Shamus and Karen

Goodbye, child of ours

2011-08-20T15:17:00.002-04:00

On June 5th, God put another child in my womb. On August 4th, that child died. I want to tell you the story so that you can understand our hope. Unfortunately, "hope is born of suffering".

"Held" by Natalie Grant

http://youtu.be/i-hJ87ApWtw

"Two months is too little"
We were so exited to find out that we were pregnant with our 3rd child!! We had Jay, our 2 year old, tell our families that 'There's a baby in mommy's belly'. It is so much fun to share that news and watch everyone's faces light up with joy and surprise.
From the moment we found out, I was imagining life with this child. I thought it was a girl because my pregnancy was so different. I started thinking of girl names. Every time I put Ben, our youngest, in his crib, I told him that he was the baby for now and that I had the tiny baby in my belly. I imagined cradling our little girl and how light she would feel in my arms compared to Ben and Jay. Jay called our child "Baby #3" because that's what Shamus called her when he talked to Jay and prayed with him. Because that was one of her names, I don't think we can call any other child "Baby #3". If God gives us another child, it will be "Baby #4".

You may think it sounds ridiculous to feel so upset about losing an unborn child that we have never met. You may think that it wasn't even a child. You may think that we are overreacting. If you have never experienced this, it will certainly be hard for you to be compassionate. I am not looking for your compassion though because I have my Heavenly Father's and He is more than enough - that is what this story is really about.

"They let him go
They had no sudden healing"
I went in for an ultrasound at 13 weeks to check on a small cyst. As "Mandy", the technician, started looking for the cyst, she passed over our child and I saw our baby lying on the bottom if my womb, and I knew in that moment that our baby had died. "Mandy" immediately noticed how still the child was and started checking for blood flow. This being my third pregnancy, I knew what to look for. My baby stayed white while my veins and arteries became red and blue. She checked for a heartbeat and looked at me with pain in her eyes and said, "Karen... I'm not getting a heartbeat." "I know." And the tears came. She still had to find the cyst and check that everything else was okay in terms of my health. I was so weakened by sadness but God gave me strength to stop crying and lay still so she could finish. After she found no problems, I called Shamus to tell him. He answered and only heard crying. I managed to say "It happened." I wasn't sure he knew what I meant, but it felt impossible to say the word "miscarriage". I kept crying and couldn't get control. I closed my eyes and breathed in and finally said "I had a miscarriage", and the sobbing continued. I managed to tell him I was at the doctor's office and to please come. He left work right then.
"Mandy" was still in the room with me and just said through tears, "I didn't expect this at all." I was still crying but God's Holy Spirit, who lives in me and every other believer, empowered me to say "Can I pray with you?" I prayed without crying and told God of His character, which honestly was not my initial thought in that moment.
Romans 8:26-27 says "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God." In my experience, the spirit intercedes through words as well.
2 Corinthians 12:9 says "But he (God) said to me (Paul), “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me." I am not strong, but the Lord is and he graciously gives us His strength.

"To think that providence
Would take a child from his mother
While she prays, is appalling"
We prayed for Baby #3's health every time we prayed. Sitting down for a meal is hard because the prayer is now "Thank you, God, that you are holding Baby #3." At night when I pray with the kids before bed, I always thank God for each of our children, including Baby #3. I often cry while praying with Jay and he just says "Why mommy crying? Jesus holding Baby #3. Baby #3 all gone." He has defined "childlike faith" for me. Mark 10:15 says "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it". The day we found out about the miscarriage, Shamus was explaining again to Jay what happened. He said "God decided to keep Baby #3. Jesus is holding Baby #3." Jay said "Oh." From that moment, that has been reality for Jay, no questions asked. If only I could read God's word and simply say "Oh." and believe all of it. God has worked a miracle in me over and over in the way He has given me faith to believed His words. There is so much that I still doubt, like His sovereignty, and it comes out in my sin of anger when things don't go as I had planned. God, however, has freed me of that sin in this situation. I have not felt any anger toward God or anyone else through this. On a normal day, I struggle with this sin every time something doesn't happen the way I want it to. Isn't God so good and faithful to prevent that sinful thought pattern that is so natural?!

"Who told us we'd be rescued What has changed and
Why should we be saved from nightmares"

God never tells us that we'll live without trials. In fact, He tells us the opposite.
Acts 14:21-22 says of Paul and Barnabas "They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said."
What has changed is our perspective. We live knowing that Christ died for our sins, when we should have died. We live knowing that without His sacrifice, we could never get to God, never be heard by him, never be His children. We live knowing how weak we are compared to the almighty God and knowing of our desperate, constant need for him. What has changed is simply how we view nightmares. Outliving your child is certainly every parent's nightmare.
This nightmare happened suddenly with no definite symptoms. At the beginning of this pregnancy, I considered the possibility of a miscarriage because two of my friends had miscarried shortly before we found out we were pregnant. I was afraid that it would happen to me and that I would struggle with my faith. The night before my appointment, I weighed myself and noticed that I had lost a pound. It was the first trimester, though, and it's very common to lose weight because of the nausea that most women experience. I suddenly got worried that I had miscarried even though I knew this wasn't a symptom. I looked online to see if it was even possible to miscarry without symptoms and I quickly discovered that it is. I was in tears with worry and I asked Shamus to pray for me.
The next day I went to my appointment feeling nervous. Before I went in the room to get the ultrasound, I prayed that God would give me strength if I had lost the baby. I told him I couldn't handle it on my own and that He is my strong tower and shelter. The Holy Spirit was preparing me to focus on the truth in the midst of a trial.

"We're asking why this happens to us
Who have died to live, it's unfair"
Thankfully, God tells us why nightmares happen to His children. James 1:2-4 says "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." "Anything" refers to my faith, not my belongings.
Romans 8:28-29 says "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters" God's purpose is for me to become like His son - to be sanctified. This, like every trial and every test of my faith, is an opportunity to grow in Christ-likeness. I prayed that God would empower me to use this opportunity to see how I am not like Christ and how to become more like Him.
One thing I've begun to experience is giving God my burdens and taking Christ's yoke. Matthew 11:28-30 says "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light"
If I give God my burdens - wondering if I caused this miscarriage, trying to blame myself, worrying that it will happen again, the reminder of our mortality and that anyone in my family could die at any time - He will give me rest. If I take Christ's yoke, which is trusting God at all times, and learn from Him, I will find rest for my soul. I must learn from him, though; to be gentle and humble in heart. To recognize that I am not in control ever is to let go of my pride. Christ's yoke of always trusting God may seem heavy and difficult but if I let go of my sin of pride, it becomes easy.

"This is what it means to be held

How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life

And you survive

This is what it is to be loved and to know

That the promise was that when everything fell

We'd be held"

I was held from before I experienced the loss of my child. Christ lives in me because God gave me the gift of faith to accept salvation. The Holy Spirit gave me guidance to be focused on God and His character when everything fell. God's loving arms are around me all the time and I haven't felt alone in a long time - since before I became a believer in 2006. Isaiah 41:10 says "So do not fear for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

Not only have I felt God's presence when I am seemingly alone, but I have plainly experienced being held by Him through others in my life. The people in our shepherding group willingly put aside their plans and burdens and have served our family in many ways and continue to do so. Our families and friends outside of this group have shared our sorrow and shown love even when it meant they would sacrifice their time, plans and energy. The elders at our church shepherd many hundreds of people and have been praying for us and have called to share their love and encouragement. Thank you, everyone, for your love. We praise God for all of you.

You have been a reflection of the love Christ showed all of us when he sacrificed perfection in paradise to come to this earth and suffer. He willingly stopped on the roads he journeyed to serve people throughout His ministry on earth. He sacrificed everything when he willingly bore our sins and died in our place a horrible death on a cross. His sacrifice was the greatest sacrifice in history, with the greatest rewards - the reward of peace with a holy God who cannot tolerate sin and has become our Father; the reward of guidance by the Holy Spirit who convicts us of our sins and empowers us to repent, who guides us and encourages us; the reward of becoming more and more like Christ while we live on earth; the reward of truly becoming like Christ when we leave this earth; the reward of eternally living with God in an exciting and perfect life with no tears or pain or death and a life full of praise and serving God.

"This hand is bitterness

We want to taste it and

Let the hatred numb our sorrows"

Praise the Lord that we have not experienced bitterness or hatred, no anger or distrusting God.

"The wise hand opens slowly

To lilies of the valley and tomorrow"

Our grip on our burdens must be loosed. We must let it go and give it to God. Our friends and families have willingly followed God's command to "Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn". (Romans 12:15) When we shared the good news that we were pregnant with our third child, they all rejoiced with us. When we told them of our loss, they willingly mourned with us by choice. They could have chosen not to hear our story, chosen to pretend that all is well by avoiding the topic. They have done the opposite, which has helped us mourn the loss of our baby. Thank you God, for tears that we can cry to express our pain - that we don't have to internalize pain and prolong it, but that we can process it. Thank you God, for an example of how to mourn:

Psalm 6:6-9 says:"I am worn out from my groaning.

All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.

My eyes grow weak with sorrow;

they fail because of my foes.

Away from me, all you who do evil,

for the LORD has heard my weeping.

The LORD has heard my cry for mercy;

The LORD accepts my prayer.

David was not expressing sorrow because his child had died, but we can learn from his prayer how to be sorrowful and still honor God.

"This is what it means to be held

How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life

And you survive

This is what it is to be loved and to know

That the promise was that when everything fell

We'd be held"

"If hope is born of suffering"

We are suffering because our child died. She is dead and we will never hold her, kiss her, chase her around the house, or tickle her. We will never see the sweet look in her eyes when she smiles, but we are confident that she is being held and loved by our Heavenly Father and that his arms are far better arms than our own. We know that she never suffered and that she never will, and that brings us much comfort, and soon I know we will have joy in that thought.

We are praying that God will give us another child, but our hope does not lie in that gift. Our hope is in Christ alone. Romans 5:3-5 says "Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."

Our hope is in God, who takes care of us, who never fails us, who never leaves us, who can never die. Nothing can separate us from His love, as Romans 8:35; 37-39 says: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

If those things cannot separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus, then we are certainly not going to be separated from His love. What a hope we have!

"If this is only the beginning"

Surely this is only the beginning of our suffering on this earth. And the beginning of our journey of hope.

"Can we not wait, for one hour

Watching for our Savior"

Can we not persevere through this trial in the name of hope in our Lord Jesus? Can we not withstand the test of our faith? We are powerless to do so, except that the power of the living God lives in us, constantly strengthening us, helping us, and holding us. "What shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:31-32)

We are told here that God will "graciously give us all things". If I had chosen which gifts to receive, I would have chosen to receive the baby that died in my womb. By God's grace, He spared my child and us from whatever suffering he knew would come with that child. Maybe she was not physically able to survive on this earth. Maybe she would reject the love of Christ for her entire life. I don't know why she was taken from us by the Giver of good gifts. God clearly tells us that it is because of His grace and mercy, and we know God intimately because of Christ and He is a good God. We can easily trust his decisions because we know of his amazing character thanks to His word.

So the answer is YES! We can wait for our savior, because He empowers us to do so!

"This is what it means to be held

How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life

And you survive

This is what it is to be loved and to know

That the promise was that when everything fell

We'd be held"

Thank you, God, for holding us and never letting go. "You give and take away. My heart will choose to say, "Lord, blessed be your name!""

Grampa was a family man

2011-01-20T23:44:00.005-05:00

Grampa was a dancer

2011-01-20T23:42:00.000-05:00

Grampa was the best dancer at our wedding. And Gram could keep up with him no problem.

Grampa was a husband

2011-01-20T23:35:00.000-05:00

Just look at the joy on their faces on their 50th wedding anniversary!

Grampa was a dad

2011-01-20T23:32:00.000-05:00

Grampa Cronin was a dad. He left a legacy of dads... so much so that at my bachelorette party, when asked "What does Shamus want to be when he grows up?" I said "A dad." And that's what Shamus's answer was. Seeing the love Shamus has for his kids makes me feel proud of who Grampa was as a dad - even though I was never his daughter. And it didn't skip a generation - Jim, like his father, adopted me as his own. What a blessing fathers are!

Grampa was mine, too

2011-01-20T23:25:00.001-05:00

I got to know Grampa at Outback Steakhouse when he came to Georgia to see Shamus graduate. Before the waiter took our drink order, I managed to ask for some bread (because I love their bread). Grampa's first reaction was to make fun of me. And in that moment I basically adopted him as my Grampa. He knew I was in love with his grandson and he came at me with open arms and before he left Georgia, I got my first Grampa hug and kiss. That was almost 10 years ago. How I will miss those hugs and kisses.

Gram Ham Recipe

2011-01-12T21:57:00.002-05:00

I made Gram Ham today. It's a recipe I made up based on other recipes that were said to be delicious. Most of the ingredients came from Shamus's grandmother so there's no way yours could possibly be as good as ours unless you get into her stash. And come to butcher pigs at Thanksgiving. Good luck.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

butter

olive oil

Gram's applesauce

Gram's crabapple jelly

Ham steak from butchering

Cinnamon

Directions:

Melt butter and a little olive oil in a pan. Brown ham steak on med-high. Inhale through nose and say "mmmm". Turn to low. Drain the butter and fatty juices. Use a spatula to keep that ham in there! Put 6 Tbsp Gram's applesauce lunch lady style on the ham. Flip the ham over. Listen to the splat and think "cool sound". Spread crabapple jelly on the ham the way a 7 year old would on a PB&J. Sprinkle cinnamon on top until you think it looks pretty. Cook around 15 mins or until your side dishes are done. Serve with sliced oranges. And bacon (from butchering).

PS I only had Mott's, not Gram's, and Shamus still said it was amazing. I think he'd be speechless if it had been Gram's. Also, I did not serve it with bacon but that would have been AWESOME because bacon is soooo good. Especially butchering bacon.

Videos of the Kids

2010-11-12T13:29:00.003-05:00

Here's a video of Jay. Enjoy.

Here's Jay and Ben playing together.

Here's Ben jabbering and doing a little complaining.

Jay: Man down

Backyard Barber

2010-09-11T09:40:00.005-04:00

I finally got to abuse... er, enjoy my kid the way I want and not the way that all of the ladies in his life want. Let the hate mail begin!

15 minutes and zero dollars = best haircut ever! (Don't worry, it'll grow back by Christmas)

Ben's Photo Shoot

2010-09-02T20:27:00.005-04:00

My favorite pair of jammies are striped and footed and have an orange elephant on them. Of course, they aren't mine - but they're still my favorite! As I put them on Ben today, I noticed that I was stretching the collar to get it over his shoulders. "Oh, no! I don't even have a picture of you in these - and the make you even cuter than you usually are - which means they must have some magic power because you are already super cute!" So I zoomed around the house, grabbed my camera and Baby Ben and went outside in a flash. I thought I only had one shot but as you can see I got several. Here are all the pictures I took (and edited).

2 Vids and some Vacation Pics

2010-08-09T16:27:00.004-04:00

Pennsylvania and Washington D.C. Lots of driving / Sleeping in the car (and not just for the one behind the wheel!) I (Shamus) take no credit for the layout as this is the 15 minutes where everyone is sleeping and I don't have to work / mow the lawn.

Ben can finally smile for pictures

How embarrassing...

Edward-Glove-Hands = Age 2

Baby Army 2010

First Victim of the Baby Army

"Either I jumped or someone just left me lying here on the ground. Either way I'm yellin!"

A little Air and Space Museum

Sure you can take a picture but it'll cost you $5

Jay and his stuffed animal brother. Looks real doesn't it!

So Ben can smile and laugh but he has to do a full body situp... and when he's laying on the ground it turns into a full body face plant. Oh well, abs of steel and a broken nose are what most super heroes have, right?

He may need a comb in his hair, a better looking smile, and less food stuffs all over but he can almost say all of our names. A little more trivia and he can probably pass the high school graduation test!

I hope that holds everyone over... time to go mow the lawn.

Morgan, Drew and Sam Visit

2010-06-08T22:47:00.001-04:00

Aunt Morgan and her boyfriend, Drew, came to visit the family and met little Ben for the first time! We had a great time while they were here...

Drew and Morgan bottle-fed Ben in the van on the way home from the airport - so he likes them a lot!

We hit Chick-Fil-A for lunch on the way home where Morgan and Drew took turns going into the play area with Jay

Morgan and Drew came over one morning and watched Jay while I got a much-needed nap!

Morgan and Drew came to Jay's first dentist appointment and took care of Ben while I got some dental work done.

Aunt Sammy came into town from Charleston, too! She and Morgan took turns holding a sleepy Baby Ben at church.

Aunt Sammy also decided to stay in Greenville a little longer than planned so she could visit with everyone! That was really sweet.

Morgan, Drew, Judy, the boys and I all went for a late night ice cream - it was Jay's first visit to an ice cream place and they gave him a free cone (since he's so little)!

Morgan and Drew went to the zoo with the boys and me. It was a lot of fun - especially since the gibbons were making lots of noise! (Check out the short video if you haven't ever heard them.)

Praise God for such a tightly knit family, for providing the money and time for everyone to visit and for sweet, sweet moments with the ones we love!

Growing Up

2010-06-04T19:17:00.004-04:00

He's not a baby anymore. He's a kid. Here's the proof.

Our first crop

2010-06-02T12:06:00.004-04:00

Today my mom, Jay and I picked one big

zucchini, one cherry tomato, and a bunch of baby spinach in our vegetable garden. Can you believe it?!? One big zucchini, one cherry tomato, and some baby spinach!! That's one hundred times what we got out of our vegetable garden last year (about 6 beans). We'll have to give Jay some credit for that since he loves watering the yard so we've been doing that this year. Plus, God has given us a good, rainy spring! Yay!

The Best Lullaby

2010-05-26T16:20:00.002-04:00

We went to the park today with the Hallmans and ate a picnic lunch. Jay had a great time picking all the "flowers" (we call them weeds, but he thinks they're nice) and playing on the playground. Time flew by, right past nap time, in fact. This was mostly due to the novice mother-of-2 in charge (me) who thought 5 minutes was enough to load the car. Wrong. It took me a total of 30 minutes to put Jay in the double stroller, get things organized enough to be able to push the stroller, respond to Jay's fist of fury saying, "Potty", use the bathroom, change Ben, repack the stroller, put the kids in the car and drive away. Wow. I was more exhausted from leaving the park than playing with and chasing Jay in the midday heat. I managed to stay awake for the whole ride home, but nothing beats a nice drive to put the kids to sleep.

Jay asked for a snack shortly before falling asleep. I gave him

some cashews. Apparently he does not like cashews.

The Best Almost Sleepless Night of my Life... So Far!

2010-05-20T10:22:00.004-04:00

On Saturday night, I fed Ben at 10 pm. He couldn't go back to sleep on his own so he ended up resting his little head on my chest until 3 am while I slept on our recliner with him. It was so nice waking up with my newborn so close that I could kiss his sweet forehead. I fed him again at 3 and then helped him settle in for a few hours of sleep. Moments later, we woke up to the sound of Jay crying. So Shamus went to calm him down but was unsuccessful so Jay ended up in our bed with his arms wrapped so tightly around my neck that I couldn't help but kiss his little forehead because it was basically in my mouth. He hugged me, kissed me, and snuggled with me until he fell asleep. And I thanked God for waking up in the middle of the night. Twice.

Ben is Here!

2010-05-08T12:21:00.005-04:00

Ok, some photos published from the hospital room... on the slowest computer ever so more will have to be posted later:

I claim no responsibility for the formatting of this post. It will be corrected by the Mom once we're home (should be Sunday).

PRAISE THE LORD!

Ready for two!

2010-04-13T21:11:00.005-04:00

We went to the doctor today to see how little Ben is doing in utero - and he's head-down! Yay! We're packing our bags and finishing up Jay's new room this week in preparation for Ben's arrival.

I am super-pregnant (this picture is from March 27!) and ready to end this pregnancy... although I did have a "freak-out moment" with Shamus, during which I showed him a newborn diaper and a newborn onesie and said through tears and a smile, "Can you believe how tiny he's going to be?" while Shamus laid the onesie on my belly "to make sure it would fit Ben". "Are we ready?" I asked. Silly question - as if God would a) wait until we're ready or b)give us something we're truly not ready for... so we're as ready as we're going to be!

The due date is April 30th, and it's plus/minus 2 weeks... so April 16th - May 14th is the range. April 16th is THIS FRIDAY!!! We're almost in range! Watch out, world - here comes Ben!

2010-02-13T18:19:00.005-05:00

So we got about 3 inches here in Lyman and we made it outside twice to enjoy it. The first trip was mainly sledding (and wiping snow off of Jay's face... we really need a windshield) and the second was for making snowmen.

No one was injured in the making or uploading of these films.

I keep getting errors when I try to load more videos so this'll have to last until next years snow. Let's keep the tradition going!

Working at Night means Jay time during the Day

2010-01-25T12:46:00.002-05:00

So I'm working a split shift for 2 weeks but that means that Mondays will be only Jay and I in the house. Today we didn't get into too much trouble (at least I'm not going to write to the world about it).

He can finally use the Fropper:

And he's ok at the truck:

Enjoy... when the 2nd baby comes I don't think anyone will have to update this thing.

Jay's Favorite Snack

2009-11-23T18:44:00.002-05:00

Jay LOVES bananas. Just watch him eat it.

Clemson Game

2009-11-21T21:12:00.003-05:00

Jay went to his first Clemson game today! We played Virginia and we won!! Here are some pictures and videos from the experience.

Here's the fam at the tailgate!

Clemson Cheer!

Later in the game.... Clemson scores!! Again!!

Jay sleeps! In his tiger costume, of course.

Walking... ok ok, Stepping

2009-10-24T17:51:00.002-04:00

We can get a good 3 or 4 before he face plants! (He's ready for college!)

Just keeping everyone updated.

Is it really a blog if it's only pictures?

2009-07-08T18:29:00.006-04:00

Well I guess this is an official "update" but it's just pictures again. July 4th weekend and we were in Clemson, SC with Karen's brother and some friends. Swimming, hiking, cooking out, watching fireworks = very nice weekend. Enjoy.

Blahlum blahlum blahlum was the "new trick" for the day.

Smiling all weekend, serioiusly, all weekend.

"So we hiked to a waterfall... and?" - Jay, he really said that right after this photo.

"I'm baby Jay Monster! ROAR!!!!"

The "Blizzard" of 2009

2009-03-02T20:18:00.010-05:00

Well we finally got our one day of snow and it was at least enough to play in (3.5 inches). So we suited up the baby and went out to winter wonderland. Quickly we discovered the 'awesomeness' of our new yard, front and back, and how we'll have to keep a hefty supply of plastic sleds on hand for the next one of these great days. So enough text, on to the photos and videos!

With Mom's hat I'm ready to go!

One baby snow angel coming right up!

Not bad for my first try!

Are you sure you don't want me to drive?

And that's the one day of snow for this season... and it came in March!?!?!

Two Months and... WAY behind!

2009-02-14T13:25:00.006-05:00

Alright, the other two are sleeping and I have about 10 mins before I get to wake them up so here's some "scoop" since last time:

January 11th - Tom and Ali Hallman came down to spend a week with us and for Tom to baptize Karen and I.

Jay was happy -------------------------------->

They also helped Karen out IMMENSELY with laundry, food, relaxing, and rocking out with Guitar Hero World Tour.

We made a small "Brady Bunch" type photo that will be getting developed today (finally):

Jay's Great-Grandparents Cronin, Great Aunt Trisha, Great? / Second Cousin Christian, Great Aunt and Uncle Cronin, and Great "Aunt" Cindy Walsh are all visiting tomorrow for a cookout and baby puke catching contest. Jay will be hosting both events.

Karen's tutoring almost every day now which keeps her speaking spanish, teaching again, and allows her to interact with someone else besides our 12 lb SBJBBBH (Sweet Baby James Blue Berry Bobble Head courtesy of Aunt Morgan).

Time to wake them up with a battle cry from one movie that I can't wait to watch with my son: FREEEEEEDDOOOOOMMM!!!!!

1 Month and Kickin!

2009-01-04T15:04:00.007-05:00

I can't even remember the last time that I "blogged" so I'll keep it short and sweet with some pictures.
Look what we found under the Christmas tree! Such a nice early present! So we took him the Georgia to show him off to the Culpepper side of life and still made it back for dinner. The next day Karen and I were able to celebrate 3 years of wearing rings together. Feels like a lot longer but that's just because we've done so much. Marriage is (still) awesome.

Christmas came a couple of days later and just had to get Jay to say hello and Merry CHRISTmas to everyone. (I think his mother likes to hold her pinky up as well but we'll work on his people skills when dealing with the masses later on. Prince James V doesn't have time to learn what his tongue is and that it's not polite to look down his nose, hold his finger in the air, and gently pass wind in front of everyone... yet.)

And now, on January 4th (the last day before returning to work and seeing what being a parent is REALLY all about) we were able to celebrate Jay's 1 month old day... or 4 weeks and 3 days old day since I haven't a clue as to how long a month actually is. So one last picture for all the ladies out there:

Week 40

2008-11-28T09:41:00.007-05:00

Well, the due date came and went with no sign of the baby's exit from the womb and entry into the world. Shamus had a soccer game (2, actually) Monday (the due date) and his team got 2nd place! It was fun in spite of the cold rain and ridiculous tackle (Shamus was 2-hand tackled from behind while he was dribbling toward the goal... and the ref decided against calling a foul). I've been going to almost all of Shamus's soccer games since I quit teaching so I've gotten to know some of the players on his team. He made me stay home for one a while ago because it was too cold. But then the end of the pregnancy approached and it occurred to me that he doesn't play soccer with his cell phone attached to him and that he usually leaves his phone in the car. So we talked and decided that I should go to all of his games in case I go into labor. There have been a few cold games but I go wearing lots of pants and shirts and a scarf and gloves and 1 or 2 coats (I own one coat that still zips! It's a ski jacket.) and I have 2 blankets and I almost always have hot chocolate. Sounds pretty miserable, huh? I've had a lot of fun getting to know the other players and the other 2 spouses that show up to the games as fans. Once we get a feel for life with a baby, Shamus will join a team again. I can't wait to hear our son yell what all the other kids yell: "Go, daddy, go! Go, daddy go! Go, daddy go!"
The next night, since the due date passed and some friends of ours said Japanese food encourages labor, we decided to go out to dinner with them. I forgot how fun Japanese steakhouses are. We had a great chef, of course, and he made the fried rice into a cake and asked if it was anyone's birthday. I said, "I hope so!" and pointed to my baby belly. So I ended up with a chunk of rice that looked like a piece of cake with a match in it. He sang happy birthday to the baby and I made a wish (bet you can't guess what it was!) and blew out the match. We had a lot of fun going out with Peggy and Joel - they said that they ate Japanese just before Peggy went into labor with both of her sons! One of her sons came early - but after Japanese, and the other was a little late - but also after Japanese! Joel was guessing that it was the ginger so I was loading that onto my plate. Japanese food did not make the baby come out.
We had an appointment on Wednesday and they did a Non Stress Test. They put 2 round, black "readers" on your belly and strap them on with belts around you. Then they turn on the machine and it keeps up with the baby's heartrate on paper. It makes the zig zags when the heart rate changes. You can also make it zig zag by laughing. For some reason, I thought something was very funny (no idea what) and I started giggling. Then, I saw that I was messing up the test. You'd think that would make me stop. Nope. I laughed harder and harder! I finally quit laughing and calmed down for a few minutes, but then I looked over at the paper with all the crazy zig zags that I made when I laughed and I started laughing again! My doctor came in and I had to explain that the zig zags were me laughing. It took a while to get what they wanted on the paper (a higher heartrate for 15 seconds 3 times) but it was kind of fun sitting and chatting with Shamus (and laughing too much). We're going back on Monday to check on him and if he's not out by next Thursday then they'll induce labor. My doctor will be the one delivering, which is great!
Thanksgiving was tons of fun! My parents and Robby came up and Jim and Judy and Cleggan all came over! We had a ham, a turkey and a bunch of casseroles. Mom decorated our porch for Christmas (it looks so cute and festive!), the ladies cooked and talked, the guys watched some football and visited and ended up exploring the creek in our backyard, and Cleggan went around beggin for attention, decided to go to the creek with the guys, and promptly fell in. If you know Cleggan, you know that he freaked out a bit because he hates water. He was okay, though - just a little wet.
After dinner we played Ticket to Ride (a very fun board game that you may want to buy) and visited some more. We watched No Country for Old Men (at least, Shamus and the Culpeppers did... I knitted in the living room while they watched) and relaxed. Mom and dad and Robby are staying up here for the night and we're finishing up the nursery tomorrow! Maybe I'll go into labor since everyone is already in town! (I doubt it. That would be entirely too convenient.) I guess I'm pretty much fine with the baby not being born yet. I got to "host" Thanksgiving! (I didn't do much cooking, but we did get to use our China and pretty table cloth!)
Hope he comes soon!

Week 39

2008-11-21T11:42:00.005-05:00

Bartok is moving quite a bit! It's weird - I can feel his fingers. But also exciting! He has fingers!! :) I was talking to a friend of mine who wants to be a doula (See Week __ to find out what that is) and she asked if he was head down and if his body was on my left side. I know he's head down because the doctor checks but I had to think about the baby on the left side thing. Turns out that only my right ribcage has been kicked for a while now. I can't remember any appendages sticking out of the left side of my baby bump... but I can remember several on the right side! So I guess he's on my left and that means ready for take-off! Other than that, not a whole lot of progress. On Monday, the doctor said it's softer and I'm still at 1 cm. I have another appointment this coming Monday - which is the due date!! I'm hoping we won't have to go to the appointment because we'll already have a baby in our arms by then. I went for a jog yesterday (doctor's orders... kind of...*) and this morning I measured the belly (which isn't an exact science - so don't get too excited) and I think the baby dropped because I was 43 inches around at the button and now I'm only 41!! Also, last night in bed there was some serious moving inside - so much moving that the baby was actually moving me! *"Doctor's orders" means that there's a family doctor in our shepherding group and he advised his wife to "jog around a cornfield" at the end of her pregnancy and she went into labor that night. Later, as we were discussing some prayer requests, he jokingly said about 2 different requests that those people we were praying for should try going to a jazz bar to relax and enjoy some music. He casually added on that I shouldn't go into the smoky jazz bar, but that I should go for a jog around it. (We were praying for me and the baby along with the other requests.) He's a funny guy - and he's a real doctor. So I jogged. Next on the list of things to try: Walking and eating Japanese. We have friends who ate Japanese on their due date and went to the hospital that night. Apparently they met a few other couples at the restaurant who had done the same thing in past years. So Japanese Steakhouse, here we come! Maybe afterward we could all go for a jog on full bellies.

Week 37

2008-11-06T11:41:00.003-05:00

Monday we went to the hospital to meet the doulas. A doula is a woman helper trained to help women through childbirth. We're getting one! I'm so excited! A doula does not have special degrees like nurses and doctors and really only know about the birthing process and a little about breastfeeding. They help mom get into the best positions during labor and if the baby needs help turning, they know how to do that. There is a decreased rate of unplanned C-Sections, the use of an epidural, and labor time associated with the use of a doula. They have all kinds of distractors (like cold packs and hot packs and massage techniques) so that mom doesn't think so much about the pain. They tell dad how to help more if he wants input. They translate machine beeps and doctor talk into regular English. They give advice on what to do if there's a problem - even if their advice opposes the doctor's. They make sure that mom and dad are well taken care of and that mom and baby have figured out the breastfeeding stuff. And one doula stays with you the whole time - unlike nurses and doctors who may have to leave if their shift ends during your labor. What could be coola than a doula when I'm in labor?

Week 36

2008-11-01T11:41:00.005-04:00

This week we celebrated Halloween! I went to a friend's house (Darlene) who is an artist and had her make me a costume. Isn't it awesome?!?! She spent almost the whole day on it! I hope that it gets used again, either by me or whoever is pregnant next Halloween. So if you're hoping for a baby bump in October 2009, keep this costume in mind! You can borrow it for free!
We were ready for lots of trick-or-treaters but we only got 12. And more than 12 kids live in our neighborhood! And 2 sets of 3 kids showed up in minivans (which makes me think they don't live in our neighborhood since it is walkable). Sooooo we have tons of Halloween candy left! Darn.

I have ONE more month of being pregnant! I can't believe it!! 4 weeks! (Unless he's late... then more like 5 or 6...) We're kind of ready. I mean, we have everything we need to bring him home from the hospital but there are a few things I'd like to do before he comes home. Like finish the nursery and maybe decorate for Christmas (depending on when he comes). I'm really excited about next week because we get to dog sit Cleggan!! I can't wait to have a dog! And a great dog, at that! He's house trained and he talks. Of course, his talking sounds kind of like Dory talking Whale in Finding Nemo. But it's still talking!

According to my Bartok growth and development site, his "primary" and "most important job" is to put on weight. Don't you wish you were him? Me too. He's more than 17 inches long and weighs around 6 lbs. I guess if we only weighed 6 lbs then it would be our job to chunk it on. As it is, it's our job to not chunk it on. But that won't stop me from eating that leftover Halloween candy!! Maybe I should try exercising a little to balance things. We'll see.

Week 35

2008-10-25T23:09:00.003-04:00

Exciting news on the OB front!! The baby is head down!! Yay! That means that if I were to go into labor, he'd be ready to come out the right way and therefore there's less of a chance of a need for a C section. Woo hooo!! I have to keep reminding myself that this does NOT mean that he's ready to come out. And he shouldn't yet. The due date is Nov 24th but it's really plus/minus 2 weeks. So he needs to stay for another 2 weeks before he takes his first deep breath and lets out a quality cry. (I read that the end of the pregnancy is prime lung development time.) I am selling books through Usborne and I really like the rewards system they have for schools - the school gets free books based on what the kids' parents buy. Unfortunately, I don't have any school bookfairs planned yet but today I sold books at a Fall Craft Fair in a church. It went alright, I guess. I ended up making a little but I'm still in the hole from the first investment. My goal is to earn at least what I invested. I would love for this to become a side income for our family but I'm not sure how to make that happen in a way that I would enjoy. I do feel good about sending out the website - especially since there are some really good deals on there. If you're interested, here's the site: www.ubah.com/x2470 They have some really cute books and they have several different Bible-based books for kids. All the books are high quality and they have some fun activities, too. So if you want to buy some kids books (Christmas is coming!) check out the link. If not, don't!

Bartok is now 18 inches long and weighs 6 lbs!! So I'm not "40 lbs overweight" as Shamus says... I'm 34 lbs overweight! Yay! Bartok also has kidneys now. And he's producing waste. I guess he's getting warmed up for the changing table! I was thinking about putting something by the changing table that would make people want to change diapers. Maybe we'll post the funnies on the wall above it each week. Or I could put some candy on the shelf underneath. His movements are also different now. Instead of pitter pattering from the inside of my belly, it's more like an ocean wave of large rocks, except that it doesn't hurt. But if I had to describe it, that's what I would compare it to. I guess he's just rolling around a little in there and there's not really room to do a full punch or kick.

Week 34

2008-10-18T22:20:00.005-04:00

Last Saturday our church had a baby shower for me! It was really fun to see everyone and celebrate with them. I had a few students from my English as a Second Language class
Last weekend we bought a crib!! We were talking to some people at church and they asked if the nursery is ready and we said not quite. They said they were trying to get rid of a crib so Shamus and Jim went to pick it up on Sunday and we put it together! Yay! Now we just need to get those pink dressers painted white and moved in there.
This week we went to a new shepherding group through church because the other one is so far and the new one is so close. I've been praying about finding a mentor since the ladies' retreat and it turns out that 3 of the ladies I met at the retreat are in this shepherding group! Maybe God is setting up his answer to my prayers. :) One great thing about the new group (for now) is that it meets every other week and our old group meets every week. So we can go to both! I'm not sure how well we'll do going to both after we have a baby. But I just can't see leaving the other group for good! I'm sure someday we'll have to because of the distance and because of our desire to lead our own shepherding group... but I'm really going to miss our time with the other group. Hopefully we'll continue to see each other at church and at Bible studies. Right now I'm doing the church ladies bible study on Carolyn Mahaney's Feminine Appeal which is about Titus 2:3-5: "Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled." We're spending one week on each characteristic to strive for. I've read this book before but our ladies Bible study teacher does a lot of extra research and adds to Carolyn's teachings in such a way that I feel like this is my first time through. I highly recommend this book! It continually reminds you of your high calling as a wife and mother and how by God's grace you can do all of the things listed in the verse. Today was a big day in the life of a pregnant woman: We went to our birthing class! All day we were at the hospital learning about labor and delivery. We watched videos (everything from Bill Cosby's stand up to a c-section to a natural delivery) and discussed. We practiced breathing and different positions... but only for the part of labor that you're at home. I've read about the other breathing (the hee-hee-hee-hoo stuff) and that it's for when you want to push but the doctor wants you to wait. The teacher had our husbands massage our feet, backs, necks, arms, and hands and then made us tell our husbands how to improve. It was wonderful! I think Shamus enjoyed it overall, too. The only downer was that it was only one day so we didn't really get to meet anyone and make friends like so many other couples do through birthing classes. One thing that was really weird was that the teacher told us she usually has classes where about 90% of people are having the same gender baby. Our class was boys. There were 2 couples who didn't find out the gender and only 1 expecting a girl. Out of about 18 couples!! After the class, I have mixed feelings about labor. Part of me doesn't want to go through that so I started telling the baby he can just stay in there. But a bigger part of me wants to meet this little person and take care of him and watch him grow. Hopefully the whole "I don't want to give birth" thing will go away before it's time. I'll be praying about that.
This week, Bartok is just chunking it on. He's getting fatter. With fatter arms and legs comes more intense punches and kicks! So I'm betting that if my baby is fatter than yours then he can beat yours up. But we'd rather they be friends so I guess we'll never know!

Week 33

2008-10-10T22:42:00.005-04:00

Last weekend was fabulous! Shamus dropped me off at Amanda's baby shower where I got to catch up with some friends from high school. Many of them are teachers and they like their jobs! It sounded like they are all at great schools. Also, one of my high school friends is engaged! How exciting!! We had a lot of fun playing games and catching up and goofing off.

After the shower, I headed to Robby's new house where we got a tour and Shamus helped him prepare for company tomorrow. He's having the guys in the family over to his house while the girls have a baby shower at my parents' house. We then headed to Shamus's old house to see how it's changed and then to my parents'. My friend Ari came to GA to go to my baby shower and to celebrate my birthday and we celebrated her's too! (Hers is in Sept) We blew out candles together and exchanged gifts - she got me a t-shirt (for after the pregnancy) that says "Alguien que me quiero mucho me trajo esta playera de Michoacan, Mexico". I love it!! My parents got me a great gift, too: Break from cooking dinner!! As you can see, we own a grill now! Can't wait to eat some yummy charred meat! And Shamus is also happy about this gift, as you can see.

There was an Amigos for Christ Festival in Suwanee that Ari, mom and I went to where we heard Caedmon's Call play. They sing "There is a reason" and "The Hands of the Potter". It was really nice to sit and enjoy some good Christian music and be surrounded by other people doing the same thing. We had fun people-watching, too - we saw a bunch of cute babies and little kids and lots of the kids were dancing like they were the only ones on earth.

On Sunday we went to my parents' church where we heard a great sermon about living in uncertain times ("Uncertainty Part 1") and clinging to God through those times. It was really great to go to church with my parents.

After church, it was time to get ready for the baby shower and then to celebrate JAC V!! Mom's friend Karen came over to help set up and she brought some plants for me from her garden that I plan to put near the mailbox. I need to make sure that now is a good time to plant them, though! I also went through a bunch of boxes in my parents' garage and picked out the stuff I want... I came back with a box of Halloween decorations and costumes, dolls from my childhood, and some baby and babydoll clothes among other things.

After we packed the car, it was time to party! The Culpepper side of the family and some GA friends came over to touch the baby bump, tell their labor stories, celebrate JAC V and catch up. It was great to see everyone and to hear their stories and to be encouraged by their excitement about a new baby. My favorite moment of the baby shower was when my cousin Katy was touching my belly and I directed her hand to where the baby was moving. Her reaction was something like, "gewwwull". Apparently it grossed her out a little. But she did recover quickly and say that it was cool... but also weird.

Pictures from the baby shower

Bartok is now at 17 inches long and weighs a whopping 5 lbs! His big plan: get chunky, then get out. Sounds like fun to me! Pass the cheesey poofs!

Week 32

2008-10-03T22:31:00.006-04:00

Well this has been a really great week! Probably because it's my birthday week (and weekend)!!! I don't know about everyone else, but in our families, the celebration usually lasts about a week because we think birthdays are that important!! (Actually, it usually has more to do with people's schedules and when we can celebrate with whom... but we'll say it's because birthdays are IMPORTANT!)

I woke up on my birthday and had no plans for the day and no car to go anywhere. I thought it was going to be a pretty boring day so I slept in for a while so that it wouldn't feel like a whole day had gone by before Shamus got home. I was hoping for more like half a day.

BUT, when I did wake up, there was a sticky note announcing "Karen's Super Birthday Hunt 2008"!! I had to find sticky notes according to clues on previous sticky notes to try to find a birthday surprise. My favorite part of the birthday hunt was that Shamus sent me to the bathroom twice because "it's a pregnant lady game". :) I found my surprise: a bunch of yummy muffins for breakfast - and one of them with frosting! I spent the rest of the day doing whatever I felt like doing (mostly watching Harry Potter and reading) and talking to friends and family on the phone. When Shamus got home from work he had another birthday surprise for me: a Bartok t-shirt!!

Then, he made me pancakes for dinner (one of my favorites!) and I blew out a candle in my pancakes! (It's a type of cake.) (But I don't recommend it unless you like cold pancakes. I ended up with half of a birthday candle melted into my pancakes and couldn't eat that chunk. It was waxy.)

Tonight we're going out to eat with Jim and Judy to celebrate my birthday, then we're going to GA to celebrate some more with my family and a few friends there. We've also got some baby showers to go to (a friend's and one for me!) and plans to hang out with family. I'm so glad I was born!!! And I'm so excited to have so many wonderful people in my life!!

Bartok update: He's 16.5 inches long and he weighs over 4 pounds!! I guess he's pretty worn out from all the growing and kickboxing because apparently he sleeps about 90% of the day now. So that's where they get the saying "sleeps like a baby". Because apparently they don't do that much sleeping through loud noises and such once they're out of the womb. His skin is ironing itself out with layers of baby fat and he's getting more hair on his head this week so he looks more and more like the Gerber baby (and less and less like a lizard, I guess). Ask Bill Cosby about the lizard thing. Bartok is also going to try to get head down for exit pretty soon! We're praying that he'll get in the right position (head down, sunny side down) for delivery because that makes things move along better. 8 (to 10) more weeks till we're PARENTS!! I can't believe it!!

Weekend Update

2008-09-29T21:53:00.009-04:00

The weekend was terrific! On Thursday (the end of the week, not the weekend), Stephanie came over and painted The Giving Tree on the baby room wall. It looks AMAZING!! And, it was like CSI: she looked at Shel's drawing in the book, figured out the order in which he drew the leaves on the tree, and copied that process all blown up on the wall. She did bring an overhead projector that looked like something from WWII but it didn't work. The image was really small and the tree was supposed to take up the whole wall to the ceiling. We got to catch up on life and we listened to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It was fabulous!

Friday and Saturday I was at the Ladies Retreat and it was GREAT!! The focus was on Godly Womanhood, including how to maintain a relationship with God through prayer and reading the Bible, mentorship and how we are called to mentor and to be mentored. It was very spiritually refreshing and it was a whole lot of fun! I met several women who live near our new house! We're going to try their Shepherding Group sometime soon since it's much closer to home. It'll be really hard to leave the group we're in though! Maybe we can be in 2 groups... who knows?
I was feeling a little sick on Friday so instead of staying for 2 nights, I only stayed one - which worked out great since we stayed most of the day Saturday and the women I was staying with all went home Sat night. It was also nice because I got to hang out with Shamus Sat night and I didn't think we'd get to do that. We were both feeling a little sick so we just chilled out on the couch. It was nice to do that together!
We got a ton of rain so I guess we'll be getting a ton of grass, right? I hope it didn't wash away the seed!!
Looking forward to another fun week!

Week 31

2008-09-24T22:26:00.006-04:00

Bending over has a new sound now that I'm 7 months pregnant. It's something like "Wooough-youragiantbaby" followed by rapid breathing to recover from not breathing the whole time I was bending over. This added process helps me feel better about the true struggle it is to pick something up off the floor for several reasons: 1. I make a funny noise and since I'm not a boy under 12, I have to have an excuse - and I do! 2. I blame it on the baby - not my fault that moving my body in a natural way is really tough! 3. I remind myself that the giant mass of flesh in my way is actually my child and not just an odd growth of chub, and 4. I catch my breath in the end, every time.
Bartok is obviously growing! Last week he weighed around 3 lbs and this week he weighs around 4 and is getting a little chubby! He's supposed to keep chunking it on by gaining a half a pound every week until 2 weeks before his birth. Remember how he has that lanugo hair all over him? He's starting to lose that now. He's also opening and closing his eyes and he's able to track light in the womb! He's kicking and moving a lot - especially at night when I'm ready for bed. He also seems to react to me being hungry, eating, and drinking a cold drink.
I'm still teaching English at the Literacy Center but I'm also trying to earn some money doing it. So when you call and get my answering machine, you can try to figure out what all I say in Spanish! And you can even leave me a message in Spanish if you want! (I already had a friend do that - she said she just had to after hearing the answering machine.)
Yard update: We have grass!!!! Little tiny grass sprouting up pretty much everywhere that we planted! I've been picking weeds to prepare to plant the rest of the yard. I take our 5-gallon bucket and pick as many as I can in the not-quite-bent-over-all-the-way-so-I-can-still-breathe position or I just squat and pick everything I can reach and stuff it all into the bucket. Up, walk a few yards, squat and reach and pull. It's like aerobics. When the bucket is overflowing, I waddle over to the empty lot next door and dump it out. It's a little overwhelming because I've already done 25 gallons and it's hard to even tell where I've picked weeds and where I haven't. I'll have to take before and after photos for the rest of the yard - hopefully I'll be able to see progress that way! We had some friends from our Shepherding group over for dinner on Wednesday and that was especially fun! I was really excited to be able to play hide and seek with someone. Allison, our friends' 2-year-old daughter was very excited to play with me - unlike Shamus (although he did participate so I guess I just have to wait a few years till our son is old enough to play and then we can all play together!!)
Last Saturday we bought a lawnmower!! He is named after Colonel Sanders and a street in downtown Greenville: Harland Wyche Cronin. He sometimes loses his bag but he does the job! On our journey to purchasing Harland Wyche, we met who I think is the guy from Waterboy with the crazy bayou accent. It was great... but I couldn't understand most of what he said. We ended up buying from a different guy but the adventure was wonderful! My friend Stephanie Pieper is coming over to paint The Giving Tree on our wall tomorrow! I can't wait to see her and to have the baby room decorated! :) Also, this weekend is the Ladies Retreat through our church. I'm really excited about going! I'm staying with ladies from my shepherding group and I'm hoping to get to know them better and to meet some more women in addition to being immersed in God's word with other Christian women. Should be a great weekend!

Week 30

2008-09-15T19:20:00.005-04:00

This week was filled with yardwork and house maintenance, along with teaching English and selling stuff on ebay. We planted grass in a HUGE section of our yard even though we didn't get to finish preparing it. We had to get a waiver from our water company in order to water the grass on a regular basis and we foud out that we only have the waiver for 3 weeks! That means the seeds need to be planted ASAP and watered before our permission expires!! So it isn't as well-prepared as we'd hoped but we're praying that some grass will come in so that our yard will stay in place. We've been selling random things on ebay and we've had some success! We've sold several textbooks and now we're on to selling "collectibles" that we have but don't really collect. Hopefully we can save up a little extra money for the baby expenses! Also this week, I tried to set up a moms discussion group through our church. I only got 2 women's contact info but it's better than none!! Please pray that this will fufill its purpose - to connect with our church, discuss biblical parenting and to learn from one another as much as we can!
On Saturday, we went to the Clemson NC State football game!!! My friends came in from Chicago, Richmond, Charlotte, Asheville, and Columbia to have a reunion! 5 of us have been friends since freshman year when we all lived on the same hall. Ariadna came in from Columbia and Jim, Judy and Sam all went to the game, too! It was pretty hot and our seats were in the upper deck. Somehow, I managed to not get a sunburn!! Saturday night didn't go so well after climbing all those stairs in the stadium and walking across campus... I kept waking up with painful calf cramps. But that's part of being pregnant! My freshman friends came by the house and got the tour and they got lots of pictures of their hands on the Bartok belly. I'll post some on here when I get them! On Sunday we introduced ourselves to all the kids because we're helping with the Activities Team - which means we'll be serving around 6 times this school year for all 3 services. Our job is to work with the other members of our team to create outdoor games that reinforce what the kids are learning in their Sunday school classes. Should be lots of fun!! Sunday was also a big day for Sam and Judy - they both felt Bartok kick for the first time! Sam was determined to feel a kick before she leaves for Ireland. She can check that off the list! Tomorrow we're taking Sam to the airport and seeing her off. She's going to have an amazing semester in Ireland!!! She already has plans to go to Italy, London, and several other places. We're so proud of her!!

Week 29

2008-09-10T15:11:00.007-04:00

Everyday this week we've been in the yard! It's great that Shamus gets home from work in the afternoon with enough time (and sometimes enough energy) to take a pick axe to the rocks in our backyard and prepare it for grass seed. We're watering our hill and there's no sign of grass blades yet but we've got about 5 more days till we'll see anything. Shamus did plant this week on one plot of land, which he named Samwise Gamgi. I spent lots of time tilling up the land and picking rocks on a plot that I named Ron Weasley. For correct pronunciation of "Ron Weasley", please watch this short video: Harry Potter Puppet Pals
The other day I called Gram Cronin - the Master of Laundry - about whether or not I could wash clay-covered clothes with not-clay-covered clothes. (Our yard is mostly clay, with a few hundred weeds.) Well, she's from the north and they don't have orange clay under their plants so she just said not to risk it. So, in order to safely experiment, I threw in some white undershirts with the load of clay-covered clothes. I even washed everything on hot and I had no clay on anything in the end! I love my washer! (*Make sure you soak the clay-covered stuff in shout and water and then rinse it out before you throw it into the machine. That's what I did.)
We heard that we only have a month to plant grass (mid-Sept to mid-Oct) so we're planning to plant our whole yard by the middle of October!! That means weed pulling is next!
This weekend is actually free for us! Which means we'll be in the yard, working hard.
Bartok is still busy growing and kicking and such. He's made a big improvement in his appearance: his head is now in proportion with his body!! So he looks more like a "normal" baby... although the Cronins have pretty giant heads in general so he might have Cronin Cabeza. I guess we'll see when he comes out! He's the size of a squash - around 15.5 inches long and around 3 lbs. He'll be around this size for the whole 7th month! By the end of the month, he'll be closer to 4 lbs and 16.5 inches. And he'll still be curled up and looking extremely uncomfortable, but apparently it doesn't bother him. And he'll be super flexible for a while after entering the world thanks to these 9 months of practice! I can't wait to catch him teething on his toes!

Week 28

2008-09-04T19:10:00.013-04:00

Babymoon - 1. n. the young offspring of a moon "Aww, look at the cute lil' craters on that babymoon!" 2. n. a vacation taken by a couple that is expecting a baby in order to allow the couple to enjoy a final trip together before the many sleepless nights that usually accompany a newborn baby "Let's go on a babymoon before I get so pregnant that I can't move." 3. v. the purposeful showing of the buttocks of a baby, usually directed at a particular person or group of people "I'm going to babymoon that unsupecting older couple who is making funny faces at my kid!"
We went on a babymoon (definition 2) last weekend! First, we headed to Augusta to visit the Greens and to watch football. The Cronins went in orange and the Greens went in red (UGA fans). We looked like excited fans but I didn't get a picture to prove it! But we did look nice in our clashing colors. It was great to spend some time catching up with friends and relaxing.
Next, we went to Aiken to enjoy our first Bed & Breakfast. Aiken is a cute little town with a few streets that make up the downtown, which is adorable. Not many places were open since we were there on Sunday and Labor Day but we enjoyed walking around the public parks and gardens and window shopping downtown. We ate dinner at a great Italian place and I ordered the best thing on the menu (creamy pesto chicken over linguini... mmmmmmm).
The B&B was terrific - there were stables in the back with 3 beautiful horses, several friendly cats and a rather large rabbit. There was another family staying there and they were fun and interesting! They made a grape burst into flame in the microwave after breakfast and then we enjoyed listening to the daughter play her harp. Breakfast was delicious and there was a library of books and movies and a bunch of games. I wish we had stayed another night because it was so nice to just relax in a cozy house and not have to think about everything we still need to do to prepare for the baby! This week we're going to try to plant grass in our backyard! Here comes a lot of yardwork!!
Bartok is still the size of an eggplant this week - a big eggplant. He's about 2 1/4 lbs now!! His eyes are still growing and if he has any hair, it's growing, too. He's also gaining muscle tone. And no, he's not lifting weights in there. As far as I can tell, it feels like Bartok is training to be a kickboxer! I don't recommend gaining muscle tone the way that Bartok is. Can you imagine what your mom would do if you started kicking and punching her in the abdomen? Just keep going to the gym or doing push ups or pushing the buttons on your remote. Whatever keeps you in shape and doesn't adversely affect your mom!

Week 27

2008-08-27T15:09:00.013-04:00

We had quite the fiesta at our new house on Saturday! People came from all over the southeast to party in the name of Bartok! Sam ran the show, with help from Judy and Morgan (long distance) and she threw an awesome party! We ate some very delicious food, played some fun games, and enjoyed chatting with friends. I put all of the shower pictures on our google pictures page - so check em out! We were smothered with love and generosity from all around and we're so blessed to have so many people who are excited to support us in our crazy endeavor to become Parents. So many people made the effort to drive up/down for the day and everyone was very generous in their giving. We are loved!! Thank you!!
I started volunteering at the literacy center here! I'm teaching English as a Second Language twice a week. I teach the lowest level class on Tuesday nights and the highest level class on Wednesday mornings. So far I've taught one day of English 4 and I love it! There are people from all over the world in my class and they are all so motivated to learn! Surprisingly enough, they even want to know the grammar jargon so I actually get to teach the difference between the past tense and the past participle!!! Yay!!! I LOVE it!! Next week I start with English 0. I should get to practice my Spanish a good bit in there!
Bartok is doing well - still moving around a lot in there! No one besides Shamus and I have felt the baby but I'm hoping he'll kick some of our friends and family soon! Bartok is still the size of an eggplant. Just a little larger than last week, but not enough gain to graduate to a new vegetable. His brain is growing and developing a lot this week and his eyes are opening for the first time! He's also developing the ability to see in color!
It's the end of the 2nd trimester!! We're 66.6666666666% finished with this race!!! Woo hoo!! I added some belly picture to the slideshow on the right sidebar! It's growing!

Week 26

2008-08-21T22:15:00.016-04:00

We've been working like crazy to prepare for the baby shower this weekend!! It has actually been really fun and rewarding. Shamus spent some time each day cleaning out the garage (and putting the "I-don't-know-what's-in-these-boxes" in the white room). I did some directing and started discovering what's in those boxes.
Here's what we accomplished:
Parked both cars in the garage and organized the garage!

Recycled 3 boxes of high school and college papers!!
Donated 40+ binders to the local high school!
Organized the office!

Painted the shelves in the baby room!! Gracias, Ari!!

Bartok is now the size of an eggplant and he weighs around 2 lbs. I have stopped gaining weight and I honestly have no explanation as to how that happened. I'm not really exercising more or less than before - although I don't think I've written about the awesome 1985 Pregnancy Workout VHS I've been doing. More about that later. For now, I'll give you this teaser: the teacher and her assistants all wear brightly colored leotards over different colored leggings and wear scrunchy socks that may or may not match anything they're wearing. It's fun! It's the 80s!! Anyway... back to Bartok - he's got lungs and somehow he's practicing breathing with amniotic fluid. So he's got fluid in his lungs but he's supposed to. I think. Right now, our baby actually is transparent. But, contrary to popular belief, he will not be transparent when he's born even though his parents are incredibly pale. He also responds to sounds now. I don't know how true it is because sometimes I try to scare him a little by making a loud noise but then I think, "What kind of a mother are you, trying to frighten your baby??" And if there's a loud sudden noise, I get scared and jump so I can't feel him anyway. He does love to squirm around in there and that's a weird sensation!! I still make Shamus feel it every so often and I haven't injured his wrist yet so that's good!

Week 25

2008-08-14T22:13:00.017-04:00

We're spending the week working on the house. Shamus goes to work everyday and then comes home and attacks our move-in mess. I've been spending the whole day attacking it most days. We have a few goals... especially with plans for company soon.
1. Paint the shelves in the baby room and fill them
2. Park both cars in the garage
3. Put away everything in the office

I know 3 goals doesn't seem like very many but check out where we're starting:
Garage:

Baby room:

Office:

Now add to that the fact that I can't paint or move heavy things. Looks like Shamus and I both have our work cut out for us! I've been working on the office A LOT! I'm starting to dislike the room because it feels like an abyss of papers to sort through. But it's easy to see the progress in the piles of paper to recycle. So there's hope. We will see the carpet someday soon!!!
We're having our first company this weekend - some friends are coming over to play board games! The pressure is on! (In a good way - it's nice to have a real deadline!)

Bartok is still busily rolling and kicking and such. His spine is starting to develop and he recently finished getting fingerprints. He's also starting his weight gain this week! He's going to fill in all that wrinkly skin by the time he's born! I can't wait to see him!!

Week 24

2008-08-06T22:12:00.009-04:00

We moved!!! All in "one day". We already took random trips with carloads and, as you already saw, spent many hours painting with the Cronins and the Culpeppers. But we really got it done with the help of many friends and family members in ONE NIGHT!! Thursday, July 31st was PUMP night - Packing, Unpacking, Moving and Pizza!! Our Shepherding Group from church came with empty cars, trucks, vans and trailers and so did the Culpeppers and Ariadna. We had about 15 people total and we had about 10 car/truck/van/trailer loads. We started around 5 and "finished" around 9:30. So there is some more REAL evidence of God's abundant grace - He gives and gives and gives and fulfills all of our needs! What a blessing it is to have our family in Christ AND our biological families to help us!! I spent the evening identifying boxes and telling people where to take them. I'm glad the rooms were already painted because "Blue room" is way easier to say than "last bedroom on the left upstairs". I had also made a room map for each room that has the room drawn on it to scale and cut outs of the furniture (also to scale) so that people would know where to put each item. What was unbelievable was how well everyone took in the directions. I mean, imagine, you're carrying a large, heavy box and some pregnant lady tells you where to put it but she (almost) never lifts a finger to help move HER stuff. Now do this about 25 times. I don't think I'd be smiling unless I really loved that pregnant lady! So I guess they all do!!! :) Shamus didn't believe that we would be sleeping in the house Thursday night. But we did!! We had a few glitches to work out, though... 1 - We have a LARGE window in our bedroom and couldn't find the frost spray we bought for it so we used the hall bathroom and changed clothes in the closet (I'm glad there's a light in there!). 2 - We didn't have blinds in the bedroom so when the sun came out, I woke up and the room started to heat up! 3 - I spent the morning putting away all of the kitchen stuff and then had to tell Shamus (a few times) where each thing was. I'm sure he won't completely know his way around this kitchen for a while - there are SOOO many cupboards and drawers! So, as you can see, the move went very smoothly and since there were so many people, I don't think we had any injuries (no pulled muscles, disabled backs, etc.). We are SO excited to be in a house and we're slowly getting used to the idea that it is actually our home.
Bartok is in great condition as far as I can tell! He is constantly on the move! He's still the size of a papaya... but a large one now! The only trouble he's causing is leg cramps and I only get them once in a while in bed. And they're nothing compared to what I've seen Shamus go through when he gets leg cramps from soccer. Shamus tries to feel the baby every now and then but Bartok is not very consistent with his movements so he and his dad haven't really interacted much. Plus, as Shamus pointed out, it's not like Bartok is going to stop moving once he's started. There will be plenty of opportunities to feel the baby move and apparently see him move!
We're already at the end of the 5th month!! I can't believe it!! He's growing up so fast!! And I'm growing out so fast!!

Week 23

2008-07-29T17:56:00.016-04:00

We had a fabulous weekend on top of the mountain at the annual Brannaka Reunion in PA. Shamus and I left Thursday afternoon and got to spend Friday with the grandparents! Staying with them is like staying at a bed and breakfast (I think... I've never stayed at one!). We arrived in the middle of the night so we were only greeted by a cozy home. We woke up when we felt like it, went out into the kitchen and Gram took our breakfast orders. She makes the best eggs and bacon in the world! I highly recommend the place, and would give it 4 stars out of 5 (only because of the times I've stayed there and helped slaughter pigs... if you've ever done that or heard stories, you know it's not glamorous.)
We waited for the rest of the Cronins to arrive (the Greenville bunch left Friday "morning" around 4... which really is more like night than morning). Morgan arrived that afternoon just before they did and it was SOOOOOOO great to see her! We haven't seen her in so long!!
She had some neck pain and couldn't turn her head so we had some fun being silly and getting just out of her peripheral vision and then talking to her, forcing her to rotate her entire torso and of course, to make a funny face.
We played frisbee golf, with tons of shotgun starts and a few penalty strokes for hitting other family members while throwing the frisbee. Nick got really excited when he scored better than one of his cousins while using the worst frisbee I've ever seen. This is the celebration that happens when he doesn't win the hole, but beats his dear cousin:
We continued to enjoy the weekend, playing tons of volleyball (yes, even the pregnant lady played), playing cards, and realizing that Rosie and I were wearing almost the same pjs. Jim had an awesome dive in one of the volleyball games and Shamus did his usual run all over the place and save all the out-of-bounds hits and yelled "SPIKE IT!" repeatedly to everyone. I even had an okay lefty spike at one point.
The last night we were there we walked over to the big pond and visited with more family and enjoyed the beauty that surrounded us. On the way back, it was pretty dark and Sam kept jovially pointing out that "the people in the back are always killed first in the movies". So we walked faster back to the cabin than we did to the big pond. :)
We headed home on Sunday, sad to be driving south instead of north to see the Cronin family in Massachusetts but excited because we're moving in 2 days!!! Jim and Judy and Sam weren't too sad about missing the move to be on vacation in Cape Cod with the rest of the family. I wonder why....
Bartok is doing great, kicking a lot and forcing me to sleep on my side. Since I'm pregnant, I brought 3 pillows to the cabin and Morgan didn't have a good one so I gave her my "this one goes behind me so I don't roll over onto my back" pillow and I just used Shamus as a rolling barrier. I wonder how he feels about that?
Bartok can hear so that's exciting! I haven't started talking to him yet but I do love to sing in the car, in the house, and anywhere where most people can't really hear me. So he gets serenaded, off-key, but enthusiastically. He's still the size of a papaya.. just a bigger, riper one. His face is now fully formed so if we did one of those cool 3D ultrasounds, we could see about how he'll look when he comes into the world! (We're not doing one of those because it's costly.)
We are really excited about finally getting into our new house!! It's a big week!! Shamus and I are very blessed to have so many friends and family members who are so excited to help us move!! I think it will be really fun!

Week 22

2008-07-23T15:54:00.002-04:00

Well, we had a lot of fun visiting the Culpeppers and going to a family reunion. My friend, Ari, came with us. We enjoyed catching up with everyone and seeing the little ones and even took a little walk in the woods. Another highlight from the trip to GA: my parents found a great deal on a really big kitchen table and they bought it for us!! We're so excited to have a table big enough for company and kids!! So as soon as we're moved in and we get some chairs to go around the table, you're invited to come over and use the table with us! We'd like to eat, play board games and cards, sit and talk, and Karen would like to do some scrapbooking there. If there are any little kids out there, I'm sure Shamus wouldn't mind being shown up in coloring at the table.
So the baby is still growing! I can tell because of the belly.... it just keeps getting bigger and bigger! For the next few weeks, Bartok will be the size of a papaya. Again, as I advised with the avocado and the mango, if you don't know what a papaya looks like, then you probably don't know what it tastes like and you should definitely go to your local grocery store and pick one up and eat it. They are delicious! To get a better idea, Bartok weighs around a pound and still fits in your hand. He's also "kicking" - which could really be any variety of somewhat violent movements such as elbowing, punching, kneeing, shouldering, head-butting, judo-chopping, kicking, or log rolling (which is not as violent, in general).
Shamus finally got to feel the baby a week after I did!! I might have messed up some of his wrist ligaments in the process of trying to get him to feel the baby. Imagine sitting to the right of someone, grabbing their right hand with your left and making them touch your belly with the palm of their right hand. Now imagine doing this to the person while they are asleep. Do you have any idea how fun this has been for Shamus?!?! I think it was worth it in the end... I mean, he got to feel the baby, right?
This weekend, we're driving to PA for the reunion on the mountain! And we're really excited because we get to see MORGAN!!! We haven't seen her since she left for Boston! Should be another fun family adventure!!!

Week 21

2008-07-16T11:44:00.005-04:00

Last weekend lots of painting happened - and it's almost done! We decided to pay a professional to do the foyer and hallways and that will be finished some time next week!!!! Then, we can finally move in!! As you can see, we had quite a few helpers. I didn't get to capture my parents on camera, but their handiwork is the beautiful yellow room. I went around the house measuring all the rooms and drawing them to scale to plan for the move. Since I'm not allowed to move the furniture, I decided to make paper cut-outs of our belongings and lay them out on my to-scale drawings. This way, when we move, I won't be saying, "Wait, can you try putting that on the other wall?" because I already tried it on all the walls!! Don't worry.... I haven't turned into an engineer or anything. I just took good advice from my engineer husband after he saw a not-to-scale drawing of the baby room with random not-to-scale-furniture drawn in it. (Turns out I was trying to put a rocking chair against a 5-inch wide wall... oops!)
HUGE news on the baby front: I felt him move!!! It was Saturday night and I had just gotten into bed and suddenly felt like my stomach flipped over! I've felt random movements before but I wasn't ever sure if that was me digesting or the baby moving. But Saturday, it was clear. I've never felt anything like that in my life!! Now, I'm feeling him kick regularly but only from the inside. I can't wait until Shamus can feel him through my belly!! Bartok is now past halfway there so instead of measuring him head to rump, it's head to toe. He's around the length of a banana and he weighs around 13 oz (almost a pound!). Coolest thing this week: he can taste! He's been swallowing amniotic fluid but now he can actually taste it with his teensy buds! I have to train those taste buds to like what we like to eat and what's healthy... and some studies show that I can start teaching him what to like right now! Pretty awesome!
This weekend is the second family reunion of the year - this time it's my dad's side! We're heading to the lake to eat some really good southern food and to catch up on life. My friend from Mexico just got back to South Carolina - and she's staying for 2 years!!!! She's planning to come with us to the reunion so she can see my family again (who she hasn't seen since 2005). I have a few other good friends who have been abroad for a while now and they all just happen to be coming back to the US this summer. What a blessing it is to have my friends back in town when our baby is on his way!!

Week 20

2008-07-10T20:54:00.005-04:00

It's a.......... BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We went out to dinner with the grandparents-to-be and Sam to celebrate! My mom and dad came up early Monday to help move a van-load of stuff to the new house and when Shamus and I got back from the appointment, they were at our apartment with 3 pink cupcakes and 3 blue ones and a Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal. Shamus and I decided not to tell anyone until we were all together but I almost slipped a few times in the 15 minutes that we had to wait. Our son is very healthy and I had the privilege of getting a 2nd ultrasound on Wednesday to see his heart because he wouldn't roll over and show us on Monday. The nurse printed out a bunch more pictures for me. This is my favorite one because he's kissing me.

We are naming the baby after Shamus (he's James IV), but we're not sure what we're going to call him yet. Therefore, I'm going to continue to call him Bartok, since Shamus and I "agreed" with Morgan and Sam on that name for the time being. By "agreed" I mean that we couldn't fight it off, so we embraced it and now love it. There are a few names that are out for sure, including, but not limited to: Bartok, Five, Cinco (5 in Spanish), Funf (5 in German), Cuig (5 in Irish, pronounced koo-ick) and Tito. (Tito was a suggestion from Robby, who thought JAC5 (the baby's initials plus his V) would remind everyone of The Jackson 5 and I guess Tito is his favorite.)
We're not posting any pictures to prove that Bartok is a boy because his father doesn't think that would be very classy. And now that she's thought about it, his mother agrees in that she wouldn't want most people having that picture. If you want to see one, I carry them with me in my planner and all you have to do is ask.

Bartok is now the size of a regular cantaloupe (not the ones that look like they're on steroids - the regular ones) and has achieved a new feat - he can make poo!!! It's actually amazing that he's already doing that, since it won't escape him until after he's born! That is some complicated poo, I guess. Even more complicated than polyjuice potion.
Still haven't felt the baby - but the doctor said I should in the next 2 weeks. I've really been trying to encourage him... my favorite song to sing to him is "Kung fu Fighting" and of course "Hit me with your best shot" and I'll even sing a few words of "Hit me baby one more time" even though I don't like the song - but it's the only one directed at babies. I've even started nudging him a little (gently, of course) to see if I can get him riled up. So far no luck. I talked to my friend, Amanda, who is about a month ahead of me in her 1st pregnancy, and she can see her baby move from one side to the other!!! Yet another thing I can't wait for!!!!!!

This is a picture from Katie's wedding of me and Weston - as per Morgan's request that I post this particular baby bump picture. The bump does look nice in that outfit. And Weston sure is cute! Oh, the joys of marrying into another wonderful family!!

This weekend is more painting - and this time, I'll be there to take pictures! (Don't worry, I won't be breathing in those fumes... I'll be breathing the other air in the room. It's really a matter of teaching your nostrils to detect the good air amongst the bad.)

I'll get another belly shot in the Reactions slideshow ASAP. Then you can start making statements about whether or not my belly is over-reacting - quietly, among yourselves so that I can't hear you just in case I'm feeling sensitive about my shape in that moment. Which could very well be the moment after I say "It's kinda cool how I can't fit into any of my old pants anymore" (Which used to translate to "I'm okay with being fatter than before", but now that I'm pregnant, it could mean "I need to do some laundry", "I'd like to purchase a few pairs of pants", or even "It's really terrible that I can't fit into any of my old pants anymore and I'm upset about it.")

And now you know more about the many challenges that every father-to-be is faced with!***

***A hint to everyone: It helps to repeat back to the crazy pregnant lady, word for word, what she said so that she can at least hear herself. No guarantees on good communication - I'm just saying that it can't hurt as long as you're calm when you do it. Good luck.

Week 19

2008-07-02T16:50:00.006-04:00

Well it's been a GREAT week so far!! Last weekend, we went to Charleston for Joveth Pacaanas's wedding and we visited Alicia and Justin, all friends from Clemson. I got to show off my Bartok belly, attend a beautiful wedding, eat some very delicious seafood, and hang out with good friends. We brought the Wii and had a great time watching Alicia and Justin box!!
Bartok is now the size of a mango!! Again, like the avocado, if you're not sure how big that is or how it tastes, please go to the local grocery store, ask someone how to pick out a good one, buy it, skin it, slice it and eat it. You'll thank me later.
On a grosser note, Bartok is also covered with fine hair called Lanugo mixed with dead skin cells and oil. It's called "Vernix caseosa" which apparently means "Cheesy varnish" - because that's what it looks like. Yum. The purpose is to shield the baby from the amniotic fluid. It's why they don't come out all prune-y after a 9-month-long bath. Another cool fact: we're the only land mammals that have newborns that have this stuff on them. There are some sea mammals that have newborns with vernix caseosa, though, like the seal.
We're painting 2 rooms in the house at the end of this week: the baby room and the office (which is just one of the bedrooms upstairs). Can't wait to see how they turn out!
This weekend we're heading up to PA for Shamus's cousin Katie's wedding. There will be family in from all over the place and Gene and Renee will be there with Callan, their 3-month-old son! Sam already called dibs on him (Callan, not Gene), but I'm sure I'll get to hold him some, too. I'm really excited to be able to talk to Renee about being a mom! It'll be fun to talk to someone who is going through new motherhood right now!
We find out on Monday, July 7th if our baby is a boy or a girl!! Can't wait!!!!!!!!

Week 18

2008-06-27T11:53:00.010-04:00

Well, my belly keeps getting bigger. It's terrific!!! When we got back from the reunion and saw Jim, my father-in-law, he asked me if I had been eating baby food because it was so much bigger! Bartok is now the size of a sweet potato. B is yawning, hiccuping, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, sucking and swallowing. I'm supposed to feel the baby sometime between this week and week 22! I'm facing a new challenge: sleeping comfortably. Well, I feel comfortable when I fall asleep and I have no trouble getting into the dream stage. But I wake up and feel like I slept like this:
I'll have to get creative with pillows!! I'm sure Shamus is really excited about that... seeing how he loves to throw all but 2 pillows onto the floor every night. I've also come to the realization that I can no longer wear my non-maternity clothes. Since I got so many last week, it isn't that big of a deal. It's actually pretty fun having a new wardrobe that is super comfortable! Shamus asked why maternity pants and shorts aren't just in style for everyone since they're so much more comfortable and they don't really look weird. I didn't have an answer for him. I suppose that we American women associate discomfort with good style. Don't be surprised if you see me hanging out in maternity clothes long after the baby is born. (That is, after some time of not wearing them at all seeing how every mother I've talked to said the first thing they wanted to do was throw away their maternity clothes.)
The Marzonie reunion was a blast!! The highlights include: the ping-pong tournament, the corn hole tournament (bean bag tossing), a wedding shower, playing with the second cousins, the Wii, telling everyone I am pregnant (although most knew or suspected it), Apples to Apples (particularly the Helen Keller card), and tons of food. It was the first annual Marzonie reunion and we've already started making plans for the second!
We're off to Charleston this afternoon for the weekend to see another friend walk the aisle and to hang out with some other good friends from college. Then, Monday, we close on the house!!!
Coming up in July, we've got...
- A Brannaka wedding
- A Culpepper reunion
- A Brannaka reunion
- Painting and decorating the new house and moving in!

Week 17

2008-06-22T22:31:00.001-04:00

Well, another week passed and I didn't write. We left on Thursday to go to the Marzonie reunion so we were a little busy preparing.
In my pregnant world, I hit the jackpot on Tuesday!! I went shopping for more maternity clothes at Plato's Closet, a consignment shop for teens. No, they didn't have a maternity section and they are not promoting teen pregnancy. However, there were several skirts and shirts that are perfect for a pregnant tummy so I picked up a few things. It's nice to have clothes that fit!
I guess shopping there was kind of like playing the lottery - you think that you have little to no chance of getting what you need but you give it a shot anyway. Well, I took a shot and got a bullseye!!
On my way out, a woman was gathering several garbage bags full of clothes that Plato's Closet had decided not to purchase from her. As she picked up the bags, the woman behind the counter said, "We don't take maternity clothes here since it is a store for teens." My ears perked up like a puppy hearing the food hit the bowl. I followed her out and asked if I could look through her stuff and buy a few things from her. She was happy to have me do that since she was hoping to get a little money from her outing.
After I sorted through 1 and a half bags, I had found 6 shirts that I really liked. We made a deal and I paid her $20. After I had put her other stuff back in her bags and was ready to be on my way, she said "Why don't you just take it all?" Wow!! So I ended up with 4 kitchen-sized bags of clothes, most of which were maternity. I finally finished sorting and washing all of it and I ended up with around 15 or 20 shirts and around 7 pairs of pants/shorts that fit.
I was really worried at first about being able to afford a whole new wardrobe. We had already spent most of the monthly clothing fund on a few nice shirts for me that I think will make it through the summer. As I thought about it, I started to realize that at that rate, I wouldn't have enough clothes to make it through a week. So we'd be doing laundry all the time and I'd be wearing the same clothes all the time. God really provided for us with this big gift - as He always does!
As for the clothes that don't fit, I'll be passing those on to my pregnant friend who's smaller than me. And the clothes that are not maternity are being passed out to sisters, cousins, and friends. We're all thrilled to be getting like-new, free clothes!!
On to Bartok....
Bartok is now the size of an onion, has fingerprints, and can chunk it on!!! (Fat is finally accumulating.) I'm showing more and more everyday, it seems. At the reunion, I didn't really get a chance to tell everyone I was pregnant - I had a belly already! It could pass for a tubby tummy, but most of the family knew that Shamus and I want children and they put it together. It was fun getting excited again in sharing the news, though!
I had my first strange feeling. I didn't feel the baby move, but I felt the baby..... I was sitting on the couch after we got back from our reunion and I had the strangest feeling. It was like someone had slowly blown up a balloon inside of me and I just noticed this thing taking up all the space where my digestive organs used to be. It's kind of like after you eat Thanksgiving dinner and you secretly unbutton your pants so you can breathe because you couldn't stop eating that delicious sweet potato pie. The difference was that my belly button was what needed to be unbuttoned and I hadn't eaten very much. I was actually hungry at the time! That feeling lasted for several hours. Shamus suggested that Bartok may have been doing a full-body stretch and I could feel the pressure from the little hands and feet against my uterus. If that's true, Bartok is a very thorough stretcher because it lasted for hours and hours!!
I read that I'll probably feel the baby sometime in the next 3 weeks!! I can't wait!!!!

Week 16

2008-06-12T22:32:00.000-04:00

Happy Father's Day, everydad! Our celebration has been post-poned until tomorrow but hopefully I'll have some pictures to put online of the celebration later this week.
I've got another belly shot for those of you who haven't seen the real thing. Our neighbor upstairs saw me today and said, "Ooo, you have a baby bump!". Well, this bump is causing a few problems in the wardrobe department but I did make my first maternity purchase recently: shorts. I'm wearing them in the photo and I did an interesting video explanation of how they work - but it's on my cell phone. If any of you are in the Boston area, my sister-in-law, Morgan, has a copy of the video, which was actually made for her. It's a bit of a science experiment. I seem to be doing lots of those recently...
"Hmmm... what would happen if I drank an O'Douls non-alcoholic beer??" "How many pieces of cake can I eat before Bartok decides not to like it?" "Can I balance a full cup of juice on my belly yet?" "Can I bend over and pick something up off the floor within 15 minutes of ingesting something?" "What can fit in my maternity clothes besides me and Bartok? That soccer ball? That mixing bowl?" The answers: 1. I fulfill the craving I've had for beer and don't harm the baby!! 2. Unknown - requires more research, and therefore, more cake! 3. No. I can't even balance an empty cup. 4. No, not even if I do the pregnant lady squat because it still makes me feel like I'm going to un-gest what I ingested instead of digesting it. 5. Not the soccer ball, yes the mixing bowl.
Bartok is now an avocado. If you're not sure what that is or how large it is, please go to the grocery store, purchase one, cut it into thin slices (without the skin), salt it, and eat it on some bread. In the process, you'll not only learn how large our baby is, but you'll also enjoy a savory Hispanic snack. I also encourage putting it on ham sandwiches. Mmmmmmmm....
Back to the pregnancy:
I had an appointment and all we did was listen to the heartbeat. It was amazing, of course!! My doctor gelled up the microphone and started rubbing around my belly trying to find B. There were some very loud noises!! She said that's the baby bouncing around!! I still can't feel it, but it was really encouraging to hear. She finally got around the poking, jabbing, dancing baby appendages and found the heartbeat. The machine couldn't even get the heart rate because of all the other noise! Then...
Okay, let me correct the original statement: "I had an appointment and we listened to the heartbeat, I gave some blood and we made our next appointment!" Most exciting part: Next appointment is July 7th and we're having an ultrasound to find out if Bartok will be wearing pink or blue and we'll get a more accurate due date!
Only 22 days left!! Better get your votes in!!
I added a few things on the blog for your enjoyment and to connect you a little more with what's going on around here. Love you all!!

Week # ... oh man I'm late!

2008-06-11T15:33:00.007-04:00

We'll I've been blogged and emailed by my own wife so here's my post for weeks whatever to whatever +1:

We have a new red car, a new house, and are working on the baby (well Karen's been stuffing down enough calories to build AT LEAST a baby human if not a small army - just my opinion). The car's shown here and we kind of disown it whenever people see it because we're not new car people, or nice car people, or expensive car people, or really car people... but it gets us to where we're going. :-)

The new house is on the right and more pictures are on the link on the right (somewhere). Tyler already claimed one room so you'd better speak up or you'll be sleeping in the crawl space. We're almost completely done setting up everything to buy the home and now we just have to wait until June 30th... and then sign on a lot of debt to the Cronin name. (Maybe Debt Cronin already took a room too... they're going quick!)

I've just seen that Karen posted ahead of me anyway so here's a quick list of upcoming coolness:

- Reunion in Kentucky with many a' family member
- Wedding in Charleston (I hope it cools off)
- Wedding in PA (another cousin leaves the ocean for the lush jungle of married life... can fish breathe in jungles?)
- Buy a refrigerator, washer, and dryer
- Stock above mentioned refrigerator
- Win some gold cups in Mario Kart Wii
- Become official members of North Hills Community Church (it's about time!)
- Watch a whole lot of European and World Cup qualifying soccer
- Sleep?

I hope that stops the emails / blogging / tar-and-feathering about not posting on here. Someone's got to work for all the food that's "feeding the baby". :-) WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A BABY!

Week 15

2008-06-04T21:44:00.001-04:00

Bartok is the size of a naval orange!! And is bouncing and kicking and swatting around but I can't feel it. I wish I could - it's so encouraging to have some kind of a response from the child living inside of you. Since Mother's Day, I've been thinking about how Shamus and I are parents now even though our bun is still in the oven. The baby is obviously more affected by me at this point, but Shamus plays his part. There's plenty of asking how the baby is, touching the belly, and talking about the baby as an active member of our family. I'm sure that every parent has said, "Is the baby making you sick?" Granted, that was asked by my husband while I was sitting on the couch recovering from breakfast. I'm sure it will come up again during a diaper change, spit-up incident, and a moment of breathlessness from the pungent odor of a baby toot.
Anyway, while thinking about this whole "my child is depending on me for food, love, and shelter" thing got me feeling a bit lazy and foolish. I started out doing great, reading and learning and taking notes and filing them in my nerdy school binder. By nerdy I mean ridiculously awesome! It even has dividers for 5 major pregnancy topics! But now, I'm immune to such lines as "stay away from soft cheese because of listeriosis, a rare but horrible infection that can cause miscarriage". Why? Because almost every woman that is reading this and almost every woman that is related to you ate soft cheese during pregnancy. And none of them had a problem. And soft cheeses are DE-LISH!!
But Karen, you may be saying, it's foolish to ignore new developments in research that can directly affect the health of your child! I agree. I'm working on the whole "foolishness" issue. Let me prevent some worrying - God's actually doing the work. I've been busy being lazy. After 4 weeks, I just started reading about pregnancy again to refresh myself on how I'm supposed to be taking care of myself and Bartok. Not only that, but God sends little sticky notes by way of others. I got an email the other day from a good friend: "Hello, future mom! Are you doing special exercises yet?" Well I hadn't done any before that but now it's on my daily schedule and I did several that day. And that's God doin' his thing, taking care of me and Bartok. And yes, Standing is an exercise now that I'm pregnant. Is standing so much to ask?? :) Don't worry. I'll be standing as soon as I finish this entry and I'll even try tucking my buttocks!
I got another message about my habits recently. I ate 2 pieces of KFC and some potato salad and I felt like my body was trying to digest a live chicken running around my insides with it's head cut off. So Bartok doesn't like fried food. Good to know!
Time for me to have a little snack and head to bed... hopefully my recovery time will be short. Recovering is the new thing my body does... instead of digesting. Pregnancy will rock your world.. even if you've already got it rockin!

Week 14

2008-05-29T22:37:00.002-04:00

Shamus will be writing about week 14. If you're like me and you want to hear his perspective, please encourage him by sending him a nice little reminder email that you want to know what happened during the 14th week!! I'm dying to know.... I'll have to email him myself! I bet it's good!!!

Week 13

2008-05-22T10:35:00.001-04:00

Something terrible happened to me this week. It's just horrible and I'll never understand why it had to happen to ME of all people.
I stopped liking chocolate.
Seriously, I did. You think I'm kidding - I'm not - and I'm a little upset about it because a great friend of mine sent me a box of GODIVA chocolates for Mother's Day (How sweet, right?) and I only ate about three-fourths of them before I stopped liking chocolate. Plus, Hershey's chocolate was on sale at the grocery store right before this horrifying event took place and I bought 2 bags!
Here's how it happened:
It was a beautiful, sunny day with just the right amount of fluffy white clouds in the sky. I was at a student's house tutoring and we were working on understanding percentages higher than 100. He was working out a percentage from a Dolly Parton fraction* I gave him when his mother walked in from the living room and said these 5 wonderful words: "Would you like some chocolate?" with a slight Hispanic accent. I said, "I'd love some" and thanked her as she handed me a Nestle's Chocolate Treasure. I peeled off the shiny paper and bit of half of it. It didn't taste good. I didn't like it at all. I thought it was some kind of tastebud breakdown so I gave a little pep talk, "this is the best stuff in the world! you guys LOVE this!", and ate the other half. It still didn't taste good. My student didn't notice the look of befuddlement and emptiness in my eyes when he asked "Do I have to divide this by 100?". Helping him with his math distracted me from the disappointment I was feeling. When I got home and saw the box of chocolates, I was reminded of this sad development and I told Shamus about it. He was pretty surprised - and surprisingly sympathetic. He even volunteered to eat the chocolate for me!!! Shamus has been enjoying the Godiva chocolates and I've had to remind him to eat or give away all the chocolate in the house because I won't be having any and we really shouldn't throw it out.
There is some good news, though - I still enjoy brownies, chocolate cake and ice cream, and chocolate chip cookies. My buds are still delighted to be tasting those foods.
I'm sure some of you are wondering whether or not I am angry at Bartok because of this, but that's ridiculous. Even if Bartok were doing this on purpose to make it easier to get more chocolate for him/herself, I'd have to give B some credit for creative strategy and forfeit my chocolate. Honestly, I think it's fun to have something that I thought of as permanent suddenly change!
I do hope that I can someday savor chocolate the way I used to, but if I can't, Bartok will have a good story to tell about it!

Aside from that big change, the only other thing happening now is that we're making an offer on a house. But does that really compare to a change in someone's identity? More about that house stuff later.

Bartok is growing and I am hungry all the time. I eat 2 breakfasts, a lunch, a large "snack", dinner, and second dinner. AND I have only gained 1 pound. I've been doing this for almost 2 weeks now... where is all the food going?? Shamus the scientist has no explanations as to how the baby can be growing, I can be eating a lot more but me and the baby weigh less or the same weight as before I was pregnant. I just gained that one pound recently. God mentions the childbirth pains but he doesn't mention the awesome way I keep "chunkin it on" (AKA eating more than usual) and "it" doesn't stay "on". I hope all moms have the joy of eating a whole lot of really good food and losing weight in the process.

Yes, I know, it will catch up with me. But in the meantime I'm runnin' fast to the tune of "na-na-na-na-boo-boo" as I enjoy a delicious plate of pasta - for the 4th time today!!

*Can someone please answer this question for the poor soul who's never heard of a Dolly Pardon fraction: What is a Dolly Parton fraction?

Week 12

2008-05-14T22:31:00.002-04:00

Well, Bartok, Shamus and I have been verrrrry busy recently! Shamus was hired on at BMW and we were blessed with a new car!! Never thought we'd drive anything like it - until he was hired. We still tell people it's not ours - we're just driving it. While Shamus and I got used to cruising around, Bartok grew to be the size of a plum. We went to the doctor for the 12-week checkup and all is well. She used a small hand-held device to allow us to listen to the heartbeat. As Shamus pointed out after the appointment, it was awfully grainy for 2008 and the age of "4D" ultrasounds. Now I'm thinking, who cares? It was INCREDIBLY reassuring to hear the heartbeat of the baby inside me that I can neither see nor feel. I sometimes forget that Bartok is there!
This week we got serious about buying a house. Here are the houses we've considered: http://shamuscronin.googlepages.com/home We took Bartok to see several houses several times but I don't think they were visible through my belly.
Speaking of my belly, it still isn't big to the untrained eye. The grandmothers-to-be both noticed before Shamus or I that I was pooking out a little. I just broke out the summer wardrobe and I tried on pants and shirts to see if I am still the same size as I was last summer. I thought I was just chunkier this year because things are a little snug. Apparently, Bartok is contributing to that snugness! Luckily, I own lots of exercise-style clothing that is loose and stretchy so we haven't spent any money on maternity clothes yet! I'm sure that will change soon.
This marks the END of the first trimester! I hope the exams aren't too difficult - I've been studying a little!

Week 11

2008-05-08T08:38:00.004-04:00

Well, Bartok has done some growing and mommy can really tell. I'm not showing yet, but I've basically been playing real-life Hungry-Hungry-Hippos. And yes, I just compared myself to a hippo and I'm okay with it. Shamus pointed out, not long ago, that I am like a hippo - we both have small ears! Back to the fun game I'm playing - instead of eating lots of small meals throughout the day, I'm now eating lots of large meals throughout the day. I still haven't gained any weight, though! (It seems miraculous to me - but not as miraculous as what's happening with the baby.)
Bartok, on the other hand, is getting bigger. He is about the same size as a lime, and is looking more and more like these parents, apparently. (Pic from healthinaction.org)The head is now the same size as the body (stand behind Shamus, his dad, or his grandfather sometime and note the size of the skull) and the skin is so transparent that you can see the blood vessels. (When's the last time Karen or Shamus had a tan?? Is it even possible??) Also, Bartok has un-webbed, human hands with teensy fingers! This week finger nails will come in.
As Bartok grows, so does my uterus - it's now about the size of a small grapefruit - which is the same size as the nut in a coconut! Put the lime in the coconut nut and drink em both up, put the lime in the coconut nut, then you feel better... hmmm... maybe not.
We have an appointment coming up next week. They are going to prod me on the belly to check out my uterus and I get all my blood tests back! That's about the most exciting thing that will happen, though. The rest is just plain old check up stuff - weight, blood pressure, etc. The most exciting prenatal appointment will probably happen sometime in July when we'll find out if Bartok is a boy or a girl!
It's time for me to get going - I have a tour of the hospital this morning!! Never thought I'd be excited about that... Things change when you're pregnant!

9th and 10th Weeks

2008-04-28T21:58:00.007-04:00

Shamus and I have been learning from National Geographic's In the Womb video about our baby's development. Our baby (AKA Bartok - a womb-only name) is exploring the womb now by bouncing off the walls - literally! Luckily, Bartok is so small that I can't feel it; however, I'm still feeling queasy everyday before bed and right after I wake up. I've learned that it is not due to my baby, but rather to the excessive amount of hormones my body is pumping out to make sure it knows that it's pregnant and that it knows what to do (while the baby may function like a parasite, so say my doctors and Shamus's mom, my body is supposed to resist the urge to destroy the cute little thing and gladly give the baby anything he wants without complaining). Apparently, that takes a lot of convincing.
Bartok is about the size of a ten-week old fetus. Most people have no idea that's around 1.2 inches long and weighs about 0.1 oz. Most people couldn't guess that those measurements are comparative to a prune. Many people don't know that a prune looks like this
(pic from thenestbaby.com) Fortunately for Bartok, he looks more like a baby than a prune. His head is ginormous, though! Don't worry, by the end of next week, his head will be the same size as his body, which is much more normal.
Now, my womb is apparently the size of an orange - I'm hoping most of my readers are familiar with that fruit. Since you can now compare the sizes of a prune and an orange, you can get a great picture in your mind of the little bouncing baby springing off his head, feet, legs, arms and whatever other body parts he has, and bonking into the sides of the womb. Sounds like fun!!
Well, Bartok and I are pretty worn out from a long day of trampoline-womb and tutoring kids of all ages. Time to get another night of what I think is too much sleep but my body says is almost enough - around 9 or 9 and a half hours. Here's to another happy, healthy week!

Baby Update - Development Weeks 1-8

2008-04-17T13:12:00.007-04:00

Here is an update on how Baby Cronin aka Bartok/Batman is developing.
Bartok

Batbaby

Batman

You can see from the images above how our baby will develop over the next 20+ years.

I got this REAL info below from http://www.pregnancy.org/pregnancy/fetaldevelopment1.php

Weeks One through Four

Ovulation occurs - The time is right; now you just need this egg to be fertilized!
Conception occurs - Did you know that during your pregnancy that your uterus will increase its capacity by 1000 times?!
Gender is determined - Immediately upon fertilization your little one is set as a boy or a girl. Ladies, this is one that you can't take credit for since it is up to the sperm to determine the sex of your baby. Sperm carries either a "X" (girl) chromosome or a "Y" (boy) chromosome. (*Hint:* You will have to hold off on picking out the pink or blue until at least the second trimester when the gender will be visible via ultrasound.)
Implantation - Occurs about 10 - 14 days after conception.
Neural tube forms - It will develop into the nervous system (Brain, spinal cord, hair, and skin). Already your baby has the foundation for thought, senses, feeling, and more!
Heart and primitive circulatory system rapidly form - While still in its beginning stages, this is the very life support system that will carry your child throughout his or her life.

Week Five

First heartbeats begin - If you have an early ultrasound you may not be able to recognize this tiny being as a baby, but there is no mistaking what it feels like seeing your child's heartbeat on that screen. That rhythmic beat is echoed in your own heart.
Umbilical cord develops - This is your baby's lifeline in utero. It bears the responsibility of pumping in oxygen, removing waste, and supplying the necessary nutrients for the remainder of your pregnancy.
Blood is now pumping - All four heart chambers are now functioning, insuring your baby's body will receive all it needs over not only the remainder of your pregnancy but throughout life.
Most other organs begin to develop - Your infant's lungs start to appear, along with her brain. Already your little one is preparing for a quest for lifelong learning!
Arm and leg buds appear - While they may not appear to be much at this stage it is ok to dream of the future. Just imagine your ballerina twirling and jumping around your kitchen floor. Or perhaps you will have the precocious boy that throws the perfect pitch -- right through the neighbor's window.

Week Six

The arms and legs continue to develop - These limbs are stretching out more and more. Later on you will be feeling those feet and elbows up close and personal right in your bladder!
Brain is growing well - Did you know that over the course of the remaining months that your baby's brain will develop over 100 billion neurons? This is just the beginning!
Lenses of the eyes appear - If you could catch a glimpse inside, you would notice your baby's appearance becoming increasing like a newborn's.
Nostrils are formed - The position of the nose seems to shift into its proper place as well. Soon, the nerves running from the nose to the brain appear.
Intestines grow - Initially these are actually located outside the baby's body within the umbilical cord.
Pancreas - Your baby is now equipped to deal with digestive enzymes and take on processing the insulin and glucagons the body needs to function.

Week Seven

Elbows form - Again, taking a peek inside you could see your baby's fascination with bending and flexing. Later you will swear you can enlist your child as the star of the next "Karate Kid" movie!
Fingers start to develop - These digits often become your baby's first toy!
Feet start to appear with tiny notches for the toes - It is fascinating that at less than a half inch, your little guy (or gal) already is leaving "footprints" on your heart!
Ears eyes and nose start to appear - Although they may resemble an alien life form, these all "shift" soon enough into a more normal appearance.
Intestines start to form in the umbilical cord - Did you know that initially the intestines are not formed inside your baby's body?
Teeth begin to develop under the gums - Thankfully, right now you won't be dealing with teething pain!

Week Eight

Cartilage and bones begin to form - At the end of this week your baby will have already completed 1/5th of the journey 'til his birthday!
The basic structure of the eye is well underway - The position is more "newborn" like already!
The tongue begins to develop
Intestines move out of the umbilical cord into the abdomen.
Body grows and makes room - Two months along and this little one is growing inside and out by leaps and bounds!
The fingers and toes have appeared but are webbed and short
Baby's length (crown to rump) is 0.61 inch (1.6cm) and weight is 0.04 ounce (1gm)

Baby Cronin is 7 weeks and 4 days old!

2008-04-15T13:49:00.003-04:00

Today we had our first appointment and our first ultrasound. We saw these pictures of the baby and heard a healthy heartbeat!

Shamus is really excited and is telling everyone! He thinks it looks like a bat (because it's hanging by it's feet). You be the judge.
Karen is also very excited and was touched to see the baby and hear it's heartbeat. She is nauseas most of the day - but especially when she thinks about food or walks into the kitchen. She started a new "eating plan" today - so far she's had 2.5 tiny breakfasts and she's planning on having several teensy lunches and dinners. The doctors say this helps!
We found an excellent practice where we will have one doctor for the whole pregnancy. If you want to know more, check out http://carolinawomenshealth.org/index.php
We'll be under the care of Dr. Mazzoli!
Have some fun and cast your votes on the due date (doctors say Nov 24) and gender! (Scroll down - it's on the right.)
What a blessing we have been given!

The beginning

2007-07-09T19:57:00.001-04:00

Well it looks like I've given into the Internet and have started "The Blog". (Hopefully Sean will remember grace while he's reminding me of my blatant hypocrisy in turning into a blogger...)

Karen and I are getting ready for the next phase of our lives. I just wish that we'd stop piling all of them on top of one another. So far we've:

Found new jobs
Signed for a new apartment
Said good-bye to our current Church

We are planning to complete the following within the next 3 months:

Graduate with a Master's in Mechanical Engineering
Travel throughout the American Southwest, seeing as much of God's creation (including family/friends) as possible
Purchase a home
Find a new Church
Start saving for children (how much is a kidney going for on e-bay?)

If anyone knows of free online audio worth burning to a CD for our two week trip out West then please let us know. Pictures soon (assuming we've survived our self-inflicted, sleep-deprived, kickin trip)