Hello Third Trimester!

Well, we’re in the home stretch!

 We’re now in the third trimester and will be meeting this little guy in less than three months!!  I just can’t believe it!

Kolby and I took a road trip last Thursday afternoon to Waco to visit my dad at his Baylor office and to visit my mom at the pregnancy center where she volunteers.  [We also had lunch at Schmaltz’s. Dear Blue Plate Special, you complete me.]  While at the pregnancy center, we had the privilege of having a free sonogram because it was the end of the day and there weren’t any clients and these sweet women had been keeping up with our infertility journey through my mom and were excited for us.  It was such a joy to see our little guy!!   We likely won’t have any more sonograms and thus wouldn’t have seen him again until his birthday!

My mom was there and my dad came too, so we all got to enjoy seeing baby Beckett—even in 3D at times!  We learned three things.  1. He is definitely a boy!  I had some doubts from our 20 weeks sonogram, but those were put to rest in a big way after our previously shy guy flashed us in 3D.  In case I ever doubt again, I have a very conclusive picture I can refer to :).  2. He has the most beautiful lips!  Actually his whole little face is absolutely beautiful, but those sweet puckered lips really stand out.  3. He has chubby cheeks already!  At only 28 weeks along, babies are super skinny.  They spend the last trimester pretty much doing nothing but gaining weight.  But somehow our little guy already has some pudge on his face, which comes as no surprise to anyone who knew me as a baby.  Girl had some jowls.  All in all, the sonogram basically confirmed that Beckett will no doubt be the cutest baby ever born in the history of the world.  But I guess we already knew that!

In other baby news, we started our birth class last week.  We started on the nursery this weekend.  I’m so excited to see how it will turn out!  It just seems so crazy that it’s already time for stuff like this!  It seems like it’s taken FOREVER to get here, but I’m hoping that these last few months will go by fast with all of the business and holidays (and Kolby would add baseball playoffs).

Outside of baby stuff, we're staying really busy between all of our commitments--birth classes, a photography class I'm taking, lots of Rangers games, leading/hosting a Bible study group, etc.  Plus Kolby started a new school year.  All good things... but I certainly look forward to the weekends where we can catch our breath!

I need to post some pictures of our minor living room/kitchen remodel, but there are a few loose ends of that project that still need to be tied up.  Hopefully those will be wrapped up soon.  Then before too much longer I'll hopefully have some pictures of our nursery to share!

Kolby's Sermons Online

As you know, Kolby has the privilege of preaching at our church on occasion, when our pastor is out of town or just needs an occasional reprieve from the pulpit.  Kolby has a tremendous talent for teaching, and teaching from God's Word is no exception.

It's an honor to witness him prepare a lesson and then deliver it to our congregation in a way that really impacts lives.  I know most of you aren't able to be there (but thanks to the many of you who have come!), so I found a way to post Kolby's sermons online.  Thank you, technology.

Click here or go to www.emilyandkolby.podbean.com.  The sermons are in order starting with the most recent, and below the scripture passage for each one you should see the words "Listen Now" with a play button underneath.

There is a sermon from a series our church did during Lent on the topic of healing.  Kolby preached on the role of faith in healing.  If you are praying that God will heal you or someone you know, I think you'll really benefit from Kolby's message.  This sermon (and whole sermon series) came at a time when Kolby and I--along with our family and friends--were praying for healing for my body.  A few weeks later, we found out that despite my litany of infertility issues we were miraculously pregnant.  God is healer, indeed!

The next sermon is based on a text our pastor assigned to Kolby--the story of the newly resurrected Jesus appearing to two men on the road between Jerusalem and Emmaus.

Then there is a sermon from our church's summer sermon series on the fruit of the spirit.  Kolby preached on joy, and it just so happened to be Father's Day.  Enough said.

Kolby preached again during the fruit of the spirit series, this time on faithfulness.  He gives an interesting take on this word that has become a bit cliche--faithfulness to others is believing in them even after they've let you down time and time again.

I encourage you all to have a listen!

Summer 2012

Kolby and I have had a wonderful summer this year!  Here is a snapshot of some of our travels.

Late June—Kolby met up with his grad school buddies for a reunion.  Most of them live in the Pacific Northwest, so Kolby flew into Portland, OR and they spent a week at a house along the coast.

Mid July—We spent a week with my family at Lake Hamilton near Hot Spring, AR.  Lots of fun, sun, and games.  And plenty of relaxing.  This picture about sums it up:

Early August—We took a short road trip to Wimberley to spend a long weekend at Kolby’s parents’ ranch.  We relaxed, floated the river, and enjoyed great food.  Maya tried to soak up her last months of being an only child:

Mid August—Kolby and I flew to North Carolina for a beach vacation to celebrate our upcoming 5^th anniversary.  We also dubbed it our Freedom Tour 2012.  We will welcome our big life change with open arms, but it sure was nice to have one last getaway just the two of us!

And boy did we enjoy it.

Our typical daily schedule:

9:30am—wake up

10am—eat breakfast (cereal plus cinnamon rolls, pancakes, eggs, or biscuits)

10:30am—Emily takes a nap, Kolby reads

Noon—pack a picnic lunch and beach bag, slather on sunscreen

12:30-3pm—chill at the beach (read, play paddle ball together, have lunch, wade into the water)

3:30pm—shower

4pm—relax at the beautiful house (read, watch the Olympics, talk about Beckett)

6pm—dinner (cook something easy, pick up pizza, go out)

8pm—curl up on the couch together and watch a rented movie

11pm—go to bed, get 10+ hours of sleep!

Baby's first trip to the beach!

  Favorite foods (K: hot dogs, E: grilled cheese)

Also this summer I had the chance to spend a couple of weekends with my best high school and college friends.  We spent time with Kolby’s grandparents.  Plus we attended more than a few Rangers games.

This picture cracks me up.  Kolby picked me up for the game straight from work and was in charge of bringing me a change of clothes.  I have outgrown my Rangers t-shirt so I asked him to bring me one of his to wear, since a size large is a pretty decent fit these days.  He shows up with a free XL t-shirt he'd gotten at one of the games, a pair of long shorts, shoes, and a jug of water so that I'd stay hydrated.  I told him that if his goal was to take away all of my self-esteem, then mission accomplished :).   

Hats off to a great summer!  But for the first time in my life, I'm looking forward to the cooler weather since it means we're getting closer to the arrival of our little guy.  Our due date is exactly three months away!