Movement

The last photo is my favorite! I love seeing the emotion on my face (ouch) and the emotion in my sisters face (oof!). I have devoted this post to movement. This baby has been an very active baby since 15 weeks when I first felt the little fish turn in the fish bulb. It truly warms my heart to think that in just a few days/weeks I will get to observe his movements with my eyes and not my tummy. I wonder if I will recognize certain patterns or movements with his body. I wonder if he will have a lot of energy. I wonder if he will be less weight because of all his working out within the womb. 

Full Term!

37 Weeks Pregnant
Update from BabyCenter.com:
"Your baby is now considered "full term," even though your due date is three weeks away. If you go into labor now, his lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb.
Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel. Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz."

I liked reading this post because I have not even thought about his locks. I think about his nose, his fingers, his belly... but not his hair. I like reading this post and picturing the little man within. I am growing more and more excited to meet him!

If you are able to watch the video above you can watch the card on my tummy jump all around. Not only was he dancing around in my belly, but he also had a serious case of the hick ups. Enjoy!

Ephesians 3:17 - 19

¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Spooky Situation

On this Halloween Day I have decided to share a story of Gods protection!

Back in July I was bit by a tick, not just bit but it stuck under my skin for over 24 hours. One morning I woke up, itched my side, felt something, looked down, to see a nasty red mark with a tick rooted in the center. Fear struck through my body like lightning. I began to sob like a baby. I was terrified that I contracted Lyme disease not only for myself but the baby inside of me.

Ticks have never worried me, I have pulled off many from my own body and the bodies of others. I am an expert with the tweezers and am always the one comforting others that "its no big deal." And here I was, with the tweezers in hand, shaking uncontrollably in the bathroom. I took a deep breath in, prayed to my heavenly Father and removed the tick. I then called Mike and my mother...

The next day I went to the doctor where they looked at the bite site and identified the tick. It was a dear tick nymph which are the largest carriers in the area of Lyme disease. They gave me an antibiotic as a just-in-case method of treating the Lyme disease. I was not excited to take the antibiotic for 14 days straight. I had to wait 4-6 weeks before coming back into the office to have the blood work done for the actual Lyme disease test.  

During the whole time I was standing strong and believing that God protected baby and I and that I had not been bit by a tick with Lyme disease--- even if the statistics were steering otherwise. I asked friends and family to also stand alongside of me in prayer.

Well the 4-6 weeks past and I went in for the blood work, then I had to wait another 2 weeks for the results. And, the results are in!

My blood work was negative for Lyme disease! AMEN!

Jesus protected baby and I from Lyme disease. He is such a good Father. He cares about every little detail. I learned a lot about standing in faith and believing great things for your life. I thank Him for protecting us and for teaching me more about relying on Him.

He Is!

"He Is"

Below are the words to a song called, "He Is." 
Enjoy them and pass them on!



In Genesis, He's the breath of life

In Exodus, He is the Passover Lamb

In Leviticus, He's our High Priest

In Numbers, the Fire by Night

Deuteronomy, He's Israel’s guide

Joshua, He’s salvation's choice

Judges, He’s Israel’s guard

In Ruth, the kinsmen's Redeemer

1st and 2nd Samuel, our trusted Prophet

In Kings and Chronicles, He is Sovereign

In Ezra, He’s the true and faithful scribe

In Nehemiah, the Re-builder of broken walls and lives

In Esther, He’s Mordecai's courage

In Job, the Timeless Redeemer

In Psalms, He is our morning song

In Proverbs, He is our wisdom

Ecclesiastes, He's the time and season

In Song of Solomon, He is the lover's dream

In Isaiah, He is the Prince of Peace

In Jeremiah, the Weeping Prophet

Lamentations, the Cry for Israel

Ezekiel, the Call from Sin

Daniel, the Stranger in the Fire

Hosea, the Forever Faithful

Joel, the Spirit’s Power

Amos, the Strong-arms that carry

Obadiah, the Lord our Savior

Jonah, the great Missionary

Micah, the Promise of Peace

Nahum, our Strength and Shield

In Habakkuk and Zephaniah, He's brings revival

In Haggai, He restores that which was lost

In Zachariah, He’s our fountain

And in Malachi, He's the Son of righteousness rising with healing in His wings

AND THAT’S JUST THE OLD TESTAMENT

In Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, He is God and Messiah

In the spirit filled book of Acts, He is the reigning fire from Heaven

In Romans, He is the grace of God

Corinthians, the Power of Love

Galatians, Freedom from the curse of sin

Ephesians, our Glorious Treasure

Philippians, the Servant's Heart

Colossians, He’s God and the Trinity

Thessalonians, our calling King

In Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, He's our mediator and our faithful pastor

In Hebrews, the Everlasting Courage

In James, the One who heals the sick

In 1st and 2nd Peter, our Faithful Shepherd

In John and Jude, He's the lover coming for His bride

AND in the Revelation, in the very end, when it’s all over, said and done, when time is NO MORE. He is and will always be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Prince of Peace, Son of Man, Lamb of God, The Great I Am, Alpha and Omega, God and Savior

He is Jesus Christ the Lord

HE IS EVERYTHING THAT YOU NEED!

Seeing the Unseen

So what exactly is a 3D ultrasound?

"In 3D fetal scanning, sound waves are sent at different angles. The returning echoes are processed by a sophisticated computer program resulting in a reconstructed three dimensional volume image of fetus's surface or internal organs, in much the same way as a CT scan machine constructs a CT scan image from multiple x-rays. 3D ultrasounds allow one to see width, height and depth of images in much the same way as 3D movies but no movement is shown." (Wikipedia)

Psalm 139:13

For years my mother and I have had the dream of painting my belly when I was pregnant. Well, our dreams became a reality when she came up to visit. The verse Psalms 139:13 is very special to me because I know that the creator of heaven and earth is currently working to create this baby inside of me. For this reason I love the verse, "for I knit you together in your mothers womb." This is such a special time of creation and my mother thought of a perfect way to document it with photos. Above you can see the painting my mother did of a yarn basket. We took our photos at a local yarn store. This was such a fun adventure. I loved living out our dream and I hope it continues with the next pregnancy as a new family tradition. 

(Photos courtesy of Caseyhphotos.com)

(A special thanks to Fiberspace for allowing us to use their space.)

Athleticism

I suspect from the twists, turns, kicks, and such that this boy inside of me will be an athlete. At 20 weeks the technician told me that he had a highly developed cerebellum (which controls coordination.)  So at the moment, signs are pointing to an athlete! Just like his daddy! 

Mike is good at everything! Sometimes it bothers me because I am a bit of a klutz. Mike picks up any kind of sport with ease. And he doesn't just "pick it up" he is really good at it. 

The other day Mike told me he had a dream with his son in it. Of course I wanted to know the details right away. He told me that he was playing catch with his son and Uncle Brian and he said he remembers feeling so happy in his dream. Even writing this out brings tears of joy to my eyes knowing that Mike already loves this boy so much and is eager to meet him and build a relationship with him. Mike is going to be such a good daddy, I can not wait to see it all happen! 

I someday hope to look out the window and see Mikes dream a reality. 

Father and son playing catch...