We bought a House!

We put an offer on a house last night and this morning it was accepted! We are very excited. For us, this is the best house for the value on the market. It's awesome to see how God is orchestrating all the details. (more on this when everything goes through.) It's 3 bedrooms, 3 car garage and the best part.....on 2 acres just outside of Redmond off Redmond-Fall City Road. Here are a few pics:

So baring an complications with our loan, the inspection or the economy totally collapsing this will be ours in 30 days!

Q&A - Part 1

Here is our first Q&A, since I have been asked these questions from lots of you. (ok none of you asked these questions, I made them up, but you may have thought about asking these questions and thus I am providing you with the answers before you ask.)

1) Where did you and Devin meet?

We actually met on e-harmony in the spring of '07. We met for our first date at Starbucks in Northgate. I didn't think Devin was very interested in me, but boy was I wrong and shortly I was swept off my feet by this charming gentleman. This picture is one of my favorites, it was taken on our 4th date at the Mariners Game.

2) How long did you date before getting married? How long were you married before getting pregnant?

We got engaged on our 5th month anniversary at the Butterfly House in the Pacific Science Center. Though I knew it was coming, I was totally suprised. We got married March 22nd after a 4 month engagement. We were married for 2 months before we started "trying" to concieve and concieved 6 months later. We are coming up on our 1 year anniversary next month.

3) Are you going to find out the sex of the baby?

No we are going to wait to find out. My family has commented they are suprised because I don't like suprises, I always want to know right away. I don't know why but I just want to wait. Some have commented they couldn't wait to find out because they like to plan. I don't find the planning any different not knowing. We are planning on having multiple children so we plan on buying mostly gender neutral things anyway.

4) How many children do you plan on having?

Well, "plan on having" is a funny phrase. We think 4 children sound good, but we'll see what God decides to give us and how many He thinks we can handle.

5) Have you thought about a theme for the nursery?

I don't think we are going to do a theme. This is my idea for the nursery room.

I don't know if this is going to be possible or not, but in my head it looks great. I also want to take close-up pics of our families and string them around the room, so our baby will be surrounded by faces that love him or her. I just love the thought of that.

13 weeks - Our Georgia Peach

Wow. I am ⅓ of the way done already. This has been fast and slow at the same time. I am trying to savour every moment. This week our baby's head is about half the length of his or her entire body, the intestines which started developing in the umbilical cord are now starting to move into the final position in the abdomen (weird) and the baby's vocal cords are developing (can't wait for that!)

I am feeling well. Less nausea this past week. I am still very tired and have been having more headaches. Overall I am doing great. I am starting to show just a tiny bit, my pants are starting to get a little tight. I haven't really gained any weight, except the 2 lbs I gained and then lost and then regained.

A Person is a Person No Matter How Small

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139: 13-14

We had our second doctor's appt today and got to hear the heartbeat. It was so amazing to hear it. There really is a baby in there! So weird. We found out we can record the hearbeat if we bring a recorder which fits into a 3mm audio jack, if we had only known you all could have heard it too.

After hearing the heartbeat and reading every week about how the baby is developing, I can't but help but think about abortion. NO, I am not considering abortion! It is just that in the United States one can have an abortion up until the viability of the pregnacy, somewhere around 24 weeks (link). And most abortions are performed before 12 weeks and I am currently 12 weeks 6 days. I've been thinking about how our baby has developed and it's so sad to me that little lives are discarded so easily. God has uniquly designed each one of us. He made us discinct in our mothers womb, not after our mothers gave birth. Our baby at over 12 weeks not only has a beating heart, a face, an almost formed body, and organs that are developed, but our baby also has a soul, a relationship with God and a personality. What is the defining moment of life? Birth? A heartbeat? Conception? Jeremiah 1:4-5 "The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart'" God considers termination of life at any point, murder. (Exodus 20:13, 21:22-23)

"A person is a person no matter how small."

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

It's Monday again. Here is another rendition of Not Me! Monday. Things I certainly did not do this past week. Enjoy:

Devin and I did not drive around for 30+ min last night looking for a place to eat since nothing sounded good to us. We did not almost settle on Blizzards for dinner but settled on Applebee's for their Oriental Chicken Salad. Which I also did not eat just 2 nights prior. No way, not me.

Devin and I have not been eating out for the past few days because we don't want to mess up our clean kitchen in case someone wants to come look at our place. And we are not having PB&J sandwiches tonight for dinner for 2 reasons, 1) to keep the kitchen clean, 2) because I am tired of eating out and nothing else sounds good.

Also we did not have only 1 person come look at our place all weekend. Grrrrrr.

And with Gus at my parents for a few days while we are showing the house, I definitely don't miss my cat and feel like the house is empty. Not me, I would never be so attached to a cat.

And I do not secretly (well not secretly anymore) have a fear that the doctor will say "You're not pregnant." Like I was never pregnant to begin with and crazy for thinking I was. Nope Not me!

There you have it. Another Not Me! Monday. A little free therapy for us perfect people.

The Making of a Sling

So I decided to give the baby sling a try. This is the pattern, it seemed easy enough.

Gus helped too.

These are the pieces to sew together.

Now the pattern was easy but the directions were not very clear. I had to rip out the seams 3 times before I got it right.

I even enlisted the help of my mom to help me try and figure out how it was supposed to go.

I finally figured it out and got it together the right way. Completed it with a top stitch.

And here is the finished product. I do have to say it looks pretty good.

This is only demonstrated with my Cabbage Patch Kid, Lianna. I think with a real, heavier baby, the jersey knit will stretch too much, I will probably need to shorten the sling for that. But I also need to wash it as well, so we'll see. I think for a larger baby/toddler I would use a regular cotton or flannel fabric that doesn't stretch. Only time will tell.

12 Weeks - Our Little Plum

Don't think I forgot about the weekly update....

This week our baby's digestive system is starting to practice contraction movements (so baby will be able to eat), the bone marrow is making white blood cells (so baby can fight infections) and the pituitary gland is starting to produce hormones (so baby will be able to have babies-but not for at least 30 yrs!).

I am still feeling great. Occasional days or moments of nausea, but overall great. I have really been blessed by feeling well thus far. I have lost the 2lbs I had gained but in the last couple days I have really been getting my appetite back and I don't think I'll have any problems gaining all the weight. Our next doctor's appt is on Tuesday and we should be able to hear the baby's heart beat. I think that will make it all the more real. Stay tuned.

Wordless Wednesday

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Monday again already. This has been a busy week and so to keep from losing my mind here is another rendition of Not Me! Monday. Things I certainly did not do this past week. Here goes:

I did not almost eat an entire bag of Dove milk chocolate hearts that I brought into work to share with my co-workers. I did share a few, but definitely did not almost eat the rest of the bag, and I am sure I will not finish the bag this week.

I did not sleep in until 9:00am this morning after going to bed at 11:00pm. I would never want to sleep for 10 hrs, that would be crazy.

I did not have to continue to clean out my fridge because there was a horrible odor every time one opened the door. I did not have to take everything out and actually use cleaner to get the smell out. Nope not me. Who would wait for the smell to clean the fridge?

And in cleaning out my pantry I did not find an open box of "Cheez-it's" with a date on the box of 11/07. Then I certainly did not just help myself to a few to see if there were still good. I am not planning on taking the rest of the box to work to snack on this week. No way. Not me.

So there you have it another "Not Me! Monday".

What's in a Name?

Devin and I have been discussing names for our baby since even before we were married. We even have a spreadsheet made with columns for both Devin and I to rank the names 1-10 and a third column to total the score. (yes we are geeks!) Since we are not going to find out the sex we have to pick names for both.

Boy Names:
Jacob^©

Girl Names:
Adia^©
Evey^©
Eliana^©
Josephine^©

We copyrighted these names, so no using without our permission. ha

I am not sure if this means we are going to have lots of girls or not, there just aren't many boy names that we both like. Devin and I really like having a unique/uncommon name ourselves and would also like uncommon/unique names for our kids. We know Jacob is the most popular boy name for the last I don't know how many years, but we still like it. For any name, Devin runs through the possible rhyming words associated to determine if the name is OK or not. Feel free to leave a suggestion for an uncommon or unique name (just make sure it's up from grabs).

My Newest Project

So if you don't know me well or don't know my family... I like crafts, I like to make things. Devin even said as part of our vows that I was crafty. My newest project is making a baby sling. I have been doing some research on these things and I found a pattern the other day at Joann's and thought 'what the heck'. It's got to be cheaper than buying one. I got the pattern for ~$10 (40% off of $15 and I didn't even have to use my coupon).

Here is the pattern:

I have been thinking about what fabrics would be the best and decided on t-shirt material, soft, durable, lightweight, and has a little stretch. Instead of buying fabric at Joann's at $7.99/yard (the pattern calls for 1.5 yards, though I could use my coupon on this), I ventured to Ross Dress for Less and found twin sheets in Jersey Knit for $9.99. Can't beat that.

I will probably be able to make more than one. I got a pretty light turquoise color (one of my favorite colors and gender neutral). I might give one away on the blog if it turns out good. See that's the thing with home made crafts: 1) you can never be sure how they are going to turn out, and 2) projects are usually more fun to start than finish (as evidenced by the multiple partially completed projects in our den). Someday soon, I'll start making it and I have 203 days to finish. I'll keep you posted.

Wordless Wednesday

11 Weeks - Our Sweet Little Lime

11 weeks. I can hardly believe I am almost done with the first trimester. Weeks ago it seemed so far away. Let's see....the baby this week is developing finger and toenail beds, the torso is lengthening, the body is straightening, the individual fingers and toes have separated from webbed hands and feet, and the ears are nearly in their final place. Our little lime is starting to look like a little human.

I am still feeling well, little more nausea this week. We have started taking pictures of my belly every day so we can make a slide show/movie after it's all said and done. I am not showing yet, though it sometimes feels like I am. I keep wanting to buy things for the baby, but I am starting to think the more immediate need is maternity clothes. If anyone has any to share..... :)

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

It's Monday again. Here are some things this past week that I would never do and certainly never share. Nope, not me.

So this week we have definitely not been staying up to 11:30-12:00 midnight most nights to have theological discussions about church structure, church government and church membership. Nope not us. We like to go to sleep at a reasonable hour so we can get up at a reasonable hour and not have to take at least 1 nap during the day. Not me!

I did not need to go through my fridge and throw out at least 3 take home boxes of restaurant leftovers from the last 2 weeks. Not me. I always cook for my husband home made meals and we always eat our leftovers.

I am definitely not sitting here writing blogs and reading blogs when I should be getting ready for the day and cleaning and packing our house so we can get it ready to go on the market next week. I would never waste time on the internet when there is so much I need to be doing. Nope, not me.

I love thrift shopping

Here are a few of the good finds I have found thrift shopping over the past few weeks.
I love finding great deals.



And just look at these cute baby girl clothes. I love this little dress. With the 10 kids we are going to have, we are bound to have at least 1 girl.

10 Weeks - Our Little Prune

Ok, so I am now 10 weeks today. The baby's elbows are now working (I am going to be feeling that pretty soon). The kidneys are making more urine (where does the urine go?), the stomach is producing gastric juices and the teeth are forming under the gums.

I am still feeling well with minimal nausea. I am starting to get my appetite back and I have gained 2 pounds to date. I am excited to start buying things. I have already been thrift shopping a few times to find some good bargins. I try to look for only gender neutral things (cause we're going to wait to find out the sex) but the little girls clothes are just so cute I can't resist. Devin said I can't buy anymore girl clothes unless I also by boy clothes. :)

Wordless Wednesday

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Here goes...following is a list of things that I would NEVER do!

So today at our superbowl party I certinatly did not eat 1 hot dog, 2 chocolate chip cookies and 3 brownies. Nope not me, the dietitian, especially since I brought veggies and grapes to share.

And we definatly did not stop at Taco Time on the way home 'cause I was still hungry.

Also after the superbowl game I was not concerned about whether or not our media center recorded "The Office" since it was on "after the superbowl" (whatever time that was). I would never be concerned about a TV show. Not me.

Not me! Monday, things I would never do and certinaly never share. Nope, not me.