35 weeks and 5 days

It's going by fast!  In about a month or so this little girl will be here and we are so excited!

We had an awesome co-ed shower at the Rigby's hosted by Larissa, Susan and Maryanne.  Lot's of friends were there and we had a great time together.  Our little girl got enough clothes to clothe five babies.  My met mom made a beautiful crochet blanket, beanies, booties and a sweater.

Noelle's momma made her very first applique quilt for us and it's beautiful, the pictures really aren't doing this any justice.

I've been doing a lot of reading trying to prepare for the big day, and I am not sure how much it's all helping-we will see!

This little girl moves and shakes a whole lot.  She seems to already developed some of her own little personality.  She doesn't like to have her space invaded and she will kick or punch or something in response to anyone poking around, taking an ultrasound, or trying to take her heart rate.  She kicks Craig in the back when we are lying down in bed and my belly is on his back and we think it's hilarious.  There is usually a little giggle or "ouch" said in response sometime in the night when she gets him.

Craig wakes up many mornings and puts his hands on my belly, while I try to sleep some more, to try and get her to move around.
I've gained about 30 pounds now and have decided to stop taking note of how much more I am gaining.  The doctor says everything is good and she's healthy.  We are now seeing the doctor once a week and I feel this is going to make time pass so quickly.
Craig and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary this month and as we reflected we were able to smile and be grateful for the many blessings that we have experienced.  God is good-ALL the time!


Our friends Doug and Ashley Wylie (www.dnawylie.com) took some pictures of us at week 32 and they are great!

We also had a great chance to spend 5 days in Oregon with friends and their two boys, it was a nice time to relax, laugh, and relax.  We were crazy grateful!

30 weeks and 6 days

Wow, it's hard to believe that in about 10-12 weeks this little girl will be here.  Over the last few months we have been so blessed and overwhelmed by God's provision shown through His people, His family.  I tell you, we haven't even had one shower and we have SO much stuff already.  Just last week, a friend had another friend drop off a high chair, a portable high chair, and a swing.  Today, I picked up a used, and in need of a little TLC, jogging stroller for free from Craig's list-Craig-o has been checking Craig's list everyday and finding all sorts of deals, though we haven't yet jumped on any of them, except this one.
I now weigh about 160 and am feeling this little girl get heavier and heavier. At night, when I switch from one side to the other, which I do about 50 times or more, I feel like I have to throw my belly over to the other side first, my core muscles no longer have the strength to do it all on their own!  Our little girl loves to kick and dance and jab me where it hurts.  Yesterday, we met our friends baby, Hudson.  As I held Hudson, little Lorge began rolling something, either a foot or hand or elbow, from one side of him to the other.  She did this for so long, it was as if she was loving on him.  She probably just felt the warmth/pressure and was responding to it, but regardless it was really sweet.
Tomorrow we leave for So Cal.  We will be there for a little over a week and are having two showers and spending some time with friends and family, I can't wait!  Pictures of the shower to come, promise.

21 weeks

We are a little more than half way there!  I am growing and feeling some little pains in the stretching or pulling of muscles.  Our little girl moves a lot, she loves to kick, punch, tap when Craig rests his head on my belly to hear her.  In the morning, she's usually in a little bump just below my belly button.  This I just noticed a few days ago and it was so weird.  I think because I am sleeping on my sides (so tough for a belly and back sleeper), so as I switch back and forth all night her space becomes more and more limited and thus forms a little ball of a bump in me.  We have an appointment this week, so we will see what news we get back.  According to a website, she is about 10.5 inches long and weights about...8oz or so. 

School is half way finished too and boy has a been tough to be motivated this semester.  Craig and I are involved in college ministry at our church and that is a real blessing to us.  We are learning to confidently and patiently wait for the next step in our lives, but for now we will be content with all the other countless blessings in our lives. 

No pictures here, I think I look about the same since the last photos.

Knock knock...

SHE is on the move. This little girl moves around all kinds.  Oh, yeah, she's a girl.  We found out on the 7th, my mom's b-day, that we were having a GIRL!  I can't believe it.  While we were having the ultrasound, I saw her move and felt her at the same time and was able to identify THAT feeling with HER!  Since then, she has been distracting me while I sit in class, sit and read at Starbucks, and while I sleep.  I can't not pay attention to her because I find it so incredible that I have a baby inside of me and that she is moving around and I FEEL her!  Then a few days ago, as I was laying in bed, I had Craig put his hand on my belly to see if he was able to feel her...she gave one firm kick/punch/something fierce and he totally felt her-what a miracle that is.  I feel that we are both more easily able to connect with this little girl now that we know a little more about her (moving around now) and that I feel her-constantly.

We are so happy, (jump) we have been blessed by so many people and have a plastic bin of stuff ranging from infant to 3T, whatever that is.  In a few days I will leave my wonderful husband for a week in So Cal with my wonderful friends and family (rumble and  thump, apparently she is pretty thrilled about it too). 

My relationship with Craig blows me away.  Every night before we go to bed we try to pray together, or I will pray or he will pray.  Lately, I have been really thankful and aware of how good things are.  I remember when things weren't so ...como se dice...calm, fun, and healthy-PRAISE THE LORD!  He is super happy about this little girl and his excitement makes me more and more anxious to see her and see him and see him with her.  In the midst of so many things not right, we ARE blessed and sense HIS PRESENCE daily!


Here are some photos from the last few weeks...

This is Craig's cousin giving us the ultrasound...she is so great!

Somewhere between 15 and 16 weeks

                                                       
                                                                above: 15 weeks 2 days

                                                             16 weeks and 1 day

                                                            (same) 16 weeks and 1 day

As promised, a more recent photo.  Some days I wake up and have a prego belly, other days...it seems to grow throughout the day as a result of bloating + food + letting go + baby.  This week is supposed to be something like super growth week.  I will post again then.  We will also see a doctor this week, so maybe we will be able to find out whether we are having a boy or a girl...can't wait.

Oh yeah...I was going to start blogging wasn't I...

Well, some pretty exciting stuff has happened and it's not officially public information, but since only a select few know that I blog I guess it won't hurt.  WE ARE HAVING A BABY!  I can't even believe it.  There are days that I wonder if I am really pregnant at all, but quickly after I doubt it Craig reminds me that I am more emotional than ever and...well...looking a bit different.  I am a few days away from 16 weeks, which mean I am nearly half way there-crazy!  We aren't sure yet about the sex of the baby, but I have had a dream that it was a girl...I think I have a 50% chance.  The Lord is so good to us.  We are still in Nancy's home, which is mostly a blessing and sometimes pretty challenging.  Craig is still on the job hunt which is similar to the home situation, and I am going to school.  I will have one full year after this semester is over before I earn my bachelors degree in English-I can hardly believe that one too.
I hear that in the next couple of weeks I could possibly begin feeling the baby and that makes me so so so so happy.  I wonder if I will be able to determine the difference between kicking and regular and very frequent stomach gargle?  Craig and I have a list of names that we like, his are generally more "American" and mine sound a bit more exotic, this should be interesting.  I hope to continue blogging and posting photos of a growing belly, once things get exciting.  Right now, I just look like I had a little too much to eat-not very cute. Until then...   



At some point during the first trimester I could only tolerate simple, white and yellow foods.  i.e. eggs and rice for dinner.  I was also always freezing, but that could be because it is much colder in Nor Cal than in So Cal. 

 I also felt MISERABLE.  I slept a lot and Kodiak cared to keep my toes warm.  Note the  prego book at the bottom corner of the picture.  

Between week 14 and 15.  Too much food or pregnant?  Pictures of the first ultrasound at 6 weeks in the background.  

Advent Preparation

Personal prayer is the meeting place between the Eternal One and me; the Blessed Sacrament is the visible sign of my covenant with him. 

That is why I believe in personal prayer, and why everyday I wait to meet him in the Eucharist.  To pray means to wait for the God who comes.

Every prayer-filled day sees a meeting with the God who comes; every night which we faithfully put at his disposal is full of his presence. 

And his coming and his presence are not only the result of our waiting or a prize for our efforts: they are his decision, based on his love freely poured out.

His coming is bound to his promise, not to our works or virtue.  We have not earned the meeting with God because we have served him faithfully in our brethren, or because we have heaped up such a pile of virtue as to shine before heaven.

God is thrust onward by his love, not attracted by our beauty.  He comes even in moments when we have done everything wrong, when we have done nothing...when we have sinned.

The God Who Comes by Carlo Carretto