It's all starting to come together...

I was greatly honored this Saturday with a baby shower for me and Chum - and it was beautiful!  Everything was lovely. the food delicious, attendees delightful, and gifts overwhelmingly generous.

I literally went home and had to go through (and start to put away) the gifts that were lavished on us by friends and family because I was so overwhelmed by the generosity and quantity of stuff!  We are truly blessed.

While not complete, the nursery is coming together and looking great (if I do say so myself).  It's not done, but here are a couple of pictures...

Her giraffe jammers are camoflague for her crib...so we may not be able to find her when she wears them (which might be every day).

The flowers are hats, onesies, and hand-made tissue paper flowers.  The M&Ms are for me.  In case of emergency.

Everything was so wonderful - thank you all who offered your home, time, talents, gifts, food, and yourselves to honor us.  We love you and feel so special!

32 Weeks?

32 weeks and Chum is supposed to be a jicama (whatever the h that is).

However, I just got back from the doctors.  Good appointment - everything looks fine.  She did measure my belly (as is the norm), look at my chart, and say, "Let me do that again."  Which she did.  Her findings were the same after the second measure.

"You're measuring big.  Looks like you're measuring at about 35 weeks."  I told her both Rob and I were 10-pounders, so I wasn't surprised that Chum is likewise hearty.  We'll go back in a couple of weeks and do a sono to make sure we're still on track and she's okay...but I did feel a little affirmed that she is big, it's not just me.

If she's actually in the 35 week range, that would make her a honeydew.  That's a fruit I can wrap my mind around a heck of a lot more than this jicama stuff.


So, we'll know more soon...but are starting to feel like we're getting close!

Conversations

Well, it's finally here!

One of the reasons I've been blogging MIA for a little while is that I've been working a lot of nights and weekends on our annual production, Conversations!

Conversations is a show that our church puts on each year the week before Easter with a variety of elements, including scenes, music, and real life stories.  It is a really neat production with a nice balance of elements - all free and all pretty well done (if I do say so myself).


If you're available, YOU are welcome to attend Conversations any night this week.  Again, it's all free...Monday through Friday, 7:30pm at Reston Bible Church (45650 Oakbrook Court, Dulles, VA 20166).  There is a children's program for newborns through 5th graders.

Counting Backwards

We're at 31 weeks and counting down (rather than up).  As people ask, "When are you due?" or "How far along are you?" I keep telling them how long I have left, rather than how far I am.  So that might mean something.

This week, Chum is the size of 4 navel oranges, clustered together, I guess.

She's supposed to be around 3.5 lbs this week - but I'm already pressuring her to be advanced.  I keep thinking that she's probably really big and especially gifted at kicking... that she'll be huge and need to come out early.  Honestly, I don't know how much is just overly optimistic thinking (knowing that I'm sure to be done with this whole pregnancy thing by the time she's ready to come out) or if I'm just exceptionally early at putting too much pressure on her!

She'll be great - but I'm already learning that I have to let her grow, develop, and mature at her own pace - and that I can't pressure cook her any faster.  I have no doubt that she'll be teaching me this for the rest of my life.

Looks like we're beginning the first phases of parenthood.  

On the drive to work...

I had a nice morning today - slept in a little, had a nice breakfast, started some laundry, and headed to work.

This is what I saw on the way into work this morning:

Here's a close-up:

Creepy much???

10 to go...

30 weeks down, 10 to go.  We're a cabbage this week, according to a website, a "good sized" cabbage.  Apparently a good sized cabbage that now likes to poke her mom in the ribs - and dance at bedtime.

Drops of Dew

I've been easily discouraged with heightened emotions lately.  Normal - considering my (probably too busy) pace of life and hormonal state.

But I was reminded this morning of the theme throughout Scripture of God giving His people exactly what they need to sustain them, one day at a time.  Like manna.  God literally fed His people bread from the sky with the specific instruction NOT to store any even overnight...because He provided new manna each day.

Like in Psalm 23 - when the Psalmist says "He makes me lie down in green pastures."  Well guess what?  They were essentially a dessert - the green pastures were the little patches of grass that were watered by dew each night - providing just enough sustenance for the sheep to survive the day.

God does the same even now.  He doesn't let us store up encouragement or provisions.  Rather, He provides one day at a time - as a means of showing His faithfulness and protecting us from independence from Him.


This morning, exhausted from the week and pessimistic about the day ahead, God reminded me of this simple truth.  I sat down, not even sure where to start.  Desiring to have Christ speak to me, without the energy to even know how to start.
But then I looked to my right and saw this picture, framed on a shelf in my office.

Just about a year ago, when we were in the middle of building our new church building, we hosted a "Sharpie Party" - in which the congregation was welcome to come to the building, tour, and write on the concrete floors with Sharpies.  The building was then tiled, carpeted, and completed.
This is the note that my sister wrote for me, permanently under the carpet on which I'm sitting, even now.
She said, "I pray that this would always be a place of encouragement, love, comfort, purpose, and HOPE."  My sister prayed, over a year ago, for the very temptation of discouragement I am struggling with today.

Who is to condemn?  Christ Jesus is the one who died - more than that, who was raised - who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?


Christ - the One who died on my behalf, IS (in the present tense) at the right hand of God and IS interceding for me.  Even when I'm emotional or easily bruised, He is interceding on my behalf with love.  Love that I cannot be separated from.  He provides new grace each day.

We are more than conquerers through Him who loved us.

One of those dinners...

So Rob and I both worked all day on Saturday - and literally, I finished work and went up to make dinner as he walked in the door.  I welcomed him home with a, "Can we go grab some quick dinner somewhere?"  He agreed.

Here are some highlights of our dining experience out.  Keep in mind, I was super tired, achy, and needed to eat...

1.  I threw out options of where to go, we couldn't decide and drove around aimlessly for a half hour.
2.  Finally, we came into the vicinity of a restaurant we don't frequent often, but happened to have a gift card.  This particular chain has a restaurant about a half a mile from our house and then one about 8 miles away.  We went to the one 8 miles away.
3.  When we pulled up - the sign was down and the parking lot empty.
4.  I was getting impatient by now.
5.  There is another family chain next door - so we decided to go there...even though neither Rob nor I have a particular affinity for this restaurant, we figured, "Heck, we're here and we're hungry.  This'll work."
6.  Upon looking at the menu, there were basically nothing I could eat without gluten.
7.  After going back and forth with the waitress, I ordered a burger without a bun - and not being able to eat the fries, I had to order a separate side of a baked potato.  They wouldn't cook the burger Medium Rare - just Medium...but food is food.
8.  Food arrived eventually - my plate came with a potato without butter and a plain burger patty.  No bacon, cheese, bbq, or anything else.
9.  Manager came by and asked about our meal.  I politely said, "Actually, I need to send this back.  It was supposed to have toppings, just no bun." He said, "Oh," and took it away.  No apology or other words.  Just "oh."
10.  Manager came back with my food.  6 shreds of cheese (yes, cheese that I paid an extra dollar for).  Still no apology.
11.  By now, I was getting irritable.  Cut into the burger and it was well done.  Not, "Great job, Chef.  Well done!" with high fives.  WELL DONE.  Now faced with the dilemma of whether to send it back AGAIN or suck it up and eat...I ate.  On principle I ate the whole burger.  After all, I paid like $11 for the stupid sub-par burger.
12.  The potato didn't have butter, so I ate a couple of bites and asked for a box (to take it home to my house so I could butter it before enjoying my extra side of baked potato).
13.  Did I mention there was a table of screaming children running back and forth from the front to the back of the restaurant the whole time while the parents sat finishing their pitchers of beer?
14.  We get the check and decide to get the heck out as soon as we could.
15.  Being super pregnant, I went to pee before we could leave.  Rob waited and watched "Little Johnny Son of a B" (the obnoxious kids whose parents were in the back milking their beer) smash buckets of peanuts through the lobby while another kid ran back and forth on the benches designed for patrons to sit on.
16.  Our table didn't even have peanuts on it...like all the other tables!
17.  We finally get the heck out of there and I realize at the first traffic light that I left my potato, wrapped nicely in its box, on our table.

Just one of those nights.  Any of these happenings on their own wouldn't have been a big deal...but altogether - on top of being really tired and hungry - weak sauce.

29 and counting

So we're at 29 weeks and here is a current "bump" picture.  Yup, Chummer feels like a tank.  But she'll be a cute tank.

Also, she's the size of a butternut squash this week - a fruit/vegetable that I can get behind.  Commonly considered a vegetable...it has seeds, so it's really a fruit.

It's been a busy couple of weeks with lots going on... and honestly, I'm exhausted!  But, there is much to share so I'll write more asap!