Bump shot at 24 weeks

I took a pic this morning in my hotel room on my Macbook photobooth...not the best quality pic. This morning she had the hiccups...it is such a surreal feeling having her move! I love it!

Studying is going well. It has been nice meeting up with my residency mates to study and go through various scenarios. I will be excited though when it is all done...and I can see Aaron again! He will be flying back the same day I do, so it will be nice to see him again!!
Well, sorry so short....gotta get to class. Salivary Gland Pathology...exciting!! Don't be jealous...LOL

Elsa MaryAnn

I thought I would post the ultrasound pics at 22 weeks of our precious daughter, Elsa. Here is her cute foot that has been extremely active this past week. I think we have a future kickboxer!

And, here are two of her face, one front on, the other is a profile shot.



I know I did not initially want to find out the gender, but I am so happy we did. It is fun to refer to "her" rather than "it".

Only three more weeks until my test!!!! I am so excited for it to be done! Aaron will be flying to MN for the three weeks I will be at a board review course in Washington/board exam in Dallas. Then, we can come home to some more craziness.....we might be moving. We love our current house, but have recently been told we will be offered a house in the brand new base housing units! We went and looked at our friends' home on base and loved it! We would have a three bedroom home with tons of closets/cabinet storage, all utilities paid for, american outlets (we currently have to plug all of our appliances into transformers that use insane amounts of energy), we can actually have a warm home (our 300 year old house was so cold this winter despite an insanely high gas bill), close to parks....since we will be gone to the States, we had to give our friend Jess power of attorney to accept an offer when it comes around. Oh, and the big reason is the military will move us for free on base. When we moved into this house, we had to do it on our own (not so much fun). Our landlord had wanted to sell this house, so we are worried that if we extend here for a year or when our lease will come up, she won't give us the option of renewal and we will have to move on our own again....no thanks...especially with a newborn. We will keep you posted.

It's a.......

GIRL!!!!!!!

We are very excited! We didn't really care what the gender was, but that it was healthy. The u/s technician was awesome and showed us all the things she was looking at and everything looks great! She weighs 1 pound, 1 oz and is on track for my due date of 28 May 09! I can't wait to dress her up in cute pink dresses and little bows! Good thing pink is one of my favorite colors!

Can you tell I am bored with studying...

I am playing with blog backgrounds....What do you think?

We are still here....

Sorry I have not posted in ages...I don't know where the last two months have gone! Things have been extremely busy here since coming back after being in MN for Christmas and now I am busy cramming for boards. I have been so out of touch with many of you and I sincerely apologize! I will be so glad when this test is done!!!! I feel like I have been in such a funk lately since I always seem to be thinking of the test (although I am starting to feel a little better about it), haven't been working out like I used to, have gotten away from my read-the-Bible-in-a-year-plan...everything is on hold for this test. But, the end is in sight. I take the test on Feb 15th! I fly to Bethesda on the 1st for a 2 week Navy board review course where I will be able to cram some more with my residency partners, then to Dallas.

I have a huge To-Do list to tackle when I get back...mainly, to start preparing for the Baby. I have put everything on hold to help me concentrate on the Boards. Although, its fun to look through some of the gifts we have received so far and to sit up in the nursery (currently a storage room).

In other news, we find out the gender of our baby on the 22nd! We are so excited. Not just to find out the gender, but to make sure he/she is developing appropriately. Here are some photos of "the bump" This first one was at 20 weeks...after a long day of work and studying (sans makeup)

Here is one today after Church. I am almost 22 weeks along and it seems to be going by much more quickly!


And, I promise, on the 22nd, we will post what we are having. The majority of you think it is going to be a boy. A few weeks ago, I had a dream it was a boy. But, then, the other night, I had one that it was a girl.... So, there goes that theory! And, no, there is only one in there :)

What I am Thankful for......

The OB said this one looked like it was waving to us.



I am currently 14 weeks along (the u/s images were at 12 weeks) and starting to feel much better! It was a rough 6 weeks there! The due date is 28 May 09. I think we have decided to find out the gender, but unfortunately, won't know until AFTER we are in MN. Oh Well. We have been pretty set on the name Colton Chet for a boy (Chet was Aaron's grandfather's name) and somewhat decided on Elsa MaryAnn for a girl (Mary Ann after my Grandmother)... I am convinced it is a Girl since we were having a hard time deciding on that name, but Aaron thinks it is a boy... My sister Lindsay has been pestering me to post a belly photo, but I am going to defer until it looks less like a post-Turkey day dinner belly and more like a pregnant belly. But, I am starting to show and my clothes are not fitting. I will soon be the "proud" owner of the military maternity uniform where the stretchy panels stretches up to my chest....definitely designed by a male.

We are so absolutely grateful for this miracle that has taken 2 years to create! it was a long, frustrating journey that strengthend our faith, but ultimately turning over our lives to God and trusting in his plan really saved our sanity! I came across this titled: Thoughts on Becoming a Mother...

There are women that become mothers without effort, without thought, without patience or loss and though they are good
mothers and love their children, I know that I will be better.

I will be better not because of genetics, or money or that I have read more books but
because I have struggled and toiled for this child.

I have longed and waited. I have cried and prayed.
I have endured and planned over and over again.

Like most things in life, the people who truly have appreciation are those who have struggled to attain their dreams.
I will notice everything about my child.
I will take time to watch my child sleep, explore and discover.
I will marvel at this miracle every day for the rest of my life.

I will be happy when I wake in the middle of the night to the sound of my child,
knowing that I can comfort, hold and feed him
and that I am not waking to take another temperature, pop another pill,
take another shot or cry tears of a broken dream.
My dream will be crying for me.

I count myself lucky in this sense; that God has given me this insight,
this special vision with which I will look upon my child that my friends will not see.

Whether I parent a child I actually give birth to or a child that God leads me to,
I will not be careless with my love.

I will be a better mother for all that I have endured.
I am a better wife, a better aunt, a better daughter, neighbor, friend and sister because I have known pain.

I know disillusionment as I have been betrayed by my own body.
I have been tried by fire and hell many never face, yet given time, I stood tall.
I have prevailed.
I have succeeded.
I have won.
So now, when others hurt around me, I do not run from their pain
in order to save myself discomfort. I see it, mourn it, and join them in theirs.
I listen.

And even though I cannot make it better, I can make it less lonely.
I have learned the immense power of another hand holding tight to mine,
of other eyes that moisten as they learn to accept the harsh truth and when life is beyond hard.

I have learned a compassion that only comes with walking in those shoes.
I have learned to appreciate life.
Yes I will be a wonderful mother.

Author Unknown


We hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving and you will all be in our thoughts and prayers. We look forward to seeing most of you in 2 1/2 weeks!

New House

Here are two pics of the front of the house. You can see in the second pic the church to the right.


Here is the back of the house. We have a set of french doors that open from the living room to the garden.

The church from the back step.

Our large garden with brick gazebo.

The front entrance

The foyer

The living room

Dining room


And, finally, the kitchen


We have so much more room than our previous house! Our kitchen has twice the space and American size appliances! There is a large office downstairs and three large bedrooms upstairs. In addition, there are two smaller rooms upstairs that we are using as a closet and a study.
The house, according to our antique dealer Bob, is 300 years old with a renovation approx 150 years ago. It used to be an old rectory for the Church, and is called The Manor House. Every hour the church bells chime with the time and on Friday nights and Sun mornings, they play a melody for over an hour (much to Aaron's dismay when he is trying to sleep after working until 4am). The village is really quaint and is approx 1000 people. I went for a run Monday throughout and around the village....along a field in which they were doing the fall harvest, to the marina and along the river, and up/down various other streets exploring our new home. It was a tranquil run of about an hour.

Aaron is going back to school part time. He is starting with a Macroeconomics class via the University of Maryland. At least I will have someone to study with this fall when I start studying for boards! He is also working part time at the sports bar on base. So, he is definitely keeping busy!

Work is going well for me and I continue to absolutely love what I do. The swim season started last week so I am coaching two days a week. All the families/kids are great and it has been a lot of fun to see how the kids have improved over last year. The team sent me and the head coach to a coaches clinic in Austria for a weekend...I know, rough...to learn how to effectively coach the kids. And, I am getting more involved with our Church on base. I started lectoring and am taking over as the liturgical coordinator this month. Keeping busy....and, now I need to get motivated to start studying for my oral boards in Dallas in February.

We continue to appreciate all of your prayers with our desire to add to our family. My doctor recently diagnosed me with "unexplained infertility"---he is not sure why we are not getting pregnant again. I had several studies that showed there was no scarring from the D&C and that there is no tubal blockage; and, Aaron has good swimmers :) It has been a frustrating past two years and I think that diagnosis is more frustrating. If there was blockage, at least they could potentially fix it.... He ruled out polycystic ovarian disease since I am not over weight and don't have the other symptoms and ruled out numerous medical conditions that can decrease your chance of conception (diabetes, thyroid disease...). He said the chance of us getting pregnant (based on studies of women diagnosed with unexplained fertility) each month is 5%--YIKES! So, he started me on Clomid this month to see if that works. This raises my chances to a whopping 7% (although considered to be statistically significant, seems still low) The only downside is that there is a 10% chance of twins and a 0.5% chance of triplets....and, if you read Suz's blog to the right.....a chance of quads. But, at this point, we are putting it in God's hands and will welcome his blessing(s). Please continue to pray that we will have success with Clomid in getting pregnant.

Well, that is all for now. We are going to Bristol (near Bath) next weekend for my half marathon that I am not feeling ready for....
Oh, and we are coming home in Dec for two weeks and hope to see you all!