Week 20 changes

A student Kim teaches gave the baby a stocking for Christmas. We thought it was so cute!

A family of one of Kim's students gave us a beautiful changing table that they're done with. Amazingly, the style of the changing table matches well with the style of the crib. What a generous gift!

20 weeks down, 20 weeks to go (?)

Today we saw Dr. Ritter for our 20-week appointment and ultrasound. We decided to not find out if we're having a boy or girl but loved seeing all of his/her features in greater detail! Our favorite part was seeing all of the baby's fingers and toes! The baby is now about 15 ounces and (we're guessing) is between 6-7 inches long. We were thankful that the blood work/screenings that Kim had last appointment all came back with normal results.


The technician commented on the baby's long fingers and toes.

The baby's heart beat steadily at 140 bpm ... right in the normal range. The technician also showed us the four chambers of the heart.

Okay ... you'll need to use a little imagination. This is our baby's little face covered in part by an arm/hand. The mouth is slightly open -- you'll see a black slit in the upper middle. Directly to the left and a little higher is where is the nose is. Right above this is an eye (socket).

Christmas is coming ... the baby's getting fat! :)

Right before we left for Albuquerque, we finished putting up all of our Christmas decorations. What a fun time of year!

The baby's continuing to grow. Especially as Kim starts to wear maternity clothes, she gets more and more comments from students, friends, and co-workers. Yes, the baby bump is getting bigger! :)

We have a fence in our backyard once again! After about two months without one (thanks to Ike), we really appreciate having one again! We hired a man from church & his company to do the work. They did a very nice job. Next, we'll have to think about putting back some of the plants and landscaping that were there.

Thanksgiving

We had a great time with Kim's family in Albuquerque for Thanksgiving. Kim's parents had a early 30th birthday celebration for her the day before Thanksgiving.

We were also excited to see Amy and Jason. To continue the family tradition, we finally gave Amy a cat cookie jar of her own as an early Christmas present.

We missed Andrew and Sarah but know they had a great time with Sarah's parents in St. Louis.

Week 16

Kim's sixth grade class completely surprised her on Friday with a wagon FULL of baby supplies. The families contributed money to purchase the gift from the school's recent silent auction. They also gave me some gift cards to Carrabba's to satisfy the pizza & Italian food cravings I've had lately. God has truly blessed me with a thoughtful, generous group of students & parents!

This weekend we put together the crib we had purchased from one of Matt's co-workers. Next sheets and blankets ... and soon, a baby!

Kim's "baby bump" continues to grow slowly but surely. Some of my pants are officially too tight and uncomfortable to wear anymore. Thankfully a pregnant friend has loaned me her "Bella Bands" so that I can wear my own clothes a little bit longer.

Home Improvements

Our new dining room furniture was delivered yesterday! We're so excited to not have an empty room anymore! We'll need to invite friends over to dinner soon so we can use our new table. :)

Handy-man Matt stripped and re-stained our front door. (It wasn't looking so good after Hurricane Ike.) Now, it looks as good as new!

Week 12!

We saw our doctor for the second time on Thursday. The most exciting part was hearing our baby's heartbeat again! The doctor used a "doppler device" to magnify the sound -- which was a lot like a fast washing machine. :) We kept up our tradition by celebrating with custard after the doctor's appointment. (Culver's is right next door!)

Kim is still able to wear all of her normal clothes and doesn't look too different (at least from the front). In profile, however, you can see the start of a "baby bump."

Hurricane Ike Aftermath

We slept in our under-the-stairs closet during the storm.Our pine tree & whole back fence blew over.
We hired a crew to remove the tree.
They carefully removed the tree limb-by-limb.
It took almost 3 weeks for FEMA to pick up the brush pile.
We're just now compiling our pictures from Hurricane Ike to get ready for the insurance adjuster's visit. We were thankful to get our power back after 8 days without it. Some people in the area went more than 2 weeks without electricity! You'll notice that God placed the pine tree right BETWEEN our house and our neighbor's house with just one branch resting on the roof. What a blessing!

Our First Ultrasound

We got our first glimpse of baby Schleicher today! It's finally starting to feel real! We got to hear the heartbeat (a whopping 176 beats per minute, which the technician said is average for an 8-week old baby). Our baby measures 1.6 cm "crown-to-rump," and the doctor confirmed the estimated arrival date will be May 8th. Above are our first pictures which are admittedly a little vague. The head is at the top of each picture. (Use your imagination!) But these proud new parents just had to share!

It's Official!

Our nine month journey has officially begun! We were simply elated when the pregnancy tests came back positive yesterday morning!! We've been praying for this baby for almost two years, and God faithfully, in His wisdom and perfect timing, has answered our prayers. We can't wait to see you, little one!