16 weeks

here i am at 4 mos and boy is that belly poppin! the baby is clearly growing with no holding back and as a result, here i am. i love it.

at a recent doctors appointment they were trying to listen to the heartbeat and couldnt find it for a while. when asked what was wrong they said the baby is moving around so much they cant get it. we laughed and laughed as we kept hearing noises of it shifting over and over again. finally it was still enough to catch the heartbeat. strong still. praise God!

i am starting to feel something pretty cool. if i lay on my back sometimes i will feel a tightening inside. if i put my hand where that feeling is i can tell the baby is there. i even kept my hand on it the other day and felt it move to another location that tightened. thats the best i know how to explain it. it is amazing and such a gift. and i have been told it just gets better from there.
we go on dec 31st to do the thorough ultrasound to check the baby's condition. we will also find out the sex of the baby. we cannot wait. we will love either/or, we just want to say he or she when we talk about what is residing in this belly.
i would also like to extend a personal thank you for all who continue to pray for us, whether you know us personally or not, through this incredible journey. your prayers, hope, and faith in what God is capable of are knitting this child together. thank you from the bottoms of our hearts!

spoiled? nah!

dont adjust your screens: daniel is this handsome and clover is this rotten. clover loves to wake people up from naps by getting right in there with them and soaking up the cozy as much as she can. i would say she does a pretty sufficient job.

oh christmas tree, oh christmas tree

daniel also put up and decorated our christmas tree this year. he wouldnt let me have any hand in it, he wanted me to rest. but i was a great supervisor! christmas is almost here. we can smell it. it is our holiday so it is so very exciting!

now i lay me down to sleep

with things going so well with our pregnancy we figured it was safe at this point to go ahead and get the crib we had been looking at for a while.
daniel got right to work putting it together and in no time it was up and ready to go. so helpful that man is :-).
and it turned out beautifully. we couldnt be more satisfied with the result. we put pillows in it for right now. they are made by our friend rizzie in athens. saving the spot for something really special to come in may.
dad tested, mom approved.

the weather outside is frightful

kentucky has turned to winter and just the other day we got our first real appearance of snow.
clovers walks became briefer and briefer as she would stop at a sudden halt and run back home not too far away from the house. okay, so its getting too cold for her. we pulled out her coat and lets just say it doesnt fit the ol girl anymore. been there. so we went to petsmart and got her a new one.
man she loves this thing. she would walk outside all day if we let her now. she is so much warmer, happier and....sassier. is that even possible?

visit from williams's

at the end of november we were fortunate enough to receive a visit from some more family. i was so proud of grandma and grandaddy for making the long trip to kentucky with dad and anne. they are real troopers and i loved seeing them so very much.
we had a lot of fun walking around downtown georgetown. we went to antique stores and had lunch at favas. frickles anyone? it was so cold but we had a lot of laughs between the 6 of us to keep us warm.
heres a pic of me, dad, and his next grandchild to be. it was so wonderful to spend a little time with dad.

13 weeks and still baking

here i am at 13 weeks, starting to show a bit more. still having some nausea and fatigue but i am starting to see the light of second trimester relief coming into focus.
but of course every bit of it is a blessing. i praise God for every day that is a success!
here is daniel at 13 weeks :-). he is trying to keep up with me in all this craziness. his school year is coming to a close and then we get to have some time together over Christmas break. cant wait.

when the grahams come to town

when the grahams come to town, a lot of things get done. daniel and his dad put a really cool dimmer switch in the nursery and fixed the dish washer. so handy those graham men.
me and mrs graham hung out and chatted, catching up on all sorts of things. we all watched lots of movies, ate ice cream and read. the thomases got a visit as well- judah had to make his debut for the grahams.
it was so good to have the grahams in. we always enjoy our conversations together.

beckley, here we come again

mom actually had a couple days off work in a row. we decided that the three of us girls and the one little man would meet in beckley for the day. and boy did we have fun. we had lunch at macado's, a classic from college.
i couldn't believe noah. he looked so grown up. beth had him dressed so precious. he needed shoes though so we went to the shoe store and got him his first pair of sneakers. then he really looked like a little man.
check out beth! she has worked so hard and lost so much weight! she looks unbelievable! i couldn't be more proud of her discipline and vision- looks like its paying off for sure!
and of course mamasita was as beautiful as ever. i think she is getting younger each time i see her.
here's the monkey bunch. oh what fun we had. but it always has to come to an end sooner or later. we left the next morning after much hugs. boy do i miss everyone. praise God for beckley.

every good gift and perfect gift comes down from the father of lights

As a blessed gift from God we are pregnant. We have had quite a hard time reaching this point but we realize it was just not in God's perfect timing for us to start a family until now. It is going really well and we are thrilled.


Currently I am 10 weeks approaching 11. Here is the precious baby Graham at 10 wks 5 days. I love how they have their hands up near their face. Look at the little foot too. So beautiful. The heartbeat is strong and the growth is on schedule. The doctor expects a normal pregnancy and a baby in late May!


The pregnancy this far has been a gift. I have had nausea and fatique quite a bit, but nothing I can't handle. I can't cook like I usually like to do as food prep (or even the thought of it) has made me extremely nauseaus. Daniel has been wonderful in cooking for us and running to get cravings for me- french fries or queso or steak. He is so good! Such a good provider :-)


The most exciting part for me has been that I am recently showing. It amazes me that I am a house for an entirely different human being, and that this house grows as the inhabitant grows. So crazy. Daniel likes to weird me out by saying " hey you know what- right now you have 2 heartbeats, 4 legs, and 4 arms". We are always shaking our head in wonderment of it all.

here comes a brand new update in your ear

okay i know it has been forever since we have updated our blog, so here is what has been going on. Daniel is busy as ever. He just got accepted into a really prestigious show called the International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition. Out of the entire world of sculptor applicants they only choose 150 to be in a show in Hawaii. Daniel was among the 150. We are so very proud of him. Once the show goes up they will choose 40 to travel around the world in a traveling exhibition. That opportunity would be wonderful as it would gain him a lot of exposure he may not have gotten otherwise, but we will see. He is still enjoying teaching and is involved in seemingly every aspect of the college. Deep, deep, deep into the world of vespa restoration he has fallen as he restores his pk50. He is really enjoying it and it is looking oh so beautiful. Leave it to Daniel to take on something he knows absolutely nothing about and make it brilliant. He is amazing! check out his blog on the vespa : www.mypk50.blogspot.com


My restoration business has not gone as well as I thought it would. Everyone who finds out I restore photos gets excited and says they have something they would like to have restored, but they never follow through. I think the economy as it is now just does not allow people to spend money on things they dont absolutely need. Most people see that service more of a luxury than a necessity (although I feel differently), so it has not taken off as I expected. In the meantime I have taken on to a new venture....something else I have always wanted to do- my own online store. Right now I am selling my wearable knit/crochet work. It is going well- it allows me a creative outlet and a chance to sell the product. The site is very user friendly and I can't think of a better way to sell online! To check out the site: www.visionsofsugarplum.etsy.com. I have also just recently finished my goal I set out for myself a year ago, which was to read the bible cover to cover. Wow- what an amazing journey! I have learned so much and loved all the different stories, people and writing styles. Definately something I would recommend to everyone! The bible is not a dusty boring book like it is often portrayed- it is living and breathing and I guarantee it will hold your attention if you give it a shot!


We are both getting so excited about Christmas- our most favorite time of year.

creation museum

thankfully our church got a group rate to go the creation museum in ohio. we were very excited. we have wanted to go since
we heard the construction was completed.the time, thought, and money that went into this place blew me away.

it was very thorough and impressive.it took the story through creation, including the story of
adam and eve, leading to the fall of man.there was a whole wing devoted to adam and eve that was so
beautiful and thought provoking. there was also a wing involving
God's judgement on the worlds sin, and his justice through noah.i absolutely loved all the wax sculptures. there was a section talking about
the history and validity of scripture. here are isaiah and moses. beautiful, huh?outside of the museum were a whole other world. here are matt and sarah (who
joined us for the day and made it that much more fun) in the botanical gardens.
the gardens seemed to go on forever.

they also had a petting zoo. it was sweltering outside
but we had such a good time exploring!

the campbell soup visits kentucky

beth chad and noah decided to make a trip to kentucky to visit chads grandma. we of course benefited from that trip and got to see them for a weekend.

chad has settled in marvelously to being "daddy".

we went to joseph beth, ate at the chinese buffet, and just had a great time.

i couldnt believe how noah had changed. he is constantly growing out of clothes and even thinking of picking up walking. he cracks up when mommy tickles him
and has developed a fondness of red.

beth has been working really hard and looks amazing.

she has also changed so much since i saw her last.
she is looking even more beautiful than usual.
i'm really proud of her.its always so good to see loved ones. and so sad when they leave.
but we were very blessed to have a couple of days with the campbells.