So blessed!

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone (well, almost)!

What a blessing it is to...

have careers
to order in pizzas
to have time to hold, cuddle and feed
baby
and watch FSU baseball
on a good television
awaiting a free trial Netflix movie
the day before reading
a cookbook of Irish cuisine
and getting my hands dirty
to prepare a meal
for the nourishment of our bodies
and the mind, sugars and noodles of
baby
so that we can continue
to have careers
and recognize our greatest career
the vocation to love....

Praise God for family!!!

Hope everyone gets a chance to enjoy their blessings tomorrow -
and a good lager brewed in Ireland.

James is back at work, and while Izzy, Sundae and I miss him terribly, his homecoming each nite is considered all the more precious.

I am feeling a little bit stronger each day, physically as a woman and emotionally as a capable mom.
Each night, well, that's another story that only a mother's heart knows.

Premonitions

Starting to have a few more premonitions about the sudden arrival of baby girl. Last week I had 2 dreams in one night that she would be arriving soon. We went to triage yesterday to have a check because Kim thought her water had broken over the weekend. Although no water breakage has occurred, Kim is having minor contractions (nothing to really write home about), but the time is coming very soon. I went into "clean mode" this weekend and although I didn't pull out any bleach, I'm pretty sure you'd be hard pressed to find a messy part of the house. Baby's room is all ready to go and we can't wait to get her in there for real. Anyhoot, just in wait mode at the moment and I'm nervously waiting the call. Thanks for the support everyone! Hopefully the next post will be us telling you baby girl has arrived and you'll finally get to know the name!!

Congratulations!

This is a note of congratulations to all our friends who have recently had children.

Jen and Jimmy Hosler- Samuel "Sammy" James Hosler was born on January 23, 2010 6 lbs 9 oz!
Erin and Greg Monk- Tyler Vincent Monk was born on Jan 28, 2010 8 lbs 14 oz
Julie and Justin Cato- Nathan Grant Cato was born on Jan 31, 2010 7 lbs 12 oz
Melissa and Dave Pratt- Allison Pratt, born on Feb 4 or 5th (still getting details)

Kim and I are hoping our baby will be next, but we are definitely still enjoying our sleep at the moment. Again congrats to all our friends!

oye

Last post was before Thanksgiving. Hard to believe it's been that long. So what's new.. Kim is currently 37 weeks and 3 days, which means baby could come at any moment (although we're hoping that she wants to cook for a few more weeks). Kim is doing great and although she is swollen, she is still the most beautiful woman ever.

Things have been crazy busy, which is just another reason why no posts in several months. Thanksgiving was out at Julie and Justin's. We had a great time and had a phenomenal fried turkey. soooooooo juicy and delicious.

Christmas was spent in Tallahassee with Kim's family and it was an enjoyable day. Kim and I also went over to Jacksonville just after New Year's to see John, Brenna and the kids. We had a blast that day and it was tough to leave after only spending a few hours with the kids. They are so much fun. After that, very little travel has occurred. We just don't want to be far away should our baby girl decide she wants to make her appearance.

Other than that, of course work is work, but still very enjoyable. Lots going on, including making sure everyone knows what I do and how I do it. I will be able to take up to 2 weeks after baby comes to help out in any and every way possible. Anyhoot, things are good.

wowzers

It is so hard to believe that it has been over almost 2 months since the last posting. Of course things have been non-stop and so no posts have come through. So what's the latest and greatest. Well I would say that would have to be the home that Kimberly and I now own. The process of buying a home was a great joy and also a huge pain in the.. umm toe. I definitely learned a lot in the process and am learning a lot about being a home owner and some of the necessities as well as some things that just don't matter for awhile.

Baby girl has been kicking and moving and we are so excited to meet her. For those of you wondering we do have our name picked out, but we are not going to share until baby gets to hear it! However, with all of the ultrasounds we got to have (baby girl covered her face each time, and we couldn't get a full profile picture, so we had to get another ultrasound at each of our doctor's visits), the way this little girl is moving and kicking and squirming, Kim and I are pretty sure we picked an appropriate name for this spunky kid.

Work has been non-stop for both of us. Kim is a trooper and does such a wonderful job as a teacher and grading papers and preparing for kids. Even in this second year as a teacher, I still can't believe how much WORK it takes to be a teacher. Makes me even more grateful for the teachers I had growing up.

We were able to make a trip down to West Palm Beach at the beginning of the month to see Kim's best friend from high school get married. On the same day, a good friend of ours from college got married too. Thankfully, they were both in WPB. One was at 2 pm and the other was at 6 pm. It worked out so well and we had such a great time.

On the way back up from the wedding we got to stop in Winter Haven, and my mom had planned us a "shotgun shower" and we had a bunch of friends come by and bring some wonderful gifts for baby girl. Thank you all so much for pouring out your hearts and your stories.

So, that's it for now. Pictures will be coming up soon of the house, Kim and I and other things to come I suppose. Much love, have fun ya'll!!

James

SPOILER ALERT!! BABY'S GENDER REVEALED!

3 weeks since the last post, but it's been awhile since great news has come through. So we finally got approval on the house and are having our home inspection at 3 pm today. Very excited for that to happen. After that we'll have the appraisal and then set a firm date for closing. Currently tentative closing date is Oct 22. So I just pray that everything goes well and that we get into our new home soon! It's so awesome to think that I will finally be a home owner.

In other news, our latest doctor's appointment gave us the knowledge of our baby's sex and I am very happy to announce that we will have a baby girl come February. Everything is still pointing to a Feb 14 due date and I'm just super excited. This is what our doctor believed he saw 2 weeks ago, and so it was fun to know a little early what our baby girl was. We got to see baby girl squirm and wave and make all kinds of movements yesterday during the ultrasound. A few times I think Kim and I were so proud we were just about moved to tears. It's awesome to think that we're going to be responsible for that little booger in her belly! When the tech showed us her little feet and we could count out that 5 toes was when it really got me. As we were trying to get a better picture of her face and features, she would keep putting her hands (held together) over her face. I think she knows how much daddy likes getting to see her, so we'll have to have a re-check at our next appointment in a few weeks!! It is really awesome how much joy this little girl is already bringing Kimberly and I, as well as the love that we already have. I just can't imagine having to wait another 4.5 months, but I know that will be upon me before I can even blink. Also just to let you know, we do have baby's name already picked out, and no we are not going to tell you until our baby girl gets to hear it!

Baby girl's toes! Kim and I are fighting over who gets the original of this picture!What we could see of baby girl's face!

Thanks ya'll! Have fun! -- James

whew

No skin cancer, it was a benign growth and I'm ok, nothing else to report as of yet, just having fun as the days go by! Have fun ya'll -- James