our little acrobat

I have been feeling little flutters in my belly for a couple weeks now, but usually only if I'm laying in the fetal position, or scrunching my stomach somehow so that baby has less room to move about. However, today is the first day when I have felt all sorts of movement and fluttering without changing positions or anything! It is SO exciting and splendidly wonderful to feel our little baby swimming around and doing sumersaults in my belly! I am loving each stage of pregnancy, and it seems like each week brings about some new and exciting thing! The next change will be feeling the movement on the outside of my belly, which Daddy is very excited about! I'm excited too, because then he will feel like he is more a part of what is happening with my body! Every day it is becoming more and more real and more and more evident that we are having a baby in just over 4 months! I have my little bump now, I feel movement, and we are starting to get the house ready for baby! It is getting more exciting everyday, but I'm thankful we have some time, because we have SO much more to do :) And so much more to look forward to! I am determined to not wish my pregnancy away just because of how excited I am to meet our baby! Pregnancy is so fun, and so wonderful, so I am going to slow down, and enjoy it, because it will be over before I know it!

oh baby

Lately I have struggled with some concentration issues at work...I think about the baby in my belly with extreme anticipation, and sometimes I can't think about much else...What will my baby look like? What will its sex be? Will it have mommy's eyes? Daddy's nose? Oh I simply can't wait! 179 days to go! It will fly by, so I'm attemping to slow my life down a little bit so that I can enjoy pregnancy and get everything done in the seemingly short (yet forever long) time we have left! There are so many things to figure out, and think about, and plan for, but it's such an exciting time :) I sometimes still can't believe that God has given us this little miracle, but I sure am thankful for our little peanut! Today is the official 15 week point, which just blows my mind because that is only 5 weeks from putting me at the halfway point! In some ways, I feel like we just found out yesterday even though it has been 2 months. Time really does fly when you're enjoying life! I'm hopefully entering the "feel good" portion of my pregnancy. This is a very welcomed thought! I have definitely had my share of symptoms with this baby, but I am thankful that everything has been tolerable...I never felt like I was on my deathbed, which is a blessing :) And no matter what this pregnancy throws at me, i'm still (God willing) going to have a baby at the end of it :) And that completely outweighs anything that could plague me during this short 9 months! Thank you Lord for this precious precious baby! Grow him or her healthy and strong and prepare Jamaal and I to be the loving, godly parents you desire us to be!

cute as a button

Last weekend we were home in Madison for a family wedding. Our whole family was together, which was a real treat as it doesn't happen very often. This means we got to spend time with the cutest little girl in the world, our niece Samantha. She is such a delight, and I can't express how special she is :) She is talking now, and loves to cuddle. She gives the best hugs and kisses, and she laughs all the time. It warms my heart when she sees me and lights up, or runs to me for a hug or to have me pick her up.

She carries around a little bunny and a little monkey, and if you ask her what their names are, she will say "Money." That being said, she sometimes runs around the house saying "Money Money Money." Our little money hungry niece ;) I never thought it was possible to love a child so much when they aren't your own. If my future children turn out anything like her, I will truly be blessed!


She is very into music, and as soon it comes on, she starts to dance. She swings her little hips, and bounces to the beat, and it is a riot. I think she has really good rhythm, because if the song changes, she adjusts her movements to match the music, and she perks up more when a song is upbeat. She loves jazz, so I know she already has really good taste in music.




She loves animals, whether they're real or fake. We stopped by my grandma's house between the wedding and the reception, and she has some stuffed/ceramic animals. Samantha was kissing them, and then walking around the room and having everyone else kiss them. Who could say no to that little face? :) When she sees a squirrel in her backyard, or a puppy when she is out on a walk, she pats her lap to try to get them to come see her.

She loves to sit in my old rocking chair and let Grandpa rock her. Have I mentioned what a "grandpa's girl" she is? I think she loves his low voice because as soon as she hears him talking, she runs to him. He of course loves this, and wouldn't trade his time with her for anything in the world. It's probably a good thing that we dont' get to see Samantha very often because she makes me long so badly for my own. My brother and his wife have another one on the way, and we are getting really excited to meet baby #2!