dear baby.

Dear Baby C,

Today you are 25 weeks! Just about 15 more to go... You weight about 1 1/2 pounds, you are 13 1/2 inches long, and I can feel you wiggling around now! We're starting to think more about how we want your room to look and we've started moving some furniture around to try to make room for you and all the stuff you need to be comfy. It's so fun daydreaming about it and I so wish I could paint the room for you!

Just yesterday, as your daddy and I were watching American Idol, I pictured us one year ahead of today and by that time, you will probably be crawling all over the place in our little apartment. It's so hard to believe! Sometimes we think about how much of an impact you will have on us - they say I won't believe how much I'll love you as soon as I lay eyes on you. I'm so looking forward to that day, but try not to be too hard on me, I'm nervous about what you're going to do to my body on your way out!

Oh, and ladies - I found this awesome link on pinterest with some great ideas for maternity outfits here on this blog if you're interested!

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my sweet husband's poor heart.

So in the short time we've been married, the Lord has really taken us on quite a journey. Brenton has lost two jobs, we are unexpectedly expecting a baby is July, and we found out that Brenton needs heart surgery this year... Here's story behind the surgery:

After I was hired at the clinic we got health insurance, so Brenton went in for a physical and the doctor pointed out that he had a heart murmur that sounded pretty serious. He has never been told this before, so the doctor referred him to a Cardiologist for more input. In December, Brenton went to see the Cardiologist and he had an EKG and an Echocardiogram done. The doctor said Brenton's mitral valve isn't working properly so it's allowing back flow of blood in his heart and therefore keeping a percentage of it from getting to the rest of his organs. The cardiologist said this could make him tire more easily, have some chest pain, and possibly headaches. Because Brenton had already noticed some of the symptoms, the doctor asked him to come back in 3 months for a re-check. Early this month, he had an appointment and the doctor said things have gotten worse, and they said he will probably need surgery to get the leaky valve repaired.

Just yesterday, we met with the surgeon who will be working on my husband's heart. The date of surgery is April 26th. He explained that the surgery is very common, but not in a 25 year old. He said it will be minimally invasive and the recovery should be a quicker process because he is so much younger than the usual patient for this kind of thing.

They will make an incision in his left side and will somehow manage to do heart surgery, (which I cannot for the life of me figure out), to repair the valve. 85% of the time, they are able to successfully repair the valve (which is the best case scenario), but if they can't we need to let them know what kind of valve they should replace his with. The surgery should take 4-4 1/2 hours and he will most likely be in the hospital for 3-5 days and can then return to work; he will still feel pain for awhile, and after about 4-6 weeks he should be back to normal.

This is still quite a shock for us, and we're both nervous, but the Lord has taken good care of us through every up and down life has thrown at us so far. We are so thankful to have friends and family who care so much. Please pray that everything goes smoothly!

P.S. on the way home we were discussing who will have it more rough in the next few months: he's thinking he'd rather go through labor. We'll let you know once July rolls around...

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projects.

It just seems like I have so many half started projects.  Before our baby is born, I am determined to get through as many as I can. Unfortunately, thanks to Pinterest, the projects actually seem to be multiplying instead... Here's my latest pinterest inspired project.

Hubbs and I tend to lean more toward the gender neutral stuff for baby room decor so I thought I could whip up some lacey-ish crafts to make the nursery more (little) ladylike. The nursery is going to be the colors of these curtains. I am just itching to get it all decorated!!
Currently I am also working on a Shutterfly book to display our wedding pictures from that oh-so-special day back in December 2010.  We splurged a little on this part of the wedding and it was worth every penny. See some of our pictures and our photographer's blog here!

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weekend.

Happy weekend!

I think it will be a low key one for us. It seems like 95% of the population headed down to Florida for the week. Every year I wonder how so many people fit in that state during the month of March. It's like every college student and elderly person I've ever met. Not to mention, all the people that actually live there!!

 So anyway, who knows what we'll be doing here in empty Wisconsin, but I'm under the impression that it's going to be pretty stinkin' nice outside this week and that's all that really matters to me. I've got my husband, my growing baby girl, the sun, and two full days off work. I'm all set.

Here's a flashback from last year around this time. When I too was a lucky one to soak up some sun in FL. Here we are at Epcot with the grandparents.

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dear baby.

Dear Baby C,

You are 23 weeks old today.  I'm still very amazed that you're living inside of me. When I learn about how you're growing, I think about how incredible our God is, but sometimes I honestly think the whole thing is pretty strange. I'm so happy about you though.

At this point, I'm told that you're already starting to look like a miniature newborn. That your lips, eyelids and eyebrows are becoming more distinct. And your eyes have formed now too! You weigh just about 1 pound and are a foot long. Unbelievable.

Lately, your daddy and I have been at work during the day which is good because we will be able to take care of you when you get here, but bad because it's so nice outside and we want to go discing. Daddy says he really hopes you like coming discing with us too. On the weekends we sleep as late as possible, followed by friends and family time, errands, cooking, church and date nights until Monday rolls around again.

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