of my income when I move to part time. God has really been good at providing for us once the baby comes, He is so awesome to us :) Yikes only 8 weeks left!!!!

Yippee!!!

Praise the Lord, the results are in Thank you for your prayers- I do NOT have gestational diabetes!! My test came back normal which was such a praise. Baby's heart beat was strong, and I have a follow up test to make sure my UTI has cleared up. I will be starting to have appts every 2 weeks until I get closer to my due date now, so my next appt is July 19th.

Today, we start our Childbirth classes at 6:30pm so this should be an interesting experience for sure!!! I will let you know how that goes later tonight.

Thank you again everyone for your prayers!!

In style

So, We have been moved in since March but haven't really done too much as far as decorating the house but since I am in mommy mode and feeling the nesting thing with everything being clean and all... I finally bought some items at my good ole' friend Target to move the process along. Here are some pictures of some items I have bought, I really like them especially my little trunk for the entry way!

31 Weeks

Hey Everyone, It seems like it has been a while since I have posted a new picture of myself seems like I am growing pretty fast here I can't believe it! Monday marks the beginning of my 31st week- Yikes can you believe that I am only 9 weeks away from my due date already??

We have been working on signing up for our childbirth classes, which I believe should be starting this upcoming Thurs. Kind of exciting and also becoming even more surreal and I have been starting to prepare for my maternity leave at work and then childbirth classes... It's been a whirlwind of sorts because it has flown by so quickly.
I have been pretty lucky so far in my pregnancy, the only stretch marks I have gotten are on my thighs of all places (go figure!), Seems like I am carrying mainly all in the front like I am growing straight out more than around. Also, the wedding rings have come off this week, I was barely able to get them off last night so I have resulted to not wearing them anymore as I have become a tiny swollen in my hands and a tiny bit in my feet but nothing too noticeable just yet.

The baby is doing some crazy things in my stomach- I feel a hard kick and I will put my hand of my stomach and I feel the baby's foot or something... I am like Whoa!! Okay- that is new! There are times that the baby moves so much that it actually tickles me especially when I go to lay down to sleep. It's a nice reassurance that everything is still going okay with the baby so far so I like feeling the baby rolling around in there.

We finished VBS this last Friday which I have to say is fun but also very exhausting at the same time because we go to work for 8 hours and then we are non-stop again until 8:30pm when VBS gets done every night. We had a lot of success this year with an average of 90 children attending our VBS. I am glad that it is over now though because I NEED SLEEP! ha ha.

Also, the newest show I started watching was Top Chef on Bravo, this is interesting another reality TV show in which I have found amusing now so I have been watching this. Andrew and I now are able to get YouTube videos on our Apple TV so we have watched a few performances from Britain's Got Talent show and an across Paul Potts, sells Cell Phones for a living but seems to be able to sing amazing Opera like Andrea Bocelli and Pavaroti- Even Simon Cowell was impressed. Crazy huh?

Alrighty, well that is it for now.

Diabetes?

So my glucose testing came back abnormal so I have to end up doing a 2nd glucose testing that is 3 hours and they take blood at different intervals to find out if I actually have gestational diabetes. I have to fast once again tonight and then go to the lab to do some more glucose testing again. Fun huh?

The rundown

Saturday- Andrew performed yet another wedding for Frank and Nicole Hoyos out in Fallbrook at the Enchanted Forest... this location was beautiful. Man made lake with swans, waterfall, gazebo, castle... beautiful! Then later that night went to Huntington Beach for a small bonfire and s'mores.

Sunday- Headed back on the road again to Cherry Valley for Andrew's brothers birthday and then spent the rest of the night doing 2 weeks worth of laundry- ugh!

Monday- Friday: Vacation Bible School for our church, I was supposed to be helping with the 1st and 2nd graders but ended up running the powerpoint and videos inside the church all week. Which is fine with me since I get to sit.

** With only 10 weeks left to go til my due date, we are trying to get everything as ready as we can. I am signing up for child birth classes this week hopefully I can squeeze them in before it gets to late. Baby is really starting rumble around this week with me having to stop walking at some points because she/he is moving so much. My next appt is next Thu- pray that everything is still going good!!

Newest items

Here are some recent pictures I have taken of my belly- baby is moving a lot and seems to be doing some somersaults now. Crazy, looks like a little alien inside my belly :)




























Also, newest on my items to buy for the wedding I am doing in July, ahhh It's so pretty and not expensive either and will take wonderful portraits. I can't wait to try it out already!!!

GPS owners: Beware!!

Yesterday marks the 3rd person I know to have their car broken in to for their portable GPS system. The GPS systems are mainly being stolen to re-sell because (mainly people steal because they don't want to work like normal people and get paid hourly- they decide they want to take something that other people have worked hard for and pay taxes.... ehh don't get me started) they can be worth anywhere from $250- $600. Anyone who owns these GPS's no matter what kind of car you drive are at risk for being broken into and stolen. This item seems to be the #1 stolen items now, a friend had their laptop and other items in the vehicle with this and they did not touch any of these items- they just broke the window to steal the GPS system. Please take your GPS with you at all times when leaving your vehicle, please make sure to share this information with anyone who owns one for their own protection.

29 Weeks - 7th month and other stuff

This week marks the beginning of my 29th week and my 7th month. It's crazy to think about how fast my pregnancy has gone and now I am looking forward to baby showers and the baby coming.... Ahhhh! I know it's a little scary sometimes just thinking about this little baby inside me. God has been so good to us though in preparing us for what may lie ahead. I know no books or anything can really prepare me for what is ahead for us, but I am relying on God to strengthen me for what kind of baby I will have. The baby is moving like CRAZY now- I can seem my whole stomach moving sometimes... and I can totally feel when the baby is rolling over or wiggling because it feels so different than a kick. It's exciting but also freakishly wierd to see my belly moving like this... it sometimes actually tickles me :)

My next venture is child birth classes- yikes! Hopefully they just teach the Lamaze method some of the other methods I am not so sure about! I am nervous a little about how I will be able to handle the contractions and I don't think any video will help me REALLY grasp how much it could hurt. I am open though to other drugs, and I know for sure that the epidural is pretty much out of the question because of the spine thing I don't think I can ever be okay with that spine thing.

In other news, we are waiting on a temp at work who will be qualified to come in and take my place during maternity leave. My boss wants me to sit in on the interviews and get my opinion on the candidates. In this also, my office is supposed to be moving at the end of this month to our rennovated building with a whole new set up, more storage room, etc. So training a temp, moving, maternity leave- yikes!! A lot going on right now.

Health clearance for Momma and baby!

I have my Dr's appt yesterday, and because I was sick lately the last couple of days my blood pressure has been a little higher than normal so I was getting just a little concerned as one of the girls in my office brought in their blood pressure machine to have us all check our blood pressure. Went into the Dr's yesterday and the nurse checked my blood pressure and it was 120/74 which is a good number! I was so ecstatic to hear this :)
I was on some medication Cipro for my bladder infection because of the Urgent Care visit on Sunday, I told her this is what the Dr put me on she immediately wanted to change me over to a different medication not because what I was on was bad but because she wanted me on something a little safer. The baby's heart beat was in the 150's which is good, I know every one thinks that you can predict the sex of the baby from this numbers- all wives tales! Before my next appt, I have to do my glucose screening which will tell me whether or not I have gestation diabetes, etc. I have to fast for 8 hours before the test, so they suggested do it in the morning before you go to work that is the easiest time. That's it for now, baby is moving quite a bit now and with some pretty hard thumps.

*Andrew is in Missouri or Misery as I like to call it until Sunday, I have to pick him up from Ontario airport. He and Josh went out there for a friend of ours Caleb's wedding, his fiancee is from this state and luckily both will be moving to California after they are married! Yippee! Congrats to them on their marriage tomorrow :)

Sad Day!!

Sad Day, yesterday, I found out that someone I used to go to church with Guin (Dixon) passed away just a few days ago. She left behind a husband and a baby girl, Please pray for her family and the Darling family as they get through this tragedy. Guin was 24 years old, and they think that she passed away from complication from her Diabetes. Funeral will be held on Friday.

Capt'n Crunch at Starbucks!!!

I have never much been a Starbucks person, I go every once in a great while and get a little something. Andrew has a habit of always asking the cashier what they order from here... This cashier one time said "I get the Capt'n Crunch" we both looked at each other and said what is that? He says "It is Strawberries N Cream with toffee" Andrew decided sure why not... Holy Cow! Have you ever had the Capt'n crunch with berries cereal? This blended creme tastes exactly like this- next time you head to Starbucks you gotta try this drink!!!!

Babies popping up everywhere and other happenings...

So exciting there now 2 couples more that recently found out they are pregnant...Babies are coming up everywhere!!!

Ty & Lauren Briggs

also Kendal & Katie Pool

Recent happenings in my life... Had a lot of drama at work with a new supervisor in a different department at work who tried to point the finger at me for a mistake he made and tried to lie about it my blaming it on me which I had nothing to do with. Luckily, I have been with the company for over a year now and have totally proven my trustworthiness to the company in my work that when I told them that wasn't the truth... they believed me and backed me up. I love my bosses, they are just such awesome supervisors!

Onto other things, Friday I thought I was having a lovely tuna fish sandwich which turned out to be not so lovely because I got FOOD POISENING!!! Freaking Tuna! Nothing was staying in my stomach all weekend, by Sunday still no food in my stomach and I had a really high fever. After calling my step-dad, David, (super nurse) advised me to get checked out just in case I am dehydrated. By 2:30 in the afternoon, went to Urgent Care and said I told the Dr what I had to eat, He said "Yeah that will do it, you would be surprised at how much bacteria is on Tuna after 3o minutes, just a word to the wise stay away from any Tuna salad, Chicken Salad or Egg Salad- You have Food poisoning....and after taking a urine sample said "Well, you're definitely not dehydrated and in addition to the food poisoning- you have a bladder infection" (no doubt from the dang Ultrasound where I had to hold my urine for the longest time ever!) The Dr gave me medication for the infection but couldn't give me anything for the food poisoning since I am pregnant so I had to suffer through an all liquid diet for 24 hours. For the first time in days I had some soup and a roll and it stayed in my stomach finally. I am going to take it easy on the food for a little while longer just to make sure I don't get sick again. All I have to say is never bu any pre-made food from a grocery store, don't be lazy and just make the dang sandwich yourself!!