Late Update Portion

So this will be my last post that will cover from the point we returned to Alaska until now. It'll be nice to know I'm caught up and only have to worry about staying current (once every couple of weeks). :)

Thursday: Day of News & Appointments
Anyway, we returned from Alaska on Wednesday night and had several appointments the next morning including our mid-pregnancy ultrasound.

As most of you know, John and I are waiting until the baby is born to find out what it is. Luckily, we only had to turn away once during the ultrasound (while the femur was being measured). Just to clear the air, nobody but the ultrasound technician knows what our baby is! She didn't even put it in her report so our OB doesn't know either.

Our baby's heart beat is strong as usual and everything looked great. They check brain, neck/spine, heart and take lots of measurements. In fact, the technician said our baby was measuring a full week ahead a time. I am pretty sure that our due date of Dec 8 is pretty accurate (and our OB concurred) so it means that we are likely having a larger baby. That doesn't surprise me given what I know about John and I. I expect that we will have a long baby. :)

During that ultrasound, I felt the baby move for the first time. I felt two little movements and then had the technican tell me that the baby had hiccups. :) It was cool and the baby pretty much started moving regularly from that point forward (several times a day).

The next appointment we had that day was with my rheumatologist. I think most of you know that I suffer from an autoimmune arthritis that in the past has made my life a lot of fun. Luckily, I've had it under control for the past few years and my pregnancy was suppose to stay in remission for the length of my pregnancy. Unfortunately, I'm part of the 20% that this doesn't happen with so I've been dealing with with some flare-ups the last couple of months. This last month has been the worst of it. Luckily, I'm back on my meds and it's slowing going back to normal. Just giving me a taste of the need to slow down...

Lastly, and also before lunch, John found out he passed his CISSP exam. I knew he would. I am very proud of him and I know how hard he worked/studied for that exam.

Since then...
Since that Thursday, John has continued his job search and has definitely noticed an increase in the number of IT jobs he is qualified for and interested in! Please pray that God will open one of these doors soon. It's been nice to see him excited about the possibilites and somewhat contagious. Who knows where he'll end up.

As I mentioned above, Baby started moving regularly and noticably from about 20 weeks until a week ago. It got to the point that I actually saw the baby move under my skin. It was a little crazy to see it out of the corner of my eye and then actually watch my skin move on it's own. John got to see it, too. In fact, last weekend, I told John to say "Hi" to the baby and see if Baby would jump. He didn't think anything would happen...but lo and behold, he said "hi" and a split second later, the baby kicked in that vacinity. John's been able to do that a few more times with similar results.

In the past week, the movements have become less noticable but I am also noticing that my stomach is getting higher. I read that the decreased movement is likely due to the fact that the baby is kicking higher and therefore less noticeable (more to cushion) or the baby is kicking in the other direction. I do want to say that I am still feeling movement. The other day, I was driving home from work and started singing a really great song. As soon as I started, Baby started moving/kicking too. It almost made me cry (yes, I've been a little hormonal this week).

John and I are still working on cleaning our own clutter and our office. It helps that my arthritis is starting to feel better and I can move easier and pain-free. It's still slow but we are making progress. Luckily, we've cleaned out enough to set up the changing table I found on Craigslist last week. That was exciting. We finally have somewhere to put some of the baby stuff we are accumulating until we get the nursery set-up.

We're trying to get this project wrapped up by Labor Day weekend so we aren't having to try to deal with it the last few months of my pregnancy and when work and normal activities start to pick back up. So at the end of the month, our office will be cleared out, our bedroom will house a single desk and our nursery/guest bedroom will house a guest bed, changing table, and baby storage set-ups. We'll just be missing the crib and some other odds and ends.

Before we know it,it'll be December. Other than that, we are just trying to make sure that we take it one day at a time and not look too far forward or too far back. I'll write more in a few weeks.

Last Month & a Half Catch-up Cont'd

So, it's been more than a few days. Work's been pretty busy, had thank you notes to send out and haven't been sleeping well at night. Got to love nighttime leg cramps. :) I believe this is another pregnancy symptom.

Anyway, after we got back from San Diego, we headed up to Alaska three days later. We were going up to celebrate my grandma's 80th birthday. My grandpa turned 80 last year and we made the same trip to celebrate his 80th as well. In fact, in November, we'll be traveling to Eugene, Oregon for John's grandma's 80th birthday. Anyway, back to our trip.

We flew up to Anchorage on Thursday evening...late. We typically stay with Maria (my younger sister) and Josh and I love it because we get to see the boys and it was fun to have Mateo come find us Friday morning. Maria had us all up very early to travel to Sterling (Kenai Peninsula). It only takes 2.5 hours but Maria and Josh were going to go fishing with my uncle as soon as they got there. Thankfully, it was a beautiful sunny drive down and we got to enjoy the sunshine for two days while we were in Alaska. Unfortunately, it seems that when we visit in the summer it always rains for us and typically stops for a half a day the day we are leaving.

Anyway, it was great to see my grandparents and Mom and Mindy (my littlest sister). Friday afternoon we spent some time with Grandpa, Mindy and a old friend of my uncle's. We went down to where Maria, Josh and Uncle Rich were fishing. Unfortunately, we didn't see them and got an earful of some horrible live music. It is funny when I think about it. Anyway, the rest of the day was very relaxing.

Me & My Grandpa

Mindy & Me

Noah being silly and very cute!

Noah, a very willing participant in Aunt Mindy feeding him!

Noah giving the camera the stink eye (not really but a very funny picture)!

The next day was Grandma's celebration but there wasn't a lot of stuff to get ready. Saturday's event was perfect and we got to visit with more family (one more uncle and aunt, cousins, old family friend of my mom). I had some tasty fresh grilled salmon. It's one of the few things I miss about Alaska...free access to the plentiful seafood, especially salmon. I'm posting some pictures from the day that will better illustrate our trip to my grandparents. I always enjoy staying and visiting with them. I feel very fortunate to have two such wonderful grandparents.

Mateo following Great-Grandpa

Grandma playing Chicken Croquet (seriously...)

Great-Grandma (and Great-Grandpa in the corner) spending time with great-grandkids!

Birthday Girl!

My cutie husband! I love it when he really smiles for the camera! Rare!

Mateo being cute with his flower in his chair! Nice hair, Mateo! (inside joke for Maria):D

Noah cutely playing with his nose!

All of us girls!

Three M&Ms (in birth order, me, Maria & Mindy..also clockwise starting at me)

Maria & Me

We traveled back to Anchorage with the Cross Family (Josh, Maria & the boys) and stayed with them until we left on Wednesday. We had a blast relaxing, visiting, playing with the boys. On Monday, Mateo took all of us (including Aunt Mindy) to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. It's a center that rehabilitates wild Alaskan animals like brown/black bears, moose, caribou, porcupines. Definitely good photo ops.

Mateo trying to keep his make-shift britches up (long story)!

The Cross family checking out a moose.

Maria & Noah!

Uncle John & Mateo

Aunt Mindy (always with a camera), Mateo & Josh at lunch

Me & John (we don't often get a real perspective shot of us!)

The next day, my mom, Mindy and Maria & Josh hosted our baby shower for our Alaska family and friends. It was great to see some old faces that we hadn't seen since we've left. I really enjoyed my shower. The food was great and the company was very enjoyable. Thank you, Josh, Maria, Mindy and Mom, for hosting our shower.

My mom & Maria's house decorated for our shower!

Two types of cupcakes served at the shower (loins, tiger, monkeys & zebras)

Granny & Mateo eating some yummy food!

Maria & Mom

Mateo & His Daddy

One of the cute outfits we received as a gift.

I love John's expressions in these pictures! He was a good sport!

I came to a conclusion the morning we were leaving. I know I'm having a good time when I don't miss home until the day we are leaving. I love my family very much and wish they lived closer.

John & his aunt, Lois

John's Aunt Lois & Cousin Cherie

Oh, well...maybe some day. Washington is a big and diverse state. Something for everyone...hint, hint!

I'll wrap up this post and started on my last one. It's all about the first day we got back and primarily about baby and my pregnancy updates.

Last Month & A Half Summary

I am going to be writing three posts over the next couple of days and all will summarize the last month and a half. We've had a busy and enjoyable month and I am looking forward to sharing news, stories and pictures with you.

Well, in my last post I had mentioned that John was laid off. He is still without a job but we are still enjoying the benefits of unemployment. John really is less stressed. I can honestly say that I don't remember a time in our relationship where he was more relaxed. He's noticed it as well.

In addition to that, God prompted us to start cleaning up our finances and paying down debt a couple of years ago. So this interruption in pay hasn't been as painful as it would have been if we hadn't listened. Every time, I sit down to pay the bills I am continually amazed and grateful for His provision and perfect timing in prompting us. By the way, I am spending much less time paying bills which is a great feeling.

Anyway, slightly off track...John's taken this time off to study for a professional certification he's been talking about for years. He started studying for his Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) about two weeks after he was laid off. He studied a lot and worked hard. The exam in Seattle was full so we looked for somewhere close to travel to and take it. San Diego on July 13 was the closest and soonest he could find.

So we decided to make it a long weekend and both travel there. We like the San Diego area but neither of us had gone to California to just visit San Diego. Let's just say it was a blast. We arrived on Friday morning and John's exam wasn't until Monday morning. So we explored...I realized something about the two of us that trip. We are not really the "go-and-sit-on-a-beach-and-veg-out" type traveler. We like to explore especially areas we haven't been to much.

The first day we went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park (sister to the Zoo). It was in the low 90s and very sunny. We enjoyed seeing all the different animals...a lot with little ones and tried to stay cool. They have these cool water misters in the park that helped a lot. We still had to go to the hotel and take cold showers to help cool off and become un-sticky!

The next day we drove up the Southern California coast for a while. We stopped in La Jolla and enjoyed the wonderful park they have there. When we go back, we'll definitely spend a day there snorkeling. They have an artificial reef that has attracted a lot of great underwater plants and animals. We went up to a large outlet mall in Carlsbad and I got to do some maternity clothes shopping while I was there. We turned around slowly and let's just say the beaches were full the entire way back to San Diego. It was hot so it doesn't surprise me that they would flock to the beautiful Pacific Ocean.

Sunday, we spent the day in Coronado. It was beautiful there and the Hotel Del Coronado was majestic. It was fun to walk around the resort and learn about it's history. It was another beautiful day and lots of people were on the beaches. We walked around town looking at shops and eating some ice cream to cool off before we headed back to the hotel. We finished the day back at the hotel with me taking a nap and John studying.

The next day wasn't so exciting. It was just John taking his exam and us getting ready to go home. I realized something else...if I am having fun on a trip, I don't miss home. I didn't miss home until Monday, the day we were coming home. Let's just say I was thrilled to be at home by the time hit my pillow on Monday night at 11:30 p.m.

And we had another trip in less than three days...

Peacefully Waiting...

Well, the last couple of months have been eventful on a macro level, but yet strangely slow on a micro level. As most of you know, I typically keep myself pretty busy. But with the end of bible study, the news of Baby and making a personal decision to put off finishing the women's ministries program, work slowing down, and John being around more to do some of the tasks, I find myself strangely will little to do right now. Most people would be thrilled but to be honest, I don't know what to do with myself. :)

As most people know by now, John was laid off at the end of April...just 4 weeks after we found out I was pregnant. This has honestly been an interesting turn of events. First off, before we knew for sure, I prayed that He would give us peace regardless of the outcome. I would have to say that that prayer has been answered. There have been a few moments of "what now?" and "what drastic actions do we need to do?" But for the majority, we are doing just great and confident that God has a new job for John in the near future that will allow John to continue to provide for our family.

So other than pregnancy and John's recent change in unemployment, there isn't much going on. We slowly trying to de-clutter our lives, especially in the office. We have literally been carrying around numerous boxes of paper for the last 5+ years. We are going through the boxes and it's kind of funny and sad how long we held on to some of this stuff. Most is being recycled or shredded. I have found some photos, documents from our wedding and cards. That part has been fun.

I'm also trying to reconnect/stay in touch with friends and family. I enjoy my friends and family immensely. I just need to be more consistent in not letting too much time pass. Luckily, most of them are gracious.

Well, I guess that's about it. I'll sign off for now and will write more in a few weeks.

My New Hymn of Praise

I don't know if all of you are aware but John and I have been trying to start a family now for almost two years now. We hit a big snag last summer when John needed surgery and it inadvertently had devastating effects on our efforts. We were told that it would be near impossible to have biological children without IVF & ICSI (a special add on procedure).

We receive our second specialist opinion stating the same in February of this year. While that was hard news for both of us, we knew that adoption was another way we could start our family. So we started investigating that in late January and by the end of February knew that we would likely need to wait a year before attempting. At this point, I was devastated and wondering when...how much longer?

So if you don't want a lot of detail, skip this next paragraph and continue reading. During this time,

John was seeing an acupuncturist and asked if I would see her too for fertility treatment. While I didn't think this would do anything, it didn't hurt anything and John was asking me to do this with him. So in early March, I started to see her. About it's March 31st and I am expecting normal events and am typically right on schedule. I was doing a Psalms study that week on God's provisions of needs, wants and desire. That night I had just finished doing my daily lesson and thinking about my desire for children, I had to go to the bathroom.

So on March 31, I am normally on time but I was a little late (12-24 hours) and had two pregnancy tests that were going to expire. So without telling John, I grabbed one and ran into the bathroom. Let's just say that once I took the test, the pregnancy positive line showed up faster than the base line. I was shocked but knew what it meant. I thanked God right then and there in my bathroom before running out to show my shocked husband. After I told him twice and showed him the test, I just started to cry. We couldn't believe we were pregnant! I had a hard time sleeping that night. The next day I was changing my daily Psalms calendar when I noticed my verse for March 31. I want to share it with you.

He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be astounded. They will put their trust in the Lord~ Psalm 40:3 NLT

God has given me a new song of praise for Him. He has given us a child in an awesome way! We were statically unable to conceive but God in His Glory allowed us to conceive. I am 8 weeks pregnant and the baby is healthy and everything looks great! I just want everyone to know that my God is an awesome God who, while powerfully deals with the big stuff, is a loving God, who deals with the intimate details (needs, circumstances, etc.) of our lives. John and I are giving Him the full credit and glory for this child.

I am including a few ultrasound pictures...not much to see but a healthy heartbeat, a roundish thing which is the head and a good size area for this stage. :) By the way, John is very excited. He'll be a great dad!

Leave a comment if you feel like it! Check back occasionally as I will try to post more here.

Wow...What a Surprise! What a Blessing!

Shhhh...don't share this yet. If you happen to stumble upon this, you are welcome to call or leave a post but don't tell anyone else yet. WE are pregnant!

God has answered our prayers and given me the desire of my heart! He is good and yes, this is a miracle! We should not be pregnant! I have taken two pregnancy tests (from two different boxes and at two different times) and both have two solid pink lines. I am 4 almost 5 weeks pregnant!

Our due date for those who can't read that small is December 8, 2009 (new date shown-officially changed as of April 28). Last Christmas I told John that as much as I loved it just being the two of us, I really didn't want to spend another Christmas with it just being the two of us. We will have a little one in time for Christmas! Isn't God's timing perfect? I could tell you my journey and how many more ways His timing is perfect! I probably will over the next few months!

If you are wondering how God did this, well, other than a lot of prayer, John has been seeing Dr. Wu for a few months specifically for our infertility and has been taking some yucky herbs daily ever since. I just started seeing her, as well, three weeks ago (before I ovulated). I last saw her on Tuesday and I am pretty sure she suspected. She asked me some weird questions, said something about women sometimes getting pregnant after only 1 or 3 treatments, and put more needles in me this time! My total treatments so far is 5! :) Our first OB\GYN visit\ultrasound will be April 28! Maybe it will seem be more real by then.

Despite that, it has been killing me not to get on the phone to everyone I know and let them know of this miracle. John is cautiously optimistic and just as surprised. I just came out of the bathroom last night shocked and told/showed him and started crying in his arms. I was so keyed up I had hard a very hard time falling asleep. And as far as today, I can't seem to stop smiling.

P.S. This is NOT an April Fool's joke!

Just to be recent...

I have always been a late comer to these types of forums. I do love reading people's blogs...I just don't every feel like I have anything exciting to share. John and I don't have children yet...and we work a lot!

I guess I will use this forum to share some thoughts I have in the course of my day-to-day life. If anyone could see inside my head and hear my thoughts, I think they would run screaming so I will tone it down.

I contemplate a wide range of things. Deep, heavy stuff like life, my purpose in life, my relationship with God, my marriage to fun and light stuff like our future children, diets/exercise, books, movies, winning the lottery and becoming the world's newest philanthropist. So I expect until we have kids, my blog will be a hodge podge of topics. If someone reads them, great. If not, well, I have a online diary! :) I don't even know if anyone knows about this blog.

I will try to stay current and punch it with photos as I can. In fact, here is one of my favorite pictures.