Our Christmas Letter

This year I am opting for a "virtual" Christmas letter for a couple reasons. One is to save money on ink and paper, and the other is it's just a lot easier! So for all of you who received your Christmas card with a note to check our blog, welcome! I hope you enjoy our letter.

Dear Friends & Family,
As we celebrate this Christmas season, we want to keep the focus on the real meaning of Christmas. During this time of year, we celebrate the coming of Jesus to this world and bringing salvation to all of us. Somehow, in the midst of the shopping, traveling, cooking & baking, the real message of Christmas gets lost. In light of keeping the focus on the simple things, we want to share with you the top 10 things we are thankful for in 2008.
1. Our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ. Without His birth, the world would've never known a savior. Without His death & resurrection, we would not have the ability to have a relationship with God. We are thankful for our salvation and peace that Christ brings to our lives.
2. Our beautiful new daughter, Kirsten Jael. We found out we were pregnant at the end of February, and we were very excited. I was blessed with a healthy pregnancy and no major issues other than just the normal aches & pains of carrying an extra 25-30 lbs! Kirsten joined us on October 29 at 2:28am, and we couldn't be happier. I was blessed with a great midwife and a supportive doula during the labor, and Scott was absolutely amazing as well. After all that hard work, I was so excited to finally meet my sweet baby girl. Kirsten means "follower of Christ" and Jael means "power of God." The first two months with her have been a time of joy and tears, and we are gradually learning how to be parents. Once again, we are thankful for God's grace in this experience and we are realizing that we don't have to be perfect!
3. Our amazing parents - Gary & Holly and Cathy & Paul. Throughout the year, we were attempting to finish our remodeling as well as prepare for having a baby. Our parents provided so much help, love and support, and we are so grateful for them.
4. Our church family - We are so blessed to be a part of Community Church of the Open Door. This year has been a year of growth and change at the church, as we have rearranged the sanctuary, gone to one service, changed youth group to Wednesday nights, and started small groups. It has been a lot of fun, and we have enjoyed the various changes. October was Pastor Appreciation Month, and since Scott is the youth pastor, we received so many cards and gifts from our church family. It was so amazing to feel the love and appreciation and we were humbled to receive so much that we do not deserve. Several people from the church were also a great help in preparing the house for Kirsten's arrival.
5. Our extended family - We were able to go camping on Labor Day weekend with my sister and her husband, Naomi and Rich. We headed out to Mt. Blue State Park where we camped and hiked (yes, I hiked Mt. Blue at 7 and 1/2 months pregnant). It was so much fun to hang out with them and relax. Then during Thanksgiving they came up to visit and meet Kirsten. We also are thankful for Grammie Diane and Grammy Lawrence, who both live locally. In addition, we're thankful for Scott's sister Rachel and her two kids, Eli and Lindsay. It is fun to see them, especially now that they have a little cousin to take care of. Then we have Grandparents Harvey and Grandparents Pier who are all very special to us, along with all of our aunts and uncles and cousins.
6. Our wonderful friends. We have been gifted with so many great friends, both locally and around the country and world. This year it's been fun to be pregnant along with Shannon as well as Sarah. Peter & Shannon welcomed their second daughter to the world in June, and Sarah & Jason welcomed their first daughter at the beginning of December. I am sure that Kirsten will become friends with these girls as they are all so close in age. Our friends Steve & Jess have been the hosts of the small group we attend, which has been so fun, and they have also provided tons of help on our house this year. And it's been wonderful to have our friends Kevin & Amy return to the area after their 3 year stint in Pennsylvania. Kirsten will definitely grow up with many "aunts" and "uncles."
7. The youth group kids at CCOD. Although they are part of the church, we have a special affection for the junior and senior high teens. We have had fun on the many events and trips with them this year. In March we had Snow Camp at Blueberry Mountain, and had the biggest group ever. It was so much fun to go sledding, play games like "Signs", and help them grow spiritually. Scott led a group of guys on "Man Camp" - an outdoor camping experience with "no frills", and the kids also went on a paintball trip (I didn't go due to my pregnant belly!). We also went on a college trip with juniors and seniors in September, which was a ton of fun. Finally, we closed out the year with our annual Christmas parties, complete with a Yankee Swap in which the kids had to bring an item that they had either found or made instead of spending money on it. Then they donated money so that we could pool it together for a gift through World Vision.
8. Our home remodeling being finished! I am sooooo glad that we are FINALLY done with our remodeling project in the living room and dining room. We started this LAST fall, and did not get done until this fall - a full year. But now it looks just lovely, and there are just some finishing touches to be completed, such as putting up blinds and pictures.
9. Our funny pets. Yes, it's true - I am thankful for our two dogs and one cat. Mia and Moxie never leave us bored - they are always up to something. They really enjoy being outside, especially Moxie. They both love hiking, and when we hike they usually go up and down the mountain about 4x the amount that we do - they run way ahead and then come back to us, over and over! Kira's favorite activites are sleeping, chasing mice, and finding things to bat around on the floor. She especially loves to play with things she's not supposed to have, such as pacifiers or candy.
10. Our jobs & business. During this difficult economic environment, we are thankful for stable jobs and a growing business. Scott has enjoyed being the youth pastor at CCOD and is celebrating his 3rd year there. I have been at FACT for over a year now, working as a part-time foster care case manager. I have taken 10 weeks off to be with Kirsten, but I will be going back in January about 10 hours a week at first. I am thankful for a very flexible boss and wonderful coworkers. Finally, we are thankful for my business which has been providing us consistent income this year, even when I took an entire month off after Kirsten was born! We also enjoyed visiting Salt Lake City for the first time for my business convention. It was nice to have 5 of my team members join us there as well!

Well, thank you for taking time to read this epistle! I hope you enjoyed a small window into our lives during 2008. We look forward to an even better 2009! Please drop by from time to time to check out our updates. Also, Scott and I are both on Facebook, so if you are on there, please add us as your friends!

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Baking Christmas Cookies

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is baking Christmas cookies & snacks. Every year I make molasses cookies, one of my faves from childhood. And I also make caramel corn. These make great gifts for friends & family. So today I tried out a new recipe for sugar cookies. I've not done sugar cookies in a long time, so I searched the internet for a recipe and found one that looked good. So, here's some pics of my experience. They came out exceptionally good and they were super easy! I'm including the pic of the recipe so feel free to copy & use!

Mommy Moments

Well I am finally having a chance to sit down and blog. It's been a while! Anyway, as of yesterday Kirsten is 6 weeks old. I am in awe of how much she has changed and how much we are experiencing in these days and weeks. There are joys and challenges every day. I am learning to take things one day at a time, or even sometimes one hour or minute at a time. Here are some of my favorite moments with Kirsten so far:
-Laying in bed at 5am with her after she finished eating and seeing her eyes widen as she looks around. Then seeing a big smile come across her face as I make funny noises with my mouth. Then seeing several more smiles and funny looks as she just enjoys the moment.
-Having her snuggled up on my chest falling asleep... as I often fall asleep with her : )
-Seeing her lift her head up and look around while she lays on her belly on the floor... then watching her peacefully drift into sleep.
-Watching Scott hold her as she looks happy and content in his arms.

And, then there's some of the challenging moments:
-When we get up out of bed in the morning and try to get ready for the day... but she cries whenever she's not being held and walking around, so breakfast or anything else is not an option until she is asleep or willing to lay down on her own.
-When she cries as Scott tries to feed her the bottle... and cries, and cries, and cries, until finally we give up and she breastfeeds just fine.
-We're awake from 3:30am until 6:00am, with periodic spurts of crying, screaming, eating, and finally sleeping...
-When we are driving in the car and she is just screaming, and there is nothing I can do to help her calm down.

Here are a couple of my favorite photos of Kirsten recently:

Thanksgiving

Well I have always enjoyed Thanksgiving - the food, the family, the fun of just relaxing, watching the parade or some football game.  But this year it has even more meaning because I have SO MUCH to be thankful for.  Especially my baby girl!!!  We are so thankful for this new little life that God has given to our family.  I am thankful that I had a healthy, fairly easy pregnancy, and that she arrived safe and sound exactly 4 weeks ago!  

Right now I'm sitting at my mom's house, borrowing her computer, watching my wonderful husband hold Kirsten on his chest.  What a sweet moment.  Meanwhile the TV is playing some movie and the hubub of family is in the air.  I am so thankful for all of these things.  I am thankful for having a place to live, a bed to sleep in, a source of income, our wonderful friends, our funny pets, and so much more.  Most of all, I am thankful for a God who loves me and gives me grace and salvation freely.  Every good and perfect gift comes from God.

Yummy Squash & Carrot Soup

Last night I decided I better use the squash that someone gave me before it went bad. So I searched online for a recipe and then made a few alterations. The result was delish, so here's the recipe if you wanna try it!

1 butternut squash (original recipe said 1/2 a squash - I used the whole thing)
3-4 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 lb. carrots, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed or to taste (I used 4 cloves)
4 cups water (I used 5 cups but it would've been better with just 4)
salt & pepper to taste
1 pinch ground cinnamon
1/4 cup heavy cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut squash in half and scoop out seeds. Place 1-2 tbsp. butter in the seed cavity. Roast in oven for about 1 hour or until squash is soft. Scoop squash out of skin using a large spoon and set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in large saucepan or soup pot over medium heat. Add chopped onion and garlic and cook, stirring until onion is translucent. Pour in water and add squash and carrots. Bring to boil and cook for at least 20 minutes or until carrots are tender.
3. Puree mixture in blender or using an immersion blender. Add boiling water if necessary to thin. Season with salt and pepper and cinnamon. Serve with a swirl of cream if desired. (I actually added the 1/4 cup cream to the soup and stirred before serving).

I also made some basmati rice and ate my soup over the rice. Yummy, and great for a cold fall day!

Empty Me

I have a bunch of jumbled thoughts that I want to try to get down, but I am not sure how coherent they will be. I feel that God has been teaching me so much in the past 2 and 1/2 weeks as a new mother. I always knew things would change once our daughter arrived - I just didn't know how or what would change (other than sleep deprivation... which is definitely the case). Anyway, over the past few weeks I feel that God has been speaking to me through His Word, through a book I'm reading, through Sunday School & Church, through friends, through my husband, and through my beautiful Kirsten. The theme that I am hearing from God is His desire to fulfill my every need - His desire to be everything to me. He desires that I empty myself of all the stuff that I've tried to find fulfillment in and fill myself with Him.

In Sunday School we are studying Ecclesiastes. Not the most exciting book to read, but there is a lot to be learned. Essentially it boils down to this - you can search for fulfillment in all areas of life, but you will not find it except through a relationship with God. And the book I'm reading, I believe it's called "Tender Mercies" (from my dear friend Amy), is all about how God wants us, especially as mothers, to find our strength and our source of everything by being filled up with Him. However, we so often look to other things - our husbands, our children, our work, our friends - to give us a sense of value or importance in this life. We want to be praised for all we do. We want to be recognized and valued as a person. I don't think that's there's anything inherently wrong with that - it's just that we should instead be relying on Christ to give us our value and sense of importance in this world. It is only because of Him that we can even do the things we do every day. And without Him, without His love, we would be nothing. All the things we do do not really matter unless they are done with a heart that is honoring Him. And ultimately, it's more important that we KNOW Christ and have a relationship with Him than doing all the wonderful things we might do in our lives. If we know Him and are filled up by Him, then that will spill over into every other area of our lies, and I believe, those areas will be more blessed because of that.

As I am learning these things and trying to implement this concept of being filled with Jesus, I recognize that there is no magic formula and it doesn't happen overnight. But my prayer is that He would empty me of myself and fill me with Him, as this song states:

Holy Fire burn away,
my desire for anything
that is not of you and is of me,
I want more of you and less of me, yeah.
Empty me,
Empty me, yeah,
Fill, won't you fill me,
with you, with you, yeah.

And the diapers have arrived...

I have finally made my first cloth diaper purchase. I ordered my Fuzzi Bunz from Everyday Diapers on Thursday night. Michele, the owner, called me Friday morning since one thing I ordered she was out of, so we changed my order slightly, and then she shipped them out that same day. I received them today! Talk about great customer service! I got several diapers as well as a couple wet bags to put the diapers in while they are waiting to be washed. I haven't been able to use them with Kirsten yet since they are a tad big. However, we have tons of disposables to use in the meantime. I am definitely looking foward to starting to use these, though, and I'll be sure to report on how it goes! In the meantime, if you are looking into the cloth diapering option, be sure to visit Michele's online store.

Photo Time

Here's some more photos of our beautiful baby!

Kirsten's Birth Story

I wanted to share Kirsten's birth story with anyone who wants to read it. Warning: there are labor details which you may or may not want to read. So it's your choice!

Kirsten Jael's birth story:
I had my midwife appointment on Monday and I was about 2-3 cm dilated. Debbie (my midwife) said she wouldn't be surprised if I didn't make it till next Monday (my due date). Monday night I was waking up almost every hour. No contractions, just couldn't get to sleep and had to keep going to the bathroom. Tuesday morning I decided to stay home from work since I didn't sleep well Monday night. I took a bath since I was all achy from not sleeping. After my bath I was headed upstairs to get changed but I felt a little trickle coming out. I went back to the bathroom and wondered if my water was breaking. Over the next 15-20 minutes I continued to have more trickles and I realized I was definitely NOT peeing. I called Scott and then Debbie. Debbie said to come in to her office, and so Scott drove home from work and we headed to her office (after hurriedly throwing in all the last minute items in case we wound up at the hospital). I was not having any contractions and felt fine. At her office she confirmed that my water had broken and I was now at 3 cm. We discussed the various options but since it was around 10:15am when my water broke, Debbie was suggesting pitocin because she didn't want me to go past 24 hours due to the risk of infection. I REALLY didn't want to do pitocin so as Scott & I got into the car to head to the hospital, I had a bit of a meltdown. We agreed that we would discuss it further when we met Debbie at the hospital. I also called my doula, Janel, to let her know we were on our way.

We got to the hospital at about 12:45pm. At the hospital, we decided not to start pitocin but I did have to have an IV for the antibiotics for group B strep. After this I started to walk around the floor with Scott & Janel. I was having a few contractions but they were not real consistent or strong. Around 4:30, Debbie checked me again and I was still at 3-4cm. We discussed the pitocin again, and although it was not part of my birth plan, Scott & I agreed to it after discussing the pros and cons. The pitocin started around 5:15pm. After this contractions definitely got stronger. I couldn't leave the room anymore due to having external monitoring and the IV pole attached to me. As things progressed, my contractions got stronger and I had to really start to focus. I used music and Scott & Janel did a lot of massage, talking to me, and encouraging me. As it got more intense, I began to moan with each contraction. Somehow this turned out to be my main method of managing the pain, along with breathing. Scott & Janel also helped me to stay relaxed because I often would get my face scrunched up and this would cause me to be more tense. They often told me how great I was doing and that was really helpful. I also tried to just focus on one contraction at a time. I used the birthing ball a lot, as well as the squatting stool, getting on my hands and knees, standing holding Scott's neck, etc. At one point the nurse recommended that I get on my hands & knees with my head down to try and turn the baby since she was still face up. I did this for a while and the next time she checked me, the baby had turned. Yay!

Around midnight I was about 8cm or so, and then about 12:30am I was 8 and 1/2. I was getting really shaky and tired. Not to mention that I ate some pineapple earlier that day, so I was burping the ENTIRE time! Anyway, Debbie came back a little before 1am and after a series of really intense contractions, she checked me again. I was fully dilated! I was so excited, because I had been feeling the pressure to push but I couldn't until I knew I was at 10cm.

I began pushing around 1:00am. It felt good to push and it was different from the contractions. At one point, Debbie told me she felt she needed to do a small episiotomy because I was so tight and the baby's head was not going to be able to come through. She said she knew I would tear and that doing a small cut would probably allow the head to come through ok. I originally did not want an episiotomy but at that point I just wanted to see my baby! I agreed and she did a quick snip which I felt somewhat but it wasn't bad (she did numb it but I still felt it a bit). I kept pushing with Scott, Janel, the nurse, and Debbie all coaching me and telling me when to push and counting for me. I kept my eyes shut the entire time I was pushing as this allowed me to focus. It was intense, but I felt like I was making progress which was helpful. I pushed from 1am until 2:28am, when Kirsten Jael entered this world! It was the most amazing feeling to see her and touch her and hold her. I was totally in awe! They cleaned her up and I was able to breastfeed right away. She latched on quickly and did great! My mom & stepfather joined us in the room after a while to say hi to Kirsten. My mom is extremely excited to be a grandma!

Scott & I are so thankful to God for a healthy, beautiful baby! She is unbelievable and every time I look at her I am just amazed that she was inside of me just a few days ago! She weighed 7 lbs, 12 oz and was 20 and 1/2 inches long. Debbie felt that if I had gone another week or two, I might have ended up with a C-section due to the size of Kirsten's shoulders. So I am so glad that she was a few days early! And I got through it without doing an epidural or pain meds, which was one of the key parts of my birth plan.

We are so thankful for all of the prayers and well-wishes we have received. Kirsten is doing wonderfully and we are so in love with her!!

Introducing Kirsten Jael

We proudly introduce the newest addition to our family: Kirsten Jael! She is a healthy, beautiful baby girl who was born at 2:28am on October 29th! She weighed 7lbs 12 oz and is 20 and 1/2 inches long. She is just perfect, of course. I will post a few photos here and later on I will post more of her birth story.

Baby Nursery

Here's some pics of the baby nursery. It's almost done! I just have a few finishing touches to do. Plus it might be nice to have a dresser at some point. For now the wire shelving cubbies will have to do.

My Big Belly Update

Well I officially have 12 days left until my due date. 12 Days!! TWELVE DAYS!?!?!?! Yes, it is really coming to an end. I am actually hoping for this little girl to arrive a little before my due date. Perhaps next week sometime. But God's in control and He'll choose when we get to meet her. I'd like to get through this weekend because we are having a shower for my friend Sarah, and because Scott's parents will be in Mass this weekend.

Here's a couple photos of me on Sunday at 38 weeks at Scott's parent's house:












Some people say I don't look like I'm ready to have this baby, and others say I look ready to pop. Personally, I have been feeling a bit more tired lately and often have a hard time getting comfortable. I also wake up at least 2 times, but usually 3, every night. This usually involves a trip downstairs to go pee, sometimes heating up my rice pad, and often having a small snack.

Other joys of the final weeks are the emotional ups and downs. I am SO excited to meet our little girl, to hold her, to get to know her, and to find out what it's like to be a mom. At the same time, I am totally freaked out about getting through the labor process, as well as the concept of bringing home a totally dependent, helpless little creature that we have to care for. Thankfully, Scott is such a great support and lets me cry or talk or whatever I need to do. Then he tells me that he knows I can do it (the labor thing) and that I'll be a great mom. Boy I hope he's right! And I do know that no matter what happens, everything will be okay. I know that God will give me the strength I need, and that once our baby is here it will all be worth it!

House Projects and Such

I am sitting here on my couch utterly exhausted. Why, you ask? Well, I am exhausted because I spent most of the day painting the trim in my dining room. AND because I'm almost 38 weeks pregnant and getting tireder by the day... But alas, my dining room can finally go back to actually being a place where people can sit down and eat instead of a room full of furniture, boxes, and a bunch of other stuff shoved in the middle of the room. The nice thing about today was that my mom came over and helped me out a lot - she did all of my dishes, cleaned the windows and door in my kitchen, vacuumed upstairs, folded laundry, and more. Plus Scott's mom came and then all 3 of us were painting for a while. Meanwhile, Scott's and his dad worked outside on the front porch and actually finished it! Now I just want to pick up some pumpkins to decorate the front door. It looks much more inviting now and perhaps we'll even have some trick or treaters... that is if we are home at that time : )

Well anyway, we also had a big work day last Saturday with a bunch of people from our church which was so helpful! We definitely would not have everything done that we have now if those people hadn't come last weekend.

The best part is that the baby nursery is finally coming together! I will post some photos soon, but I feel much better now because we have some shelving up as well as some cubbies for all the clothing and such. Plus the crib is all arranged how I want it, and I have my bookshelf with a little library started! The only thing we have to do now is get the mini co-sleeper attached to our bed sometime in the next few days. That way when we bring the baby home, we won't have to fuss with getting that set up.

Another good thing about today was that my step father was able to turn up the heat on our hot water today, so it actually is hot now instead of lukewarm!!! I am soooo excited because at this very moment I am running my bath so that I can soak and relax! Yay!!!!

Entering the World of Cloth Diapers

At the risk of being looked at as if I have 3 heads, I will share with you my plan for my new baby - cloth diapers! I am actually really excited about it, despite the strange looks and remarks I've received so far. I've been researching, reading, and talking to others who have done it, and it's been a lot of fun.

Now I realize that cloth diapering is not necessarily going to be as "easy" as using disposables. However, I can already see many benefits:

• Saving money. Despite the initial cost of cloth diapers, in the long run it is definitely cheaper than using disposables. With cloth you buy them once, and use them over and over. With disposables you buy them once and then you keep buying them over and over.
• Saving the environment. Disposable diapers take years to break down, and the waste inside of them ends up going into our water sources as well. With cloth, you don't throw them away so there's less waste in the environment. Plus, you dump the waste in the toilet so that it goes to be treated properly and doesn't affect our water sources.
• Fun & cute. The cloth diapers nowadays are much different than years ago. They are fairly simple to use, and they are also very cute - many coming in various colors and prints!

Obviously there are some disadvantages, such as additional laundry. But everyone that I have talked to have said that the pros far outweigh the cons with cloth diapers. So, the next step is just deciding which brand to go with and how many to buy, etc. I'm planning to order from Everyday Diapers, which is run by a stay at home mom in Skowhegan, Maine who I met the other night. She is really nice and very helpful in discussing how cloth diapering works!

Adventures in Pregnancy

I realize it's been a way long time since I have blogged! So I am going to try and catch up on a few things here tonight. I'd like to share a few of the adventures I've had recently related to my pregnancy (or at least I'm blaming it on that).

I recently signed up for a prenatal yoga class because of the recommendation of a high school classmate. Plus I thought it would help me with getting my body prepared for childbirth. So every Monday at 12:10 I head to the YMCA to take my class. On this past Monday, I had met with someone in the morning and then I headed to the Y. I gathered my items to head inside and get changed. I didn't want to take my purse in, but I grabbed my wallet just in case I needed it. Well I got out of my car and it was at that moment that I realized... my KEYS!!! Where are my keys? I searched my bag but to no avail. They were still in my car - I had thrown them in my purse! Oh, the baby is stealing my brain. I don't think I've ever done this before! Thankfully this was before my class, so I was able to use the phone in the Y to call Scott to ask him to come and unlock me. I figured that sometime in the next hour he'd be able to get there and unlock the car. Well, after my class there was no sign of Scott or an unlocked car. I called him again and still couldn't reach him. I then called the church, as well as Shan for moral support. About a half hour went by and I sat there wondering if I would be getting home (or even into my car) in time for my 2:00 phone appointment. I was also starting to think about not being able to reach Scott and how bad it would be if I was actually going into labor or something and he was not reachable! Well, Scott showed up a few minutes later and let me into my car. I was relieved but also frustrated and hungry (hadn't eaten lunch yet)! I had a bit of a meltdown that involved some crying, and then managed to head home and be there in time for my call... By the way, that meltdown was just the first in a series that followed over the next few days.

Well my second adventure was this morning. Scott is away this weekend so I locked the door last night. This morning I was getting ready to go scrapbooking at the church to try and get caught up before the baby arrives. I let Mia out as I was finishing up brushing my teeth, etc. Well she was barking to come inside but I needed to just do a couple more things in the bathroom. When I went into the kitchen, I saw Mia standing there wagging her tail - she managed to push the door open from the outside! Well, I was fine with that, except that by pushing the door open she also managed to let Moxie OUT!!! Not good, especially when I am about 2 minutes from needing to leave my house. So I grabbed the treats and ran outside to find him. I called to him and saw him standing very near the road - but when he saw and heard the box of treats he came bounding towards me, thankfully. I was so glad to have him back and not have to run around the neighborhood to find him. I headed to go back inside and grabbed the door handle, which was not fully closed. It was at that point that I realized the door was still locked - and just as I realized it, the door closed all the way. OH NO!!! I am locked outside of my house with no keys, no phone, a dog, and a husband who is gone for the weekend. AHHHHHH! Baby is stealing my brain again! Before freaking out entirely, I decided to try the kitchen window. I have used this entrance before, but being that it's been so cold lately, I was concerned that the window might be locked. Well, I went over (with Moxie following closely behind watching my every move) to the window and got the screen up, and then I managed to push up the window from the outside. I then proceeded, with my almost 36 week pregnant belly, to climb in through the window! I probably looked really foolish to the cars driving by, but I didn't care. At least I was inside, and could now proceed with the plans for the day.

So, moral of the story - if you want to keep your brain cells, don't get pregnant. I think this will be my method of encouraging the teens not to have sex... Get pregnant and lose your mind!!!

Trip Update #1

Well I am finally in a place where I have some internet access for longer than 5 minutes. So here is my update on our College Trip with the youth group.

Day #1: Leave the church at about 8:30am and head out. Drive to Newport where I begged Scott to stop at Dunkin Donuts because I was already hungry. We went through the drive through and I ordered a bagel with cream cheese on the side and a decaf coffee with sugar (no cream). I tried to tell Scott not to drive away yet so that I could make sure the order was correct, but it was too late. I got 2 donuts instead of my bagel. So, we pulled out into traffic and back into DD where I went inside to get my correct order. I did this, and then went back out to the van, where I realized that they gave me my order with NO knife (how will I spread the cream cheese???) and NO napkin!!! URGH! So I went back inside and got those items and determined that the customer service at Newport Dunkin Donuts was pretty sucky. They did not even apologize for all the things they did wrong! Ok, after that we picked up one of the students at the next exit. Then we drove for a while and had to stop and get gas. After that we stopped to pick up my mini co-sleeper that I bought for $65 (a total steal)!! The guy also had a very good quality car seat which new costs $200, and he sold it to us for $35. So even though we already have a car seat, we decided to get it so that we would have two - one for each vehicle. Plus the fact that it was so cheap for such a good quality...
Anyway, we arrived at Gordon around 1:30pm and got settled there. It was such a beautiful day and it was great to be back at Gordon. After the info session, the teens all got to go to a class. Then after that, we ditched the kids and Scott and I went to a local beach and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Plus it was my b-day so it was nice to just relax a bit. Then Scott and I went to Bertucci's for dinner to celebrate my birthday. YUMMM! Scott and I then went to stay at our friend's Kellie & Justin's in Gloucester. It was so sweet of them to open their home to us and we had a great time hanging out, even though it was for a short time. Kellie gave me some great advice on cloth diapers, which was very helpful!
Day #2: Breakfast at Gordon followed by an info session and then a tour. After that we headed out to Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, MA. It was a small campus and we weren't there for long. Most of the kids decided they didn't really like ENC too much, but it was still good to visit for comparison sake. One bad thing was that we got a parking ticket there because we parked on the street and apparently we weren't supposed to. After this we began driving and that continued for the ENTIRE day! Lots of traffic jams in Hartford, past Hartford, in New York, then in New Jersey, etc. Oh boy. Plus it poured much of the drive which made the driving a bit more challenging. Scott and I took turns but it was still a long drive. We did not get to our hotel until 11:45pm. I was extremely ready for bed and a bit grumpy at that point, so I was thankful to lay down and rest. The girls all slept in one room and the boys were in the next room over.
Day #3: Breakfast at the Comfort Inn and getting ready for the day. Then we headed to Eastern University where we had a great tour with a fun tour guide named Nick. The campus was just beautiful and we had a great day weatherwise. Then we met up with Amy from church for a few minutes. After that we headed to the King of Prussia mall for lunch and shopping. I found a WAAAY cute baby clothing shop called Janie & Jack. If I were rich, I would definitely buy some clothes there!!! After the mall we came back to my sister's apartment where we have been hanging ever since. The kids all played Nintendo wii and the boys played with their new Nerf guns, which was quite loud and annoying. We had pizza for dinner and all chilled out afterwards. Then the boys left to go to where they are staying tonight, and now us girls are just hanging and talking and laughing a lot!

So there you have it. The first 3 days are done, and we have 3 more to go!

Yes, we really are having a baby

As I spent the past few days sorting through MOUNDS of baby clothing, the reality of having a baby became even more real. I looked at all the little onesies, dresses, shoes, and blankets, and I realized that soon my little girl will be needing to wear these things in less than 2 months! It was honestly a little overwhelming as I sat there - mostly because of the shear amount of clothing that I was surrounded by! I determined just to get through the pile so that I could pass on what I didn't want to some friends. Then I decided to wash the rest of it and sort it according to approximate sizes so that when we get a dresser, I can organize it that way. Suffice it to say, we are not in need of any clothes! I feel like even if the baby was born tomorrow, we'd have clothes to last us at least 2 years : ) However, I did give in and buy just one cute outfit that I had been eying at Target. It was on sale today, and there were not many left. So I went ahead and spent the $10. However, I won't be buying anything else! Here's a photo of that cute outfit, and one other dress that I absolutely love that I received at my shower.
In addition to the clothing, we also have received many other items so far. Some of it is new and some is used. Here is the list of what we have so far:

• Crib - thanks Matt & Elisha!!
• Glider rocking chair - thanks Holly & Gary!
• Baby swing - thanks Holly & Gary!
• High chair - thanks Doug & Lori!
• Bounce in Comfort seat - thanks Aunt Brenda & Uncle Norman!
• Car Seat & Stroller set - thanks Mom & Grandma!
• Swing for a tree - thanks Doug & Lori!

Here's an updated photo of me at 31 weeks - not my favorite photo but I'll still post it.

An Update - Finally!!!

Well I will start with an apology first for my lack of updates. Let me just summarize the past few weeks and you'll understand why. On August 20th we flew out to Salt Lake City where we attended my business convention. I could do an entire post about that, which hopefully I will do in a few days. It was a wonderful trip and I am so thankful that we were able to go. We returned on Sunday night. Then I had my next midwife appointment on Monday, tried to get unpacked, and also get back to work with my business. On Tuesday it was back to work, followed by my first baby shower that night. My mom and sister threw me a great shower held at my grandmother's home. It was really nice, and I got some fun gifts. Then on Wednesday I had to work and then had youth group that night. Thursday was another work day, followed by a business event that night, then a phone call after that. On Friday it was all about getting prepared to go camping for the weekend. We left that afternoon for Mt. Blue State Park, where we stayed until Monday. Then it was back to work yesterday, followed by a meeting with someone last night. Today it was working again, home for a phone call, and then back to youth group tonight!

So, that gives you an idea of just what has been going on in my life in the past few weeks. And, it's not slowing down anytime soon. Next Thursday we leave for the youth group college trip and will be returning the following Tuesday. Hopefully after that, things will slow down a bit!!

So out of all the things I could possibly blog about, I wanted to share a big relief which I experienced today. I met with my boss today about various things since we both had been on vacation recently and hadn't talked in a couple weeks. In the midst of the conversation, we ended up talking about my maternity leave as well as my plans to return (or not return) to work. This has been something I've been thinking and praying a lot about, but I hadn't made any decision yet. Part of it depends on where my income is at with my business, and part of it depends on just what Scott and I feel would be best for us and our baby. So anyway, I ended up breaking down and crying while talking to my supervisor (seems to be a frequent occurance lately). But it turned out to be a very good conversation. Basically it sounds like they will be willing to do whatever it takes to keep me there, but they will also understand if I choose not to return. One of my thoughts had been that I might possibly want to go back at less than 20 hours at first (maybe just 10 hours), and my boss said she would be totally fine with that. So it was just a huge relief to get to talk with her about that and find out that there will be many options. She just asked that I let her know if I don't think I'm going to return, which of course I would do.

Well now that it's 11:30pm, I should really be in bed! So good night for now. I will attempt to update on some of the other goings on sometime in the next few days.

My Fat Tummy

Well according to my hubby, I have a fat tummy. At least that's what he said in front of the entire church on Sunday. Thankfully I have a reason for having a fat tummy and I'm not that embarrassed about it. So, here's my latest photo, which compared to just 3 weeks ago is quite astounding! It's starting to look like a basketball, which is what my sister predicted I would look like. Also, the crazy thing is that I only have 12 weeks left!!! I cannot believe it, and I am also a little nervous about not being prepared. But at least Scott and his friend Steve are working on finishing the dining room and living room this Saturday, which will make me feel a lot better and more able to focus on the baby room. Yay!

My Unspectacular Quirks

Okay, so I've been tagged by Amy, and here are the rules:
1. Link back to the person who tagged you
2. Mention the rules on your blog
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they've been tagged.

MY UN-SPECTACULAR QUIRKS:
1. I used to hate the color pink, but I've come around and I'm actually wearing pink today!
2. If I could live anywhere in the world, it would definitely be outside of the U.S. Someplace in Latin America... or the South Pacific... yeah, that would be nice.
3. I love to read, but I don't do it enough. I usually wait until just before I go to bed, and by that time, I'm pretty tired and usually only get through one chapter. Right now I'm reading the Anne of Green Gables series, and I'm on the 3rd book - actually I'm pretty proud of myself for that.
4. I don't mind getting lost if I'm alone. Well, not really getting lost lost, but I don't mind trying out a new road or going a different way. BUT if I am driving a group of people, I don't want to get lost because not everyone enjoys the adventure as much as I do.
5. I used to wonder if I would ever have kids, but now I'm pregnant! And I'm super excited. I wasn't sure if having children was my "thing", but I guess there's no turning back now.
6. I've always wanted to go skydiving, but the older I get, the wimpier I am becoming! I might still give it a try sometime if the opportunity presented itself (like, say, if I did "The Amazing Race" with a friend) but I'm not sure that I'm gonna seek it out. I'll stick to jumping off cliffs and bridges for now...

Ok, so now I have to tag some other people:
1. Naomi
2. Jessica (who never blogs!)
3. Sarah
4. Katie
5. Kellie
6. Jenn

Baby Update

We had another appointment with Debbie on Wednesday, and all is well. I had gained 3 lbs since the last appointment, and she said I was right on track in terms of weight. Yay! I also had the awful glucose test on Tuesday, and the results came back normal. For anyone who hasn't gone through this yet, let me fill you in. You start off by not being able to eat anything before the test, so obviously you have to do it first thing in the morning. Well given complications with our car, this is how Tuesday morning looked. 7am - get up and throw on a few decent clothes. 7:15am - drive my car to the repair shop to leave it there, and ride to Sheila's house with Scott. Borrow Sheila's car and drive back home. 7:45am - shower, get ready. 8:30am - arrive at the lab. Drink a bottle full of this orange drink that takes like Sunkist. Very sicky sweet - not fun on an empty tummy. Although at that point I needed something or else I felt like I would pass out. 8:35am - sit for AN HOUR doing nothing. I read a magazine and tried to ignore the hunger pains. 9:35am - go in and have the nurse shove a needle in my arm (actually, she was quite gentle about it - I just hate getting blood drawn) and draw 2 tubes of blood from me. 9:45am - DUNKIN DONUTS!!! Then go to work.

Ok, anyway, let's just say I'm glad the results were normal. Next time, I might decline the test anyway because I've heard it can give false positives often and it really is more necessary in high-risk pregnancies or if you've gained a lot of weight, etc. Anyway, the only thing that Debbie said from the blood draw was that my iron levels are a little low, so I'm looking to try and increase my iron through my food intake. I may also take an iron supplement if needed.

As for other things, I am looking forward to August, but it's also going to be super-busy. We are planning a day-trip for the youth group next weekend, then we're planning to go camping the following weekend. Then the next week we are on vacation and will be going to Salt Lake City for 4 days, which I am super-excited about! Then the following week my sister will be here to visit, and she and my mom are throwing me a baby shower. Plus, the last weekend of the month we're planning to go camping with my sister and her husband. And they're all going rafting, which I can't do thanks to begin prego. Man, you miss out on so much fun stuff when you're pregnant! But there's lots of other fun stuff that you get to experience, like feeling the baby move around inside. That's pretty cool.

Well here's an updated photo of me at 25 weeks.

Squatting and other fun pregnancy stuff

So I've been doing a lot of reading lately, being that I am now 25 weeks pregnant (!). I have been trying to read up on things I can do to best prepare for childbirth. I'm also deciding what "method" of childbirth I want to use. One that I am leaning towards is called Husband-Coached Childbirth or The Bradley Method. It focuses on a natural birth, and having the husband be the primary coach before and during labor. So in that book, along with a few others that I have, they recommend doing squatting exercises to prepare your body for labor. I've been trying this lately, and let me tell you, it's harder than it looks!!

The idea is to keep your feet flat on the floor, about 12" apart, and then to bend your knees and squat down. They say you can start out just holding the position for a few seconds, but they recommend that you work up to being able to squat for several minutes at a time. Well, let me tell you, the most I've done so far is about 30 seconds. I've been going down lower than the people in this photo, but anyway you do it, it still hurts. So ladies, whether you are preggo or not, I recommend doing this exercise to help tone your legs and butt. It will also stretch you and use muscles you're not used to using.

Hopefully doing some squats tonight will make up for the fact that I had pizza for dinner and I'm now headed to Starbucks to hang with some of the youth group girls...

General Update

Well I realize I've been a slacker and haven't posted an update for over a week. Bad me! Anyway, this past week was quite a whirlwind with lots going on. But it was mostly good. The bad, however, was that we found out my car needs the transmission fixed which is going to be a bunch of money. Thankfully, we will have the cash to cover it, but my plans of having extra in savings before the baby arrives have been set back a bit. We should still have time to replenish, but that just makes other things tighter for a bit.

Anyway, today was a good day as we finally got a lot of the trim up! Yay! I am so excited to see the room coming together. I will post pictures as soon as I can. After a day being on my feet helping Scott and doing dishes and cleaning, I was feeling rather exhausted and decided to lay down for a bit... well, I ended up taking a little 45 minute nap which was just what I needed.

Throughout the day I had some business calls as well, and so my voice is feeling a bit tired. So tonight our friends Steve and Jess suggested going to Gifford's for ice cream, and I was quite excited about that. It was just a nice little treat after a busy day.

Now I am back home and ready to relax and then head to bed.

Baby Update

I am starting to actually feel more pregnant. Part of that is because I'm starting to get big! Here are some photos to prove it - taken at 23 weeks (actually almost 24 weeks).
Another reason I feel more pregnant is because I now feel the baby moving pretty regularly. Sometimes it's just little movements, and other times it's really strong. I've actually seen my belly move a couple times, and Scott even saw it once too. That was so cool!

Things are still going quite well in terms of my pregnancy. I am hoping that I am staying on track weight wise - I haven't really been keeping close track, just when we go to see our midwife.

On another note, we did find a doula. Her name is Janel, and I am excited to have her. She is really nice, and both Scott and I connected with her. We're meeting with her next Wednesday to go over the birth plan, etc. Yay!

As for being prepared in the house, we are not even close! We need to finish the trim in the living room and dining room. Then we can focus on the baby room. I want to do it sooner rather than later, just in case the baby comes early or anything like that. I'd really like to have the crib in the baby room instead of the kitchen (where it is right now)!!

Well I guess that's all for now. There has been lots more happening, but I need to get back to working on other stuff.

Quick Update

Well I'm posting a quick update even though I should be showering and heading out the door. Yesterday was crazy at work. I just simply do not understand the things that the DHHS does and it drives me crazy. I can't give details obviously, but I am very sick about what has happened with one of my cases. I am trying not to think about it, because there is literally nothing I can do. But I just pray that this does not have serious long-term effects on the kids... although I believe it will.

So it was a long day. I was so glad to come home and have Scott already here - he had spent the day with Steve scouting out the campsite they will be using for "Man Camp", and he decided to just stay home once they got here rather than going to the church for one hour. So we then began madly cleaning downstairs. It was SUCH a mess, and although I'm not a total clean freak like a few others I know (Amy... Sarah... : ) I still like to have things in somewhat of a clean and organized fashion. It makes me feel calmer and like I can actually accomplish stuff. So we cleaned and organized and threw stuff away, etc. We also threw dinner on the stove and had it ready right when the doula came to meet with us. So our timing was a little off, but she was fine with us eating in front of her. (I felt bad - but baby needed food!) This time our meeting with the doula went great. Scott liked her, and I did too. She is not as experienced as the other one we talked to, but she is really nice and I think she will fit with what we want. So we haven't made the final decision to use her, but we probably will by Monday.

After that, I knew that I had a lot of other things that I could do, but I just needed to relax. So I played around on the computer a bit and then went and laid on the couch watching "Wife Swap" and "Supernanny" all night. Ah, bliss. It felt good to rest and to just let my brain think about nothing for a while. Of course, I did read a little bit of some pregnancy books, but that was for fun as well. Let's just say I hope we never have to call Supernanny! Scott watched part of it and he was horrified at what he was seeing. This family had 5 kids and they were absolutely crazy. Scott looked at me and said, "One's good, right?"

Well I went to bed at a decent time but somehow slept in later than I planned... I guess my body needed it. I still don't feel like going to work because I have lots of paperwork to do and it's hard to do that when I'm thinking about the horrible situation. But today, I must do it. So, I'm off to hurry around and get my butt in gear. Later today, I hope to have a friend from waaaaaaaaaay back in high school over for dinner with her 2 little kids - yay!

Ups & Downs of Being Pregnant

Well one of the funnest parts of being pregnant is registering! Scott and I went on Friday afternoon to register, since we now know that we are having a girl. We registered at Target and Baby Depot (Burlington Coat Factory). It took us a while, and I am still unsure whether we overdid it or underdid it. I have no idea what to expect. But I tried to take other people's advice as well as follow some of the "suggested items." Anyway, it was a lot of fun, mostly because it makes this whole baby thing so much more real. Even if we don't get anything from our registry, it will be fine, and it was still fun! I need help deciding which pack and play to choose. One is at Target and one is at Baby Depot. They are both very similar, with a few different features. So I though I'd ask for advice as to whether the mobile one or the shaded one would be better. Advice in comments please! Oh, one other thing. I realize that these are pink and brown, which might present an issue if we have another one that's a boy... but I just like it too much and didn't see any other ones that I liked as much.

Now for the downside of being pregnant. I've discovered that going to amusement parks when you are pregnant is not all that fun. Especially for someone who is an adrenaline junkie and loves big scary rides!!! On Saturday, we went to FunTown with the junior high youth group. We had 6 kids plus Scott, myself, and Kevin. It was a cloudy day, but it was still supposed to be around 70 degrees. It definitely was NOT. When we arrived, we found out that Splashtown was closed, which was a bummer, since I figured that I could plan on just hanging out at the waterslides much of the day. Well, we ended up only doing FunTown, so I did a lot of sitting, watching, and taking photos. At every ride there were signs saying "Not recommended for the following conditions... pregnancy." Oh, yeah, that's me. There was even a sign at the carousel, but I took a risk and went on it anyway! See photo for evidence.








So, that's it for now. I am feeling good and having fun. I appreciate all the love and support we have already had from everyone, and I look forward to continuing this journey.

It's a...

Today was the day! We had our "20 week" ultrasound, although I'm officially at 21 weeks. Around 1:30 this afternoon we were at the Maternal Fetal Medicine at EMMC and I got some warm jelly stuff rubbed all over my tummy. Scott sat next to me in the rocking chair - I told him he's getting ready for when the baby comes. So we got to see our little one from just about every angle. We did find out the gender, even though Scott originally didn't want to know. It's a GIRL! Yay ! I was wrong on my gut instinct, but Scott actually thought it was a girl. So it was exciting to finally know. I know other people don't mind waiting until the big day to find out, but I am too impatient! Now I can plan plan plan, and just pray that the technician was correct. She said she can't say 100%, but she hasn't been wrong in a very long time.

Anyway, here are some pics of the little alien girl!
Note: edited to add the photo of the "girl" identification (at Sarah's request).

Squirrel Madness

Today I discovered a very disturbing fact: we not only have ONE red squirrel living in our basement, but FOUR! I saw all four of them outside in our trees by the house. There is one momma and 3 babies. Mia and Moxie have been going CRAZYYYYYYYYYYY today because they have been able to see these lovely little rodents running to and fro between the trees and the house. I managed to get some great photos of them, although I couldn't get all 4 of them at once. There was one point where they were all together on one tree, but I didn't get the camera in time. Anyway, we're going to have to live trap these little buggers since they are probably wreaking havoc in our basement. Kira has also been spending a lot of time downstairs, and I don't want her to get into a fight with a squirrel!

Pregnancy Update

I wanted to post a new photo of me at 20 weeks, so here ya go! We have our ultrasound on Monday and I am SOOOOOOOO excited! I had a dream last night about the ultrasound, and it was really weird. There was one thing after another and they kept putting us off so we couldn't have it done. Plus it was my director at work who was doing the ultrasound. Weird! I am sure it will be different on Monday. So, the verdict is that we are going to find out the gender. I just couldn't bear to wait another 20 weeks!

Everybody's Doing It

I remember when blogging was first catching on. It took me a while to decide to create my own blog, but with a little help from my friends Steve and Peter, I managed to throw this together. Later I helped my friend Amy get her blog started, and now she is a blogging fiend! I love reading her posts. Now, even more friends have joined, like Shan, Sarah, and Jessica (sorry Jess, I can't seem to find the link to your blog). It seems to be a catchy trend, and I think it's so great that we can all stay connected this way even between hundreds or even thousands of miles.

Recently, I noticed that several of my other friends or acquaintances have also joined the blogosphere:

• Michelle, who also has her own online store
• Kellie, a friend from high school and college
• Katie, another friend from high school
• Marnie, another friend from high school

I love reading the posts when I have down time and enjoying the fun stories, etc. So, blog on, friends, blog on.

New Baby Stuff

Well today I had to say goodbye to my supervisor, since her last day is tomorrow, and I'm not there on Fridays. She is such a great supervisor and I have really enjoyed working with her. I hope that we hire someone at least half as good as her.

Anyway, as we were saying goodbye, she gave me a great little baby gift since she's not going to be around when they do a shower for me. So I absolutely love my gift! Here is a photo so that you can all see how cute it is. She got green items since we don't know the gender yet. But it's still super cute, and I especially love the onesies!

Parenting Gone Wrong

What has this world come to, when something like this can happen? I am just sickened by this kind of thing, and it makes me sad to realize that people continue to treat their children like their property instead of like a human being. This story makes me think of the book, "The Child Called It", and I can only imagine what else this poor boy went through before his final "punishment" when lead to his death. Some speculators are relating this to a possible "religious" issue or a "homeschooling" issue. No, I think it is a STUPIDITY issue. A complete lack of humanity on the part of the parents. They should NEVER be allowed to get their other 2 children back, but in this world, I wouldn't be surprised if they did...

Coming Along

Here I am at 18 weeks pregnant. Things are coming along. I am finally showing (a little bit), and I am now needing to wear maternity clothes, since now of my regular clothes are fitting. I went shopping with Sarah, who is about 5 weeks behind me, on Saturday and we scored some great stuff. The thing I am most excited about is the "belly band", which you can put over your regular clothes and hide the fact that you have your pants unbuttoned ; )

Anyway, the best part right now is getting to feel the baby move. I love laying there at night with my hand on my stomach, feeling all the little squirms and kicks. So cool! We will be having our 20 week ultrasound on June 23rd, which is actually my 21st week. So I think we're going to find out whether we are having a boy or a girl, which will be exciting... my guess is a boy.

Well I am off to youth group and hanging out with lots of kids!

Rant

Ok, I have a rant. What is one of the things that bothers me more than anything? When someone (or several people) make statements about things which they know nothing about. It seems to happen a lot online. See, I do some posting online to promote my business, and most of the time things go smoothly. But every once in a while, there is someone who thinks they are an expert but yet have no direct experience with the topic at hand. That has got to be the most annoying thing in the world.

That's about it. I just had to get that out of my system.

One of Those Days

Today I had one of those days. It was not good. It started with me being very emotional and getting into an argument with Scott, and much crying ensued. Then, after I was calm enough to eat breakfast, I felt a little better. I had a business call before going to work and that went well. Well, it went well and then it changed, and so that was another disappointment. At work, I had to talk to a DHHS worker that I have a hard time interacting with - it seems she says and does things to purposefully irritate me, like failing to mention that she changed the meeting time tomorrow. On top of that, my supervisor who I really get along with is leaving and that is a huge bummer. After all of this, I really just wanted to go home, crawl into bed, and go back to sleep. That way, I could just forget that I ever got up today.

Somehow, I managed to put my mind on other things and get some actual work done. It helped to talk with a friend and be able to focus better after that. After work, I came home and wanted to relax for about an hour before I had to go back to Bangor for a meeting. Moxie, however, decided that it would be fun to get wrapped around the tree in the pouring rain, which meant I had to go out and get him. Then he also decided it would be fun to crawl under my car and trample my flowers. URGH! Sometimes dogs can be so stupid.

I managed to lay down for about 20 minutes and then have some dinner. Then I went back to Bangor to meet with 3 classmates and plan our 10 year high school reunion. That was good because we were able to meet pretty quickly. Once home for good, I crashed on the couch and watched stupid TV shows for a while, and also talked with another friend.

One good thing of the day: My company that I work with for my business called today and said that they want to interview me! I was a little shocked, since my past few months have been slow (thanks to all my fatigue and morning sickness). But nonetheless, on Friday I will be interviewed and it will be put on the company training website. What an honor, and a nice pick-me-up after a long day.

Baby Thoughts

The reality that I am having a baby is starting to set in. There is a crib in my dining room, I've started to feel the baby moving (woohoo!), and people are always asking me how I'm feeling. For a while, I didn't really feel pregnant. I knew it in my head, but it just didn't seem real. Now, with the expanding waistline and the fact that I can feel the baby from time to time, things are setting in.

As I have read on my friend Amy's blog lately, it is important that we be honest with ourselves and others on these issues. So I have to say, the whole concept of motherhood is quite scary to me. I have, for a long time, loved working and playing with kids in the 2-4 year old age range. And even now, those ages are much more appealing to me than newborns. While I love newborns and they are so cute, I have never been the person to run over and oooh and ahhh over newborns. So the fact that I am going to have one on my own is a little scary. I know everyone says, "Oh, it'll be different when it's your own," and I know that is true. But the fact is, I will still be dealing with the screaming in the middle of the night, changing diapers, nursing, and needing to watch the baby every waking moment (and probably many sleeping moments as well).

I am thankful that God built in 9 months to prepare us for motherhood. I don't think I could do it if it was just 2 or 3 months. At this point, though, I am almost half-way there - 18 weeks now! So I still have time to adjust to this whole idea - but not that much time. I am thankful that I don't have to be perfect and that God will give us grace as we learn.

A Hiking Adventure

Earlier in the week, I asked Scott if we could go somewhere today. So, we agreed that we would go somewhere, do something fun today. It was supposed to be 75 degrees according to the weather reports earlier in the week, but it turns out it was about 65, if that. We overslept so we had a slow start, but we finally left our house around 10:15 or so. We had to stop in Ellsworth to get some food, since I am completely low on groceries. But finally we were at Acadia National Park in Southwest Harbor area. We decided to climb Beech Mountain, because it looked like a short enough hike. When we got there, we let the dogs out to to go the bathroom and they met another dog, which they were excited about. Right about then, it started to pour. Oh, lovely. So we got into the car and decided to have lunch. It is interesting trying to make PB&J in a car with two dogs and plastic utensils. But finally we were able to eat and then the rain lightened up enough for us to start out on the hike. We gave the dogs some food and water, and got ready to go. Scott let go of Mia's leash to get his backpack ready, so I let go of Moxie so that I could get my sweatshirt on, etc. Well Moxie decided to get a head start on the trail, and Mia took off after him. No amount of whistling, yelling "food" or "treat", or their names caused them to turn around. I headed up the trail after them, and Scott was still at the car. At one point the trail split but I was pretty sure the dogs went up. Finally Mia came back to meet me, but Moxie was still no where to be seen or heard. Scott caught up with me and we went on up the trail. About 10 minutes later, we finally caught up with Moxie. I was relieved because I just keep picturing us going the whole trail and Moxie being way off in the woods somewhere and us not finding him.

Anyway, after that we tried holding their leashes, but Mia was basically pulling me up the slippery rocks. So I decided to let go of her because she is usually really good about coming back to us. Then a little later, Scott decided to try it with Moxie again. The first time, he took a very long time to come back. But then we just kept giving treats every time they came back to us, and by the end of our hike, Moxie was hardly going ahead of us at all. Once we finally reached the top, we met a few other people, but the dogs were good after the initial barking episode. Scott started up the fire tower, and the dogs with him, until the both realized they could look down and go scared. But a second try with some treats allowed them to go up as far as we could (it was closed at the top). It was so funny watching them, because they were still nervous but they did it.

Overall it was a great trip with some pretty views, despite the intermittent rain. After the hike, I convinced Scott (with some arm twisting) to go to Seawall. Seawall is one of my favorite places in the state, but today's stop was a short one. One of my favorite parts was when Moxie slipped and fell right into the ocean! So funny!

On the way home, we stopped at LLBean and Cadillac Mtn Sports, at Scott's request. Then we stopped in Hampden at McLaughlin's for lobster rolls. I was so craving lobster after driving by all the lobster pounds, so I was very happy when we got home and ate our lobster rolls. Yum!

A good day. Very tiring, but good.