Canteloupe

It dawned on me this week that our little boy will be here with us in about four months! We are so excited and also a bit overwhelmed with all that we have yet to do in preparation for his arrival. With Thanksgiving week behind us, we have been reflecting quite a bit on how much we have to be thankful for this year. It's amazing to think of the changes that are to come as we prepare to enter the new year.

This week has been the epitome of the "honeymoon" second trimester. I haven't really had any pregnancy symptoms, with the exception of heartburn. Papaya supplements have been really helpful in moderating or eliminating the heartburn, though, which has been amazing! I'm trying to embrace and enjoy how wonderful this trimester can be. Like Grant has been reminding me lately, there is no better day to live than today!

Posing with balloons from our first baby shower

This week you continue to grow at a rapid rate! We can't believe how big you are already getting. At a foot long, you are really thin because you only weigh about a pound and a half, but you should start filling out pretty soon. Your bones are getting stronger, and I can feel your kicks. We have even been able to see you move around in my belly this week!

We celebrated you this weekend at our first baby shower. My mom, aunt, and good friend Bri hosted a wonderful party! We enjoyed a delicious brunch, played some fun (and difficult) games, and opened lots of fun gifts for you to play with and wear! They even put together sweet centerpieces made with pumpkins!

The pumpkins had faces with pacifiers! So adorable!

Baby shower cake

Opening our gifts - we got a lot of really sweet clothes!

We have another baby appointment this week. It's bloodwork week, so I'm a little nervous and hoping that everything comes back normal. We are excited to check in and hear the heartbeat again. It's always our favorite part of monthly check-ups!

Love, the George family



Grapefruit

Now that we know we are having a little boy, we have been able to say "him" and "he," rather than "it." We have been able to buy him some sweet little boy clothes, made even more exciting as we went on vacation to Disney World last week. And we've continued the difficult process of trying to name our boy. We've looked through countless baby name books (several cover to cover) and scoured websites, forums, and blogs...we've compiled a list and eliminated several names but just can't settle on one "perfect" name.

Being at Disney World offered us many oppotunities to watch the little kids and dream about what our boy will be like. Pregnancy caused me to slow down a bit and there were a few attractions that I couldn't enjoy, but we had a fabulous time! It also gave me some down time to recuperate before we off to the next ride or show. We even got to meet up with some friends of ours that happened to be at Disney World, too!

Our little grapefruit at 23 weeks!

We have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season. Now that you can hear us, we've tried to be more intentional about singing you lullabies. Daddy likes to talk to you when we are all together. I know you're always with me, and I like to talk a lot, so I'm sure you will know my voice! You really do look like a mini newborn by now, and you are almost to the point of development that you could survive outside of the womb, with the help from a lot of machines. But we are happy with you right where you are - safe and secure in mommy's belly! We just can't believe how much you've grown already!

We are really excited to enjoy Thanksgiving and the Christmas season knowing that you will be here with us next year. You are definitely going to change some things in our lives, and even though that can be scary, we are embracing the excitement of what your presence will bring to our family.

My only wish right now is for time to slow down. We are still trying to finish the basement and prepare your room...it's a lot of work! With the busy schedule of the holidays and traveling, I don't know how we are going to get everything done. But things always get done somehow, and it will be so wonderful when we have your room all ready to go and the guest area for grandma and grandpa to come visit from Iowa (we might kick your other grandparents back to their house at night)! :)

Love, Mommy and Daddy (the George family)

Papaya

What a hectic week it has been...not enough time and time is dragging on. We were anxiously awaiting our ultrasound on Wednesday, which seemed like the longest day ever! And...the big news is that we are having a little BOY!! We can't wait to meet our little prince and are working to pick out a name for him. We thought we had a good list figured out before we found out his gender, but now it just seems to be more difficult!

My symptoms this week have actually settled down quite a bit. My heartburn has gotten a lot better, with some help from papaya enzymes that I take before eating something that I think might cause me pain. It's made eating a lot more enjoyable, to say the least. :)

Bandit wanted to be a part of the picture! All of daddy's loves :)

We are so excited that we got to see you this past week, our little man. Daddy is already planning all of the fun things that you will do together as you grow. We got you the cutest little shoes this week to celebrate us knowing that you are a boy! And mommy found some really cute clothes for you that she can't wait to see you wear when you make your arrival. Keep growing strong, little one!

The second trimester really is a good trimester. I am still more tired than I used to be, but it's nice to feel like I am able to carry on life (mostly) like normal. I'm trying to enjoy this stage as long as I can - it's so much fun to feel our boy moving around, but I'm not so big that it's uncomfortable. What a fun stage of pregnancy!

Love, the George family (including our soon to be SON)







How to save our nation

I am dissappointed in the citizens of our nation, even myself. Have we become so consumed with materialism and "our rights" that we no longer have compassion for one another? Have our individual needs (daresay I propose our fears) become so encompassing that we neglect to realize the better of the whole?

This is not about a political party - this is about the division of our nation. This is about the rude comments I have been seeing and reading via social media.

As a therapist, I realize that anxiety runs high and, left unbridled, culminates to a point of needing release. Unfortunately, social media has become an easy, "neutral" place to vent anxieties. My concern is the division that this can cause.

This nation was once a place of great hope for it's people. It was a place that was safe, in which it's citizens did not fear dictatorship. Sadly, the corruption of greed and the "have it my way, forgetting the rest" mentality has pervaded our culture. This is a part of the human condition. We cannot be saved by politics, friends. Republican, democrat, libertarian...politics cannot save the world, or our nation.

My King was never a president, the House, the Senate, or any other worldly leader. Thankfully, my King doesn't go up for re-election every two or four years, and no one can overthrow Him. Many have tried, many have run away from Him, they even killed Him. But He still reigns. And He doesn't respond out of anxiety, fear, or desperation - He responds with mercy, grace, and thoughtfulness.

This is my challenge:

I pray that our nation would be devoted to one another in brotherly love. I pray for the grace to honor one another above ourselves. (Romans 12:10, NIV)

I seek you, Lord, on behalf of this nation. May we humble ourselves and pray and seek Your face and turn from our wicked ways. Lord, then You will hear from heaven and forgive our sin and heal our land. (2 Chronicles 7:14, NIV)

Lord, turn our hearts toward You. Give us an undivided heart and put a new spirit in us. Remove from this nation our hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh. Do these things, that we may follow your decrees and be careful to keep your laws. We will be a nation of Your people, and You our God. (Ezekiel 11:19-20, NIV)

Let me be clear, this is not a challenge because I am upset with election results. This is much more serious, infinitely more crucial than any election. This is about the lives of each individual in our nation. We must band together, in love, if we want to see any real, lasting change.

Pomegranate

Now that we are past the halfway mark, the excitement goes down just a little bit again...except that this week is GENDER REVEAL WEEK!!! We have been waiting for this for what seems like an eternity, and we could not be anticipating this any more! (Hence all of the !!!)

I had my first trip to the chiropractor this week, and he adjusted my lower back. Things are stretching in all kinds of weird ways. No other symptoms have cropped up yet, though :)

21 weeks - hooray!

I don't notice how much baby has grown until I see the pictures :)

You have grown quite a lot in the past couple of weeks. I'm not sure how you can survive with the rapid rate of growth and development that you are going through - just another mystery of life. You most likely have eyelashes and eyebrows by this time, and you have a lot of changes coming up in the next several weeks! It's hard to believe that you are already about 13 ounces and 8-10 inches long! You're already growing up, and we haven't even seen you yet!

BOY or GIRL? PRINCE or PRINCESS? We will find out very soon this week...as long as you cooperate and show us what we want to see! :) This is definitely going to be the most exciting part of our week!

We have both been dealing with various physical ailments over the past few days. It's definitely slowed our progress and been frustrating to deal with. As we prepare to go on vacation and visit family in Iowa for Thanksgiving, we are praying for complete restoration of health.

We will see you soon, little one!

Love, the George family

Whirlwind october

I haven't posted a non-baby update for awhile, so here it is!

As soon as we returned from our little getaway to Branson, we had our ceiling stripped and re-finished...so we weren't able to live at home for about five days. Due to some problems with the ceilings, we then had contractors back in our house for a couple of days and were unable to sleep at home for another day. And we ended up having to repaint over half of our main floor because of some very frustrating mis-communication. It was the most stressful two weeks we've had in quite some time!

New color in the office - it seemed a bit much at first, but matches our valances very well

A gray/beige in the baby room brings some much needed light

We love our new beige in the living room/hallway/entryway - and especially our accent wall

Beautiful knock down ceilings throughout - I'm loving the kitchen's much needed update

We can at least breathe a little now that our major construction is finished - no more contractors in our house for a while, thank you very much! Last week was still crazy with Halloween, work meetings, and a baby appointment. We even had carpet laid in our new guest room downstairs!

Grant's been dealing with a stye in his eye - I feel so badly for him, and there's not a whole lot we can do! With the holidays coming up and housework still in progress, we're starting to wonder if life will ever settle down.

We've always enjoyed dressing up for Halloween and handing out candy. We hardly had any kids come to our house this year, but we made it to Chipotle for $2 burrito bowls - definitely worth it!

Baby bump appropriate costume

Bandit is less than enthused about her costume. It was hilarious to watch her attack her costume off!

 

Two kitties dressed up for Halloween

 

Love, the George family

Banana

HALFWAY THERE! I can't believe how quickly the time has gone since we first knew of your presence on that little teststrip! Of course, that was the beginning on July, so a lot has happened since then.

We are getting closer and closer to finishing the basement. Grant is even going to start moving the guest room contents to the NEW guest room downstairs. It's not quite ready yet, but it has carpet. :) The toilet in the bathroom flushes and half the trim is installed, but there's no sink and no door to protect unsuspecting shower-ers from the lurking spiders in the utility room. We've still got a ways to go, but I can almost begin working on my most inspiring project - the baby room!

Sleep challenges are the most obvious pregnancy symptom of the past week. It has been less than pleasant to try to sleep on my side and wake up on my back or stomach in pain...and then realize that I'm bursting at the seams and need to use the restroom NOW! Ha! It's kind of crazy.

Now that you are 20 weeks alive (techically only 18, I know), you've developed a lot. The main reason you wouldn't survive out here in the real world is because your lungs are still developing. It's starting to get cold, anyway. You hit the perfect timing with your due date in March. I knew we'd have a smart child! We are definitely ready to find out if you are a little boy or a little girl, and we will love you just the same either way...we just want to start spoiling you even more! ;)

Loving my new boots - thanks daddy to be!

The sign is kind of hard to see this week - whoops!

Well, you have your next appointment this coming week, so we are very excited to hear your heart beat again and mommy always likes to have lots of questions answered. It's a lot of work to help you grow, and sometimes mommy doesn't know what to expect next! You are already a bit of a mystery to daddy and mommy.

We are still so excited to know what we can call you - our little prince or our little princess. And then we will narrow down our names list until we pick just the right one. But that's not until next week, so we have to wait. Sometimes waiting is hard, and you are helping us to learn a lot about patience and God's perfect time.

Love, the George family