Good morning, good morning, life is sweet with Johanna, good morning, good muffins to you! Good morning, good morning, life is sweet with our family, good morning, good muffins to you! Good morning, good morning, life is sweet with Cece, good morning, good muffins to you!
This morning you sang the above to my belly as we sat on the bed with Cece on the heater by our feet. Those little moments are soo precious and I am so glad I get to experience them with you! I know it has been forever since I have written, so lots to say! We found out that we are having a little girl on 10/17/13, just 3 days after feeling her first kicks. We have chosen the name- Johanna- and we love it, but we are not sharing it with anyone until she is born. We are not sure on the middle name yet- either Maria or Rose- we will just have to wait and see! We have been working so hard to get everything ready for our little princess- we have the crib and changing table all set up, have a fence for Cece finished, have our whole house organized, we are working on stocking up, preparing freezer meals, finding a pediatrician.... so much to do to make sure everything is ready, but we are almost at the point where everything essential is done and the rest of it can wait if baby decides to come early. I am 31 weeks and 6 days along today and Johanna weighs somewhere between 3.5 and 4 pounds. She has been such an active little girl, but is moving less abruptly and more so rolling around as she has less and less space. My belly feels huge! I have gained just over 20 pounds so far (yikes!) and my back feels it! I am not super uncomfortable yet, but am getting there. This pregnancy has been quite an experience and I am really glad I have you by my side. You have been so supportive- you have attended every single prenatal appointment, have taken a few moments each day to talk or read to our baby, and most importantly have continually told me how beautiful I am and helped me work through all my crazy emotions.
This morning, we went to Ihop to redeem a freebie breakfast! It just so happened to be free pancake day or something in preparation for a superbowl event they are doing, so we got double the pancakes when we asked them to split an order for us. Normally, splitting a meal is not quite enough, but with the extra pancakes it was a lot of food- score! We have been working hard to keep a date on the calendar once per week every week leading up to the baby being born. We have gone out to eat a few times, have a gift card to the movies to use, and will be going to a bed & breakfast for our babymoon/1.5 year anniversary trip next week!
You have started working full time at the golf course as the new assistant professional and you seem to be loving it! I think it has been a big transition for you as you feel a lot of responsibility, considering that the head professional is not pulling his weight and you know that the owners are training you to take over his position in the long run. You have so many ideas about how to turn business around at the golf course, how you can improve merchandise sales, camps that you can put on during the summer, etc. You are very creative and very passionate about your work and it really shines through. I am really happy for you and am glad that we are able to live a life that allows you to pursue your dream job. It is really fun to watch you light up and spread your wings- I think that you have huge potential, but I have never gotten to really see you at work because you have never had the freedom or security to do so. I do feel a little bit sad about the timing... the baby will only be a few months old this summer and I feel like you will have to hold off on diving into some of your plans to make sure you are around home enough to help me out and enjoy her newborn months, but I know that God's timing is perfect and everything will work out wonderfully.
Christmas was crazy this year! We started celebrating with my family on 12/23 when Nick got in from Florida and had two full days of celebrating with them, which was pretty fun. However, you were feeling nauseous and had flu-like symptoms (no vomiting or diarrhea luckily!) the whole time, so that put a bit of a damper on the celebrations. We took off for Texas on Christmas day for your mother's family reunion. It was a crazy 4 day trip- so much packed into so little time, sick kids, parties lasting until 2am, packing too many people into a car, shopping with crazy crowds, and lots of new faces for me...so not a very relaxing vacation, that's for sure. and we both got colds toward the end of that trip (poor you getting sick twice in a row!). i don't think i will agree to making that trip again any time soon, but it sure was nice to get to know a new side of your family and meet so many wonderful people! we spent a fairly quiet New Year's Eve at home- Alex and Jordan came over to play munchkin with us and we just watched the ball drop and then headed to bed (after a little Nintendo for you and the boys). Just think, next year at Christmas, we will have a 9 month old! that is the best thing in the world :)
We are taking a break from small group for the first time in 3 years. It is a little bit bittersweet as it has been a huge part of our lives, but I think we really need the extra night every week as we are working on transitioning into your first full time job and with the baby coming so soon. We have made some great friends from the small group community, though! I go walking once a week with a woman named April and that is a huge blessing to me. The Kambaks are some of our very best friends! The small group girls are even throwing me a baby shower :) We have so much support- not just family, but also friends around this area. We are so blessed to be able to raise our family here- surrounded by love.
I can't think of too much more to update on... I feel like all my time and energy has been focused on getting everything ready for baby- from projects around the house, to reading the right books, to training Cece, to exercising properly, to planning how to stock our freezer for the first few weeks... so while that is all very necessary, it is not super fun to write about...
I love you so much, Jesus! And I am so thankful for our marriage and our vows to each other. I can not imagine my life without you walking by my side. You are my best friend, my comforter, my partner, my encourager, and the love of my life. You hold the greatest place in my heart- and you always will! You will always be my #1- above our children, above our parents, above our siblings, above any other person. Thank you for all that you do to love me- I am so lucky to have you! Our parents both just celebrated their anniversaries (35 years & 27 years) and it is crazy to think about us at their age and how it will feel to have been married for 35 years... we will have so much to look back and reflect on. So many stories to share. So much love to remember. I am excited to go through the years with you- thank you for giving me the opportunity. I love you <3
