Colors of Change

I love living in a state where Mother Nature celebrates the changing of seasons. In Bakersfield the only seasons were hot and not-so-hot; with an occasional small splash of rain in April. But in Atlanta, I get to experience one of my favorite times of the year: fall. All of the leaves are starting to change and it really does make my long commute to work and back that much more joyous. Trenton, I can't wait until next fall when we could play in the leaves together right after Daddy rakes them all up into a pile :) Besides, that's what piles of leaves are for, right??

One huge change is that this week marks the beginning of the last stretch of my pregnancy! The past 7 months have been a relative breeze with only slight discomforts here and there. As these last 3 months progress, I hope I continue to have an easy pregnancy. Although Trenton is a strong and active little baby, so the bigger he gets, I just know the more uncomfortable I will get with how hard he already kicks me.

Today was my 7 month check up and now I will have to start going to the doctor every two weeks. Which means Trenton is getting closer to meeting the world :) I had to do the much-dreaded glucose test today though to see if I have gestational diabetes. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and I'll know the results in a couple days. But since I didn't get a phone call today I am guessing it was negative and I'm good to go. I am going to have to adjust my diet some over the next 3 months to get more protein and fiber to hopefully help with my weight gain. I also had to get a shot today since Joseph and I are opposite blood types. Since I'm O-Negative and he is O-Positive, we could possibly have issues in future pregnancies. Trenton is fine, but my body could possibly fight against future babies if I don't get this injection with Trenton and every other baby here on out all because of our blood types. But overall Trenton is great and seems to be growing just fine :)

Over the past few weeks, there is so much going on in our little lives. Brittany and Montez got married and spent their first week of married life in Spain. Their wedding was absolutely beautiful and I loved being able to be part of their big day. And they get to keep the memories of their European travels with them, pickpocketed and all :) There was also a sudden death of a long time friend whom we will all miss so dearly. Trenton, you will get to grow up hearing stories of a wonderful woman and someday we will all see her again in Heaven.

Pretty much every weekend from here until 2013, Joseph and I have something going on. I'm thinking there is some good in being due right after the holidays because all this busyness is sure to make the time go by quickly. Which of course means we get to meet our little baby that much sooner. This weekend Joseph and I finally get to take our Las Vegas trip! It will be so nice to have a mini vacation before the two of us become the three of us. Since we will be going with my coworkers and their spouses/significant others, hopefully there won't be much work talked about :) We don't really have that much planned except a dinner and cocktail night (yay soda..... :| ) in my boss' suite, and then a trip to tour the Hoover Dam. But my mom and sister are going to drive over for the weekend so I am really looking forward to that! And some relaxing hopefully.

And of course, 28 weeks here we are! When comparing to last month's picture, I actually have grown a significant amount the past four weeks....!

 
I was also playing on an app on my phone and created this collage of the first 6 months. It's fun to see how small I was when we first found out I was pregnant, and how much Trenton has grown over a short 6 month period :)

Hearts Filled with Joy and Sorrow

This weekend was filled with both extreme joy and extreme sorrow. I found out that a young couple I went to college with lost their precious little baby boy at 38 weeks over the weekend. I don't know the parents of Baby Ezra as well as I knew other family members, but every student and faculty member at my college is so close-knit, it is heart-wrenching. I have had a few other friends lose their babies late in their pregnancies and I cannot imagine it. Though now that I am pregnant, it does become more and more real. You always know things like this happen but never in a million years do you think it would happen to you. But the truth is, and this weekend and this young family was sadly shown, none of us are exempt from saddness and grief and death. It really can happen to anyone; it can happen to us. It makes me ever so grateful for every little kick and movement I feel because it is proof that our little Trenton is still with us. Prayers for this family would be so appreciated, I'm sure, as they cope with the loss of their son, but also with the joy knowing that Ezra gets to grow up in the arms of Jesus. It is such a sad time, but knowing they will see Ezra again someday is a great hope they have in Jesus.

On a happier note for the weekend, Brittany and Montez got married! It was a busy and eventful weekend for our family as we get everything set up and organized for their special day. It was absolutely beautiful and all of Brittany's plans for their wedding turned out fantastic. And of course she was absolutely gorgeous :) I can't wait to see all of their pictures from the photographer and especially can't wait for them to get back from their honeymoon in Spain for the week. Let's just hope they worked on their Spanish while on the plane :) They are going to have so much fun celebrating their first week as Mr. and Mrs. Cammon in such a historical place like Barcelona. I am so excited for them and look up to their relationship.

Please pray for both of these couples, for their grief and their joy as each of them start a new and different journey in their lives and continue to rely on our great God in all times of life.

Miracles of God

I have to start out by saying that God is just so amazing and I am so grateful to be called His daughter and to know that He takes care of us, even in the funniest ways.  I've been a bit stressed lately about some financial concerns and have been praying daily for God to show us how to tackle everything and be alright about it. I was even praying (semi-jokingly) for God to give us a miracle while we are in Las Vegas in November (more on that later) and let us when even just a couple hundred dollars, because that would help tremendously. But then I get the news yesterday that I got a bonus at work! We finished up a long and tedious project my team has been working on for a couple of years, even before I started, and we got our bonuses from that client! When I logged in to look at my check stub I almost cried. I got a ginormous bonus! Even after taxes cut out 40% (which sucks by the way) it was still a huge chunk of money that helps us tremendously toward our goals and helps us get on track. I have been in such awe and so grateful for the miracles God gives. I asked for a small couple hundred dollars while in Vegas, and God decides to one up that and go for a couple thousand right now instead. God is so so good..... :)

Now about Vegas. My company is wonderful and I love it so much. I mentioned this awhile back, but now its actually happening. As a treat for doing so well last year and bringing in so much revenue for our company, my boss is treating our entire team and our spouses to a weekend in Las Vegas! So in November we will be heading for a nice weekend "babymoon" to Vegas :) of course with my co-workers but that's alright. But my wonderful mommy and sister will be making the 5 hour drive over so we will be able to see them too!


On another happy note, a couple weeks ago Joseph finally got to feel Trenton kick! It was so exciting. Sometime I feel like I was more excited than he was but that's okay :) Trenton had been very active at that time and I've been waiting for the weekends to have Joe feel him. But of course as soon as I call him over Trenton stops moving. So I started pushing him around to get him moving and I think I made him mad because then he just wouldn't stop moving and kicking! And hard too. Which now of course I definitely do not mind. And he has been moving practically non-stop since.

A funny story happened a few weeks back too. Joseph wanted to learn about swaddling. So what does he recommend? We get a blanket and put Brittany on the floor to act as "baby". I just wish we got some pictures of us swaddling an her like a baby!

We also had an appointment on Friday for my 6 month check up. Nothing too exciting but the doctor said Trenton is an active little guy. He kept kicking her as she was trying to to listen to his heartbeat :)

And here is my 6 month photo!