rare finds

my mom is the queen of fab finds! check out her latest...that once again i was able to benefit from! she sent us the most gorgeous sterling silver napkin rings for our anni. oohhh...how i love silver!!! oh so lovely!

they are going to look gorgeous with these fabulous treasures she also sent...vintage white napkins with our monogram on them!!! {not to mention she also ironed them for me!!!}

i love them and will love setting my table with them and be reminded of a thoughtful momma and 5 years as a mrs.! what a rare find mom! thank you so much!!

5 years of adoring

5 years ago i married the man i adore. i couldn't have picked a more perfect-for-me soulmate to spend life's up and downs and inbetweens with. i sure do love this man and will adore him always...and i know i will simply be smitten with him being our baby's daddy! and as the family we started 5 years ago is beginning to grow this year i can't wait to continue to see God's blessings pour over us in ways we never thought imaginable!

20 weeks in love

we are so very in love with this little mister growing and juggling around in my belly. as always its hard to put into words the feelings that seem to be beyond my words. the emotions that far extend the outward vocals that usually explain such elated-ness {see makin' up words now.}

i have felt this loss of words before...almost 5 years ago. our wedding was fast approaching and again i was at a loss for the sheer emotions of blessed, so very blessed, thankful, adoration for this man, and almost denial...its the feeling when you realize all of your dreams are coming true...and its moving fast..so fast...and you're just along for the ride...the sweet ride!

a wonderful reminder

i recently came across this poem by mother theresa. to say it came at the perfect time would be an understatement {ok...a month ago would have been sheer perfection!} i can't explain how much many of the verses touched me and was the reminder i needed...hoping at least one of the verses speaks to you too...

people are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
forgive them anyway.

if you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
be kind anyway.

if you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
succeed anyway.

if you are honest and frank; people may cheat you;
be honest and frank anyway.

what you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
build anyway.

if you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
be happy anyway.

the good you do today, people with often forget tomorrow;
do good anyway.

give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
give the world the best you've got anyway.

you see, in the final analysis it is between you and God
it was never between you and them anyway.

heartfelt thanks and a round-up

so many thanks for the well wishes, blessings, and ecstatic congrats on our growing little mister! we are so excited and it is such an amazing feeling to "know" that he's a he and he is ours.

i didn't mean to take a blogging hiatus...kinda happened i guess. we've been busying folks around here...

-searching for fabrics for the mister's crib and cradle
-shopping and growing his closet with tiny things
-registering and researching the numerous things on the baby market today!
-working on wedding plates for lovely brides!
-marked the "halfway to parenthood" point! {do we look ready?}

-the mister got his "fur"st freind {courtesy of his LaLa} ...do you not love that face!!

-grilled and sunned out with friends

-lots of belly rubs and the newest : he kicks! and.it.is.the.most.amazing.feeling!!!

{19 weeks here}

-lots of parties celebrating...summer, birthdays, and graduation

{ oh...there were a few questions about the name game...mister has a name. he has actually had it for quite a long time...but we won't be sharing until he makes his debut. it will be a delivery surprise! on another note...i haven't yet decided if i will share his name on the blog since its open to the world wide web...this nervous and protective mommy is very leery about sharing info online about our newest bundle. but at the same time i want to be able to share with my priceless bloggity friends. any ideas? }

its a healthy...

dear son,

thank you...thank you for spreading your legs wide eagle today...but never again...ok! we peeked in on you today and you were beautiful {i can say that as your momma!}. your daddy was amazed at how much you had grown since we saw you last and i was speechless with how much we were able to see. you are perfect...your daddy counted all of your fingers and toes...and would double-check with the tech that "you've got 5 right!?" yep she counted five too...you had 5 of each times 2!

we saw your heart first...seems so fitting since most of all...i have prayed for that heart...both what we see and what it is becoming in Him. it had four chambers and pumped perfectly at 158 bpm. we could have starred at that little gem for a while...and we did...the tech made lots of pictures and measurements to ensure and document that it was working perfectly. you were curled up tight and snugly when we first started playing with you. i told her you should eventually stretch out some as you and i had been having talks about the test today and that we would need you to be a little open with some things! you did...about 25 min. in to the test...she froze a picture and asked what we saw...oh my! we saw clear as day that from that day forward we were growing a son. a boy...a cowboy boot wearin', basketball dribblin', firetruck inheritin', fishing pro, baseball star boy...and your daddy and i just looked at each other wide eyed and broad smiled! it just made sense that you were you and you were ours. and the rest of the test we sat with these huge smiles plastered on our faces!

you put on quite the show for us during our hour see and peek...you had the hiccups, tried to suck your thumb {maybe you'll be a thumb sucker like your momma & aunt chichi}, tried to eat your feet {maybe you are already intrigued by those like your daddy}, kicked the tech's wand and your momma in the process...that was only your 2nd strong kick i have felt that intensely...you must have been getting tired...she did shake you a bit!

you are such a miracle...we loved getting to see you today and we can't wait to meet you in a few months. we are so anxious to teach you so much and learn so much from you. we continue to pray for you...for health, for a strong heart both in beats and for the Lord, for a good mind, for a thirst for the Word...for so many things...and for your daddy's eye lashes {ok...i'm the only one that prays that!} ...its gonna take a little bit for me to begin praying for your wife...your daddy says we need to start now...but i'm just not yet ready for you to get married...you are still tethered to me so i think i'm allowed that selfishness!

we were so thankful that you were cooperative and that we were able to find out...just for that you get a pair of your own cowboy boots! you were a trooper...she poked and prodded {sometimes a little uncomfortably} for almost an hour...and up until the end when she had to turn me on my head to get one last shot...you were so easy going and perfect!!

oh how we love you,
mommy

a son or a daughter

dear baby,

in a couple days we will learn so much about you...a peek inside your world living in me. growing everyday, kicking, sucking, heart thumping, soon head-butting me...carefree days. a busy little one you are. and praying for such a healthy report. those are the words i long to hear the most and are most surely the most anxious for.

we will get to see your face {all distorted in b&w}, hear and see your heartbeat, know the measurements of your head and feet and arms. we will learn if you are growing on "schedule" or a little ahead or a little behind.

and just maybe if you are so inclined you'll let us in on a little secret and you'll give us a peek...will you be our son or will you be our daughter?

will we walk away imagining baseball cleats with muddy soles or too big high heels with pigtails? will we spend the rest of the day thinking about whether you will like pink or whether blue might just be your favorite color? will we soon be assuming that you are bound to love firetrucks like your daddy or will we assume you will be obsessed with baubles like your mommy? will you play pretend in tutus or cowboy boots and chaps? will we leave wondering about your long curls or your chili bowl haircut? will i start praying for your wife or will God's ears hear my requests to grow you a strong, nurturing, and God-fearing husband?

either way...we are most excited to get you here and we know that you will fit just perfectly into our family...and to just be truthful...just so you'll always know...we want both...we want a son and a daughter...we want you to be a girl just as much as we want you to be a boy...but not one of each at the same time of course...we are willing to wait for your siblings...coming one at a time!

so right now...its just your little secret with God...and depending on your level of cooperation will depend on whether that secret stays a secret. if you want a pretty handsome room though you best cooperate...i'm just saying!

loving you boy or girl...miss or mister...son or daughter...
either way...i am so blessed and ecstatic that you are mine!
mommy

loving the unexpected

hubby and i were talking the other day that we have been around pregnant women, we have been amazed by the miracle, we have "understood" the 10 month preggo process...but most surely there is nothing like those thoughts and assumptions when its happening to you.

i expected the nesting phase, the growing of a bump days, the search for the baby gear, the anticipation of the newborn days...but i didn't expect the internal growth...the stretching of my heart right along with stretching in my belly, the change of my thoughts, the consumption of my soul of this little being still not fully created. i am enamored by the process...the parts i didn't expect. completely enamored. and completely in love with this little one and somehow even more with this little one's daddy.

the dreams we have for this child, the prayers we flood God's ears with, the thoughts that constantly ramble through our heads...nothing can prepare you for this. its still a gift i am enjoying, but so baffled to be experiencing.

{ pics taken at 17 wks 3 days...speaking of days...in just a few we will find out little miss or mister...looks like most of you are thinking little miss...we shall see! more anxious to hear "healthy"! than its a __... }

a teacup or a tadpole

a teacup or a tadpole? we don't yet know what the stork will bring!
head on over to the poll on the right--------------->
place your guess and we shall soon see what this little babe will be!

and if you are into the old wives tales...here are the answers to some of those...
chinese gender predictor : boy
this quiz : girl
i prefer tasting sour to sweet : boy
i am carrying high : girl
hubby isn't gaining weight along with me : boy
acne? yes! : girl
hold a necklace over your hand/belly and let it swing : boy

as you can see...lots of guessing and some are quite humorous in their reasoning!!

blessed with this new role

its amazing to feel yourself falling more and more in love with someone i haven't met. i don't know what the babe looks like, how it feels {kinda...that post coming soon!}, its personality...i only know the knowledge that it belongs there and the sound of its beating heart. before our features were formed and our heart gave its first beat...He knew what we would become, He knew what we would look like...what our heart would look like. what a testament to how God must and truly does love us.

"Before you were formed in the body of your mother I had knowledge of you, and before your birth I made you holy; I have given you the work of being a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:5

before this child was growing in my belly it has been growing in my soul for a very long time...it has been growing in our prayers and even though i don't know so many things about it yet...i know that i will recognize him/her at first sight. i know that i will love its heart unconditionally. and i know that i will continue to pray for its health, its dreams, its love, its desires, ...and those things i know even before we are introduced!

i pray that God will give this child a heart for Him and a thirst for the Word.

view from the top : loosing sight of my feet

i feel so blessed that God answered our prayers, but i feel so much more grateful that He felt it time to bless me with this role.

i hope you all had a blessed mother's day! i was so warmly welcomed into the club! i am so behind on posting...hope to catch up and back post soon!

missing her...

i miss my mom!!!...its been almost 2 weeks since she flew home...so i think its been adequate time and now she should return...usually by now i am back into daily life and my routine without her...but this time has been different...i suppose from now on it will be.

she needs to come back because its been long enough that...
...she made us an entire freezer full of our favorites and all we have left is one dinner's worth of meatballs
...she's been home so long that she's had time to hem my pants and mail them back
...she's had time to find the missing crystals on my chandi from a trip to canton and send those as well
...the coupon she got us for chick-fil-a has come, enjoyed, and gone
...the table she and B redid is now completely cured
...the pictures from her visit are already back from order and in frames
...the strawberries she bought me have all been eaten

miss potter

have you seen it? its based on the real life story of Miss Beatrix Potter...you know the author and illustrator of the precious and timeless story of Mr. Peter Rabbit and his friends. mom and i watched it while she was here...and i have already seen it twice since...it is a most precious movie and most definitely on my top recommends list...and on my wish list to own!! a must see!

15 wks : heard it! and i heart it!

it was a big week...we got to hear the babe's swooshing heartbeat {we saw it at our last appt.} ...further confirming the amazing miracle growing inside me and swelling our hearts. each milestone seems to make it seem all the more real and all the closer too. its hard to believe less than 5 weeks will mark halfway into my pregnancy.

i find it chuckling that some of the reading i do each week on the growth of this little one compares its size to different fruits and veggies...last week a lemon...this week an apple...must be a green spunky apple as the doctor mentioned trying to keep the doppler on a squirming babe! hopefully that squirming will allow me to feel some kicks earlier rather than later...anxiously waiting!

the donkey...

my favorite author has to be Max Lucado. he was actually my grandmother's favorite too and this is evident in the library of his writings that she left behind. each time i read one of his books i decide it was the best one yet...i don't even read them in order...sometimes its his most recent and other times its one of his earliest publications. either way...they always touch me...they have since i started reading his work back in middle school/high school.

the one i am currently reading was my nanny's most favorite of all, "and the angels were silent". its about the final week of Jesus. i have picked it up many times and put it down just the same. not sure why really...but about 3 years later i am most determined to finish it.

my reading this morning was especially touching to my soul. i never gave much thought to the man with the donkey. it was part of the story i read right through...isn't the bible just like that...i think we will be boggled beyond comprehension when we get to heaven and get to ask some questions and hear the person next to us ask questions about the same story that never even crossed our minds...what a sweet day that will be!

getting back to my thought... the man with the donkey...

"if anyone ask you why you are taking the donkeys, say that the Master needs them, and he will send them at once." matthew 21: 3

his story so great that it is told in multiple books of the bible and yet so simple that many never think long on his part of the story...i never did. Jesus told him to bring the donkey...and.he.did. he brought the donkeys to Jesus allowing Him to ride into jerusalem. the donkey carried Jesus on His journey... what "donkeys" do i have that could carry Jesus into another place...another country, another city, another family, another heart? i think this will be a new question i ask myself everyday..."what donkey do i have to give today? " maybe its groceries, a check, time, words of encouragement, even a slower pace at the grocery store. i'm sure we can be certain that the man with the donkey felt this was a small request. i'm sure he didn't know the complexity of this donkey's task...i mean did he know this donkey would carry Jesus? but then again, its not our job to know...its just our job to go! its not our job to understand what our donkey is used for...but to be willing to take it.

there are times when God pulls at my heart strings and asks for my donkey...sometimes i don't understand so i don't listen, at times i don't know if its really God requesting my donkey, and too few times i follow through, but don't see how that must have helped anyone or anything...but again, i bet...the man with the donkey had no idea of the usefulness both spiritually and physically that donkey would be. ...i never noticed his act, but i do now. bet he didn't know that thousands of years later we'd be admiring his small act and seeing how God used it for good...to carry His Son further on his journey.

one gorgeous saturday...

the first weekend mom was in town was just gorgeous and hubby was off...so we took advantage and hit the town {and took the bump along of course}!

we first stopped and shopped at one of our favorite hot spots...the strip. there is everything you can image here...fresh veggies, fruits, meats, fun and random spots for browsing, fabulous eats, some antiques, fresh ground flavored coffee {mom's favorite!}, flower shops, cheap knock-off sunglasses, chocolate shops {another favorite of mom's!}, popcorn, mexican food shop...you name it!

after a wonderful lunch {homemade pizza, amazing salad {my all time craving}, and delicious garlic cheese bread} we took a drive through downtown...

and we ventured over to the Cathedral of Learning...

this is a gorgeous building...

...full of classrooms representing individual countries...you walk into each classroom and learn about the heritage of that country that influenced the design elements.

it was a gorgeous day to be walking the campus...students were strewn all over the lawns in masses...i told hubby...to visitors it looks like we are hillbillies who never see the sun!!

then you can't come to visit us without taking a ride up the incline and catching the amazing view of downtown...

...of course, mom didn't tell us until late that night that she had thoughts of not taking the return ride back down!

happy birthday sister

happy birthday chi chi...i hope your day is filled with loveliness! i hope you like the birthday gift i sent home to you yesterday...mom! it came straight from the heart...for only because it was your birthday did i not pitch a fit and change her flight plans for another week. you're most welcome! and the wrapped packages...those were just trinkets that reminded me of you...enjoy mom and thanks for sharing her! we love you!!

and away she flew...

she left today...and i cried...like a baby. it felt like the first time she left me in cleveland all over again. i had gotten really good at good-byes over the years away. it makes me wonder how hard it really will be once this babe gets here and my mom leaves that first time...i might just have to begin talks now with my dad about hopes of him commuting to pittsburgh to visit her!

when we took mom to the airport...the clerk telling her she needed to widdle out 18 pounds from her suitcase recognized that we must be mother and daughter...she then went on to comment on my bump...i think i looked at her a little surprisingly...for this was the first time someone i never knew commented on my growing belly. i just didn't expect it this soon...i still felt a little incognito and not so obvious that someone would feel comfortable saying i was preggo...guess its just all out there in the open now! i should have asked if first-time grandmother's get a free pass on +18 pounds of luggage! that would have been a nice gesture of congratulations!

we are hosting new friends for the rest of the weekend...hoping it will be a good distraction...from missing her.

growing babe...

such sweetness friends...a growing belly filled with a tiny babe and your warm congratulations, prayers, and well wishes of comments, emails, and calls! thank you!!! ...and lots of thoughtful questions...hoping to answer them all...

• oh yes...most certainly we are over the moon with joy and feeling overwhelmingly blessed!!!
• this babe is set to make its debut on october 24th...the 26th is my dad's birthday and how special that would be {yes, right now i am ok with a "late" babe!}
• i feel so thankful and very fortunate to be feeling great. i have not been plagued with morning sickness...and since i'm eating every 2 hours i'd say i don't have any problem taking in food! this babe was such a trooper during all of my travels!
• yep...my baby hope chest has been busted open and since my mom's visit the little one has most definetly taken its place in its closet in what will become the nursery.
  

oh baby i'm blessed...

it all started seven years ago today...i shared a meal with the man i knew i would marry...

six years ago today...i answered yes to the rest of our lives together...

2 months today shy of five years...i said i do to that man and became his mrs. ...

and today...i couldn't feel more blessed to be carrying his babe!