Hallelujah we have power!!!

We got to come home Wednesday night! It has been so wonderful sleeping in our own bed and just being home. We still aren't back to normal. Gotta get to the store to restock the fridge, finish unpacking from our adventure, etc. But we are praising God and so very very thankful we are back home with such little damage to worry about. A friend of mine who lives in Seabrook...not far from me, lost her home completely...all that is left is a slab. And she is managing to maintain peace and joy through it all...what a testimony, and reminder to me of just how blessed we are.

Thank you for all your prayers. Please keep praying for those who lost so much. Ike's devastation is so much farther spread than most realize. I'll update on what's going on with me soon...have another weekly appt today!

Belly Pics at 36 weeks and update!

I had my first weekly appt yesterday. It was quite the experience. My doctor offices at two different locations. One in Pearland, one in Clear Lake. I was supposed to see her in Pearland and even called ahead of time to make sure she would be seeing patients due to the hurricane and was told she would be there. I drove all the way out there from Sugar Land and there was a sign on the door that they had lost power again and all OB patients should go to the Clear Lake location and would be seen by whatever doctor was available. What?! My first weekly visit and I was going to see some doc I never met before?! It sent me over the edge a little, I called my mom and cried on my way over there. It ended up being fine though. I saw my docs labor and delivery nurse instead of a different doc. She was really sweet and I felt comfortable. I am not progessed at all yet but she said his head is very low already. So....the waiting game begins.

Please, please, pray for us that we will get power back in our house before he is born. We just moved from my parents in Sugar Land to Jay's parents house in Friendswood so we can be closer to home, work, etc. But we REALLY want to be back in our own home when we bring our little guy HOME from the hospital in a few weeks or so. We have been displaced for over a week now and they are still projecting it could be this Thursday or later before our area has power restored. The only thing is, they can't restore ours remotely like most people. They have to send someone out to get our transformer off the ground and repaired. We are hoping we won't be an exception to the projected date because of that. Please pray!!!

Here are some pics at 36 wks...9 mos belly!!!

I have had several people, including a stranger at Target tell me I look like I am about to pop! =)

Surviving Ike

It has been an emotionally and physically draining past week. Last Thursday we got up to go to work to hear on the news that we were in a mandatory evacuation zone for Hurricane Ike and they expected our area to have a storm surge of up to 25ft and they wanted us to start evacuating by noon that day. Needless to say we didn't go into work that day but instead worked tirelessly preparing our house for the storm. Jay worked outside all day boarding up the windows, putting up patio furniture, and securing anything loose that could become a projectile. I worked inside all day getting everything up off of the ground and somewhere higher in case of flooding, went to the grocery store, packed our bags and packed the car. We pretty much took our house apart trying to protect what we could. I probably way over did it and lifted heavier things than I should have. I was aching all the next two days but am better now. Finally about 4pm we were on the road...evacuating to Sugar Land. We knew the storm would hit hard there too but at least we were out of the storm surge. Friday morning we woke up and the media was saying that if you were in a mandatory evacuation zone they didn't expect you to have a home to return to. I guess they were just trying to prepare people for worst case scenario and get people to leave for their safety. But it freaked me out! So....my parents and Jay and I went back to our house as fast as we could and packed up all the baby stuff that we could and got my car that we had originally left at home. Then we just kept praying...hard! We "hunkered down" at my parents during the storm that night and I thought it was pretty creepy, I was a little hypervigilant at different points. I think it was cause I am pregnant and extra protective right now. We lost power at my parents early in the night but thankfully it came back on by 5pm the next evening. We are so blessed! I was beginning to wonder how I was going to handle weeks of no air conditioning while being 9 mos pregnant! And the mosquitos were already attacking me...if you know me well you know how allergic I am...it's an issue. When we could go outside after the storm it was crazy looking. Fences down everywhere, tree limbs everywhere, huge trees snapped in half lying across streets and ripping up sidewalks because of being pulled out by their roots, lots of roof damage, just more destruction than I would have imagined would happen out in Sugar Land. We were eventually able to get through to some neighbors of ours in Clear Lake who told us the blessed news that our street didn't even flood, our roof had no damage, and all the boards on our windows stayed on. Then Sunday we drove down there to check it out for ourselves. The house was completely unscathed...God is so merciful! Our fence is down in several places and will probably just need to be totally replaced, it was really old. Our transformer is on the ground in our back yard. We had a Martin bird house in the back that was knocked down, the metal pole was completely bent over at the ground. And our pine tree in the front was basically stripped down to a pole, the limbs are pretty much no more. Many houses in our neighborhood had windows blown out, water in their houses front leakage where shingles were ripped off the roof etc. We feel so blessed and once again are truly humbled by God's mercy and faithfulness to us. We are still staying in SugarLand with my parents because we have no idea when we will get our power back. Being that the transformer is on the ground, they can't just fix our power remotely and will have to actually send a truck out to repair the damage. Who knows when that will happen?! Hopefully before Josiah is born! Pray for us please! =) I have not been able to return to work yet and we don't know when we will be able to either, still no power at our building. Jay went in for a few hours today but can't really do anything until businesses in his territory are back up and running. So we are just in limbo for now. We are praising God for a place to stay with power and for sparing our house from damage and keeping us safe. We are devastated at the loss and destruction in Galveston. It was kind of a sanctuary place for Jay and an escape for both of us. And we really grieve for the people down there. They are all in our prayers and heavy on our hearts.

Nursery Pics

The nursery is almost complete! The only thing really left to do is put pictures in the frames above the changing table. I am going to put a maternity pic in one of them but am waiting for our sweet boy to get here so I can put some pics of him in the other ones. After we hung the last thing on the wall the other day I told Jay, something is missing, it just doesn't feel complete...to which he answered, "it's Josiah, it's cause he isn't in here yet." I think he hit it right on! We are so anxious for him to get here!



Doesn't that pic just look cozy?! Can't wait to snuggle up in that chair and rock him to sleep!

Ultrasound pics and video

We went for a final ultrasound this morning. Really we just wanted to see him again, so we were checking to see how he was growing. I am 33 wks and 4 days today, but he is measuring 35 wks and 4 days...so even though they aren't changing my due date....maybe that means he will be early!!! Either that or I am gonna be having me a big baby! He weighs about 5lbs 7oz according to the ultrasound measurements!

I also found out it IS his little feet jammed up in my ribs on the right side, he is positioned just like I thought he was, head down, laying on the left side, feet up in my right ribs!

Oh, and he has a little cap of hair it looks like!

Here are some pics of our sweet little love:

Profile

Toes
Hands (I only know that cause she told me)
sweet little chubby cheek face!

And here is a video of our precious one making little sucking movements with his mouth....just wanna kiss him! Oh...I can't wait to hold that little angel in my arms!!!

Belly pics...32 weeks!

Here ya go Linds!

My sis has been wanting to see my belly and asking for pics for a few weeks now. It is hard having her live so far away during this ever changing and growing...exciting time! Can't wait to see you Linds when Josiah is born!

Getting really big! I had to use a hair band today to close my MATERNITY pants...it's pretty bad when your maternity clothes quit fitting, I am so close to being done that I don't want to buy anymore either...so I am going to see how long my expanders and belly band will last me...hopefully I can make it work! Eeek!

We worked on the nursery this past weekend...it is getting so close to being done! I will post some pics when I get it finished. Just have to add a few final touches and it will be complete. All our preparations seem to be wrapping up and close to being finished, I even talked to one of my sweet girlfriends today about her plans to come see Josiah when he is born...it's all getting so close! 8 wks until D-date! Maybe he will come a few days sooner rather than later?! =) One can hope right? I am going for an ultrasound next week just cause we are wanting to see him again, but we should be able to tell if we are still on target for the due date. I'll keep ya posted...but right now, I am off to my nightly longed for bath and bed!

Baby Shower Numero Dos!

Last weekend some sweet friends of mine from the Christian Surfers group through me a baby shower! It was precious and I had so much fun...again!

Sweet Hostesses:

Susie (she is pregers too), Kat, Laura, and Lara!

Laura made a beautiful prego cake and it was delicious too!

Susie made a picture board of Jay and I when we were babies so we could imagine what Josiah might look like! There is a glare so it may be hard to see....

Cute little candy favors they made!

Emily's decorative contribution! So sweet!

I got several handcrafted especially for Josiah gifts...everyone was so thoughtful!

Sweet friends from Vineyard church...some of the crafty gift givers right here!Ashly and Blayne, Ashly was a coworker of mine before Blayne came along, she gave me the gift I am holding above...basket full of toys!My sister in law, a coworker of mine, and then some girlfriends from Calvary Chapel....and sweet little Caelan! It was so fun having people from a bunch of different areas of my life all together at once!At home after the shower going through all the loot! We thought we needed to try on some of Josiah's hooded towels, he will get a kick out of these pics some day...goofy parents! Thank you everyone that came! I was overwhelmed with everyone's thoughtfulness and love!

As for an update on me....belly is still growing. I plan on taking more pics to post soon. I am feeling pretty good, got the heartburn under control with Tums and avoiding spicy foods, and fatigue is there for sure but I am sleeping better lately now that the heartburn in under control. Josiah is super active and starting to do the stretch thing that can kind of hurt sometimes! I can feel his little hand, elbow, heel, whatever it might be pushing out so I gently rub it until he draws it back in. It is pretty sweet, I don't think I'll ever cease to be amazed by his precious little movements...even when it's a stout kick to the ribs...I just love the experience of his little activity inside of me. Jay and I are enjoying our childbirthing classes and got to tour the hospital Thursday night... it seems surreal that we will be there in just 2 months or so. We can't wait, it is getting so close! I am having lots of fun washing Josiah's clothes, blankets, etc., putting shower gifts up and decorating the nursery...I am busy nesting! Life is good, we are so blessed, and our God is so faithful! We constantly are humbled and amazed by His faithful provision for us. Now if I could just learn to REST in Him more, it's a work in progress but I am growing!