Marty is Finally Better

Thanks to everyone for all your prayers while Marty was so sick last week.

He had the worst bout of strep throat ever, and his fever topped 103! He was so out of it and worried that Luke and I were going to get sick. Luke and I ended up staying a couple of days at my parent's house, which ensured we stayed healthy.

Marty went back to work today, but he still feels drained. I think he lost about 5 pounds, too; there were 4 days there where he was unable to eat at all. Fortunately, he got his appetite back on Friday and has been eating well over the weekend.

As a result of this, he's decided he needs to take vitamins every day now. A good plan. Thank God he's okay; I've never seen him so sick!

By the way, November 23 was our 5 year anniversary. Can you believe it? The time has gone quickly and it's been great! My parents are watching Luke this weekend so we can go out for dinner on Friday and take a day trip on Saturday. What fun! My husband sure is a blessing and a gift from God!

Luke at Red Robin

Here's a cute picture that Marty's brother, Chris, took while we were eating out at Red Robin a couple weeks ago. Luke sure loves their french fries!

Finally Felt the Baby Move

Yesterday, I finally felt some little flutters and a small little kick. It's very reassuring to feel her moving in there. The sonographer said it's taken so long to feel her move because my placenta is attached to the front of my uterine wall, so it's kind of a buffer. This little baby sure was moving all over the place on the ultrasound!

Luke seems fascinated by my growing belly. He keeps lifting up my shirt to see and touch my belly, then he does the same with his shirt. It's really cute! I keep trying to tell him there's a baby in there, but I don't think he quite gets it.

It's a Girl!

Yay! We're pretty excited to be getting one of each sex right from the start. The ultrasound left no doubt that she's a girl; she wasn't shy at all and confirmed it several times for us! All her parts look perfect. She measured 9.5" long from head to toe and is estimated at 10 oz in weight. Even though that seems incredibly light, she's right on target for size.

God is so good!

Need a New Macintosh Computer

My Mac laptop has died. I'm very sad, because it is what I need to use to do freelance graphic design work. If you know of anyone selling a Macintosh cheap, please let me know. The catch is that it needs at least a 40 GB hard drive and 1 MB RAM in order to run the design software.

Weekend to Remember Marriage Conference

Marty and I are area group leaders for the upcoming marriage conference, Weekend to Remember, which is sponsored by Family Life. We've gone twice and highly recommend it to all married couples. It's a wonderful way to re-connect with your spouse and re-connect with the Lord!

FamilyLife Weekend to Remember Marriage Conferences:
February 29 - March 2, 2008 at the Dayton Marriott
March 7-9, 2008 at the Cincinnati Hyatt Regency

There are details, other locations and dates listed on their website:
www.familylife.com/conferences

If you'd like to register with our group, please use the Group #13600 to save $80 per couple! Call 1800.FL.TODAY to register.

Please use the Group Code #13600 no matter which conference you are registering for. This is a wonderful way to bless your marriage!

Luke is Walking Everywhere!

Last week, Luke just took off with his walking. He's toddling everywhere and is so excited to be up on 2 legs. It's a riot to watch him stumble around like a tiny drunk person. (Yes, I know that sounds terrible, but it's exactly how he looks!) He laughs and squeals and has so much fun, especially when he can walk and carry around or push a toy at the same time!

Luke Has More Teeth

I should've guessed that the excessive fussiness Sunday afternoon was due to another tooth breaking through, which brings his total to 7 teeth. After that, he was his normal happy and silly self.

He's almost walking, and seems to be trying it alone more and more. We'll catch him toddling across the dining room very slowly, arms flailed out for balance. He eventually drops and starts crawling again, but I predict that in about a week he'll be exclusively walking. It's funny how he's testing the 2-leg theory just a little at a time, though. Each week for the past 3, he's been walking a bit more. He's definitely not one of those kids who all of a sudden let go of the furniture, took off walking and never looked back. In fact, if he's in a hurry.... say, he sees one of our cats, he'll drop to all fours and pretty much run-crawl to catch them! He even enjoys crawling backwards and sideways, which is a riot to watch!

He sure is fun and is great company in the evenings when Marty crashes early. We hang out on the couch and watch Amazing Race or Dancing with the Stars together.

We should find out the sex of the new baby the day before Thanksgiving. That's the next ultrasound, which will be at 18 weeks. Good timing considering we're planning to shop at the Jeffersonville Outlet Stores with my family the day after Thanksgiving, so it will be nice to finally know if it really is a girl like everyone thinks.

Halloween Pics

Here are some cute pics that my sister, Julie, took last Saturday. Luke was playing in the pumpkin patch at a Harvest Festival where she works.

Isn't he adorable? (Yes, I admit it, I'm biased!)

Not Much Happening Here

Well, my laptop is on the fritz, so it's in the shop. Actually, a friend's husband is working on it for me. Please pray that he can fix it; it's a Mac, so it could be expensive. That is why I haven't updated my blog lately. I feel lost without my laptop.

Anyways, Luke is still thinking about walking. He'll take a couple of steps, decide it's not very practical, then drops to his knees to crawl again. He's pretty fast, too. His latest experiment is crawling backwards, which he seems to get a kick out of.

He now has 6 teeth. While we were waiting for the other 2 top teeth to come in, 2 more bottom teeth snuck in and the other top ones still haven't broken through. He's drooling everywhere and fussing a lot, so I'll be glad when all 8 are in.

I've been doing some freelance design for a small graphic design studio in Mason; it's owned by a former student of mine and it's a Christian company, which is awesome. I can't do any design, though, without my laptop, so please pray that I get it back quickly, and then that I'll get steady design work each week. Steadfast Studios thinks they can give me about 15 hours of work a week, which is a true blessing! I've already worked on 2 jobs and look forward to more. It's so nice to be paid again to be creative!

I will also get to teach again Winter Quarter at Clark State. I'll have Art 112, which is pastel drawing; it's the same class I taught last year so that will be nice. They think they can give me a second art class as well. God sure is taking care of us!

They wanted me to teach Spring Quarter as well, but with the new baby due April 21, that won't work. Hopefully, I'll be able to teach again Summer Quarter.

That's all for now!