Waiting Patiently

So we are waiting patiently for the arrival of our little boy. His clothes are all washed in Dreft, his crib sheet has been washed a couple of times, his diaper bag is packed and ready, and my hospital bag is set to go. We can't believe that he is almost here! It seems like yesterday we found out that God had blessed us with a pregnancy that we had thought would take an eternity to happen. Then ultrasound after ultrasound and appointment after appointment, he is finally almost here. Wow!! It's so amazing and it's finally hitting us...we are going to be parents!

As I sit here feeling nervous, anxious, excited, overwhelmed with joy, I thank God for this blessing. I pray a prayer of thankfulness every day for this gift growing inside of me. I feel his kicks and it brings joy to my heart. I feel him roll and hiccup and I am just amazed at the miracle of life. God is so good and we are so blessed!

So as I'm closing out this entry for today, I sit and speak to our little one...

Our precious little boy,

Your daddy and I are so excited to meet you! And there are many others that are excited to meet you too!! We have prayed for you every day and so many others have also. We know you'll come when you're ready! I hope you're ready to be cuddled, read to, sung to, and just loved to pieces.

We love you!

Mommy and Daddy

The Nursery is Done!

Our baby nursery is finally complete! I have been waiting all summer to have it finished and I am so excited to be able to have our little one use it! Many thanks to my parents and Jaime for helping with the painting. A huge thank you to my sister Jaime for all of her hard work organizing the drawers and closet. She is an organizational queen!! I can't believe that in 7 weeks we will welcome home our little boy and show him his room. We are both so excited and nervous, but thank God every day for the chance to be parents. Here are some pictures of the nursery. Enjoy!

Here's Jaime working hard at putting up the sport decals.

His dresser is already filled with clothes and is neatly organized. The glider has already had many stories read in it. We just can't wait to rock our little one in it!

The adorable bookshelf my 2nd graders decorated for me. They gave it to me at their surprise shower. So cute!! I know our little one will LOVE books!

The neatly organized closet! Jaime also helped with that. She is an organizing queen!

And finally the crib in the sports bedding that Nate picked out. I know our little one will enjoy sports as much as Nate does!

The Basement is Almost Done!

As I sit here listening to the pounding of nails and workers voices in the basement, I'm so excited!! Our carpet is getting laid as I sit here blogging. It seems like it's been a long and drawn out process that we just want done! While we were in Nebraska we had someone prime and paint a first coat on our spare room and living room and finish some last minute dry wall. When we returned from Nebraska my family came over and helped paint the computer / laundry room and put second coats on the rest of our rooms. Now the end is finally in sight and we are extremely thrilled! I should have pictures up later this week.

The most fun and exciting part should begin by the end of the week....the BABY'S NURSERY!!! I have been wanting to start it since we picked up our crib and dresser a month ago. I am so excited to decorate our little boy's room in his sport's themed room. I know once the nursery is done I'll just sit in the glider and stare in awe that this finally happening. Only 11 more weeks and our little one will be here. I can't believe it! I thank God everyday for this blessing that he's given to the both of us!

A Baby on the Way

So I haven't blogged in a very, very, long time. It's been a crazy, busy year with school and just life! You all may know by now that Nate and I are expecting a baby boy in September. We are very excited and so blessed!! We have prayed for a long time that God would bless us with a child and we just can't wait for our little boy to get here. It's been an amazing journey of faith and prayer and we wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for our friends and family!

The baby journey has been so exciting so far! We've been to quite a few ultrasounds and have seen our very active little one! He'll be playing football for sure! I've even started feeling some of his football movements this past week. Amazing!! I will post the ultrasound pictures as soon as I scan them.

We had a great time surprising my family with the gender of the baby. Of course my mom said she had a feeling we were having a boy! They are so excited to be grandparents!!

My group of second graders gave me a wonderful surprise baby shower and I'm still in shock that they kept such a big secret for me. I'll post pictures of the shower soon!! I've been writing down some of their comments as they go through this journey with me. Kids say the funniest things!

Less than 20 weeks and we'll welcome our little boy! We both can't wait!

The Great Turtle Race of 2009

So it's been a very long time since I've updated our blog. I apologize! We've been so busy with the start of school and I have to admit, I update a lot on Facebook and have been neglecting our blog. So here is an update of what's been going on in our busy lives.

We've both been very busy with the start of the school year. I can't believe it's almost Halloween and we'll be done with two months of school! Nate has finished his football season and is working hard on writing his thesis. I have been just busy with my busy and very energetic group of second graders.

This past weekend we were able to get away for a couple days to Mackinac Island. The weather on Friday was horrible and it made for a long journey by boat and finally by taxi to our hotel. What an adventure! Let's just say I have a very patient husband to put up with all of my complaining about being too wet and cold!

So why did we go to Mackinac Island in the fall? Nate has gotten back into running and had set a goal to run The Great Turtle Race, which is a 5.7 mile race on the island. The race started by Old Mission Point and went up through the island and back around down the shoreline. He finished the race in 45:24. I was so proud of him as he came across the finish line. Wow! Our friends Travis and Sam came with to cheer him on. What a fun weekend once we were dry! Enjoy the pictures!

Nate warming up before his race.

Nate coming across the finish line. Wow! Check out that form!

Walking around the island in the cold and mist.

Look at the rainbow and the color of those trees? Beautiful!

One last picture before boarding the ferry! I am one lucky girl!

Buckley Camping!

At the end of July we took my sister Jaime camping up to the Buckley KOA which is just south of Traverse City. This was our third summer there and we had a great time! Our friends Travis and Sam were able to come up for a short visit too. We visited Traverse City, Sutton's Bay, Glen Lake, and Sleeping Bear Dunes. What a fun trip!

July 15, 2009

Writing has always been therapy for me. When I write, tons of emotions come out and I feel better, so on this difficult day I thought I would write. So here it is; my emotions that I'm feeling today and what I want to say to our little one.

Today is the day Nate and I were to welcome our little baby into this world, July 15, 2009. This was a day to be filled with nervousness, excitement, and so many other unbelievable emotions that go along with being first time parents. The summer was supposed to be filled with baby activities. All we can do now is pray that we will be able to have our time as parents some day, and I know we will. It's just hard when it's not on our timing.

I have always believed that God is around us and comforting us during hard times. I have felt His presence through family, friends, and amazing co-workers during this difficult time. When I announced that we had a miscarriage, I was surrounded by so many women that have been through what I've been through. I can't thank those women enough, some of you reading this now, for all of their support, prayers, smiles, hugs, and special things that were given to me to help me through a very difficult time. It's amazing how God places those people around you right when you need them. Thank you!!!

So now I look at this day and say a prayer up to Heaven:

"Dear God, I pray that you hold our little one near and give her extra hugs today. Since she can't be here with us today, I guess having her there with you is okay. Please tell her that her mommy and daddy and all of her family love her very much and will see her some day. Thank you for taking care of her for us. We love her so much!!!"

Again we want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers. We need them now more than ever. God does have a plan for us, we just need to pray and make sure we follow His lead.