Mommy Time!

This past week has been absolutely wonderful. Why? Because my mom came to visit me in Canton! That's right, I have been one spoiled and very happy girl. Last Friday mom flew in, and my aunt and two cousins from Arkansas drove in for the weekend. Trey's mom came, too, so she could come to our first baby shower. On Saturday we all went to First Monday all day. It was fun but very exhausting, with the heat and all the people! We came home and rested that afternoon, then we grilled hamburgers that night. They were delicious!

Sunday was my first baby shower. It was so much fun getting gifts for our little Kate. We recieved many sweet little girl outfits and some much needed baby items, like her little tub and a playmat for her to lay on. I am so thankful to all the friends and family who came to the shower, and especially to my friends here in Canton who threw us this shower. What a blessing! Below is a pic of mom and I at the shower.

My Arkansas family went home Sunday night, and that left mom and I here for the week. We had a huge list of things to do, and let me tell ya, we got it all done! Kate's room now looks like a little girl's nursery, and not just a pink room with a bed in it. I'll post pics of her room once we get everything on the walls. We also organized three closets and underneath my bathroom sink. We washed TONS of Kate's clothes and put them in their proper place. Basically, we wore ourselves out! Trey was also a huge help. He'd come home at night to a list of things we needed his help with, like hanging pictures and putting the knobs on Kate's dresser. I am so grateful to mom and Trey for all their help. I am one blessed woman! Trey also painted my toenails Saturday night. This was one hysterical time, but I love the picture below. He had such intense concentration.

Thursday mom got to go with me to Kate's 32 week appointment. We heard the heartbeat, toured the labor & delivery area of the hospital, and asked tons of questions. Dr. Haddock said that it's looking like Kate will be normal-sized, between 6-8 pounds, based on the measurements of my tummy. I love my OB and am so glad mom got to meet her. We scheduled our next 2 appts, one in 2 weeks and the other in 4 weeks. The appt that is 4 weeks away will include a sonogram and an exam to check Kate's size and to see if I'm dilating. I can't believe we are getting so close!!! More to come. Thanks for reading!

"A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes"

Well, not always, Cinderella! I certainly had a dream last night that my heart certainly did not make. I woke up this morning feeling so happy. I dreampt of giving birth! Then I realized my dream of giving birth wasn't exactly what I'm hoping for...you see, I gave birth alright. I gave birth to a healthy baby cat. But not just any cat! No, this cat was a toy cat, the type of toy you would get in a McDonald's Happy Meal.

But oh how I loved my baby toy cat in the dream! Dr. Howell (who was my old OB in Fort Worth) delivered my cat baby, and when it was out, he looked at it with doubt and did not believe this baby cat was real. I challenged him to listen to her heartbeat, so he got out the doppler (the thing used to listen to our baby's heartbeat in the womb), we all leaned in over this tiny toy baby cat, and we listened to a strong, healthy heartbeat. That was not the only thing we heard, though. Apparently Dr. Howell pushed a button on my baby cat, and while the heart was beating strongly, the cat also began to laugh a very evil laugh. Have you ever seen The Emperor's New Groove? Near the end of the movie, the wicked Yzma turns into a kitten and she laughs a very wicked, high-pitched cat laugh. This is the laugh that my precious toy baby cat made.

I've heard pregnancy can bring on some very strange dreams, and I've had my fair share so far, but this definitely tops them all! Anyone else had any fun/strange birth dreams when pregnant?

Babymoon Date

Last Thursday Trey and I had our mini babymoon. All along we've been planning to have a weekend getaway, probably to San Antonio, but we had to cancel those plans due to his grandmother's declining health. We were still able to have a fun time Thursday, but he ended up flying home Friday through Sunday (our vacation time) to spend time with family and his grandmother Frankie. While I was a little disappointed that we had to cancel our plans, I am so thankful Trey could make it home for that special family time. We still had our day, and our next family vacation will just have to include little Miss Kate - and I see no problem with that! :)

Our babymoon date actually started out with Trey visiting the dentist. That wasn't the most pleasant of experiences for either of us, actually, as we found out just how much work his mouth needs! Needless to say, Trey will be getting much unwanted dental work done over the next few weeks/months as we have the money to pay for it. Poor guy. Dental work is no fun!

After the dentist, we went to Target for a while to look at maternity shirts for me. I have recently realized my maternity clothes are mostly for cold weather, and living in Texas, we all know that doesn't last long around here! I got two new tops that are super cute, and Trey got a couple new shirts, too. We had a lot of fun just walking around the store and looking at different things, including baby items! Lunch came next. We ate at this delicious place called Sonoma Grill. I had grilled salmon that was amazing. Trey had a salmon salad. We filled our empty tummies, then we headed over to the Tyler Zoo.

Now about the zoo. First, if you don't know, you need to know that Trey and I LOVE zoos. We love looking at the animals, walking around at a leisurely pace, and just relaxing. This trip was a little different because we didn't take into account that it is Spring Break here and all of Tyler was at the zoo, too. It was quite crowded. Also, I had on jeans (the morning was cool), and I was pretty sure I would sweat out of my clothes before the afternoon was over, or at least have a heat stroke. But still, we had so much fun. The funniest part of our trip was that we compared probably every single animal to our dogs, Pete and Dapple. How sad is that? We could find some sort of similarity in any animal that would point to how cute Pete and Dapple are. It's a good thing we are having a baby soon so we aren't always those people whose pets are our kids!! After the zoo we drove back to Canton for some ice cream at the "world famous" Dairy Palace. It was so stinkin' yummy! I had this chocolate fudge kind on top, then strawberry, in a big waffle cone. I could dive into some of that ice cream again if given the chance!

Zapped from the heat, we came home to snuggle with our puppies, read, and nap for a bit. Once we finally woke up, we ate at Ochoas (a Mexican restaurant) for dinner. It was mm mm good, too! We came home that night and watched some episodes of Burn Notice until bed time. If you've never seen Burn Notice, I recommend it. It's a fun little show, not sure what channel it's shown on, though. We Netflix it.

The tragedy of our day date is that I didn't take one single picture. Yes, I know. Pitiful. We kept talking about our need to do so, but we never did. I'm sorry, Gretchen! :)

I wasn't all alone this past weekend while Trey was in Odessa, thankfully. My friend Kat, from Fort Worth, came and stayed with me and the dogs. Her husband Ryan was in Greece on a mission trip, and it worked out perfectly for us to have some girl time. The best part is that Kat is pregnant, too! She is almost 2 weeks ahead of me, so our little girls will be born very close together. We didn't do too much, other than eat, talk, read, and walk the dogs occasionally. Oh, and we watched a movie (Proof of Life). I leave you with a pic of me and Kat, taken on Sunday.

A Year of Cash

Coming up in the next few days will mark our official one year anniversary of living here in Canton and Trey serving as Student Minister at FBC. So many wonderful things have happened since our move here, and I am amazed at how much the Lord has poured out His blessings on our family. I have to share about one cool thing we've tried this year. When we transferred our accounts to the local bank here, we made the decision to go "all cash" and not even have debit cards. It was just an experiment to see what would happen to our finances. Well, I'm here to testify that, a year later, that was one of the best decisions we've made in our married life.

We followed the principles laid out by Crown Financial Ministries, including the envelope system for our weekly and monthly cash. Operating on the cash basis allowed us to live only on Trey's income and use my income toward paying down debt. Making this change allowed us to pay off my 4Runner in a little over a year (we bought it in Aug 09 and paid it off in full by Nov 10, I believe). We are now almost finished paying off Trey's student loan. Only a few months to go, hopefully! Then we will begin to knock out my student loan and be free of these debts. Another great thing about just living on Trey's income is that when the decision was made for me to not work for a while, we did not have major financial crisis. As a matter of fact, our standard of living didn't have to change at all.

I just wanted to share this with anyone who might be considering trying something new to get their financial world in order. I also highly recommend Crown because they offer so many wise and helpful principles for money management, and it is all based on Scripture. The goal of Crown isn't to help people become debt free, but to honor God with your money. Being debt free obviously results from glorifying God. Plus, Crown has a lot of helpful budgeting and spending tips that are free on their website.

Week 29 Survery

Well we have completed week 28 and now are in week 29. Yay! That means 11 weeks, 6 days until little Kate's due date...but who's counting? We had our last 4 week doctor's appt yesterday. All went great! We did the glucose test, and I have to say, that sugary drink after no food since the night before about knocked me off my feet. We'll get the results sometime next week. From now on I will see her every two weeks, then in the last month I will go weekly. I think these more frequent visits will help it all seem to move faster. I hate those 4 week visits. What a long wait! OK, with all that being said, here is the survey!

Week 29 Survey


How far along? 28 weeks 1 days

Total weight gain/loss: 25 pounds. Yes, I gained quite a bit on this round, but mom says she did the same thing with me at this point. My doctor says things are looking good, so I'm going to just trust in her! She said "Well, you're actually starting to look pregnant!" Haha I'm glad to know it's finally showing!

Maternity clothes? Yup. Don't think I'll be going backwards on this one...maternity clothes are in my future whether I like it or not!

Stretch marks? Nope. Mom didn't get them, so I'm hoping I don't, either.

Sleep: Decent. I am having some CRAZY dreams lately. Plus I get so hot I just toss and turn...as much as you can toss and turn with a big ol' belly holding you back!

What I miss: my mom, dad, sister, and brother. Mom will be here at the first of April, but I sure wish the rest of my family could be with me to feel Kate move and watch me grow!

What I am looking forward to: other than Kate's birth, my mom visiting at the first of April!!!

Best moment this week: our appointment yesterday. It was just a fun appointment.

Movement: Yup! I'm starting to notice the jabs aren't just random movements. There are elbows and knees. I also feel her swirl around some. It's so crazy and amazing!

Belly Button in or out? a barely innie

Wedding rings on or off? on, but they are getting tight and uncomfortable at times.

Weekly Wisdom: keep up with extra fiber when you're pregnant!

Milestones: We entered the 3rd trimester last Friday. YA!!!

And here I am at 27 weeks 2 days, I believe.

Hello, 3rd Trimester!

Yesterday was a day I thought would NEVER get here. This pregnancy has gone so quickly in some ways, but so incredibly slow in others. But now we are in the 3rd trimester! That's right, yesterday we entered into the 28th week of pregnancy, marking just 13 weeks away from our due date. Now all you people out there who tell me the 3rd trimester goes so quickly...I'm counting on you to be right! The bigger my belly gets, the more she kicks, the more I am ready to have my sweet little girl here.

I thank the Lord for taking care of our sweet Kate. All along, beginning before we got pregnant but were trying, I have claimed Psalm 127, that He is the one who will grow our family and bless us with children. I also claim Psalm 139:13-18. The Lord has every little detail of Kate's life already in His plans. I already feel and struggle with that fear and worry that momma's have over the safety and well-being of their children. But I'm trying to get in the habit now of bringing it all to the Lord and trusting Him and His goodness to watch over my family.

More to come soon, perhaps with pics and a survey update!

Pete, Our Furry Little Human

Our dog Pete makes me laugh. Both of them do, actually, but Pete is an especially funny dog. Why? For one, he and Trey have very similar personalities. I guess you could say Dapple and I are a little similar, too. Trey and Pete are like two peas in a pod. Below is a pic of Trey and Pete napping together the other week. In a few months there will be a baby girl on Trey's chest, but I'm pretty sure Pete will still be there snuggling close, too!

Pete also likes to watch TV. It cracks us up. Dapple will be be sacked out sleeping, but ol' Pete will be tuned in to whatever is on. Here is watching on two different occasions.



As some of you know, the dogs sleep in bed with us. I was very opposed at first, but it has grown on me. They mostly snuggle with Trey, so my space in bed is not compromised :). Pete likes to sleep with his body under the covers and his head on a pillow, just like a person. It is so funny! (sorry the pic is so dark, I took it in the morning and all the boys were asleep).



Pete also LOVES to chew on toys. Dapple is more interested in rolling around and playing. The other day Pete fell asleep with all his toys around him. It was so cute!