Showered with love from my family

My family threw a shower for me to get ready for our little girl!!

My family is spread out all over the country, but amazingly, EIGHT states were represented at my shower!!! AND EVERYONE except me and the hostess had to travel OVER AN HOUR (some up to 10!) to get there! What an amazing demonstration of love! :)

The states: Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Missouri, Virginia, and Connecticut.

Karen was our hostess. She did an outstanding job of leading the devotion and games.

While I opened so many generous gifts, all the ladies played “bingo” with gift items.

Thank you ERICA for hosting the beautiful shower!! Everyone felt so welcome and comfortable in your beautifully decorated home!

After the shower, all the family and two friends who traveled a long way came back to our house to meet up with the guys to hang out for the afternoon. We made a new record for guests in our little condo: 33 people!!! (18 adults and 15 kids!)

Here are all the 4th generation kids on the front steps! From Mom’s side of the family, we’re just missing Matthew, Matthis, Jonas, and Ila. So 15 for 19, not too bad! Can’t wait for the next time we all get together!

in 3D!

Last Friday we had a super fun appointment getting 3D/4D Ultrasound images of our little girl!! At first she was a little shy... she had her hand in front of her face for the first 20 minutes :)



Following the technician's suggestion, we walked around the halls and up the stairs for a couple of minutes to see if we could get her moving. Then right before I laid back on the table, I took a couple sips of Adam's coffee...



And it must have worked! After that, she was ACTIVE and she moved her hand for a couple minutes so we could get a cute little video:



In the very beginning you can see the umbilical cord in front of her face. Then you'll notice at about 25 seconds, she moves her hand from the front to the side, and then lets out a big yawn. At the very end she rests her head on her hands :)

Some 2D shots:

FEET! (can you see her BIG toe in the left picture?!)


Profile shot, maybe smiling?!


Sleepy!


This one's my favorite, she looks so peaceful!


After that, she was done- she turned her head down to tell us she had enough poking around for the day!!

It was such a fun experience!! Adam loved it and even got a little teary-eyed (sorry hun, had to tell everyone!) What an awesome opportunity it was for us to visualize what's going on in her little world. Can't wait to touch her, hold her and kiss her in about 2 months!!

Retired!

Happy Retirement Mom and Dad!!

We truly appreciate all your years of hard work and dedication in order to serve your family!

Now its time to start your new job:

• ReLaX

• PaRtY

• Enjoy your [almost] 7 GrAndKiDs to the fullest!

We love you and can’t wait to see you next week!

growing

We just got another glimpse of our baby girl! (And yes, a different ultrasound technician confirmed she IS indeed a girl!!)

Here she is at 27 weeks, 3 days! She is measuring just right at 27 weeks (I guess I should start mentally preparing for a late arrival?!)

She is now 2 lbs 2 oz, heart rate at 146bpm. The technician said she has long legs and arms!! No wonder I feel her moving around so much! :)

Also, my placenta moved up, so I am all clear.  We signed up to get a 3D/4D ultrasound at the end of October so stay tuned for more pictures and possibly a video!

Everything is going smoothly, Praise the Lord! We can’t wait to meet our little daughter in about 12 weeks!

Showered with Love

While we were out in Washington, Adam’s parents and sister surprised us by throwing a party for us!! We had somewhere around 60 people over for dinner. Dad grilled chicken, pork, hotdogs, and meatballs and pineapple kabobs. There was also corn on the cob, salads, delicious homemade breads, and an assortment of DELICIOUS desserts made by our friend Leah!

Here’s their newly renovated backyard complete with a huge fire pit:

Dad and a friend built those huge arbors and even installed outdoor lighting on them. It's the perfect place to host a large party. And it looks fantastic!

After we all had our fill, the ladies met inside and showered me with baby gifts!

Here’s Bekah modeling the famous “Tilly Towel” sewn by Adam’s mom:

We received many cute things like sleepers, blankets, and books.

Rebekah and Sadie were excellent helpers with all the gifts!

And it was great to see so many friends from Olympia Bible Presbyterian Church.

Thank you Tonya for taking all these photos!!

Here’s a view of what the TV room looked like during the shower! All the guys were outside talking, all the women were inside chatting, and the kids were watching Cars! And this isn’t even all the kids between the ages of 2 and 8 that were at the party!!

And the most special gift of the night… all the ladies of the church, as well as Grandma Bond, Mom, Karen, and Robin each hand-embroidered a square of a baby quilt!!

Adam’s sister Amy did all the hard work of designing the squares and assembling all the pieces. Isn’t it beautiful!!! (you can find more of her handiwork here)

Click on the picture below to see the details. I typed out the name of the person who made each square!

It is sooo special to us! It means so much that all these friends of ours from far away are praying for us and our little baby!! We have such an amazing support system of family and friends. I can’t wait to hang it on the wall of the nursery. What a fabulous focal point it will make :)

Sleepless in Seattle

This past weekend we took a trip out to Seattle with our friends the Engers to watch the Seahawks/Bears football game! It was great to get a chance to see family and friends in Washington too. We utilized every single moment out there to its fullest (hence the sleepless part!) and it was a fabulous weekend.

On Thursday, we hung out with our family outside around the firepit. Dad grilled an extravagant dinner of chicken, steak, and salmon along with many other delicious sides. On Friday we toured around Adam’s hometown of Olympia. We went to the Farmer’s Market and to Tumwater Falls.

It was the season where all the salmon swim UPstream to mate. Little did they know after they made it all the way up, these guys were waiting to harvest them…

It was pretty cool to watch. (But I’m glad I had tried salmon the night before seeing this, or I may not have had the courage!)

Saturday was a beautiful day, a perfect day to explore Seattle.

We saw the Space Needle, Pike’s Place Market, and the harbor. (I stole this cool shot from Derek and Jen)

And of course we had to stop by the very FIRST Starbucks!

After church on Sunday we headed back up to Seattle to see the Seahawks game!!!

It was Adam’s first ever Seahawks game, so he was VERY excited about it. His childhood hero is Steve Largent, #80. The stadium had paid great tribute to the man which was pretty special for Adam.

The Seahawks started out fairly strong, despite not having their first string quarterback, but the Bears came back for the victory. Adam was a bit bummed, but Derek and Jen were obviously thrilled about it!! And I was too, since my *second* favorite NFL team won the game!

Great times, Engers!! Let’s do it again soon!