As of yesterday, March 23rd, I am 19 weeks pregnant.  We have 6 days until our 20 week ultrasound.  Today we found out Matt's sister is having a boy.  We are anxious to find out what we are having, but I really want it to be a surprise at birth.  We've picked names out.  For a girl, Madison Lucille (good; bringer of light), and for a boy, either Caleb Matthew (faithful; gift of God) or Caleb Donald (faithful; world leader).  Here's a couple pics of my belly at this point.  It totally feels like I grew immensely in the last week.  It feels like this baby is resting on my bladder all the time.  It can be quite uncomfortable, but I LOVE feeling the movements.  I can't determine what the movements are at this point, just that there are movements.  Hopefully soon the baby will be moving strong enough for Matt and Abby to feel it on the outside.  So far we are just so happy we've got a healthy baby in my tummy...regardless of the sex.  Thank you God!

Friday, March 5, 2010: Daytrip to Arapahoe Basin.....Carmen and little Tyler

 We got up super early and were on the road by 7:30am, headed for A-Basin.  It was about an hour and 45 minutes or so to the ski area and Matt had planned to take a snowboarding class.  I planned to do some shopping or walking around with Abby, but the area would prove less entertaining for a pregnant momma and a 2 1/2 year old when we arrived.  

By the time we got to the A-Basin ski area, it was snowing and frigidly cold.  Matt got his gear and headed to his class and Abby and I headed to the area that was rented out by the Navy guys (from Matt's command who organized the trip).  I was super tired, cold and bored most the time.  Abby kept busy playing with some of the other kids of Navy parents who were hanging out in our upstairs reserved area.  

When Matt was done with his class, he met up in the building, we ate lunch that had been provided for us by the command, and we headed out a bit earlier than the rest of the command (since we drove separate).  We took a bit of a different route home and went through Keystone, Dillon, Silver Thorne, then Golden, Colorado.  We drove up Lookout Mountain in Golden and visited Buffalo Bill Cody's grave site and the souvenir shop.  The scenery was beautiful!  

That night, after we returned home, I found out my neighbor friend, Carmen had her baby.  She'd been in the hospital for a week after her water broke.  She'd not gone into labor all week, but after being sick all Friday, they decided it was best to go ahead and deliver the baby.  She was only 28 weeks along, but little Tyler was born Friday, March 5th, weighing 2 lbs 1 oz, and measuring 14 inches long.  He is breathing on his own and doing quite well for such a young baby.  They do expect him to be in the NICU for a couple months though.  We visited Carmen in the hospital Saturday and she looked and sounded really good.  We weren't, of course, allowed to see Tyler, but we got to see some pictures of him.  He's so tiny, but looks great for being so early.  I'm praying for them every day and I covet more prayer them.  Carmen and her husband Chris also have two elementary-aged girls at home to take care of.  Carmen will be home from the hospital soon, but little Tyler has a long road ahead.  What a fighter though.  I thank God for His healing hand and strengthening power.  

Enjoy the pics of our trip!

 

Abbigail in the car on the way to A-Basin 

The beautiful scenery on our way through the mountains.  

We finally got up into the snow. 

Abby and Daddy in the rental area.  Daddy was ready for his snowboarding class to begin. 

On the upper level of this building is where Abby and I spent a couple hours or so, waiting for Daddy to finish his snowboarding class.  It was WAY too cold outside for us to watch Daddy in his class.  And it was snowing pretty hard at times.  

Abbigail as we walked in to the building to wait for Daddy.  I thought there would be some sort of shopping or something, but not at A-Basin.  Just the ski area.  

Abby's goofy Kool-aid/chocolate grin.  

 

When Daddy finally came back from snowboarding, Abby was so happy to see him.  

 

Daddy and Abby--so sweet. 

 

What a sweetie she is!  

The beautiful scenery on our way through Keystone. 

Daddy and Abby on Lookout Mountain in Golden, CO.  They're standing in front of Buffalo Bill (William) Cody's grave site.  His wife is buried here, too.  We learned something new--Buffalo Bill was a Mason. 

This was the view to the west at one point coming down from Lookout Mountain. Gorgeous! 

Here's the  view to the east coming down from Lookout Mountain.  Just to the right of center is the Coors Plant.  Most of the actual plant is hidden around the back side of that mountain to the right.  You can see the red Coors sign on the building.  This is the main, downtown area of Golden, CO--a beautiful, quaint, mountain town.

Playin' in the Snow

So today it snowed again...only this time, we all took some time to go out and play for a while in the park. The sun had just set, so it was a little dark, but it was fun nonetheless. This was the first time Abby got to experience a sled. She LOVED it.

 

A Glimpse at # 2...

Today we got our first ultrasound of our second child at 13 weeks. It was amazing. Healthy heartbeat (160 bpm), and a very active baby. The baby kept moving all around, so fast, the ultrasound tech had to keep changing position to get the snapshots she needed to check on the baby's health. It was so fun to get to see so much of the baby. We got to see all the little fingers and some quick glances at the tiny feet. I cannot wait to meet the little one, but I'm going to enjoy the remaining 6 months or so of this pregnancy as much as possible, despite the nausea, food aversion and such. I'm just beginning to feel a few tap-like flutters inside on a close to daily basis. What a joy! If only this joy, excitement, happiness and anticipation could be bottled up and given to anyone questioning continuing their pregnancy...many more babies would be given a chance and would, no doubt, be welcomed into this world of our Indescribable-Lord's creation. Oh....what a joy!


A bit of a profile of our little #2.




Baby with a hand fanned out infront of his/her face.




Baby's head, full arm, and feet.




Baby's head and body with an arm in front of his/her face.

"Life is interesting"

The following is a blog I posted on my myspace account on October 13, 2008. I was just reviewing my blogs and thought I'd share it with my readers on this blog. I hope this inspires someone else the way it inspired me.
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You know, life is an interesting thing. I have been married for almost seven years now and I'm just now getting a grasp of what it means to be a wife. I mean truly be a wife--a partner to my Matthew. It is strange how, even with all that he and I have been through, I'm JUST NOW starting to understand REAL commitment, not just the dictionary definition. I mean, I've always been committed to him, but my eyes are just now opening to the Biblical definition of a wife and the kind of commitment and love a wife must have for her husband. I've read about it over and over, and I've studied it, but I never truly understood it. It wasn't until recelty that I really allowed God to speak into my heart about what a husband and wife should be to each other. And let me tell ya, now that my eyes are opening more and more I'm really liking what I see. No...I'm LOVING it.

Life is interesting. It can be difficult at times, and strangely fun and exciting at other times, but no matter what, it is exactly how it should be. I have been in some dark places in my life, but on the reverse, and as a direct result of those dark times, I am in a wonderfully bright place right now. That's why I say life is interesting. I know I wouldn't be who I am today if it weren't for those dark times. I thank God I went through those struggles when I did, because now I can be the mom and the wife I need to be because of them. Thank You Lord!

I hope, as you read this, you are reminded that God is always with you, no matter what you're going through. It is God who ALLOWS us to struggle at times so that his love and his glory is illuminated in the end. It sounds twisted, but it is so magnificent. Oh, I pray for insight and open eyes for each of you.

In Christ's loving Arms,

Kristin

...and God said YES!

Last week in the middle of the night as I dragged myself out of bed to go to the bathroom, Matt stopped me. "You're going pee, right?"
"Yes."
"Will you take that pregnancy test in there?"
"why?"
"just please take it. I've been tossing and turning all night and dreaming that you were pregnant."
I told him it was too early to know, but I took the test anyway so he could get some sleep. As I expected, it was negative. I was not pregnant. It seemed to be enough to calm his mind so we both went back to sleep.

I had a recipe exchange party on Saturday evening and it went well, despite my growing sinus issues. That night, what I'll refer to as "the nastiness" hit Matt And me like a bus. We stayed home from church Sunday, nursing our achy bodies and gunk-coated throats.

This morning when I woke up, I didn't feel any better. Thankfully through all this Abbigail's gotten away with only a little congestion. Sadly, Matt still had to work, even through the headache, 100 degree temp, his horrible cough attacks and him STILL dealing with Bell's Palsy in the right side of his face. It exhausted him, but life goes on and work doesn't always wait for one to get better. Similarly, at home, I tried to work on my homework for the last week of classes. This proved difficult and I didn't get much done before Matt got home from work and we headed out to take care of a few errands.

When we got home, I finally took a pregnancy test so we could put to rest this curiosity of pregnancy. I was about 2-3 days late already and nothing. To my joy and amazement it came up positive! God did hear my prayers. I always knew he did, but for the last year and a half His answer was always "not right now". This time God's answer was "YES!"

God is truly amazing. He cares about us so much. He knows exactly what to do and when. We just have to learn to trust Him.

My Dad's Continued Battle

My Dad, Donald found out earlier this month that he's got three more tumors on his lungs. The doctors have taken him off his cancer meds for now, but will be starting him on different ones soon. His cyber knife surgery doctor wants to wait and watch. He wants to take new scans the first week of January to see if more tumors have appeared or if the existing ones have grown. To operate on the tumors as they are (very small) they would risk damaging lung tissue that they may otherwise be able to spare (if the tumors were a little larger, making them easier to deal with). Every time they operate with the cyber knife on him, they have to inject (by needle) a small gold fleck onto each of the tumors so the cyber knife machine knows where to zap. Every time they inject those flecks, he is open to infection. Then when they operate, if they zap some of the lung tissue in the process of zapping the cancerous tissue, then they are at risk for compromising the lungs altogether. It's risky, so they're waiting and watching for now. He nees all the prayer we can give him.

I believe God can heal him of this cancer completely. Let's all pray for healing. Show him that we care and we believe in God's ultimate healing power! Thanks to all of you who are praying for him.