Baby... GIRL!

I was waiting until I had some photos to post with this. But sadly they are still on the camera. I'm going to have to have a talk with my tech guy about this! :) So without pix...

It's official - we're having a little girl. We just had our ultrasound. What an amazing experience! I couldn't help but tear up a little. This is the first time we get to really see our little one. She's so little and perfect! And she's got her little feet right on my bladder - well she did that morning. It was so comforting to watch Missy, the ultrasound tech check out all her little working parts. It looks like she has all her fingers and toes - and did you know that down syndrome babies usually keep their hands in fists rather than opening and closing those little fingers. Our girl was moving everything! And she checked that all the chambers of her heart were working correctly and that her brain was developing well. Plus they measured her - head, tummy and limbs. So even though we didn't have the special tests, we can be fairly confident that she's normal - well normal until we get a hold of her.

It's so fitting that it was pouring on Wednesday. The first time I felt her move a few weeks ago, it was pouring and thundering in church. I think maybe she can sense that I like storms or that rainy days make me sad and I need a little love. :) Wishful thinking I'm sure.

Crazy Hormones

First a word of warning... Do not drink coffee when you're pregnant unless you want to feel crazy. Last week I had a frappacino from Scooters. It's one of very, very few I've had since I found out I was expecting. I had been craving one for a couple weeks. It tasted wonderful! Well the first half did. As I slowed down, I noticed that I felt weird. I don't usually have a reaction to coffee. Now J gets the jitters almost every time but I only feel slightly more awake. This time I had the jitters, a headache, nausea, and felt like I was going to faint. So I guess I'll be limiting myself to sips of other people's drinks until the baby comes.

Well I think my pregnancy hormones have officially kicked in. I ordered a maternity swimsuit recently. I had looked at suits at Target and even tried some on. I knew the one I ordered wouldn't be cute. I was going for modestly over fashion. Did you know that when you're pregnant you're supposed to show the girls off?? yikes. Almost all the cute suits I found online would not be modest on me. So I ordered a more practical suit. But I was still excited for it to come! It arrived and I opened it and found... GRANNY PANTIES! AAHHH! I promptly burst into tears and refused to even try them on. When I had tried on suits, they were all under the belly bottoms with a long tankini top for full tummy coverage. I've found that the getting "fat" part of pregnancy is really hard for me to take, so the idea of having to wear granny panties put me over the edge. After an hour of me being irrational, and J comforting me and teasing me, I agreed to at least try them on. They weren't as bad as they looked since you can't see the top part. And I think I'll be happy to have them when I'm bigger. So until then I have a more normal pair of bottoms that I'll be wearing with my maternity top.
I hope this type of out burst doesn't happen often. I ended up being weepy the rest of the night. My poor hubby. I can't imagine what I'll feel like when I get to 9 months and feel miserable and more emotional!!

For Our Viewing Pleasure

This is our other recent purchase that I alluded to in my last post. J has been looking at TVs for about the last 5 years. Our current Tube was a Shopko return. J worked in the Shopko merchandising/returns area in college. So our TV doesn't work when it's really humid. BUT now we have this lovely new TV! :)










The very large box it came in...
We tried to put this in the back of our friend's Forerunner but it didn't fit. It has to ride home upright to avoid breaking and problems to the plasma screen. So we ended up using twine from the Sears guy to support it in the back of the truck. And I rode home with my arm out the back window for extra support on the corners and bumps.
Now our evening are mostly filled with J figuring out all the new settings and features. I think I'll like it more when we get past this stage and just watch it like normal. Some days new electronic toys are more hassle than fun. :)

My Favorite Husband & Chef

The cast of characters...
A few weeks ago after church I began craving an Egg McMuffin or a Bagel 'n Egg sandwich from McDonald's. J said 'no' because we will not be indulging my every craving - it's not healthy and I would gain 100 pounds! We even drove past McDonald's and I begged to no avail. Then my genius hubby said he could make one for me at home. I wasn't so sure. I really wanted that fake looking patty of eggs. And I was doubtful J could produce that or anything as good as I imagined it would be at this moment. OOH how wrong I was!!!
This picture is from the second time we've had these sandwiches of egg, bacon, cheese and English muffins. The may not be as structured as McDonald's but I think they're way better tasting! I am so impressed by my hubby and to blessed that he likes to cook and is good at it!




A little extra bacon and some hash browns make it the perfect Sunday lunch. Satisfying and nap inducing.










The other food I've been craving is coleslaw. Not just any coleslaw but only the world's best! I am very picky about this. Coleslaw from the grocery store has this weird tang to it and at restaurants it's just not creamy or homey enough. I finally called my Granny for the perfect recipe. It's from our Mennonite church recipe book and is actually from Dresbach's in GI. Sadly Dresbach's is no more... no more fried chicken and sides in the park. BUT the coleslaw lives on! It's perfect - nice and creamy with just enough vinegar to keep it from getting too creamy. Thanks to Dresbach's, Mennonites and Granny, I can count this craving satisfied!! Who knows what it'll be next.

Seats for our Seats

What do 3 huge boxes on our porch...










Plus a pile of bubble wrap equal...










New Bar Stools!!! Finally! I've been looking for these forever. I knew exactly which ones I wanted. The challenge was finding them in espresso, not black and for a reasonable price. Did you know you can get these exact stools at Pottery Barn for $250? Outrageous!!










Here's the aftermath...










We also got a surge protector for our other new purchase thus the 4th box.

Yearly Flowers

Our 4th Anniversary was July 2nd. Sadly that morning came and we both forgot to say "Happy Anniversary Honey. Love you". Only 4 years in and we're already forgetting. And I forgot to give him a card. This year I've been really bad at the card thing - birthdays, anniversary - you name it and I forgot. So part way through the day J emailed me a reminder. And I asked if we were doing anything and if he remembered our deal. Yes and he did.
About 5 o'clock that afternoon these beautiful flowers showed up at my work. I love getting flowers at work!! I get to show off what a thoughtful hubby I have. I'm sure you're wondering what 'the deal' is. Well my practical husband thinks that flowers are a waste of money. They cost a lot and they die after a few days. I know it's true but I still want flowers. So the deal is that I get flowers once a year for our anniversary. Valentine's Day is ten times more expensive and my birthday is a close second to the anniversary. I'd say it's a good deal! :)
Our joint gift was going out to supper. We went to The Dish. Have you ever been there? The food is very good. But it's a little pricey. I expected a huge plate of food for the price and just got a fancy regular sized meal. So I'd say it's a good place to go for special occasions once in a blue moon. We love trying new food places and revisiting old favorites. Since I've know J, this has become one of my favorite things about going on vacation. He always researches the best places to eat wherever we go!
So it was a happy anniversary and I got flowers! :)

Reality TV - Love & Family

Maybe I watch too much TV. Or maybe I read too much entertainment news online. I completely get drawn into shows about real families or couples or couples falling in love. I think that's girl thing. I didn't watch much of the Newlyweds but was still sad when Nick and Jessica broke up. This was particularly disappointing to me because they claimed to be Christians who believed in the sanctity of marriage. And they believed that marriage was a lifelong commitment. Sadly they did not uphold this pledge. I don't think you can say reality TV broke their marriage but I sure don't think it helped. Marriage has enough challenges without adding the pressure to perform for TV viewers.
Today's latest Christian couple to face marriage failure is John and Kate. This case makes me even more sad because of the kids that are involved. How sad that they believe that divorce is better for them. This also makes me mad because this family in particular spoke often about going to church and how their faith was not highlighted in their show. Every time the rumors come out about a new 'good' couple splitting up, I don't want to believe it's true. But after a few months of rumors, it usually happens. Now I wasn't really surprised that Jon & Kate were having trouble. Anyone could see that on the show. Kate was overbearing and even rude to her husband. And Jon was usually just not engaged in his life as a husband and father. But I am even more shocked at their behavior now! They've barely filed their divorce papers - they're not even divorced yet - and they're hanging out all over the world with their new partners for the whole world to see! Kate's short comings were rather obvious on the show but Jon's issues are coming to light now. He clearly does not want to grow up or be a father all the time. And I wonder if his 22-year-old partying girlfriend is the best influence for his 8 young kids. It's so sad to see not just the failure but total demolition of another Christian family on the TV. No wonder the world says marriage is silly and outdated and unnecessary if this is the example that they see.

On to other TV notes, the Bachelorette was on again this week. I must say there is way less drama and way less to talk about now that Wes is gone. This was the week that the fast forward button was real handy! Why does the world believe it's necessary to sleep with your significant other to know if their marriage material?!? Jillian slept with 2 possibly 3 guys in a week's time and claims to be falling in love with them all. Eww and totally messed up. What I did like this week was seeing the sights in Hawaii. What a beautiful place! I'm going to miss Reid and his awkward silliness. But I'm looking forward to the Guys Tell All show next week. I imagine more Wes related drama is in store. I've decided that my favorite part of this show is the middle weeks - when there are less guys but the physical ickyness hasn't started yet.

On another completely different TV note... We've been watching the Tour de France (say it Fronce cause it's better!). I really love that I've come to enjoy this sport so Justin and I can watch it together. I won't share many details in case you're like us and record it and might be behind a few days. But this year is drama filled! Lance Armstrong is back and making waves. Justin can't stand him and hopes he doesn't win. I can't help but secretly cheer for him sometimes. :) The next couple weeks of the tour are going to be awesome! I recommend watching - it's on Versus. Limited coverage in the mornings and recaps in the evening.

What do you watch on TV? What do you watch with/for your spouse? How do you feel about the example of Christian marriages we see on TV?
Have you seen Fireproof? Now that's a movie that portrays Christian marriage realistically and honorably! I cried at every other scene. Think that has to do with hormones? :) Not the best made movie but definitely the best message I've got from a movie in a long time.