My new favorite pic!

This is my new favorite picture! We took Brian's parents up to Winona Lake this weekend and had some good photo opportunities! We don't really have any of the two of us with me being pregnant. This is my favorite when Brian kisses his little girl and says hello!

CWC Shower

Thanks girls who threw me my wonderful shower! It was very special and such a wonderful time!!! And thanks to Keetha for her wisdom. Here are her parenting tips:

10. Keep them relatively clean

9. Expect Surprises

8. Keep your sense of humor

7. Ignore other people's "rules"

6. Choose your battles

5. Be transparent

4. Savor the Joys

3. Keep first things first

2. Love them

1. Keep an open line to the one Perfect Parent

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

They got me!

This weekend I traveled back home to throw a shower for one of mmy best friends, Bethany who I have known since kindergarten. I was supposed to be in her wedding on June 15, but because of a little girl in my tummy, I most likely won't be there! So me and some other friends spent a lot of time planning and I hosted the shower at my mom and dad's house. Well after the shower, everyone went to Bethany's to look at her dress, including my mother, and they had a surprise shower for me! I was like, "you guys- this day is about Bethany!!!" So needless to say we had 2 showers in one day!! It was so much fun! Here is Bethany and I...


Here are some pics from my shower...
















It was a lot of fun since I'm the first one to have a baby out of my friends, so I answered many questions for them all! It was so great to see them, and it makes me miss friends! But always fun to reminisce and see where everyone is at now in life. Only about 7 more weeks to go- so no more traveling for me!!!

Easter Weekend

Well we didn't spend our weekend with family like most people, or even relaxing much, we spent it on Halle's room! It's taking forever!! We painted the walls, which was not horrible, except for we had to cover bright purple which took a few coats, but we had dark wood trim, and that is what took nearly 3 days! Poor Brian, he's such a perfectionist and couldn't bear with me slapping paint on. He spent so much time intricately painting all the trim, about 4 times! I put together the bookshelf and the crib, with a little bit of his help, so it's coming! We're getting new carpet soon, so once that's done, we'll be all set! It's so wierd to look in there and see baby stuff! That tiny room is quickly filling up! There is still a lot to be done, and only 54 days until she's due!!!

It's so much easier said than done

A year ago, I felt like I was in a place in life where I really needed to trust in God. I worked so hard at it, I mean really tried to figure out what it meant to live that out. Once again, I feel like I'm here again. Today I just really needed to get out of the house. So I took a drive. Driving and listening to worship music are some of the best times that I connect with God. I used to drive down to Lake Michigan and always find a comfort, yet a power in the water. I was really able to meet with God there. So what do I do here? Matter Park is about the only place I've found beauty here, so decided to take a drive down and just listen to a few songs. Once again, I was comforted by the words, "Be still my soul, the Lord is on thy side." It's such a comfort to know that God's plans for me, are his very best- and if we're not in the center of that, we're not living out God's best for us. So here I am again, feeling a little lost, a little discouraged, a little worried, and a little scared, I need to find my comfort from God. How do I do that? Brian and I have been memorizing scripture lately together which has been helpful to me, as I'm able to quote it to myself and remind myself of God's word. The bottom line is that we can always trust more, we can always wait more, we can always search more- for God. These times are countless in life, I just want to learn how to do it right. Brian talked to other night at 747 about God's will for your life, and said, what if God is more concerned with shaping your character than about your destination? We are so focused on the end result instead of the times in between- so I guess as I sit in this coffee shop and I've driven around to search for some sort of comfort or answer, I just found it. God, how can I be a better woman of God?

Shower PIcs

SPRING BREAK!!!

I am so sad to say that my spring break is nearly over! It went by way too quickly, but it was wonderful! My mom was able to join us here for a night, which was a lot of fun. She was able to hear Halle's heartbeat and meet our doctor. Then we headed home to Naperville for the rest of the week. I went out for a night with my 2 pregnant cousins. We were a hit at the nail salon getting pedicures, and of course, scooted next door for some ice cream. We are all 2 weeks apart and I am in the lead, although, Heather looks like she's beating me in size! Most of the week was spent with mom shopping for baby furniture and maternity clothes. I had a minor breakdown in the dressing room since everything I put on for 2 days looked so ugly on me! Thank goodness for mothers, so I had a shoulder to cry on and she got me home in a hurry to rest. Brian joined us later in the week and we met up with our best friends from Michigan and their kids. They moved at the same time as us and are now in IL, so it was a blessing to see them and their kids, who are so much like family. The main event of the week was our first baby shower! My cousin Jori put it all together and it was a lot of fun to be there with some relatives and old friends. Brian even surprised me by letting us stay Saturday night at my parents and had taken off Sunday morning. That has never happened before! It was so great to go to my home church and see some people I've known for so long. We had a great service for Palm Sunday and I was really inspired by our pastor's message. Here we are gearing up for Sunday night at 747. It's wierd how quickly we slip back into our routine. Here are some pictures from the week!