Celebrating Summer

I'm so thankful summer has finally arrived. I've stayed busy this week getting ready for our cruise as well as spending some time thinking/looking at baby stuff. Last weekend at the lake was wonderful and I'm looking forward to many more weekends there this summer. I wore my maternity swimsuits for the first time last weekend and they were actually kind of cute--at least my "baby bump" is cute! Of course I don't have any pictures of me in the swimsuits, but here are some highlights of the weekend.


Josh and Apoo (my dad) take a spin on the waverunner. Watch out--Josh is driving!

Will, my oldest nephew, finally got up on skis. He has tried the past 2 summers on trainer skis and hasn't been successful. He was using the skis that Wayne and I ski on when he got up and he just didn't stop. He got so confident that he was crossing the wake and even tried to drop a ski to slolom one time. Unfortunately I don't have any good pictures of him getting up on the skis because I have banned myself from our ski boat for the summer. The ride can be pretty bumpy. Better safe than sorry!

About 25 family members came to the lake on Sunday to celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday. She is the one on the right sitting with 2 of her sisters. You would never guess she is 80!

On the baby front, I'm 22 weeks pregnant now. Hard to believe!!! My little girl is very active these days. When she moves, it has gone from a fluttering sensation in my belly to a more definite movement. I can tell she is getting bigger and stronger. I'm excited about planning her nursery when we return from vacation. I've decided to use the furniture I had growing up which is precious. It looks like doll house furniture and will be so cute for a nursery. It was actually the furniture I had until I got married! I'll have to post pictures of it soon. The pieces vary in color from a neutral color to a deep green and yellow. So, decorating will be a little bit of a challenge. I'm thinking maybe a green and cream toile for the bedding. Green's my favorite color. I going to look for a cream colored crib, so I think the green will be a good contrast. We will have to order the crib soon after our return from vacation, because they usually take 6-8 weeks to arrive. I've bought a few cute outfits for her and I find myself in the baby section of every store I go in. It's so much fun shopping for a girl after shopping for 4 boys (my nephews) for the past 9 years. What a fun summer it's going to be!

Rebecca

Lazy at the Lake

To celebrate the end of school and the long holiday weekend, we came down to the lake last night. I spent the day by the water with 12 other family members. No place I'd rather be!!! We will have at least 7 more join us tomorrow to celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday. To some people spending a long weekend with 20 family members may not sound great, but I love family time. We will have my parents, grandparents, brother, sister-in-law, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, and close family friends all here to celebrate. Needless to say, it won't be a quiet weekend at the lake but it will be memorable. I'll try to post some pictures soon.

On the baby front--Our little girl continues to be active day and night. I'm feeling great and excited to finally have the time to plan a nursery. I bought our first girl outfit while having a girl's night out with my best friend Heather last Friday. I wanted to be the first one to buy something for her and I knew I had to hurry! Since this little girl is the first on both sides of our family, I know she will be spoiled. My Aunt Linda was sharing all the cute outfits she had already purchased and I know she isn't the only one who has been shopping. :-) We received our first baby gifts this week. To thank me for a good year, the Director of Instructional Support for Hoover gave me a precious, tiny pink sweater and 2 sets of pink and white booties that look so tiny along with several burping pads. My OT at work, Julie, also gave me a beautiful white daygown with an embroidered cross and the verse Joshua 1:9 below the cross. It will be perfect for the baby dedication. It's exciting to think our little one will be wearing all these cute things in less than 5 months! I'm officially 21 weeks pregnant--past half way!

Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Memorial Day weekend!
Rebecca

Happy News!!!

A profile shot of our little girl. The head is at the top left and you can see her chest and two little hands.
This is our little one's heart beat. Too bad you can't hear it. It's the sweetest sound to this mom to be!

Today was the day I have been waiting on since my last ultrasound 10 weeks ago. I'm thrilled to announce that the ultrasound today went very well and baby looks great--strong heart beat and all organs/structures in place. And the baby cooperated very nicely (let's hope that continues) so we were able to see it is a little GIRL!!! So, no more "it" and "baby". She's our little girl. It's amazing how much more real she seems now that we know she's a girl.

This was the first time Wayne was able to see or hear our little girl. He stood beside me and held my hand throughout the ultrasound. I think he was a little surprised when the lady told us she was a girl, but he was the first one on the phone when we left the doctor's office calling his sister to share the news. Baby Girl Crow will be the first girl on either side of our family, so I have a feeling she will be very spoiled.

The next task on the list is picking out a name. It's funny because we had almost settled on a name for a boy and had already decided the nursery would be a nautical/sailboat theme. We haven't really made any decisions about names or nurseries for a girl. That's on my "to do" list once school is finished.
Thank you all for your continued support, encouragement, and prayers. They are very much appreciated!
Love, Rebecca--Baby Girl Crow's mommy

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you ladies out there! It has been a great one for me. When I woke up this morning, I found a card and present from my baby. The card said how much he/she already loves me and the present was a picture frame with "Little Blessing" etched on it to hold baby's first picture. We spent the day with family celebrating the wonderful women in our family. It was a great time. Thanks Aunt Jo for having us! Lunch was wonderful. Then we met Wayne's mom and dad for dinner. It has been a wonderful day!
The countdowns are on--Just 2 days until we know if this little one is a girl or boy. Just 10 days of school left. And just 3 weeks until vacation!!! And only 144 days until my due date. Yeah!!! I'm so excited for Wayne to see our little one on the ultrasound on Tuesday. He loves to poke me in the stomach to make the baby start moving around. Just wait until he can actually see it. I'm excited to see if we should be preparing for a boy or girl, but even more excited to see that everything is going well with our little one. Thanks to all of you for your prayers for a safe pregnancy and healthy baby. I'll try to post our news on Tuesday!
I have a prayer request to share--A friend at work delivered her 4th baby on Tuesday and the birth was pretty traumatic. A few hours after birth Daniel stopped breathing for about 2 minutes and has been at UAB in the NICU in cold therapy since Wednesday. The therapy should help to minimize/eliminate any neurological damage that was done as a result of the lack of oxygen. Please pray for baby Daniel and his family!
Love to all,
Rebecca

17 Weeks

I've reached the 17 week mark. This week I have noticed much more movement of our little one. I can't wait until we find out if the baby is a boy or girl so we can quit calling it the little one. We will find out of May 13th. Then the planning will really begin. We can select furniture, bedding, and even a name for this little one. Wayne is really hoping for a boy because he wants someone to carry on the family name. I'm just happy with a healthy baby. If it's a girl, she will definitely be the most spoiled little girl around. On both sides of our family, Wayne and I only have nephews. They are great little guys ranging in age from 9 to 3 months. Wayne and I love to be around "our boys" on both sides and make every excuse to do so. Since we haven't had one of our own, we have taken every chance to spoil Will, Josh, Stephen, and Christian. Will and Josh, the older two, have been picking out names too. I'm pretty impressed with their selection--Michael, Chad, Brandon--those are the ones I can remember.

Selecting a name is extra challenging when you have worked with as many children as I have in the last 10 years. For those of you who don't know, I'm a speech-language pathologist and work with preschool children with speech delays and other special needs. Currently there are about 100 children in the program I work with. And I can only guess how many more I have seen over the years. So almost every name we discuss, I see a little face pop into my head. We have been throwing around names, but have not made the final selections yet. My mom had a suggestion for a name early in my pregnancy. She said it was the perfect name and could be used for a boy or girl. I think she was actually serious when she suggested "Robin". That's a fine name, but who wants to punish a child from birth by giving it a bird name for it's first and last name. So, this little one is affectionately know as "Robin" for the moment. When we finally decide on a name, I will post it.

We are headed to Montgomery this evening to celebrate my uncle's 60th birthday. He's that uncle that everyone should have that is full of life and loves to keep everyone entertained. Fond childhood memories include him scaring us to death with a stocking over his head, racing around in the go-kart in his backyard, swimming with his family in the pool next door, and him pulling my brother, cousin, and I out into the ocean in a blowup RC boat to let the waves crash on us and push us back in. I can't wait to create those kind of memories with my little one. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Uncle Mike!

Welcome

This is my first attempt at "blogging", so bear with me. I started this blog after several friends encouraged me to do so. I haven't gotten to the point of creating my own website, so this will have to do for now.
Why a blog? I'm hoping this blog will be a great way for friends and family to keep up with the progress of my pregnancy and little one who is due to arrive on October 2nd. My husband Wayne and I have been trying to have a baby since May 2002. It's been a long journey for us, but we are so excited to have our little miracle baby on the way. I'm sixteen weeks pregnant now and ready to tell the world about our little one. My last appointment was on April 15th and everything appears to be going well. I got to hear our little one's heartbeat for the second time at that appointment and it is the sweetest sound in the world. April 15th also happened to be the 3 year anniversary from the confirmation of Wayne's cancer diagnosis and surgery. He went to the doctor on April 14th and got the "all clear"--PRAISE GOD! I never thought I would say I was grateful for our infertility struggles, but without it Wayne's cancer would not have been diagnosed so early and his outcome may not have been the same. In so many ways I can see God's hand working throughout this infertility journey. I will share more about this later.
My next appointment is on May 13th. I will have an ultrasound that day and find out the sex of the baby. It will be the first time Wayne has been able to see or hear the baby. I can't wait to see his expression. I have had several ultrasounds (weekly from weeks 5-10), but am excited to see how much our little one has grown and developed since then.
Now a little explanation about the title of my blog. I love music, especially contemporary Christian music. It has always been a source of strength and pleasure for me. Throughout this journey, I have listen to the song "In the Waiting" by Greg Long thousands of times. The words have been a comfort and encouragement and seem to fit with our situation so well. After all we are all "in the waiting" for something throughout our life. I'm just glad I'm finally waiting for my little one to arrive. I'll close with some of the lyrics from "In the Waiting".
Pain--The gift nobody longs for still it comes.
And somehow leaves us stronger when it's gone away.
Pray--I try to pray for Your Will to be done.
But I confess it's never fast enough for me.
It seems--The hardest part is waiting on you
When what I really want is just to see Your hands move.
Chorus: I want a peace beyond my understanding.
I want to feel it fall like rain in the middle of my hurting.
I want to feel your arms as they surround me.
And let me know that it's okay to be here in this place
Resting in the peace that only comes in the waiting.

Rebecca