Friday with friends

2 Fridays ago we spent the evening with friends we haven't seen in a while, including Trisha and Bjorn who have been in Hungary as missionaries. Their first baby, Lianna, was born while they were in Hungary so this was the first chance we had to meet her! And she is an angel. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of her before she went to bed. But I did get a picture of Chris and Lauren's precious little boy Austin, who we also met for the first time!

And a picture of the guys. =) Thanks for having us all over, Trisha and Bjorn!

A possible 1st...

Sunday afternoon, Rob and I were sitting on the couch watching Football. And I think I might have felt the baby move for the first time! I felt 3 strong 'flutters' on the lower right side of my abdomen, just a few seconds apart. How fun! Another milestone I thought some of you might enjoy hearing about.

I found this verse the other day in "The Message" and loved the translation...

"Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that."
--Ephesians 5:1, The Message

Moving Right Along

I had another doctor's appointment yesterday - everything is still right on track and progressing well. I heard the baby's heartbeat again, although this time the little one was moving around so much, the doctor had to keep hunting for the heartbeat. It's amazing to me that the baby is moving around that much and I can't feel it yet!

Our next appointment is November 6th, and we have an ultrasound scheduled for that day in order to find out if we're having a boy or a girl!

Thank you for your prayers for us - we are so thankful that the Lord has given us a healthy pregnancy so far.

Congratulations, Hills!

Congratulations to our friends Chris and Lauren, who just welcomed baby Austin Christopher into the world last week! We can't wait to meet him...

We're expecting!

You thought I'd given up on the blog, didn't you?!

Far from it - over the next 6 months we will have even more to keep you up to date on! Rob and I are expecting a baby on (or around) March 24th, and we found out we were pregnant the morning of my birthday - July 18th. While our summer has been fun but relatively quiet, I just couldn't bring myself to post 'updates' without sharing our biggest news... and we weren't quite ready to do that until lately. So I avoided blogging altogether!

I shared the news with Rob over my birthday dinner out, and it was quite a surprise. I asked the waitress to put pacifiers (which I had dropped off earlier in the day) on the appetizer plate before she brought it out to us, and it turned out very cute...

After Rob figured out what I was trying to tell him, the waitress brought him a little gift from me to celebrate the news!
I've been feeling pretty good overall - and now I'm in my 2nd trimester, so I have my energy and appetite back for the most part. August and early September saw their fair share of queasiness and I could often be found on our couch in my sweatpants, napping. On September 1st we heard the baby's heartbeat, which was so amazing and exciting. We plan to find out whether we're having a boy or girl, and should know by Thanksgiving if not before. What do you think it's going to be!?

We went to New Jersey to see Rob's family and share the news in person (although at the moment I'm afraid I've lost those digital files... they're on a CD somewhere in the house!). I'll post pictures when I find them. Rob's parents also came to visit us over Labor Day Weekend, to see our new house and help us with a few lingering house projects for which we are so grateful.

We spent one last weekend at the Lake House with my family recently, and again - no pictures to post (sorry). I am either getting lazy with the camera, or I am not as excited anymore about seeing pictures of myself and my growing waistline!

More to come...

At the Lake House with Brad and Christine (July 13-15)

We had another fun weekend at the Lake House 2 weekends ago, this time with Brad and Christine! Our first mini-vacation with them as newly-weds. Here are some pictures from the weekend...

Kelsey had every piece of 'gear' on that we had in the boat before she went skiing!

"Full body wetsuit?"... "CHECK!"

"Wetsuit jacket?"... "CHECK!"

"Gloves?"... "CHECK!"

"Life vest?"... "CHECK!"

"Sunglasses?"... "CHECK! - I mean, shoot, thanks for warning me." - Every time.

We love you kels!

We always leave our flip flops on the pier when we're out on the boat, but today was a very windy day! When we got back from skiing, Mom and Christine's flip flops had been blown off the pier, and we walked down the shore and found them caught in a nasty mess of seaweed, foam and sludge. Brad proved his love for his new bride by trudging into the slime and retrieving her flip flops for her.

Jack loves to swing!

I stopped by Kris' house yesterday after work, and it was a perfect day to take her precious Jack (almost 5 months) to the park. So we settled him into the little baby swing (which is still big on him!) and since I had my camera with me, I took some pictures. If you know Jack, you know that he can be somewhat selective in showing his adorable smile... so these pictures are proof that he LOVES to swing!

This is my favorite picture of him! He is such a handsome little guy.

The head starts to get heavy after a while!...

Check out that drool!

You can't tell from these pictures, but Jack had on his "Swingin single and lovin it!" onesie - and the little girl in the background was fascinated by Jack. I think that onesie is a babe magnet.

Oh, and that little girl happens to be Emma Jack, who is Andy and Kathy Jack's daughter! (Andy used to be Kelsey's Youth Director. Wheaton is such a small world!)

Thanks for a fun day at the park, Jack!!