Baby Boy's first facial pics

Hi everyone! How has your week been? Can you believe that in a few short days it will be February!? I've said this many times before, but time certainly does seem to fly by. In less than 10 weeks, Zev and I will be parents for the first time! So exciting and yet so nerve-wracking in many ways. I changed my first diaper ("nappy" for my Aussie friends and family) this past Friday. I also learned how to swaddle a baby, on my friend Amber's 6 month old baby boy, Brett. He was very well behaved, but I wonder, how I will do when I am trying to swaddle a screaming newborn? And when I am tired? One of my biggest weaknesses is that I do NOT do well when I am tired. I get grumpy pants. Thank the Lord that Zev has the patience of a saint as they say. He will be a big help and an excellent father....but I still have times when I doubt my own abilities, especially when I think of how I will do after my mum heads back home and Zev goes back to work. I am so glad that my mum will be here to help me before and after the birth and that Zev can take some time off work to be with me and the baby. I am terrified sometimes, actually. I am praying about this right now; about God giving me strength and courage to be a mum. The Bible tells us not to be afraid but to cast our worries on the Lord. I am learning every day...

So on Saturday, Zev and I went to a local 3d/4d ultrasound studio to have a special ultrasound of our baby boy made! I know that in other countries, like Germany and Australia, mums get an ultrasound every month, but here in the US, we only get an ultrasound at 10 weeks and one at 20 weeks. These ultrasounds are black and white and "2d" so you don't get to see dimensions and facial features. This is 2d:

Well, where there is a business opportunity and a demand, there will be supply, and sure enough there is a local business that, for a fee, specializes in taking 3d/4d ultrasound pictures of your baby when you are between 28 and 32 weeks pregnant. A licensed ultrasound tech takes the "pictures." You can have as many visitors as you like in the room with you and they make a DVD and a CD of the entire process. Pretty cool actually.

So the highlights from our session were that our son has cute chubby cheeks; I personally think that he looks a lot like Zev, especially in the profile shots; he has hair on his head; he kept his right hand near his cheek the entire time; he is currently in the breech position (head and feet up near my rib cage); he had a strong heartbeat of 143 beats per minute, and...he is totally OURS! Thank you, Lord for our little miracle!

Well, I am sure you have loved the baby picture overload :-)) Hope that YOU have a great week.

I can do all this through Him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

Happy Australia Day!

My mum called us tonight as we were making ANZAC Bikkies, to wish us a Happy Australia Day! With the time zone difference, it's already January 26th in Australia. I told her that Zev and I were making ANZAC Bikkies for him to bring into work for his colleagues tomorrow. Zev even (almost) remembered the year that Australia was discovered (1788). I have fond memories of Australia Day in Australia; usually a hot day spent on the beach and in the water. Hopefully we will be able to be there with our baby boy for Christmas this year!

Hugs and smiles across the miles,

Zev and Fi xo

New friends and local historical sights

Zev and I really like living in Virginia.  Not only are we VERY blessed to live in a pretty area, with awesome neighbors, but we have also been blessed to find a great church and have met some incredible people through our church.  We feel so happy.  Today, some new friends, Josh and Katie, that we met through Mark and Ginny (who are in our Sunday school class), invited us to brunch at their apartment and a tour of historical Fort Monroe.  We spent the entire day together and had such an incredible time!

 Fort Monroe is one of America's oldest Army posts and the history and significance of this post is incredible.  As you can see from the front gate sign above, Fort Monroe was fortified in 1609 and was an active Army post from 1823 until just last year, 2011!  When I think that my own Australia was DISCOVERED in 1788, it is impressive to think that this was an active Army fortification 179 years before Australia was even discovered!  As a kid, I remember thinking "1788, wow, that was soooo long ago."  Visiting places such as Machu Picchu in Peru and living in Europe made me appreciate the history of the world around us. 

Katie and Josh are a lovely couple.  Josh studied Architectural History at the Graduate level and gave us an incredible tour of the entire Fort that last until 5pm!  We toured the moat, the Casemate Museum and saw some beautiful historical houses.  This post is so unique; it is surround by water and so beautiful and peaceful.  Katie (who incidentally studied Museum Curatorship, and met Josh while they were working in the Archives department of a museum, so these guys were awesome tour guides), is now a stay-at-home mum and put on an amazing brunch which included enchiladas!  It was so fun to spend the day with Mark and Ginny, who are so easy to get along with and have become dear friends here.  I am kicking myself because once again, I didn't get a picture of Ginny! Here are the boys inside the Casemate Museum.

One cool thing happened today; I SAW our baby boy MOVE in my belly!  As I am typing this, I can feel him kick!  I can't wait to hold him in my arms...You can see my big belly in this picture below.

Jefferson Davis, who was the leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, was imprisoned here. 

The Casemate was even converted to Officer's quarters for a period of time.

   We are so grateful for friends.

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.   John 15:12-15

Preparing for Baby Boy!!

There is an air of excitement in our household.  I think the JOY of knowing that we will meet our baby boy soon (in less than 12 weeks!) and feeling him kick and move around, has us excited about preparing for his birth.  Zev and I had a very productive MLK weekend.  We both got individual errands run, and Zev worked very hard to clear out the room that will be our son's nursery.  This room was the last bastion of boxes from our recent move.  We have done pretty well in getting rid of stuff with each move, but there is always stuff that's left over; mostly books.  So Zev hauled all the boxes up into the attic and set up our son's crib and dresser this weekend and brought in the glider, which he had set up a few weeks before!  My heart swelled with love, just seeing my husband work so hard to set up our son's room.  As cheesy as this may sound to some, I sat in the glider and rocked back and forth a little, imagining holding my baby son there very soon. 

Zev can look at what seems like a million parts and pieces and put the most complex things together.  The reviews at Babies R Us for the glider said that it was hard to put together.  Zev had it completed in less than an hour. 

He will make such a wonderful daddy.

The crib and dresser together. We have actually moved their positioning around the room, to include the glider. My dear friend Nancy, who happens to own the house we live in and is a fellow AF wife and who first introduced me to Bible study in Alabama which in turn lead me to the Lord, has offered to have her sister-in law paint a tryptic on canvas, which will go on the wall behind out son's crib. It will basically be a black/dark brown tree on a pale blue background, with some birds in the tree/ flying in or out. Nancy's sister-in-law painted the monkeys on vines in one of our bathrooms, and I was very honored when she offered this as her baby gift. It really will be such an honor and something that we can take with us on each military move! Here is a general idea of what it will look like, although the colors will be different.

As with all of our previous postings, we feel so blessed by our new friends here in Virginia. The ladies from our Sunday school class have offered to host a baby shower for me in March! I am also hosting a baby shower for my friend Natalie, and inviting the military spouses from the various spouses groups we are a part of, to my house for lunch. Well, I just wanted to share the joy of preparing for our baby boy with you :-))

Have a great day!

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. Isaiah 61:1-3

Papa's HOME!!

Zev returned home on Wednesday after a week TDY in Oklahoma.  He started a new job on base where he gets to travel to different AF bases around the country (actually around the world!) and with his team, do inspections of the logistics and maintenance squadrons. He is so smart. I tried reading the guide book they have for this new job (I guess it's technically called a Directive or something important like that), and well, it sort of put me to sleep. But I love when he gives me a run down of his day at the end of each day. Thank goodness for Skype!

I have gotten a lot of work done at home on my business (just three cases to go until the baby comes and I take a break!) so that has been nice. Baby boy is growing seemingly quite fast this month (today marks the beginning of 7 months of pregnancy! Not long to go now :-)) 

I missed Zev a lot this past week.  Going to sleep without him by my side just isn't the same. I like looking after him and getting him ready for work in the mornings. We have our little routine and we both like routines. Thankfully, I had different friends check in on me every day that he was gone. Even my mum and dad called to check in on me (usually I call my mum every day). We have been blessed with lots of new friends from church and great neighbors that had me over for dinner and checked in on me.

(I think the photo above is funny. We took it this morning and were looking directly in the sun, hence Zev's "pained look". I think I look tired, which I am, even though we took the photo at about 10am!! Pregnancy has made me very tired lately!)

As Zev was gone over the weekend, he was able to stay home today and part of yesterday. Monday is MLK day, so Zev has a bit of an extra long weekend to enjoy. We had some incredibly warm weather yesterday (64 degrees on a January day!). I actually love it when the locals here say that the weather has been "unseasonably warm." We went to a farewell lunch in Zev's honor today, to farewell him for the job he has done in the Logistics Force Readiness. I was amazed at how many people turned up (I think his entire section which consisted of about 25 people) and the fondness that they had for Zev and his leadership, even though he was there for a short time before moving to his current job. His former colleagues also presented him with a plaque (in the picture above) and a lovely card and beer stein. We also went out to dinner tonight with Natalie and Steve. Natalie and I have the same OBGYN doctor and we LOVE him. He is a military doctor and honestly worth his weight in gold. He did say that he is planning to retire this year and move on to bigger and (better paying) things outside the military, but reassured me a few weeks ago that "it would be my pleasure to stick around until your baby is born, Fiona." I was glad to hear that.

Well, I think I am about to fall asleep at this keyboard and it is only 9.30pm. I'm off to bed. Dr. Reed gave me some iron supplements today, so hopefully they should help with the whole tiredness thing. Hopefully this blog entry makes sense too! So happy to be 7 months pregnant today....

 

Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land enjoy safe pasture.

 

Psalm 37:3