I know, I know

We are falling behind with this blogging thing! Sorry!

Ok, so this is going to be short because currently I am sitting in a hotel room getting ready to go to breakfast. You are probably thinking "o sweet Gabe took Kara for a little time away..." but not the case this time. We are having one of our staff retreats for church and we always do a Friday-Saturday thing. Dinner last night was awesome and we are really getting alot of stuff accomplished.

I just wanted to check in and say that we are still around just had a busy week. Wednesday I went to my doctors appointment only to realize it is NEXT week. haha Pregnancy brain is in full effect-more on this story later.

Also, last night I had my first dream about Olivia. It was so neat. I remember staring directly in her face and trying to figure out who she looked more like. She was such a neat combination of Gabe and I. But she was BEAUTIFUL! Now I know this was just a dream but I think God lets you see little bits to help with patience. :) That face alone in that dream makes me want to work extra hard to get her nursery together. Here is the bedding I ordered...

http://www5.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6E.aspx?DeptID=62438&CatID=62729&GrpTyp=ENS&ItemID=1332862&attrtype=&attrvalue=&CmCatId=62438626446264562729


what do u think? Anyone who knows me knows I love a sale. When I saw this and I loved it AND it was on sale-whoa that did it for me! haha

Ok must get ready now but I will be back later with more ideas for the nursery-don't get too excited!!

"You Have Stolen My Heart"... and Other Mushy-ness

Kara and I just finished watching "Made of Honor" with Patrick Dempsey. Cute movie, especially if you're married. The main character in the movie, Tom (Dempsey's character), doesn't realize how important his best friend is to him until she decides to get married. He spends the the last half of the movie trying to win her back. Does he? Well you'll have to see it for yourself.

I love that Dashboard Confessional song at the end, "Stolen." It makes me think about Kara. Have you heard it? Well you can click here to watch the music video if you haven't. It's been around for a while, but it was the first time I heard it and I loved it!


Anyway, the movie made me SO glad that I married my best friend. Kara knows me better than anybody and I can't live without her. She's absolutely beautiful--inside and out--and I'm so glad she said "Yes!" to marrying me.

I also want to give a shout out to my parents. Dad, I learned how to love Kara by watching the way you loved Mom. You never yelled at her, raised your hand against her, or did anything that made me doubt your love for her. You always told me: "The best thing you can do for your children is to love your wife." Well, I agree. That was the best thing you ever did for me. You guys are truly best friends. You still hold hands and laugh like high schoolers, and I think it's awesome. (For those of you who didn't know, Mom and Dad just celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. That's a miracle in this country.)



Mom, I always looked for your qualities in the woman I wanted to marry. You always knew how to make us feel loved and cared for, and you always went the extra mile to give me little things I wanted. They weren't expensive things, but they made me fee really special. Remember when you'd bring home those toy Transformers and baseball cards? Or that Glenn Miller CD? Weird things I know, but I think I still have most of them. You are a legendary mother. When I see Kara holding children... whenever we talk about Olivia Grace... I see you in her. Thank you for setting the bar.

Mom and Dad, you guys are godly parents. Not perfect, but godly. And you just get better with age. Dad, you're so much more fun now that you've discovered the Xbox 360. Mom, thanks for passing on life lessons to me... like financial stewardship (we love Dave Ramsey, don't we?), parenting advice, and your constant reminders to slow down and enjoy life before it passes you by. I love you guys, and because you've loved me so well, I know how to love Kara, Olivia, and other children to come.

Well, enough mushy-ness for now. Quick, Batman, do something manly! Aaaaarrrrgggghhhh (ripping my chest hair out... the little I have)!!!!!!

Drumroll Please.....

So here's the news you have all been waiting for! I know you've been staring at your computer with baited breath, hoping for an update. (Okay, maybe not.) We are having...



A BAT-GIRL!!! That is what Gabe likes to call her. Of course, I don't think she is going to have blonde hair and that light of skin but you get the idea. Our Batgirl will have a nice little mocha tan year round.

We went to the doctor yesterday and our little girl was being so modest, as any good girl should be, so it took a while for the doctor to give us the verdict. He is 80-90% sure that it is a girl. He doesn't want to give us a 100% until we go back and get what my stepdad likes to call the "money shot." (Ha ha!) The doctor said that yes, there is still a small chance it is a boy and if Batgirl ends up being a little Batman, we will be just as thrilled. So we're not painting any rooms pink just yet.

My doctor is amazing and really spent time looking at the baby on the ultrasound. When he first walked in, I grabbed his hand and told him word for word that "it was imperative to know today what we were having because I have to put it on my blog." He just laughed!

It was amazing because not only did we get to find out the gender, but the pictures on the screen were so vivid. We saw her spinal cord, her brain, her arms and legs, eye sockets....EVERYTHING! It was amazing. The doctor told us that she looks perfect. I loved everything about yesterday and today it's weird how much more connected I feel to her now that I can call our baby a "her" rather then "it." I have been talking to her all day and just cannot stop day dreaming about her.

Below are some pics from the doctors appointment:

Gabe, my mom, and my sister were there with me and we had to get some pictures to remember the day.


And then the last one is with my nurse, "L" (won't say her full name for privacy reasons) who I love! L, if you are reading this, thanks for helping me through the first 3 months with the headaches. I think I talked to you more some days then I did my own family. God bless you for the work you do and the great attitude you have every time I see you or talk to you.



Next time I will get a picture of my doctor on here, but when he was in the room another little girl stole the show. Also, as I was telling my doctor about the importance of my blogging he informed if I bring in a disc he can copy all sorts of ultra sound pictures from the machine, so I can share them with you all.

Ta-ta for now, blog fans. Looks like your vote was right! Don't forget to leave a comment!

U got a 50/50 chance!

Hey all! So we find out of Wednesday afternoon if we have a mister or miss Jelly Bean. I have had several people tell me, "I think your having a..." and it's been split down the middle pretty much. So I thought it would be fun to have a poll for all of my 2 readers :) haha I think I have more then that (or so I tell myself) but who knows. But listen, with this one you can remain anonymous and u don't have to come up with anything to say. Just click on the poll above next to boy or girl and click vote.

Oh and for all you fashion people:
Do you still apply the no white after Labor day thing? Today I totally wore white leggings with a blue dress and some white shoes. So was I a total fashion faux pas?

The Baby Prophet and the Secret of Abiding

Well what's up guys?! It's been a while since I've written on here, so I'll give you a quick update "Gabe style": the baby prophet's gender will be determined at our doctor's appointment this Wednesday, so we'll let you know when we know. Kara's headaches have been--although not absent--much less frequent. She seems to have more energy. Praise God for the second trimester!

I have been fired up by this book I've been reading by Andrew Murray called "Abiding in Christ." He talks about how many Christians are trapped between two cyclical sins: not having the power to conquer sin, and not having the faith in Jesus to keep them from it. One feeds the other. Christians live in a constant cycle of defeat, drifting further and further away from the One who said "Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). Murray poses an interesting question: If we have the faith to come to Jesus and be forgiven of sin, why do we lack the faith He asks to "Abide in me"? Does a weary traveler expend much energy to take a much-needed respite on a hotel bed? Does an infant work really hard to be held in its mother's arms? This is the secret of abiding... and here's the bottom line: living 24/7 for Jesus is simpler than you think. It's a simple surrender that says, "Savior, I abide in you."

I have to tell you that my life is changing before my very eyes. I've learned this about my own desperate need to abide: even if I prayed 10 hours a day, I still need major help for the other 14! This is where abiding comes in, and since I have been praying this way and meditating on Jesus' words in Matthew 11 and John 15, I have been kept from simple temptations that otherwise would trip me up--particularly in my thought life. I recently had the opportunity to be selfish and get angry at someone for irritating me. But as I took some time out and literally prayed, "Jesus, I'm trying to abide here, and I need some major help!", my attitude completely changed.

Now I didn't do so well with a similar temptation yesterday. But I quickly repented to that person and asked forgiveness. See? The less work I do, the better it gets. Jesus is awesome.