And here is a picture of Savannah on "her chair"...for now she is queen of the house.
Monday, February 28, 2011
16 Week Appointment
Last Thursday we had our 16 week appointment (when I was actually 16 weeks 3 days). We heard the baby's heart beat for the first time. It was 140, which is perfect. They then took 5 tubes of my blood to use for a bunch of tests. David asked Dr. Corbett if we could sneak in to have an ultrasound to see if they could tell the sex, but my she said that the ultrasound room and nurse who does them was busy. Darn! Here is a picture taken last Friday when I was 16 weeks 4 days. It isn't that clear (David- you need to work on your photography skills). I am wearing my new maternity jeans that my mom bought me when she was here visiting. (thanks mom!) I am wearing a mix of my regular clothes and maternity clothes, but most of them are still too baggy looking right now. I can't wait until our next appointment on March 24 when we get to find out if our little baby is a boy or girl!!
And here is a picture of Savannah on "her chair"...for now she is queen of the house.
And here is a picture of Savannah on "her chair"...for now she is queen of the house.
Lately
I wanted to share with y'all what we have been up to the past few weeks. First, Rachel and Adam had their baby...Brody on February 13. We went to the hospital to visit when he was only 12 hours old. David even held him.
Then, as you already know sweet Sarah passed away and we made a last minute trip to Houston for her beautiful service. I am so happy we were able to go. While in Houston we got to play with our niece and nephew, Summer and Ben. We went to watch Ben rock climb for the first time. Summi loved the attention David gave her!
Another highlight of the quick trip was getting to meet baby Savanna Lee. She is the now 1-month old daughter of my good friend from Stratford, Sara, and her husband Matt. She is precious!
My mom and David's mom had originally planned to be in Denver the weekend that we made the last-minute trip to Houston, so we just pushed the trip back a bit. The four of us (me, David, mom, Mary) all flew back to Denver on Sunday morning early and they stayed until Tuesday evening (I took an extra day off work!). We made our first (of many) trips to Babies R Us to get the registry started. David was in charge of the gun. It was fun and not as overwhelming as I thought thanks to many suggestions from friends who already have babies. David and his mom went to Blackhawk casino on Monday while my mom and I went to the cutest baby store called Firefly Furnishings. I couldn't help but think of Sarah and will always remember her when I hear "firefly". It was definitely a God moment because I pretty much stumbled upon the store. We had a fun couple of days with the moms-- thanks for making the trip!
Then, as you already know sweet Sarah passed away and we made a last minute trip to Houston for her beautiful service. I am so happy we were able to go. While in Houston we got to play with our niece and nephew, Summer and Ben. We went to watch Ben rock climb for the first time. Summi loved the attention David gave her!
Another highlight of the quick trip was getting to meet baby Savanna Lee. She is the now 1-month old daughter of my good friend from Stratford, Sara, and her husband Matt. She is precious!
My mom and David's mom had originally planned to be in Denver the weekend that we made the last-minute trip to Houston, so we just pushed the trip back a bit. The four of us (me, David, mom, Mary) all flew back to Denver on Sunday morning early and they stayed until Tuesday evening (I took an extra day off work!). We made our first (of many) trips to Babies R Us to get the registry started. David was in charge of the gun. It was fun and not as overwhelming as I thought thanks to many suggestions from friends who already have babies. David and his mom went to Blackhawk casino on Monday while my mom and I went to the cutest baby store called Firefly Furnishings. I couldn't help but think of Sarah and will always remember her when I hear "firefly". It was definitely a God moment because I pretty much stumbled upon the store. We had a fun couple of days with the moms-- thanks for making the trip!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Dear Sarah
Dear Sarah,
Heaven is shining brighter now. You are free from the bondage of cancer in your body and I know you are dancing with joy in heaven. We will all miss you dearly here on earth until we see you again. We first met in sixth grade at Alamo Height Junior School. We had numerous classes together throughout junior school and high school. In high school we studied together but were not great friends outside of school. You were always super smart and a great study buddy. I moved to Houston just before our junior year of high school. We did not keep in touch those last years of high school. Then God reunited us by way of freshman orientation at UT. I will always remember how you seemed to have "come out of your shell" since I knew you sophomore year of high school. You helped us meet friends at orientation by just being your friendly, outgoing self. I will always cherish my memories from our first year of college living at SRD. We went through sorority rush and every day after the events we would share our thoughts, fears, and favorite houses. We visited numerous churches together and finally found Lake Hills Church where we ended up going almost most every week together. We navigated fraternity parties (that was interesting) and dressed up many times for themed parties (beach bash, safari). We were loyal attenders of Escape where we met weekly with others to worship Jesus through music and prayer. We ate many meals at SRD together and bummed rides off of friends who had cars when we wanted to eat out or go shopping. We made great friends in Rachel, Liz, Hilary, and Jessica. I was so blessed to have a genuine friend in you, Sarah, to face the first year of college with.
Sophomore, Junior and Senior year we lived in different places but still were the closest of friends. You were chaplin of Zeta and I always admired you for that. We started attending the church at Austin Stone and would go together weekly. We were in Bible study with a group of girls from the Stone. We went on a road trip over spring break to Wolf Creek, Colorado with Rachel, Hil, Liz, and Jess. We skied, sat in the hot tub, cooked dinner, and laughed alot. After your senior year and before my fifth year, you took a leap of faith and went to Zambia, Africa with Family Legacy Missions. Your stories and pictures from this trip inspired me. You talked about the precious orphans there and about how they were so excited to just get a hug or drink a "smoothie". You talked about Esther, the little girl whose smile convinced you that you were called to be a teacher. This trip to Africa changed your life and it also changed mine because the following summer I went on the same mission trip because of your stories. Thank you for encouraging me, Sarah.
After I graduated one year after you, God brought both of us to Houston. We would hang out in Houston, mainly by going to get Mexican food or a glass of wine. You were a very special part of our wedding celebration. I will cherish those memories, videos and pictures forever. Although we went to different churches in Houston, we still shared our joys, concerns, and prayer requests with each other. Just before David and I moved to Denver, you and Annie threw a going away party for us at your apartment. Thank you for that!
When David and I moved to Denver I knew that we would stay in touch closely even though we were now in a different state. I was so happy that you and Annie came to Denver to visit the first summer we lived here. Y'all stayed in the living room of our 1-bedroom apartment on the air bed. We had a blast on the white water rafting trip. You screamed and laughed the whole time with your infectious laugh. David will always remember when you felt car sick on the mountainous drive to Buena Vista because we stopped, you got out of the car, and you gave yourself a pep talk. He talks about this humorous moment every time we drive on Highway 285.
I remember the first time I met Eric. It was on one of our trips to Houston in the fall of 2008. You really really wanted me to meet him so I met y'all for coffee. I remember how happy you were and how I thought Eric was such a genuinely sincere guy. He was also such a sport for going to dinner at Lupe's with 3 girls- you, me, and Annie one time when I was in Houston.
When you first told me that the lump on your arm was cancerous, I was so scared for you. You were so hopeful and optimistic and had faith that God would not give you anything you couldn't handle. You started the blog and began using the scary situation for such good....and it was only the beginning. You had surgery and I remember talking to you about your scar. At first you were shocked and upset, but then you embraced it. Then you got engaged! I was so happy for you and Eric! I wanted to spend more time with Eric (and of course with you) so Rachel and I encouraged both of y'all to come spend a long weekend in Denver. I am so thankful for the sweet time we had just hanging out, getting to know Eric, catching up, and doing "Denver" things. I will cherish memories of this weekend and time we had forever. We ate out, hiked at Mt Falcon, went to Morrison for lunch, saw Red Rocks, went to a BBQ with friends, church, and swimming and pizza at Adam and Rachel's. Thank you so much for making the trip to visit us!
When you called me to tell me about the results of your follow-up appointment and that the cancer had spread, I was heartbroken. I, along with many many others, prayed for a miracle. Your optimism and hope amazed me. You chose to use the situation as a way to reach out to people. I admire you for this and know that God was working so hard in you during the past 6 months. If this had been me, I don't think I could have done it. God knew what he was doing. I so wish I could have come to your first marriage to Eric. The pictures don't do it justice, I am sure, but you were radiant and so in love. The first dance was AWESOME! I had a blast at the bachelorette party and your attitude lifted my spirits about it all. We looked awesome in the wigs, especially you. :)
I watched your blog daily even though I might not have posted comments. I followed along and prayed for the pain to go away, for healing, for wisdom for the doctors, for your family, for Eric, for God to perform a miracle. We didn't know it then, but he was performing a miracle but just not the kind that we had in mind of healing your body here on this earth. I loved hearing about your ceramics class and about you making gingersnaps in your lime green kitchenaid mixer. I enjoyed knowing that you were able to visit Meadowood every once in a while and that you went to small group and church when you felt up to it. You shared devotionals with the world, Sarah. You shared Christ with the congregation of blog followers, your students. You were a teacher to thousands of people through your blog. That is a miracle.
Then there was the wedding...the beautiful wedding. At the bridesmaids luncheon I remember how silly you were and you laughed with your great laugh. It was so fun to be with you on such a special day. You were a gorgeous bride and the ceremony was just perfect. All of the friends and family who shared truly meant every word about how you and Eric have touched our lives. It was such a testament to who and Eric are and how God has used you both for his grand purpose.
Your wedding in November was the last time I saw you here on this earth. It is still so hard to believe that you have gone to be with Jesus. You are in heaven, perfect heaven, dancing with joy. I selfishly wish you were here still, with us...we all do, but God had different plans. He wanted you with him now in heaven. Every time I hear firefly I will think of you, the brightest firefly, Sweet Sarah. I love you, friend.
Heaven is shining brighter now. You are free from the bondage of cancer in your body and I know you are dancing with joy in heaven. We will all miss you dearly here on earth until we see you again. We first met in sixth grade at Alamo Height Junior School. We had numerous classes together throughout junior school and high school. In high school we studied together but were not great friends outside of school. You were always super smart and a great study buddy. I moved to Houston just before our junior year of high school. We did not keep in touch those last years of high school. Then God reunited us by way of freshman orientation at UT. I will always remember how you seemed to have "come out of your shell" since I knew you sophomore year of high school. You helped us meet friends at orientation by just being your friendly, outgoing self. I will always cherish my memories from our first year of college living at SRD. We went through sorority rush and every day after the events we would share our thoughts, fears, and favorite houses. We visited numerous churches together and finally found Lake Hills Church where we ended up going almost most every week together. We navigated fraternity parties (that was interesting) and dressed up many times for themed parties (beach bash, safari). We were loyal attenders of Escape where we met weekly with others to worship Jesus through music and prayer. We ate many meals at SRD together and bummed rides off of friends who had cars when we wanted to eat out or go shopping. We made great friends in Rachel, Liz, Hilary, and Jessica. I was so blessed to have a genuine friend in you, Sarah, to face the first year of college with.
Sophomore, Junior and Senior year we lived in different places but still were the closest of friends. You were chaplin of Zeta and I always admired you for that. We started attending the church at Austin Stone and would go together weekly. We were in Bible study with a group of girls from the Stone. We went on a road trip over spring break to Wolf Creek, Colorado with Rachel, Hil, Liz, and Jess. We skied, sat in the hot tub, cooked dinner, and laughed alot. After your senior year and before my fifth year, you took a leap of faith and went to Zambia, Africa with Family Legacy Missions. Your stories and pictures from this trip inspired me. You talked about the precious orphans there and about how they were so excited to just get a hug or drink a "smoothie". You talked about Esther, the little girl whose smile convinced you that you were called to be a teacher. This trip to Africa changed your life and it also changed mine because the following summer I went on the same mission trip because of your stories. Thank you for encouraging me, Sarah.
After I graduated one year after you, God brought both of us to Houston. We would hang out in Houston, mainly by going to get Mexican food or a glass of wine. You were a very special part of our wedding celebration. I will cherish those memories, videos and pictures forever. Although we went to different churches in Houston, we still shared our joys, concerns, and prayer requests with each other. Just before David and I moved to Denver, you and Annie threw a going away party for us at your apartment. Thank you for that!
When David and I moved to Denver I knew that we would stay in touch closely even though we were now in a different state. I was so happy that you and Annie came to Denver to visit the first summer we lived here. Y'all stayed in the living room of our 1-bedroom apartment on the air bed. We had a blast on the white water rafting trip. You screamed and laughed the whole time with your infectious laugh. David will always remember when you felt car sick on the mountainous drive to Buena Vista because we stopped, you got out of the car, and you gave yourself a pep talk. He talks about this humorous moment every time we drive on Highway 285.
I remember the first time I met Eric. It was on one of our trips to Houston in the fall of 2008. You really really wanted me to meet him so I met y'all for coffee. I remember how happy you were and how I thought Eric was such a genuinely sincere guy. He was also such a sport for going to dinner at Lupe's with 3 girls- you, me, and Annie one time when I was in Houston.
When you first told me that the lump on your arm was cancerous, I was so scared for you. You were so hopeful and optimistic and had faith that God would not give you anything you couldn't handle. You started the blog and began using the scary situation for such good....and it was only the beginning. You had surgery and I remember talking to you about your scar. At first you were shocked and upset, but then you embraced it. Then you got engaged! I was so happy for you and Eric! I wanted to spend more time with Eric (and of course with you) so Rachel and I encouraged both of y'all to come spend a long weekend in Denver. I am so thankful for the sweet time we had just hanging out, getting to know Eric, catching up, and doing "Denver" things. I will cherish memories of this weekend and time we had forever. We ate out, hiked at Mt Falcon, went to Morrison for lunch, saw Red Rocks, went to a BBQ with friends, church, and swimming and pizza at Adam and Rachel's. Thank you so much for making the trip to visit us!
When you called me to tell me about the results of your follow-up appointment and that the cancer had spread, I was heartbroken. I, along with many many others, prayed for a miracle. Your optimism and hope amazed me. You chose to use the situation as a way to reach out to people. I admire you for this and know that God was working so hard in you during the past 6 months. If this had been me, I don't think I could have done it. God knew what he was doing. I so wish I could have come to your first marriage to Eric. The pictures don't do it justice, I am sure, but you were radiant and so in love. The first dance was AWESOME! I had a blast at the bachelorette party and your attitude lifted my spirits about it all. We looked awesome in the wigs, especially you. :)
I watched your blog daily even though I might not have posted comments. I followed along and prayed for the pain to go away, for healing, for wisdom for the doctors, for your family, for Eric, for God to perform a miracle. We didn't know it then, but he was performing a miracle but just not the kind that we had in mind of healing your body here on this earth. I loved hearing about your ceramics class and about you making gingersnaps in your lime green kitchenaid mixer. I enjoyed knowing that you were able to visit Meadowood every once in a while and that you went to small group and church when you felt up to it. You shared devotionals with the world, Sarah. You shared Christ with the congregation of blog followers, your students. You were a teacher to thousands of people through your blog. That is a miracle.
Then there was the wedding...the beautiful wedding. At the bridesmaids luncheon I remember how silly you were and you laughed with your great laugh. It was so fun to be with you on such a special day. You were a gorgeous bride and the ceremony was just perfect. All of the friends and family who shared truly meant every word about how you and Eric have touched our lives. It was such a testament to who and Eric are and how God has used you both for his grand purpose.
Your wedding in November was the last time I saw you here on this earth. It is still so hard to believe that you have gone to be with Jesus. You are in heaven, perfect heaven, dancing with joy. I selfishly wish you were here still, with us...we all do, but God had different plans. He wanted you with him now in heaven. Every time I hear firefly I will think of you, the brightest firefly, Sweet Sarah. I love you, friend.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Before
I wanted to post some pictures for those who have not been to our house. These are pictures of what the room that will soon be the nursery looks like now. After we have the nursery ready, I will post pictures and you can see the difference. We are hoping to have curtains or fabric shades made for the windows and a cushion made for the tile bench in the bay window. You can see there is a vacant wall right now, which might be where the crib goes if we end up leaving the daybed in the room. (side note: there is also an 8x10 picture of Savannah in a frame, which is kinda a joke. I am sure this will soon be replaced with a picture of our baby. :) )
On another note, I am feeling really good. I don't really feel pregnant yet. I notice that my pants are a little tighter around the waist, but I am not wearing any of my maternity clothes yet. I'm know it is only a matter of time. As many of you know, I am a runner and enjoy running. Prior to being pregnant, I ran about 30 miles a week at a 8 min/mile or faster pace. I have not given up running and my doctor even said that it's good to keep running if you ran before being pregnant. So I am now running between 15 and 20 miles a week at about a 9 min/mile pace. I still feel really good during runs and after running. As long as I am comfortable, I will keep it up. I also do mat pilates about twice a week, which I have heard is great for during pregnancy and helps with recovery afterwards. Finally, it is supposed to be in the 50's and 60's and sunny for the next 5 days in Denver!!! Let's hope it holds out until next weekend when my mom and Mary come to visit.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
First of many
As you can see below from the counter, I am 13 weeks 3 days along. Last weekend, David took a picture of me so you can see my "baby bump", except that you can't see it. I figured I should document it if this is going to be like a journal. I am sure it will appear soon. :)
We had our 12 week appointment on January 27th. Everything looked good and right on track. At 12 weeks 3 days, our little one was 11.8 cm long. God really knew what he was doing when he created the miracle of life. What a blessing!
We had our 12 week appointment on January 27th. Everything looked good and right on track. At 12 weeks 3 days, our little one was 11.8 cm long. God really knew what he was doing when he created the miracle of life. What a blessing!
Flashback
This past Christmas we drove to Texas. I know, some might say we are crazy. We loaded up our car and set out on the Saturday before Christmas at 6am. The primary reason we drove is so we could bring our dog, Savannah. She is our baby (as of now...she doesn't know what's coming). She had not been to Texas and had not met many of our family and friends. We were in Texas for a week so she got to go to mutiple family Christmases and enjoy all of the festivities with us. She even became friends with our 5 year-old nephew, Ben.
It was when we were in Houston that we told our immediate families our wonderful news. We went to dinner with my mom and Stacy and Mary and Ed at Cyclone Anaya's the first night we were in Houston. David so eloquently told them the reason I wasn't drinking is because we are having a baby. Everyone was caught offguard. Then they processed....and were very excited! We waited until Christmas day to tell our sisters and brothers. My mom even pretended to be surprised again by opening a present...a "Future Longhorn" onesie. Mary did the same at the Stephens' Christmas when we revealed our secret to Ellen, Davy, Ben and Summer.
We had a great week-long visit in Houston. On the way back (with a car packed to the ceiling of wedding gifts from 3 1/2 years ago that were still at my mom's house), we stopped and spent the night in Dallas at my dad's house. We told Dad and Michelle the special news. We made it back to Denver and had to wait 3 more days until our first doctor's appointment. It was a long 3 days. :)
Slight Introduction
Hi family and friends! I am creating this blog since we are in Denver and so many family and friends are not. I figured some of you might have an interest in following along with us as we prepare for the newest member of our family to enter our lives. Of course, I will continue to blog once our baby comes so that you can watch him or her grow with us. I might even throw in some stories and pictures that are un-related to our little one in case you care to know what is going on in our lives. I am excited about this and hope y'all enjoy our stories!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)