Pregnancy Week 24
The bigger Squirt gets the less room Sarah has to fill her lungs with air. This makes her tired.
At 24 weeks, he has a fully formed face and the ability to hear. He is about 10.5 inches long—about the size of a papaya.
From the parents
Dad:
So, the big thing this month has been moving. We are now settling into our new apartment that gives us a bit more space for a baby. It actually has two bed rooms and a washer/dry, among other great features. We praise the Lord for these many blessings that we don’t deserve.
Last week I was not only able to feel the baby kick, I was able to watch him! As the pregnancy becomes more tangible to me, I feel that I can actually start bonding with him. Kinda weird.
Mom:
I have enjoyed many moments feeling the little man kick and squirm about. It’s so fun to just watch him move! God has given us quite an active boy (already!), and I am relishing these moments while I still can.
On a fun note, we heard a rumor that there are more deliveries on full moons than any other night of each month. Something about the extra gravitational pull (wow, talk about having a SINGLE Creator!). Well, we’re due December 3rd, and December 2nd happens to be a full moon. Anyone want to place any bets?? 
Current happenings:
- Breathing is becoming more difficult.
- Back starting to ache.
- Ordered a glider, compliments of James’ freelance and kind consideration.
- High baby activity mid-mornings and mid-evenings and…whenever Sarah sits still.
- First round of registering done at Walmart and Babies R Us. Most likely a few tweaks to be made yet.
- Bathroom trips increasing in frequency (who thought that could be possible??).
The Past Long Time
I have had the privilege of working on a freelance project this month. This company is creating a catalog that has nearly 3,000 images in it. I was assigned to outline and retouch about 200 of those 3,000. Below is an example of what has consumed over 100 hours of work during the past month. Though it is a bit tedious, I enjoy photo retouching. I get satisfaction in the result that a healthy dose of attention to detail can bring.
A new place for a new face.
Well, folks, my apologies for it being so long in between updates. A lot has happened this past month and we plan to fill you in through a series of posts to get you caught up. First things first—we moved! Praise the Lord for our family and small group members who helped us. It went SO fast! Also, praise the Lord for “Big Yellow.” We were able to rent it from Grace College. Also, a shout out to Jessica Manduka for taking the photos!
According to the photo on the left, we are maniacs about Lucky Charms and Fruit Loops. Though we do enjoy cereal, we don’t enjoy it THAT much…or do we?
Our new apartment has been amazing so far. We truly feel like we are living in luxury. Washer/dryer, dishwasher, garbage disposal, two bedrooms, sweet sliding glass door, storage galore. WOW!
Enjoy the photos below. They show the amazing amount of help we had. Thanks again to everyone who helped!
“Is this together or separate?”
In the 3 1/2 years that we’ve been married, we’ve never been asked if our bill is together or separate–the ring says it all.
But Sunday, I (Sarah) couldn’t get my ring off. Not sure if it’s just because I’d been unpacking all day or what, but it freaked me out. My friend (shout out to Yarm–she just had her baby boy!) had the same thing happen to her, so she went to Walmart and got a cheap ring to wear for the time being. It seemed a little early to me to actually buy something, so I just went without it for the rest of Sunday. And then we went out for supper. And then the waitress asked that awful question. And then we drove straight to Walmart.
$8.88--not bad for a wedding band + bling, eh James?
Without the goudy bling.
The Halfway “Melonstone”
We have met a new milestone in the pregnancy this week in more ways than one. The first way is that 20 weeks marks the halfway point! The second milestone is that we have entered the melon stage of the pregnancy. This week the baby is roughly as long as a small cantaloupe. At 6.5 inches long, our baby is growing like crazy! And with growth comes movement. The third milestone we have reached this week is that I was able to feel the baby kick! This was such an exciting moment for me because I was able to actually tangibly feel that there is a life growing and developing. Crazy. And fourth, we go in for our gender ultrasound tomorrow! But you won’t hear from us about it until this weekend or so. Sarah schemed up a plan to design a card for the doctor to write “boy/girl” on; we’ll reveal its contents on our babymoon this weekend. We can’t wait to share the news!
God Rocks!
These are our God rocks. We have them because God rocks!
This is one of the many ways we document God’s work in our lives. These stones represent specific times in our lives that we saw God working. The very first one we put in has the date Dec. 31, 2006—the date of our wedding. Other dates include conversations about the gospel with co-workers, when I was laid-off, when we became debt free, and most recently when we found out we are going to have a baby. When we mark a stone with the date we also add it to the journal praising Him for the grace and blessings we do not deserve or the lessons he teaches us. We look forward to looking back on these rocks from time to time to never forget God’s grace and provision.
Praise Him.
Baby News: 17 Weeks
We are officially 17 weeks into the pregnancy which means that little Squirt is about the size of an onion. Average size 5.1 inches.
Is that why there are so many tears?
|| FROM THE PARENTS ||
Dad:
I can’t say that the pregnancy has truly hit home yet. However, when Sarah suprised me with a Father’s Day gift the reality sat in a tad more. It was a terrifying video about “what to expect when she’s expecting”—Yikes. The video also brought tears as I began to realize what an amazing blessing from God this is and how amazing His creation is. I was in awe.
A recent activity for Squirt has been as another man put it, “using mom’s bladder as a trampoline.” With this imagery in mind, I understand why Sarah has been getting up so frequently in the middle of the night.
On our trip to Wisconsin we were chatting away in the car. I asked a question to Sarah. No response. I asked again. Her eyes were gigantic, and she looked as if she were frozen in time. She could not talk to me. She could not move. It turns out that Sarah is focusing on what is going on inside her. Squirt was moving! Again, I am in awe.
Mom:
It was really incredible to feel the baby move for the first time and know that it’s not just food digesting…there’s something in there!
It’s also been fun to be starting to show. More and more people (strangers!) are feeling comfortable with the questions “So…are you expecting?” and “When are you due?” But of course, with that comes more and more unsolicited belly pats. I hear they’re only more frequent as the bump gets bigger!
The Lord has given me the opportunity to thank Him during my midnight bathroom trips for His continued growth of our little one. Of course, thankfulness is not a natural thought at 2:00am, but I thank God for the chance to practice it!
So, what do you call it?
Sarah is officially 14 weeks pregnant this week, which means that she is into the second trimester! This reality is still not a reality to me. I have been learning a lot about pregnancy these past few weeks; and with that has come new vocabulary. Men, the fetal girth should NOT be refered to as a “belly” (or fetal girth, for that matter). There have only been a few instances where “belly” has been deemed appropriate. The more appropriate and official term is “bump”. Please don’t mistake this for “lump”. That will go over even worse that “belly”. Apparently lumpy is worse than bumpy.
Debt Free perks
SUBJECT: A FREEING Debt CONsolidation phone call!Yesterday, I received a phone call from a telemarketer for a debt CONsolidation company that I was pleased to take. He was offering me a free consultation.I told him that won’t be necessary since WE ARE DEBT FREE! (Go Dave Ramsey.) He started to laugh and said, “No, I don’t think you understand.” He began to explain that debt includes credit cards, house payments, car payments, etc. and, “We can help you settle them.”I said, “No, I don’t think YOU understand; we don’t make ANY payments on ANYTHING. YES!”He just laughed some more and said, “Wow. Very good. Well, have a good weekend.”Praise the Lord for the FREEDOM that comes from being debt free!
