Waiting...

For the past week, I have awoken with the thought, "Today might be our baby's birthday!" Day after day has passed, and we still wait expectantly for his arrival. We are trying to be in a state of constant readiness. The hospital bag is packed, the bills are paid, the house is reasonably clean, the nursery is ready...we could leave at any moment. And yet, I wake up every morning feeling much the same as I have for the past month. I am thankful this pregnancy has been relatively easy. I feel fine, even now, at nine months pregnant. Don't get me wrong...there are things I am ready to be done with. For example, I have not been able to wear my wedding ring for two months, because my hands are so swollen. I get tired easily. Rolling over in bed has become a major ordeal. Heartburn strikes frequently. The list goes on, but I praise God to have avoided many of the major pregnancy discomforts.
Our little baby will be arriving soon though, and my heart rejoices at the thought of meeting him. The Lord has been so gracious to us! Next time I post to this blog, I will have some photos to share of our little one. See you then!

Say hello to our herd!

For quite some time, my brother and Brian have thrown around the idea of starting their own herd of cattle. I thought these musings were fun to discuss, but would probably never happen... at least not anytime soon. However, this Christmas proved me wrong! My dad took matters into his own hands and gave Brian and I two bred Hereford cows for Christmas. My brother received a matching pair as well. It looks like our herd has started! See how pretty they are?

In other news, I had another sonogram today. The technician estimated that our baby already weighs 5 pounds, 14 ounces! That is almost a pound larger than average. Whoa! All of his measurements were about two weeks further along than he actually is. I think we are going to have a big boy on our hands! I have the feeling he might arrive before his due date too. We will see!

Merry Christmas!

Brian and I just finished our third Christmas celebration, and we have one more to go this evening. We have had so much fun spending time with our families! One of the highlights this morning was watching Brian and my brother play with their new remote-control helicopters. It added a whole new level of excitement to our Christmas morning because everyone was in danger of getting blindsided by one of their helicopters. They were learning how to maneuver them, but it took some practice! Here are some of my favorite photos.

Helicopters overhead!

Brian and his antique John Deere plow.

Opening my presents from Brian!

Brian, Jonathan, me, and Dad with our new stocking hats.

Last weekend, we were blessed with more generous gifts from our friends and family at our first baby shower! We have received so many adorable presents for our little one. Here are more photos!

The above cow cake and cross-stitched blanket were made by Brian's mom. Wow!

This blanket was knitted by Sara, Brian's sister. What a talented gal!

Here is Sara, Kevin, and one darling little boy!

We are so thankful for the gifts of family and friends. Most of all, we are thankful for the gift of Jesus Christ who came on this very special day to save us from our sins! We love you all. Merry Christmas!

Where did November go?

November has been one busy month for us! I can hardly believe how fast time has gone. Brian and I did getaway one weekend to celebrate my birthday. We stayed the night in a castle!!! No, we did not travel to Scotland...this castle is located in our own home state. It was built in the late 1800's and now functions as a bed and breakfast. Here are some of the photos we took.

The above photo was taken on top of the turret. The view of the river and the city skyline was just beautiful.

As you can see, the woodwork inside the castle was amazing. We also loved the stained glass windows and tiled floors. This trip will probably be our last weekend getaway for quite some time, so I am thankful we had so much fun.

Our baby is due in approximately 67 days (not that I am counting or anything), so we are busy with preparations. I hung the curtains in the nursery today, which does not sound like much, but I was extremely excited! I have been feeling pretty tired lately, so every little thing is a major accomplishment. The baby had the hiccups last night, which felt so weird! He is positioned more on the right side of my body now, so my stomach looks kind of lopsided.

I will leave you with one final photo of Brian. When I was little, I loved watching Magnum P.I. and I started having flashbacks when Brian was posing for these. Does anyone else remember the opening of the show when Tom Selleck loads the clip into his gun? Brian re-enacted that scene perfectly!

Odds and Ends

Not too much going on around these parts. Brian and I have been keeping busy with the normal work-home routine. Tonight we are at my parent's house, and Brian is helping my dad install new kitchen flooring. They are almost done!
Last week, Brian and I started perusing the enormous selection of baby items at various stores. I am just amazed by how many things that babies apparently require. And most of this stuff is completely foreign to us. For example, what is the difference between stretchies and onesies and rompers? Do we really need a bouncy seat, a swing, and a play yard? Did you know there are about a hundred different kinds of strollers? We are so confused! Feel free to send helpful hints if you have them. :)
As I drove to work this morning, I just praised God for the beauty of this season. Fall is my favorite time of year. I hope all of you are enjoying the cool weather and beautiful trees too!

One itchy family!

Every summer, I (Melinda) manage to get poison ivy. Most of the time, I have no idea where I came in contact with it. This year I actually made it to October before the dreadful poison ivy struck. And to make matters worse, Brian got it as well. He noticed the tell-tale patch of red bumps on his arm first. He had never gotten it before and had previously assumed he was not allergic. Guess he was wrong. Praise the Lord for Zanfel! If you ever get poison ivy, I highly recommend it.

Annie must have felt left out because she promptly began scratching like crazy too! The vet diagnosed her as having grass allergies. Can you imagine a dog being allergic to grass? We got her hooked up with some doggy Prednisone, and she felt better almost immediately. I snapped the pictures below while Annie and Brian were napping together. They were both wiped out from a hard day of work...although I am not exactly sure what kind of work Annie had been doing. :)

Sonogram Pictures!

Here are two sonogram pictures from our last appointment. I am amazed how clearly we could see the baby. He moved all around and even yawned for us!


The above picture is the side view, so you can see the profile of his face very clearly.


This second one is the front view. His face is toward the left, and you can even see his little arms up by his head.

Brian and I went to the church bazaar this weekend and made several baby purchases, including an adorable sock monkey. Brian was re-enacting the flying monkey scene from the Wizard of Oz last night. Hmmm...not exactly the image I wanted to associate with this toy. :)

In other news, my brother turned 20 years old on Friday. I can hardly believe my little brother is 20! Time certainly flies. We love him much and are very proud of him.

Well, I will leave you with one last photo. I am 24 weeks along here and feel pretty large. My mom just chuckles and says to wait until I am 8 1/2 months pregnant. I am not sure if my skin will stretch any further!