Pumpkin Pictures!

We had so much fun yesterday! We went to the pumpkin patch with my parents and brother, sister-in-law, and family, then we went back to Matt and Pam's house for pumpkin carving and dinner. I know I wasn't going to include pictures with my posts for awhile, but I can't resist pumpkin patch pictures! Here is the link if you want to see all of the rest of the adorable pictures:

http://community.webshots.com/album/561237698hCBtnL?vhost=community

One More Rylieism

Rylie:"Mommy can you read to me from John, like Grandma did? Read about how they were naughty to Jesus. The Pirates were mean to Him."
Me: "Do you mean Pilate?"
Rylie: "No, the pirates! They are always the mean guys!"

Rylieisms

"I don't like sunny days, I like nighttime days."
"I'm going to be a spider when I grow up. I'm going to be blue and have eight legs and not talk. Spiders don't talk."
"When Anna gets bigger she'll know how to talk and then we'll call her Rylie."
"I'm not your girl, I'm Grandma and Grandpa's girl."
"You're the best Mommy/Daddy in the world!" (that one's my favorite!)

Good Quote

This is a quote from Missionary Adoniram Judson after burying his wife on the Mission Field:
"Great is our privilege, precious our opportunity, to co-operate with the Savior in the blessed work of enlarging and establishing His kingdom throughout the world . . . Let us not, then, regret the loss of those who have gone before us and are waiting to welcome us home, nor shrink from the summons that must call us thither. Let us only resolve to follow them who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises. Let us so employ the remnant of life, and so pass away, that our successors will say of us, as we of our predecessors, 'Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord. They rest from their labours, and their works do follow them."

Baby Appointment

I had an OB checkup today. After a few agonizing minutes (ok, probably just a few seconds, but it felt like forever), the Doctor found Anna's heartbeat and it was loud and strong! Just the way we like it! I'm at almost 21 weeks, but I'm measuring 22 weeks. The Doctor said that it is probably because Anna is a little longer than average. If you've seen me, you know that height runs in the family! Those of you who do know me are laughing right now - 5'2 can be pretty formidable! (Long Legged Louise, right Dee?!) I'm pretty proud of myself though, because I haven't gained any weight in three months, and prior to that I only gained a few pounds! I learned my lesson when I was pregnant with Rylie and stayed looking pregnant for the last two years! Anyway, it was a praise to hear her heartbeat and know she's growing good! Next appointment - glucose test!

New Blog

Check out a new blog I added to my list of blogs that I read: Growing Together. I also joined BlogHer. There's a button on the side in case you want to join too!

NaBloPoMo

Ok, I decided to take the challenge and join NaBloPoMo! All that means is that I will be posting every day in November. You are going to get so sick of me! Thanks Karen!

Wordy Wednesday!

Recently, a couple people have told me that when they pull up my blog it freezes their computer for a few minutes. I think this is because of all of the pictures that I post. I'm working on trying to make them smaller, but in the meantime, I will forgo posting new pictures. This is so hard for me, I am a scrapbooker at heart! So, for a while, you will just get my random musings!
I have really been enjoying my devotions this week. I have put some of the things that I learned from our Women's Retreat into practice and it has helped tremendously.
Today, I was reading Psalm 78. I have been taking out all of the things that I see that teach more about who God is, His character. But, today in between all of the wonderful things I saw about the Lord (22 things!) I also came across a verse that encouraged me. I have been feeling like I am just getting through the day lately (probably because I've been really busy and sick), and not purposefully living out my day. Especially when it comes to Rylie. Don't get me wrong, I take care of her and play with her, etc. But I haven't been focused on teaching her the Word. In this Psalm today, it talked about the commands to the Israelites to teach their children and even the unborn ones, the future generations about God, and His commands, and all He had done for them. Verse 7 is the one that gave a reason for this, "Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands." This verse was encouraging to me because it kind of gave me a motivation, a purpose statement. I need to have some goals. I have had these goals for my children, but it was good to find them stated so succinctly in this verse. I think it's one I need to commit to memory!

My Pregnancy Buddy!

This is my pregnancy buddy, Becky. She is due 10 days after me. She is my friend from church. It's been so fun to go through this pregnancy with her. This is also her second baby, her first being a girl, just like me. She will find out the gender of her baby in a couple weeks. She has been amazingly strong. For her first trimester, when she was feeling the worst, her husband was deployed overseas. He is an Army Ranger and where he goes and when he goes and returns is top secret. Becky doesn't even know for sure when to expect him. Praise the Lord, he returned safely from this mission, but was now sent somewhere in the States for a few weeks. Becky has been so strong during this time, she has really been relying on the Lord. With her first pregnancy she delivered very early and Lindsey was premature and had to remain in the hospital for quite a while. She is now a very healthy, adorable little girl. Becky now has to take shots twice a week to prevent the same thing from happening this time. I'm so proud of how well she's doing. Keep her and her baby in your prayers!

Women's Retreat

We had our Fall Women's Retreat this weekend. It went great, other than me feeling absolutely miserable! I am now definitely sicker than last week. I asked the pharmacist if there was anything I could take (because of being pregnant), he just laughed at me! Now, I feel like I could just curl up and die. Of course when I do curl up, I get heartburn and I feel like I'm squishing the baby, not to mention that I can't hardly breathe because I'm so stuffed up. Then there's the intense pain in my ears and the burning in my throat. . . ok, enough whining!
Back to the retreat, we had a good turnout and I think everyone had a good time! Friday night, we had a fun time of fellowship and of course played our annual game of Taboo! (should I mention that my team won?!) About 1:00am those of us that where still up decided we needed to go to Denny's. I have been craving biscuits and gravy for awhile. The top picture is Jenaya and Sara at Denny's, and the next picture is Jessica and Keren at Denny's. Jessica, Keren and I spent the night, well, the early morning hours, at the church. I wasn't sure if I would get my five months pregnant body off of the nursery floor in the morning, but I managed.

Saturday we had a great day of learning from the Word. (And of course lot's of food!) Deborah shared with us in the first session what she does for her devotional time. She is amazing! She spends one to two hours every morning, reading five Psalms, two Valley of Vision prayers and then she has a separate notebook for each member of her family (six people including herself). She uses those to pray specific requests for each of them, and then she finds Scripture to pray for them for that day. She does some other things too. When I asked her to be one of our speakers, I asked her because I knew she was a Godly woman, but I didn't realize how deep her devotional life is. God really had me choose the right person! She is so gracious and humble too, it never came across as pious. For our second session, I had everyone go off on their own and just spend time in God's Word. We are all so busy and have so many distractions at home, that I had hoped this would be a real gift to them to have an uninterrupted hour. For our third session Betty shared with us how she realized that God was her shepherd when she battled breast cancer this summer. It was great to see how she applied something she had learned in her devotional life, practically.

The retreat was a lot of work, but it was worth it. It was a great time of fellowship and learning. I loved seeing women getting to know other women that they didn't know before. We always make place cards and move them around to different spots for each meal so they have to sit with someone new. This avoids cliques.

Now, I'm going to try to take a nap while Rylie watches Wonder Pets! (Yes, we skipped church today!)

Wordless Wednesday! (We're all sick!)

25 Years of Ministry

Wow! What a celebration! My parents have been ministering at our church for 25 years. In this day and age of Pastors going from church to church, it is an amazing accomplishment to be faithful in one ministry for 25 years. We are so proud of them, and of course give the glory to God. We had a special service Sunday morning with presentations and a Message from my cousin, Jerry, who is also a Pastor. The Sunday School classes also did a special program. Rylie's class was supposed to sing, "You are my Sunshine", but they all just stood there with deer in the headlights eyes. Rylie had practiced all week and knew all the words, but I guess it was a little intimidating to be standing in front of all those people.

Sunday evening we had a Banquet for them. It was a catered event. We had different people share memories and honor Mom and Dad and the Lord.

This whole celebration has been a lot of fun to plan and also a lot of work. This is why I haven't been blogging much lately. There have been a million details to attend to. But, it was all worth it to see the smiles on my parent's faces!

Here is a link to all of the rest of the pictures from the celebrations:

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/561063780tunKEx?vhost=good-times

Anna

Your pregnancy: 19 week
How your baby's growing:Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces, and he measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the length of a small zucchini. His arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of his body now. His kidneys continue to make urine, and the hair on his scalp is sprouting. This is a crucial time for sensory development: Your baby's brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. If your baby is a girl, she has an astonishing 6 million eggs in her ovaries. They'll dwindle to fewer than two million by the time she's born.

Last Night

I posted a link to Rylie's pictures from last night, so here is a picture of us from then. I thought some of you might get a kick of how big my belly is already!

Rylie's fun night

Last night the Pastoral Staff were invited to some people's house for dinner. Bryan and Trisha provided us with wonderful hospitality and even gave us gifts when we left. Rylie went to our friends, Aaron and Becky's house while we were at dinner. We know they love her and that she would have fun with them, but I have to admit I was a little nervous because she's never stayed with them before. She is usually with family. But here is a link to some pictures that Becky took of their evening. You tell me if she had fun or not! http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2612688000094497409dWwGEv?vhost=good-times

It's a girl!!!!!

It's official! It's a girl!!!! We are so excited! It was amazing to see her little face and to see her moving all around! If you click on the pictures you can see the picture of our baby! Her name is Anna, we are still working on the middle name. Maybe, Joy. My friend, Becky, came with us to the ultrasound! Thank you so much for sharing this with us Becky! We love you!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

I've been neglecting my Blogging Buddies! I have been so busy. I'm helping put together a special service and banquet for my parents. They have been ministering at our church (my Dad is the Senior Pastor) for 25 years! We are having a big shindig for them on the 14th and there are a ton of details that I am working on. At the same time, I am working on a lot of details for our Women's Retreat the following weekend. I'm also throwing a baby shower this weekend. Oh yeah, and all the other regular stuff . . . two Bible studies, mentoring, Puggles, Mommy, Wife, growing a baby, . . .
By the way, tomorrow is my ultrasound! We are so excited to find out if we are having blue or pink!
My Echocariogram came back normal, so that is good news. I am still awaiting the results of the Holter Monitor.

Young Love

So, Rylie has had a crush on a Junior High boy from our church. Yesterday she told me, "I love Tyler, he's my favorite." Tonight, her friend Keegan came over to play (while their Daddy's watched football). When it was time for her to go to bed, Keegan and his Dad came upstairs to put away the toys Keegan had played with. As they were leaving the room, Keegan came over to Rylie, who was laying in bed, and tucked her in. When they went downstairs, Rylie told me, "I like Keegan, he's my favorite. I don't like Tyler anymore."
I didn't think we would have to worry about multiple crushes, or any for that matter, at this age! At least Keegan is her age! And no, Ryan doesn't like it one bit!