The First Run For Their Lives: Completed!

A few weeks ago, I posted about Run For Their Lives--an 8 person relay from Lake Ray Hubbard to Lake Conroe. Chris was the mastermind behind this relay, and the sole purpose was to raise money for the children in captivity in Ghana.

The first Run For Their Lives has been completed. The 8 runners began the trek on Thursday, October 29 at 7:00pm and finished at about 5:00am on Saturday, October 31. It was a huge success! The run went more smoothly than we could have imagined, and the runners were nothing short of awesome. Not only did they complete the relay 5 hours faster than predicted but they had incredible attitudes the whole time and raised lots of money for the Mercy Project.

{the 8 runners before the relay began}

We also were blessed with 3 other selfless people who dedicated their weekend to driving the car and van so the runners could rest and to provide extra measures of safety during the night runs.

The best thing about Run For Their Lives is that we are now $5,000 closer to reaching our goal of $40,000 to build a house for rescued children in Ghana!!! God is so good. We have been so blessed by the many people who have really begun to get excited about the Mercy Project and helping the kids in Ghana. If you want to learn more about the Mercy Project or are interested in getting involved, check out the website at www.mercyproject.net It has lots of information about what the project is, how we got involved, and how YOU can get involved. Please head on over there and check it out. We are really excited about what God has already done and is going to continue to do through the Mercy Project! Join us!

35

35 weeks pregnant and 35 days left.

I have been feeling great still, just a little more tired, and I am still sleeping relatively well. I told Chris a week or so ago that I feel like my definition of "sleeping well" needs a little adjustment. I usually wake up about 3-4 times each night to go to the bathroom, but I am almost always able to fall immediately back to sleep...even when Little Miss is going to town!

And, behold the swollen face in the picture above. It is officially upon me. As much as I was hoping to avoid this, it has happened. Oh well. If that is the worst problem I encounter this pregnancy, I cannot complain. Just know that I do NOT enjoy posting pictures of myself with the fat face thing going on, so you should know that I truly love you all :)

We went to get an ultrasound and to our 35 week appointment yesterday. Again, the doctor wanted to see just how big our sweet pea is, and again, we were told by the ultrasound tech that she is not so big at all. She is, however, perfect in every way! I love seeing her sweetness on that screen and watching her suck away on her little hand. So precious! When we got to Dr. G's office, she said that she actually still thinks that our little girl is a bit bigger than even the ultrasound said. She estimates about 6 lbs. right now, which would put her around 8 lbs. at full term. I am also at the point where it is time to start the weekly appointments to check for progress. I am currently 1.5 cm dilated and 50% effaced! And, the baby's head is LOW. Dr. G was thrilled, and I am excited that my body is doing what it is supposed to do. Just further reminder of the miracle that is the way God created the human body to work...simply incredible! We will see what next week brings.

So, yesterday was a great day full of great news about our precious little one. We have been so blessed, and we continue to pray that God will bless the end of this pregnancy and the new life that will result from it. Only a few weeks left until we get to meet her. I can't wait!

small portion of the BIG reveal

I have had a lot of requests to post pictures of baby girl's nursery, and I can no longer keep you all waiting :) Really, the reason I haven't posted any until now {and will only be posting 3 pictures} is because it is not totally done. I know that doesn't matter to some of you, but I hate to post pictures of a room that is not completely complete. The finishing touches should be done in the next couple of weeks, and thankfully, I am not responsible for making any of them happen! My portion of the decorations is done. So, here is a little teaser of the nursery. We love it, and I hope you will too!

Her crib & the canvas with our prayer for her.

A close up of her crib. You can see the absolutely precious quilt my mom made...doesn't it match just perfectly?!? Way to go, Mimi!

Her bookshelf...it is loaded down with all kinds of goodies. Besides the books, my favorites are the silver cup {that was given to Chris as a baby} and the spoon & fork inside {given to me as a baby with my name and "stats" on them.}

I promise that I will post more pictures as other areas of the room are finished. Let me know what you think. Blessings...

six weeks.

That's right, folks. Only six weeks left until baby girl's due date. I have said for a while that once we got to six weeks that it would seem that much closer, and in reality, it kind of does. You see, in school, grades are taken by the six week period, and because I not only was a student for many years but also a teacher, six weeks is a very tangible period of time for me. It makes sense. I get it. I know about how long six weeks takes. And, even if it seems like plenty of time to get all the grades you need, it always sneaks up on you. ALWAYS. I am sure that these next six weeks {although I will not be rummaging through old papers to grade} will also be gone before I know it. I am ready to meet my sweet daughter and see her precious face, sweet little feet, and tiny fingers. I am ready to watch my husband cradle her in his arms. I am ready to hear her cry and watch her sleep peacefully. I am ready. But, until then, I will soak up the time Chris and I have left, "just the two of us." I will enjoy taking a nap whenever I want. I will enjoy getting everything done on my to-do list in a day. I will just enjoy the time I have right now, right where I am in life. And, I will pray...for our daughter and our new adventure.

Chris and I decided to venture outside for the belly pics today, so enjoy some different scenery from 34 weeks.

Top Ten Things I Love About Being Pregnant...

#6 Praying for our daughter with Chris every night. Those are some truly sweet moments.

trunk or treat

Last night, our church hosted a Trunk or Treat at a local apartment complex. The rain held off until just the right time {as we were all driving away}, so the weather was just perfect. We set up a few games for the kids to play, and they got to take home some baked goods, sodas, and even made Halloween picture frames.


A couple of our members are excellent artists, so they painted several little faces through the evening.


It was fun to see the joy on the kids' faces and to watch our church family using their gifts to bless the kids and their families. After the games, the members of our church went over to our cars, where our trunks were already decorated, and got ready to pass out candy to the kids as they came "trick or treating" by. Let me just say that these kids walked away with as much candy as I remember getting in a solid couple of hours of trick or treating! Oh my goodness...they definitely hit the jackpot! Some people had games set up in their trunks/truck beds for the kids to play as they came by.


It was such a blessing to be able to love on these kids and give them an opportunity to have a little Halloween fun early. But, more than that, I feel so blessed to be part of a church family that would dedicate a couple of hours on a Sunday evening to go to this place where we have basically no connections and pour themselves into these people. The smiles and energy that were given really taught me a lot about Jesus, his life, and his love for us and others. To witness the gospel coming to life is pretty amazing.

We also got to have a little fun, and Chris encouraged all the members of the church to dress up. Seeing what people came up with was so much fun! Enjoy some of these pictures of our friends!

Zombie Fisherman

Scarecrow & Big Mac

Yours Truly :)... Chris & Stacey {can you guess who is whom?}

Andy & Jessie from Toy Story... they were the winners!

It was an incredible evening...so much FUN!

*****
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I love my sister!

We had a great weekend, mostly due to the fact that my sister, Lindsey, and Meghan came to visit us. This was the first time they were able to come up since we moved here, and I was excited to show them around our new home. They got here on Friday evening, and we enjoyed a relaxing night just eating dinner and talking. I definitely stayed up past my bedtime, but it was worth it. On Saturday, we had lunch with some college friends and loved visiting with them too. Chris and I took Lindsey on a "tour" of Rowlett before heading out to dinner. On Sunday, they got to come to church with us which was just awesome! I haven't had the opportunity to worship with my sister in quite a while, so it was really special.

We really had a great time, and even though we didn't do a whole lot of exciting, spectacular things {or really any for that matter}, we really enjoyed our weekend with them. So, thanks for coming guys! We love you! And, we can't wait to see you again when our sweet girl is here!!!

It also didn't hurt that Saturday proved to be a GREAT football day in the Fieldhouse. Boomer Sooner and Gig 'em!

doubles?!?

In the past couple of days, Chris and I have had two separate occasions where someone thought they saw us, when in fact, they did not. Let me explain...

As we were taking Wrigley on a walk the other night, one of our neighbors said that she and her kids were driving along and saw Chris pulling into Taco Bueno. The kids were so excited and waved and called his name. The only problem is that Chris has not been to Taco Bueno in weeks!!! Our neighbor was certain that it was indeed Chris that they saw, and even tried to argue with us for a little bit about it until we convinced her that the day she thought she saw Chris, our car was actually in our garage with a dead battery.

Fast forward to today when Chris and I went to Home Depot. As we are checking out, the lady ringing us up calls to another worker and says, "Come here! These two were in here just the other day, and I went up to her and rubbed all over her belly. And, I don't even know her!" Hahaha...they got a good laugh out of it. We played it off by laughing too and saying something about how pregnancy seems to negate all social rules. But, we were definitely NOT in Home Depot the other day. {By the way, if this had happened, I think I would have run the other way if I saw this lady again. I am not a big fan of strangers invading my personal space...pregnant or not.}

I find it very strange that this has happened two times in one week. Do we just look like a lot of other people in this town or what?!? Weird!!!