New camera...

The day has finally come to get a new and improved camera!  One that will better be able to capture the quick movements, special occasions and milestones in our lives (specifically in our kids' lives!).  On a whim I stopped by Norman Camera to check out their selection and start doing some face to face research.  I was surprised to find that the camera I was already interested in was on sale for Black Friday!  I took that as a sign to buy it sooner rather than later.  We were trying to have the money completely saved up from my cleaning job before we bought it, but that idea quickly went out the window!  Joel has learned that when I have my mind set on something there is no use talking me out of it because I won't be able to stop thinking about it. So after some quick consulting together he gave me the thumbs up to make the purchase!

I spent the majority of the 1st night pouring over the user's guide and taking a million practice shots of Joel while trying out all of the different functions...he loved that!  I am super excited to learn more about the camera and get better at taking pictures!  Who knows...maybe it can become more than just a hobby!  We will see.

CABLE Group...

Our CABLE group has had a great Summer/Fall together!  We did some camping at South Haven, threw a Neighborhood Block party in our neighborhood and ran a game at Engedi's Pumpkin Palooza!

It was such a beautiful summer and since Matt is a park ranger we decided to take advantage of an opportunity to do some camping.  We all packed up our tents and headed to the South Haven Family Camp Ground.  Little did we know that meant we would be camping in a field with no trees!  What that translates into is no shade on a 90 degree weekend!  Luckily it was nothing an umbrella from Walmart couldn't fix.  We all sat under the shade of one umbrella and tried to not move to stay cool!  Once the sun went down our night was full of great fellowship, amazing food (compliments of Greg, the amazing campfire chef!  I had no clue you could make such gourmet food over a camp fire...we normally eat hotdogs!), and a nice fire!

Every year we throw a block party in someone from our CABLE group's neighborhood and this year it was our turn to throw the party.  We provided chili dogs, chips, baked beans, ice cream and drinks for everyone who came.  It was a beautiful afternoon and several neighbors came out to socialize with each other, eat and play yard games.  It was so much fun!

Engedi threw a Pumpkin Palooza Party for the community and had CABLE groups help out by running games at the party.  So of course we pulled out the best game...Bozo's Bucket Bonanza!  The kids absolutely loved it!  We had a ton of repeat customers!  It was a great night with our group.

This Fall Jason and Susan decided to break off from our group and start their own CABLE group due to the large demand for leaders.  We will greatly miss them, but are looking forward to welcoming some new members to our group as well!  There also will be several new "little" members joining our group come next summer!  Jenny, Kerri and I are all pregnant right now so camping will definitely look a little different next summer!

15 week belly...

My belly seems to be growing every day, but life has been so busy that we haven't had a chance to get a picture of it...until now!

 I continue to feel great besides minor headaches once in a while.  Joel loves seeing me getting bigger and enjoys talking to the baby!  Being pregnant still seems so surreal and at times when I let myself think about what exactly is happening I get a little scared!  A little person that we will be responsible for is growing inside of me and changing my body!  Regardless, we are enjoying every step of the way and look forward to meeting this little bundle of joy!

Fall afternoon at Saugatuck Dunes...

This Fall has been so beautiful and despite not having as much energy as normal we couldn't resist spending our Sunday afternoon outside hiking at Saugatuck Dunes...one of our favorite places to hike close to home. 

Pumpkin Fest...

Since we are Zeelanders we figured we should "Feel the Zeel" at this year's Pumpkin Fest.  I picked up Lucas and Tyson after work and we headed downtown for a night of free dinner at Cafe 58, pumpkin painting, digging for coins in a pile of sawdust and petting all the cute animals from Critter Barn.

 

There were so many people downtown, but it was easy to spot the boys in the crowd.  We just looked for those adorable red heads running around.  We got a lot of stares...I think people were trying to figure out if they were our kids!

Digging for coins in the saw dust was quite an experience!  Parents were not allowed to touch the coins so it made it very challenging to get the boys to pick them up on their own.  Lucas was concerned with getting dirty so he carefully pushed the saw dust aside looking for coins.  He would uncover one and then another kid would steal it from him!  I was getting so frustrated!  I was so focused on helping Lucas that when I looked over at Tyson I realized a little girl was throwing saw dust all over him and her mom wasn't saying anything!

The Critter Barn animals were definitely the favorite.  We spent most of our time there and the boys were very sad to leave at the end of the night.

It makes my heart melt when...

Sometimes you just have no clue what guys are thinking.  Joel and I are very vocal about what we are feeling, but having a baby is definitely new territory for us both and even though we talk about it all the time I still sometimes wish I was in his head to really know his thought process.  This week I was given a little insight into Joel's head.

At work I received an email from Joel which read this...

"I had a very vivid dream about our baby this morning.  I was holding him (it was a boy in the dream) and his face was so soft and warm and we were watching someone doing cartwheels outside.  His cute little eyes followed the movement and his head would push against mine to get a better view.  It was so real.  I do hope we have a girl but I wouldn't be disappointed to have a boy.  It is just so crazy how both of our genes are coming together to form a person.  WOW, God is amazing. I am looking forward to every moment of development with you."

For anyone who knows me you can imagine that my eyes were not dry after reading that!  I shouldn't read his emails at work.  It makes me even more excited knowing that he is equally as excited as I am to expand our family!

Then a few days later we had my 12 week appointment where we could hear the heart beat with the doctor.  Joel came along to hear the heartbeat once more and to familiarize himself with the whole pregnancy process.  He definitely provided way more laughs than I have ever had going to the doctor! 

I had to have a pelvic exam and Joel's chair was positioned so he had a clear view straight up the sheet...I really wasn't ready for that so I made him stand up by my head during the exam.  During the question time Joel had a ton of questions..."How much longer can she ride a bike?"  "Can she cross country ski this winter?"  "Can she snow shoe?"  Are we sensing a theme?!  It is obvious that Joel is nervous that he is losing his adventure buddy!  Luckily we got the green light on most of the activities so we should be all set!  I don't know how much I will feel like doing, but at least we know I can do it.  

Later that night while discussing the appointment Joel had a "True Confession" moment.  He admitted that he had always thought a pelvic exam was when I would stand fully clothed in front of the doctor and they would check to see that my pelvic bones were even!  Ha!  I had a good laugh over that!  He was shocked what a pelvic exam really was!  The scary thing is that he teaches Sex Ed!  In his defense, he only teaches the boys, so I guess he doesn't have to fill them in on the details of girl exams.  

The next day after the appointment I sent Joel an email thanking him for coming to the appointment with me and I received an email back from him that read...

"No problem, it was a new and interesting experience.  I can't wait for the next one.  It is very reassuring to know everything is going well and to hear our little one's heartbeat.  I was thinking that I should have recorded it as my ring tone on my phone.  That way when they are older I will know who is calling by their heartbeat in the womb.  Isn't that cute?
I love you."

Wow!  I love this man!  I love his honesty, sappiness, love for me and our little one.  He is going to be an amazing daddy and there will for surely never be a dull moment with him around! 

11 weeks...it's a lime!

The 11 week mark was an exciting one!  My mom brought the heart rate monitor home from work and over to our house.  We were on the hunt for the heart beat and we found it!  Mom was surprised how high up the baby was already?!?!?  Maybe I am farther along than 11 weeks?!?!  Who knows!  It was so much fun to have my mom and dad there with us to hear the first sounds of life from our little one!  The heart rate was in 178 beats/minute, which seems fast...maybe a girl?!?! 

I never knew all the sounds the inside of your body makes!  It was so amazing to be able to hear all of the inside workings of my body.  Hearing the rush of blood in the placenta and knowing that it is giving life to our baby is so cool.  It is still unreal to me that a human is living inside of me...kind of sci-fi!

We shared the big news with all of our extended family, co-workers and friends this week which was so much fun!  The reactions were across the board...tears (extended family), utter shock (Stacey's friends...we are good deceivers!), giddiness (Joel's students and fellow teachers) and all around excitement from everyone!

Telling the girls at Crazy Horse might not have been the best idea, but it was the only time that worked.  Everyone in the restaurant was looking over at us wondering what was going on and what all the screaming was about!  In general the girls were super shocked...we had been playing up that we would be waiting for a while just so we didn't always have to be answering questions about when we were thinking of having kids.  Apparently it worked!  It felt like a huge weight was lifted telling my closest friends though.  We were so scared someone was going to spill the beans accidentally to them.  It was such a great night sharing our news with them!