Me & "My Girls"

In case you haven't noticed the baby ticker, we are just 4 days away from baby A's (each of the names we are deciding between start with A) due date- super bowl Sunday. Unbelievable! We are getting really excited, yet it still seems surreal. Somethings going on in my body because I have been REALLY emotional lately! I've been crying over everything! I've been having contractions and am dizzy at times, but won't know if I've made any progress until tomorrow morning at my OB appt. For now I am trying to keep my heart at peace as I finish up last minute projects around the house. Alathea has been a joy to spend time with, but at times a real challenge (especially with my heightened emotions) with the constant training & discipline she requires. I'm praying it will bear good fruit, as it takes everything in me to be faithful to do so. I am really praying for much grace in this area once I have a newborn added to the mix.

Reba was kind enough to take some sweet pictures of Alathea & I today. She really is a sweetie- and I believe at least for the most part, she'll be a great big sister :) I think its funny seeing how it looks when Alathea is sitting on my belly. Quite the seat she's got! As far as the baby front, we'll keep you posted!

Making Progress

If only I could get my pictures to upload so you could see my basketball sized belly! For some reason I am having trouble uploading them, but I will keep trying...

We are making much progress around here. First of all I am officially 1cm!! Wow! That is huge for me. With Alathea I was one week late when I was induced and even at that point I had made no progress. I am still very aware that 1cm is not much, and I am not expecting our sweet girl to arrive early at all. I am doing pretty well physically still- what a gift from God! I've noticed myself being much more emotional the past few days, which is a sign to me that I am fatiqued and a bit anxious. I can still feel like there is a lot to do before baby arrives, and at the same time ALL I want to do is savor each moment with Alathea, as I know my time alone with her will decrease once little girl #2 arrives. This makes it hard to actually get done what it is that I need to attend to :) In the end I'm sure I will not regret the time I spend with Alathea!

We are making progress on baby prep though- I now have her own closet set up (as she doesn't have an official room, just a closet for her stuff :), and her clothes washed and put away. I was INCREDIBLY blessed last week with one of my dearest friends throwing me a surprise baby shower. It meant the world to me, was super fun and it blessed us in the "baby needs" department tremendously. It also helped the reality of this girly coming soon sink in.

Alathea has been so sweet each day "kissing" my tummy, rubbing it and "singing" to baby sister. I know she doesn't completely have the concept grasped as last week at my DR's appointment, she convinced my OB to put the doppler up to her tummy, which only further convinced Alathea that she has a baby in her tummy too! It was really cute :)

Please keep our little family in your prayers- for a healthy baby girl and smooth delivery, for a smooth and peaceful transition for Alathea, for grace for Joe as he has much on his plate as far as preaching and planning in the midst of having a new baby come any day, and for me to trust the Lord with the transition. Also, that I would trust the Lord to provide the help I need once the baby is here- Joe will only be able to take one day max off of work after the hospital, and my Aunt Jeanie, who is planning on coming to help for 5 days once we get home from the hospital, only is available to come up until Feb 13th- which means that if the baby is late, she may not be able to help. The Lord will provide! You can also pray for wisdom on baby's name- we are almost certain on one, but are not 100% there yet.

Only 10 days until d-day! Wow!!

SNOW!!!

Yipee!! It snowed! This is quite a novelty since living in Charlotte. When I woke up to the beauty of the winter wonderland that snow brings, I couldn't stop staring out the window to soak it all up. The snow was unfortunately accompanied by rain as soon as Alathea woke up, but we still managed to get 30 minutes of play time in before she was cold! She loved it until then- she kept saying in her excited voice "snow! snow!".
And for those of you who know how much I dislike cold weather & winter- it is still true- but I have always loved snow!

Daddy love

Just a quick post to let you know that we are still alive :) Alathea & I (along with Lizzy Honea) made a 3 day trip up to MD this weekend to surprise my sister who was receiving a big award. I'll post more on that hopefully tomorrow. We've been keeping busy getting things in order for baby girl- whose due date is 19 DAYS AWAY!!! So incredible! We still have no baby clothes or items out at all...guess we've got a lot left to do :) I'm trying to savor every moment with my big girl right now- we've been spending lots of momma-Alathea time together!

Well, enjoy these sweet pictures of Alathea and her favorite person in the world- her Daddy!!

Julie & Ellen visit!

Aunt Ju-Ju is HERE!!!! Alathea could hardly contain herself!!! She did some sort of screaming, jumping, hysterical victory dance around our family room for probably 15 minute after Julie arrived on Friday!! I know now to have the video camera out and ready because it was so funny!! We were all laughing hysterically!


Here is a picture of Julie and one of her very best friends Ellen. They came in town with about 10 other MD folks to go to the MD vs UNCC basketball game on Saturday. Joe & I both were able to go as well. It was so fun to see BOTH of my colleges play against each other (I was in MD 2 years and UNCC 2 years). I couldn't decide who to cheer for, so I thought I'd go back to my roots and wear red for the Terps (and for fun since Joe was cheering for Charlotte. Maryland won by the way :).

The weekend went quick and Julie & Ellen were quite busy visiting friends, but we were grateful for the time we did get with them! Its always so fun to be with them!! I thought these pictures below of Alathea & Julie were so funny! Only Julie can get Alathea to make faces like that! Alathea adores Julie and will do anything she does...








We explained to Alathea that Julie & Ellen had to go bye-bye. When they left this afternoon Alathea burst into tears and banged on the glass door. I opened it so she could wave good-bye and she sprinted to the car, hopped in and waved good-bye to me!! After a few minutes I finally got her to stay with me :) What a gift Aunt Ju-Ju is to us!

9 Months

28 days?? That is what my little "baby ticker" says- WOW! Its so hard to believe. I remember when pregnant with Alathea and due on Feb 5th that the holidays make time fly during month 7 & 8 and before you know it the 3rd trimester is almost over before you realized it began. The blessing is that I in no way have the struggle "waiting" for month 9 to pass by and baby girl to arrive. Honestly I would be happy if she waited until at least her due date. I still feel great- what a gift, huh? Its a bit more cumbersome to move sometimes, but I am still sleeping well at night. I remember being more uncomfortable with Alathea than I am now. I go back & forth now with having incredible amounts of energy that keep me up organizing under sinks and closets and scrapbooking until 2am, to feeling utterly exhausted before lunch time! I am starting to really get excited about this baby- it is starting to feel more "real". We just got an incredible deal on an amazing bassinet for baby to sleep in. It was unplanned and God kind of dropped it in our laps, but its a HUGE blessing! Now she has an "official" place to sleep. And its one of the only things that is just for her (not a hand me down :). Hopefully we'll get the other baby stuff we have down from the attic soon. Every little baby thing like that helps me get ready! Oh- and Joe and the rest of my family all pitched in a surprised me with a glider for Christmas!! What a HUGE blessing! Its something I've always wanted, but they are so expensive and we have so little space in our tiny house, I kinda let it go. But after spending 18 months either nursing Alathea on the couch in our family room or on the floor next to her crib, I am so excited to feed the baby in comfort this time around :).
I am still tempted on and off being anxious and fearful about being able to sufficiantly love and care for an infant and a toddler. I an especially tempted to fear not being able to give Alathea the time & attention I want to and have been able to- as well as wanting to be able to faithfully train and discipline her. It seems like a daunting task if I will be up most of the night with baby and then Alathea will be ready to go bright and early in the morning. I'd love any advice from you experienced Moms who make it look so easy!! Pray that the next few weeks I will be able to cast these cares on the Lord and fill my mind with truth before the battle begins! Also please pray obviously for a healthy baby and smooth delivery, as well as for Alathea's little heart and her own transition during this time.

Our Christmas Together

Our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree


Joe setting up the lights outside


Alathea putting her 1st ornament on the tree


Hello from Maryland! We hope you all had a fabulous Christmas!! We have really enjoyed creating lots of special family memories and new traditions this year with Alathea being almost two. We started with setting up our very special "charlie brown" christmas tree (its more like a four foot branch...but we love it!) the weekend after Thanksgiving. Alathea was REALLY into it! She helped put most of the ornaments on the tree and had a difficult time when we were finished. She became our "light police" and wanted the tree and mantel lights on at all times, even during the day. She would "ohhh" and "ahhh" every time we turned the lighta on and would sit and stare at the tree with such delight.
Another fun tradition was we took her to McAddenville. Since she got so excited over our little four foot tree at home, you can only imagine what miles and miles of lights on houses did for her!! She also loved sitting on Daddy's lap as we drove 5mph through the town. (I'd post picts of this, but they are all on my computer at home!).
My favorite new Christmas "tradition" (I put it in quotations because this is our 1st time doing it- which I don't think makes it a tradition yet), was a little Cookie Decorating Party with a few of Alathea's little buddies. I made a bunch of sugar cookies, and set the table with tons of different kind of sprinkles and the kiddos went at it. They seemed to enjoy it a lot, especially eating all the sprinkles and icing.
I was also thrilled to follow in my Mom's footsteps and made a gingerbread house with Alathea. Since she is so young, I didn't bake the gingerbread from scratch and build an elaborate house- we simply assembled a kit. Alathea licked every piece of candy before putting it on the house and actually took bites out of the roof of the house, but it was such a joy to see her enjoying it and it brought back so many memories from making them with Mom every year. Mom did an amazing job of making Christmas SO special and I really desire to do the same.
We've enjoyed a full week of celebrations. We celebrated Christmas with the Lechner family Friday night, did our own special family Christmas Saturday and headed up to MD Sunday morning to celebrate Christmas with my Dad's family that afternoon. We've been at my family's house since then and had a special Christmas day together(although it is always bitter sweet and never the same without Mom). We're loving this week together and will be heading home Friday or Saturday.
Sorry for the lack of pictures- they are all at home so I'll have to post them later!

Happy 18th Birthday, Julie!

Today is my beautiful, vibrant sister Julie's 18th Birthday!! Its very hard for me to believe that she is 18 already! When I was her age I was engaged...yikes! Anyways, next to my mother, there is no woman I know of who is more worthy of honor than my sister. I've told her time and again that she is one of my Heroes- and how often is that said of a younger sister? Julie is an amazing combination of joy, faith, compassion, friendliness and fun all rolled up into one person. Her love for the Lord, her love for life and her love for people is contagious. Her faith is amazing. Her Joy is constant as it is founded in the Lord alone. Julie has a depth to her relationship with the Lord that I have NEVER seen in anyone her age. Since she was 8 years old, her Mother has battled cancer. When she was 16 years old, her mother died. While Mom was her best friend, Julie has learned what it means to lean on the Lord and to make him her refuge and strength as she walks through life at such a young age without a mom. Julie has never once complained or charged the Lord...she know's that He is Soveriegn, trusts in him and is able to have Joy in the midst of her pain. Julie has seen first hand the brevity of life, which had created quite the little evangelist- she has shared the Gospel many, many, many times with those whom she works with or plays soccer with. Christians and non-Christians are drawn to her vibrant personality, which has given her many opportunities to share the good news. At only 18 years old, Julie can honestly say she is living her life to the fullest for the Lord. While you'll never meet a more "popular" girl- or a girl who has more friends than Julie does, she spends a good chunk of her free time reaching out to those who are younger than her, taking high school freshman girls out to lunch once a week, or eating lunch at school with those who have no one else to sit with. I LOVE this about Julie! Her eyes are never on herself... she is always looking to how she can bless and serve others.
All of this is said, without mentioning yet the fabulous sister and friend she is to me, and Aunt "Ju-Ju" to Alathea. There is nothing as special and wonderful as a sister!! And Alathea adores Ju-Ju....hardly a day goes by where Alathea doesn't ask to call her.
Jules- I love you, sis! And I respect you more than you'll ever know! Thanks for honoring the Lord and Mom's legacy by the way you are living whole-heartedly for the Lord! Thank you for the way you love His Word, prayer, God's people and the lost! I love you dearly and Happy Birthday! I'm sure Mom's celebrating big in Heaven for you today!!

Already??

I posted the above picture because Alathea looks so sweet and innocent (and her face is covered in an entire tube of lip gloss- she's smiling for the picture because she "looks pretty" :). Yesterday afternoon Alathea decided to call "Dada" on the phone- which she attempts to do every day. Once I catch her I usually ask her to hang up or help her call Dada myself. When I found her sitting on the floor dialing, I asked her to hang up the phone. Instead of cheerfully obeying, she started screaming, and in an attempt to be faithful to train her, I took her into the bathroom for instruction and discipline. All this happened while the phone was still not hung up.

To make a long story short, Joe got home about 5 minutes later. Then almost immediately a police officer was standing at the door. Honestly I was a little concerned something was wrong until he informed us that they had just received a 911 call from a screaming child from this address! I tried hard not to laugh, as I know its a serious thing to tie up police officers with fake 911 calls...but it was hard not to. He asked a number of questions until we convinced him that she was the only child in the house, and at barely 22 months old, she did not understand what 911 meant. Fortunately she greeted the officer at the door with her usual "Hi!" and smile.

Joe & I had a good laugh about it. Its hard to believe that she punched in those numbers! I only wonder how much they overheard once I got her off the phone! Anyways, I know this has happened to just about every one who has children, I just didn't think she'd get herself into that kind of trouble already! :)

Pretty in Red

It's amazing how much I love this beautiful girl!!!



Reba & I noticed that our girls were both wearing pretty red dresses- they were almost matching. We decided it would be a nice day for a little photo shoot. We hoped to get some good ones of the two of them...which was, of course, challenging. But, we did end up with some sweet ones. There are some great ones especially of Kathryn, but I'll let Reba share those once I get them to her. Here are two I love...especially the kissing one. Alathea just loves "Kat-Kat". If she loves her baby sister half as much, then we'll be good :)

8 Months

(Me & My Girls)


According to the "What to Expect when your Expecting" book, I've just begun my eigth month! Yikes! Its so hard to belive. I finally got around to getting one of those baby tickers- which counts in days- even more amazing so few are left! I'm getting very excited to meet this little girl (who will hopefully have a name soon). As I read in the "What to Expect..." book, I am increasingly grateful for how few difficlties I have. i'm just a little tired- not even uncomfortable yet! What a blessing. I do have TONS of Braxton-Hicks contraction- which I never had with Alathea. Maybe this baby will come on her own :)

As you can see my belly keeps growing & growing!! Not the best pictures, but at least I got some to show!

Happy Birthday Mom

Today would have the most amazing mother in the worlds 52nd birthday! I miss her sooooo much and wish she was here so bad!!!

Everyday Life

Its been a little while since I posted about everyday, ordinary life. Lets see...where to begin? I am now 31 weeks pregnant and my belly has grown a lot this past month. I am starting to "feel pregnant". I'm more tired and my back hurts a bit. I just "retired" from running this week, which is sad, but I am amazed I've been able to keep up my running routine with Reba & Jenny for so long (and extra 6 weeks longer than when pregnant with Alathea). So for the next 2-3 months its just walking for me, until after post-partum. I'm already looking forward to running again- I really miss it when I can't and walking just isn't the same to me. Overall this pregnancy has been a great as the last time...other than the typical fatigue & aches, I've got nothing to complain about!




It's hard for Joe & I to believe we'll have another baby girl in just 9 weeks!! We've been talking about baby stuff more now that it is becoming a reality...like names, where the baby will sleep, ect. We are very excited! I'm a little nervous about having two, excited but nervous. I often wonder how I could love this baby as much as I already do Alathea. I hope thats a normal concern! I'm tempted to feel this pressure to get the house perfectly in order, all scrapbooks caught up, ect, ect before baby girl comes, all of which is so slow going as I'm more tired...I've tried to fight the temptation by enjoying each day as an underserved gift from God and to rest that He will allow me to get done what His agenda is, not my own.

Tomorrow (Dec 2nd) would have been Mom's 52nd b-day. Days like this make me miss her very, very much!! And the thought of having this baby with out her can be quite sad. Pray for my family tomorrow if you think of it!





Alathea is quite the little personality now. She's a bundle of energy- especially when she is around people. She's your typical "college ministry" baby who loves a crowd and thinks the world revolves around her...so far its still pretty cute. She's also the oldest Grandkid on both sides, and she LOVES all of our families. She's been asking for "Pop-Pop & Ju-ju" (My Dad & Julie) almost daily since Thanksgiving. Alathea has been talking like crazy. It seems like everyday she learns a word or two. This week the highlights were "Luv-lu" (I love you) and "A-ya-a" (Alathea- her own name). Her favorite things to do each day- take care of her baby dolls, play outside, sidewalk chalk & play dough, READ books (she's a book nut), do puzzles and have dance parties (literally- she'll gather everyone in the house to the kitchen, ask us to turn on the music and we'll all dance for 3-4 songs- she's hysterical when she's dancing & singing). She also loves seeing her buddies- especially CJ & Avery and "Kat-kat" (whom she still see's daily!). Alathea also loves to "help" me with whatever I am doing around the house- I'm so grateful for that.


These are just some random everyday pictures (the 1st two were from Jason Kovacs Photography)...

Alathea and Kathryn in their shades


Alathea exploring the outdoors


Me enjoying some sweet snuggles...such a Mama's girl


Alathea performing for a crowd on the piano :)


Alathea at a M28 Coffee House- she is front & center dancing to the music at 10:45pm at night- sure didn't seem tired to me :)


That is one thing I am grateful for as this baby approaches- Alathea is an awesome sleeper. She sleeps typically from 7:30pm to 7:30am and then takes a 3-4 hour nap during the day! If that keeps up, I'm sure the extra sleep will help me!!

That ended up being one long update! An updated belly picture to come...

Boys will be boys...

..enough said, huh? This is what the "Lechner Boys" (minus Aaron) do for fun. God knew what He was doing giving me two girls :) Although, I must say that I did shoot the 44 magnum a few times.

Thanksgiving on the Farm

Every person in my family decided that this was our best Thanksgiving ever. Thats a pretty amazing statement considering the past two years have been the toughest (2 years ago my Mom was in the hospital, and last year at Thanksgiving it was only 3 months since Mom had died- and our first holiday without her). We were blessed by the Mulligan family to "live" at their house- aka "the farm" to us city folk- for the entire week. Joe, Alathea & I stayed at their house for the weekend before Thanksgiving and were joined by my Dad, brother Rocky, sister Julie and Grandma Bowers on Tuesday and we all stayed in the house together until this afternoon. What a week we had! The pictures tell most of the story...enjoying the beautiful property & gorgeous weather, riding ATV's, shooting guns, jumping on the trampoline (Alathea's favorite!!!), feeding the chickens, driving their truck (just up the driveway- enough to make Julie smile!), eating Thanksgiving dinner with both sides of the family at their beautiful dining room table, playing frisbee golf on their own course, enjoying walks on their property and most of all enjoying sitting on their front porch enjoying being together as a family. What a week of amazing memories. We are so grateful to the Mulligans for their incredible hospitality!