Oh, life

Shane and I have been in a daze for 3 or so weeks. We just sit on the couch and stare at the walls at night, and we sleep like rocks at night. Emotionally exhausted I think.

2 weeks ago we sold the Jeep, which was a tiresome process. BUT it's done with. We then had 2 weeks to find a replacement before my dad got back in town and needed his car back. He returns tomorrow, and praise God, we found a car and bought it on Tuesday morning, so we don't have to worry about sharing a car between him, Shane and I. God's timing is perfect and He never fails us...He shows that to us every day.

I'm 32/33 weeks along and feeling pretty good. I had a bad cold last week that was annoying, but it's over now and my energy and appetite are back. I'm still trying to stay active to keep my energy level up. I stopped running last week, partly due to feeling like I have a cement block in my stomach and partly due to the fact that my running shoes are completely shot. According to the websites, Elsa is now between 4 and 5 pounds. That is so crazy to me. From here on out, she is fully developed and just fattening up. We've been seeing and feeling her move a lot. I have to say that is probably the most enjoyable aspect of pregnancy. This weekend my mom's friends are throwing a shower for us, so that should be fun. I'll hopefully have some pictures to post next time. The K's are coming in town and staying in our house. We're excited to host our first house guests. Well, actually Tim stayed with us a couple weeks ago, but we didn't have a guest bed yet, so he wasn't as comfortable as the K's will be...sorry Tim.

That's it for now! Thanks for keeping up with us.

30 Weeks

Wow, it's been a crazy week. Monday we found out that Matt and Becca are expecting a GIRL. Very exciting, congratulations. Elsa is excited about her cousin and Will is excited about being a big brother. Tuesday my friend Nikki gave birth to her son, Jude. It was 3 hours from the time she went into labor to the time Jude was out. Sounds pretty good to me, so I've been selfishly praying for a quick labor and delivery. My friend Brittany, on the other hand, gave birth to her little girl tonight around 7:30. She went into labor before Nikki...wow. Brittany and I will be having mommy dates, which will be fun! I'm excited to spend more time with her. Her sister, Ashley, was one of my bridesmaids and sang at our wedding. She has the most beautiful voice, and heart. Love her.

I had my 28/29 week appointment on March 7th. All good news. I had my glucose tolerance test, and all came out great. No glucose problems for Elsa and me. My blood pressure was great and Elsa's heart beat was strong. I was told to start counting her movements for an hour each day to make sure she moves at least 10 times. So far I haven't had to count the whole hour because I feel her 15-20 times in the first 15 minutes. She's an active little one. It was a very encouraging appointment. I go back this Monday, the 21st.

Tonight Shane and I had a photo shoot of our bellies, so I hope you enjoy! Happy 30 weeks to us!

One man's trash is another man's treasure...

Shane and I were taking a casual walk around the neighborhood the other night. We pass the dumpster on the way to the mailbox and, wala! Lookie what we found! Shane couldn't go home without them sooooo we walked home with them. It's kind of nice not having to worry about our patio furniture being stollen considering it was free. And when we move, we put them on craigslist. It's a win-win for us!

Thanks neighbors.

Joyful!

Wow, the past few weeks have been so great. Shane and I are loving our new place. We always want to be home. Before, we'd find any excuse to just go somewhere. We didn't hate where we were living, we were actually very content there... but, we didn't realize how "not-homey" it was until we started to experience "homey." I've hung up a few pictures, with the help of a couple friends, but I have yet to hang any curtains or shelves. For now we are just enjoying cooking, eating, watching TV, running around the lake that is right next to our apartment complex, walking to the grocery store, and sleeping with central heat. Soon we will play around with Elsa's room. Maybe we'll get a bed to go in there for guests, who knows. God's timing is so perfect.



We have been blessed already with so many gifts for our little girl. Between friends and family, we have quite the collection of baby stuff. Her closet is filling up quickly (though it was already quite full with daddy's tools).


Here are a few pictures of the 3 of us! 27 weeks/beginning of the 3rd, and last, trimester! Woo!

New places and new faces

Wow, so much has happened since our last post. It was a month ago that we found out we were having a sweet baby girl. On the 15th on January I felt her move for SURE for the first time. Since then it has become easier and easier to feel her. Last Thursday, the 3rd, I actually saw my whole stomach move 3 or 4 times while I was laying on the couch reading. I was so bummed that Shane was at work. By the time he got home, she was back to sleep. It was amazing to see though. Hopefully he will witness some movement soon.

Well, where do I start. I'll start with the few pictures that I posted.

This one is when I used our crock pot to make a pot roast. I need some more practice (it was a bit dry) but at least the carrots and potatoes were good.

One night we had a game night with Sara and Tim. We played Monopoly, one of our Christmas gifts from Mom and Dad K. We laughed a lot. It was fun. Sara just moved back to the area from Wilmington, so it has been fun to have her home. We've been able to grab coffee a couple times and catch up. I've missed her and I'm so glad she's back in the area!

Little miss Elsa got her first package from Aunt B! It was a fun surprise!

I threw everything on Shane so that I could get a picture of all of the goodies. Thanks Aunt B!

AND THE BIG NEWS OF THE WEEK...

WE MOVED!

Here are a couple pictures of us packing up the old place. We are very thankful for all of the help that we had! I'll post more pictures of the place after I have a few decorations up. We are excited to say that we now have 2 bedrooms. God definitely provided this at the perfect time. As stressful as it was, now that it is over, we see it as a huge blessing. Preparing for the arrival of our baby girl is even more exciting knowing we have a clean home to put her in. After we got everything in from our old place, my mom helped me get everything that never left her house and moved it over to the new place. BIG help. Then we went shopping for some new things, another shower liner for Elsa's bathroom, over-the-door hooks, door mats, etc. After the fun of shopping, we headed back over to the old place and mopped, vacuumed, and cleaned the bathroom. Thank you, Mom, for keeping me away from the cleaning fumes.

Happy super bowl 45 to us! We hosted a party at the new apartment. Shane made ribs and I made some veges and a Turtle Bar dessert, and our guest made an appetizer and another dessert. Yes, our guest...singular. This is a picture of the whole crew :) We look so enthused.

Yesterday Shane had the day off and he decided that he wanted to make dinner. He made the best chicken I've ever had! It was so juicy with lots of flavor. Funny thing is, I haven't had chicken since I've been pregnant because it has sounded so nasty to me, but this was delicious! Thank you Shane. Best dinner yet!

Since his dinner was so great last night, I decided that I really needed to step it up. So tonight I made shrimp cocktail, spaghetti and meatballs, and Carrabba-style bread (well, I can't take all of the credit. I used meatballs that Momma K made, and a seasoning mix that Momma K put together to mix with Olive Oil to dip the bread in). We enjoyed it. We are loving having a bigger kitchen with more counter space. We were also able to unpack all of our new cookware and dishes, so it's made cooking a little easier having more than 2 pans to work with.

I guess those are all of the updates we have. It's past my bedtime. 'Til next time!

Drum roll please...

It's a GIRL!

Happy 9 months of marriage to us.

We had an appointment this morning at 10am. Everything looked great on the ultrasound, all the measurements were right on for 20 weeks, 6 days. Her heart beat is 146bpm. We saw her cute little feet, arms, legs, heart, ears, fists, brain, kidneys... it was crazy! The tech said she was shy because she wasn't moving at all, and she was hiding her face from us. I was thankful she was still so that we could see everything the tech was pointing out. I heard the couple that went in before us say that their baby wouldn't stop moving so they couldn't distinguish what anything was. Well, here are the pictures! Enjoy!

Hands are in fists up against her ear. She is facing away from us.

Her spine and ribs.


















Foot prints.


















Hand in a fist next to her ear again.


















And there she is! Her cute little butt cheeks and the back of her legs. I guess she was sitting on the camera.
Hope you have all enjoyed! We are so excited!

Halfway point!

I am halfway through my pregnancy! Woo hoo!

The baby weights about 10 1/2 ounces (according to the website I get weekly updates on) and is 10 inches long from head to heel. Very crazy! It's growing like a weed. The website didn't say much except the size and that it's swallowing and producing sticky black liquid that is a by product of digestion that will be in it's first diaper. Lovely.

I'm still loving green beans and oranges. Still not big on meats. I have a pot roast cooking in the crock pot right now, so we'll see how I like that when I get off work.

We go to the doctor on Monday to find out what the little thing is, so we are very excited! I guess we will also find out it's actual size as well, which I will update everyone on that afternoon.

Happy 20 weeks to me!