Anticipation

Monday is the big day where we are hoping to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl!
Will thinks it's a girl.
I, at first, thought it was a boy but now I think it's a girl.
Will's dad is convinced that it's a boy.
My mom thinks it's a girl.
It's a mixed bag.

Does anyone want to take a guess at what it is? :)
At least there's a 50/50 chance here.

Retail therapy.... or not

I have begun the hunt for maternity clothes now that I am down to only 1 pair of jeans that I can fit into. I've been trying to be thrifty and have only bought stuff from resale shops or on clearance. I have been having a really hard time finding jeans that fit that don't cost a fortune. My hunt on Saturday took me to the JCPenney outlet (about 30 mins away.) A friend informed me that they had a lot of maternity clothes for really cheap. I was excited. As I've mentioned before... I love a good deal!
Well, it took me a while to find the maternity section. It was back in the corner of the plus-sized clothes. I searched through all of the pants and could not find one pair of XS. I asked the nearest sales associate if any of their pants come in XS. She responded, "This is the maternity section." -As if it is impossible to for a pregnant woman to need a size other than an XL. I left the store frustrated and empty handed.
This experience reminded me of a trip to Macy's with Will when we were shopping for a Christmas present for my dad. We were wandering around the Big & Tall section and Will asked the sales associate a question and the associate responded, "Do you know where you are?" Although perfectly sized, it is obvious that Will does not need Big & Tall clothes and the sales guy felt the need to point that out.
Shopping can be so frustrating sometimes!

It's A...

Girl!

Meet Amelia- our new 10 week old chocolate lab puppy.

It's not exactly what I was expecting (or exactly planning) for this year but we adopted our 4th pet this past Saturday. She is going to be Will's lil' fishing and adventure dog. She is really cute and sweet and has a lot of personality. We are really enjoying her so far. Maddie is really sweet with her but puts her in her place when needed. Maddie is Amelia's favorite toy. She loves jumping on her and licking her face and pulling her hair. Poor Maddie.

As for Baby King, we are eagerly awaiting the ultrasound on January 31st and hope that it isn't too shy to show us if it's a boy or a girl. (Above is my 16 week baby bump picture.)

The Third King

Will and I have been married for a little over 3 1/2 years and last year was the first year of our marriage that we did not have an addition to our little family. The 1st addition was Rory, a little grey 6 week old kitten we adopted at the Humane Society. After Rory came Maddie, our big, sweet Newfoundland. And then on a whim one day Will came home from work with Gidget, a really sweet, mellow 6 month old dilute-tortie kitten.
During the past 2 1/2 years, Will and I have been hoping for a not-so-furry addition to our family. After a lot of disappointment, tears, specialists and surgery we were ready to pursue an adoption of the human kind. We decided to wait a little longer and take some time to mourn the loss of our dream of having our own biological children.
In light of all of that, we are so thankful to God to be able to announce that we are expecting. I am 14 weeks pregnant! (15 weeks tomorrow.) God willing, we will be meeting our little one somewhere around June 29th. We are hoping to find out the sex from my next ultrasound on January 31st. Will thinks it's a girl and I think it is a boy. So, at least one of us will be right :)
There's a lot that we need to take care of over the next 25 weeks and we covet your prayers. The main thing right now is that Will needs a better job with better hours and significantly more compensation. We are both beginning to feel the pressure of the time-crunch and are starting to experience more anxiety and stress.
Please pray:
1) For a healthy baby
2) For a better job for Will
3) That we will look to God and trust that He will be faithful to provide for ALL of our needs

Thank you!

White Christmas!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

After 2 very long weeks at work, I think the humbugs have finally left and with only 4 days left, I am beginning to get into the Christmas spirit.
Things started turning for me on Friday night when Will and I went to see the lights at Our Lady of the Snows. It's hard to fight the Christmas spirit when you're faced with a beautiful nativity scene, about a billion Christmas lights, a thermos full of hot chocolate, freezing temperatures and a petting zoo.
The rest of the weekend followed with some crazy Christmas shopping, a beautiful meal shared with close friends and a trip to the ballet with 2 more dear friends to see the Nutcracker.
Monday involved some more crazy (but productive) shopping with Will and today is the Christmas party for the kids at work. I'll get to share Christmas dinner with my girls and then watch them open their presents in the dorm.
Maybe tonight after the party I'll actually feel like decorating our sad, bare tree in our living room.
And the excitement continues to rise as snow is in the forecast for Christmas Eve day!

Where's the Christmas Cheer?

I can't believe Christmas is in less than two weeks. The whole month of December has felt very hectic with a long list of to-do' s and events. I haven't really even begun Christmas shopping or most importantly "prepared Him room" in my heart. How did things gets so crazy?
And to top off the normal busyness of this time of year, the accreditation board for my company is here this week for our 3-year review. I mean, who comes to do an audit two weeks before Christmas??!! It just seems absurd. It seems like a very Grinchy or Scroogey thing to do.
So, I spent the entire weekend at work trying to catch up all of my reports and files. I would've much rather spent the weekend in the comfort of my home watching the snowflakes fall and avoiding the blustery winds and painfully cold weather. And maybe Will and I could've decorated our tree. We bought our tree Thursday night and it has since stood looking very sad and empty in the corner of our living room. We debated last night whether or not we should even decorate it.... When did decorating the tree become a chore?
My part of the audit should be over on Wednesday and I am hoping that things will begin to slow down afterwards and that I will begin to feel more of the Christmas cheer.