Tiny Little Miracle!

I know you want to see the pics so here they are!

Baby was stretching! It was toward the end of the hour long ultrasound and baby was probably getting tired of the tech poking and proding!!

You can see the thumb and four tiny little fingers! Baby’s hands were up by the face the whole time pretty much!

And of course the little feet! A picture of each one.

Can I just say I am so very impressed with how incredible technology is! With only a 2-D ultrasound I didn’t know that they could see so much! We got see the heart and could actually make out the 4 different chambers of the baby’s heart! We also saw a couple other major organs and the two main arteries. The tech measures all these things to tell the health of the baby and Baby Cakes is doing just fine!!

In all the measurements baby was right in the 50-60 percentile, so although I have only gained 3lbs since my 8wk appt., the fact that the baby is doing so well is a great sign!

As we watched our baby on the screen I couldn’t help but tear up and at times chuckle with excitement and joy! It was so very cute when the tech was trying to get some different angles she caught baby wiggling it’s little tush and it was so adorable! Baby just looked so safe and secure in there, it’s little mouth would kinda sit open as it slept so peacefully and towards the end we could see baby had hiccups! It was so darn cute!!

Most of the time baby was curled up in the fetal position but sometimes baby would stretch out and because baby is still so small and there’s enough room it’s legs could pretty much fully extend!

It really did just make it that much real, that we are having a little tiny precious angel come into our lives and change it forever! I think we are both very excited but also very nervous and anxious about the parenting experience. When Brandon and I left the Dr today we both just started realizing all the responsibility we would be gaining, and all these worries start going through your mind about being capable of protecting the baby from all the evil and harm of this world.

Praise God that He is the Father and protector of this baby and we are just getting to take part in it. No one could know or do better than Him!

We have been quite the busy newly-weds to be! We started addressing our invitations this weekend and plotted out the reception site for where we will put tables and such. In another two weeks we will be meeting with the photographer to do engagement pictures and get ideas for where to shoot for the big day!

We also found some one to do our cake and flowers! She is a neighborhood artist and has come with many recommendations! I've seen pictures of her work and its fabulous! Although she hasn't done many wedding cakes yet she is confident in her ability and so are we. But the plus side is she is going to offer us a discount on the cake if she can use the pictures of it in her portfolio!

And she does real and silk flowers as well! I had an idea for my flowers to honor my grandmother who passed away just two years ago. She was my best friend and biggest fan and I still can't believe she won't be here for my most special day. But she loved flowers and she loved gardening and I just really want to have her remembered always and I thought a really neat way to do that would be to have one purple (or yellow) iris just off centered in my all white bridal bouquet. Then she would be in every picture and with me the whole time! I know she would love that so much!

Both my dress and B's ring came in! I have an appointment next Tuesday to see the seamstress to have my dress altered. It's just a little big in the top but otherwise fits perfect!! I'm so excited :)

We have all of our music picked out for the ceremony and the reception so now we just have to go down and plan what will be played when so our 'DJ' can get set up.

Only 88 days!!! {But whos counting right?!}

This weekend B and I went to Minden, Nebraska to visit B's special Grandma! {that's what B called her when he was little and it just stuck!} She is 94 years old and still lives in her own house and drives a truck. I rode with her and she does just fine too! She is a strong woman.

She was so excited to have us visit and we had a great time. While we were there B asked her if we could borrow a cake plate for our wedding cake!! She collects cake plates and probably has a hundered or more of them! She said of course and even picked out a beautiful white one for us to use!! It's a little bit wider in diameter than the others since the wedding cake will be a little bit bigger than a normal size cake.

We are both so thrilled to be able to include both sides of our family in our most special day!

It has been a busy week!! We finished picking out our music for our ceremony and reception! Instead of hiring a DJ or a live band, we are picking our songs and loading them on to an iPod. Then we have a friend, Glenn Fricke, who LOVES music and would make a great mcee to do all our music stuff!! It's so much more personal and saves us dough!!

We have most of the songs picked out for the reception/ dancing... but we were curious if anyone has any suggestions??!! Post them in a comment and we will add them to our playlist!!

Our invitations have been keeping us busy! We are printing our own on an invitation kit! They are so sweet and romantic! I can't wait for you all to see them... ; )

Yesterday I bought B's ring! He really likes the tungsten so thats what I got him! I was bummed cause it can't be engraved. But I want him to have what he really likes. I'll just look for something else to engrave!!

I'm also really excited and counting down the days til my dress comes in!! (March 7!) I would post a picture of it but B is really particular about not seeing the dress at all until the big day!!! I can't wait for him to see it!

My bridesmaides already picked out their dress and

have them on order! They should be in in April sometime!

The one on the right is B's cousin, her name is Katie too. And Rachael is on the left! They are both working diligently at putting together my bridal shower... I can't wait for all the fun and excitement to begin!

Better off walking... ; P

I just had to share our little adventure last night with everyone, since we can look back now and laugh!! B and I were on our way to his grandparents house last night for Sunday dinner. We kind of wanted to suprise them since we hadn't seen them yet since being back from Iraq. We left Parker and headed down the interstate towards their house. Brandon was driving and we must have hit a pot hole in the road and could tell the tire must have blown out! We pulled over to the shoulder with very little room to work with. B got out and took a look, it was blown alright!

He popped the trunk and began working on the spare. I am so grateful that he was with me, I don't know how I would have been or what I would have done if I was by myself. He got us all squared away with the spare and started putting all the tools away back in the trunk. I looked at the spare and the air in it was really low so I asked him if he thought it would be ok. He wasn't sure but assured me he would take it easy and go to a gas station in order to fill it up with air. So we proceeded and he drove about 30mph on the shoulder of the road.

Of course where we were was in a stretch where there were no exits! As we came up to one, I kid you not, there was a 4x4 right in our path and we didn't see it til it was too late and with traffic wizing by there was no swerving it. And with in second there was a thud and their went the only spare we had! After B stopped the only thing we could do was bow our heads and pray! God was definitely stopping us in our tracks, we know that!

Once our nerves had settled we made a plan to call my insurance and have a tow truck pick up the car and take it to B's grandpas auto shop. Then we made arrangements for a ride to pick us up and take us back to Parker. Needless to say it all worked out fine and we were safe a grateful for the Lord's protection.

What are the odds though?!?! A tire and a spare in the same 15 mile stretch...

Better Tunes, Times & Teaching

Yesterday was B & my first day of getting back in the groove of things. Our schedules have been off as our bodies are still trying to adjust to the 10hour time difference! We have both been having difficulty sleeping the whole night. I usually wake up around 4 or 5 am and am WIDE awake. B hasn't had a lot of trouble just going back to sleep.

We were so excited to get started back up again on our homework for our pre-marriage counseling! It's actually a lot of fun and we have learned so much about each other. Not to mention the training we are getting for the times that could be difficult ahead. Our pastor is awesome to work with and really cares about our relationship, both with the Lord and with each other. B & I both feel so strongly about setting ourselves up for success and it's been a pretty interesting experience as well! We have about 2-3 more sessions before the big date!!

The other task we tackeled yesterday was listening to songs and narrowing down what to play and when... In 2 1/2 hrs we managed to pick out our prelude songs {the tunes to set the mood right before the ceremony is starting... you know, the ones that tell you you better find your seat cause we want to get started!!} In that time I think we listened to somewhere close to 50 songs! After we narrowed it down to four songs we thought, 'man we are pooped!'

Who knew just picking the music would be so tireing! Let alone dancing to it!

ps the movie hairspray is pretty cute!

Better Late Than Never

This is the first official blog of our wedding planning and I feel I'm lame cause we are already about half way through the process and just NOW getting a blog going... the wedding will be here soon!! (119 days remaining to be exact ; P)

Our main reason for doing a blog is to fill everyone in on how the planning is going in hopes that you will all feel included! Actually the plan is to have some audience participation and maybe have some polls you when we can't decide on something, we can get your opinions! (give the people what they want!) ... (but only when asked ; P)... (jk!).

To fast forward and catch everyone up to speed... B & I just returned from a 50 day deployment to Balad, Iraq. It could have been worse and we are both glad to be home. We got a lot of the big stuff taken care of before we left, now we are working on the details!!

PRE DEPLOYMENT PLANS:
1. We picked a date: May 24, 2008
2. We chose our color theme: Peach & Sage3. Our ceremony site: Ruth Memorial Chapel in Parker, CO

4. Our reception site: Guest House @ Idyllwilde neighborhood in Parker, CO

We have narrowed down the big stuff... stay tuned for all the details!!!!!