My bags are packed, I'm ready to go...

Sometimes (often), things don't work out as I planned. As of today I am one week over my due date.  Do I really have anything to complain about?  No.  Was my plan and schedule different than what has transpired?  Yes.  Is it the end of the world?  No.  Has it been a frustrating week?  I'd be lying if I said no. 

41 weeks and baby is content in the belly...

I am reminded of our house hunting/moving process last summer, when we had to move our belongings into storage and live with a friend for two months as we found the right house and went through the rigorous process of getting a closing date set.  It is in times like these that I find I have to make a choice about how I will respond.  How will I handle the unknown or better yet, Who will I allow to handle the unknown.  Is it up to me alone?... or am I able to relinquish control over the situation, realizing that an attitude of surrender to One who is greater is a far better choice!  Ahhh waiting...it always builds character, but it's not always easy.

It is easy to let fear, anxiety, discouragement, frustration, annoyance, etc. hold mastery over us.  But I am reminded of James's words in James 1:2-4, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."  Now this week hasn't been full of huge trials, but it has surely tested my patience.  I have learned that everyone has an opinion and everyone means well, but at the same time it's not always helpful or encouraging...a great opportunity to practice patience and grace.  I am not typically one to be fearful, but when you're thinking about the well-being of your baby and your well thought out plans that aren't turning out the way you'd hoped, is easy to let the voices of fear and anxiety speak loud and clear. 

So, tomorrow morning we are going in for an induction.  And maybe we will have a baby tomorrow, and maybe we won't, but he will come when he is ready.  As I was reminded last summer during our moving process, it is always better when I have surrendered to the timing and terms of my Creator and Heavenly Father because ultimately He sees the big picture and His perspective is eternal while mine is limited, finite.  It is in the surrender that I find peace and comfort.

"Be still and know that I am God."  Psalm 46:10

39 weeks and getting sassy!

Love having pregnant friends. Bethany at 28 weeks and me at 39. 
Sabra wanted to get in on the fun too!

Baby Boy has been the token male at many bridal showers this spring.

41 weeks and still going strong.

Long overdue (this blog post that is...)

No...this isn't our baby - it's our niece, but I just think it's so darn sweet and a great preview of what is to come!

34 weeks

36 weeks

38 weeks today!

So while I'm not long overdue as far as the baby is concerned, I'm getting awfully close to my due date, April 30th!  As of today I am 38 weeks along.  As of last Sunday I was considered full-term so little baby boy could come to visit at any time and be just fine.  I would like  to finish my semester at Lycoming, get my grades in, clean my house, etc. before he comes, but you just can't plan these things and that is ok!  It is a great way to learn to be flexible and open to whatever God has in store. 

Creative treats with a monkey theme

We are excited and ready!  I had several wonderful showers provided by supportive friends and family and it was so wonderful to catch up with old friends, colleagues, students, etc. and to know that our baby boy is going to be magnificently loved by many.

Two great girls - with Amy and Lauren

A very creative shower game in Williamsport... "Everybody poops!"
Or guess what candy bar was melted to look like baby poop.

With Mom & Meg

The nursery is just about ready and much of the clothing, sheets, blankets, etc. are washed and ready to be used & worn.  Today Aden installed the car seat into my car and yesterday he installed the diaper sprayer.  For those who are not in the cloth diapering world, this is a little gadget connected to your toilet, very similar to the sprayer on your kitchen sink.  It is used for spraying off cloth diapers.  I hear it makes cleaning poopy diapers waaaayyyyy easier!

The closet...between gifts and hand-me-downs, this little boy is going to be stylin'

I will leave you with my husband's quote of the day (and it's only 7:45 AM!).  As he began to paint my toenails this morning I assured him it was ok if it wasn't perfect.  He responded, "I have painted many model cars, which is a lot like this."  And I must say, this might be the nicest toe nail painting job I've ever had!

In the single digits!

31 weeks

As of yesterday I am 32 weeks along and now we are counting backwards: 8 weeks to go!  This past weekend was my first baby shower of several, thrown for me in my home area (Lancaster, PA) by one of my close friends, my mom, and my sister.  It was such a wonderful time to catch up with important ladies in my life, some of whom who have been in my life since we moved to PA 18 years ago.

There were the church ladies (and my mum!)...

Unfortunately I didn't get all of them in the picture!

Two dear high school friends...

2 great college friends (and two of my many friends named Amy/Aimee)...

And 2 special girls from grad school who made the long trip to spend some time with me...

This might just be the official 32 week belly picture

And my sister!  She was the giver of the crown I was wearing that said, "Future-mom-to-be!"

If you've not read the book, "The Five Love Languages," it essentially addresses the different ways in which people love and feel most loved.  Those of you who have read it may remember that one of them is quality time.  One of the ways I feel most loved and show love is by spending or trying to spend quality time with my husband, family, and friends.  This weekend spoke to that desire and need in me in a great way as I had friends traveling distances large and small to spend this special time with me and celebrate the new life that is very actively growing and preparing to join us out in the world!  Thanks to those of you who were able to come and a very special thanks to my mom, sister, and great friend Angie for putting on such a great event!

In other news, Sunday morning we received a phone call at 7 AM to tell us that our new niece had been born to Tara & Jason at 5 AM on Saturday.  So after church we hopped in the car and made our way down to Baltimore to meet Madeline Eleanor Diel!

Practice makes perfect!

And on the home front, the nursery is mostly finished.  We will continue to add some final finishing touches, but for now, here are some pics of the progress.  Aden did a wonderful job with the walls, covering over the unusable windows, painting, and applying the decal.

He also put up new blinds.  I re-covered the chair with my amateur sewing skills and with the addition of some furniture from generous friends and family, we are just about ready for this little baby boy! 

Why don't they make pregnant super heroes?

My husband is full of hilarious comments and questions.  For instance, today as I was half dressed and acting ridiculous (Who? ME?!),

We're having a baby!

flexing my muscles and showing off my expanding midriff, he exclaimed, "You look like a superhero!  Why don't they make pregnant super heroes?"  So...calling all pregnant women - come up with your super hero identity because we may be called into action at any moment!  I'm leaning towards The Mighty Mothering Munchkin, a spinoff of a nickname from college (The Mighty Munchkin).  There have been many other funny comments, but the only other one I can remember came around Christmas time, shortly after we found out we were having a boy.  "So..." He paused in quiet reflection.  "If you are a girl and there is a boy in your belly...what does that make you now?"

More to come...

It has been a month since I last blogged and much has changed. 

26 weeks

 I have officially entered my third trimester and I am feeling and seeing many differences.  This baby is active and of course, he is most active when I'm lying in bed trying to sleep or when I wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.  As of yesterday I am now seeing the midwives every two weeks and things are looking great.  I'm right on track as far as the size of the baby is concerned and we are both healthy!  We attended a day-long childbirth class last Saturday and a nursing class this past Tuesday and we feel that much more prepared.  Aden was a great sport at both and he will be a wonderful coach throughout this process.

29 weeks - 11 to go!  Hello Trimester #3!

I have realized how thankful I am for being surrounded by ladies who have gone through the same things and I am sure that I will appreciate them even more as I navigate the Mommy Realm.  About a month ago, as I began to register for baby things, I became increasingly overwhelmed realizing how little I knew.   It was a little different (and when I say a little I mean A LOT) than registering for a wedding where all you have to decide are things like what dishes you like; flannel sheets or jersey sheets?;  is the salad spinner really worth it?! 

But now I had entered the world of swaddlers, sleep sacks and onesies...once I learned what they were, I then realized I had no idea how many I really needed!   But as the much sought after advice poured in from wonderfully helpful friends near and far regarding what I did and didn't need, I started to understand.   With their guidance and our own research and reading, I do believe we have a pretty good handle on what is a necessity, what is a unnecessary but wonderful to have, and what will only prove to be clutter.  Everyone has a slightly different opinion and very different experiences, but all have proven to be useful.   So now, we have officially registered at Target and Amazon.com and I do believe we will be well prepared when the baby arrives!  Then we will be on to the next set of questions...

A work in progress...

We have also been working on preparing the nursery.  And when I say we, I mean Aden!  We have a very small yet useful room attached to our bedroom which will be the nursery.  It is the size of some people's walk-in closets and thus we have great incentive not to accumulate more than we actually need.  On either end of the room are windows which were covered over with siding on the outside and then painted over on the inside by a previous owner...yeah, thanks for that. 

The walls will be a light brown and these curtains (covering the real windows) will be replaced by espresso brown cellular shades.

Aden has been working hard to cover over the covered-over windows so we have useful wall space and as of earlier today, he put a fresh coat of paint on the walls.  We have a cute monkey decal to put on the wall and will have a bit of a monkey/jungle animal theme, though nothing too crazy since the room is small.

More changes and exciting things to come...

On this day in history, 29 years ago...

It's 5:30 AM...at about 4:15 AM I woke up for my second bathroom break of the night and then laid in bed with my faithful Snoogle (my pregnancy pillow...not just a name for my husband, though he was there too), feeling the baby bop around and hoping to catch at least 3 more hours of somewhat fitful sleep.  But no...apparently it wasn't meant to be, which provided me the perfect opportunity to pen (or type) this very blog post that has been stirring in my brain for the last week...

You see, there have been many thought provoking, birth-related events in the past week.  Let's begin with the most recent...at this time 29 years ago, my mom was already in the hospital and probably getting ready to undergo anesthesia, knowing that in just 3 hours she and my dad would have a second little baby...me!  My dad arrived at 6:30 AM (this is all documented in my baby book).   At 8:21 AM I came into the world at 7 lbs 13 oz. and 19 1/2 inches long. 

As my mom described me I had "dark hair, a pug nose, and a beautiful dimple in the left cheek I can occasionally catch."  Apparently "Daddy was certain it would be a girl and loves Emily Ann as a name."  My mom said, "it took me several days to get used to the fact that she was really a girl.  I was so ecstatically happy about it!" 

My mom was 29, the same age that I will be when I deliver our little baby boy.  I look at my own birth in a whole new light as I have a very active little boy in my own belly who will arrive in just over 3 months.  I'm sure she was excited, but perhaps a little scared, wondering how having 2 children would work and the challenges that would go with it...little did she know that 4 years later she'd have a set of twins to add into the mix. :)  On September 13, 1982 my mom wrote the following, "As the baby's mother, my hope is that this baby will mature into a self-confident, independent and able adult with the ability to utilize and lean back on his/her strengths; to cope with (my counselor mom liked that word even then!) and improve upon the weaknesses...I hope this baby has his/her father's intelligence, his ability to listen to others, his patience (not my lack of), his interest in literature, and his continual desire to broaden his knowledge of and his faith in God...From me I hope the baby will develop a sense of humor, zest for life and people, and a love to be with family, as I do...and lastly, someday, I hope that this child may also become a parent so he/she can finally and fully know the love I feel for this child."  Well Mom and Dad, I think you did a great job and I think I turned out pretty well, as did my siblings...and being a total mixture of my parents, I think you explained me pretty well, 3 months before I was born! And now it's my turn...

Ever since I first read this entry by my mom I have thought about similar things.  There are so many things I love and admire about my husband, Aden, that I hope my children will learn from and inherit:
 his warm & loveable nature, his love for the outdoors, his thirst for the things of God, the Holy discontent that is within him when he witnesses or learns of injustice, his amazing gift with young children, his patience (I got my mom's lack of patience!) and laid back nature, his ability to talk easily with anyone, his inability to say an unkind word, and his very strong conscience, something I think I may have lacked as a child...I often think of how different we must have been as children...I just know I got sent to my room and spanked a lot and I deserved it!  Sorry Mom and Dad!  Being a somewhat fiery person myself, God knew what he was doing when he brought Aden into my life and I am forever changed, by the Grace of God.  He has been molding me into His image (a lifelong journey when we are in Christ), and I trust that He will continue to do so throughout my life, but I thank God for the gentleness I think He has taught me through our marriage and the many events and experiences of the last 5-6 years. 

I hope that our little boy will have a love for learning and the arts.  I hope and pray he has his daddy's ability to remember what he learns rather than his mommy's ability to learn it, test on it and forget it! :)  I hope and pray that He will pursue Jesus wholeheartedly, connecting with His Heavenly Father in a way that is deep, unique and personal rather than simply following a faith out of duty or habit. I pray, whether in a public or private way, that he will impact his family, community, country and even world in a mighty way.  May he have a love for life, for people, and for God.  I pray that he will witness deep love in his parents' relationship and what the exchange of love looks like.

At the beginning of this blog post, I referenced many birth-related happenings...our good friends Spencer & Beth Sweeting just gave birth to their second daughter, Josephine Grace, yesterday evening!  I am so excited for all of the new life that is bursting out here in Williamsport and am thrilled that our baby will be born into such a loving community full of friends and other kids their age.

Aden and I feel a stirring in our hearts towards adopting at some point and we have been so encouraged by the recent events with our family and close friends.  I will be brief, but last week I had the privilege of attending a baby shower for one of my dearest friends from elementary through high school.  She and her husband have been abundantly blessed by God, as he has shown Himself faithful, gentle, & loving, so often in ways we don't expect.  He has provided a little baby girl for them to adopt!  She will be born in early February and Renee and Doug will be wonderful parents!  Along a similar vein, Aden's sister Crista and brother-in-law Chris are currently in China adopting a little 2 year old girl named Mia!  Mia will be brought home to a loving family next week, as her 4 siblings eagerly await her in Maryland.  We are so excited to meet Mia and welcome her into the family.  To follow along with their story and experiences in China, feel free to visit their blog: http://miatravelshome.blogspot.com/

As I've thought about the events of the past week, I have been reminded of the fact that just as Mia and Renee's baby girl are being adopted by loving, waiting parents, we are blessed to have a Heavenly Father who welcomes us into His arms and adopts us into His family. 

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!"  1 John 3:1a

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.  For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.  In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons (and daughters) through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will - to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. "  Ephesians 1:3-6

It's a ...!!!!!

Today was the long awaited day...for many reasons.  On a day that can be so focused on material gifts, we were looking forward to something of far greater value! 

We had a late night with friends and family so we slept in until about 9:30 AM and then hung out for a bit as everyone else was waking up.  We got our coffee as Jordon arrived to spend the day with us.  The family gathered in the living room, ready to start opening stockings and my mom said, "Can we open the envelope FIRST?!"  So of course, that was the first priority.  

Excited future Granny-Pie AKA the Christmas Elf

 So we took the envelope off the table, looking at it with anticipation...

Took out the card...

"A Special Christmas Surprise!"

Opened it...

IT'S A BOY!!!!

YAYYYY!  We're going to have a little baby boy! :)  Hoping we might have a little boy, Mom and Meg picked out a very cute little bathrobe...

Baby Boy's first bathrobe!

The first to find out were Grandma and Grandpa Wertz who opened the envelope at about 5:45 AM this morning before a morning of Christmas services...though we didn't talk to them until later in the morning.  Grampy Homan and Grammy Kate opened the card after church and called so we talked to them as well.  Everyone is excited!  Now that we know, we can start thinking of names but the decision will remain our little secret until the baby is born...so no use in asking, cuz we ain't gonna tell!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

A big milestone!

20 weeks - halfway!

We are now officially 21 weeks along and more than half-way through the pregnancy. The baby has become more active, in fact, he/she might be a gymnast because I think there was a full flip on Saturday morning that made me jump and shriek!  I had never felt anything like it to this point.

21 weeks...Baby's first Christmas party at Jen & Mike Rodgers'

We went for our 20 week ultrasound this past Wednesday and we have in our possession the gender of our child...but we don't know what it is yet.  I made 3 cards and envelopes and had the the ultrasound technician fill in the blank and seal them up!!  We are going to mail one to my dad and Kate, one to Aden's parents and the other is for us to open with my mom and Tom as well as my sister Meg and brother James.  Unfortunately Casey and Christine won't be able to be there. 
Please note the very strict instructions:

So as of Christmas morning, we will know the gender of our first child.  Overall the ultrasound was awesome.  The baby looks like a baby now!  After the first ultrasound I joked that we were having an alien. :)  Not anymore...

The left foot!

Baby's profile!

We saw all sorts of things, with the exception of anything that gave the gender away.  His/Her feet were resting right under its neck for much of the ultrasound!  He or she is an agile little thing. All in all, my health is good, the baby's size is right where it should be at 14 oz. and we're both growing!

Aden has been teaching Baby to count.  He pokes my belly once and says in a loud voice, "ONE!"  Then he will poke it two times and say, "TWO!"  Once or twice he's gotten a kick in response.  Last night we made it up to four, but he doesn't want to overwhelm the child so we're taking it slow.  Ha! 

Stay tuned for the big report on Christmas day!