Mary, Did You Know?

{"Mary, Did You Know?" performed by Pentatonix}

This is not my favorite Christmas song. 

It just never appealed to me. It's dark, it's really dramatic, and it talks a lot about the grown up Jesus at a time of year that I just want to think happy thoughts about the adorable baby Jesus in the manger. 

But this year, it means something different to me.

Instead of the dark song I heard in the past, I hear a couple powerful reminders that have made me stop and reflect throughout the Advent season.

The first is of the amazing potential each child has. Mary knew she was going to give birth to the son of God, but did she really understand all that he would do? Could she have ever fathomed that we would still worship him and follow his teachings more than two thousand years after she gave birth to him? I find myself wondering what my own son, due in April, might accomplish with his life. The possibilities are endless. Trevor and I have no way of knowing what he might grow up to be, but we hope we can support our son, no matter what he chooses to do with his life.

The second reminder is of Mary's incredible sacrifice. I'm learning with each aching joint, each stretching pain in my growing belly that pregnancy is no easy thing. It hurts! And I'm not even close to giving birth yet. Mary went through all this because God asked. Did she understand what those those nine months would entail? Does any woman really understand what she is getting into before she's pregnant? Going through a pregnancy I was more than ready for, a pregnancy I very much wanted, has not been easy for me. I cannot imagine what it would be like to go through this not because I wanted to, but because God wanted me to. Was it easier for Mary because she knew she was doing God's will, or was it a struggle because she hadn't asked for a child yet?

Christmas is very different for me this year, and I'm so glad I've had these chances to stop and pause throughout the past month to reflect on what that first Christmas might have really meant for Mary --and for what it truly means for us as followers of Christ. 

20 week update

Sorry this ended up so long! I realized I hadn't really updated since I announced our pregnancy on the blog in October! Since so much happens in the second trimester, I had a lot to say today! I'll try to update a little more regularly from here on out!

I'm nearly seven weeks into the second trimester and I'm feeling great. The nausea is gone, the fatigue is pretty much gone, and my food aversions are mostly gone. We drove past a barbecue restaurant a month ago, and the smokey smell actually appealed to me for the first time since I found out about the pregnancy. I actually shed a couple tears! Chicken and anything grilled turned my stomach so badly until I finished the first trimester. Those first ten weeks of pregnancy symptoms were the worst!

At 15 weeks, we paid a visit to Baby Dimensions, an ultrasound boutique in Newnan. They are able to discern gender at 15 weeks in most cases. Since we couldn't wait to find out and start prepping the baby's nursery, we went in as soon as we hit 15 weeks. Our baby was quite obviously a boy! Apparently, that part of the anatomy is a bit, um, out of proportion at that stage, so it's quite easy to see on an ultrasound!

The 16 week appointment went quite well. The midwife was able to find the heartbeat with no problem. Because my ten week ultrasound (an emergency one due to major pain) showed an anterior placenta, it had been tough to hear the heartbeat at all our previous appointments.

Around 17 weeks, I started feeling the little guy wiggling around a little bit, especially when I was excited or had just eaten. Since hitting 19 weeks last week, he has been noticeably wiggly each evening. On Black Friday night, he started wiggling as soon as I laid down to go to bed, and each time I woke in the night, I felt him wiggling. When the alarm went off on Saturday morning, he was wiggling again! I guess this means that he is, unfortunately, a night owl like his parents!

Feeling movement was a huge milestone for me. I am a worrier. I have been looking forward to feeling movement since the moment I found out our baby was on the way. I craved the reassurance that he was still there, and still doing well. Knowing that he's going to be active sometime in the evening definitely helps keep me calm (babies are most active between 9PM and 3AM, on average).

We have made a lot of preparations for his arrival lately. Trevor fixed the drywall tape and nail pops in the room that is about to be his nursery. Trevor also started painting the room and his dresser (the cheap Ikea dresser I used when we first moved to Georgia and soon found wasn't able to hold adult denim without bowing the drawers). We have his crib and mattress, and they will be assembled as soon as we're rid of the futon that fills his future room. We've also purchased some clothes, some cloth diapers, and his crib comforter (which we know he won't use until he's a toddler, but we wanted to use it to choose paint colors). And of course, we completed our baby registries so our families could use those to shop from this Christmas.

Our 20 week appointment included the big anatomy scan, where they check to see that the internal organs are there and that the limbs look normal. Our little guy is perfect, they said. I was warned that I would feel a lot more movement after the anatomy scan. I was surprised that it took just a couple days for me to feel the first movement that really caught me off guard! Baby boy is definitely growing big and strong. Movement still isn't consistent, but it's getting more frequent and stronger.

Friday Five: 5 Ways We're Celebrating Advent

1. I printed these cute cards to add to our advent calendar. We have a box with little drawers that we refill with chocolate each year. Since our baby will be on solid food by this time next year, I'm starting to think about what kind of treat we can put away for him!

2. Elf on the Shelf. Our elf is named Hermione (yes, another Harry Potter name, just like the cats). My mom, sister, and grandmother also have elves, and we try to trade pictures of the elves regularly during the season. We tend to go for funny and cute, but Nicole goes for diabolical. She draws her inspiration from Silence of the Lambs and Saw.

3. I'm creating a December scrapbook mini album. I did one the first year Trevor and I were married to document that first Christmas, and I'm coming back to this project five years later to document our last Christmas before baby. I'll share more about that album as I get further into it. Being pregnant means it's hard to plan anything, or guarantee that anything will be done!

4. We're giving to an Angel Tree family. Our community group chose to help a family of six children between the ages of 4 and 12 this year. Trevor and I aren't able to give a lot this year, but I've raided my stash of new-in-package Thirty-One items and we caught a good sale at Carter's, so we were able to provide some nice gifts to three of the children without spending a lot. If you want to do the same, your local Salvation Army can help you find a family in need of help this holiday season.

5. I'm reading a couple different devotionals right now. I'm doing a YouVersion 14 day reading plan on prayer, as well as The Purpose Driven Life 40 Day edition. I'm also reading through the New Testament Epistles and Acts on YouVersion, but because that is an 85 day plan, I'll barely make a dent before Advent is over!

One of those weekends...

It's been one of those weekends around here. Seriously. If you're married to a pilot, you know that the number one rule is that if something is going wrong, your spouse is out of town. Rule number two is that if it's a holiday, he will almost definitely be working.

On Thanksgiving Day, Trevor had to leave the house at 1 p.m. to commute to Fort Lauderdale for work. So, at noon, he said, "Let's call my parents quick." He called, and I stepped towards the phone to say hello only to realize it's not on speaker, it's on Facetime -- and I am a mess! I was still in my pajamas, bathrobe, and glasses. My hair hadn't been brushed yet, either. Truly, a mess. I squeaked out "Happy Thanksgiving! I'm not Facetime ready!" and ducked out of the camera's sight for the rest of the conversation.

We quickly scarfed down our meager Thanksgiving dinner of mashed potatoes, turkey breast, stuffing, cranberries, and apple pie before getting Trevor on the road in a hurry. Of course, as I'm sitting here in a total state of mess, Crookshanks started heaving...a lot. I thought for sure he was going to blow chunks, but he didn't. I gave him a ton of hairball treats and prayed that he would start to feel better. Instead, I found a pile of foamy cat saliva on the floor next to the Christmas tree. Fantastic...

Fast forward to the next morning. I was - once again - a total mess. Because it was Black Friday and I do not shop on Black Friday, I had no intention of going anywhere. Before I finished my morning cup of coffee, I heard a shrill beep from downstairs. It took a few minutes of careful listening to determine it was the carbon monoxide detector in the kitchen. I pulled out the step stool and pressed the reset button, hoping to buy myself some time. The beeping ended, but not without causing me some serious worry. Where could I go for safety with two cats on a holiday weekend? 

I hopped in the shower because I desperately needed to clean up (pregnancy will do that to you). I pondered the huge list of things I would need to pack if the beeping started again, and wondered how I would handle the litter boxes, which I am not allowed to touch while pregnant. I started to think I wouldn't be able to get out of the house with even the basic necessities if it came down to it. I started to worry that if we went to someone's house, Crookshanks would be barfing all over their house from his treats finally working.

And then it struck me - why was I worrying? Worrying would not help me control this situation. What could help, though, would be appealing to the one who IS in control. I spent the rest of my shower praying over our house, our baby, and the cats.

Shortly after I got out of the shower, Trevor called and let me know that our house isn't hooked up for gas. The only thing that would set off the carbon monoxide detector would be if a car had been left running with a closed garage door! Since my car was definitely not running and his car was gone, I was able to breathe a huge sigh of relief. He suggested I change the batteries, though, if the beeping began again.

On Saturday afternoon, I decided it was finally time to venture out and do some shopping. I got showered and dressed. I was all set. However, I couldn't find my keys. Trevor was the last one to drive my car, so I checked the kitchen, the living room, his desk in the office, his night stand, and his dresser. No luck. I checked my purse just in case pregnancy brain made me forget they were in my purse. Again, no luck.

So, I did a second round of the house, just to be sure, but this time praying the prayer I learned in our marriage prep classes with Father Tom: Tony, Tony, Come around. Something's lost and can't be found. Something told me to check the car. They weren't in the ignition or the cupholder. I checked the backseat. I looked up from the backseat and saw something on the trunk of the car. My keys were sitting atop the mail that had come on Wednesday while we were out!

Yep, it was definitely one of those weekends...but both of the big potential catastrophes were averted by taking the time to pray. God spoke to me in a big way by answering my prayers this weekend, and I hope I won't forget the lesson God was teaching me: prayer really does change things!

Edited to add: It's Sunday afternoon as I write this, and Crookshanks still hasn't passed his hairball, but it sounds like it will be coming out soon. He's making more, um, productive noises now that he has had three sets of hairball control treats in the maximum dosage!

30 @ 30

I see a lot of lists of things to accomplish during a certain year of a person's life. I felt like 30 was the perfect time to start doing these lists of my own. Obviously, since my birthday was over two months ago, I'm already in progress on several of these goals. I don't think I'll be doing monthly updates like I did with the "Before 30 Bucket List" (I'll be posting a wrap-up of that list soon).

1. Organize my craft room
2. Hit Gold status on my Starbucks card.
3. Create an awesome nursery for Stormageddon.
4. Write at least 12 blog posts a month.
5. Do a December Daily.
6. Catch up completely on Project Life.
7. Survive labor and delivery of Stormageddon.
8. Finish the assortment of projects I already have in progress.
9. Start a scrapbook for Hudson and keep it up to date for his first year.
10. Bake a batch of cookies each month.
11. Clean out my dresser drawers and closets.
12.Go to Pure Barre four times a week once the doctor clears me to resume exercise after Stormageddon's birth.
13. Read two books a month.
14. Read the New Testament.
15. Host a Christmas cookie exchange.
16. Finish my home management binder.
17. Complete and order the pregnancy journal I'm making on Shutterfly.
18. Create 52 scrapbook layouts.
19. Host a Christmas party.
20. Reach my preferred minimum personal volume with 31 each month.
21. Earn level one Ready, Set, Sell kits for each season with 31.
22. Clean out my 31 stash.
23. Have two 31 parties a month.
24. Go home to North Dakota twice.
25. Paint canvases for decorating our house.
26. Make all of our 2015 Christmas gifts for friends and family.
27. Have a family photo shoot.
28. Do a maternity photo session.
29. Have a newborn photo shoot for Stormageddon.
30. Finish our wedding scrapbook.

29 best moments

Last year, when I turned 29, I started planning a series of posts related to my thirtieth birthday, with the intention of starting to post them about a month before the big day (September 15). Well, just before August 15, I found out my baby is on the way, and I basically became worthless for several months as morning sickness and fatigue ruled my life. Now that my energy is coming back and the nausea has subsided, I'm planning to revive the blog, share those planned posts, and create some new content to share as well. 

1. Seeing the Biltmore Estate
2. Hearing "Welcome Aboard!" when I was hired at the middle school
3. Eating Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream with my parents at the Country Living Fair at Stone Mountain
4. The night Crookshanks climbed into my lap for the first time ever
5. Celebrating Friendsgiving with Jennifer and Justin the night before Thanksgiving
6. Meeting baby Austin and celebrating Thanksgiving with him and his parents, Mike and Brittany
7. The night Rachel was in town and we ate at both Yeah! Burger and Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream
8. My first trip to the Newnan Jimmy John's location - I'd been waiting four years for it to open!
9. Being home for Christmas in North Dakota
10. Celebrating New Year's Eve with Jennifer, Justin, and Rachel at our house
11. When Trevor returned from training for Valentines Day

12. When the blossoming pear tree started blossoming in the spring

13. The night Trevor came home from training for good
14. The moment I realized I was done with telling myself "No" and "Maybe later" when it came to getting or doing the things I really want
15. My first Pure Barre class in May!
16. When one of my students started calling me "Mama" and said he couldn't drop out of school because "I would miss you because I love you."
17. The last day of school
18. My fourth Pure Barre class, when the manager/instructor complimented my form over the speakers!
19. Flying home to see my family for the first time in six months
20. Seeing the Badlands with my family and Trevor
21. Praying together with some of my dearest friends at the Women's Night of Prayer at church
22. Celebrating Steve and Nelcia's wedding with the newlyweds, Nick, Jorge, Dane, and Anu
23. Starting school and returning to the same school for the first time in my teaching career
24. Seeing a Braves game followed by a Weezer concert with Dave and Trevor
25. Finding out the next afternoon that Stormageddon was on his or her way
26. Having a DQ Blizzard on Miracle Treat Day in honor of my co-teacher's son, a former Miracle Child of the Year
27. Celebrating Trevor's 32nd birthday
28. Sharing the news with our families that Stormageddon was on the way
29. Seeing Stormageddon for the first time at our 8 week ultrasound

A little announcement...

Baby V will be arriving in late April. I am currently 14 weeks pregnant. I feel like my bump really popped out this week, but I'm still too small to need true maternity clothing. I've been getting by with belly bands, rubber bands, a few loose tops and dresses, and a handful of maternity tees. I have two pairs of below the bump pants from Target, and they are heavenly! I think they are almost as good as yoga pants!

 I've felt pretty good most of the time, but when I've been unwell, I've been REALLY unwell. I have a lot of sinus trouble each fall, and as it came on this year, it brought a lot of nausea and pain. I missed two days of school because I was too miserable to consider going in. I had a nasty sinus infection in September, on my 30th birthday! 

 I'm very tired most days, but I feel blessed to miss out on the constant vomiting others have experienced at this point! The stretching pains were a surprise to me. Now that I know they are normal, they aren't too bad - but I was awfully alarmed the first few days I had them!

Baby is developing normally. According to my Ovia pregnancy app, he or she is the size of a beet and weighs nearly an ounce. We have had several appointments already, and for those trying to guess the baby's sex, each appointment has recorded a heart rate over 150 beats per minute. At our nuchal translucency scan last week, baby was kicking like crazy and looking very much like a baby (and not the gummy bear we saw in the eight week scan).

I'll leave you now with a picture from that 13 week scan:

Before 30 Bucket List: July/August Update

1. Run a 5K. Take a step toward better overall health.

My Pure Barre membership ran out at the end of June, and honestly, I'm not sure when or if I am going to go back. It's a great class, but the price is so high for a monthly membership. I don't feel like I was getting the customer service I would expect for such a significant investment. The instructors are all awesome, but the studio does not respond to client communication in anything resembling an appropriate time frame. I may give them a second chance, but for now, I'm not sure I want to go back.

2. Make my office/scrapbook space perfect.

Getting there. We will just leave it at that.

3. Pass the Middle Grades Social Sciences GACE.

This really isn't a goal any longer. The August window didn't work with my school schedule this fall, and I'm just not sure that I will get a teaching job with a second certification. I think I need a Masters degree and more experience.

4. Re-do/refresh our bedroom, including paint.

We aren't painting any time soon. This is really a weekend project, and Trevor works every weekend in August. I am really happy with the decor in the room, though, and it's really becoming a happy little retreat for us. Crookshanks and Minerva spend most of their time napping or playing in our master suite, so we have found ourselves spending more time in there, too.

5. Make curtains for the guestroom.
Done as of May 27

6. Make curtains for the living room/kitchen.

Done as of June 19

7. Finish A Clash of Kings.

I'm right around page 500. I think if I decide to read about 30 pages a night before bed, I will finish it by my birthday.

8. Complete our wedding scrapbook.

I'm not really sure that this could possibly happen before my birthday. I think I'm going to order a Project Life Wedding Mini Kit while it's on sale on Amazon.com and use that as the basis of my layouts.

9. Reduce my wardrobe.

This is tabled for now. I realized that I need a good consignment store before I attempt this. I have a lot of dresses I've worn once or twice that don't fit me right or don't work for my needs (like the pretty white sundress that I can obviously never wear to a wedding). I can't stand the thought of just donating them when I know I've spent a lot of time and money obtaining these dresses.

10. Finish my home management binder.

I'm now looking at this as something I want to finish by the first of the year so I will start 2015 with a management binder that is ready to go.

Friday 5: Weekend Reading

As I find my voice and figure out what I'm aiming to do with this blog and the features I've developed for it, I've decided to start sharing 5 articles or blog posts I have recently read and loved as one of the Friday 5 posts each month. Other blogs are doing this, and I am always pleasantly surprised to find articles I wouldn't have discovered on my own. I hope you too will find something new each time I post this feature.

I loved this post on how to offer advice.

I was surprised to find myself nodding along while I read this article about why the world would benefit from creative types saying no more often.

This article about handwriting made me think about how education and language might be evolving, and whether that evolution is a good thing.

My friend Allison shared this blog post about beauty last week. She emailed it to all the women she knows. It is beautiful, and powerful.

Finally, my friend Dave shared these images via Facebook last weekend. I loved the juxtaposition of the pristine landmarks with evidence of every day, modern life.

Tina's Graduation Card

Trevor's youngest cousin, Tina, graduated high school this spring. I looked her high school up on Google so I could make this card in her school colors! I used yet another Lori Whitlock A2 Box Card design from the Silhouette Studio online design store.