LONG Overdue...21 Weeks

It's official...my goal of blogging about this pregnancy has not gotten off to a great start. But I'm only halfway to the end, so there's still hope!

I am now 21 weeks and have officially made it halfway...crazy! I can't believe it's gone by that fast and I'm sure I will be holding my sweet baby girl before we know it.

That's right folks, we are having a baby GIRL! We found out about a week ago, and we couldn't be more excited. I had a feeling for most of my pregnancy that it was a girl, and although Justin had no feeling either way, I do think he was slightly surprised. The world of girl is (obviously) more unknown to him, so being able to raise a little girl well seems a little more difficult, but we realize that either way, we need the Lord's strength and wisdom to raise any of our children well. We have a few ideas for a name, and will share once it becomes official. We are praying that the Lord will give us a name with a significant meaning that we can pray/prophesy over our daughter's life. Pray for this with us and let us know if you have any ideas!

So far, this pregnancy has been better than Justin and I could've ever asked for, and we are so blessed the Lord has chosen to make this a fairly easy road for me. My main symptom in the first trimester was fatigue, and I rarely, if ever, dealt with nausea or morning sickness. And second trimester has been even better. Recently, when people ask me how I'm feeling, I have to stop and think "oh yeah, I'm pregnant", because I seriously feel almost 100% all the time. Praise the Lord.

As this baby continues to grow inside me and we feel her sweet movements daily, Justin and I are falling more and more in love with her. We are already so anxious to meet her and hold her in our arms, and we are beginning to feel more and more like a family of three. The Lord perfectly planned the timing of this pregnancy, and we could not have planned anything better ourselves.

Now for the Pregnancy Highlights of the week:


How Far Along: 21 weeks


Fruit/Veggie Size: A large banana


Size: About 8 inches long and 11 ounces


Baby Changes: Eyebrows and lids are present now. Arms and legs are finally in proportion. Neurons are now connected between the brain and muscles, and cartilage throughout the body is turning to bone.


Best Moment This Week: Getting smiles from strangers out in public. It's just starting to be obvious that I'm pregnant, and most likely everyone I come into contact with can tell. I'm sure this is just the beginning of this :).


Gender: A precious baby girl!!


Movement: I have been able to feel our little sweet pea move every day and it never ceases to amaze me. Justin has also felt her on a daily basis, and we think she is beginning to respond to his voice when he talks/sings to her. He's going to be a great daddy :).


Clothing: I am still in all my normal clothes. Just in the last few days have some of my pants not been able to fit, but overall, everything still fits. I have been given a few maternity tops and dresses, but I'm hoping I still get to hold out on wearing those for a little while since I might be wearing the same few outfits once I'm in all maternity!


Food Craving: None that I can think.


Food Aversions: None, I'm just more picky in what I want to eat at any given time. Certain foods don't sound good to me at certain times, and this is not usually normal for me.


What I miss: Being able to run an errand/go into a store without having to go to the bathroom at least once while I'm there, even if it's only a 5 minute trip.


Sleep: I have to wake up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night about once every other night. I can't complain!


What I Am Looking Forward To: Beginning to plan and prepare her nursery! I am starting to brainstorm some ideas...decorating for a little girl is going to be so much fun!


Symptoms: Not many. Like I said, I have felt pretty much normal throughout this second trimester. Some symptoms are frequent urination, nasal congestion, increased appetite, and some varicose veins on the back of one of my knees (which have been painful a few times). 

14 weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 14 weeks and 5 days. Official

ly in my 2nd trimester!

Fruit/Ve

ggie Siz

e: Lemon

Size: About 3 1/2 inches

Baby changes: The baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his/her thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his/her facial muscles are getting a workout as his/her tiny features form one expression after another. He/she's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his/her body.

Best Moment this week: Feeling the baby move twice this week!

Gender: We find out in just 6 weeks!!

Movement: Last Saturday I felt the baby move for the first time!! I was sitting on the couch reading, when I felt like I had some gas bubbles/gurgles in my stomach/lower abdomen. I paid attention to it for awhile, since I've read that it may feel like gas in the beginning, and quickly realized it was happening in the same concentrated place, and it lasted for about an hour! Justin even got to feel it, and it was just such a sweet surreal moment for both of us. I can't wait for more!

Food Craving: I'm still craving tons of milk. Other than that, I've just wanted any drink besides water, so it's been a discipline to make sure I'm still drinking plenty of water.

Food Aversions: Chocolate Chex (GF). One morning last week, after eating these for breakfast, I had to suddenly pull over on the side of I-35 during morning traffic and, let's just say, it was not pretty. Ever since then, I can't bring myself to eat them again.

What I miss: Nothing I can think of off the top of my head. I am really getting more and more excited about this sweet baby joining our family and am already anxious to meet him/her!

Sleep: Still waking up once a night to go to the bathroom. And I have been having very vivid dreams, most of which I can remember when I wake up.

What I am looking forward to: Feeling this baby move more...I can't wait to be able to feel him/her every day!

Symptoms: Fatigue has gotten slightly less, but is still very existent. It's common for me to very suddenly be hit with a wave of sleepiness, and not be able to do much until I at least lay down for a few minutes. I have had headaches the last few days which have been very rough, but I think this may be due to

my lack of water consumption.

Also, I've had irritated gums (which supposedly is due to hormones), and a constant stuffy nose (also due to hormones).

11 Weeks

So I've decided to blog about this pregnancy, mostly for my sake and for the grandparents. I know if I don't do something like this, it will just fly by and the baby will be here before I know it! I want to make sure I stop and enjoy the miracle of this precious life growing inside me!

I found these "Pregnancy Highlights" on another blog, and decided it would be a fun and easy way to track this pregnancy. Enjoy!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 11 weeks and 4 days. I'm halfway through my third month...crazy!

*(This picture was obviously taken at 10 weeks, but I still look the same!)

Fruit/Ve

ggie Size: Lime

Size: Just over 2 inches.

Baby changes: Hair follicles are forming, and fingernail and toenail beds are beginning to develop on his/her no longer webbed feet and hands. His or her body is straightening out and the torso is leng

thening. His or her head is half of it's body's size right now!

Best Moment this week:

Our first ultrasound (This was almost 2 weeks ago, but I spent all week showing off our pictures!). It was an amazing moment and made this feel so much more real. Everything looked GREAT and the baby looked super healthy! Yay!

Gender: We are choosing to find out! We don't have any hunches yet...

Movement: None

Food Craving: Milk (we have gone through SO many gallons!). French fries and lemonade from Chick-fil-A. Other than these, I haven't had any other consistent cravings, it's just usually once I see or think about something that I want, I have to have it!

Food Aversions: Potato Salad! And smoothies. I used to love them and just haven't been drawn to them lately.

What I miss: Having energy!

Sleep: I am no longer sleeping through the night :(. I have to wake up to pee at least once a night.

What I am looking forward to: The end of my first trimester and not having to take a nap everyday!

Symptoms: Justin and I both feel like I have had a really great pregnancy so far. I only had a rough 2 weeks in the very beginning of feeling nauseous and sickly, but since then, all I've experienced is fatigue. I am trying to sleep 9-10 hours a night, and am taking a nap almost every day. But other than that I can't complain!

And as you can see, I'm already starting to show! I didn't think I'd have a little bump this early, but I guess this baby has nowhere to go but out!

El Campo

We’ve been back from our week away for about a week now, but because of how busy our last week here in Jarabacoa has been, I’m just now getting a chance to write about our experience in the campo.

We left almost two weeks ago and went to a rural village, or “campo”, lived with a host family there, and just experienced a different kind of Dominican life. And I must say, it may be my favorite kind of Dominican life.

The campo was a tiny village that consisted of about 20 houses, mostly of people who were all related, and a couple tiny “colmado’s”, or corner stores. It was only a few minutes from the coast, so it was really hot and humid. I don’t think there was a moment where we actually felt clean, even right after the shower.

The living conditions were rough, so it was definitely an adventure for me. There was only power for about an hour a day, but fortunately our house was one of the few that had an “inversor”, which is basically a generator. Water was almost just as scarce, even for us, so we took bucket showers, which actually weren’t bad because the water wasn’t as cold.

There also is very little to no privacy in the campo. The first day we were there, I was going to the bathroom in our house, and my sister came in, despite my attempts to try to tell her I was in there, so she could show me how to flush the toilet. I learned quickly that privacy doesn’t exist. Along with that, none of the walls in the house went all the way to the ceiling, they were only about a foot higher than Justin’s head.

But the people. Oh the people. I have never met people so loving, friendly, and hospitable in my life. They will legitimately give you the shirt off their backs without a second thought. That’s why there is no privacy and no sense of personal possessions, because it just doesn’t make sense to them. If they are blessed with something, it only makes sense for them to share. To cite an example: We thought we were being really thoughtful by bringing our host family a pound of coffee as a gift and the next day this poverty stricken family brings out a dress that they had purchased for me a week ago. They knew Justin was coming back to stay with him and was bringing his new wife, and they wanted to welcome me into the family and show me how happy they were to have me. I was almost in tears because of how loved I felt by these people who barely knew me.

We lived with the host family that Justin stayed with last summer, and they were beyond excited to see him again and to see his new wife he brought. They loved on us so much, called us their “hijos hermosos” (beautiful kids), and made us truly feel like their house and their family was ours too. They told us multiple times that everything they have is ours too, even our host dad’s horse that he let us ride a few times. We spent most of our time with them, just sitting on their porch talking, drinking coffee with way too much sugar, and visiting with all the neighbors who seemed to drop by every five minutes to say hi, drink coffee, or get fed by our mom.

To paint a picture of our family, our host mom’s name was "Mama Dulce" (dulce means sweet), and she was this really large black lady who had this super loud and intense voice, spoke extremely fast, and definitely ran the house. Yet she was the most loving and generous person I’ve ever met. Papa Felo, her husband, was this skinny older man who wore the same clothes everyday (his shirt was a Burger King shirt...ha), worked on a farm down the street, and carried a huge machete around with him all the time. The oldest of their three kids, Yomari, lives with them. She is 33 years old and incredibly sweet; although she is a little off mentally. Also living there is a 9-year-old granddaughter, Maritrini. She is the middle child of Dulce and Felo’s youngest daughter. We had a lot of fun with this loving, respectful, and feisty little girl.

Almost as beautiful as the people we were around were the incredible beaches that we were near. The one guy in town who owned a truck carried all 15 of us a little ways down the hill to the most incredible beach that I have ever seen in my life. We got some good pictures but they just don’t do it justice. It’s called “La Boca” (the mouth) because of the freshwater stream that dumps out into the ocean there. We played in the giant waves, cleaned off in the river, read on the beach, and ate tostoni’s fresh off the skillet. It was a day to remember.

You can probably tell by how much I’ve written that this Campo trip is one of our most cherished experiences yet. We will literally remember these people and the way that they treated us for the rest of our lives. We were shown that we could fall in love with all of our nice things without ever knowing it because they had never been taken away from us. We were shown that a family whose yearly income is literally one-tenth of ours (which isn’t much itself) for some reason is more generous and less protective of their possessions than we are. They gave us a glimpse of the Kingdom of Heaven that we had not yet seen.

Here We Come!

It's official...we have a place to live when we get back to the States!

We signed our lease agreement a few days ago at Settler's Ridge apartments in Austin, and we feel like we got a pretty good deal! And then a few days later...Becca and Otha signed their lease on an apartment two buildings away from us!

Settler's Ridge is about to not know what hit them...with the Sandefur's, Graham's, and Williamson's all living there. It's going to be awesome. We are so excited that it has worked out for all 3 couples to live in the same place...it's going to be a sweet year. We know that with being able to walk to each other's apartments, so much more life will take place between the 6 of us, than if we would've had to drive, and therefore plan, every time we wanted to see each other. How the Lord has truly worked this out, despite all the many times this last semester it seemed impossible to find one place in the huge city of Austin that worked for three different families.

Oh and by the way, the Graham and Sandefur families will be moving in Saturday, August 7th, and we welcome those who would like to show off their brute strength, or at the very least, who would like to keep us company :)

La Salta Jimenoa

This past Sunday we hiked to a waterfall with some of the students, and it was one of the most beautiful places I've seen in my life. The hike was a little rough, but the view once we got to the bottom was incredible. Moments like these make us beyond thankful we are here.

DR Drama

Our host mom’s 32 year old daughter, Tarsis, and 10 year old granddaughter,Demi have been in town staying with us since we got here, and they just left this past Sunday. They came in to help our host mom because she got sick right afterwe got here. Demi was great and such a fun little girl to play with. She always had patience with our language barrier, and loved to play cards with us. We taught her “Spoons”, or “Cucharas”, and she absolutely loved it, which meant we played more spoons these past two weeks than we have in our whole life.

Tarsis was great too. She cooked every meal for us, had multiple conversations with us, and took us around town a little. Then over a period of a day or two, her attitude drastically changed. She stopped cooking for us, stopped talking to us, and most of all, completely ignored us. She would avoid making eyecontact with us at all costs, and would never respond to anything we asked her. It was weird. We knew something was going on and that it had to be somethingto do with us, but we had no idea what it was. We racked our brains of all the possibilities and still had no idea. So we walked around our house on eggshells for a week, feeling uncomfortable in our home, with each day only getting worse.

Finally, on Saturday, Justin had a conversation with her. The conversation went a little like this:
J: “Hiciste algo anoche?” (did you do anything last night?)
T: “No entiendo."
J: “Okay…fuiste a un lugar con amigas, que hiciste?” (basically just rephrased the question)
T: “Si, hice algo.” (Yes, I did something)
J: “Okay, que hiciste?”
T: Silence.
J: “Tarsis, estas enojada con nosotros?” (Are you mad at us?)
T: “Mas o menos.” (More or less)

I don’t want to relay the rest of the conversation to you word by word, but so far,you get a feel of her attitude towards Justin. So when he asked her why she was mad, her response was nowhere near what we expected.

Apparently, Tarsis thought that Justin had thrown out some spaghetti that she had cooked for him a week before. She said that was not okay and that if you don’t like something, then you tell them or you don’t eat it, but you never throwi t away. Justin was so confused. He loved that spaghetti and ate every bit of it. He actually went back to the kitchen to look for more but there wasn’t any.

When he asked why she thought that he threw it away, she answered “becauseyour fork was clean”. “Did you eat the spaghetti with your fingers?” Justin tried fervently to convince her how much he loved her spaghetti, but she wasn’t having any of it. She just kept saying “it’s fine, forget about it, don’t worry about it”, andwalking away, refusing to have any kind of conversation about it.

We have no idea where she got that idea from, and how it made her become a whole other person to us for the next week, but we were just glad that we knew why she was mad, and knew that it was absolutely not our fault. We're sad that we never really got the chance to work it out, but we've got to admit, the house is more peaceful now :)