It's a......

Ok, so I originally intended not to find out the sex of this baby. I figure this baby is one of the biggest and best surprises of our lives—why not just leave it that way and wait and find out if we were having a boy or a girl until the very end. Also, with sweet Emeline we, of course, knew she was a girl. We chose to adopt a baby girl. I figured this time around we should embrace the mystery.

I should explain that in Germany we don’t get just 2 or 3 sonograms. They take a look at the baby with a sonogram every time you go in to the doctor, which is at least once a month. In my case I had to go in a few times extra for some minor concerns, so they checked the baby those times as well. My doctor also proudly told me he is getting a new sonogram machine this month that can do 4-D ultrasounds, and that he will happily make us a CD every time. How cool is that! Well, I had turned down offers to take a look and see if Baby was a boy or girl on more than one occasion. However, I finally wore down and my curiosity got the best of me. Not to mention the fact that my mom and sisters and everyone else were dying to know and praying that I would have a moment of weakness. I can also now order more stuff from the US, where I can get some things that are not available here. I admit the urge to shop for sweet baby clothes—and not just gender neutral ones—was getting the best of me. I know—I am weak!

So, last week we had our big ultrasound where we were at a specialist who checks all the organs like the heart and looks at brain development, etc. I am so very thankful to say that our baby looks very healthy!

So without further ado, here are some new pictures of our Baby…

Isn't HE handsome?!!!

IT'S A BOY!!!!! Emeline says bring on the baby brother!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our family to yours....Frohliche Weihnachten! Chris preached at a Heiliger Abend Service/Christmas Eve Service, and we are enjoying a Christmas at home in Germany with friends. This is Emeline's first Christmas home celebrating with us the birth of our savior. What a joy is it to have her home this year!

Isaiah 9:6: For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given...

Thankful

Yep, we are thankful. Sweet girl with her daddy.

This is what Emeline's daddy did to her when she got the tape out of his desk.










18 1/2 weeks pregnant....taken after dinner for the best possible effect.

We had a busy few weeks. Chris and I celebrated our 9th anniversary, which this year fell on Thanksgiving. We were actually married the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so sometimes like this year the dates line up. We celebrated Emeline’s first Thanksgiving home with us. I remember this time last year everything was up in the air with Guatemalan adoptions. I remember it all too well. I remember thinking…please by this time next year let her be home! Oh, and I am so very thankful that she is indeed home. As I hoped and hoped that our girl would come home last year, never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would be celebrating the next Thanksgiving with my sweet girl and be pregnant. It’s really too much to get my head around. So, I m still riding the wave of thankfulness. God has blessed us more than we could have asked or imagined.

Sorry I haven’t posted in so long. Our computer was in the shop for 10 days, and I just haven’t had a moment to post. Thank you for all who are praying for a healthy pregnancy. So far, Baby seems to be doing great, and I am feeling pretty good as well! I want to finish off with a little note I typed up the day I found out I was pregnant.

Today is a day I will never forget. Today is the day I found out I was pregnant. After 5 years I had really thought it might not ever happen. I was late…about 10 days late before I took a test, because I just wanted to daydream about the possibility of being pregnant. It was enough to allow myself what I considered somewhat delusional thinking. It just seemed too good to be true. Early this morning, which is Wednesday, September 03, 2008 I got up early while Chris and Emeline were still in bed, and I walked to our corner drug store (after picking up some cereal at the supermarket) and bought 2 pregnancy tests—and some paper towels and toilet paper.

My mouth was dry and I was really nervous as I took the test. I waited for the results praying that God would give me peace no matter what the results, and that I would indeed be pregnant. I was ecstatic and in disbelief when I saw 2 lines on that pregnancy test. I was schwanger!!!! I kept looking at the test…checking the results against the box. I was in shock…a very happy shock.

Then, I went back into the bedroom where Emeline and Chris were still asleep. I gave the positive pregnancy test to Emeline and told her to give it to her daddy. Chris, who was half in a daze could not believe his eyes. We were screaming as Emeline began to pretend the pregnancy stick test was a cell phone and tried to talk on it.

Then, I went to the doctor whose office is in apartment buildings one street over. The nurse was very nice and got me set up to see him in an hour. At 10:30am Chris, Emeline and I were all in his office. A few moments later we were looking at our baby for the first time. Praise the Lord!!!!

Emeline's BIG news

Hey everybody, I am going to be a big sister!!!!

Gimme a kiss 'cause I gonna be a big sister!

I'm not sure what the big deal is...but I'm getting a baby brother or sister.

What!? Being a big sister means I have to share my toys!









Yeah! When I am a big sister I will have to someone to play with me!

It is with great joy and thankfulness to God that we announce that we are expecting a baby. Emeline is going to be a big sister. I am 15 weeks pregnant. We were told by doctors that this was not going to happen, but all we can say is that miracles do happen. Please, please pray for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby--due the first week of May 2009. I am going to post in the coming days with more details like: when we found out, how I told Chris, and how we told our parents. However, for now, we are just going to leave you with some sonogram pictures from last week and this verse.


Psalm 139:14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.

Above: Picture of Baby's head and upper body. The 2 markers in the image are measuring the baby's nose. You can see the baby waving hello, and the arm on the other side is bent.

Below: This imave shows the baby's back---you can see the spine. These sonogram pictures were taken at 13 weeks and 6 days.

hhhh

Favorite Photo Friday--HAPPY REFORMATION DAY!

Like Father, Like Daughter... oh my!

Emeline and her daddy posing as John Calvin.

FINALLY MORE PICTURES

In the park in Düsseldorf

In Brugge, Belgium

Reading with Daddy

Riding around and being silly

Finally, the pictures were rescued from the camera. Actually, these are just the first of many to come. Chris' family just visited, and we have pictures from our time here and traveling together. I thought I would save those for the next post at the end of this week or next week. So, check back soon for more pictures. We have now corrected the camera issue and now I can get back to regular picture posting.

We are all still well here. We continue to have warm weather for our neck of the woods--and even have had a good bit of sunshine. I am soaking it up! Emeline also just got one of her back teeth today--can you say ouch?! Although she looks like she has many teeth beacause she has the 4 front top and bottom teeth, the poor baby needs to more teeth to chew. She is not in the best of moods, but we were pleased to note the progress in the tooth making. Also we can add the word "car" to our list of English words that baby girl is now saying.

We have also had some visits from dear friends in the past few weeks (in addition to Chris' family visiting). We have even had a girl party while some of our husbands were in a conference in Spain where we had visitors from France and Holland here for the day. It was a blast...let's do it again soon, ladies!

Better Days

Our camera is not cooperating and allowing us to download pictures at the moment, so I had no new pictures to show you of our girl. However, I have so many pictures I love, so I decided to give you one of the earliest we have. The above picture is from our visit trip to Guatemala when Emeline was just 11-12 weeks old. Was she ever so tiny...it is hard to believe. Look at all that soft, black hair. It was soft like feathers. I would give anything to have had more time with Emeline when she was so tiny, but we are thankful for the times God has given us now. I am so glad we have those precious memories and so many pictures of our short time together. We were in Guatemala for around 10 days. I am thankful we did not know we would have such a long wait to bring her home. (Though, so many more families waited even longer and are waiting even now!) Precious memories...

Back to the present...we are feeling so much better. Thanks for all of you who checked on us. My strong Guatemalan daughter never did get sick. I still can't believe it. Chris and I both had that virus, though Chris has a much milder case than I. We have been blessed with a healthy child. She has yet to even really be sick enough to bring to the doctor for other than vaccinations apart from her sensitive skin when we first arrived home in Germany, and she has been home over 7 months.

Emeline spends much of her time these days caring for her babies, which can anything from baby dolls to stuffed monkeys. She covers them up--sometimes with clothes or with blankets and pushes them in her stroller. She is a good mommy to her babies. Though she still is not saying many words--especially in English, she is saying "shoes." Hmmm could there be a reason she is saying that word. If you saw in her closet you would know why. As soon as we get the camera figured out I will post new pictures.