Better late than never! Right?

So, I know that I have not posted in ahem...a longggggggggg time.  I have plenty of GREAT excuses...such as:


-I've been in my third trimester and exhausted
-When I do have free time, it has been used to catch up on house work and time w/the hubby.
-We've been through a lot lately, with losing family members to Jesus


These are just a few of the legit excuses I have :) Okay, so onto catching up.....


haha, jk! The twins I take care of just woke up, so I am going to go hang out with them until the next nap time and I WILL start to post new ones!!! Stay tuned!!!

Hurdles don't have to hinder.

"We're going to have to see you back in a week..."


Those are not exactly the words you wish to hear at your OB office.  Okay, let's back track a little bit.  When I first found out that I was pregnant, I just had to get to Barnes and Noble to pick up some books on pregnancy.  As I would read through the books, I usually kind of skipped over the paragraphs on problems you may face during pregnancy....why? Well, because everything is going to go just the way I always imagined it to....right??? The first 5 months of all my OB visits went fairly well, you know, minus waiting for 2 hours to be seen by the physician or trying to contain my full bladder while waiting to be seen, or getting on the scale at every visit.  However, besides those very minor  details, things were off to a great start!  At my 24 weeks visit, I sat down next to the nurse to gather any important information that may have occurred over the past month and then she proceeded to take my blood pressure.  Well, you might say that it was high a wee bit more than it should have been.  That was my first little hurdle.  They acted like it was no biggie, just they wanted to do it again....and again...and then they just confirmed that yes, it was a bit above where it needed to be.  One time high blood pressure, no big deal, right?  Then the physician discussed with me that she would like to see me in one week to follow up my blood pressure and just rule out little scary things like pre-eclampsia.  Pre-what??? I went to go schedule my follow up appointment.  Okay, enough was enough with waiting 2 hrs to seen for a blood pressure follow up appointment...as if the waiting itself didn't cause it to rise....it's time to go to a different office!  Some very dear friends recommended another one for me to go to that had 5 midwives.  The midwives at this office still deliver the babies in the hospital, they just try to keep things going as natural as possible as long as possible.  By the time I got into the new office, they went ahead and scheduled me two appointments with them.  One for being a new patient, and one to go ahead and do the glucose test out of the way.  I got to drink the very sugary koolaid tasting drink and wait for my results....oh results...Well, I failed the 1 hr test so they had me come back the next day for the 3 hr test....which......I failed as well.  Meaning of all this:  I have Gestational Diabetes.  Gestational diabetes is specifically "Diabetes during pregnancy." 


What this means:
- Very strict diet, counting carbs/proteins, etc...
- Continual exercise
- Testing my blood sugars 4x a day aka finger prickin'
- Praying like crazy for God to keep our little guy healthy, and to develop those lungs fully.


Along with the Gestational Diabetes, I found out I have Hypertension as well aka high blood pressure.  So basically I need to keep the stress levels down, try really really hard to not worry and trust God with our little guy's life..and try really hard not to think about all the "what-if's" that can happen during delivery.  There are so many "possible" risks now that I am a high risk pregnancy, but dwelling on the bad never got me anywhere.... 


Where does this leave us? I cordially and formally invite you to join us in praying for our little baby and us as we enter into this season of unknown and unfamiliar.  I know that God is in control and He has numbered all of our days and He is totally trustworthy.  I know that He is the Sustainer of life.  This is by no means easy, but easy was never promised.  Just so thankful that I have the Lord, my hubby, family and friends.

You have blessed my life!

Your life is such an inspiration (to me!)

Gail, I couldn't be more blessed to have a woman like you in my life.  Sometimes I selfishly  think that God picked you to marry my brother just so I could have you as a friend and sister.  Today, on your birthday, I am reflecting on how in the 5 years I've known you, my life has become so much more blessed.  Not just my life though, I know your family loves you so much and each of your sisters adore you, too.  You are just one of those people who emulate the love of Jesus in such a practical and real way.  I value your wisdom that you have given me on God, life, marriage, and family.  I respect the way you live out the calling God has on your life.  I've never been to a home with so much creativity.  You put so much effort into making your house homely.  Every holiday I've ever spent with you has been so special because of the way you decorate and plan...I LOVE it!  See!!

                       4th of July!

                           Christmas!

                      Christmas morning!

                                Dad's birthday!




I wish I could be there today to celebrate your birthday...being 3000 miles away can really stink sometimes.  Thank you for living your life for the Lord and being such a great example to me as a woman, wife, and mommy... I love you, Gaily!!

23 Weeks

I can't believe I'm more than half way there...

                                                    "Rock the Bump"


I must say, the 2nd trimester is so much more enjoyable than the 1st.


So, here are some highlights thus far:


Baby - He is about a foot long now and weighs almost a pound.  He is developing his hearing quite a bit these days.  Iain and I both enjoy taking time talking, singing, and reading Scripture to him in the evenings since he can hear us.  He is definitely moving around and working on kicks and punches.


Changes for me - I am completely in maternity clothes now, minus some occasional shirts or dresses that fit.  Maternity pants are actually quite comfortable because they have all the elasticity.  


Sleep - Well, honestly, since I have been pregnant, my sleep has gotten less and less.  I visit the ladies room a few times a night, every night.  I sleep with lots of pillows and a humidifier.  Little guy is usually active when I first lay down, which I actually don't mind a bit.  I am so busy during the day that I enjoy getting to feel him move about.  The only thing that is most difficult is having our bedroom on the 2nd floor and our only bathroom on the 1st floor....fun times ;-)


What I enjoy - Milk!!! I never really enjoyed a plain glass of milk before I was pregnant...now, I could have a glass with every meal.  Cheese :) Every kind of it, too.  Cherries, Mangos, and grapes have been my favorite fruit.  Salad has been the only veggies I've liked (that part is a bummer).  MEXICAN FOOD!! Yum!! I have liked it from the very beginning and the only thing that stinks is not having a "Chuy's" in Virginia.


The not so fun - headaches, heartburn, and lack of sleep.


Sweet Moments - Iain finally got to feel our baby boy kick last week!! Honestly, I just love feeling him move, it's the best!!


Nesting - It's slowly starting to kick in...We found a wonderful deal on Craigslist for a crib! Our friend, Matt, was so super awesome to help Iain go pick it up and use their SUV.  Now, just to put it together! We have picked out a theme for his room.....It's called "Laguna" and it has turtles, ducks, and frogs on it.  We just registered last night....YAY!! Target and Babies R Us were the stores of choice.  I really enjoyed researching all the different brands to use.


I am currently hanging out with my favorite twins: Jayden and Judah, the sweet little baby boys I have the delight of taking care of.  They are taking their afternoon nap and then we will have some more fun times playing when they wake up!


Have a wonderful Saturday!!

Lady of Legacy.

                                          Oma at our wedding.


Losing someone you love is never easy...


...but knowing that they are with the Lord and in no more pain is encouraging.  "Oma" is Iain's grandmother from Germany and what a feisty firecracker she was.  I first met her at Iain's brother's wedding 3 years ago.  Iain brought me as a "friend." Oma was much smarter than that, she eyed me from a distance and made sure to inquire about me and find out if I was suitable to be a "friend" to Iain.  


A few weeks ago, we got a phone call from my father-in-law letting us know that Oma probably didn't have long left and that she was in the hospital and it would be a good idea for us to come see her.  We quickly packed up our stuff and rushed to Virginia Beach.  It's not easy seeing someone you love go from feisty to quiet.  We made a few trips down to Virginia Beach to spend as much time with her as we could.  On Saturday, July 2, we got the phone call that she had just passed away.  We packed our stuff and made it to Virginia Beach around midnight. These past days have not been easy as we prepared the funeral and handled details concerning her passing.  


The memorial service for Oma was yesterday and it was absolutely beautiful.  Each grandkid (Iain is 1 of 5) shared something special about her.  Oma was in several work camps in Germany and was a teletypist in World War II.  She experienced bombs going off  close by her, saw people killed, and became a POW (prisoner of war) by the Americans.  The U.S. offered her the chance to come to America on a ship and start over, so she did.  She started from scratch and slowly learned English.  She got married and the legacy extended through the birth of their daughter, Arlene, Iain's mom.  Each grandkid had the privilege of growing up near by to her and learned so much from the life Oma lived.  I am so glad that I had the opportunity to know this amazing woman and I will be proud to share her story to my own children about their great-grandmother. 


We will miss you, Oma.

Once upon a time...

In a far away land, called Lynchburg, there lived this couple....


Ok, Ok, just kidding.  Starting a blog is so not easy.  Iain and I both like writing and we figured it was probably a good time to start blogging, seeing as how our world is about to change alot.  We will be celebrating our 1st wedding anniversary this August 7.  Around the time of November 13, we will be expecting our little baby boy to arrive.  We just found out yesterday that we are having a boy and we couldn't be more excited!  

Isn't he adorable?!?! We think so :) While I was laying on the sonogram table, a million things were going through my mind.  We both have thought from the beginning that our first child would be a boy, but having it confirmed is a whole other thing.  Seeing him move on the screen and hearing his heart beat, WOW. To realize, there really is a living little person inside of me! I mean, how crazy and awesome is that? God is so creative.


Now that we know we are having a boy (for sure), we can really start figuring things out....like picking out his name and making the nursery.  There are so many cute nursery options, it's going to be so hard to choose.  I love that Iain is so involved with this and I don't have to do it by myself :)


I am so blessed. so so so blessed.