Thanksgiving

I am completely overwhelmed by all that we have to be thankful for this year. One thing in particular stands out (literally), but that one thing has brought on so many others as well.

 It’s hard to feel more loved than when you are pregnant. Mostly, I feel it in the way Kolby looks at me.  Or how he tells me how great of a job I’m doing carrying our son. But I also feel it in the way our family and friends light up at milestones along the way—starting to show, feeling the baby move, finding out the gender, starting to waddle. Lately I’ve felt it in the outpouring of love and generosity at our baby showers.  We are so thankful to have such wonderful friends and family. That is true every year. But this year, it all seems so magnified.

This season in our life is just so sweet. I tell Kolby almost every day how I don’t think I could possibly be any happier than I am right now. 

I absolutely love being pregnant. Carrying Beckett has been the biggest privilege of my life.

As ready as I am to meet our sweet boy, I’m honestly not ready to be done being pregnant. I’m soaking up every minute I have left!

There are a few things I want to document to help me always remember what this experience has been like.

Feeling Beckett move around in my belly has been the most amazing part of this process. He’s my little buddy. I take him everywhere I go. I always know when he’s awake, when he’s asleep, when he has the hiccups, and when he just can’t get comfortable. 

A lot of people ask me if there is anything in particular that he responds to. Yes—two things. He loves Reese’s Pieces and Kolby. He sure takes after his mama! Every now and then he’ll respond to other random stuff, but the only things that make him move around like crazy every.single.time are when I eat a handful of Reese’s or when he hears the sound of his daddy’s voice. Pretty soon after I really started feeling him move, we were at church and he was sound asleep and then Kolby read a passage of scripture over the microphone and Beckett immediately went berserk. It was the first time he recognized and responded to Kolby’s voice. I thought it might have been a fluke, but it has happened literally every single time since then when Kolby speaks loud enough or near enough to my belly to be heard. Kolby has a very distinctive voice, and it makes me so happy to know that Beckett recognizes it and will be comforted by it when he enters this crazy world. 

This guy is a mover and a shaker. He is INCREDIBLY active, and it brings me so much comfort to feel him all the time and never worry that something may not be OK. It’s rare for five minutes to pass without him letting me know that he’s just fine. What a considerate baby! Almost all of his movements can be seen and felt from the outside. Although this has freaked out more than a few people, it has allowed Kolby to be really connected to him. 

Beckett’s absolute favorite thing to do is to try to shove his foot out my side. This kid has some long, strong legs! From about 30 weeks on, the most common movement by far has been for a hard knob to poke out on my right side. And I don’t mean the side of my belly… I mean the side of my body, along my shirt seam. I have no idea how he gets his foot that far over, especially since our doctor always feels his other foot at the top of my belly. Who knows what he’s up to in there! I feel a lot of different movements but I can’t really ever tell what is what (hands, elbows, bum, etc.), except for those hard little feet pressing on my ribs and side. I can’t wait for him to be here and to watch his movements to see what I’ve been feeling this whole time. 

It’s been amazing what smooth sailing this pregnancy has been. We are so thankful. Who would have thought it would be this easy after hearing all of the gloom and doom regarding the implications of my endometriosis/PCOS?!? God has sustained this pregnancy in a mighty way. He has given us such peace, and we will carry it into not only labor & delivery but also into raising this little guy. We know nothing is in our hands and we rejoice in knowing everything is in His.

***

To keep the streak alive, here is our 38 weeks picture:

 Our due date is a week and a half away! There is no way to know when he’ll come, but our doctor guesses that he’ll come around his due date, if not a few days before. We’re ready for him whenever he decides he’s ready for us!

***

A couple other random things I'll add to this scatter-brained post....

I now have an iPhone and as you can imagine, I am loving Instagram. My username is EMILYK20 if you want to follow me; I imagine I’ll be a lot faster at posting pictures of Beckett there than here when he arrives! I’m not on Facebook, so I’m hoping Instagram can serve as an easy way to stay connected with those of you who use it as well.

Congratulations to those of you who bet that I'd weigh more than Kolby by the time the baby comes! It happened. Not sure exactly when, but it happened. I would pretend to be surprised that I somehow have gained nearly 50 pounds during pregnancy, but at Thanksgiving dinner I had firsts, seconds, six rolls and two slices of chocolate pie. And that's despite a seven pound baby sharing space in my belly. But I'm feeling great, still very active, still swimming twice a week, and my doctor still has not said a single word about how much I've gained... so I will continue to enjoy eating for two!

I don't think I've mentioned this on here before, but Kolby and I wrote a children's book for Beckett. It's his story. The title is We've Been Waiting for You. One of Kolby's previous students is illustrating it for us, and she has been passing along sketches these past few weeks. It'll probably be awhile before it's finished and we are able to have it printed and bound, but I am so excited about it!

Living Room/Kitchen Remodel

Well, it's November and our small remodel project that started back in June is now complete.  Needless to say, it took quite awhile to rope our contractor into tying up some loose ends.  But it's finished now and we're really happy with it!

Below are some pictures, although I'll apologize in advance for the poor quality.  My camera is packed in our hospital bag so I took these on my phone.  Pictures of what our living room and kitchen used to look like  can be found here.

Here are some highlights of what we did:
opened up the wall between the living room and kitchen to allow better flow
added a bar
replaced tile in kitchen area with hardwood to match the rest of the house
painted walls an oatmeal color (used to be green or dark taupe)
redecorated living room with a lot of color

We are so pleased with how everything turned out, and it makes our house seem 10x bigger.  It's so nice to have a more open space, especially when we have a lot of people over.  And there is a lot more natural light in the living room now, plus the brighter colors make a huge difference in the way it feels.

View from the front door:

Same view but rotated a little further to the right (we planned to sell our old couch but decided to keep it as extra seating):

Speaking of front doors, we got a new one (and it actually latches!):

 View from the front corner of the living room, looking toward the entryway and kitchen (the openings in the wall on the right are new):

 Dining area, including the new bar:

 Another view:

 Here's the kitchen, with the upper cabinet above the stove removed:

Hooray for a much more functional house!

Beckett's Room

We finally finished the nursery!

I am so happy with how it turned out.  I think it's perfect for our little guy.

 Vintage-style baseball cards above the changing table/dresser:

Photo wall above the bookcase--we'll sub in his newborn pictures:

 His custom closet, thanks to Kolby's dad's mad carpentry skills:

We owe a lot of THANK YOUs for all the help in bringing this room together!
 

-My mom gave up a whole weekend to come help me organize our entire house (literally) to make room for a baby.  By the end of the weekend, all of our closets were totally cleaned out and organized and the guest room was completely empty, giving us a clean slate for the nursery.  I discovered that my love language is when someone pulls into my driveway ready to put in three days of work and pops the hatch of their SUV to reveal cleaning supplies, the entire storage bin aisle at Wal-Mart, and an electronic label-maker.  I seriously have the best mom in the world.  

 

-Kolby’s mom painted our nursery.  She came over one Saturday with a ladder and paint supplies in hand, and she and Kolby knocked it out quick.  It turned out great!

 

-Kolby’s dad deserves a gold star for turning my vision for using wood boards to make white stripes on the accent wall into a reality.  He put so much work into cutting and prepping the boards so they would look and fit just right.  I think they look so great!  He also did some carpentry work in the closet to make the shelving more functional for a baby.  Kolby's sister helped, too.

 

Now I guess we just wait for Beckett to get here and enjoy it!



Fatherhood

***Written on Father's Day 2012***

 

Dear beloved,

You have the best father in the world and you haven’t even met him yet.  I think about that a lot.  If you only knew the love he has for you already!

Your dad is truly one of a kind.  It’ll be awhile before you can understand that, but rest assured that you’ll know it one day, and it will have been true all along.  He is a treasure, and we are both blessed to have him.

We don’t know yet what you will look like, but I hope your dad passes on to you his big green eyes, tall frame, good health, and iron stomach.  And we don’t know yet what your personality will be, but I hope you get his tender heart, gentle disposition, unselfish spirit, and incredible sense of humor.

One thing is for sure—you’ll need to love baseball.  It’s OK if you don’t love it at first.  I didn’t either.  But give it time, and it will grow on you.  The Texas Rangers are our team.  Watching the Rangers play is your dad and I’s special thing.  But he’s waited his whole life to have you to take to games.  Your lifetime will be full of going to Rangers' games, you can rest assured of that.  I pray that you enjoy that time with him as much as he’ll enjoy it with you.

There are two other things your dad will surely teach you to love.  The first is reading.  Your dad is an avid reader, and it’s a big part of what makes him so smart.  His favorite place on earth (other than the Ballpark) is the library.  I have no doubt that he will take you there often.  Every day if you’ll let him.  I pray that you will develop your attention span very early so that you can enjoy hearing your dad read you stories.  He does the best voices, as you’ll soon discover. 

Your dad will also surely teach you to love the mornings.  Your mom is not a morning person.  But boy your dad sure is.  I just know that you two will be morning buddies.  Whether it’s cooking breakfast, taking Maya on a walk, watching cartoons, or discussing the box score from last night’s Rangers game… the mornings will be your special time together.  I pray that you wake up as eager to spend time with him as he’ll be to spend time with you.

There really isn’t much else you need to know about your dad; his actions will tell you everything.  He’s not the closed off type.  He loves you fiercely, and not a day of your life will pass without him making you aware of that. 

You are one lucky kid,

Mom

Update

I figured it was time for an update about some things going on around here!

Our pregnancy is still going great.  One month to go!  I’m still feeling great, and we get more and more excited every day about meeting our baby boy!

Here’s our 34 weeks picture (two weeks ago).  I’m getting a bit huge.

For those of you participating in the wager over whether I’ll surpass Kolby’s weight before giving birth—the verdict is still out but I have to say the scales are tipping (literally) in the direction of YES.  We weighed in for the first time in awhile last night and the scale showed the exact same weight for us both, even out to a decimal place!  Yikes.  But technically I haven't passed his weight, and he said he's going to try to outgain me in these last few weeks (good luck!).  We'll see how that goes...

I thought I’d share about my work arrangement with regard to the baby.  I’m planning to take 11-12 weeks of maternity (FMLA) leave.  Most of it will be unpaid, but can you really put a price on snuggling with a newborn?!? :)  Hopefully I’ll be able to work up until I go into labor (likely working from home quite a bit toward the end) so that I’ll have the full time with Baby B here rather than using up any days before he comes.  Kolby will take 1-2 weeks off.  The timing worked out perfectly because Kolby will only return to work for a very short time before he is off for two weeks for Christmas break.  I know we will be so grateful to have such an extended amount of time home together as a new family!

When I go back to work, I’ll be going back only part time.  I can’t tell you how amazing it is to write that!  This is something we have wanted for our family all along and had been praying would work out.  I’ve worked really hard over the last 3 years to prove that I was worth keeping on part time, but it’s the kind of thing that you don’t know if it’ll work out until you ask and you can’t ask until you’re pregnant.  I am grateful beyond words that my company is accommodating my request.  I’ll work three days a week—Mondays and Wednesdays at the office and Fridays from home.

I am so excited about this schedule for our new family!  I’ll get to be home with Beckett a lot, which makes my heart so happy.  Kolby gets home from work around 4:30pm, so we’ll have a lot of good time all together during the week, plus weekends.  And of course, Kolby has the summers off as well as school holidays.  Sure we’ll have to make (big) adjustments to our finances, but we’re happy to give up a whole lot to avoid either of us working more.   We are so thankful to have a schedule that allows for so much time together!

As far as childcare, a friend from church will be a part-time nanny for Beckett—taking care of him at our house on days that I work.  Kolby’s mom is also going to help us a few days a month.  I’ll be sad to be apart from him, but we’re blessed to get to leave him in such good care!

In other news, we’ve completed all of our baby classes—including four childbirth class sessions, a breastfeeding class, an infant care class, and an infant/child CPR class.  I guess that means we’re as ready as we’ll ever be! :)  After the CPR class we stopped by the labor & delivery ward to see where it was and the lady behind the desk asked if we were checking in.  Ha!

We've done a lot of fun things over the past few weeks, including baby showers, trips to Wimberley and Waco, and dinners with friends and family.  We also hosted our annual pumpkin carving contest, but this year it got too big to host at our house so we moved to the church.  Kolby won the contest with this 10% cute/90% creepy entry:

Right now we’re just doing everything we can to soak up this last bit of time before the baby comes.  Sure, we are BEYOND excited to welcome him into our family, but I’m trying to treasure these last moments before the big change… last moments of being a family of two, having tons of time to spend together as a couple with no real responsibilities... and selfishly, the last moments of being the center of attention.  I know good and well that having a super cute baby in tow when we go visit family and friends means that it won’t be about us anymore :).

A Dozen Years

Our story began a dozen years ago today.  You can read it in a nutshell here.  

I couldn’t have asked for a better story.  It’s ours, and it’s perfect. 

There is a theme of waiting weaved all throughout our story.  When at age 16 you know you’ve found the one you will marry, waiting is just part of the game. Waiting to graduate from high school so people take our relationship seriously.  Waiting to live in the same state again.  Waiting to graduate from college. Waiting for marriage, as God intended.  Waiting, waiting, waiting. 

Just over seven years after our story began, we were wed.  No more saying goodbye at the end of each day.  The wait was over, and we were together.

What is marriage like for us?  In a word, easy.  It’s the easiest thing I’ve ever done in my life.  It just works for us.  Hard to say why exactly, but the Lord has certainly blessed us with a marriage filled with all joy and zero conflict. 

Just a few years after we were married, our familiar waiting theme returned.  We had a deep desire to grow our family, and we were ready.  It didn’t happen right away, and we waited.  Friends and family members got pregnant and had babies, and still we waited.  We felt very at peace with the waiting.  After all, we’d waited seven years to be married and my goodness it was a marriage worth waiting for.  We knew God would bless our waiting once again.

Then we had the privilege of walking through a difficult time together.  What began as waiting had turned into a couple of bad diagnoses, and it was looking like our family wouldn’t expand in the way we thought it would.  But still, we waited, just in case.  And we leaned on each other and grew together and fell even more deeply in love.

Isn’t the Lord’s timing perfect?  It’s not our timing, but it’s somehow even sweeter.

And now, we find ourselves waiting again.  Counting the days until we meet our precious son.

Our story is far from over.  My heart just melts thinking of the life we have ahead of us together.  Husband and wife.  Best friends.  Parents!

Kolby:  Happy anniversary, my dear.  Thank you for loving me well for a dozen years.  What an incredible blessing to get to grow up (literally) with someone loving me as you have—it has shaped who I am.  And now onto the greatest adventure of our lives.  Let the wild rumpus begin!

Six-Word Memoir

Kolby gave his students an assignment last week to write a Six-Word Memoir--a platform for storytelling where the goal is to tell your life story (or at least a big part of it) in only six words.  He offered his as an example:

Hello. I do. It's a boy!

He asked me to come up with one, but I couldn't do it.  Writing and creativity are his strengths, not mine.

Then today I had a conversation with a friend at work where the story behind Beckett came up.  I hadn't realized how long it'd been since I'd shared that story.  The infertility diagnoses.  The 1-2% chance.  The cyst.  Surgery day.  The nurse walking in with a positive pregnancy test.  The worry at the beginning, when it was unfathomable how my body could sustain a pregnancy.  The miracle of life.

The conversation reminded me what a truly amazing story it is.  It's a story Beckett will have for life.  It's a story of God's power and His faithfulness, something we will always proclaim.

On my drive home I finally came up with my memoir:

We prayed for healing. God answered.

Infertility

As I've mentioned before, starting our family didn't exactly go as planned.  But I have to say, I wouldn't trade our experience.

I feel that I ought to share more of our story on here, since infertility was and will likely continue to be a part of our life and that's what this blog is---a snapshot of our life together.  But infertility talk is by nature very personal and the internet is by nature a completely public venue.  Kolby and I ultimately decided that this blog is not a good setting to share the details of our journey.  However, I have a deep desire to share our experience, mainly because I know there are others who may be on a similar journey (or know someone who is).  Infertility is a lonely and disheartening thing, and I want to offer encouragement and hope.

So, we came up with an alternative.  I wrote a [long] document entitled, "Our Infertility Journey."  Creative title, I know :).  It includes three sections.  One is an infertility Q&A, where I cover questions like,
Can you give a snapshot of your fertility treatment timeline?
Are you glad you started seeing a fertility specialist rather than just your OB/GYN?
How did you decide who to tell that you were dealing with infertility?
What are some things that people said to you that made you feel better? Did anyone ever say anything that made you feel worse? and several others.
Then there is an encouragement section.  By far the greatest comfort and encouragement came from knowing that God was in control, that He cares for us, and that His ways are far greater than our own. I was often reminded of these truths through worship songs at church or by certain scripture passages. I kept a journal of those reminders, and included them in this section.  Then finally I wrote a short section about the helpful ways our family and friends supported us, hoping that it may be a useful resource for anyone with a loved one dealing with infertility.

Email me at emilyandkolbyblog@gmail.com, and I'll send you the document.  I know that's not as easy as just reading it here, but this is the best we could do!  As our family and friends, you may want to just get a snapshot of this part of our life or maybe you or someone you know is going through something similar.  Whatever the case, I won't make any assumptions and would just love to pass on our story to you because it's a great story of God's incredible power and work in our lives!

So please don't be shy---when you read the document you'll see that I clearly was not :).  

Ramblings

Here are a few things going on around here these days.

I’m anxiously waiting for an iPhone 5.  I’m sad to say that I think it’s finally time to trade in my Jitterbug knock off.  Not familiar with the Jitterbug?  It’s a cell phone for senior citizens.  It has no extra features, a loud (and hearing-aid compatible) speaker, big buttons, an easy to navigate menu, and an insanely long battery life.  It was basically everything I was looking for in a phone :).  It’s treated me well, despite the fact that a friend’s puppy chewed off the battery cover panel a couple years ago and put bite marks all over it, and it *may* have recently earned a few strips of tape here and there to keep it limping along.  But with a baby on the way, I just can’t resist the chance to upgrade to a phone with a good camera and video capability.  So I will be saying farewell to speed dial and T9 predictive text, but hello to the world of Instagram and FaceTime (or as my parents both say, FaceTalk).

Switching gears, we’re now accepting bets for who will weigh more—Kolby or me—by the time the baby comes.  If I’m turning into a whale, I might as well make it interesting.  Feel free to get in on the action if you want!  Here are some clues to help you choose your side:

*Kolby may be lean, but he’s tall.  6’3” to be exact.  I am 5’6”.

*At 28 (of 40) weeks, I had gained 30ish pounds and was 15 pounds shy of Kolby’s weight.

*The recommended weight gain is 25-35 pounds throughout pregnancy.

*The average weight gain in the third trimester is ½-2 pounds per week.

May the best team win!

In other news, our nursery is coming along great!  It makes me smile every time I walk by (which is a lot).  Here’s a sneak preview:

And here’s a peek at our cloth diaper stash:

Yes, we’re planning to cloth diaper most of the time.  You may think we’re crazy.  What an inconvenience!   What a hassle!  What about the poo?!?!  Trust me—we’re thinking all those same things, too!  :)  But we’re giving it a shot.  I may write more about it later, but it boils down to the fact that we like the idea of saving thousands of dollars.  We also think they are super cute and we like the thought of our baby’s bum in soft cotton.  But we may totally hate using them… stay tuned, I guess!

To keep the belly pic streak alive, here’s me (us) at 31 weeks:

Everything is going so great.  I feel wonderful—not a single complaint!  We really feel the Lord’s peace during this pregnancy.  Absolutely everything has been perfectly normal.  It’s funny… every appointment starts with our doctor asking me what questions I have for her, which I always just meet with a shrug.  For a type-A personality like me, that is beyond strange and unexpected.  I can feel that everything is going well and just can never think of anything I care to ask.  Anyway, we are so thankful for a smooth and healthy pregnancy and for a baby who is crazy active, always letting us know that he’s doing just fine!

More updates coming soon.  We’ve been crazy busy lately trying to tackle a very long list of home projects and to get the nursery ready in time for our first shower this weekend.  Our due date is now just 8 weeks away!

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!

Impossible/Possible

Every time I look in a mirror I can't help but think,

two broken ovaries, rampant endometriosis, and a uterus that was deemed an inhospitable environment,

yet Baby Beckett is here and making himself right at home.

"For all things are possible with God." -Mark 10:27b

24 Weeks

We’ve hit the six-month mark!  I can’t quite believe it.

I’m feeling wonderful!  This second trimester has treated me very well.  After being so sick in the first, it’s made it even sweeter to feel so good in the second.  It’s just a great stage right now.  The baby is moving around like crazy which is inexplicably awesome to feel, and my baby bump is definitely obvious but not heavy or uncomfortable yet.  I’m seriously soaking up every single day of this. 

I stepped on the scale the other day and it wasn’t pretty.  I was at 22 weeks and had somehow already gained over 20 pounds.  Oops.  That seemed like a lot but I wasn’t sure, so I did some recon.  Here is the chart that gave me the not so polite answer of “you’ve gained 9 more pounds than you should have.”  The lines show the upper and lower bound of recommended weight gain for someone with my starting weight and height.  The green dot is me.

I blame ice cream.

Seemingly contrary to the point above, a couple of months ago I joined 24 Hour Fitness.  Talk about 5 words I NEVER thought would come out of my mouth.  I’m not exactly a gym rat.  Our evening walks with Maya had always been about the extent of my physical activity.  But I want to have a healthy pregnancy, and the oppressive Texas heat was taking away my chance to even keep up the neighborhood walks.  So I took up swimming.  Best decision ever.  I love it, and our fertility specialist had recommended it as the absolute best workout for a pregnant woman.  It’s safe and it’s aerobic while also working out every muscle in the body.  I swim 3x a week at the gym’s lap pool, and I’ve honestly kept to it.  I’m really proud of myself.  It may not sound like much, but I haven’t had a regular workout routine in….. well, I guess never. 

So when I realized I had packed on so many pounds—which was honestly a surprise—I asked Kolby if he thought there is ANY way that swimming was behind some of the weight gain.  And like a good husband, he said “sure, because you’ve added muscle and muscle weighs more than fat.”  I’m happy to let that be the final word on the matter because I like his answer :)

Here is my 24 weeks (6 months) picture:

Planning for the baby’s room is coming right along.  I am a VERY dangerous shopper right now  :)  Boxes keep being delivered to our house and Kolby is always perplexed when I can’t even think what each one might be.  I think that means I’m ordering too much.  We’re using touches of gray/white chevron (apparently ‘chevron’ is the new name for zig-zag?!?) and if you go to Etsy.com and type in gray chevron… you can see where the danger comes from.  Everything is so cute!  I’ve already ordered pillow covers, a baby blanket, and a changing pad cover.  I’m hoping I can stop there.  Kolby can’t really complain though because he’s also purchased a baseball lamp, baseball nightlight, baseball cards, and a Beckett baseball card magazine (yes, the name of the magazine is Beckett, but I promise that's not how we came up with our baby's name!).

My mom is coming in town for a long weekend to help me get our closets and garage better organized so that we’ll have more room.  Then we’ll be ready to paint the baby’s room and then assemble furniture and really start pulling it all together!