YAY!!!

So as of today, I am officially 13 weeks along, which means that I am officially done with my first trimester! It's pretty exciting! Also, at our appointment last week, we got to hear the baby's heartbeat! We had been in just two weeks before, and I was not quite 10 weeks, so she was unable to find the heartbeat. I wasn't really worried, just extremely anxious to hear it! When we went back this time, she found it almost right away, and I immediately started giggling and crying...we could only hear the heartbeat for a few seconds at at time because I couldn't hold still, I kept giggling! It was so cool, though, and it's been so awesome to have Jesse with me at each appointment! We go back on September 10, and then in October is when I will have my ultrasound!!! :) As you can see from the picture I posted last time, I am just barely starting to show, it's not noticeable unless you know I'm pregnant, but it's a big deal to me!

We have had a pretty busy summer and are still keeping busy, especially on the weekends! I was missing out on SO MUCH by being stuck working on Saturdays! We got to go to the 50th annual Chicago Air Show last Saturday, and then to the Indiana Dunes on Sunday! The weekend before, I got to go to a wedding with Jesse (for one of his co-workers, and Jesse played in it!), that I thought I wasn't going to be able to go to! And this weekend, we are coming home, and next weekend, we are having visitors...it's so great!

Jesse starts classes again on Monday, so keep him in your prayers as he adjusts back to a school schedule! Thanks for reading, and we'll keep you posted!

Here is a picture of me at about 10 1/2 weeks, only a little bump so far, but the baby is only about an inch long right now! After Jesse took this picture, he's like "you're pushing your stomach out" and I said "no, I'm not!" We'll take more pictures in a few weeks! Oh, and I know my hair looks a little crazy in this picture, but I had been cleaning, so...

More exciting news...

I just have to say that God is SO good! All of you know how I have been really struggling at the salon, with Clareese's management style and all the drama that comes about as a result, and I have really been just itching to get out of there, but I wasn't sure what exactly to do. Well, once we found out that I'm pregnant, that was like the icing on the cake for me, I decided I for sure wanted to be done at the salon. I looked briefly into nannying positions, but nothing really jumped out at me, and Jesse found two jobs that were available at Moody. Then one evening, we had our friends Vernon and Andrea (and their baby Ethan) over, and Vernon was telling us about this crazy girl at his work that was basically on the verge of either getting fired or quitting, and the next day, she ended up quitting!!! He told me that I should apply for the job, but at this point, I had just applied at Moody and was really wanting to work there, so I just kinda brushed it off. Well, about a week later, he told Jesse that if I wanted to be considered, that I needed to get my resume in ASAP. A couple days later, I was called in for an interview, and the next day, I was notified that I had been hired! This took place over my vacation time, so I was available to start training right away! I ended up only giving the salon about 3 day's notice, which I felt bad about, but today was my last day there, and I couldn't be happier! I will miss several of my clients, but I know that I will be so much better off in this new position! I am a customer service representative for the bookstore at the American Planning Association, so I basically answer phones/faxes and place orders. It's a Monday-Friday, 9-5 job, which is awesome because now I won't have to worry about working weekends and late evenings! We can come home and have visitors whenever we want! I just want to thank you all for praying for me/us these last several months, because I have no doubt in my mind that prayers from our friends and families played a huge role in my getting this job!

As far as the baby goes...I am about 10 weeks right now, due February 27th! We went in for another checkup on our anniversary, and she said that everything looked good! She tried to find the heartbeat, but said that it's normal at the stage where I am to not be able to hear it, so she scheduled me to come back in two weeks instead of four. At that point, if they can't find the heartbeat, she will send me for an ultrasound. Krista said that her doctor had trouble hearing her baby's heartbeat at 13 weeks, so it's nothing to be concerned about, but I was just really hoping to be able to hear that precious sound, especially because it was on our anniversary!!! We will continue to keep everyone updated, and will start posting pictures as soon as I start getting a belly! :)

Exciting News

The past few weeks have been a little crazy, or should I say, a little crazier than usual. We had Aubrey and Aaron up to visit over the weekend of July 4th, then we picked up our car from Fort Wayne this past weekend, but the craziest and most exciting thing of all ... we got to let our families in on a little secret: We're going to have a baby! Stephanie is about two months along, and she had her first doctor's appointment this morning. We are going back in on our anniversary, July 30, to see the main midwife at our doctor's office. We are very excited, and certainly a little scared, but we know this is going to be the ride of a lifetime. We have both been looking forward to this, and are sure that we will start to see time fly even faster, but are enjoying the moments while they last. Please be in prayer for us as we begin this thrilling new turn in our adventure together.

Wheels

We have been contemplating buying a new car for some time now, but have been trying to be content with our trusty Ford Thunderbird. It was a good car; we had it for almost five years and put almost 60,000 mile on it, with relatively few repairs. However, we were ready for something new, and our brother-in-law, Dustin, told us that if we could find a wrecked car, he would help us fix it. We decided that there would be no other time to do this than over the summer, and about three weeks ago we got our hands on a deal we just couldn't (or didn't want to) pass up. The new beast is a 2003 Ford Taurus Sport, painted a beautiful French Blue Metallic. We're just giddy.

The car was a little mangled in the front, but it was hit high, so there was absolutely no frame damage. All of the parts we have installed so far (radiator support, radiator, A/C condenser, and header panel) have all bolted right up with no major headaches. It also needed a hood, bumper cover, and driver's side headlight, was decently dented at the bottom of the driver's doors, and had hail damage on the top. We found all of the parts in one place (thanks to Dustin's body shop connections). If all goes well, will have the work complete within a couple of weeks. Right now we are car-less, and I have been venturing to Fort Wayne every weekend to help out with the work. I say help out because it really is me helping Dustin with the body work ... he's much more capable than I, but I hope I'm learning.






A special thanks goes out to Dustin for all his hard work and sacrifice in between working lots of overtime at Sauder's and trying to take care of a pregnant wife who's fussy enough already (Ha! You can't hit me from 150 miles away, can you Krista?). Here's a shot of Dustin working his magic.