24ish weeks!

Colin and I have started slacking off on taking pictures, so we finally snapped a few after Church yesterday. This is 24.5 weeks!


Updates are slowing down a little, or at least becoming more regular! I am still in that honeymoon phase of pregnancy where I feel great, energized (I have never been the type to be able to pop up out of bed early in the morning, until now), and productive. Although I have definitely started moving slower (and don't like not being able to get up quickly or gracefully), I feel good. Belly button's still in (I have no idea how), itchy skin and stretch marks are at bay for now, no swelling (wedding rings are still on!).

Yesterday morning, though, before Church, I woke up to go to the bathroom, looked in the mirror, and I kid you not, my belly was GONE. I looked pre-pregnancy, maybe a tad bloated, but completely not pregnant. It was so freaky, I ran in and showed Colin. How did Little Girl manage that one?

This past week was a little scary pregnancy-wise, but all is well! I had some seriously bad Round Ligament Pain on Thursday (stretching, stretching!) and ended up in Urgent Care on Friday night because of blood in my urine (that wasn't scary at all...). It ended up being, thank goodness, just a bad UTI that I had no idea I had-- and trust me, I know what they feel like.

This week will be fun and festive, with Colin's company Christmas party, our youth group's Christmas party, and our Church's annual Christmas Ball!

Weekend Warriors!

I'll start this post off with this song, so you can listen while reading if you so wish. If you haven't heard of Gungor yet, please go have a listen. Gungor's music is worshipful and earnest, and I can't help but resonate with so many of their songs. Such beautiful praise!



On Saturday night, Colin and I went to a dinner party thrown by some of Colin's sweet work friends. It was such a good time! If you have never played this game, you need to. We don't even know what it's called... It's basically telephone, where each person gets a piece of paper, and they write a funny phrase on the top, then pass it to the next person, who has to draw that phrase, then they fold over the previous sentence so the next person can't see it, then the next person has to write a phrase describing the picture, so on and so forth... It is always a riot, and the best part is seeing what comes out at the end.

I'm pretty sure this one started out as "a hamster running on a wheel"...

This one, I believe, started out as "an alligator peeing as a UFO lands on its head."

On Sunday we were so excited to participate in our church's first Sunday in their brand new building in downtown Columbia! Not only is it a beautiful space, but having our own place that God graciously provided is amazing. There are actual, awesome youth rooms, too. We were so happy to worship in that space and enjoy a good ol' southern barbeque afterwards! We are grateful for our church.

All photos taken by Rod Lewis. Thanks, Rod!

Happy Monday!

At least I can laugh at myself!

Hello all! I trust some of you are enjoying the chillier weather (I, for one, am not!). It has always comforted me in some small way, though, that there are people who come alive in the winter. So, hurray for you!

In celebration of fall, Colin and I will be going out of town this weekend on our respective CotA youth camping trips. I'm excited to smell like campfire and spend some quality time with some middle and high schoolers!

Also, thought I'd share because to be honest, it makes me laugh... Two things that have made my pregnant hormonal self cry this past week (And I'm not talking about the time I was on my period and started crying at the last verse of Taylor Swift's "Romeo and Juliet"-- True story).

1. The trailer for this movie-- "Being Elmo".


Who doesn't love Elmo? I can't wait for our children to discover the joy of Sesame Street. The fact that his birth is an underdog story made me choke up. Here's the trailer.

(found via Cup of Jo)

2. I'm a little ashamed to admit this one, as well: Grey's Anatomy. I know, I know, a little late to the bandwagon (like 8 years), but I saw that all seasons were up on Netflix when I was in the throes of first trimester sickness/fatigue, so I gave it a shot. DO. NOT. WATCH. THIS. SHOW. WHILE. HORMONAL.

Yup, totally cried.

Have a great day, everyone!

five things.

susanbranch

1. i am not ready to say goodbye to summer. I love autumn, but sadly enough it lasts all of two weeks in the south. i'm not ready for winter. please, no!... at least we'll get to say "hello" to summer again in October... in the caribbean!

Norwegian Cruise Lines

2. one of my favorite small pleasures is when you're washing the dishes and you squeeze the detergent bottle and the tiny little bubbles fly out everywhere. i remember my mom washing dishes when i was little and loving the tiny little rogue bubbles.

3. seriously, HOW adorable is Janelle Monáe? saw this when i was getting my haircut at paul mitchell a while back.



4. This took the words right outta my mouth. Ten Words You Need to Stop Mispelling. :)

5. Also, I love my CotA Bible Study girls already and I very much look forward to Wednesday nights! woo hoo! I've never met a group of highschoolers so ready to encourage and affirm one another.

grace and peace,
the wife.