It's a...GIRL!

Yes, that's right friends, we're having a girl. Oh wow are we excited. In fact, we already got our first presents from my (Jon) mom and sister. Can I just say how amazed I am at the technology of an ultrasound machine! We were able to see her move around, suck her thumb, play with her ear, and wave at us...okay, she didn't wave at us. I also got to feel her move last night.

After the ultrasound we went to my parents house and Rachel made us a huge dinner...not only that but Karen's parents came in town and surprised us. It was almost like we were having the baby! Anyways, let the fun begin because we will have nothing but the best for daddy's little girl.

Our baby is going to have twin friends!

I am so excited that I could not help but blog about some big news shared with me today. My closest friend at school is pregnant with TWINS!!! It's such a blessing from God for her and her husband. There are now a total of five teachers pregnant at my school and we are enjoying the journey together. All of us are having babies between February and June. It's so fun to share stories and advice with one another. :) My friend's twins are due in June so we are looking forward to having the summer off to enjoy play dates together...if she has time that is!!! Thank you, Jesus, for giving me the blessing of having wonderful friends to enjoy this special time of life with!

Our Teacher Is Having A Baby!

This week, my kindergarten class studied Animal Babies. They learned about animals that live in the grasslands and how their mothers care for them. They also discovered the names baby animals are called. I thought this would be the perfect week to tell my class that I am expecting a baby! On Tuesday, after our shared writing time and having my students compare and contrast animal babies and their mothers with human babies and their mothers, I decided to break the big news to the class! They were so excited! I showed them the months of the year in our calendar area and explained to them that the baby was not going to be born until March. I reassured them that I would be at school until the baby arrived in March and then another teacher would be there to help them finish the school year. I carefully explained that on Tuesday I would be going to the doctor where they would "take a picture of the inside of my stomach" and the doctor would tell me if it was a baby girl or a baby boy. Then, I made pink and blue bears and during math time, I let them vote: "Will it be a baby boy or a baby girl?" They wrote their names on the bears and we created a class graph and read the data to determine the results. Of course, the girls were very excited that "baby girl" won! On Wednesday (after going to the doctor on Tuesday), I plan to share the exciting results with the class and see whose predictions were correct! Check out the pictures from our day on Tuesday...

Fall Fun With Friends

Last week, we enjoyed having our friends over for a cookout. We were so excited that Nathan, Rachel, and Noah got to join us! These friends are all so special to Jon and I. We all met a little over two years ago through a small group at church. We quickly bonded and have become very close friends. We love to get together to celebrate birthdays, special occasions, and just because! When we first met, Tristan and Timothy were the only kids. Now, just two short years later, we have added Nathan, Hannah Claire, Asher, Noah, and our baby to be! It is such a blessing to have Godly friends who we can share "life" with! We love you all so much!

On The Move

Tuesday night, Jon and I were lying in bed reading. As Jon often does, he began to talk to the baby. He said, "kick one time if you are a boy and kick two times if you are a girl." I laughed because I have not felt the baby move at all yet. I've been reading that it may happen soon. Since I will only be 17 weeks on Saturday, I haven't had my hopes up too much about feeling any fluttering or movement. So, I continued reading my magazine and a few minutes later I felt the strangest sensation. It felt like two little kernels of popcorn popped in my abdomen. I was in shock that the baby was moving and I could feel it. I immediately wanted to dismiss it as stomach growling but I have continued to feel that same sensation each night since then if I lie really, really still. Of course, I immediately told Jon who now believes that it is a sign we are having a girl. We will be able to solve that mystery in just 12 short days! We can't wait to share the big news with all of you!

Reconnecting

This fall we have really enjoyed reconnecting with family and friends! We welcomed Jon's twin sister, Rachel, her husband, Nathan, and their sweet baby boy, Noah, back to the states just a few weeks ago. We loved meeting our nephew for the first time. I also enjoyed a girls weekend with friends from college. We were all in teacher education together and still enjoy spending time together laughing, remembering fun times in college, and sharing what's going on in our lives now that we are teaching, married, and having families. Jon and I recently traveled to the college (where we both went to school and met) for Homecoming. We had a great time hanging out with friends over dinner, sharing old memories, and making new ones! Here are some pictures of our sweet times with friends and family!


Enjoying time with nephew, Noah!









Girls Weekend




Homecoming '08

Baby Makes Three

Our family is growing and we thought this was a perfect time to begin our family blog! After three years of marriage, we decided this spring to begin praying that God would bless us with a child. We have seen God carry us though amazing times of blessing in the last three years and there have also been times of testing as we have been away from some of our family, started our ministries in the workplace, and learned to navigate the "newly married" stage of sharing life with another person. I think both of us would agree that waiting on God and trusting Him to bless us with this little miracle we desired was one of the most exciting times in our marriage thus far. In his perfect timing, we were blessed with the answer to our prayers on July 18th when we discovered we were expecting a baby. Now, after almost 16 weeks of pregnancy, we still stand in awe. We cannot wait to begin this journey into parenting. We also are looking forward to the plans He has for using our little family to advance His kingdom. We hope to use this blog as a way for our close friends and family (some of which do not live close by) to stay connected with us, see what's happening in our lives, journey though pregnancy with us, and watch our baby and family grow. We are so thankful for so many of YOU who support us, love us, pray for us, and help us grow. We are blessed to have you alongside us for this new phase of life!