Baby Update

Well, we're now at twenty-one weeks, about half way along. To "show" or not to "show" seems to be the question. I feel like I'm showing, but for other folks it seems to depend on what I'm wearing. I also have a new trick - spilling on myself! I was making zucchini brownies the other night, and looked down to see my baby bump liberally sprinkled with flour! Since then, I've become a very conscientious apron wearer. ;-)

And now for the really exciting stuff: we've had our first sonogram! Words cannot describe the wonder and delight of first seeing that new little person! I remember seeing Matthew's ultrasound about thirteen years ago, but these pictures were much clearer than what I remembered. Head, feet, spine, toes and fingers were all quite obvious. We even got to see a little thumb pop into that tiny mouth!

And here is our first picture of our little girl! Yes, you read that right, GIRL. Our report says "Inconclusive", but the nurse said she was about 90% sure we were looking at a little girlie. For some reason I can't get the above paragraph to do any color but blue at the moment (Honestly, I wasn't trying to trick you. It does this to me sometimes. Urgg!), but right now, we're thinking pink!

Six Months Together

Six months ago today . . .



He cried and I beamed. We prayed together. We entered into a sacred covenant. We shared our first kiss. Moments made more precious because of the waiting and wondering, the tears and the surrender that came before.




As others have told me, it is wonderful to be married! But I would qualify that statement. I would say that it is wonderful to be married rightly. To the right one, in the right way, at the right time. Just being married, in and of itself, doesn't fix, satisfy or fill anything.




One of the many facets of joy that shone in my heart that day was that it came about, not because I kicked and screamed and demanded, not because I manipulated and connived, but because I gave my desire to God, and He chose to give it back to me. Today, I'm so grateful that it happened that way!

Far beyond my deepest heart's desire,
Far beyond what I could ever dream,
Far beyond my fairytale imagination is Your perfect plan for me!
There's no limit to romance, in all it's beauty,
When the Author of love shapes my destiny.
Far beyond the most that I could long for,
I will find the dreams You have dreamed for me.

- Far Beyond by Eric and Leslie Ludy. Played at our wedding.

Springfield

How fun to have somebody to take field trips with! Kyle has been planning this one for a while. We had originally planned to go to Springfield on Saturday, then we found out that about 30,000 Obama supporters were supposed to inundate the capital for the announcement of the Vice Presidential hopeful. We quickly rearranged our plans and went Friday!


Our first stop was the Lincoln museum. Posing with the Lincoln family makes Kyle look just as tall! I wanted pictures of the museum's period dress collection. Alas, no photography was allowed in that room!


Matthew:" I'm not quite as tall as Robert. They looked very real!"


Walking through the log cabin made me think how so many people in history did so much with so little! Today we have so many resources at our fingertips, but we're often too lazy to go as far as we could.


They had a fun room for small children with old fashioned toys, a pioneer kitchen, etc.
Matthew: "I learned a new way of using the cup and ball. It worked really well."



Our next stop was the old capitol building about a block away.


I wish we still built buildings as beautiful as this one! Matthew and I got quite dizzy looking up and down from the second floor.


The Representative Hall


Matthew liked this rocking chair with a rocking stool in the Governor's Office. They had the Supreme Court room in this same building! Ahh, back when government was small and simple.


A sad commentary on the government's perception of public intelligence:


Um, yeah!


Above and below: Matthew's budding photography skills.

Our last stop was the Presidential Library (no pictures there). Unfortunately for me, it was too close to closing time to get into any books. I did get to drool a bit, though.

Thanks Matthew for giving us the excuse for such a fun day! We had a great time.

When we're not playing games . . .

. . . or eating ice cream in the evenings, we have another source of entertainment:




Sometimes called "Trimming the Verge" or "Bushwacking", this popular sport is best know by it's common American name of "Hair Cutting."



Mid-process is always a bit scary.


Ta Da, the glorious "After"! Didn't know there were such handsome guys under there, did ya?

Picnic!

What a delight to share a lovely day with dear friends! Here are some pictures from a Saturday Picnic at the Johnson's.



Playing "I never".


Caught you girls! Those desserts were seriously good.


I loved seeing all the little ones enjoying the cows! What a lovely farm.


Me, taking a picture of Faith, taking a picture of Me, taking a picture of Faith, taking a picture of Me, taking a picture of Faith, taking a picture of Me, taking a picture of Faith, taking a picture of Me, taking a picture of Faith, taking a picture of Me, taking a picture of Faith, taking a picture of Me taking a picture of Faith . . .




Friends watching during the . . .



Gloriously exciting game of Ultimate Frisbee!



I liked the fact that the cows were watching too!


Volleyball. I wasn't in much of a gamish mood, but this one did tempt me . . .


Pool time!


There was lots of gabbing, framed by Becca and Martha's wonderful gardens.


Corn toss, Bean Bag, Corn Hole, whatever you call it, it's always fun! I've gotten better too (at least at short ranges ;-).


Kyle and I wrapped up the picnic by kidnapping a hostage - not a traditional picnic activity perhaps, but one we've enjoyed since. I'll end this post with some footage of the fun-est, craziest game. See if you can figure it out!

Cousin Time

Earlier this week we had a fun, three day visit from my cousins. Becca, Elli and I had fun around town, while Tim helped Kyle out on the job.

They were a very helpful crew! I think Kyle enjoyed all the good food we made, especially that berry crisp.

Of course, we had to try out the picnic area and trails at Walnut Point.

Most of the trails are labeled as to their difficulty, and it seems like the easier the trail, the more benches they have to rest on. Well, the trail we tried wasn't labeled, but it must have been "hard" - we walked for an hour and a half, sometimes single file, there were occasional hills, and there wasn't a single bench! It was great fun, especially after we developed a technique for removing spiderwebs from the path. ;-)

We also tried our hands at making ribbon/beaded bookmarks! The ribbon goes between the pages while the beads hang out at the ends.

We didn't have enough beads for three bookmarks following the pattern, so we divided up the beads and made up our own patterns. Each one was slightly different from the others.

Oh, no, we dropped a very special bead! This is what we did to find it: moved the couch and chairs, swept the floor and searched on hands and knees. Where did we find it? On the table under the edge of Becca's bead dish!

Ta da! They were not difficult to make and they were very fun. Thanks to a Certain Someone for providing the supplies and the idea!

Thanks you guys for joining us! We had a lovely time. Come again. ;-)