God- sent

Now, I am not traditionally a corny/sappy person who believes that a lot of things in their life were just "meant to be", but I did experience something I think is beyond cool this weekend. We went by on Saturday with my parents to look at the house we are buying in Katy and had a quick chance to meet the current owners. Get this, they used to be on staff at First Baptist Katy but they are moving to Richmond to plant a church there! We knew a lot of the same people and as it turns out, First Baptist Houston is one of the churches sponsoring their church plant.

I had thought, based on items I saw in the home and the integrity with which they handled the sale, that there was a good chance that they were Christians. I haven't a clue why, but it was such a relief and joy to know that we were buying from a strong Christian family and that our house could simply continue to be a tool in doing God's work. We heard the story of them trying to sell the house and how they almost tried to sell it last summer (even listed it for a week or so) before deciding to wait until after their 4th little girl was born. I feel like God was reserving the house for us and as it turns out, this was perfect timing for the sellers as well... we close just after the construction on their new house is completed. Anyways, I feel as though me finding the house online was not a fluke, us loving it was not a fluke and everything working out fairly easily in the process was not a fluke. I truly feel as though we are going where God wants us to be. It scares me to say that because firstly, it sounds presumptive, and secondly it sounds nothing like me.... but there you go :)

Forward Thinking

I think it is well established that I am a planner. I'm actually a little upset that there isn't more that I have to do for the house between now and closing. As it is, we've already done everything we can except lock in an interest rate which we can't do til 30 days out (April 1st) anyway. I've set up the appointment with the security company for 2 days after closing already and we are going to order our new counter tops soon and have them measure right after closing. This brings me to a funny-ish story...

I called ADT on Wednesday to set up the initial walk through of the house to get an estimate for alarm installation. I talked to the very nice lady at the call center and she told me the name of the consultant that I would be meeting with. On Thursday I received this call...

ADT- "Hello, Mrs. Ezell?"
Me - "Yes?"
ADT- "This is _______ from ADT, and I just received an email informing me that I am meeting with you on May the 2nd and I wanted to confirm that this was correct"
Me- "Yes, it is"
ADT- "Ok, I just don't think I've ever had an appointment scheduled that far in advance so I figured something must be wrong."


And welcome to my world :)

Madness Alive

That's right folks, round 3... otherwise known as the Sweet 16 starts up today and though the Ags will not be a part, I'm still pretty excited :) There are still 2 Big 12 teams to root for in the running, so it should be fun! I've also got my lifelong fave, North Carolina, to go for in one of tonight's games. You can ask my Dad, I've had a thing for UNC ever since I got interested in basketball.....well actually.... before that. Of course as a young girl, my interest in UNC was entirely based on the fact that I REALLY liked their colors... powder blue and white. Still, it doesn't matter how you pick a winner, as long as they win..... right? ;-)

Growth Chart

And there is the glorious belly @ 22 weeks.... :)

How big is your baby?
Your baby has finally reached a weight of 1 pound and is approximately 10 inches long.


Yay, a pound!! Only a few more to go and he's ready to meet us! Luckily, it doesn't take quite so long for them to add the remaining pounds as it took for that first one to appear... can you imagine?? The pic was taken @ 22.5 weeks and I am now officially 23 weeks pregnant.

White Noise

To accompany our lesson on airline etiquette a few days ago, I am going to make a point about office etiquette........ USE HEADPHONES. That's right folks, it's as simple as that. When you work in a cube farm, the noise you make travels to the people around you. Be it an enthusiastic phone call or a favorite song, you are sharing this audio experience with your neighbors. Now, I recognize that there isn't much you can do about the phone thing except being mindful of it and trying to keep your voice at a decent level, but the music can be controlled.

A new girl moved into the cube that mine shares a wall with on the next hallway over. She has a small clock radio on her desk that she plays 24/7... not kidding. I got here at 5:30 yesterday morning and it was on! I checked and she wasn't there so I turned the volume off. By doing this, I found out that she comes into work at 7:30 (at which time she turned it back on). She plays it very quietly to the point where it is likely that only she and I can hear it. Unfortunately this plays on one of my biggest pet peeves..... I can't stand it when people play music loud enough to where you can't ignore it but quietly enough to where you can't really tell what song it is. In this case, I can't even tell the genre so the noise is like a constant buzzing in my ear. This is the Chinese water torture of the digital age. I haven't been introduced to this girl, so I feel awkward asking her to either desist or purchase headphones.... my neighbor to the other side suggested I walk over calmly, pick up the radio and smash it..... I rather like this idea... perhaps a bit too much :)

The Ultimate Nesting Opportunity

I think it is fairly common knowledge that pregnant women as they get closer to delivery like to do something called nesting wherein they organize and re-organize and clean and re-clean to prepare for the baby. Well, Nate and I have just created a nesting situation like none other.... we are buying a house!!! Now, to those of you who have talked to me about this recently, the words "But I thought you were waiting..." are just about to escape your lips..... we were waiting, just apparently not anymore :) I saw this house online and knew immediately that it was something special and that it could be exactly what we were looking for. Nate agreed and we were off to look at it. Here was the schedule~

Tuesday (3/18)- 8 am~ Abby finds home listing online and sends it to Nate. Both agree that it is too good not to at least look at it
9 am~ Abby calls USAA and asks to be assigned a realtor in Katy.
noon~ Realtor is assigned
4:30 pm~ Nate and Abby are visiting the house

Wednesday (3/19)- 11 am~ Nate and Abby's realtor turns in signed offer on house
afternoon~ House is shown to three other couples

Thursday (3/20)- 11 am~ Sellers counteroffer, Nate and Abby accept
night~ Final contract is signed by all parties

Saturday (3/22)- 11 am~ Home inspection conducted; besides a few minor things, house receives clean bill of health!!!


Enough of that! Here are the specs, the house is in Katy near Grand Parkway and I-10 (Peek and Kingsland if you are Katy savvy). It is 2662 sq ft with 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, separate living room, den, dining room, breakfast area, and game room. It has a BEAUTIFUL screened in deck, and lots of cool little details that we love :) See pics below

Front of OUR house!
Actually this is the den, the dining is behind the camera and has a bay window!
Living room Breakfast area with doors to the deck
Kitchen (green cabinets are gone, by the way)

We are also replacing the counter tops!

Master bedroom

Master bath (garden tub on right)

Upstairs game room

Their nursery that will become our nursery

Half of screened in deck

Back of house
Back yard.... my mom is going to have to help me decide what to put in those flower beds!

Positive Notes

Before I say anything else, let's just mention that A&M and K-State both had upset victories last night... it was the best of times in the Ezell household :) If you don't know to what I am referring then don't tell me because we may not be able to be friends after that :P

I've decided to list good things about waking up at 4:30 am and not being able to get back to sleep (and there are lots)~

~ You don't have to wake up to your alarm. This gets bonus points.

~ While there is a possibility that you may wear out later in the day, you get to start your day wide awake and ready to face the world....it's kind of a groovy feeling :)

~ You actually have time to do your hair. This is nice because it shows your coworkers that your hair isn't permanently stuck in a ponytail.

~ You have plenty of time to go the 5 minutes out of the way and grab a Jamba Juice for breakfast. This would get expensive if done every day, but treat it like compensation for your missed sleep and it all seems to work.

~ You get to see an AMAZING full moon chillin out in the sky! This is, of course, dependant upon time of month and direction of travel. ("My Comings and Goings" in no way guarantees a sighting of said moon and cannot be held responsible should this moon not be present or should the driver be unable to locate it.)

Stealing a Post

I read a post on Todd's blog in the not too distant past that I thought rang pretty true and that I figured my Dad would likely appreciate along with anyone else who either flies frequently or has pretty much ever flown internationally. I hope you enjoy it :)

Top 10 Etiquette Rules of Flying by The Traveler~

Now these are in order of boarding to deplaning and not necessarily importance.

10. Pre-boarding: Look at the little card in your hand and use common sense. If it says Group 3, you do not board first. First Class always boards first, then Status members, then everyone else. If you are on an Embraer where everyone is First Class and there are three groups to board starting from Group 3, YOU STILL DON'T BOARD FIRST! The people who fly week in and week out board first and then Group 3 boards and 2 and so on. This has two parts:A. Don't try and sneak on to get your luggage on board. This is very poor form.B. Don't stand at the entrance to the boarding line like they may magically call group 4 before they call group 6 or 1 (or First Class or Status). All you are doing is blocking the way and angering people. This, by the way, should be punishable by a public slapping.

9. When you get on the plane, stick your roll-aboard in the over head compartment and move in to the aisle to take off any extraneous garment you don’t want on your person during the flight. This is not Paris, Milan, L.A. or New York. This is not your personal runway. Other people are trying to board and you essentially are holding up the process of taking off.

8. Luggage stowage: If you have two items. One goes under your seat. If you have a small item only, THIS STILL goes under your seat. Taking up precious overhead space is bush league. If you are sitting in Row 28, your luggage is not that heavy. You have lugged it around all day and another 50 feet will not kill you. DO NOT put your luggage in the bin above aisle 10 or so help me… All this does is slow the boarding process because the people in Aisle 10 have to find a place for their belongings and inevitably it will slow the deplaning process.

7. Sit in your assigned seat. Again look at that little card in your hand and do the math. Oh and don't try and sit in the exit row seats (the poor man's First Class) and think the frequent flyer who got that seat will just see you and say "Oh I better find another seat".

6. Flight Attendants: Be nice to these people. Do not refer to them as stewardesses. This is not 1950. These people are there to ensure your safety (As much as anyone outside of the cockpit can). They are not there to wait on you hand and foot. If you are rude to them then that puts them in a foul mood and the rest have to suffer. Oh and don’t be surprised if you get a sneezer.

5. Seat positioning: If you have the bladder of a new born puppy, don't choose the window seat. In fact don't choose the middle seat unless you can not help it. If you are not able to help it you are to be on a liquid fast 3 hours prior to take off and during the entire flight. Because the first time you get up to go to the bathroom people will understand. The third or fourth time, you may get lynched.

4. Swapping seats: Don't ask to do this unless the swap is equitable. (See my Comment on Airline Etiquette Lesson #1). If you are traveling for pleasure and you book far enough in advance you should be able to sit next to your companion. Go online to the airline’s website and make this happen. I know you can do it! If the airline screws up and moves you to another flight then my apologies but don't make me suffer for their mistake. If you book a Super Saver seat and end up having to take the left-over seats then that is your bad.

3. Leaning back: Don't lean back if you don't plan on sleeping. I and many others on the plane are trying to work. We have laptops and it is very difficult to work with our laptop screen in our Adam's apple. I don't mind if you are sleeping but don't sit there and have a conversation with another person reclined like you are in a Laz-y-boy at your house.

2. I don't want to talk to you: Nobody wants to talk to you. Question: Do I come to your car and sit there and talk to you while you are going to work? That is exactly what we are doing. There is a 90% chance that if you see someone in a suit or dress slacks and shirt on Monday morning, the same attire on Thursday evening, or wearing jeans and a haggard look then there is a good chance that person is going to or returning from work. I may chit chat with you. You know, "price of tea in China" type conversation. This is mere politeness. It is not an invitation to yap for the next three and a half hours.

1. Deplaning: Ok here are the rules. They are simple. Do not chit chat. Each row on the plane leaves. If you have issues getting your roll-aboard down move inside and struggle there. Let the other people off the plane. I am finally getting home and don’t want to have to sit there and listen to your conversation or determine that you need to hit the gym. Do not try to get your briefcase to connect to your roll-a-board before getting off the jet-way and clear of the entrance. This is still blocking everyone and you are not nimble enough to maneuver your luggage as so. This is the airplane equivalent to rubber-necking in traffic and it angers others.

So you ask what give The Traveler the right to make these bold statements. Last week, I was in another city and The Airline calls me. "Mr. The Traveler, we noticed that you did not fly with us during the month of December and we wanted to check in and make sure everything was ok, and that there was nothing we did to discourage you from flying with us." To which I responded that everything was fine and that I had a slow month. I also find it ironic that they were calling me in March about December when I had flown 20 times or so since then. Oh well just goes to show how "important" I am.

Growth Chart

Sooooo, I loaded the belly pic from this week onto my computer, but forgot to put it in a place where I could actually get it to put it in the blog..... so maybe the belly will be an every other week thing :) Here's where I am at 22 weeks~

How big is your baby?
Your baby is approximately 9 inches long and weighs a whole 14 ounces.

What is happening with your baby?
Your baby has pretty much taken on the form of a newborn baby, but is incredibly small. Much development will continue to occur over the next 18 weeks. His skin appears wrinkly, but this is because he has not yet gained enough weight to fill the skin out. The lips are becoming more distinct. The eyes have completely formed, but the iris (the colored portion of the eye) still lacks pigment. The eyelids and eyebrows are in place, and the pancreas is continuing to mature.


Does anyone else thing that the bit about the pancreas is kind of random? Anyhoo, that's all for today.... if I remember, I will post the belly pic when I get home tonight :)

Like swallowing popcorn kernels then getting really, really hot....

I was laying in bed last night reading and, as is becoming quite normal now, 10 minutes after I laid down on my side, Micah started kicking. These weren't your ordinary kicks now.... these were your future soccer star Beckham-esque kicks. They were impressively hard and I began to wonder if I would be able to see them from the outside.

I expected to maybe be able to see a tiny little movement of my belly to correspond with the kiddo's best attempts to break out early. I peered down at my belly and after not too long, I was rewarded by seeing it jump...not a tiny bit, but a solid centimeter straight up! For you non-metric people, there are 2.54 centimeters in an inch.... to give you a perspective :P And to give you a bit more of a perspective, the next kick registered at half an inch....by far the biggest of the night. It was really cool!! I actually got to watch him kick about 10-15 times before I went back to my reading. As I write this, he is joyfully swinging away down there to prove that this was no one time thing for him. What a blessing it is to have several moments each day when I know that Micah is alive and, well... kicking :)

Look at me, I'm a Cowboy.. "Howdy, howdy howdy"

So Nate and I went for round one of the Rodeo yesterday (this round with my parents) and it did not disappoint! I'm always afraid that I will go one time and all of the sudden I won't like it anymore. I am happy to report though, that this was not the case. In fact, this year was a year of firsts for me at the Rodeo and the new experiences did nothing but add to my enjoyment.

Abby's top things to do at the Rodeo (as learned from years past and as added to yesterday :)~

1) Go to the Pig Races. They pretty much end at sundown, but before that they run every hour on the half hour.

2) Actually go inside the Exhibition Hall. You know the one I mean.... it's on your left right after you walk in and it's across from the three incredibly long food tents. Take time once inside to look at the shops, check out the champion quilts, look in on the newborn pigs and cows and stand by the egg hatcher and try to will a chick to take the plunge and pop out of the egg they are wiggling around inside of.

3) Mutton Bustin. I just saw this for the first time yesterday. The premise? 3-6 yr old children are loaded onto the backs of large sheep and are released from a Rodeo sheep chute (one at a time, of course). The child that holds on the longest as the sheep runs full speed around the arena wins. It's pretty stinkin fantastic, I gotta tell ya :)

4) Tilt a Whirl.... nuf said.

5) Go to the actual Rodeo, for crying out loud. Don't think that Rodeo is for you? Give it at least one good try and you may find yourself hooked. It cracks me up that people show up after the Rodeo for the concert while I leave after the Rodeo part and say "no thanks" to the concert.

6) Try to get seats above the bronc and bull riding chutes whenever possible. We were 8 rows up from the chutes and it was by far the coolest Rodeo seats I've ever had. You get to see them prepare and load up on their "rides" and most of the action is right there in front of you.

7) Calf Scramble. While part of the Rodeo itself, it is an experience all on its own. Here's the idea, a large group of FFA students is set free in the very large Rodeo arena with about half the number of calves as students. You catch a calf, harness it, and pull it into the center square to win scholarship money. Sounds easy, right? WRONG. Watch and see for your self as a 13 yr old girl is dragged half the distance across the arena while holding on to the tail of a cow and tell me that isn't good entertainment :) Yesterday we saw a scramble first wherein a boy full on tackled the cow (he was a big boy) and laid on top of it as he harnessed it. When he tried to get it to stand up, however, the cow seemed to have lost it's will to live and wouldn't even move it's head. It was pretty dang funny and eventually, after we were rolling on the floor laughing, the kid did manage to get the calf up and then had to drag it to the square.

Anyways, those are my highlights. I have one picture only in this post because our new Mac hates me and refused to properly rotate pictures. I will post a link later though when I get them up.... you have to see some of the bronc riding pictures..... it's crazy stuff!

If I Fall, You're Going Down with Me....

Weird title perhaps, seeing as how I am simply announcing that my brother, the great Ben Elkins, has started a blog!! I'm excited for at least three specific reasons

~Now maybe I don't have to hear as much of their family news through my mom for the first time anymore. Now to be completely fair, I tell my mom more stuff then I tell them too so I'm sure this goes both ways :P

~ His first blog about obsessive parking makes me feel better about my own weird obsessions (including parking.... I like the space in front of the pipe because it is the only one with a parking stop... and I get here earlier now to park there...so sad) and gives me an idea of where I got these tendencies (thanks alot, mom and dad :P)

~ Last but not least, it gives me blog fodder for a Friday which is either the easiest or absolute hardest day of the week to come up with anything to say.

Anyways, welcome to blog-dom Ben!! 3ringben.blogspot.com

p.s.- If you become one of those once every three months bloggers, I will disown you.... maybe... partially.... well, just don't do it, ok?

p.p.s.- Ben posted one of his newest faves of Elena, so here is one of my faves from earlier this year.

Low points... and a snack!

I have to set the stage here.... I'm in a meeting and my boss is talking about a new bonus program ( I will be gone before it starts). I'm still listening intently when all of the sudden I feel something move.... under my shirt. Ummmmm...... I put my hand on the spot expecting to just have an itch and I find a lump. Oh dear. My mind starts racing... the lump feels like a decent sized spider based on the give and so I keep my thumb pressed against it and wait. I figured squishing said spider on the top of my belly was better than it getting away and me not knowing where it went.

Anyhoo, so my boss goes on and on... and on. I start to get freaked out and begin to think about if there is any way for me to reach either up or down my shirt really casually and remove the offending lump without the other people noticing. I was getting desperate, but even in that state I recognized that due to it's position (halfway between going in from above and going in from below) it would be nearly impossible to pull that off without attracting undue attention. So I sat with my thumb on my belly and waited. Finally when the meeting ended, I rushed to the bathroom, jumped in a stall, and yanked my shirt up. It was..... a chip. That's right folks, a thick piece of Baked Lays Ruffles Cheddar and Sour Cream from my morning snack ( 3 hours before... it shifted in the meeting to where I could feel it). Not only that, I had a nice, sore red mark on my belly from pushing the chip into me for so long.

And that, my friends, is just another day in the life of me :P

Growth Chart

As of today, I am 21 weeks pregnant!! Now, for those of you that are saying, "Well, 9 months is 36 weeks.... you're pretty far along!." actually the "9 months" of pregnancy is technically 40 weeks. I didn't know this until this last year. Still, I AM over halfway there now!! Plus, I am clinging to the hope that I really do have pregnancies like those of my Aunt and Grandma (whom I take after in my body type) who both gave birth 1-2 weeks early each time and never had a labor exceeding 3 hours. Here's hoping :)

How big is your baby?

Your baby has grown to 8 1/2 inches long and weighs 12 ounces

Umm, this would make him a really low density pineapple?

Asian Cooking and Teenage Pregnancy

Last night, my mom and I went to a cooking class held at the William Sonoma in Highland Village. They were doing a "Healthy Asian" class wherein we got to watch them cook three different dishes and we got to eat them each as they finished them... it was SO GOOD!!! I was inspired not to be afraid of different cooking styles, although my inspiration did not include the purchase of a $170 wok as it did for many other people in the class :P The menu looked a bit like this~

~Appetizer- Pot stickers served with the Williams Sonoma Potsticker sauce (which I did buy.... it's fabulous!)

~Recipe 1- Stir Fried Ginger Beef with onions served over Asian egg noodles (The beef was fantastic)

~Recipe 2- Stir Fried Chicken with jalapenos, bell pepper, basil and who knows what else over cinnamon and bay leaf infused rice (This entire dish was out of this world and is SO making it into my kitchen :)

~Recipe 3- Pork Satay with peanut dipping sauce (What I had was great, but the pork was cooked still pink in the middle which is a big no no in pregnancy so I only had a small piece that had cooked all the way through)

~Dessert- Homemade Ginger ice cream (good..... too good..... way too good....seriously)

The employee who made the ice cream worked for Marble Slab for 7 years before this creating ice cream flavors and he whipped up this little gem for us... it was amazing. He and the two other chefs for the evening have all been professionally trained in New York, Houston and California cooking schools... it was so good!! The only downside? I went with my mom and because I look so young, I realized about halfway through the class that most of the people there thought I was a teenage pregnancy. I tried to flash the bling, but at that point their minds were made up. Oh well, all part of the adventure of looking a decade younger than you are ;-)

How could I have forgotten??

The funniest thing happened yesterday at church~

They play music as people walk in before the service and it is very subtle. Not very loud, not hugely noticeable. But yesterday I walked in and started my descent down the stairs when the music reached my subconcious and I started to sing along. Wait a second... isn't this Weezer?? It WAS!! It was "Only in Dreams" from Weezer's blue cd. I couldn't believe it. Apparently someone in the sound booth shares my taste in music although I'm not sure Weezer is the most appropriate choice for pre-sermon music. I saw Jen and asked her and then saw my brother and asked him just to make sure I wasn't hearing things. Although I was 99.99999% sure it was them, I just couldn't believe my ears. Anyhoo, I look forward to entering to Foo Fighters or Counting Crows next week :)

well.....

I have eaten nearly HALF of my enormous bag of honey nut chex already just trying to figure out what to write today.... Mondays can be difficult when it comes to blogging :P At this point though, the only way to make sure that my cereal lasts me as long as it needs to (another 2 hours or so) is to start typing...... so there you are :)

Things that were cool this weekend~

~Hanging out with the fam
~Seeing Elena react to the real and animatronic animals in Rainforest Cafe
~Great, home-cooked, food that I didn't have to cook myself
~Great, non-home-cooked, desserts from Ooh La La Dessert Boutique
~Jamba juice!
~Going to the Aggie basketball game
~Wildflowers in the highway median and deer in the pastures
~Watching Elena try to squeeze her whole body under a row of chairs in church to reach her paci
~Finding out that Elena is the only kid her age who can climb the inflatable "big slide" without a parent and that she climbs it faster than most kids that had up to 3 years on her

p.s.- I love Evan too with his big smiles and bouncy nature... unfortunately he's too young to "do" much of anything yet :)

I get to see my brother and his family this weekend.... I can't wait until lunchtime!!!

Joy in Everything!

The Sunday school class that Nate and I are a part of has just recently started small groups for the semester and we are going through a book called the 4:8 principle. It is based on Philippians 4:8 (Whatever is true, whatever is right.....praiseworthy...excellent...etc, think about such things) It talks about changing your way of thinking and recognizing God's hand and his promises in every aspect of your life. It talks about changing your negative thoughts into positive ones which is a huge issue for me and something that has weighed me down alot in life. I LOVE the group that meets every Wednesday and I LOVE the material. It all sounds so fabulous, but I had been secretly wondering if I would be strong enough to change my negative thinking through Christ's power, or if I would fail to even try, This morning I got my answer.

I forgot to set my alarm last night, so when I woke up as I normally do about 10 minutes before my alarm goes off, I rolled over and went back to sleep waiting for my alarm to go off... which it didn't. I've had this situation before and I wake up in a panic and spend my day worried, harried and just in a bad mood. This morning when I woke up an hour late, I looked at the clock and had a momentary sense of panic but before I could overreact, God in his grace reminded me of our discussions in small group from the night before. This wasn't a bad thing, waking up late..... it was an opportunity. I still got up quickly, but instead of rushing around fretting, I got ready calmly and surprisingly, smiling. I felt AMAZING! Just the extra hour had granted me so much rest.

In the car I decided to employ one of the book's tactics and list five things that were positive about waking up late. I came up with this~

1) I felt rested, joyful, and ready to start my day!
2) I got to drive to work with the sun shining which I love and never get to do.
3) I got to listen to an amazing Switchfoot song that reminds me every time that I (and my thoughts) are not of this world and that pointed me towards focusing on Heaven.
4) I didn't have to deal with the rush of cars in the parking garage in the morning. It usually stresses me out.
5) This is maybe a slight repeat of number two, but it was a beautiful morning and I got to experience it. I have always felt God's love and presence the most through nature and weather, so a morning like the one we had today makes me feel like God is raining down blessings upon me.

It was amazing, but the increased traffic didn't bother me, the multiple coworkers making fun of me for being late didn't bother me, being late in and of itself didn't bother me (which is HUGE), and even once at work, I found it easier to concentrate which is why it was hard to take my 15 min break and write this because I was so into work. I guess I am just so excited about the possibility of Christ giving me total freedom from negativity that I needed to write this. I can't wait to see what the coming weeks and months and years hold for me and I know that God has an amazing plan for my life!! I'm going to stop now though, cause I could keep going and going :)

Growth Chart... well, sorta

On this edition of growth chart, there are going to be a few changes made. At the beginning of the pregnancy a lot of different features were just starting to form and operate and it made for interesting reading. At this point, everything has been fully developed for awhile now and it is all just getting bigger and taking on more responsibilities. Because of this, the "what is happening with your baby" section has gotten pretty graphic and unappetizing. Since I have control over what I post, it's going bye bye :) But here is the rest!

How big is your baby?
Up until this point your baby's length was measured from the crown of their head to the bottom of their rear end. Now your baby's length is measured from crown to heel. Your baby is about 8 inches long and weighs 9 ounces.

The Cat is Out of the Bag

That's right folks... I made it past the end of February, but just barely. Everyone at my office now knows that I am pregnant. What is funny is that the guys never did figure it out themselves, one of the two women who guessed it told them.... and they were shocked!! Guys can be so oblivious sometimes :P

One interesting thing is that NOBODY has asked me yet whether or not I plan on staying.... this has surprised me the most. So I suppose I have only been partially outed as they have no idea that behind my engineer's exterior lurks the heart of a stay-at-home mom... anyone care to venture a guess as to how long it will take for someone to ask me that? I figure it could be today, could be never so I guess we'll just have to wait and see :)

Still Kickin'

I laid down to go to bed last night and Micah started kicking like he often does (it's still sporadic when I feel it, but I'm more likely to feel it at night after I lay down). The kicks were spread pretty far apart, but I noticed on the second one that it felt harder than normal. I put my hand on my stomach and waited and sure enough the next time he kicked, I could feel it.... from the OUTSIDE!! I woke Nate up and put his hand on my stomach and Nate got through 3 "I don't feel anything"s in the minute it took Micah to kick again. (I guess he thought that Micah kicks on command, or maybe just that when a baby is kicking it is doing one immediately after the other... or maybe he was just tired cause I woke him up :) But when he did kick, Nate felt it! Nate had been feeling a little left out when I could feel Micah and he couldn't... it was a really cool experience to share with him! Luckily for Nate, he doesn't have to share in the baby keeping you awake part of that fun :P