More Belly & New Chair

Ok, its been an extremely busy couple of weeks and it seems my belly is growing ever so quickly. Because our schedules have been so hectic, this is my lame attempt at taking some "belly" pictures on my own.

The "Covered" Belly

Happy Mama

The "Bare" BellyThe new chair we got for only $10 at a yard sale!

Home Today

Well, I'm on self-enforced, mandatory rest today. Sound selfish? Maybe, but I was up most of the night with back and abdomenal pain. After about 3-hours of sleep, I thought it would be best to take some time to rest today. And to be honest, it's quite hard to do.

As a sidenote, I received some "congratulatory" flowers for a recent promotion and our expecting a baby girl. Enjoy these pictures - they certainly have brightened a few of my days lately.

19 Pair

I was blessed with an enormous amount of baby stuff today. A friend of mine gave me a beautiful Graco pack 'n play that has a bassinet attachment (in pink of course!), tons of baby girl clothes (17 pants to be exact)...

and the greatest gift of all - 19 pairs of shoes in all styles, colors and sizes. If you know me, you'll understand why this was so exciting. I'm a shoe-lover (my nickname growing up was Imelda Marcos - who at one time owned over 3,000 pair of shoes). Matt was a little scared to see that our little girl will be starting off with more shoes than he's owned in his life. Writing on the wall?

It was such an unexpected gift and I'm so grateful for each item she passed along. I'm just amazed at how generous people are when you're expecting a child. To think, Matt and I were worried that we would have to spend money on things for the baby. So far, we've had to invest practically nothing. Praise God - He provides perfect for us!

Online Registries

I love the internet! Being a first time mom is very exciting. But, there's something extremely intimidating about registering for an event that you've never experienced before. I have no idea what I'm going to need for this baby. Nonetheless, I set-up two online registries that I can manage from home. This is wonderful because the thing I was dreading the most was standing in the aisle at Target, staring at baby items and having no idea what to scan. I can now do research online and add items to my registries without ever having to leave the comfort of my home. I love it! I've saved both registries on my sidebar. Feel free to browse and get ideas for your own children. Much of what I've registered for has been as a result of advice from other experienced mothers. So, I take credit for none of it. Also, nothing is on the Amazon registry at this point. We're hoping to research strollers and carseats and then register for them on Amazon. We'll see what we can find.

**GREAT BUY - Just thought I'd share with you that I found a Boppy nursing pillow at a thrift store this weekend (in excellent condition) for only $2.50! You can't beat that.

Update on Matt's Dad

Thank you all for praying! Here is an update on Matt's dad...

The Real Story: We found out that he did in fact have a massive heart attack last Thursday night. He had been playing basketball with the kids at a local park and before they left, decided to play "tag." He started to feel chest pains on his way home from the park. Running around like that must have put him over the edge. He got home and went straight to lay on the couch. Jamal was playing next door at the neighbor's house and wanted to go inside. The neighbor lady told him that she wanted to go to his house to ask his parents if that was ok. When she arrived at the house, she saw Jim laying on the couch, clutching his chest. She is an EMT and knew immediately that Matt's dad was having a heart attack. She called 911, which ultimately saved his life.

An Update: We found out this weekend that Jim had 100% blockage in the main artery to his heart and a branch of that artery was also block 90%. The type of heart attack he suffered is nicknamed the "widowmaker" by those in the medical field. This tells you how serious the situation was. He was immediately given a stent in the main artery and doctors performed an angioplasty on the branch that was blocked. Overall, his dad is feeling much better, but has to remain in the hospital for further observation and testing. Tests performed yesterday revealed that his heart is beating on its own, but not as strong as doctors had hoped. They have referred him to specialist to talk about ways they can rebuild the heart muscle and improve his diet/exercise over time.

Thank You for your prayers and encouragement during this time. It's difficult to be six hours away when tragedies like this occur. But, we know that our families reside in the Lord's hands, which is the safest place they can be.

Prayer

Please be in prayer for Matt's dad, Jim Neal. We don't have all of the details yet, but he was admitted to the hospital last night with severe chest pains. We do know that he was in the beginning stages of a heart attack. They found one artery that was 100% blocked and performed an angioplasty immediately. We're waiting on an update this morning. Matt's dad is a Senior Pastor of a small church in Northern Kentucky. Please pray that God would draw up many people around him and Matt's mom, Lora, during this time.

Getting Bigger

I must say I've really started to pack on the pounds. Not a very fun thing - but its all for a good cause. Or at least that's the politically correct thing to say, right? I mean, who's really happy about gaining weight for their baby? Ha! Not me.

On another note, the baby has decided that she wants to stretch and dig her way out of my stomach, though she's not even close to being "fully-cooked." There are times when I think she has a circus of friends in there. Because, how can she be kicking me in my ribs and fluttering her legs in my pelvic bone, all at once? It's crazy!

Busy

I'm horrible about updating this blog. Its been over a week and I haven't put anything new on here. Maybe its because nothing new is going on. I'm still in my second trimester, so things are going pretty smoothly - I like to call it the mountain in between two valleys. I know that second valley is coming, I just don't like to think about it. Matt is trudging along with school. His second year has proved to be MUCH easier, which is a blessing. I really thought I was going to have to say "goodbye" to my husband again as the school year came near, but we've been able to spend ample amount of time together. It's been a nice surprise.

We recently changed around the nursery and office so I'll post pictures soon. And of course, I'll be posting new pictures of the ever growing belly.

Visit to Tennessee & First Day of School

Matt and I just returned from a much needed weekend away in Tennessee. Our very close friends from college, Aaron & Emily, live in Knoxville. Aaron works at a mental health hospital there and Emily attends University of Tennessee. They have a 7-month old baby boy named Miles - the most adorable baby I have seen in a while - no offense all of you with babies! :) They have a wonderful life in TN - I'm just not sure how they do it! Emily is not only involved in the graduate program, but she also teaches at the undergraduate level. Aaron worked 2nd shift, but has been working double shifts off and on to earn extra cash. They are the most laid back couple we know and its always so relaxing to go for a visit.

We also got to see Matt's family while traveling. We had a 3-hour layover on the way down to TN and back in Cincinnati. Since Matt's parents live just a few miles from the airport, it was just enough time for us to meet up for lunch on Friday and dinner on Monday. We really enjoyed our time with them!

Matt started back to school today. This is going to be a much better year than last year. Keep praying for God to use him in the lives of our teenagers.