Halfway there!

Fetal development in pregnancy week 20:fetus in fifth month This week you're carrying about 10.5 inches and 10.5 ounces of solid baby-miracle-goodness! Their little delicates bones continue to ossify and toughen while their itsy bitsy finger and toe pads are finishing up. Your little monkey now has teeth buds, although they’re hidden beneath the gum line. And finally! Their limbs have reached their relative proportions—no more alien baby! Their cute pink lips are more defined, and might be helping out in a bit of prenatal thumb-sucking. If you have a little boy, then their tiny testes are descending, though they have not yet passed the abdominal wall. What’s more, eyelashes and eyebrows are also visible. At this point, your little one really looks like a miniature baby—and we do mean miniature as your little swimmer currently weighs a mere eighth of their final birth weight. With half the pregnancy behind you, the most significant gains are yet to come!


And how's mom doing? Not that we need to tell you, but your baby may sometimes seem like a kick-boxer in training with no appreciation for your exhausted-pregnant-momma sleep needs. Still, before you start yelling at them to calm it down in there, remind yourself that your busy baby really has no idea if you’re rolling out of bed or cozying up to your partner for a good nights rest. If you have already enrolled in a Lamaze course, consider coupling it with either a swimming or yoga course (or both!) Unfortunately for your sleep schedule, your little independent thinker will continue to operate on their own time table throughout the rest of the pregnancy. And you thought rebellious behavior only started around puberty!

Have you enrolled in a Lamaze course yet? The now-renowned courses teach various alternative birthing and breathing techniques, not to mention the oh-so-valuable lessons involved with natural pain management. (Visit http://www.lamaze.org/Default.asp for more information.) If you have already enrolled in a Lamaze course, consider coupling it with either a swimming or yoga course (or both!). Both forms of exercise focus on controlling your breathing (a large part of the Lamaze philosophy), while at the same time increasing blood flow, strength and flexibility. What’s more, many yoga studios and swimming pools cater to pregnant women (and couples) offering low impact sessions perfect for you and your partner.


PS This is a pic of a 20 week fetus...not our little one:)Although we will have pictures a week from today b/c we get another ultrasound. Hopefully his head will be out of my pelvis and they can get the pics they need! I am starting to feel him move more consistently. There is nothing like it! What a miracle! I was thinking today about just how miraculous it is that after seven years, we actually have a baby growing inside of me! Praise God for this miracle. He truly does "hold the whold world in His hands!"

The Church of Causes

I want to start this by acknowledging that I knew this day was coming but did not know exactly what it would look like. We have been living in a time that many would call the age of denominations. People once clung to their denomination and shunned all others. We see it in our little town where there are only three churches and none of them work together. It's a very odd, old-school way of thinking. It was interesting to trace some of these rivalries back almost two hundred years. Who knows why it began- theological perspectives, church polity, politics. But, we are coming into a time when pastors and denominational leaders are not as concerned about following the denominational policies.

To read more go here

20 weeks (almost)

So, my last belly pic was exactly four weeks ago...I guess that is how I will do them....I am growing by the day but am still not feeling consistent movement. I am really looking forward to it!

Yet again!

I am painting today on my day off. I am painting the formal living room. I am finally doing my colors in the house that I picked out over 18 months ago. I am painting the room Robin's egg blue. It will look fabulous with chocolate, black, and red accents in the room. I am very excited!

Here are the pics I promised!

PS If you are keeping up, this is Phase III of getting our house all finished before Baby comes!

PPS- These pictures do not do the room justice. It's really inviting when you walk into our house. Karin did a great job with it. Now we have visions of grandeur for our family room. We're knocking it out a little at a time. Eventually we'll get to the outside of the house- I just have no green thumb and cannot seem to establish any kind of yard.

A Wasted Life...

I've been hesitant to write anything too personal lately due to several reasons. One is that our blog is becoming more about our little adventure. Two, I've been in such a funk lately I didn't want to write something I would regret. I had thought about starting a new website for personal reflection (and still might) so this can continue in the same way. But, for tonight I'm veering from baby talk specifically and moving towards a more general post.

There have been times in the past few months where I honestly believed I had lost faith. I felt like a pragmatic agnostic. I knew God existed but I'm not so sure if he cared about me. Nothing in the past year has gone according to plan. So, I thought if God had turned his back on me then I would return the favor. I was going through the motions of a loyal servant knowing in my head that my emotions were not right but I could do nothing about my heart. I was as lost as I've felt in a long time and alone. I had been burned out on the institutional church and continued to be disappointed. I knew my bitterness and anger had reached a breaking point when I wanted to basically tell God...well, something that would be inappropriate here. I was driving in my car to pick Tayler up from school and an older song came on the radio. It was "wake me up inside" by Evanescence. The words hit me hard- it probably sounds cheesy but the phrase "save me from the nothing I've become" just rang so true. I felt like I had become nothing doing nothing. I felt if I had disappeared I would barely be noticed. I know every person struggles with feelings of insignificance and this was my time.

It's been a long time since I've been pruned. Church had become comfortable to me- a routine. I was more comfortable with the routine of the Church rather than the being confronted by the Person of Christ. I did my duty, lead the Bible studies, said the prayers, offered counseling and hopefully inspired others to follow Christ. However, my heart had been wrapped in fear, worry and doubt for far too long. I was talking with a friend of mine who is a youth pastor and he said working with jr. high kids is good because they tend to just beleive and not question their faith. He figured we should follow their example sometimes. For me, I've stuffed the questions down for so long. I toed the company line with whatever particular church I was serving. Just in the past few years have I started really questioning and seeking real answers regardless of what is "acceptable". I want to get to the truth- and yes, I can handle it (I hope). I started wondering about what I really believed about the Bible, God, Jesus, Christianity, salvation, baptism, the Church and prayer. I even interviewed with a church and was able to discourse orthodox Christian beliefs. However, the truth of my struggle came out when I preached.

I am at a strange place in my journey. I feel a sense of loss and have, until recently, sensed very little hope. One of my greatest fears is to live a wasted life. I don't want to be searching for answers only to come to the end of my life and see that I was too afraid to move forward. One of my friends rebuked the spirit of fear over my life. I appreciate his prayers and have sensed more hope since then. But, I have to be honest and say that I am still at a place of confusion- which is probably exactly where God wants me to be. I just don't want to be at this same place in five or ten years stuck asking these same questions.

Update: You can go to here for future thoughts and writings.
Brian

Baby names?

So, I have been going over baby names for quite a while now.........about eight years to be exact....lol. But, really, we are thinking of what to name this little guy. Originally, we had William and were going to make him a III on the Hume side. But, now Brian is having second thoughts and Tayler hates the name. Tayler votes Chase and really wants us to name the baby Chase. Although, most probably wouldn't have their children help name their child, Tayler will be almost 14 and pretty much a co-parent so he should have a vote:) I have thought of Hayden. I think Hayden sounds cute with our last name. Brian likes Zachariah and it means God has remembered. That has great significance for us but I just can't picture my baby as a Zach. But, I AM big on names with meaning. Hayden nor Chase have strong meanings. So, help us out!! Name our baby!! :)

PS I am really liking Hayden Chase Hume. The more I say it, the more I love it!!

Snip, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails!

Little boys come in all shapes and sizes,
Shy and adventurous, full of surprises,
With misshapen halos and mischievous grins,
Small dirty faces, and sweet, sticky chins.

They'll keep you so busy, and yet all the while
Nothing can brighten the world like their smile.
And no greater treasure has brought homes more joy
Than a curious, active, and lovable boy!


Well, most of you guessed it, we are having a boy! The tech wasn't there so we had a GE lady. She messed up on the DVD so I don't have it to show you. We do have some pics, but blogger is messed up right now and won't let me post. I will as soon as possible. We will however, most likely be having another one in a week or two b/c she couldn't get a good pic of the head. She said he was "buried in my pelvis" That must be why I am having such round ligament pain. He was very active but it was hard to really see him as well as last time. Thank you all for your prayers!!

Tomorrow is the BIG day!

Watch the blog for our exciting news tomorrow! We will be posting soon after we get home from having our 4D ultrasound. We get to have a DVD of the ultrasound so we are hoping to be able to post that as well. Please pray for me personally to have peace about tomorrow knowing that our baby is in God's hands. Thanks so much!!

PS Felt the baby move quite a bit yesterday and some today! Hooray!

Can you say exhausted?

Today, I painted Tayler's room...finally! He picked out his colors before we moved in over 18 months ago! The colors are the Patriots blue. You can buy team colors at Home Depot. I painted the room once in only two hours and was quite impressed with myself. When I went back up to check on it, it was obvious it needed two coats! I was pretty frustrated! Oh yea, I also knocked over about 1/4 of the paint...nice.

But, other than that, it was alright. I am satisfied now that it is finished. (with the exception of the trim as you can see) We are going to do a mural of the Patriots symbol but that will be about another month or so. We have two rooms down and four more to go before the baby comes. I can't wait until the day that I can post pics of our bedroom actually getting painted along with a new bedroom set. Did I say new? I mean FIRST bedroom set. We have never had one!! I have never had one period! I hope we can get one before the baby comes...b/c as we all know, once the baby comes, all attention and money goes towards the baby! (which is a good thing, I just want my room done first...is that selfish?)

So, here are the pics...hope you can make them out.

It's A........................

No, we don't know yet. However, our ultrasound date was moved up. So, we need your vote. Let us know what you think....boy or girl? Blue or pink? We are excited the date was changed. I keep having dreams about girls but who knows? That could just be my desire in my subconscious! Brian says he thinks boy. So, let us know what you think. The date is April 17th. So check back and see if you are right.:)

PS If you don't have a blog, you can still vote. All you have to do is create a user id.