A List of Things

1. I finally put out my fall pumpkins last week. It was hard for me to put them out when I could look out my back door and see palm trees in my yard. The fall season is still one of the things I miss the most about Northwest Arkansas. I have also been craving a big pot of Taco Soup. I told Hal we could turn the air way down and pretend it was chilly outside. :)

2. I have been on a Drew clothing fast for a few weeks now. I had to make myself stop! The kid seriously has a closet full of clothes. I kept finding good sales. How can you pass up cargo shorts and polo shirts for $1.99? I bought them in several sizes!

3. I love pumpkin flavored anything.....and it makes me very happy that Starbucks has their Pumpkin Spice Latte's back. It is a mouthful to say, "I would like a Grande, non-fat, decaf, Pumpkin Spice Latte with whipped cream please." :)

4. Hal is going on his annual guys weekend tomorrow. They are going to the Kentucky/Arkansas game. Saturday night I am hosting a Girls Night Out for our Sunday School class.

5. When people ask me how I am feeling, I have decided I am just going to say "big and pregnant." :) I feel great...but of course my back is hurting and I am tired, so I think "big and pregnant" will cover those.

6. I am loving studying the life of Moses this year. Hal and I were challenged by how much Moses' parents were able to teach him about God at such a young age. One of the gifts I received at my shower from a mentor of mine was a book of 365 Devotionals/Bible Stories for parents to read with their kids. On the inside cover she encouraged us to start early with the tradition of sharing these with Drew each night. We are looking forward to it!

7. We had our first class at the hospital last weekend. It was a nursing class...very informative. Our next class is our all day Birthing class the first weekend of November.

Doctor's Appointment- 32 Weeks

I guess it is time for a pregnancy update....I went to the doctor this morning. He said everything is looking great! I am measuring right at 32 weeks. My weight looks good. Drew's heartbeat was "perfect." I go back October 21st and November 4th. After that, I will be going every week! I can't believe that I am almost to my weekly appointments.

I am still feeling great. Of course as I continue to get bigger, I am starting to have back aches and feel more tired, but that just goes with the territory. The only trouble I have had with swelling is if I am on my feet a lot or if I get too hot. I really can't complain!

Hal is getting even more excited. I hear him say just about every day that he is ready for little man to be here! Of course, I agree, but I am sure he will be here before we know it.

Shower for Drew

The ladies in our Community Group did a brunch shower for us on Saturday. My friend Christi hosted it at her home. I really had a great time and we feel so blessed to have such a wonderful church family! We settled into a church much faster with this move and it has been a big help in the transition.

We had this yummy, precious cake!

I love this little onesie!

This was a super cute gift! It was clothesline full of cute outfits. There was a tag with a blue rope on top of the mini laundry basket that said "pull slowly." As I pulled the cord out, they were all on the clothesline.

A nursing coverup I had been wanting...we had to test it out!

Marcie and Christi. Marcie is expecting her first baby in January. The shower was at Christi's. She has been such a blessing to me! Christi and her husband have two girls that are precious. Maybe we can make a match for Drew. :)

Me with my super sweet friend Rachel. She and her husband Marcus are our community group care group leaders. We have enjoyed getting to know them and their two kids.

What's up for the weekend?

Every week seems to fly by! I can't believe it is already the weekend again, but I am not complaining. Weekend=more Hal time. Tonight we are going to rent Leatherheads and have dinner here at home. Tomorrow Hal will be working during the day, and I have a shower. My friend Christi is hosting a shower at her home. Several ladies from our church community group will be there. I am pretty sure tomorrow night will involve watching football! I mean...what else would Hal and Lindsay do on a Saturday night in the fall? Sunday we will be off to church and then probably to eat at our favorite place, The Broken Egg, for lunch. If you have been to visit us here in Florida, then I am sure we have taken you there!

We do want to see Fireproof as well. Have any of you seen it? If so, what did you think? If we go, I will give you my review?

Have a great weekend!

Orlando at 31 weeks

Saturday night we went to Orlando to have dinner with our friends the Binns'. We met them at Downtown Disney and had dinner at Rainforest Cafe. It was great to catch up with them and see their son Byron! It is such a treat when people come to Orlando and we get to see them. Before dinner, we made a quick trip to Ikea. We got the last few things we needed for Drew's room. I am pretty sure Ikea is a requirement for us to move anywhere!

This picture was taken at Downtown Disney...as you can see Drew is growing! :) I am feeling great. Just battling a little swelling in my hands and feet, but nothing to bad. I have been so blessed to have friends loan me clothes! Thanks for this pink dress, Kim. :) My friend, Mary also sent me a lot of clothes that I wear often.

Cravings and other things from the week

I haven't really had too many random pregnancy cravings...but this week has brought about a few. I woke up in the middle of the night and wanted carmel corn. I don't even really like carmel corn. Sunday during the sermon at church, I turned to Hal and wanted Pringles. He got me some that afternoon. :) The next craving was a throw back to childhood. I wanted one of those ice cream bars shaped like Mickey Mouse. His ears are dipped in chocolate...yum! We are going to Orlando tomorrow to have dinner with our friends, the Binns'. Hopefully we can find an ice cream bar!!

This week I gave my first BSF lecture since I started serving as Substitute Teaching Leader. I taught on Exodus 2:1-10, the birth of Moses. What a great passage for me to teach right now! It was easy to come up with illustrations and it was a very timely lesson for me about faithful action. I had really dreaded doing a lecture from the first minute I accepted the position, but God was so faithful in helping me through this first lecture. I had great joy in presenting it on Wednesday!

I have ordered Drew's carseat and stroller. Thanks to the friends and family that gave us giftcards. :) They should both be here next week! Hal picked up Drew's "going home" outfit while he was in Starkville this week. It is a super cute MSU outfit. I will have to post some of the clothes we have bought for him. We have had fun hitting sales and picking out clothes for him. One great thing about living in Florida is that you don't have to worry about seasons! He will definitely be a Polo boy like his Dad from time to time!

Have a good weekend!

Almost There....

We are getting oh so close to having Drew's room finished! Tonight we got his verse on the wall over his crib. We still need to hang Hal's jersey over the changing table, get a small table and floor lamp to go beside the chair, and finish the curtain. We are so pleased with the way it is coming together! It is also surprising how fast a room can fill up!





Crib with football bedding. Bookshelf we painted with his growing collection of toys. Sarah L did the letters above the bookshelf for my shower centerpiece.




Psalm 27:1 is the verse we picked for him. and are praying for him. Andrew means strong and manly and we felt this verse went along.



I love these crib sheets...they have vintage football players on them. The bedding is green courdroy with denim.



Mom and I recovered this chair when she was in here in late July. We got the monogrammed Razorback blanket at our shower in Fayetteville.


We had Hal's jersey framed to go above the changing table. We loved the way it turned out.

Fayetteville Weekend

We had a great weekend in Fayetteville....it just always goes to fast! We were on the go from the moment we landed. Friday I spent time at the bank visiting and Hal went to the Cooper plant to visit. Friday afternoon we headed to Cassville to see my brother's team play as well as hang out with my nieces and sister in law, Suzy. Saturday morning Hal dropped us off at our shower and he had breakfast with a friend. The shower was so much fun!!! It was wonderful to get to see so many people that are important to us in one place. We were also amazed at people's generosity in helping us get ready for Drew. That afternoon we hung out at my parents house. Saturday night we had dinner with Donnie at Amy at Tim's pizza...yum. :) Sunday we went to UBC, out to lunch with friends at Noodles, visited with my grandparents, and then headed for dinner with friends again. Whew...I am exhausted just typing this! As tiring as it was, it was so worth it.

I had a doctor's appointment this morning. He said Drew's heartbeat sounded great at that I was measuring right at 29 weeks. I go back in 3 weeks and then will start going every 2 weeks after that. I can't believe we are only 2 1/2 months away from him being here! We are looking forward to this week. Hal's parents will be here tomorrow to spend a few days with us.

Enjoy the shower pictures below





My gift helpers...Kennedy and Landry.



Yummy food and so cute centerpice w/ Andrew's initials. I am going to hang these in his nursery.

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Opening gifts...this one happens to be a Hog blanket! :)


Super cute diapers w/his initials.





Dad and Hal came by at the end of the shower to help us pack up.

XNA-EWR-TPA

We are home after a wonderful weekend in Fayetteville. We had a long day of travel but feel very blessed to have had two on time flights with Continental today since they are dealing with the aftermath of Ike. We were originally scheduled to connect through Houston to get back to Tampa, but changed our flight yesterday to connect through Newark. If we had kept our original plans, we would have missed our connection in Houston. We left Fayetteville around 10:00 central this morning and landed in Tampa at 4:15 eastern. We only had 40ish minutes to make our connection at Newark and it seemed that our gates were at the opposite end of the airport, but we made it! Hal had my bag, our carry-on suitcase, and his backpack and we moved as fast as my pregnant body would allow us!

I will put up pictures and details of our weekend tomorrow.

Yummy Recipe

Mom is always asking me what I am cooking for dinner....so I thought I would share with you guys as well! I enjoy getting the free Kraft Foods magazine. It is hit and miss for me...sometimes there are several things I try and other times I don't find much. There were several recipes I wanted to try in the Fall 2008 magazine. Last night we had Foil Pack Chicken Fajita Dinner. It was great and super easy. The recipe is meant to serve 4 so I just adapted it to make 2 foil packets and used what I had. The recipe below is for 4.

Foil Pack Chicken Fajita Dinner

1 1/2 cups instant white rice, uncooked
1 1/2 cups hot water
1 Tbsp Taco Seasoning Mix
4 Small Boneless Skinless Chicken breast halves (I used two tenderloins per foil pack)
1 each: green and red pepper cut into strips
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup shredded cheese

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Fold up all sides of each of four 18X12 inch sheets of heavy duty foil to form 1 inch rim; spray foil with cooking spray. Combine rice, water and taco seasoning; spoon onto centers of foil. Top with remaining ingredients.

Bring up foil sides. Double fold top and ends to seal each packet. Place on baking sheet.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Let stand 5 min. Cut slits in top to release steam before opening packets.

We added guacamole and sour cream on top and few tortilla chips on the side.

Enjoy! Let me know if you try it! You can sign up to receive the Kraft magazine at kraftfoods.com.

Busy Week

BSF(Bible Study Fellowship) kicks off this week so it will be a busy week trying to get back in my routine! I need to get some writing done this week as well........and the BEST part of the whole week is that we leave for Fayetteville on Thursday afternoon! We are excited to get to see family and friends. And this prego girl is for some reason overly excited about Fayetteville food this trip! I am ready for Rick's sausage rolls, Slim Chickens, Tim's Pizza, Penguin Ed's, and JD China. Not sure how I am going to get all of those things in while I am there, but I am going to try! Hal would also add Loafin Joe's to that list and take off Slim Chickens...he doesn't appreciate the Cayenne Ranch like I do. :) Ymm...my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Hospital Tour

We attended an information session and took a Hospital Tour last night. Our doctor's office is across the street from the hospital, but we had never been in the hospital itself. We both feel a little more at ease now that we know where we need to go! They walked us through every step of our visit starting with where we enter, labor triage (where they determine if you are truly in labor before they admit you), labor and delivery, and then the Mother Baby Unit. We learned about their security and the way we can allow visitors in, etc. We are praying that both of our parents will be able to be here! I think it was a little surreal for both of us as we stood in one of the labor and delivery rooms!

I have been feeling great! I had been having some rough pain in my ribs associated with costochondritis, but it has been much better this week. You may remember me mentioning costochondritis last October. Click here to see the old post that gives an explanation. It had been much better over the spring and summer until late July. My doctor said that as things starting shifting upward as the pregnancy progressed, I needed to expand which was causing the pain again. He warned it might not get better and would probably get worse, especially as Drew starts throwing punches to the ribs! :) I am grateful for the relief...even if it only lasts a few weeks!

What are we up to? Part 2

I am not sure how I left out one of my biggest projects!

*I am still writing for the student ministry for our church in Texas. I finished a study on Authority that will kick off the year and I am working on finishing a study of the book of James to fill out the rest of the semester.
*I also have a new friend here in Florida who writes for Lifeway and has mentioned me to her editor. I am going to be contacting them and sending some of my work in. Not sure where it will lead...but we will see!

I am off to watch a friend's little girl for a few hours and then headed for my weekly Friday lunch with Hal. Five Guys burgers....ymmmm! We are looking forward to this long weekend as I am sure most of you are as well. I would love to hear what all of you are doing!

What are we up to?

Fall seems to be the time that everything gets into full swing.

*Hal and I started a Leadership Class at our church, Sarasota Baptist. The class is a 32 week course that meets on Wednesday nights. This semester we are doing a survey of the Old Testament and the Spring Semester will be a survey of the New Testament. We will also cover Bible Doctrines and do scripture memory. We are both so excited to get to this class and the fact we get to do it together makes it even better!
*BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) starts back for me next week. This year I will be serving as Substitute Teaching Leader. I will have the privilege of teaching the Introduction Classes each month as well as teach seminars periodically. This year we are studying The Life of Moses. I am excited to start this as well....I love studying the Old Testament!
*Hal is busy at work but is getting settled into a routine. He is working long hours and has to work some Saturdays, BUT he is home every night and those hated drop offs at the airport are few and far between.
*Of course we are also getting ready for Drew. We keep talking about how fast late November/early December will come! We have his nursery almost done and I will post pictures once it is finished. We have several classes scheduled at the hospital for this fall, including a tour of the labor and delivery area next week. We were talking the other day that if I did go into labor, we wouldn't know where to go at the hospital other than the ER, so we will make sure we take care of that next week!
*We can't wait for Thursday night....the kickoff of college football! We have nothing planned for this Labor Day but watching football!

As you can see we are going to have a busy fall and a busy spring even if we weren't having a baby! I have struggled with feeling a little overwhelmed, but know that the Leadership Class and BSF are both things that God has called me to do. We are praying for childcare for Drew for two mornings a week after the first of the year so that I can continue with BSF. We know that having a baby changes everything, but we also know that we have a big God who can work out the details and is worthy of our time spent in service to Him. I repeat this to myself when I start to stress about finding childcare or wondering if I can handle it all.

Home from Houston

We had a great time in Houston! It was great to see Kim and Nate and to get to meet Owen and Blake. We also enjoyed spending time with Kim's mom who has been there for a few weeks to help Kim. Blake and Owen are doing great! We had so much fun getting to help out with them. Hal loved sitting on the couch and holding the boys on his chest. After a very long 8 months for Kim and Nate, it was such a blessing to see two beautiful boys and their two wonderful parents who couldn't be happier!

Saturday night we went downtown for our friend Vani's birthday party. It worked out great that we happened to be in town. It was great to see here as well as a few other friends from Houston. Happy Birthday Vani!

Sunday we headed to church. We were able to visit with friends we had meet through the student ministry as well as see the students we worked with. It was a great end to the weekend!

25....almost 26 weeks

I had a few emails while we were gone asking about where we were registered. I posted links to the registries on the right side of the page.

So Long Fay

Fay made landfall farther south than they expected and only as a tropical storm. We haven't had any rain yet....just a little wind but they say we should see rain this afternoon. Looks like our plans for the week will go on! We are so excited to go to Houston. We will be staying with Nate and Kim and get to help them with Blake and Owen for a few days. We will also get to see Kenny an Susannah and their baby, Luke who was born last Friday. Saturday night we will be celebrating our friend Vani's 30th Birthday. It will be a busy trip.....but a much needed visit with friends!

Fay, Fay, Go AWAY

Listen up Fay....this is what I need you to do. I need you to come across Cuba tonight and take a rouie (a.k.a a right turn) and head out to the open waters of the Atlantic. I hear the waters out there are nice and you can get as big as you would like and not harm anyone. Thanks!

We are of course watching Fay. We have our water, lights, food, batteries, etc. I am scheduled to leave for Houston on Wednesday afternoon and Hal is supposed to follow me on Thursday. We are praying on trip goes on as planned!

Snoogle

I have a new best friend.....my snoogle(see the pic of the lovely lady demonstrating above.) I was having trouble sleeping and couldn't get comfortable. I had read about the body pillow called a Snoogle, but I figured it was just a gimmick. After a few more nights of trying to manage multiple pillows, I gave in and bought a snoogle. It was a wise purchase! Although it does take up a little room in the bed...I am sleeping better and I am pretty sure that means Hal is sleeping better too! He is in Mexico this week, so the Snoogle and I have the bed to ourselves.

Olympics

We are addicted to the Olympics. We watched it all weekend long starting with the opening ceremony. We loved watching swimming, gymnastics, and basketball. I don't even mind if I know the outcome...I just love watching it! I have found myself laughing at a few of the events. I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about sports and I have to admit I didn't know there was ever such a thing called handball. I couldn't quit watch it without laughing....just seems odd. It is like a mix of soccer, basketball, and volleyball and I can't quite figure out the rules! Hal is out of town this week so I will be catching lots of Olympic action! :)

Progress

I just got back home from dropping off mom at the airport in Tampa. We had a very busy and productive week. We spent quite a bit of time in Drew's room. Saturday, mom, Hal, and I painted his room and a bookcase. Mom and I also worked on covering a chair and ottoman for his room as well. We have a few more things to get it finished up and then I will post pictures. Mom and I also painted a large chest blue to put in mine and Hal's room. We also managed to find some time to go shopping....of course Drew came away with a few things. I seem to have a hard time buying clothes larger than 6 months. :)