The Best Year of my Life

A year ago today I married the most amazing man I've ever met. I am overwhelmed when I think of how blessed I am to have married a man like Jarrett. I am amazed every day at what a wonderful husband he is, and it seems to get better all of the time. The thing I love the most about him is that he has a love for God like I have never seen before. I am so thankful that my son will have such an amazing father.

We celebrated our anniversary yesterday because J was taking his youth to Holiday in the Park today. The day started with opening presents. He got me a robe with my initials on it and a makeup bag. I absolutely LOVED it and needed it, but never asked for it. And he got me the sweetest (and most funny) card and wrote the sweetest words on it. I cried, surprise, surprise! I got him a football signed by Jordan Shipley, the receiver for the Longhorns and a Longhorn t-shirt, and no card. He pretty much beat me in the gift department!!

Last night we had dinner together, followed by some sparkling grape juice and the top layer from our wedding cake. Yumm....nothing like year old cake!!! We had a great night just being together. We also watched our wedding video which was a lot of fun. I of course got emotional, but only because I am overwhelmed by the awesome marriage God has blessed us with. He has given me more in a husband than I could ever ask for.

Growing Belly

18 Weeks
23 Weeks

Weight Comments

I experienced something today that I never understood until I became pregnant.  I always thought that pregnant women should not be offended by people talking about their weight.  My thought was always "you're pregnant, you're supposed to gain weight".

That all changed today.  I did teacher training on Smartboards all day long.  At the very end of the day one teacher asked me when I was due.  I told her April and she said "Wow you are going to gain a lot of weight".  And as soon as she left I started tearing up.  I never thought comments like this would bother me, but it did.  I really just could not believe how insensitive she was.  

Well, I'm glad I got that first "weight" comment out of the way!!  Now it is just makes me laugh.

My Baby Boy

The night before our "big" sonogram, I could barely sleep. All I could think about is seeing that baby moving in my belly and watching its heart beat on the screen. And of course will I be decorating in blue or pink!!

I took the whole day off of work. Jarrett and I got to our appointment a little early, but unfortunately got called back about 45 minutes late! My mom was there too. I was a ball of anxiousness!!

Almost as soon as the technician got the goop on my belly, she said "Oh, it's a boy!!, he just showed me." Then she went about taking all of the pictures she needed. I was still focused on seeing that heartbeat, once I did it set in that we were having a boy and I instantly fell in love with him. He looked perfect in all the pictures and is for sure a boy! We are working on naming him and getting his room ready.

Here is one of his pictures....I think he has my nose!!

Unsolicited Advice

Once I got pregnant people kept warning me that I would get tons of unsolicited comments and advice on pregnancy. So far none have really bothered me, except for one. This is typically how the conversation goes:

So…Amanda, are you hoping for a boy or a girl?
My response, it really doesn’t matter.
Their response is “As long as it’s healthy, right?”

I cannot count how many people have made this comment. And to be completely honest, of course I want a healthy baby. But more importantly than that, I want the baby that God chooses to bless Jarrett and I with, "healthy" or not. I pray for a child who will grow to love the Lord with all its heart. Being pregnant has forced me to learn to trust in God more than at any point in my life. God doesn’t make mistakes, and whether he gives us a healthy child or a child with special needs, I know He has a plan for the child and for Jarrett and me.

Now that I have gotten that off my chest…I am VERY excited for tomorrow. We get to see our baby!! And the bonus is that we get to find out whether it’s a boy or a girl. It is still hard for me to grasp that there is a baby growing inside of me, so I can’t wait to see him or her.

First Baby Pictures

Baby E at 10 Weeks

Me at 16 Weeks

15 Weeks

Jarrett and I headed yesterday to our second doctor's appointment. First thing when I got there I headed to the restroom. As soon as I got out Jarrett said the nurse came out and said they needed a urine sample. Great!! How come they don't warn you before you come? Anyways, thanks to pregnancy bladder, I had to go about 10 minutes later. Guess I will know next time!

So on to the good stuff...the doctor basically just answered lots of pregnancy questions and filled us in on what to expect in the next 5 months. We did get to hear the heartbeat and it was in the 150s....hmm what's that old wives tale? High heartbeat and its a girl? I guess we will see on November 10th which is the "big" ultrasound. Only about 3 weeks away!!

So all is going good...well except for the 7 pounds I've already gained!!! My doctor also talked about nutrition and exercise, and made the point that I am eating for 1 and 1/4 not eating for 2!

Jarrett + Amanda =

A few weeks back....12 to be exact I started feeling tired and sore and I just knew that I had to be pregnant.  So I decided to take a pregnancy test.  I didn't tell Jarrett just in case I was wrong.  So I take it and walk out of the restroom crying to Jarrett because there was only one pink line and if I wasn't pregnant, then something was really wrong with me because I just felt so strange!  After a quick second look I say "Jarrett, do you see that?"  And there it was, a faint pink second line.  Oh my gosh!!  We freak out a little.  But since it was so faint, we still aren't sure that it is real.  After a few days and THREE more pregnancy tests, we determine that yes, we are expecting!!  WOW!  I can not even begin to explain the emotions I felt.  I'll be honest....it started with fear until it finally turned into excitement!!

And here we are holding our first set of sonogram pictures.  Our first appointment was on September 10th and the baby looked great!   

Summer Camp

If we look really tired in this picture, it is because WE WERE! I think Jarrett got a total of 15 hours of sleep ALL week! This was my first year to attend Breakaway Camp, and it was awesome! The last time I attended a camp was 10 years ago when I was in high school, and boy have things changed!! I never had Starbucks, Marble Slab, Smoothie King, YouTube night, a band from Sweden or anything like that at youth camp! The worship band was amazing, and the speaker was amazing and I just really had a great week worshipping God! There were over 500 middle schoolers there, and I just loved getting to know the Grace girls better.
I was pretty proud to have my husband as a member of the P.O.O.P. squad at camp. Here they are in action....and yes that is a real mustache on my husband. SCARY!

Where Did it Go?

Where has the summer gone?? Due to the fact that I am no longer a teacher, I somewhat missed out on summer vacation. I had to go into work about two days a week this summer, which wasn't too bad, but oh how I missed having two straight months of nothingness!!! And this Monday, I officially started my contract....so here we go again!

Anyways, here are some pictures from the Fourth of July. We hung out at my parents pool with about 40 other family and friends.

What do you do at a Good Friday Service?

This is the question I asked my husband as we headed to church on Friday night. In my 28 year history of attending church, I have never attended (or even heard about) a Good Friday service. Boy have I been missing out! We had an incredible service filled with worship and a powerful message. Bryan, our pastor, read straight from the book of Matthew about the passover feast, the betrayal and the crucifixion of Jesus. As I listened to the story, I tried to visualize what it must have really been like to be there. I pictured Jesus as a man. I can only wonder what he truly looked like. I tried to imagine the physical pain He felt as he hung on the cross. At the end of the service we were given the option to nail our personal sins to a cross that was at the front of the church. My heart jumped as the first sin was nailed to the cross and I thought of my Saviour's hands and feet being pierced by the nails as He was hung on the cross. As we were leaving the service I overheard Jarrett in a conversation. He made the point that Jesus dying on the cross means nothing without His resurrection. Without His resurrection He was just a man who was crucified, but He rose from the dead and He conquered the grave for all of us who believe in Him. What a Good Friday, and an even better Sunday!

After church on Sunday, we headed to my parents house to eat...and man did we eat!! It was delicious as usual. And we got to spend it with my Aunt, Uncle, Grandma, Ashley, Asher, Abram and my parents. (Aaron, my brother, had to work)

Asher and Abram, my favorite nephews. I just had to include this cute picture!

What Better Way to Spend a Friday night.....

than with these two guys and my man.

He's going to make a great daddy one day!

And so is he!!! Later though!

The Big Day

We had a wonderful wedding. Short, sweet, and beautiful. God is so good to have given me this man to marry.

Gorgeous Nephews:

The Week Before the Wedding

We had quite the eventful wedding week. Let's just say my husband is quite the trooper and he proved it the week before the wedding. On the Monday before the wedding I get a call from my fiance that he is headed to Tyler to get a CT scan. He had been at the doctor's office all morning after I insisted that he go after a weekend of complaining that his side hurt. The CT scan revealed that he had an inflamed appendix and would need to have an emergency appendectomy. So off to the hospital we went and by 6:00 that night, Jarrett had one less body part. After a night of funny moments, including him peeing in a drawer, we left the hospital at 9:00 the next morning, swung by the county clerk's office to get our marriage license and headed home. I tucked him into bed at my house and tried to relax (yeah right!). So the week before the wedding was very challenging, but very much worth it!

Catching Up

I'm having to back track quite a bit due to the fact that I have not blogged since December 1st.

The next few blogs will just be catching up. I have lots of pictures and stories from our wedding and the first 2 months of our marriage. All I can say is that I have never felt more blessed and more at peace with life than I do right now. God truly has blessed me.