29 Weeks!

Or 28 weeks and 5 days, but that is close enough to 29 for me!

- We had our 28 week appointment this week and everything looks good! As usual, it took a while for the nurse to get a heartbeat only because Baby A would rather dance around than sit still long enough for her to get a good count. Foreshadowing?

- I also had the dreaded glucose test this week and passed thankfully! I'm so grateful that we are healthy and that I do not have to drink anymore Glucola.

- Energy is still good, at least good enough to help at a youth basketball clinic on base. While I discovered that I can no longer do a military pushup (not sure if that is the baby's fault or not), I did laugh quite a bit... mostly because of the many times I heard, "Quit hiding the basketball!"

- Tim is still thinking the baby is a boy... I'm starting to lean towards girl. We did agree that Tim will be the one to tell me in the delivery room. Cannot wait for that moment!!!

- Lord willing, I will get to travel back to CA in March for my friend's baby shower, my baby shower, and to meet the new baby of another close friend. Baby blessings all around!

- We (and by 'we' I mean 'I') finally decided on some bedding and colors for our gender neutral nursery. I think we are going with the Tourquoise/Blue/Green/Yellow scheme scene below:

 Found here

I'm also really liking anything with the alphabet and trees/birds for other little decorations around the room, like the ones below. Hopefully I get my act together and can finish some fun, inexpensive projects before the little one arrives.

  on Pinterest and here

Overall, we are beyond thrilled and incredibly grateful that God has blessed us with this baby and a healthy pregnancy thus far! Our prayer everyday is that this child not only comes into the world healthy, but that he or she grows up to know, love, and serve the Lord with all of his/her heart! That means more to us than gender, ability, or nursery picture. We would be grateful if you would join us in praying that same prayer for Baby A!

Go Bears!

We have some exciting news for our little growing family...

 It all started when my incredibly gifted husband applied for a few masters degree programs through the Air Force last spring. After feeling a little discouraged when we did not get the answers we had hoped for, we were just surprised with the news that he was accepted into one of the top Masters of Health Administration programs in the country! He will be attending the Army-Baylor program for his MHA starting this summer!

Not to sound shallow, but with their recent football and basketball success, we are pretty excited to have some connection to this great school. Rumor has it that they sometimes take their students up to Waco for a game here and there.

So not only will he be getting a great education, it means we get to stay here in South Texas for another year of school. The second year of the program includes an on-site internship at a hospital of our choosing. We are still not sure whether we choose from a list of approved hospitals or if we get to just pick any location of our heart's desire... but if you want us to move closer, we may choose the highest bidder. Just saying...

We are incredibly grateful to the Lord for this opportunity and excited to see how He will use it in our lives!

And I'm pretty proud of this guy...

Let’s try this again…

Maybe it was not the wisest thing to start a blog with 2 weeks to go until a huge work event… and by work event, I mean an awesome weekend camp for middle schoolers. I work for Still Water Sports Camp, an incredible ministry that provides a fun, Christ-centered camp environment using sports and adventure activities to reach out to middle school-age students. We just had our big winter retreat, Weekend of Warriors, this past weekend and it was awesome! We all saw the Lord moving and challenging the students and staff! The vast majority of students accepted a challenge to cross that line in the sand and start living out the faith they claimed. It was incredible!

I can go on and on about how much I love working for Still Water…

…using sports to connect with kids
…giving scholarships to allow students of ALL socioeconomic backgrounds attend a high quality sports camp
…talking with parents about how grateful they are for both the financial support and life-changing experience for their children
…the transformation and community among staff
…seeing God provide for the ministry and work in the lives of the kids and staff

Like I said, I could go on and on. If you want to check out more for yourself, you can visit the websites:

www.stillwatersportscamp.com

www.swcm.org

https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Still-Water-Sports-Camp/159781219133

For now, here are some pictures from the weekend:

This cross is right in front of the outdoor pavilion where we held "Chalk Talk," our worship and speaking sessions. It is such an incredible picture to see God’s beauty both in the creation (seriously, how beautiful is that water?) and in the message of the Cross.



Circling up to pray…



Krud War: The biggest mud/food fight I have ever seen. Smells disgusting, but the kids (and most of the staff) love it!



How do they get clean, you ask? Well, how about jumping into the appropriately-name Frio River in January…





And just for fun… a 26 week baby bump picture.

“Jesus paid it all.

All to Him I owe.

Sin had left a crimson stain.

He washed it white as snow.”

-Elvina M. Hall

*

Thanks to Dempsey Thornton who let me use her pictures because I did not take any... oops.

Baby A Update

23 weeks! (actually 24 weeks now, but this picture was taken last week)

And if I'm really being honest, this picture was taken at about 22.5 weeks, but I like  rounding up when it comes to how far along I am. It makes me feel more accomplished.

Here are some thoughts and answers to questions I get about the pregnancy:

- I'm feeling great! Energy is good. I've been able to keep pretty active and continue working out (for the most part...).

-No wierd cravings yet... although I did cave for some frozen yogurt today. This is not that abnormal.

-It does feel wierd packing on the pounds, but I guess that is all part of it. We want a healthy baby, and I can worry about getting rid of them later. My apologies to my dear husband.

-LOTS of movement from the little one. I notice him/her several times throughout the day and have even seen my stomach move! I already like having a little companion throughout the day.

-The more I think about it, the more excited I am to meet him/her! The thought of being a mom (really??) is still soaking in, but definitely becoming more real and thrilling!

-Boy or girl? We don't know... :) Tim did have a dream about us having a little girl. I've had dreams about both. I've thought boy from the beginning, but now I'm starting to wonder.....

What do you think?

Happy Wednesday!

Welcome and Birthday Surprise

Hey y'all! Welcome to our little blog!

Here's a quick update on what we've been up to since Christmas:

Since the weather here has been beautiful and down-right spring-like, we decided to use our free passes to SeaWorld (one of the best parts of being in the military!) and enjoy the day. Warm weather in December + free passes to SeaWorld = A wonderful day.

This is actually an old picture... we weren't in shorts, though we easily could have been and a lot of people were. We never get tired of SeaWorld and the way it reflects our creative God!

Then my 26th birthday... Now closer to 30 than I am to 20... Sobering to say the least. Not really though. I'm excited about 26 and especially the new changes it is bringing - Baby Anderson!!!

Back to the day - It started out with breakfast made by my sweet husband, phonecalls from my parents and in-laws, and a cute card from my husband that said we would be going on a little adventure...

After lunch at the Cheesecake Factory (even better when you're eating for 2!), we headed for a drive downtown. Since my birthday is also New Year's Eve, the area was pretty packed with evening festivities already kicking off. My sneaky husband didn't say a word. Even when we turned on a road blocked off only for hotel guests, he said, "Maybe they'll just let us through." As it turned out, we were hotel guests ourselves!

The rest of the birthday was spent enjoying the Riverwalk, an evening boat tour on the river, and of course the New Year's Eve crowd and fireworks. It was a great surprise and one of the best birthdays ever!

Enjoy some pictures... and for those of you curious, this is what the 22-week baby bump looks like. :)

Tower of the Americas

San Antonio Riverwalk Decorated for the Holidays

Concert at the Amphitheatre. This little girl was good!

Our hotel from the Riverwalk... have I mentioned how incredible my husband is??

The River Center Mall and our River Boat Tourguide

View from our room: Tower of the Americas

Happy 2012!