Around our house...

Saturday was a great day because the ladies at our church had a Welcome Tea for me. It was held at a nearby french bakery type restaurant. The food was very yummy and many ladies showed up to simply say, "Welcome," and to get to know me better. We played a few games and they took a quiz about me. I was also able to share my testimony with them so they could see a little bit more of who I am. Below is what I came home with- a beautiful cookie bouquet that represented Texas. The heart cookie in the back said, "Deep in the heart of..." and then the Texas shaped cookie was in front of that. It was so cute!



This is Halle in her new bathing suit going to the pool. Our church had a big event on Sunday at a water park in our town and we left the park with no bathing suit for Halle. I'll spare you the details, but let's just say a constipated child + a laxative= a bathing suit that goes in the trash. Halle is getting more comfortable in the water, the more we go swimming and loves to wear her bathing suit!





This was my conversation with Halle in the pool.
H: Bye, have to go to work
M: Where do you work?
H: Have to go to meeting, have to go to lunch
M: Oh ok, well we're going to go home in just a minute.
H: 5 minutes.
M: Oh ok, Halle


This is what happens when Halle disappears for 30 minutes- a big mess!




She is becoming quite the little mommy. She loves to take her baby for walks and feed her a bottle. I've caught glimpses of her rocking her and last night as I was washing dishes, Halle came in and took the dish towel off the hook and wiped the baby's mouth- then returned to what she was doing! So precious!




In other news: I'll be 15 weeks tomorrow (Friday) and I have had about 2 days of feeling better- so I'm holding my breath, but hopefully I'm on the way to no morning sickness! Halle and I will be flying to Chicago this weekend to spend the week with my family, so I'm especially hoping to feel good with all the traveling. And, we have a really strong potential house that we're looking at. We're getting the roof checked out today, so please pray that if this is the house for us that we'll know and everything will work out accordingly!

Updates

I know- I am a horrible blogger lately. I blame it on a few things: 1. My computer is still sick so I've been using Brian's. 2. I still feel crummy and have little motivation for anything. 3. Not that much exciting is happening!

Well here I am at 12 weeks- (I'm now a little over 13 and a tiny bit bigger, but here's the start of the belly!



Here's a few of me and Halle bear- me on the couch like a typical day.




And we were able to get out a bit this week- Brian's sister, Lisa came for a visit so we showed her a few sights. One of our favorite things was going to the beach. The town we live in sits on a big lake- so we took Halle to the beach, which she loved! It was such a great beach for little ones. She's a pretty cautious child, and is gradually getting a little more brave in the water. She could have stayed out there all day!







And this is one of our favorite places to go where there's a fountain and a walking paths, shops, and the best of all, a Coldstone! We think it makes a great night out to get some ice cream and have Halle play and run around.

Some pics from the weekend

4th of July

My computer is sick so I am unable to upload pictures right now. It's crazy that we've been here for almost a month already. Yesterday we surely felt the Dallas heat! My car said 103 degrees at one point- and we were outside in it most of the day! Our town has an annual 4th of July parade that our church had a float in. We were able to work on the float this week with a team of people and it was fun to see the finished product. Halle and I rode on the float while Brian walked along side it with a bunch of church people. We were so hot! Poor Halle's whole entire head was soaking wet. So we were relieved to get out of the sun! In the afternoon we headed to the lake in our town for a big festival. Our church had a booth set up for us to advertise about the church. Halle and I only managed to make it about an hour before we had to get out of the heat. Poor Brian had to stay a few hours longer and meet and greet. We were exhausted at the end of the day from all of the festivities but enjoyed being a part of the celebration.

We feel like we've had a really great transition here and have been welcomed with open arms by the church. It's been great to feel so loved already. We feel a little overwhelmed with the amount of work to be done, people to meet, and personal needs like finding a house, a second car, etc. We are praying for all of these things to fall into place. We have about 3 more months to find a house, and hope to find just the right place for our family. Halle is doing amazing with the transition and has already made friends here. She loves getting out of the apartment and having time to run around. We are enjoying our pool at the apartment and go in it a few times a week.

I am almost 11 1/2 weeks pregnant and am anxious to hit the 12 week mark this week. I'm struggling with nausea just like I did with Halle which makes everything more challenging. But, I'm thankful that it's not worse and will hopefully kick the yuckies by 16 weeks. It's very limiting for me right now and causes me to spend many hours on the couch. Brian keeps praying for a boy- but we'll just have to be patient and find out.

I think that's it for now!!

Halle moments

Halle's fist Sunday School

Today was our first Sunday at our new church- it was such a weird feeling walking in there this morning thinking- this is our church! It was my first experience in the role of "pastor's wife." Brian didn't speak this morning, so it was a little more relaxed for us, which is nice that we can kind of ease into this. When I handed Halle over to her "toddler" class- yes she's no longer in the nursery :( - there were no tears. Whew! Smooth handoff. So I picked her up at the end of the service and of course got a wonderful report that she was a sweet girl. Then Halle looked at me and said, "Jesus up there," as she pointed up. I was speechless! I said, "That's right Halle he is up there." Then the teacher came and handed me the little booklet she had colored along with their lesson today. In the car she told Brian, "we read the Bible." My little girl is learning all about God. It was such a sweet, sweet moment to realize how much she is learning. Of course- we pray at home and read stories, but this was the first time she'd really talked about Jesus.


On another note, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!




This is my daddy. I have the best daddy ever! My dad did such a good job of raising us (along with mom) and was very intentional about spending time with us, which is something not a lot of Dad's did. My dad tried his best to give us a life he never had and did such a good job at communicating with us and teaching us about life. My dad spent a lot of time with me and always made me feel so special. As an adult and parent, I look back and appreciate so much the way that my parent's raised me. I'm so thankful dad for your friendship, for your sacrifices, for your support, for your thoughtfulness, and for your love. I love continuing our father/daughter relationship and I love seeing you as a grandfather. I love you!

And to my husband...



It's so amazing to see the man you love become a dad. Brian is the most patient and loving dad. He's so helpful to me as a mom, and he truly lights up when he sees his girl. He is also intentional about spending time with Halle and making her feel special. I'm so thankful that Brian is so involved with Halle. I can't wait to see him grow more as a dad with our next baby. I love you hunny and appreciate you and love that your Halle's dad!

Catching up

I've finally gotten a chance to sit down and upload all of our pictures from the last few weeks and all of our travels. We are gradually settling in here in TX. Today was Brian's first day on the job and most boxes are now out of our living space and in storage. So while it doesn't quite feel like home yet, we have a good set up and plenty of room for the 3 of us.

For Halle's 2nd Birthday my mom and I took her to Build-A-Bear to build her own teddy bear which she named, Princess. We weren't sure how much she'd understand of the process or even get into it, but she loved it! She walked around the store hugging Princess most of the time and plays with her a lot now. She likes to make her dance to the birthday song she plays when you push her hand.







We were able to spend a little time in Chicago with friends and of course a trip to Wrigley to see the Cubbies- even though they lost the night we went. :(






And just great times with my family...






And on our way back to KY to get ready to move, we stopped in IN to see our old small group and then to a wedding of 2 of our former college students- it was great to see our friends! When we moved away there were 3 children in the group and now...3 more and 2 on the way!!





Here's a glimpse of life since we got here- it's been HOT! It will take some getting used to, but thank God for the pool! And thank you Mom!! Thank you for making the 14 hour move with us, for entertaining Halle for countless hours, for unpacking, for swimming with Halle, for cleaning, for praying, for babysitting, and for being with us through this important transition! We could not have done it without you! We love you!

We're made it!

We made it to TX! Our 2 day journey is over and we are thankful for that. My mom was the life saver making the trip with us and reading to Halle countless hours in the backseat. She slept a total of an hour and a half in the 2 day trip- yes folks, that means Nana did a lot of entertaining. We just got internet in our apartment. It is very nice and the pool and park are right outside of out door, which makes Halle very excited. Last night was when we arrived and just when the truck was unloaded, a huge storm came and the tornado sirens went off- so we all camped out in our master bathroom with candles lit when the power went off. I guess that was our Welcome to Texas!

Our travel continues...

We are just about to leave IL after about 2 weeks of being here. It's been so nice to have an extended time here with my family and friends. Halle has enjoyed every minute of running around and playing with the dog and touring the many parks. She went on the paddleboats for the first time yesterday downtown Naperville which was quite the experience. Last night, Halle had a chance to see an author of one of her favorite books, "Freckleface Strawberry." Julianne Moore, the actress wrote the book. I was able to get Halle's book signed by her and meet her, but Halle was too hungry so left to get pizza with grandpa, daddy, and her uncle. But that was a really cool experience and it's a great book, especially for red heads! We leave today to head to IN for a few days to visit friends and for Brian to do a wedding. We will be departing from Kentucky on Tuesday for Dallas. My wonderful mom will be joining us for the journey to help with Halle. Please pray for our safety and for me, as I've been feeling really sick with this little baby. I was sick until about week 16 with Halle, so it's hard to see so many weeks ahead of feeling like this. I just need enough strength to get through each day. It's amazing to think that we'll be in our new home in just a few days- well our temporary home, an apartment until we find a house. We're excited!

Travels to IL

We traveled to my parents in Illinois for a wonderful visit. Here are a few pictures from Memorial Day at the parade in my hometown, and our BBQ afterwards with the family. It was fun to have time with all my relatives and Halle's cousins who are very close in age.







And some more of us around town...






Then I took Halle to MI to visit some of my best friends and visit baby Mya, who is my friend, Diana's 5 week old baby. It was so fun to see Halle with her and be so interested in a little one. It was also great to visit our old home in Michigan where Brian and I met. It's so fun to catch up with friends and to be in a place that holds so many memories. I will miss my friends dearly moving so far away!






And finally, we are proud to announce...




Halle's going to be a big sister!!!!