Enjoying this Season!

This week has been amazing...truly amazing and peace filled! On Monday I met with my OB and had my first amazing appt! I say my first because my others have been filled with so many unknowns, tests, sickness, uncertainty that this one was nothing short of "normal" and wonderful. She even laughed that were able to talk about "normal" stuff and it was great. I was excited to find out that I've only gained nine pounds during this pregnancy. That being said my disclaimer has been that I had a lot of extra cushion to start with. :) Having been laid up for nine weeks after breaking my foot and then stuck again when I tore my meniscus the weight I had lost slowly creeped back, but all of that being said I am thankful for the menu planning and ability to keep my weight where I want it to be this pregnancy. I've been debating whether or not to share our daughter's name on our blog but finally decided too only because I love calling her by name and feel like it already fits her personality so well. Chad and I decided to name her Harper Elizabeth Grace and we are thrilled! I am in continuous awe at all that God has blessed our family with and knowing that this precious baby inside of me continues to grow and is healthy is a blessing that words often can't describe. I find myself wiping tears of joy away on a weekly basis and enjoy our night time ritual of me laying down for bed and her moving around like a little gymnast..I enjoy every moment and fight falling asleep just so I can cherish each moment.  Another favorite time of the week is at church...I'm not kidding every time our woship band starts playing and we worship she starts moving all over the place. I can't help but place my hand on my stomach and pray over my beloved daughter.

In other baby news her closet is almost complete. Chad did a wonderful job of buiding it and I think I found the perfect baskets at Pottery Barn last night but am going to wait until I visit Crate and Barrel next weekend to be sure. I find myself in her room a couple of times a week picking up pieces of her clothes, shoes, and hats and just praying for the days and months to come. I can't wait to hold her in my arms and am pretty sure it's going to take some convincing for me to give her up to visitors.

With all of the changes over the last couple of months; my Chicago office was moved up north, Chad's only traveling to Chicago once a week, and my relationships with many girlfriends have blossomed again it's just been a wonderful season in our lives.  I feel like life has slowed down a bit and more present in my day.  I'm enjoying making meals almost evening night after work and breathing in everything about fall.  Just yesterday I went with a girlfriend to a Thai resteraunt that I've been wanting to try forever and LOVED it! We then made a stop at a neat shop called SERV that has items made by woman from third world countries and officially started my Christmas shopping. My goal is to be done by the end of October and I'm determined to finish by then and not a day later! We then stopped by the mall and I fell in love with Williams & Sonoma's Pumpkin Spiced Latte syrup and had to get a bottle...this morning I enjoyed a cup of coffee with a teaspoon of it and think I will have to pick up a couple more bottles for safe keeping and stocking stuffers. We also stopped by Teavana which is one of my favorite stores! I always feel like a kid in a candy shop and this time was no different. Knowing that I still have a pleathra of tea in my tea basket I was determind to only purchase one new flavor....and I settled on Carmel Almond Amaretti...I haven't tried it yet but just smelling it made me fall in love with it and I have high hopes! My girlfriend bought a carmel salt flavor that we are told blends well with mine so we are going to be sure to try it out at the office next week! And tomorrow we are taking the boys to one of my favorite apple orchards! It's been a tradition for years and i'm so looking forward to making new memories this year!  Wishing everyone a joy filled Saturday and will be sure to post new pics tomorrow!!

22 weeks, a birthday, and ebay :)

These past few weeks have been busy! We spent a couple of weeks trying to get the boys' school supplies for school and getting their room clean and things organized before their school schedule resumed.  I can't believe they are in first and second grade this year!!! I'm very excited for both of them this year as their teachers seem fantastic and they each have a few friends in their class from last year which is great. They've transitioned beautifully from a fun filled summer to a schedule that includes school, homework (already :)..), playing, devotion time, and an episode of cup cake wars or chopped with mom before bed.  I'm excited to see how they grow this year.

Saturday Noah turned 8.  It's amazing to me just how fast the years have flown by. I will be the first to tell you that I used to roll my eyes at people when they told me how fast the time goes by...and now 8 years later I am in awe of just how fast the years are going.  I'm so thankful for Noah and the little "man" that he is.  His laughter is contagious and his heart for others is something that i'm so proud of.  I am humbled that God choose Chad and I to be his parents and hope that as he continues to grow that we will set an example for him that God will be proud of. We took him to one of his favorite resteraunts (and ours) for some cheese curds and amazing pizza on Friday. Yesterday we headed over to my sisters for a family birthday party which was a lot of fun. Afterwards the boys played out in the yard with the hockey sticks and puck Noah received and I chatted with Ash after taking a quick nap.. :) Then we headed to church for an awesome sermon from our pastor David. He has been on sebatical the last month and while we have enjoyed the guest speakers, i've missed his sermons. We ended the night with concrete mixers, but i was dissapointed because I was hoping Culvers would have their pumpkin cheesecake out but they aren't serving that flavor until tomorrow. Guess where i'm stopping after work tomorrow? :)  Today we went over to Chad's parents for cake and ice cream with his grandparents and the boys. Noah was excited to see all of them and enjoyed the super mario cake his aunt made for him. After many laughs we headed over to Target and am now home getting ready to try a new recipe for dinner.

One of the other highlights from our weekend was Chad introducing me to ebay. Now, i've known all about ebay for years, but i've never shopped on it or even looked at it to be honest. I know people who do but I guess just haven't thought about it...until now. :) Chad showed me some baby girl lots of clothes yesterday morning and I was hooked. During our car rides all over i've been watching lots and bidding on quite a few. I can't believe how many clothes i've purchased for baby H in the past 24 hours and the amount of money we've saved.  I have one more lot that i'm watching for 0-3 month clothes and then I think we should be good to go for that size.  I have a girlfriend who has a 1.5 year old and she has offered to let us borrow her daughters clothes, which I am so excited about! So between ebay, my girlfriend, and things our friends and family will be getting H I'm pretty sure she will be in good shape once she gets here.

I've had so much fun with ebay that I decided to go through my boys tubs and attempt to sell a couple of lots of clothes myself. We'll see how it goes. I told Chad if I don't sell them on ebay I'll try Craig's list and then take them to Goodwill. Either way I'm cleaning through things and enjoying ever minute of it. And if I can make a small profit to support my ebay adventures it's even better. :)

They were not happy with me wanting to take their picture!

They were so excited to get to school that here they are telling me to hurry!

If only Noah's eyes were open!

I've been wanting to post these pics all week and even had one of myself with the boys but it keeps pasting side ways...oh well!