And...The Baby Shower

I had an amazing and beautiful shower thrown by my amazing and beautiful friend, Jannae. Everything was picture perfect from the burlap table cloths and decorations to the AMAZING cake balls! Yum! Loved them...and so did Justus (He was jumping all around in my belly!) :) Jannae put so much thought, time, and effort into my "shower day" to make it oh so special! I was totally blessed by all who came. From childhood friends, to long distant family members. I can't even believe how perfect it was! Thank you to everyone for celebrating my sweet Justus with me! And thank you Diane Loveless Photography for all the great pics!

More Catching Up On Life...

"Baby-Moon"

So in the 7 years we had been married, we hadn't yet gone anywhere "tropical" together. We went up the CA coast for our honeymoon, and most vacations we went up to Central Oregon to see my family. We love Oregon and all the hiking, rivers, and waterfalls, but I wanted to go somewhere WARM with white sandy beaches. :) We figured with a baby on the way, we may never get the chance again... so we decided to go to Kauai! :) On the way over we grabbed a pamphlet of Kauai, and saw so many things we wanted to do. Some of which I couldn't (being preggo and all) but when we landed, we hit the ground running (Literally)! We wanted to do and see everything! We would get up early and stay out late trying to soak it all in. Was it relaxing? No... but extremely fun! :) We swam, snorkeled, hiked, kayaked, and laid out on many beaches. We went to a Russian fort, a coffee plant, and a botanical garden. Nick jumped off rocks and rope swings, and we set out to find some sweet hidden local spots...and that we did! Oh, and not to forget the Hawaiian shaved ice with pistachio ice cream and Kauai Pasta! UH-MAZING! So so glad we went!

Yes, that little person you can barely see in this pic is my husband...breaking all the rules and hiking where signs clearly said..."Danger Don't Go Beyond This Point" :)

Getting ready to Hike along the Napali Coast

Two miles in, we hiked down to this beautiful beach

After this beach, we hiked another two miles to a huge beautiful waterfall and went swimming there! Total hike was 8 miles...not bad for a preggo! :)

Kayaking is an amazing arm work out and test of your marriage!

Is it illegal to salute another countries flag? Oh well.. just being proud of my heritage is all! :)

Catching up on Life...

Pregnancy

I was really blessed to have an easy pregnancy without complications. At some points it seemed like it was taking forever, but other times flew by quickly! I was also blessed to go through the summer in the beginning rather than the end. The only real craving I remember was wienerschnitzel chili cheese fries...YUM! I hated veggies and still have a hard time eating carrots!

:) If we have another kid, I hope and pray that I will love veggies and hate sugar! Here are some preggo pics...

God's timing is so so perfect...I even got to be pregnant with one of my best friends and coworker! :) It was great having a friend only 2 weeks apart to laugh and share things with... thank you Diane!

Blogging...

So, I've joined the "blog club..." Now that I am not working full time and I have a sweet little bundle of Joy to be oh so excited about, I thought it was time to get blogging! :) My parents and sister both live in different states and I figured this would be the best way to keep them updated on our lives! :) Still trying to figure things out...like how to get the title and picture on the top of the blog centered, why the titles to my blogs are invisible and only pop up sometimes...just to name a few. :) I'm kinda dumb at this...but oh well...here it goes! Enjoy!

Our "Faith Building" Baby Story...To God Be The Glory!

In August of 2008 we decided it was time to start a family. Timing was perfect.... By the time we had the baby, Nick would be done with his masters program and would be receiving his degree, he would also be tenured at his school in Beaumont. We would get pregnant in August, tell everyone at Christmas, and have the baby sometime in June! I wouldn't go through the summer pregnant...we had it all figured out! :) But...God had a different plan for us...

After a little more than a year of "trying" we decided it was time to get things checked out by a doctor. We charted for several months, we also took some tests, and still no baby. In march 2010, the doctors considered us infertile and said we would need help getting pregnant; either through AI or in vitro. We checked into these processes and were overwhelmed with the decision and didn't have a peace about it. A while before this, we were presented with the opportunity to go to Haiti with our church. We decided to put these baby decisions on hold and serve together in Haiti. We stopped "trying." In the midst of all this, I kept telling myself that if God wants us to have kids...He could make it happen, despite what the Doctors said. But did I really believe it? Not Sure.

Later that month (March) we went to our Wednesday night bible study. We were busy and didn't feel like going, but we did. They had a guest speaker there who was sharing about some ministry opportunities. At the end, he asked if he could pray over each of us. Honestly, I was a bit sketched out. We did not know this man, but he told us that I have the gift of discernment and Nick that has the gift of teaching (which he does). He also told us that he saw kids in our future. (We only had told a few close friends about our trouble with conceiving) He gave us the verse Psalm 37:4. How Crazy!

We went home tripped out, excited, and unsure. We prayed together, and thought...well we'll see if this guy is legit. On with life we went, helping with college group, preparing for Haiti, ect. We still were not "trying."

May 14th 2010 we were getting ready to go camping in Dark Canyon (our camp spot as kids). Nick says..."I think you are pregnant, you should take a test." He was always Mr. positive. He was wishing me happy mothers day that year, just messing around. :) Anyway I was like "no I'm not" He said "No really you should take a test" ...so I did...and not 1 pink line but 2 showed up! What the Heck? I took another one...same result! :) We went camping and had a blast. We were excited, but tried not to get our hopes up. On May 19th my blood work was confirmed that I was preggo! Wow! God is Amazing! He had to take us completely out of the picture to do his thing. We still have no idea when it happened, and I know He wanted it that way to build our faith and so that He would get all the Glory!

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR AMAZING FRIENDS WHO PRAYED FOR US AND ENCOURAGED US ALONG THIS JOURNEY!...WE LOVE YOU ALL!

Psa 37:4

Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.