Our Baby Boy Kicked!

I felt our baby boy kick for the first time on Monday, September 7! How incredible and what an amazing feeling! Ever since I've been feeling his movements more and more frequently! He is very active, and I keep imagining what he will be like once he comes out. He will probably come out kicking and crying! I'm also thinking about how he will be when he can walk and run! I think he will be a very active, high energy child! That is my prediction at this point! I also think he might take up soccer someday!

Making Memories with Melita & Rachel

Kentucky Home Church Baby Shower

I went home for a few days to attend my friend's wedding, and while I was there my home church--where I grew up--hosted a baby shower for us! I enjoyed seeing all the church members and some of my parents friends from the community. We had a lot of delicious food, fun games, and cute decorations. The shower was really cute with Noah's Ark theme on the cake, plates, and linens. I liked it very much! We had a generous out pouring of gifts from everyone. We are blessed to have such caring church family and kind, thoughtful friends.

A Special Visit with Roxie

I am nearly 24 weeks pregnant with our baby boy in these photos! We are so excited for the arrival of our little son in January! We're counting down the days and getting everything ready for him!

After church on Sabbath, our friend Roxie took a bunch of photos of us in our front yard. We will take some more pregnancy photos in the next few months, as my belly continues to expand...bigger and bigger...

Roxie came to visit! We had a great time "catching up" after about 3-4 years! She lives in a different part of Texas than me now, and so it makes visiting and keeping in touch much more difficult these days! We missed seeing her husband, Eser, and wished he could have joined in our fun visit!

We served Roxie a Indian food feast for Sabbath lunch! I made Cashew Rice Pilaf, Lentil Croquettes, and Spinach Potato Curry from the Micheff Sister's cookbook. We also served naan--Indian flat bread, and a chopped garden salad on the side. We all enjoyed fellowship together... Everything was very tasty!

Thoughts for our Baby Boy

God Bless Our Sweet Baby, by Helen Steiner Rice ~ A wee bit of heaven drifted down from above--a handful of happiness a heartful of love. The mystery of life so sacred and sweet, The giver of joy so deep and complete. Precious and priceless, so lovable, too--The world's sweetest miracle, Baby is you. May the wonder of our baby's birth feel new each day--A miracle of life and love that's in our hearts to stay. May family times bring deeper joy than anything we've known, And simple daily moments hold a beauty all their own. May we trust in God for guidance for our needs both large and small. As our family shares the blessing of the greatest love of all...May we pray and play together, staying close in all we do--Every day in every way may the good Lord smile upon us. (revised from a card recieved at our Manchester, Kentucky baby shower)

Polka and Dancing at Slavic Festival

During this semester, I have been taking a grad school class called Theories of Cultural Diversity. Attending a cultural event was one of my requirements for the class. When I saw advertisements for the Slavic Festival, I was interested in checking it out! It took place on Saturday and Sunday, but we only went for Sunday afternoon.

Various Polish, Ukrainian, Czech, and Croatian dance groups and musicians performed on a stage. A separate area for children's activities was located on the east side of the festival grounds.The festival grounds were surrounded by ethnic group and commercial booths, as well as food vendors. The food served at the festival was specific to the Slavic cultures, although typical American foods like hot dogs, nachos, and ice cream were also available. Slavic cultural food that was served included pierogis made with potatoes and cheese, kielbasa (Polish sausage) with sauer kraut, golabki (cabbage rolls) and bigos (a stew with cabbage and meat), various Slavic pastries, bier (beer), and wodka (vodka).

Walking at Seabrook

A few weeks ago, Jason and I took a walk at one of our favorite parks in Seabrook. This park includes a trail that goes along some water, and ultimately ends up at the bay with an overlook of the ocean and a long fishing pier. Part of the trail goes through the woods, and along some brackish water where egrets, herons, and sand pipers wade and hunt for food in the shallow water.

The sunset was really beautiful that evening, so I decided to take a few photos. I wish I could have taken a photo of the Great Horned Owl we spotted. He was making calls and his friend..."girl friend" we think...was answering back. It was really AMAZING! Jason is the one who was able to locate him in a tree, I would have given up, but he kept looking until he saw him. He was huge! Every time he made his hoot, hoot, hoot, hoot sounds his head and body would kind of bob up and down. It was fascinating to watch him. Seeing an owl in the wild is a very rare experience!! We have only seen two owls in the wild, and both have been at this park in Seabrook.

Our Baby Boy's 1st Photos

I love these two first photos, because they really show the shape of our baby's head! It is so cute to see his profile!! We can hardly wait to meet him in January!This photo was taken a moment after the ultra sound tech announced that "It's a BOY!"

This is just a closer look at the baby's face as he is laying on the side...

In this photo our baby is looking at the camera, while laying on his side. Isn't he adorable!?

Here is his left and right foot, which he has been using to kick me a lot! I wonder if he will be a really active baby, considering how much he kicks!!? This is just a closer look at the baby's face on the side...

This picture shows our baby's left and right leg. It looks like he has plenty of space in there to move around, and that's why I've been feeling him move so much! I read that eventually he will have less room to move--as he gets bigger--and so I will feel less kicks. I think I will still feel movement, and I will likely be able to see him moving, because my stomach will be rippling or being pulled slightly. That will be exciting!

Are we having a BOY or a GIRL?

I think you can tell how excited we were to find out if we're having a boy or a girl! These two photos were taken outside of the clinic where we had our ultrasound. The clinic is right next to the hospital where we plan to deliver our son.