A baby, a canoe, and a chapel.

A lot of has happened since the last post. Sorry for the long post.

First I'll address the most important event. Last week was our second doctor's appointment in which we were able to hear the baby's heart beat. I don't know how to even explain what my emotions were at the time. But hearing that rhythmic throbbing on the speaker of that little heart beat was one of the awe-some moments I will have in my life. I can't wait to meet this little person and hold them in my arms. Along with this is watching Mandy grow every week as our little angel is growing.

This is 12 weeks along.

This is 15 weeks along.


















We were able to move three more pieces of furniture from the bedroom, making the grand total of 14 pieces of furniture in our tiny living room. Now we have space in the bedroom to set up the crib and decide what other things we need/have room for such as dresser, changing table or whatever. The plan is to put the crib together this weekend once Mandy's summer class is over.

Also last weekend my family went on their annual canoe trip down on the Elk River. We figured out that we've been going on this trip for 15 years now. We hang out on the river bed for two days then on Sunday when everyone leaves, our group floats down the river for 8 miles. This year I think the group had almost 35 people! It was a munch needed break from reality. There's something rejuvenating about spending evenings around a campfire telling stories, playing games, looking at the stars, and eating s'mores. Thankfully I didn't get burned like last year, unfortunately Mandy wasn't quite so lucky. Here's a couple pics of the weekend.

On our way to vacation!

We float to our camp from the low water bridge.

Setting up camp.

Calm, quiet river from our "beach".

As tradition, on Monday of the trip when we are heading back home, we make a stop at the Precious Moments Chapel in Carthage, MO. If anyone has been to my parents' house or knows my mom you will understand why. Here is a very small sampling of the numerous pictures from the grounds of the chapel.

Walking path towards the chapel. There's a fountain at the end and the pathway is flanked by trumpeting angels.

Outside the chapel.

   

Main mural of the chapel,

"Halleluiah Square".

Parable of the sower.

                

Parable of the pearl.

Reminds me of my grandparents.

 Stained glass window of the psalm verse:

 Ye though I walk
 in the shadow of
 the valley of death
 I fear no evil for you
 are at my side.

Two of my favorite paintings: The traveling magi and the Nativity.

Picture taken from entry way of the chapel.

Island and castle he built as a place for his grandchildren to play.

12 weeks and counting

Exciting I'm now finished with the first trimester! The nausea has started to disappear and I'm not visiting the bathroom as often as I use to. Unfortunately I've started getting horrible headaches! They are on the verge of migraines my head has never hurt this much, and unlike the nausea where I knew if I snacked I could keep it away, the headaches haven't had a common factor so I don't know how to avoid them or quickly make them disappear. They are sporadic and last anywhere from a minute to almost an hour. I'm hoping they just don't get worse. On a more positive note my bump is beginning to show, after we get a few more pics we'll put them up.

My summer class started Tuesday I forgot how rushed 4 week courses are. Especially with my teacher she tries to put a whole semester's worth of work in 4 weeks. I have 4 papers to write by next Friday and a midterm exam on Thursday. This just means lots of time management skills put to use. Speaking of which I probably should start working on now.

~Mandy

Making room for baby.

The down side of living in a one bedroom apartment is that space is very limited. This problem is compounded by the fact one of the people living here is a recognized pack rat. I have a serious issue with letting things go, one never knows when something might be useful thus as a result will hold on to anything; a trait that doesn't fall too far from the proverbial family tree. Though I must say once we moved in I parted with large quantities of stuff. It took us about 9 months to get the apartment the way we wanted it. The moment we found out we would have a new roommate it has been a trying task to condese even more.
Thanks to my cousin-in-law we have a crib and changing table and Mandy has an old dresser that with a new paint job will make it look brand new. Now we just have to play furniture shuffle to see what all we can fit into the apartment.

On another note, the next two months are going to be a very triying and unhappy time for me. In getting ready for back-to-school, Taret is having my workcenter go back to overnight. Right now I work roughly 4am-1pm on average sometimes getting off earlier or later. Next month we'll be working about 10pm-7am which will put Mandy and I's schedules complete opposite and unless I'm working we won't be seeing hardly any of each other. It's a good thing the bedroom, with the blinds closed, can be almost completely dark because my body doesn't like to sleep when the sun is out.