Wildlife World Zoo

As some of you may know, my dad went on a short term mission trip to Mauritania, Africa a couple of weeks ago. Thankfully he had a great trip and is now home safe. While he was gone my brother Dustin, Kim and myself were able to hang out some with mom. One of the outings that we chose was to go to the Wildlife World Zoo located in Litchfield Park. None of us had ever been before and although it is way the heck out there, it was pretty fun. I decided to post a few photos of our outing for your enjoyment.

Six Months and Counting.....

Today marks six months in our journey towards seeing baby Maisey and it still amazes me how one moment can feel like she'll never come while the next I'm in a stress ball because she'll be here so soon. Everyone tells us the time your pregnant flies by but, it's hard to understand until you're in the moment. The other day (one out of Maisey's many active days) I found myself yet again in awe that there is a little person developing inside of me. It's so funny the way you can make assumptions about who she'll be all based on the interaction she is having with us now. I tell Brian that we're in for trouble because she seems to have a strong personality. If she's startled, she goes crazy kicking and rolling around which tells me she's a fighter like her momma. I can already imagine the head butting that will take place between her and I and only hope that I have Brian wrapped just a little tighter around my finger than Maisey will have him. Although, I have to say that there has been little more heart-touching to me than to see Brian interacting with Maisey. At night he plays games with her and, as she interacts back with him, I get to see his excitement and how amazing a dad he will be. All I can say is I am truly blessed.

For our six month mark we decided that pictures were a must. Brian has been trying to document the pregnancy journey through photos for months but, there's not a whole lot fun about taking pictures when you think you still look fat, not pregnant. With that said, I gave in!



For fun, I thought I would include the top phrases Brian has gotten used to saying to me in the last few months:

1. You don't look fat. You're pregnant
2. I'm sorry
3. No, that outfit doesn't make you look fat.
4. Baby, you're being irrational
5. You want me to go to the store now?
6. Stop trying to suck in your belly. It can't be good for the baby.

And last but not least......

7. The glider is perfect (ok, he hasn't said this yet but, he will!)

The Great Debate

As Maisey gets closer and closer, so do the deadlines. We are less than 17 weeks away from the due date and I still need to finish sanding and staining the crib, remodel and decorate the baby's room, and so much more. Of course before we can remodel the nursery, we need to come up with a theme or color scheme or something of that nature, then come the ideas of what are we going to put in the nursery? With that very question comes the purpose of this entry.

Kim and I have been having the debate of what kind of chair we want in the nursery, a glider or recliner? Kim's thoughts were extreme glider, while mine were rather opposite. A glider has a smoother less aggressive motion to soothe the baby. It also has the capabilities of swiveling for easy maneuvering and to put the cherry on top, it is aesthetically pleasing to the eye in a bedroom. A recliner is big and bulky, you can't swivel in most of them and the rocking motion is very aggressive. In addition to that, it just wouldn't look right sitting in a bedroom. See what I was up against? I'll admit that my preference towards the recliner was heavily influenced by the price difference between the glider and the recliner, but I also liked the thought of having the capability to flip up the footrest and be able to catch some zzz's with Maisey. To try persuade her and let her find the perfect recliner I took her to American Home Furnishings and Ashley's before finally realizing that my hope of having a recliner was quickly fading.

Kim then decided to take me to a few places to show me how much more comfortable the chairs at Rocker World are. After starting at Rocker World, we then went to Target, Baby's "R" Us and Burlington. Now I'll admit that the gliders at Rocker World were more comfortable, but was the difference in comfort worth the price that it would cost? I mean really, how much more comfortable could this chair be? I decided to sleep on it. The next day I kept on trying to convince Kim that she wanted a recliner, but the more I pushed the more I realized how much Kim really wanted this glider. So I decided to just bite the bullet and let her get it. It is now sitting in our bedroom (as shown above), waiting for Maisey to arrive. It will have an ottoman as well, but that won't be here for at least 30 days. I guess that there are a couple positives to this experience. 1) We no longer have to worry about what chair we are going to put in the nursery and 2) Momma is happy, and we all know that if momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!

How true...how true :)

Time to Register

Usually me and Kim like to reserve Friday nights for "Date Night". Dinner out, maybe a movie or something fun like that. Well last Friday Kim came up with the idea of "Hey, let's go register at Babies "R" Us!" The thought sounded innocent enough at the time, but I was not prepared for what was about to happen. Three and a half hours of picking, choosing, asking, looking and the list seemed to go on....and on....and on.

Babies "R" Us was our first choice for registering because of how big their stores are and the huge selection of items. They also have a pretty cool incentive program where once our showers are over, we will get a gift card in the amount of 5% of everything that was purchased off of our registry. We also get 10% off of any items that were not purchased on our registry, so all in all it seemed like a pretty cool deal. I remembered what it was like to register for wedding gifts. We roamed about and clicked on whatever we felt that we needed. This trip was not like that. Once we got into the store and they handed the scanner over to us, Kim busted out the Consumer Reports book. Although a good book to see what items are the safest and most efficient, I believe that it easily added a solid hour to our trip.

We went from strollers, to car seats, to pack and plays, to swing things, to home safety, to toys, to bedding and the list went on...and on...and on. I mean really, the trip seemed to never end. If I could describe the trip in one word, I think that it would be "Exhausting!" As I sit back now and reflect on that trip to Babies "R" Us, I realize that maybe God was using this as a teaching moment. Maybe it wasn't about us registering as much as it was God trying to teach me patience. This is a virtue that I am not always best at, but with Maisey on her way, it is one that I need to get better at. Lesson learned.

It's a Girl!

Let me introduce you to our little girl. Me and Kim have gone through a journey that has let us experience a joy like never before as well as heartbreak that has left us wondering "why?" Through all of it, God has been good to us and taught us through every step. The desire to start a family reaches another milestone tomorrow as Kim will be 23 weeks, which is when our pregnancy becomes viable.

We are so excited to see her progressing well. She has been kicking and stomping on Mommy's bladder, kicking at us and our doctor during doppler readings and making Kim's tummy her personal playground. We look forward to June 16 when we should get to meet her for the first time. To those of you that have been praying for Kim, myself and Maisey.....Thank You. We truly appreciate your prayers, love and support through this journey and we look forward to doing life with you all as we learn what it means to be parents. Keep checking back as I will try to keep you updated on our family.