We are officially on the final countdown. The last week! Only 3 days until our due date!! I know we could go longer, and I’m prepared mentally and emotionally for that, but I’m also trying to stay positive and plan that she’ll be arriving this week!

As I prepare to give birth to my first child, I thought I’d take a trip down memory lane and where I was this time 25 years ago.

My lovely mom a few weeks away from giving birth to me! I must say, I have an all new respect for my mom and all she went through to bring me into this world. Thanks mama!

A couple months ago, I blogged about an adventure that the hubs and I were taking.  We started reading through the Gospels and just finished up this weekend.  It was so great to do this together! After traveling to Israel last summer, we both wanted to read through the life of Christ again.  It seemed completely different this time around.  It is so much more real because we’ve been there! Can’t beat that!

What I learned:

Jesus was a tough guy. He told it like it was, and lived it. I love that.  He got out there, and hung out with the lowest of the low and wasn’t afraid to step on toes.  He was honest and real.  So many times as Christians we are so “careful” and avoid all things that we deem not “good enough”.  But Jesus would have been right in the middle of it it.  Yup…I wanna be more like that guy.

His disciples were total wusses. It’s true! They were exactly like us.  They were scared little girls half of the time, and Jesus had to slap them around constantly.  Even as the chosen ones to work right along side the Savior of the world, they were surprisingly just normal dudes and totally not up to par half of the time.  How much of an example is that to us? We are wusses, but we are chosen by Christ to be his disciples.  Thank goodness we don’t have to be perfect to be His!

As I took a look back on the life of Christ, I realize how much I have to learn.  I need to read these book about 500 more times and I’ll still never have a grasp on who Jesus was and all He came here to do.  All I need to know is that He came to die for my sins.  And that’s stinkin cool.

Well we’re down to the end!! 7 days. One week.  Hard to believe! Now we’re just hoping and praying she makes her arrival this week sometime! The contractions have been pretty intense all week and we’ve had a couple times we thought we might be off to the hospital but no such luck.  Getting pretty tired, miserable and uncomfortable.  Ahhh the joys of pregnancy. Come soon little one!!

39 Weeks

Ok…not OUR baby.  Unfortunately.  Well, it always could be but anyway.  Today is the big day.  The day I’ve been looking forward to for 9 months.  One of my very best friends gives birth to her child.

Pam Beesly Halpert.

Yes, we are best friends.  It’s been a blast being pregnant with Jim & Pam.

Not sure which baby I’m more excited about!! (Ok….I’m not THAT ridiculous!)

Bring on the baby!!

People often tell me things to help move along labor and help the baby come.

Castor Oil. Walking. Spicy Food. Hanging upside down.

Ok, maybe not hanging upside down, but it wouldn’t surprise me.  I can’t help but wonder if these things REALLY work, or does it just seem like they work because you’re in the last days of pregnancy anyway? I could paint my toenails and go into labor an hour later and then claim that painting my nails brings on labor?

So tell me, do these things actually help, or does the baby just come when she’s good and ready? I would really really REALLY love to have this kid this week, and I’m willing to try anything to get her out of me, but not sure if it really matters.

What are your thoughts? Did something “work” for you?

We were married on February 29, 2008.  Leap Day.  So we “technically” only have an anniversary every 4 years. Even though Feb. 29th is missing from our calendars this year, a celebration of our marriage is not missing!!

Happy Anniversary to the love of my life!!

I married the greatest man I’ve ever known.

Everyday I realize it a little more and more.  I’m extremely blessed.  One lucky girl.

Our Story – It wasn’t love at first sight, or some “I know I’m going to marry this man” kind of meeting.  We met at church in college, and immediately clicked.  We dated for a couple months that summer.  With it being summer, we spent a lot of time together and got to know each other well (or so we thought).  But it just wasn’t our time.  We both knew it.  It wasn’t life shaking, it was a simple summer fling that came to an end.

It wasn’t until a year later, that I ended up accepting a job working for the same campus at LifeChurch.tv that he was the Worship Pastor.  We were the only single people on our small staff, and we quickly became friends again.  We spent every waking moment together.  Over the course of 8 months, he became my best friend.  It was during that time, that I gave my heart to my first love.  A heart that had been broken, tattered and bruised.  I turned to Jesus, the only one who could really make it whole.  When I allowed Him to make me whole, I realized that my 2nd love had been right there beside me the whole time.

It happened fast.  We dated for 2 months.  Got engaged.  Got married 7 months later.  February 29, 2008.

I am who I am because of this man.  I have learned more about myself in the past 3 years than in my entire life.  I opened up.  I became the REAL ME that God created me to be.  I am so grateful to him for that.  He encourages me to be the best I can be, and will support me in anything and everything I desire to do and be.

So if marriage has taught me anything, it’s that I married the greatest person I’ve ever known.

As we celebrate that wonderful day we became one, I fall more and more in love with him.  The past two years have been incredible, and I am so excited about a life ahead with my best friend.

Any day now…any day now.  I just keep telling myself that

38 Weeks

Boys will be boys.

I know it may come as a shock to some of you….but boys are gross.  They are.  They like to play in the dirt. They don’t always take showers on a regular basis.  And little boys turn into men.  And sometimes they don’t grow out of their little boy ways.

The boy I married is ALL boy.  110% boy.  He leaves the house most days without combing his hair.  He shaves once a week only because he has to be on stage.  He leaves his socks on the floor.  He doesn’t understand that you clean the house when you don’t see visible piles of dirt.  He’s not one of those “metro” boys who wears girl jeans and spends an hour fixing his hair.  It’s just not him.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I love my “all boy” man.  Because I feel protected. I feel safe.  And I get to take care of him.  We are very different in so many ways.  I’m all girl, and he’s all boy.  But we compliment each other perfectly.  He likes me best in his sweatpants and no make up on.  And I’m glad he doesn’t wear my jeans.

Being married to a boy has taught me a lot.  I’ve learned that he is the protector.  It kills him when he can’t fix my problems or provide everything I could ever want.  But he teaches me how to put him first because he does it so easily.  He never thinks about himself. It’s just what boys do.  And boys will always be boys.

This weekend, hubby and I will celebrate our 2 year anniversary.  I can’t believe how fast the past two years have FLOWN by. They have been absolutely amazing and I really expect them to get even better.  I wanted to share a few things I’ve learned from being married.

How deeply our God loves us.

If marriage has taught me anything…It has taught me about love.  True love. Agape love.  The love that is so deep that only God can give.  I always thought I had a bit of a grasp on how God loves us.  I had John 3:16 memorized.  I knew despite all we do, that He loves us. I’ve been told all that my entire life.

It was until saying I do, and beginning a life with this man that God had created for me, did I realize I didn’t understand His love at all.  It is unconditional.  Unbelievable.  Something we as humans can’t wrap our minds around.  But God created marriage between a man and a woman to to perfect, pure and intimate.  Just like He wants our relationships with Him to be.

My husband has taught me how to love fully.  For that, I am forever grateful.  I have a deeper love for our Father who created us with each other in mind. I have a deeper love for my husband each and everyday.  It’s truly a beautiful and perfect thing.