Tour de Nursery

We've enjoyed giving our boy a nice place to come home to. So without further ado, after lots of work and inhaled paint fumes (by Paul not Sarah!), here is the nursery:
(sorry about the small video...this is our first attempt at editing and posting a video online)

for your viewing pleasure

Here are some pictures that we had good intentions of posting but never did.

us and the Golden Gate bridge...during our Thanksgiving trip to California

over Christmas, we had family pictures taken (with the ENTIRE family), here's one of our little family.

for Valentines Day, we made cookies. This is Paul with the lip cookie.

and the finished product...they were yummy

Sarah loves gerber daisies. Paul brought these home the other day.

AND, here are the latest belly shots. This is what Sarah looks like at 30 weeks...

it's getting closer!

surprises and blessings

I've been surprised at a few things during my pregnancy, and I thought I'd share them:
- I think my maternity clothes are so much better than my real clothes. I mean they are cuter and look decent. I may be tired of wearing them since I don't have as many maternity clothes as I do regular clothes, but I still like them.

- I thought I would not like feeling our boy move around inside me, but I really do. I kinda thought it would weird me out. I enjoy his kicks and squirms. Sometimes, it even tickles a little bit. What I don't like is when he has something jammed up under my ribs.

- I didn't think I would be as emotional about having a baby as I am.

- I didn't know how apprehensive I would be about my life changing - especially my relationship with Paul.

- I really love bagels with cream cheese. Used to, it was rarely that I ate a bagel with cream cheese. Now, I eat it every morning for my second breakfast...my first breakfast is an instant breakfast.

- I want to savor this time more than I thought I would.

My two blood sisters and my sister-in-law gave me a baby shower the other weekend in Houston. It was so much fun! We were really blessed with lots of great gifts as well wishes. I got to see some dear friends (both my friends and people who are like second moms to me). I saw my friend, Charissa, which was so fun. Charissa and I knew each other in college and then her husband, John, and I were on staff with InterVarsity together at Texas A&M. She and I go way back, and it was so great to see her...you should check out her blog - the link is on the left.

We also bought our crib last week! It is crazy to look in our son's room and see his little bed. We were going to order it from a store, but then the shipping total came to $150. SO, we decided to look around town to see if there was anything in stock that we liked. We found a crib at a little boutique here in town that we really liked. When we asked about it, we were told that they were discontinuing ordering from the particular company that makes the crib. They gave us 20% off the crib, and we got to take it home that day!

While I was in Houston, my sweet husband painted our boy's room. It looks great. I promise pictures to come soon.

And, here is the random part of this post...did you vote today (if you live in Texas)? I am not going to get into politics right now, but I think I will write something very soon.

It has been a while

So, here's what we've been up to...

- Last weekend we went to Post, TX (about 30 miles south of Lubbock) for Friday night. We stayed at a bed and breakfast there and just relaxed. It was lots of fun to just hang out together.

- We've been doing a lot of cleaning and organizing and picking out things to get ready for the baby. It is amazing at all the stuff that has to happen before we bring our son home. We've been working on things like the what we want the nursery to look like to picking our a childcare place for when I go back to work. We are still working on a pediatrician. I guess it will all get done, but it feels like the list of soooo long.

- I have a wonderful husband who loves me so well. The other morning, I walked into my office and sitting on my desk were three beautiful, red roses. Paul had found a way to "break in" and leave them for...just because.

- This weekend, we are heading to Tulsa, OK for a few days to visit Paul's mom and the rest of his extended family. I am a little nervous...8 hours in the car when you have to go to the bathroom frequently could make for a long trip!

- We had our 25 week check-up this past week. Everything looks great and is progressing normally. I am still feeling good - I have the occasional day or moment when I don't feel great, but for the most part, I'm doing well. Our next appointment is in about two weeks when I have the dreaded glucose tolerance test (I hear it's dreaded anyway). Here's a pic of the belly at 25 weeks...

The GOOD, The BAD, and the BELLY!

Before (1st trimester), I thought to myself... why would anyone have more than one kid after going through THIS. But now I think I can start to see how it happens... I dont really remember the bad times of the first three months. The good times are what stick in your mind, and Im ok with having biased memories. For instance the things I will remember are things like finding out whether it's a boy or girl. Talking about names. Dreaming about what life with our SON will be like. Walking by the future baby's room and seeing the first piece of baby clothes that *I* own hanging on the dresser handle. Staring in awe at the amazing detail and complexity of our childs skeleton on the ultrasound. The funny things my wife has said in the throes of the first trimester (funny now, mind you...not then)... "THIS BABY IS MAKING ME CRAZY!" - said after some otherwise unexplainable emotional event; She calls me on my way home from work, "I need to eat pizza and I need it now... not any pizza, you have to stop and buy Totinos pizza RIGHT NOW".

Those kinds of things. Life is good.

- Paul

And now for the only time a woman will volunteer
to have a picture of her belly put online.

(She told me she put on her Sunday best for you)

BOY oh BOY

We are excited (and a little nervous) to share...
in May, the boys will out number the girls in our house! We both agree that knowing we are having a boy makes everything seem so much more real. Below is a picture of us holding the ultrasound photo. We decided to not find out at the actual appointment. Instead, we had them print the picture with the sex of the baby and put it in an envelope. We went to dinner last night and opened the envelope...it was a lot of fun and really special.

On to picking a name. If you have any suggestions, please pass them on!