14 weeks

How far along? 14 weeks 

Total weight gain: I did not get on the scale this week - I can't say that I don't feel any bigger than last week but we can also chalk that up to living in leggings. You can't exactly tell if you've gained weight if you don't have to button your pants.

Maternity clothes?  None. But I am on the hunt currently for good maternity pants. I haven't got up the courage to actually go to a store to try them on but I have ordered online and returned just about everything... 

Sleep:  I am sleeping like a baby!  Having a snack (cereal or Cottage cheese and fruit) before bed helps me wake up without hunger pains. I'm no longer napping during the day so that means I'm in bed by 9:30-10 every night.

Best moment this week:  4 weeks is a long time between each appointment when you have a little thing inside you that your dying to know everything about ( heartbeat, gender, everything!!) so we downloaded those silly apps that turn your phone into a stethoscope. After several attempts we heard baby's heartbeat! The sweetest sound to my ears. 

Worst Moment this week: I've learned that I can go from nice to mean pretty quick and normally only toward my husband. Poor guy! He has been so sweet and patient and I'm working on taming my inner mean girl.

Miss Anything? Not really this week. 

Cravings: This week I really wanted Chinese takeout, I started regretting it halfway through though! I'm learning not to indulge in every craving, because it normally goes away. I'm loving cottage cheese and fruit currently.

Symptoms:  Food aversion just won't go away. No morning sickness, but I dread making dinner because it makes me not want to eat it. The smell of coffee brewing is also the worst thing I encounter every morning. 

Looking forward to:  I'm getting excited about our gender reveal party, I started really planning and buying a few things this week to make it all come together and I can't wait to share with everyone of our family and friends whether our baby will be a boy or a girl! 

13 weeks

How far along? 13 weeks 

Total weight gain: -3 lbs, not quite sure where exactly it went because this belly is saying otherwise. 

Maternity clothes?  No, not really.  I am starting to feel it in my pants though.

Sleep:  I think most of the first trimester fatigue is over now, I was napping during the day and then having a hard time staying asleep at night. Now I'm not napping and sleeping so good, if not too good at night.                     

Best moment this week:  News of a raise, I will be receiving a $12/hr. raise over the next three months, the Lord just always, always, always provides for us and our sweet child already! Praise the Lord.

Worst Moment this week: When I came home from work mid day and decided I needed to change my pants because I was so uncomfortable. Getting dressed is becoming a chore.     

Miss Anything? I'm missing sleeping straight through the night. The midnight pee breaks keep me up much longer than they should.

Cravings: Pineapple, eggs and cereal are my current favorite foods and the water consumption is at an all time high, a water bottle isn't far from my reach at all times. In the early weeks it was all things unhealthy, so things are looking up.

Symptoms:  Exhaustion and food aversion. I've started making dinner several times - and the smells ruin any chances of me eating it.  The first trimester morning or all day sickness has seemed to pass for good! 

Looking forward to: Finding out the gender!  I can't stand myself. I'm so anxious to find out. I still have no inclination of what baby may be, I've dreamed of a little boy though!

Fitzgerald's First Birthday Cake

This year I opted to try a different cake for Fitzgerald's First Birthday. You can find Ronin's first birthday cake here. Fitz ended up with a much bigger cake, but I also didn't throw him a birthday party like I did Ronin, so it evens out..I think. I hope I'm not like this with our children... Our dogs have very sensitive stomachs, its rare that we go a week without one of them waking us up in the middle of the night sick. So for them to eat this whole cake (over the span of three days) and not get sick- GO ME!

I hope your puppies enjoy this cake as much as mine did! If nothing else, the peanut butter is always a hit!

Ingredients

2 ripe bananas

3 tbsp honey

1/4 c. yogurt

2 c. water

3 c. whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 c. natural oats

Icing

Peanut Butter

Honey

Dog treats of your choice

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray cake pans with nonstick spray. I used two different sizes for the stacked cake look.

Combine ingredients.

Bake for 1 hour.

Add icing once cake has cooled.

The Hope for Paris, the Hope for us all.

As I worked through my evening routine last evening my mind raced through several thoughts. This world is getting darker day by day, sense act after senseless act. What was once good and lovely is turning into death and destruction. None of this is a surprise, especially to those believers of Christ, and none of this caught Him off guard, yet it still hurts and our hearts absolutely grieve the evil that is running rampant, not just in Paris, but throughout this world. With my heart feeling overwhelmed and even afraid with the most recent news, I was reminded by the most beautiful sunset out my window at dinner as I looked over my husbands shoulder, that though the world is crumbling before our eyes, God is still the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He is still on the throne. He is still so very good, perfect in ALL of HIS ways with love so undeniable and He is COMING BACK. There is such a burning in my heart over this, eternity is forever, please, please. If there was ever a time or event in your life to turn to Him let it be now. He is the only hope under the sun.

My first and last quilt experience.

Wayyyy back in August for our second, cotton, anniversary David took me to Hobby Lobby and bought me so fabric to make my own quilt. It was one of those things you see on Pinterest and think "I can do that!" or "I have to have that." Now it wasn't quite one of those "pinterest fails" that you see and are ever so hilarious.

The Materials you need for this quilt are:

1/2 yard each of 6 different  cotton fabrics

1 1/2 yards fabric for back

1 1/2 yards batting

binging tape

Triangle Quilt Template I drew mine out the top is 5 3/4 and the two sides are 8"

Extra helpful tidbits:

~use 1/4 seam allowances

~finished quilt is approx. 42"x48"

~ I used black, teal, a multicolored triangle pattern, that I based all the other colors off of, a very pale pink, white, and a small black and white polka dot pattern, just because I have a soft spot for polka dots. 

You can replace any colors you want and pink whatever patterns you want as well, thats what makes it fun and let me tell you picking out the fabric was the most fun I had during the whole process.

6 prints/colors and my backing which I used as the polka dot pattern as well.

After cutting out 19 triangles in each color/pattern and cutting one of each color down the middle for the ends I arranged them on the floor like so.

The pattern I used was:

1. Black

2. Teal

3. Triangles

4. Pink

5. White

6. Polka dots

template

I couldn't leave them like this for long because as you will see my dogs love blankets and even though it wasn't a blanket yet, they still just know.

Once I sewed the strips of triangles together in strips left to right I pressed all the seam allowances open to lay flat.

I then sewed the rows together and again pressed the seam allowances to look like so, starting to look like a quilt.

After I played my polka dot back down and then my batting, and then placed my quilt squares on the top. Using a rotary cutter it helps if you trim the edges. Once you do this you are ready to bind!

My Ronin also made this process very difficult as well.

Once it was all said and done, I had a decent quilt, but the  process was very tiresome and lengthy that is why it is now three months since I started this process, but granted I didn't work on it every day and sometimes weeks went by because I just needed a break from the darn sewing machine.

Someone said to me once it was all said and done. "That's great, I've never made a quilt." My response was "trust me, it's not worth the aggravation."

Maybe in 100 years when I forget what the process was like and they come out with some cool, fancy, high tech sewing machine that I can actually afford I will try my hand at another quilt until then, NOBODY touches this one!

Ten Facts about the Pastor's Wife

1. I live in fear of being the fault of the ministry we were called to. You won't always like the decisions we make and that's ok. Pray for us and trust God has a plan. We are continually learning and growing.

2. Being the pastor's wife is the loneliest thing I have ever done. It is a feeling unlike any other that is even hard to explain. We continually feel like an outsider in our own ministry. This makes us sometimes dread church activities.

3. I've thought about attending another church. That was a tough confession but it goes with #2. I wouldn't, but that fleshly thought has entered my mind where I have thought about attending another church where I wasn't the pastor's wife and I could just serve in my own way. Woah! The devil can be wicked sometimes but don't get me wrong the Lord will put you back in your place.

4. Some days I love this position, others I question God as to why He chose me. There was not a "How to be a Pastor's Wife" or "Pastor's Wife for dummies" book handed to me at the beginning of our ministry, no rules, no guidelines. He equips us right where we are, we are all different but perfect in His sight.

5. It's hard to control my flesh to not lash out at church members. As pastor and pastor's wife we are very aware of the purpose of the local church and the calling that every follower of Jesus is called too and it's frustrating when we see believers neglecting the call.

6. I get frustrated when church goers treat church like a social club...enough said. 

7. I'm not perfect and sometimes I don't have all the answers. I don't have the bible memorized, I don't play piano and sometimes I hate being social. Just because I'm serving in one area doesn't mean it's my particular gift.

8. We are called to help the Bride get ready for the wedding. This is an honor and so very humbling but also so very heavy. That is why we want to hold each of you accountable, especially leaders within our church.

9. We are huge targets to the enemy. Pray for us.

10.You make the pastor's wife's day when you tell her husband what a good job he is doing.

After speaking with several pastor's wives I have developed this list of unspoken struggles.

If your a pastor's wife I pray you find comfort in knowing you are not alone in this calling.

If you are not I pray you find it in your heart to lift your pastor's and their wives in prayer! 

TWO, Second Birthday Photo Dump

Happy Birthday Ronin, we love you!