16 Week Update

Times they are a-changing! As you can see from the pictures, so is Emily! Her baby bump seems to have gotten so much bigger in the last two weeks! She is still a little tired, but that's improving as well and she still is not sick at all. And we haven't felt a kick yet, although last night she thought she did but couldn't verify it (maybe it's just in our minds, wanting it to happen!). We go back to the doctor on August 12th when we have a sonogram scheduled to hopefully see whether it's a boy or a girl!

My job search is still off and on. I have a few contacts but no interviews yet, and we are nearing the start of school when I will have to make somewhat of a decision on whether to work this semester or not. I don't want to waste these next few months. The sale of our house is going nicely though, as the only possible catch between us and August 15th (closing date) is the appraisal (which should be fine but you never can tell). That will hopefully occur early next week. Also, we are narrowing down our list of rent houses down by the church and should know that soon as well.

So, I am now waiting on callbacks, praying for a job, a house, and our baby, and packing as much of our house as I can. Other than that, we are just waiting as the baby grows! Love you all!

So Blessed!

(A few words from Emily:) Before John and I got married, I couldn’t wait to become his wife and knew a few years later I would desire to be a Momma (his baby’s Mom as some would say-Ha!). Now that we are here, it is neat to see the many blessings God is lavishing upon us. We feel so blessed to have such a great family and group of friends. Since we told our families and friends about our exciting news, we have received Prego clothes to borrow, books to read, money for expenses, free 'baby equipment', and advice from others; not to mention the many others who graciously listen to me telling of this exciting time. This past week end, Marva (John’s Mom) gave me her Trail Blazer (SUV). This gift was beyond imaginable and I am so grateful. John and I bought our cars in high school and have gotten by without having car payments; thank you God! I’ve never cared about what I drove until recently when my car’s attitude got worse and worse by the air conditioning not working (last Fall-didn’t matter last winter!), the car overheating in the least bit of traffic, and my odometer failing (last September). John’s car isn’t doing much better…that’s another story. But most of all, I knew it wouldn’t be easy to fit a car seat in either of our two-door cars. So, this gift is deeply appreciated. Thanks again Danny and Marva! Another huge blessing is the selling of our house, as John mentioned in an earlier blog. God continually amazes us with blessing after blessing – all of which we don’t deserve but are truly grateful! Thank you God!

There are so many things yet to be worked out but we know God will reveal each open/closed door for us. We hope to find a rent house VERY soon, John is looking for a full-time job as a Mechanical Engineer, and the baby and I will try to stay healthy and rested through it all.

Waiting and Wondering

(From Emily's perspective) It has been so fun watching my belly grow and seeing all the crazy changes that are happening. I love every minute of it (ask me to say the same thing when I can no longer see my toes....Ha!)! It is also tons of fun to talk to friends and family, learning of their experiences and seeing how each pregnancy compares and contrasts. They are all so different! I do feel we are in a bit of a waiting period though. I am anxiously waiting to feel the first kicks as well as to find out the sex of our baby. I do feel like I can feel little flutters but I think it is more in my head, only hoping it to be true. I know once they start, they never stop....then, I will hope to have a break! Ha! What fun!

It is also fun to hear what people say we will have...a boy or a girl or even twins! I don't really mind either way; it would be fun to have a boy and get all the cute boy (I mean MANLY) things (HA!) but also neat to have a girl for all the pretty dresses. We have two nieces so we would definitely have plenty of girly clothes to pass around! When we got to hear the heartbeat at the 14 week check up, the doctor thought it would be funny to say he heard two heartbeats. He didn't actually hear two (as far as we know now) but I am still not counting out having twins, given that they do occur in John's family. I would think it more likely that our kids would have twins when they have their own children but we will see! He also said there is an old wives' tale that girls' heartbeats are between 140-160 beats per minute while boys are between 120-140 beats per minute. Our sweet baby's was 145 beats per minute-right on the line, of course. Well, until these two surprises are revealed...we will enjoy watching my belly grow!

14 Week Update

So, a lot has happened in the last few weeks! I need to be more regular and diligent about this…

We went to the doctor on Tuesday, July 15^th (14 weeks - DUE DATE IS JANUARY 13TH) and we had the blessing of hearing a strong heartbeat!!! Our doctor said that everything seemed to be going along fine and that we will have a sonogram at 18 weeks, hopefully determining the sex of the baby at that time as well.

Emily is feeling ok. She gets tired very quickly but otherwise feels fine. Her belly is growing every day (as you can see from the pictures!) and we are continuing to get more and more excited for about six months from now! This week starts her second trimester.

We also got to experience Emily’s sister giving birth to a beautiful baby girl, Makenna Hope Landers, a few weeks ago! The families are growing!

God is good. In order to cut costs and move closer to the seminary and our church we put our house on the market three weeks ago. Well, we had seven people look at it over the course of that time and two offers, one of which we have accepted! Our closing date is August 15^th.

John is also looking for a full-time position most likely as a Mechanical Engineer somewhere. Please pray for that search and for wisdom to make decisions. Also, keep praying for strength and health for Emily and the baby.

We love you all and thank you for your support!!!

Stories of Telling Our Families

We told Emily’s family first about our pregnancy. We went out for breakfast on a Saturday for Father’s Day to celebrate her dad. Her whole immediate family was there. She wore a plain black t-shirt with a white t-shirt under it which read “Mommy To Be.” After we had all ordered, Emily went to the restroom, took off the black shirt, then walked back to the table holding the black shirt over the words of her white shirt. She then revealed what the white shirt said to the family as they were totally surprised! Obviously they were very excited.

We told John’s family the next weekend at Laney Henry’s (John’s niece) first birthday party. The whole family was there (and more) and as we celebrated beautiful Laney turning one. At the end of the party we got our immediate family together for a picture. We took a few then John got out his camera for a couple more. Before the first one, John said, “Say cheese!” Then before the second one, John said, “Say Emily’s pregnant!” It took everyone a second to process it, a few people chuckled as if it was a joke, then it slowly registered that we were serious! We caught all of their reactions on camera; it was classic!

So much fun, our families are amazing!

Story of How We Found Out

Frequent-flyer miles allowed us to go to Kauai (also to Honolulu for a day) for our third anniversary in May. It was so beautiful and I would encourage you, if you ever get a chance to go to Hawaii, to go to Kauai! Well, as God would have it, we had a sneaking suspicion that we may be pregnant before we left so we took a test in case. On Mother’s Day, we could wait no longer and Emily took the test. It came out positive, of course, but like millions of others, we went and bought another one just to make sure!!! And yes, it showed positive as well. We then celebrated our third anniversary a couple days later, in Kauai, just finding out, on Mother’s Day, that we are pregnant with our first child. Amazing and perfect!

Welcome!

Well, here you go, the progress of both us and our little one for the next however long we can keep this up!

As you can see, like Pilgrim's Progress, this will be the Baby Bump's Progress! We will try and update regularly so you can continue to pray for us and follow along this incredible journey!

Right now Emily is 11 weeks along and feeling fine. We go back to the doctor at 14 weeks. We have enjoyed it so much so far and look forward to the rest! May God bless you!

Note: The top 2 pictures were taken at 7 weeks, the bottom two were taken at 10 weeks.