We're Parents!!!!!

Elsie Johanna Myers was born at March 27, 2011 at 1:02 pm. She weighed 6 lbs 7 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. She is the most precious thing we have ever seen. We love her to death already.

ps. Check these out!

So, Joel came home from somewhere... frisbee golfing or something, and walks into the bedroom (where I'm at) and asked me if I wanted him to make dinner. I kind of thought he was joking, but I was wrong. He asked me what I wanted, but I wasn't craving anything at the time, and sometimes the hard part of making dinner is thinking of what to make. So I told him that I didn't know and that's the hard part-figuring out what to make. So, he surprised me with asparagus and almonds with shrimp and peaches. It was pretty darn yummy. A little on the cold side, but still delectable. And even yummier since I didn't have to make it. Here is my delicious meal that my wonderful husband made for me. Isn't it pretty?

I have a cold, it started yesterday-for the most part. I think it's been lingering for a week or so, but it finally hit me yesterday. I woke up with a really sore throat and stuffy nose and I coughed a little throughout the day. Then when it came to going to bed, well that was tough. I couldn't breathe very well and my throat hurt so bad. It was a long night last night. I tried sleeping on the couch to help my back and because I was snoring, and I didn't want to bother Joel. No bueno. I tossed and turned just as much as I normally do, so I guess that was pretty... normal. I just couldn't sleep very well. This morning I even got up earlier than I normally do because I knew that I wasn't going to be able to fall back asleep; and even if I did fall back asleep eventually, I would have to get up in a few minutes for chapel.

I had a doctor's appointment this afternoon. It went well. He said that I'm 2 cm dilated now, so that's progressive. I told him I was sick, so he checked my throat and my breathing, and gave me a prescription for some medicine. So, I got that today, and hopefully it'll make me feel better in the next couple of days. But that was about all he told me. My next appointment is Monday morning, but hopefully she'll already be born by then. I know, wishful thinking.

Well, that's about it. Oh, except I made these yummy meatballs last night and they were delicious!

So, it's the weekend again. This past week has flown by, but at the same time, it seems like forever ago since I wrote last.

We had the baby shower this week, and that was pretty fun. I would put up some pictures, but they got deleted from Joel's computer by accident; what a bummer. It was a lot of fun and I got quite a bit of necessities, which is pretty cool since I didn't have any diapers, wipes, towels and a few other things. I also got this super cute bath from my sister-in-law, Jen. I can't wait to give Elsie a bath in it. Later on in the week I went shopping for a few more things that I thought we would need. I got Elsie some more onesies, I figure, you can't go wrong with lots of onesies. And I got her some sleepers and pj's, a cute dress, and a few other things.

Tomorrow is Special Emphasis, so instead of classes, the some people from the Missionary Training Center in Missouri are doing an all-day chapel for us. It was scheduled for two days-Monday and Tuesday, but I guess they only need one day to present, so we have Tuesday off. I'm really excited, because it'll be a nice break to relax, assuming Elsie isn't here by then-which would be a-okay with me.

We have a big 10-hour assignment due on Wednesday, but I'm not too worried because I have a good start into it. I'm still a little ahead on reading, but I think I need to be continuing on staying ahead, just so I'm not overwhelmed when Elsie's finally born.

We cannot wait to meet our baby girl. It's been a long and tiring process, and both Joel and I are ready for this part of the journey to be over so we can finally move on to the more exciting part-being parents. I'm so thankful to God that she has been healthy so far, and I'm just praying that the labor and delivery will go smoothly and without problem. I'd appreciate prayers for this.

Oh, also, if you get the chance, please pray for some family friend's of mine. They lost their son, who was my age. He was killed in action in Afghanistan yesterday. I grew up with him in California, when we lived there. It's pretty surreal to think that he's passed. But very exciting at the same time because I'm pretty confident that he is with the Lord. His name was Rudy, so just pray for Rudy's family.

Well, that's it for now. Hopefully in my next post I'll be writing about Elsie and how adorable she is.

It's the weekend!!! Praise the Lord. This week has seemed extra long for some reason, maybe it was the rain and snow and just all around cloudiness. We cannot wait for spring time. Both Joel and I just want it to be warm again. We want to lay in the green grass and soak up the sun---with our little girl!!!

I am 38 weeks and 3 days, which is pretty darn exciting if you ask me. I had an appointment this past Thursday and the doctor said everything was great and that he was proud of me for being so healthy this pregnancy. And I don't know if I'm allowed to put this on here, but I will anyway, he told me I was 1 cm dilated, which means my body is getting ready to get this baby out of me. Hallelujah!

This weekend Joel's cousin Jesse came and visited; it was pretty fun having him around. Joel really enjoyed having his non-pregnant best friend here. Joel had fun filming and messing around, and he made this.

Besides that, this weekend, I made a very yummy sub sandwich; and Joel loved it. I found an Italian loaf at Meijer in the "old bread" rack for only $1. 18 yesterday and I already had everything else. This yummy sandwich had mayonaise, spicy brown mustard, black pepper, oregano, turkey, pepperonis, sharp cheddar cheese (all this baked), and also some avocado and spicy pepperoncinis. My side of the sandwich didn't have as many pepperoncinis, mixed cheddar cheese instead of sharp cheddar, and honey mustard instead of spicy brown. That was my yummy meal for this weekend, the rest were pretty boring.

This past week I added a lot more to my baby registry at Target, so that was pretty cool. And I have been looking at baby clothes a lot. It's pretty fun. I haven't bought very much for her yet, but that'll change. And this Tuesday I have a baby shower, it's actually for two of us, Alisha and I. She's due only 4 days after me, and we're going to the same doctor, so it's been fun having someone so close with everything I'm experiencing.

I packed a little more last night for the trip to the hospital. It's crazy that it could be any day now. I just can't wait. But I have been really learning to be patient and trust God and His timing. It's super hard not knowing, and I feel like a broken record saying this, but it really is tough. It is really cool though to see God teaching me so many things through this "last leg of the race." Like I said, patience, but also joy--having joy throughout every circumstance.

A Little Bit of Everything

So, it's been a few weeks which makes me sad that I couldn't stick to it. But I'm still going to try to write more frequently. I guess I just get overwhelmed with everything going on that any free time I have I'll either lay on the couch and rest or take a nap. I've actually slept a ton this weekend so far. Yesterday, I took a 3 1/2 hour nap, then I slept 10 hours last night, and then today I took a 2 1/2 hour nap. I'm thirty-seven weeks pregnant and definitely feeling it.

My body (and I) wants Elsie to come as soon as possible. It's so hard not knowing when she'll be here. I just wish I could know, I feel like that would be so much easier... unlikely, but that's how i feel. I just want to be able to hold my daughter in my arms instead of in my tummy. I want to be able to see her precious little face and fingers and toes. But the thing is, I don't know when she's coming. This is a huge time for me to just trust God and be content in Him. I need to rest in His sovereignty and know that I can find peace in Him. It's hard, but He is my Stronghold.

A lot has seemed to happen the past few weeks. We finished up 1 2 3 John, and Joel finished Daniel/Revelation; and we started a new block on Friday, which means new classes. Joel is taking Eschatology-the study of end times, and we're both taking Christian Life. And we are also continuing Pastoral Epistles, we actually just started into Titus. It doesn't seem like the homework will be too much for these classes, but there sure is a lot of reading. I've gotten ahead on my reading for Pastorals, so that's good. And this weekend I'm working on some of the reading for Christian Life, because we have to read three good sized books for this class. It's crazy to think that by the end of this block (3 weeks), Elsie could be here.

My parent's ordered a pack and play for us last weekend, and we got it early this week. As soon as Joel brought it in (he checked the mail without me), I opened it up and we put it together. It was a lot of fun, a little hard to set up since it was our first time, but we still really enjoyed it. So, Elsie's bed is up and ready for her to sleep in it. I love the colors and everything about it. The green is just the perfect green. We actually rearranged our whole house this week too. We cleaned, and got rid of one of the desks, and changed it up. I really like it. The bedroom feels bigger and so does the living room. Maybe I"ll put up a few pictures later.

I've really been trying to keep on on the housework in case Elsie comes early. Sometimes it's tough because the dishes just pile up and things start to clutter on the table and desk, but I think I've been doing a pretty good job. It definitely helps that Joel has been lending a hand in the cleaning/picking up department. It's hard for me to bend over, so I love that's he's willing to help out. I don't think I've hit that "nesting" stage. Apparently, I'm supposed to get a ton of energy and want to clean everything. But that just hasn't happened, I want things cleaned, but most of the time I just don't have the energy to do it all at once. I need to take breaks and stuff. Oh well, it'll all get done eventually.

I've been having a hard time motivating myself to eat really healthy. I sure am trying, but I think I'm failing pretty miserably. I just run out of ideas for lunches and dinners... at least yummy ones that sound good. It gets hard when I have only a little bit of energy to cook yummy, healthy meals that both Joel and I like. Because if I make something that only I like, I'll make too much and then won't be able to finish the left-overs. Hm, I guess it's just a learning process, and part of being a wife.

Well, that's all for now. Maybe, whoever is out there reading this, if you could pray for me just finishing strong. I'm so tired and achey, but I want and long to have a good attitude through it all. Prayer would be much appreciated. God bless.

Stitching, Cooking, and Taking Pictures

So, this week seemed to be a pretty long week, but for some reason it also flew by. I wasn't overly busy, but just busy with the normal things. We are now in Pastoral Epistles and 1, 2, 3 John; so instead of one class to do homework for, I have two and Joel has three because of Dan/Rev. I'm not complaining because we're loving it, but it's just a little more homework. I'm so excited for one of John assignments... we have to write out the whole book of 1 John and leave a margin to write notes, applications and cross references. I cannot wait to do this assignment. I kind of have a feeling I'll do this for more books in the Bible too.

I had a doctors appointment on Thursday, and it went well. The doctor said that everything looked normal and great. I'm about 34 1/2 weeks now. It's amazing how fast it's gone by. And Joel and I are so excited. We just cannot wait to meet our little girl.

Okay, stitching. So, Joel has a pair of jeans that have holes in the front, but they are his favorite jeans. It's his most comfortable pair of jeans, but the holes annoyed him. So he asked me to patch them, which I thought he was kind of joking. He cut up one of his flannels that he didn't wear very much for the patch. I sewed and stitched and poked my fingers a couple of times, but I did it. They don't look very professional or anything, on account that it is one of my first sewing experiences. But he likes them so that's all that matters.

Friday night I made fish and chips with tarter sauce again, and this time they were way yummier. Joel really liked them. And we actually had Joel's brother and his family (Jon, Jen and Jaydin) over too. I think that it tasted pretty good, but the greasiness of it makes my tummy feel gross, so I didn't eat very much. But another down side is that it's just a very time consuming meal. Like, because our deep fryer is so tiny, it takes a lot of small batches. But it was still great overall. And we tried frying some scallops but the batter just came right off, so they didn't exactly turn out as planned. But it seems like Joel likes them as left overs.

Saturday, Joel took pictures of Kirsten for her prayer card and just some fun pictures. We walked over to Loomis Park, which is right next door to school. And I also took some pictures too. Joel's pictures are way better, but I think I took a few good ones too. And it was kind of fun because I took some pictures of Joel taking pictures. Here they are:

Kirsten was such a great model :]

33 Weeks

Today I am thirty-three weeks pregnant. That means only 7 more weeks until we get to meet our little girl. She has been moving around like crazy. It's pretty fun to watch my belly poke out when she kicks. But my hands and feet have been swollen this week. It's not very fun. I asked my doctor last week about my hands, and he said it's because of the way I sleep on it cuts off circulation, so it causes swelling. But my feet have just been swollen this week, and I guess that's pretty normal for being pregnant. It probably doesn't help that my feet and body aren't used to walking up and down so many stairs. Elevating them helps. But if they get worse at all, I'll just talk to my doctor about it next week. That's about it for now.

WATER!

So, yesterday, we got very great news! They told us that we could move into an apartment with running water! That means we have a sink for doing dishes, a shower, a toilet, and a bathroom sink. I know this doesn't seem like a very big deal, but after 5 months without those things in an apartment, it's huge!

We are now living on the third floor, which is pretty awesome. It means we get a lot more visitors. But it also means stairs. The third floor has single girls and marrieds. We actually live right down the hall from both of Joel's brothers and their families. It's pretty awesome. And I can't really complain about the stairs, because I think it's a blessing in disguise. It will be good for me to "exercise" more, and those stairs will be my exercise.

It was fun doing dishes in our own apartment with a real sink. I really enjoyed it. Probably weird, but I've kind of always (or almost always) liked doing dishes. But I think that I really enjoyed it because I felt like a real wife. I got to be in our own home doing wifely things. It was great.

This apartment is set up a little differently than our other one too, which I really like. The kitchen is right there when you walk in. To the left is the bathroom. To the right is the living room and the door to the bedroom. And our bedroom is a lot bigger than in the other apartment. It has two closets, and three windows. And best of all is that the heater is super quiet, well at least compared to the other heater. In our old apartment it was so loud. It seriously sounded like little people were inside of it pounding hammers on metal, and then it would sound like a bathtub being filled up.

So all that to say, we love our new apartment. We feel and are so very blessed to have it. I'm still kind of in shock that we have running water. It's amazing.

Today was a really fun, relaxing Sunday. Joel and I went out to a local park and took pictures. It was really sunny but in the mid-twenties. So, it was pretty chilly. But it was a lot of fun and Joel got some great shots.

Then after we got home, I started making fish and chips. That was an adventure. I got a mini deep fryer as a wedding gift and today was the first time I've used it. Unfortunately, we left the instruction book at home in Washington, so I had to wing it. By trial and error, the last batch of fish was the yummiest.

And to end the evening, Joel and I did a Thessalonians assignment and took our take-home Philippians test. What a great day.

It's been a long time since I've updated this blog. But now we are happily married and we're expecting! My due date is March 24, 2011, so only about 8 more weeks until we get to meet our precious little daughter. We are so excited with all the things going on in our lives right now. We are loving classes and enjoying our time with friends and family here at New Tribes Bible Institute. We are into our senior semester, and it is great. Joel is taking Daniel/Revelation right now, and we both just finished up Philippians with one of our favorite teachers, and now we're in 1 & 2 Thessalonians.

Joel has been taking more and more pictures, and he's getting better every day. He actually had the opportunity to take pictures for his cousin's wedding this Christmas break, and they turned out great. He loves shooting all the time, and he reads about cameras constantly. I'm so proud of how incredible his pictures are. And he cannot wait to take pictures of our baby girl.

I've been keeping myself busy with housework, homework, and reading about pregnancy and baby stuff. It's been fun watching her move inside my belly. We can't wait to meet her.

Well, that's about it for this update. I'm going to be working hard at updating more often.