April showers... more like thunderstorms

Plans quickly changed for the beginning of April as birthday plans were cancelled and flights in for the funeral were booked. Sometimes God has a very twisted sense of humor. I won't bore you with the long, painful details, but here's the abbreviated version. Our flights into Midland, TX somehow went ridiculously awry leaving a pregnant woman, her husband (whose birthday was the next day) stranded for 8 hours at the Houston Airport, trying to reach a family member who just had chemo that week for a funeral the next day. Did we sound pathetic or what!?!

When we finally got there (an hour ahead of family who had left the same airport two hours before us) our luggage was MIA. We made a claim and prayed it would be there in time for the 10am funeral that would happen in less than 12 hours. When morning came, there was still no clue as to the whereabouts our bags so at 8:45 we were authorized some money to by clothes for the funeral. After a 10 minute drive to Walmart (the only clothing store open in the area at the time) a speed record of 20 minute shopping trip. We then had the emotional whiplash of going to the funeral to say our goodbyes to Grandpa.

It was a very honoring time. At the cemetery an honor guard played taps beside Grandpa's casket which was draped with an American flag. The flag was then folded and presented to Jim, the grandson and Marine in the family. We said our final goodbyes and Mike and I left a deck of pinochle cards with Grandpa. Anyone who knew Grandpa understands their significance. This was the hardest point for me. Somehow the permanence really set in here. Even now, it is difficult write about this. Funerals are hard enough, but being pregnant at a funeral is not very fair. I don't remember much of the rest of that day. I just remember getting our luggage at some point and Mike and I having a hard time feeling like celebrating his 25th birthday with the whole family. We were grateful to the family for celebrating his birthday, but for Mike and I who process these things by sitting quietly together, this took some stretching for us to celebrate. It was very good to see some little family members we haven't seen before and some we probably won't be able to see for a while. It was a tribute to Grandpa that the whole family was there.

Our return home was pleasantly uneventful, but a day later we both came down with vomiting, diarrhea, and fever (for me we just added the diarrhea and temp since vomiting was a common occurrence). Since that very difficult couple of weeks, life has been a little more quiet. We have another doctor's appointment in a week. We're 13 weeks right now, so in a little less than 2 months we'll know if it's a boy or a girl. More work continues on the house- especially now that October has become a deadline for a lot of housework.

Please be praying that the three of us will remain healthy in the coming months.
Please pray that the 2nd trimester is better and that I'm not too uncomfortable this summer.
Please pray that Mike and I will be mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically as ready as we can be to add another person to the family.
Please pray for Mike's mom, Lynn, as her chemo continues.

We'll try to post more frequently now with baby updates! More house pictures and ultrasound pictures will come soon. We appreciate your love and support, and we covet your prayers!

March- A little too much month for us

In early March we had another ultrasound to verify dates and found out we are officially due October 20, just in time to be on maternity leave for my birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years.

In mid March we were able to go on a very fun 4 night cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. It was an amazing adventure, although the day we set sail we received the news that Grandpa Chynoweth had a major stroke and Mom Chynoweth had just been given the news that she had stage 2 breast cancer. It was hard leaving like that, but the timing was also a blessing since there wasn't anything we could do, and the cruise gave us a chance to process this change as well as not to dwell on it in an unhealthy way. (Confession: Mike and I tend to be worriers!)

Unfortunately the rest of March didn't get any better. Mike came home to a heavier load at work, there were delays with Mom's 1st chemo, and Grandpa's health got worse. Things were starting to look like there might be a brief reprieve at the end of March as we geared up for Mike's birthday, but then the news came that on Sunday, March 30, Grandpa's pain left as he left us. He was an incredible man of God who loved his family dearly and went to be with the Lord at just over 91 years. We were glad to see him go for his sake, but sad for ours.

February- BIG NEWS!

February marked a couple of milestones for Mike and I. First, we celebrated having been together as a couple for 7 years (May 31st we will have been married for 5!). The next big bit of news most of you already know, and the rest of you we apologize that this is the first you're hearing... WE'RE PREGNANT!!!!! In this odd digital age we live in, many people were congratulating us on email and facebook, before we had really fully announced it. We were able to surprise the grandparents pretty good, but we had to keep it a secret from them a whole week before we had the right opportunity to tell them all together. Once we finally got the dates nailed down with the doctor we were able to look back and see that we actually found out at about 3 and 1/2 weeks, really early. We had our first ultrasound and saw our little blob!

Many Months, Many BIG Events- January

Regretfully, it has been a while since we last posted. We've had a very busy several months. I fear that the pace of life won't be slowing down anywhere in the near future for us. For ease of ready I'll break it down by months.

In January, we had the fun of going camping with some of our good friends. Both the camping and the good company are such a joy and source of renewal for Mike and I. It was a little scary for one night when we had a tornado warning in the area and we stood hunkered down under our tarp together with the mud puddle rising below us. Eventually we made a little river (which will remain nameless here) and the water drained away leaving us on somewhat dry ground!