8 months pregnant this weekend!!

It has been way too long since I have posted an update! I am now 8 months pregnant:) I have noticed that I seem to count the weeks as complete before I am actually through them. I get more and more excited by the day. We both just cannot wait to hold her! I look funny walking around the house because I pretty much have my belly out all the time. It probably looks totally trashy and quite funny, but I love looking at it, touching it, and making sure Keith is just as focused on it as I am, which he is. I feel like my belly is pretty big that this point and cannot imagine that I will grow for two more months! Wow! It is still such a thrill to feel her moving around. She is pretty much moving around all the time, or so it seems, and I love feeling it and seeing it.

We got to see our little girl again on a 3D ultrasound in July. It was so amazing and just fascinating to see the development.We could really see her facial features and got some great pictures of her. We think she is absolutely beautiful, but are well aware that the pictures are kind of crazy looking, even scary! I think we will have a hard time being objective about our little angel. She seems to be doing great and growing right along/above the curve. Maybe she is blessed with more length than I have ever had! I have pretty much been a munchkin all of my life, and never above average. Tall or short, she will be the most precious thing to me:-)

Although this pregnancy has been amazing, fun, wonderful, humbling, exciting, and really smooth.... I have to say that I am starting to feel a little uncomfortable. I am already having a harder time breathing, and I have a weird pain in my ribs on the right side. I am pretty sure she is perched with her booty right up in my ribs. I have also had heartburn a lot throughout this pregnancy. It has been bearable, but recently I have been waking up in the middle of the night with a lot of pain from it.  So I started researching a bit and tried a new strategy last night, and it actually worked! I read that it was a good idea to go to bed with as empty of a stomach as possible. So I ate an early and light dinner at 5pm, then took a 2 hour walk with Keith, had only 1 glass of water when I came home and went to bed at around 10pm. Thankfully I didn't wake up in pain last night!! I thought I might wake up hungry and thirsty but I really felt great.

So, a few weeks ago I got a sweet email from my mother-in-law and it just placed on my heart the importance of understanding what a blessing children are, and understanding that they are gifts to us from the Lord. They do not belong to us, but are merely placed in our care (Psalms 127:3-5). I pray that we will provide such a home of love, acceptance, joy, and peace, and that Keith and I will be able to show our children the magic and beauty in the world. I also pray that I will do as my mother-in-law has done, give her children to the Lord and support them in whatever their path may be, no matter how difficult.

Some other fun updates...

My dearest friend Hannah Alexander came for a visit in July and we had the most amazing week ever. Just fun, relaxing, active, sweet, and wonderful. We went for some amazing walks/hikes, swam in the fjord (even though it was only 60 degrees), enjoyed laying in the sun on a little coastal island called Hvasser, hung out with some of my Norwegian friends, and made some sweet artwork for our little girl's room. The last day before she left we were just hanging out in our apartment, Keith had some great music on, he was whittling a wooden knife, Hannah was making a sweet piece for the wall in our baby room, and I seriously just wanted to cry. I am sure I am just a little more mushy than normal, but Hannah really is family and we love her so much.

Picture from one of our wonderful walks...

Picture of the artwork she made for our little sweetie's room:)

Keith is in the last month of writing his master thesis and he is doing great. He is calm and positive every day, he has made a lot of progress, and the work he has done so far is really good! Since his due date is September 1st, the day after his birthday, I am determined to celebrate him a little extra this year. I am so proud of him, the sweet man that he is, how hard he works, how he has remembered to put it in perspective, and how he has been the greatest encouragement and support for me the last 8 months despite everything that he has had going on.

My sister is pregnant too! She is now around 18 weeeks pregnant and went to her ultrasound today. Unfortunatley the baby was laying cross-legged the whole time so they will have to do another ultrasound to confirm the gender, but they think it is a girl and that is also what Naomi is hoping for:) We will see!! Her due date is January 1st so we might just have a little New Year's baby:)

My 28th birthday is this coming Sunday! I am so not good at birthdays, so I don't even know what I want to do yet. All suggestions are welcome!!! I can't believe I am 28! On Saturday, my girlfriends and I will have a birthday party for all of us girls who had summer birthdays. Considering Norway shuts down in July and everyone heads on vacation, we were not able to celebrate each other. So, Saturday we will have a celebration for 4 of us!

On top of our birthday's being this month, Keith and I have been married 6 years on the 12th of August! I can't believe it has been six years, but it truly has been the best years of my life. We have gone through so much together over the last years and I am so thankful for every bit of it. The Lord really has used our relationship to bring us closer to Him.

That is all I got for now:) Send us an update! We would love to hear from you!