19 Weeks...late as usual! :)

Best moment this week: Printing out pink and blue invitations and cupcake toppers!!

Movement: None yet. Still waiting....!!!!!

Sleep: Great! I do have to keep my trusty king size pillow propped between my knees. My hips get sore from sleeping on my side.

Cravings: Strawberries right this minute. :)

Sickness: Still well! I felt a little achy on Monday night and went to bed early and felt 100% better in the morning.

Other symptoms: Some ugly skin issues have resurfaced. All around my jawline. Ewww!

Gender: I don't know. Maybe I'll say girl this week? I just wish I had a gut feeling!!! My sis in law, Rachel, thinks girl, my bro in law, Shane, says girl, and my neighbor, Leslie, still says girl. Jenn and CB both think boy. My student teacher, my support teacher, and my inclusion teacher, Michele, say girl. One of my inclusion teachers thinks boy.

Looking forward to: Checking to make sure Baby W is growing and healthy! I also hope that he/she cooperates. :) I'm also looking forward to sharing the gender with our family and friends!! And seeing the friendly faces at Shaw bright and early on Monday morning!

Jesus, You're the Greatest Joy

This is a recent video that Christy was interviewed in. I was thrilled to stumble upon it. It is such an encouragment to me. Sometimes I really need to be reminded that no matter what...Jesus, is truly my greatest joy. I stay so busy and let things distract me and let myself think that circumstances or "things" bring me the greatest joy. But that's not true...Jesus, only Jesus. I am not only thankful for Him in the great times, but also in the challenging times. I want to continue to seek Him constantly.



I am clinging to this verse tonight.
Psalm 61:2
From the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is overwhelmed.
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. -1 Peter 2:21

Accomplished

We had a relaxing weekend, but got some things accomplished as well!

Matt stayed pretty busy. He golfed with the neighborhood guys on Saturday and taught a tough lesson in Sunday School this morning.

While he prepared for the lesson I enjoyed watching Miss America in my pjs! Ha! I wanted Miss South Carolina to win...but I really liked Miss Wyomings hair. :) I was glad to see so many tap dancers! It brought back fond memories of my childhood! The Twitter commentary was the best part though!

We organized the messy side of our garage! We so need more attic space!

We decided on when and how to reveal the gender of our little miracle. :) And got some pink and blue cupcake liners and sprinkles!

We gave Blakely a much needed bath!

I made a meal plan for the week. I have been so bad about that lately! Probably becuase all I want is fruit and juice. And definitely no meat! I'm actually trying some new recipes.

I mapped out my student teachers teaching schedule! Y'all what a blessing this is going to be! She starts taking over one subject this week!!

A cute little girl sold us some girl scout cookies this afternoon. Sounds yummy to me!

I also took a nap on the back porch this afternoon! The weather felt amazing! And I had cute company. She took a nap too. :)

My friend Gini made me these porch rules for our back porch. How cute!?

I hope y'all had a great weekend! I'm praying for a great week!!!

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. -Colossians 4:2

A little late but...18 weeks!

Best moment this week: Narrowing down the search for crib bedding! I have had a site bookmarked for years that I was going to have it custom made from. I wanted lots of different fabric and patterns. Well, now that the time is here I have changed my mind completely. A lot of the nursery is going to be neutral. White, cream, and tan....with either pale pink or pale blue thrown in!!! There will still be some different patterns and texture though!

Movement: Not yet. Thinking about it makes me so excited! I can't wait!

Sleep: I'm still sleeping just fine. I go to bed early, but wake up early. Matt says I toss and turn all night, but never wake up! Sorry hubs!!!

Cravings: Still fruit. And orange juice. Although I've made myself stop drinking as much juice.

Sickness: So last week I said all those things about feeling great and not wanting to catch anything. This week...first week back from winter break...my brand new support teacher left school early with a horrible stomach bug. And my student teacher missed practically her entire first week of student teaching because she has the flu. Of course she didn't know she had it and tried to come back to school in the middle of being sick. I coat my skin with hand sanitizer all day long!

Other symptoms: Not a symtom but I think I'm going to have to buy some maternity jeans soon. Mine are beginning to feel a little uncomfortable. My dress pants still fit fine thankfully. Dresses and leggings are my favorites!

Gender: My friend gave me a Kelly's Kids magazine to browse through at work and I felt like I was looking at boys clothes mostly. That makes me think boy. BUT I still go back and forth and really don't know. We have our boy name set in stone and have no girl name other than it will be a double name. Several other people have given their gender opinions: Carmen thinks girl, Miranda says boy, Stacy says girl, Mandy says girl and calls it a she all the time without thinking, Brooke wants me to have a boy, Katie said she had a dream that it was a boy, Laura Ann says boy because I'm craving fruit, Abigail said boy. AnnaBeth, Billy, and Mama are riding the fence. :)

Looking forward to: Checking on our baby to make sure it is healthy and growing. I'm super nervous!

Burning Lights and Projects!!

I was so excited to listen to Burning Lights first thing yesterday morning while getting ready for work! I love the song Sovereign (It is my new favorite!) but God's Great Dance Floor definitely stayed in my head until at least lunch! Oh how I miss live streaming Passion day and night!!!

Is it sad that Matt and I were pumped about Pretty Little Liars starting back last night?? It's pretty addicting!:)

Matt painted our mudroom on Saturday! I love how it turned out!

We made a faux wood monogram for our winter wreath!

I also wanted to share a precious card and little gift for Baby W that came in the mail from Stacy!! Thank you so much!! Your thoughtfulness amazes me!

It has been a busy week...but good week, so far!!! Happy Wednesday y'all!

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. -Psalm 146:1-2

Books, rain,and a spa day!!!

Today is rainy and I love it! It is the perfect day to read. I'm excited about a little Passion date tonight...pajamas and french toast casserole for supper! This entire week has been great (besides wishing I was at Passion). We took down our Christmas..FINALLY..ate greens and black eyed peas on our back porch because the weather felt great on New Years Day, and have gotten organized.

Back to reading...I felt like kind of a nerd this Christmas because the main thing that I asked for was books. The book that made me cry when I received it was, Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon....can you say GEEK alert? It isn't as easy as a devotional to read as Jesus Calling (at least to me), but certain people that I greatly admire posted about and it and shared some passages from it...and I had to have it! I have been getting a lot out of it already...it is stretching the way that I think and I love how it is divided up into morning/evening.

I also got a new Jesus Calling devotional (I'm giving my first copy away) because the scripture is listed out under the passage. I like it being all on one page.

And Jesus Today by Sarah Young. All about HOPE!!

My doctor wanted me to read The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy...so I'm reading that as well. I am also reading What to Expect When You're Expecting, but Dr. McCollum didn't want me to dwell on the things in that book. She knows how my mind works!!

Next up...Belly Laughs.

Other than reading and catching a little more Passion this morning...I had an afternoon at the spa...JMarie Day Spa...LOVE IT! My hairdresser said before I walked in that she knew I was going to tell her that I was pregnant. I love that she thought that! Then when I was enjoying some rainy day pampering Christy Nockels was belting out one of my favorite songs over the speakers at the spa. I mean, that has to be some kind of sign! I just don't know what it means! LOL. Hang in there...only two more days of Passion 2013 and me posting lots of pictures from every session! :) I can't help it, I just love Worship music!!

17 Weeks and PASSION!

I was 17 weeks yesterday. I also had a super fun appointment. I say it every time, but my Dr is brilliant and so fun to visit with. She found the heart beat right away and it was 159. I had my cystic fibrosis and quad screenings done too. I was pretty happy that it only took 4 tries, 40 or so minutes, and 3 different nurses to get my blood. I am also thankful that it doesn't bother me at all. :) She set up my next two appointments for a little under 3 weeks. The gender ultrasound and my regular appointment. She was telling me how she's excited for me to know if I need to buy blue or pink. I mentioned that I hadn't shopped at all (surprisingly!) and she said, "Nicole, I have a feeling you will do some major damage!" What would ever make her think that?

Best moment this week: Being assured that our baby was still fine. :) Setting up the gender ultrasound (I sort of always thought I wanted to be surprised, but everyone has swayed my decision)!!!

Movement: I still haven't felt the baby move. That is the first thing Dr. McCollum asked me yesterday. She said she didn't feel her first baby move until 22 weeks. All the books say anywhere from 16-20 weeks so I haven't been too concerned about that yet.

Sleep: I've been sleeping fine. Thankfully! If anything I fall asleep immediately.

Cravings: Still fruit. Watermelon sounds really good right about now! Carrots and orange juice are staples in our fridge too.

Sickness: I've felt great so far. I haven't even had a cold...let alone the flu, which has been going around like crazy. I feel fortunate to have gotten through basically the first half of pregnancy without being sick. I'm a little nervous about going back to school in the winter months. Hopefully frequent hand washing, my vitamins, and having a good immune system will keep me from getting really sick. I'm praying to stay healthy.

Other symptoms: For a while I had horrible skin issues...hormones. But that has stopped for now.

Gender: I really don't have any idea. Matt thinks boy. My dad is 100% sure it's a girl. Our other family and friends votes are 50/50. However, after this appointment I sort of feel like I'm leaning towards boy...but I have no real idea why!!

Well, my Dr's appointment is what kept me from going to Passion this year. :( But, I've been watching the live feed every single time it's on. I used Matt's iPad to take some pictures of my favorites...Christy, Shelley, and Beth!! The music has been incredible and the speakers are just killing it! I am so thankful that I am able to watch online. Check it out...here!!! And the lyrics to Christy's new songs are amazing!!! I told Matt, she wrote them for me!!! :)