My Mami

There is one lady I love so much and I want her to know it. She gave birth to 4 big babies and now she's becoming a Grandmami! What a great accomplishment! Here's to you, Mami, on this beautiful, yet rainy, Mother's Day! We celebrate you today!

Baby Mami--Isn't she presh? 

Mami's senior pic, just gorge!

Mami and moi

Bumble Bee Mami (with glasses and a stache?) and her two little kitties (Stef and me)

Mami with her 4 big babies (me, Stef, Emily, and Zak)

Mami and me, Easter 2010 

Mami is the real queen of the diamond!

And the trophy should go to Mami for the being the best Mami around! (Actually the trophy is for Emily's team winning State Runner-Up for Ohio!)

We love you, Mami! XOXO

Pomegranates, Heartbeats, and Mini-Me

I've been getting all my information about what size Juice Drop is off a site called thebump.com and I'm starting to wonder if it's all just a bunch of bologna! Last week it told me that my baby is the size of a cantaloupe then half way through the week it switched fruits to reveal that she was in fact the size of a banana. Well, what happened with the cantaloupe? Oh, no worries, it just moved to week 24! So when 24 weeks comes along and you notice that Juice Drop is yet again the size of a cantaloupe don't get too alarmed and think my pregnancy brain is going coo-coo, it's just that the website I've been relying on for the past 15 weeks to tell me the size of my baby is trying to make this mama go cray cray. (I knew jumping from a mango to a cantaloupe in a week was almost impossible!) 

Well I can't let this news of switching fruits get me flustered because all that really matters is that my baby girl is growing healthy. We had our monthly check-up today, and let me tell you, hearing that heartbeat go at 150 beats per minute never gets old!

How far along? 21 weeks 

Total weight gain: 12 lbs...passing the 10 lbs mark was a little disheartening--I had to remind myself who this weight gain is for :)

Maternity clothes? I'm still able to fit into most of my clothes but wearing maternity clothes is more fun :)

Stretch marks? nope, and hopefully it stays that way! I'm in the prime weeks for them to start showing *fingers crossed*

Sleep: pretty good now that I'm getting the hang of this side sleeping thing, and I finally had my first dream about Juice Drop. I was able to see her face and she looked just like me in my baby pictures :) *Check out the pic below* 

Best moment this week: visiting Greenville and spending time with good friends

Miss Anything? Being able to walk fast especially when I have to pee!
Movement: a few times a day and I'm loving it! Except the other day when I had to go the bathroom and she was kicking my bladder--that didn't feel too good lol Her moves are more than just the butterflies in your stomach feeling, I think we've got a strong girl on our hands because it's almost like she's already trying to kick through my belly!

Food cravings: pretzels!

Anything making you queasy or sick: no

Gender: GIRL!!!

Labor Signs: I didn't think I'd be answering this question for at least another 16 weeks but my doctor asked me today if I've been having any contractions! I laughed out loud and asked are you serious?! I guess I can start having Braxton Hicks contractions this early where my uterus contracts (basically it gets hard and can cause cramping). I told her not quite yet...haha!

Symptoms: still peeing all the time (does it ever end?!), long nails (I almost can't keep up with them, I'm either going to have to paint them or start carrying a nail clipper with me), itchy skin on my belly--I thought I got rid of the poison ivy?! oh, it's just another pregnancy symptom, and the best symptom of all: Juice Drop is moving like crazy!

Belly Button in or out? outie! 

Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: Mostly happy but the mood swings hit pretty quickly and Travis gets the brunt of it; sorry, babe!

Looking forward to: getting the busyness of this week done and Mother's Day this Sunday--my first :) 

If my dream about Juice Drop comes true then she may look something like this little girl in the picture above. I think I'm okay with that :)

Where the Heart is

I've heard your heart can be in more than one place but can it be in three or even four places? My heart is originally in Ohio, of course, since it's where I grew up and much of my family is still there. My heart is also here in Charlotte because my husband is here, now our new home, and this is where we will begin a family. But my heart is also in two other places as well. We have people we love very much back in Indiana where we lived for 5 years (3 years in college and 2 years working and serving at East Side Church of God). Living in Indiana was an amazing experience and we have many fond memories of college, meeting our best friends, spending more time with our siblings, babysitting four amazing little girls, partnering together in ministry, and beginning Unity Soccer which eventually led us to the Urban Eagles.

And then there is Greenville, South Carolina.

We just got back from a weekend away with some of our favorite people. You know those people, the people who you don't have to see for months or even years and you pick up where you left off, laughing until your belly hurts and tears are rolling down your face. (Along with having my heart in multiple places, my favorite people list is super long and these favorites of mine are spread out all over the world.) And while we only lived in Greenville for for 2 years (the shortest amount of time we've lived anywhere else, besides Charlotte), I know these relationships will last a lifetime.

Taylors First Church of God in Greenville held a lot of firsts for us. It was our first careers right out of college (for Travis, worship leader and youth pastor and for me, children's ministry director). It was our first time living far enough away from our families that it couldn't be a weekend trip any longer. It was the first time Travis played guitar and sang in front of anyone for worship (and Benny made him do it the first Sunday we were there! :) ) While those 2 years had it's trials, it's really difficult to look back and see any negatives. When we reminisce we are only reminded of all the great things that happened, all the things we learned, and all the people we love and miss dearly. Even though we only live 2 hours away from Greenville now we haven't been able to visit as often as we would like. But when those few and far between visits come around we praise God and thank Him for allowing us to live in such a wonderful place with such wonderful people for those 2 years!

Unfortunately the only picture I got this weekend. We went out with our good friends,
Zeke and Beth Godfrey and ate a delicious Thai meal the authentic way--on the floor :)

One the Youth's favorite things to do: PAINTBALL!

We took Gabriel and Dee to Atlanta for a missions project and worked with Church on the Streets.
It was eye opening for everyone!

One of our favorite things to do was go hiking.
We're at Rainbow Falls at Jones Gap State Park, our favorite place to hike.

We took the youth to Big Stuf Camp during the summer and it was a blast! 

Big Stuf Camp on Daytona Beach

We loved embarrassing the youth by doing the McFormal

Laser Tag! Another youth favorite!

I miss this kid like crazy! (Pastor's and good friends' son). I think he was a little nervous about my costume lol

I loved being a part of the women's ministry. We did a Ladies Day Out hiking :)

I love these two so much!

Christmas Party with the Youth and, of course, with ugly sweaters!




Where is your heart?

My Baby is What Size?!

Ok, riddle me this: how does my baby go from a mango to a cantaloupe in one week?! I'll tell you what, whether it's true or not, my belly sure feels like I've got a cantaloupe inside of it! Just in the last week I feel like so many wonderful things have happened to my body and what's going on inside. Praise God for the miracle of pregnancy and the joy it has brought to me as a woman! (Travis is kind of jealous) Some days I wish I could take a peek inside (I guess I did that a few weeks back during my ultrasound) and see my baby girl doing her kicks and flips and somersaults and see the beauty of her growth. I can tell she's growing like crazy because I'm eating like my 14 year old brother who goes through a bag of Doritos in one sitting, and when I wake up in the morning my belly hasn't disappeared like it did in the beginning--oh, it's there and oh, it's quite a feat just to get out of bed! Her movement isn't in question any longer. I don't have to ask myself "was that gas or was that really a tiny kick?" No, that was definitely a kick! The one kick I felt last night was like a bomb had gone off inside of me--my whole belly shook! It was a very funny and special moment Travis and I got to share together since his hand was on my belly during the war that was waging inside :) 

We are half way there!! And while I relish in the everyday joys of being pregnant and anticipate the upcoming milestones, I have to be honest and say the reality of being a parent is beginning to sink in. Yes, I've wanted to be a mother all my life and yes, I definitely want to be a mother at this point in my life but so many new changes are to come in less than 5 months and I have to wonder to myself am I ready?! Am I ready to love all the time, discipline when needed, be ok with a messy house and spit up on my clothes, be ok not taking my Sunday naps, be able to really demonstrate Christ's love so our daughter will really know Him? Veteran parents out there, please reiterate what I've already heard you say a quadrillion times: "you're never really ready!" Ok, thank you, I feel much better now!  

How far along? 20 Weeks! 

Total weight gain: 7 lbs since my first appointment

Maternity clothes? I received my maternity clothes in the mail on Friday!! Some of the shirts are still waiting for my belly to grow a little bit more but I absolutely love my maxi dress! :)

Stretch marks? Nope but a few spots left over from poison ivy on my belly could pass as stretch marks :( hoping those go away soon!

Sleep: I'm having to definitely sleep on my sides now, sleeping on my back is causing headaches due to Juice Drop pushing down on a major blood vessel (or so the books say lol)

Best moment this week: We picked out fabrics to begin decorating Juice Drop's nursery!

Miss Anything? Being able to walk fast especially when I have to pee!
Movement: Like crazy! She's doing flips, kicking, and moving all over. *see first paragraph*

Food cravings: Water, juicy fruit (not the gum lol)

Anything making you queasy or sick: Queasy/sick, no; dizzy, lightheaded, and headaches, yes

Gender: GIRL!!!

Labor Signs: No

Symptoms: positives--crazy movement from Juice Drop, long nails, good hair, bigger belly; negatives-- headaches, almost peeing in my pants when I sneeze or cough or laugh or when I have to go really bad, aches in my lower back

Belly Button in or out? I think I officially have an outie! 

Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: Mostly happy but the mood swings hit pretty quickly and Travis gets the brunt of it; sorry, babe!

Looking forward to: We're heading to Greenville this weekend :)

Take a sneak peek at the colors and textures of Juice Drop's nursery. I'm in love! <3

Going into the fabric store we knew we wanted peach, black, off-white, and cream to be the colors. What we found exceeded our expectations! I love it all! The peach fabric is cotton. The black and cream polka-dot fabric is corduroy. The black and white striped is outdoor fabric. And the beautiful flower piece is satin. 

The clock from Ikea was our starting point. The picture below was our inspiration. We won't be able to get everything from our inspiration because it's so darn expensive but with enough creativity flowing through the both of us I think we can come up with something like the Neutral Niceties and maybe love it even more! 

Our inspiration was found here.

I can't wait to see Juice Drop in her own Nursery!