Stuff for Ali :)

Weekend Getaway...

Visiting Mari, Jeremy, and Caleb in Hillsboro

Best place in world!

Finally at the beach

23 weeks

Joel at 23 weeks...he's barely showing, lucky!

Beach Belly :)

Joel making a spot for me :)

Grandma's 80th Birthday

20 Weeks

"Every child begins the world again. "-Henry David Thoreau

A Pick-me-upper

In new news about my pregnancy... I have been feeling about 100% better than usual. I don't need 12 + hours of sleep every day, I'm in a much better mood, rarely do I get nauseous, and my energy feels great! My tummy is also starting to look more like I'm pregnant and I can definitely feel her move sometimes. She seems to move right when I lay down to go to sleep... I can't wait to start feeling some kicks :). I've been able to exercise almost every day, which I think is another reason why I'm feeling so much better. Not to mention, the weather has been beautiful lately! I'm so glad winter is over.


Our nursery is also coming together. Joel just finished putting hard wood floors in and we got a really nice hand me down crib from a friend of the family. My aunt also offered to make all of the bedding, curtains, etc. for me and I have the fabric picked out. We've been pretty fortunate to have all these people offer so much to us...we are truly grateful for it all.

Well, I'm about to have a long stretch of nights to work. Hope I can maintain all this energy!!!

Miracles Do Happen...

Today I just found out one of my closest friends just had her first baby! During her pregnancy she faced many challenges specifically related to the health of her baby. On the day she was suppose to find out the sex of her little one the doctors found a cyst growing on his lungs. This cyst not only could have potentially interferred with the normal growth of his lung tissue but also could have had some serious (and even life threatening) effects on his heart. Throughout her entire pregnancy the doctors paid extra attention to the size of his cyst and any complications that could arise. As the weeks went by the doctors expressed their uncertainty of what to expect in his first moments of life. And then today we all found out. As he entered this world he was able to fill his lungs with air, cry, and even more miraculously X ray showed that the cyst had appeared to have shrunk. It's a true miracle and doctors aren't really sure why the once very large cyst appears to be almost nonexistent. I must admit I'm not a very "religious" person and rarely do I pray, but the day I found out about his conditon my friend had only one request, "keep us in your prayers" and we did. His name means "faith" and today their prayers and ours were answered.

1st Self Portrait Picture :)