Its A GIRL!!!!!!

We had an ultrasound this morning and sure enough... ITS A GIRL!!! We're really excited! We would be just as happy either way, but we were hoping just a little bit for a girl! :) The ultrasound was awesome! Kris came with me and we were both amazed by how much we could see and how easy it was to make everything out! We could see all the little bones in the arms and legs, hands and feet. We saw the little one wiggling all over - its so amazing to see! She's already all curled up in her little "baby pose." Yes, I was and still am in absolute awe!!

So, I thought I would share the few ultrasound pictures that I have so far... This first one was at 6 weeks and I call it "the pea!" ...test positive - there is an egg sack...!
This second one is 10 weeks... You can't really see much, but those 2 little balls at the top are baby Milo! I think the head is on the right and he body on the left...
And last but not least - these two are today's glamor shots!! I think she looks like a little alien...:) so cute. You can see the face easily and her little arm...
Well, that's all folks...
Until next time...

Oh, p.s. I forgot that I was going to mention - on a different note - God blessed me with a pretty substantial raise at work this week! What a blessing! Apparently my Hospital had to evaluate our pay based on other hospitals around and we didn't measure up! What a blessing for us! Especially now that the little one is coming and ill be cutting back!

Random thoughts and ramblings...

Hi to everyone reading! Yup, we're all still alive. I come on here daily to check everyone else' blogs, but somehow just haven't had the wherewithal to actually post for myself. :) Its somewhat sad and always amazing just how busy the Holidays get - and the focus always seems to end up on things other than Christ - the true meaning of Christmas. May that be not the case through the next year... Happy 2008 everyone!

The last few weeks have been much better for me - I'm not sick anymore. Thank God!!! What a rough time that was! I'm pretty sure that I've probably been feeling the baby move for a couple weeks now too, but not knowing exactly what that feels like, I'm still not quite sure... My next Dr. appointment is the 21st and we're hoping to find out what we're having that day if "little one" will just cooperate! :) I can't wait to paint the room and start getting things ready! Its hard to believe that I'm almost halfway done being pregnant! I'm not really even showing yet!!! I'm still wearing the same jeans and only just this week have I had just a little bit more trouble holding in my tummy - but most everyone still has no idea I'm pregnant unless I tell them.

I must enter a note here of sincere thanks to my wonderful husband. He's put up with my odd emotional moments with very little complaint... Thanks Honey! Sunday I was trying to get ready for church and started bawling because I looked like the Pillsbury Dough Boy in every sweater I tried on... I have no idea where that came from! A friend of mine gave me a huge tote of maternity clothes, but I'm not there yet - they look silly, I'm just getting "fuller" everywhere, shall we say... A couple new "new year's sale rack" sweaters later I feel much better. Oh, and I noticed in the mall yesterday that there is a new - as I call it - "big bra store!" What a relief!!!

I'm hoping to post some more pictures soon... I've been awfully lazy in the photo department lately... I have a hard time wanting to take pictures in the winter time. Oh, and speaking of winter - we've already had more snow this winter than I remember having since I was a kid! We've had 3 big snow storms already and its only Jan 1st! We had a white Christmas for the first time in many years! So beautiful! Sadly, I'm not as much the kid anymore and not quite as thrilled with snow as I used to be - oh, well - it sure is pretty! :) Pretty, that is, until we woke up to the lovely sound of dripping water in our bedroom the other night! We think what happened was - the icicles backed up so far into the sofets (however that's spelled) that when they started to melt the water started to drip in through the window frame. There doesn't seem to be any permanent damage but makes us very nervous for the rest of the winter! We're praying that rain gutters on the house in the spring will take care of the problem - if only we don't have any more trouble before that... We may have to have a roofer come look at it if it happens again. :(

I hope that this find everyone happy, healthy and blessed by God this new year!!!

Thanksgiving...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

(Left to Right:Back Row: Beth, Tyson, Aaron, Mellissa, Morgan, Amy, Mama - Pa in the back.

Front row: Kris, Jessamyn, Mark, Linea, Mercy)

No doubt there will be more pictures to post later, but this is the only one touched up so far. What a wonderful weekend we had! I had to work a lot of it, but it was so wonderful to have all of my family together just hanging out for the first time in years! I'm so happy that everyone could make it!!! And imagine there actually being room in our house for all you crazy people to sleep! This weekend was full of what will be happy memories for a very long time. Hope you all know just how much Kris and I love everyone of you!

Weeks of Nausea...

Kris, Mark and Linea are busy playing Mario-cart so it seems to be a good time for me to post!

OH, the last several weeks!! I haven't posted in so long, but truthfully I have had neither the energy nor the initiative! The last several weeks have consisted of constantly thinking about food - wanting it and yet wondering if I will ever be able to stomach the thought of anything but crackers and milk?!? Thankfully the last week has gotten somewhat better - at least now its to the point that I can stand it and if I can keep myself distracted I'm able to think about something else for a short period of time! Ok - enough of that. Other than that I just sleep all the time - bedtime seems to have become generally much closer to 7pm than 10pm and my, how the 5:30am mornings are rough!!! :)

So, I think that Linea has decided not to move in now. We feel bad since she and Mark did all the work on the room! But, they just got engaged and are planning to get married in April so it makes sense for her to just stay in Coby and get a job there. Thanks for fixing up our new office guys! It was very nice of you!

First Dr. Appointment...

Oh, the last 2 weeks... They have been rough - to say the least. I hate to complain, but if there is one thing that I hate its being nauseous and it hasn't stopped for 12 days so far. I'm better on the days that I work for the simple reason that there are so many things to keep me distracted! Please, dear God, Help me through this time! I probably shouldn't admit this, but I was starting to get scared... I've been so sick that I wasn't excited anymore... and I hated that feeling! Well, today I went to the Dr. for the very first time. I'm still sick and trying to keep food down as I write, BUT - I'm excited again... I have our first ultrasound picture hanging on the fridge!!! I must admit - it really looks like a pea. Way to small to really see anything - just a little round ball. But, I did see the heartbeat. Now a little more of reality sets in! I just can't wait to feel better!!! I was so hoping to avoid this part! Dr. Skory changed my due date too. He said the baby is still to small to be quite as far along as I thought... So the new due date is June 7th.

Pregnant!!! :)

As evidenced below...
I'm Pregnant!!! Its really much too early to really be spreading the word so excitedly but I can't help myself! :) Actually, I have to tell everyone at work because there are now patients that I can't take care of while pregnant. So if I'm going to tell all them, then I have to tell my family and well, why not just tell the whole world!?? :)

We're pretty excited. I'm only in my 6th week so were trusting God for everything to go smoothly. I go for my first Dr. appt on the 16th. I was supposed to go earlier, but I have to work and I couldn't get an appointment to fit with my schedule. So I'll wait patiently :) ...or at least try... :)

I Forgot that I Never Posted These!

I completely forgot that I never posted any of these pictures! This was what Linea's room originally looked like! Very ugly. Our first thought was just to paint it and we told Linea that we would buy the paint and she would have to do the painting... (Notice the ugly shell lights on the wall - reminded be of a mermaid bra every time I looked at them!)
We quickly realized that there was actually sheet-rock underneath the ugly panelling (Thank you Mark!) So wasted no time in taking the paneling off. Only to realize that the closet actually had no sheet-rock Mark turned the paneling around and put it back on! Already looking better! Don't you just love the peach color? I hate it! I can't believe how much peach there was in this house! (our bedroom, Linea's room, and the downstairs bathroom - ugh.)
Working hard...
Or hardly working - either way... (J/K Linea!)
So after they finished patching everything they finally got to paint. Then, how could we not replace the lights - they were so ugly! And last but not least the trim was terribly pieced together, so we had to get new. Now the room looks ever so much better. See the "better" below!!! Thanks for all you hard work Linea and Mark!

Linea's Room...

Well, Linea's room is getting finished. She and Mark spent the day here on Tuesday and got everything pretty much finished up - just a couple little touch-up things left to do. I'm so glad that we got those new lights! The old ones were sooo ugly! Thanks for putting these up Mark!
Linea scraping the extra paint off the windows...
You can see the paint color a little better in this picture - it really isn't grey. Its a very pale greenish color... Linea picked the colors and I think they look pretty good! :)Now... to just get the rest of the spackle out of the floor...
So, Linea... When are you moving??? :)

My Celebrity Look-Alikes...

Apparently these are the famous people that I look like - not so sure I agree...

Happenings...

The moments for peace and quiet and contemplation have been few and far between lately. It's 9pm now and Kris and I are sitting on the couch reflecting on the fact that we have either had people over or been to other people's houses for the past 6 nights in a row. I'm tired now - I have so much to do... And yet it will be next Tuesday before I have another free evening of "nothing" to do. Ugh. Its funny how during busy times you wish things would just quiet down, then they do and you wonder when they will ever pick up again. Ahh - if only to learn to be content!

We (Garner kids etc...) went hiking on the 5th - up Monument Mt. in Mass. It wasn't a long hike, but was so much fun. Ty and Beth were here for a week and we tried to get in as much fun stuff as possible. I have just one lovely picture below. Counterclockwise - starting with the bottom center: Kris, Beth, Ty, Amy, Mark, Me, Peter, Linea, Morgan - and you can just barely see Zoe in the bottom right corner. :)



So on our way to the hike, we passed the Berkshire Botanical Gardens... I was so excited - I've always wanted to go to some botanical gardens, but haven't been yet and didn't know that there were any that close! (only about an hour away) So Kris and I went on the 12th and got to take a bunch of pictures etc. It was soooooo hot that day though! When the sun was out we were burning up, then the sun would go behind a cloud and the bugs were fierce! We still had fun though and got some cool pictures.

Probably about 10 years ago (for my graduation gift) my grandfather bought me a collection of 10 different colors of day-lillies that I planted in a garden at the farm. Sadly - I left home right after that and I've never seen them bloom. On the same note - thankfully, my mom has kept my old garden weeded and I was just able to go dig them up last week. We have a lovely fenced in back yard and I plan to plant them all along the back fence. I finally had a chance to go buy some mulch and "dehydrated" manure today so hopefully I can get them all planted this week before they all dye! I'm excited though - I think that they will look really good. I have so many ideas for things that I want to do with this house! I'm so glad that I have the next 30 years cause it will take that long!

We are working on getting our home-group started back up again for the year. We've decided on studying a book for the fall - I have to get that ordered soon! We got together with everyone for a BBQ on Friday which was nice as we have a few new members who had not met everyone yet. We were so blessed - last year 2 couples left the group (either moved away or couldn't make it) and we going to advertise in the church bulletin. But we didn't have to because these new couples found us without our even trying and we are really excited about them! We're really excited to be getting started again and we're feeling pretty refreshed after the summer off. We had actually joined another group just for the summer, which has really given us some encouragement and strengthening and new ideas. I just pray that we will be able to keep up the enthusiasm...