Baby Reynolds Week 26

Pregnancy progress pictures:

8 Weeks 6 Days

14 Weeks 6 Days 

26 Weeks

20 weeks

Have Yourself a "Gilead" Little Christmas

December has been Jam packed this year at Gilead House. It's hard to believe all that we were able to squeeze in this month. As busy as the season has been it really has been a "Gilead" Christmas for me. In Bible Gilead means "a hill of testimonies" A hill is an understatement of how many testimonies people of God have shown by reaching out to the ladies and children of Gilead house this month. As a believer I feel it is important to take time to share with other believers all that God is doing in his kingdom. Here are a few of my favorite highlights of the month.

We began the month with Hillside youth group throwing a Christmas party for our Gilead House kids. It was a really special time. All the youth made it a point to include our kids and really love on them. At the end of the evening one of the moms told me, "I just can't understand why a bunch of teens would want to come here  when they could be doing other things." It gave me the chance to share that Christ was that reason.

Hillside Youth and Gilead House kids

The next week we were so blessed to have Lauren, from FBC Batesville, MS, come and spend a week serving with us. We got to know Lauren when she came last summer with her youth group for a week. While Lauren was here she helped us by setting up a new mom's room and doing a lot of organizing! Her sweet and gentle spirit was such a blessing to our staff and moms.

Lauren putting together a bed

Our moms and kids were blessed by so many this year with Christmas gifts. FBC Batesville sent hundreds of diapers and wipes, along with winter gear. They also blessed our mom's with gift cards allowing them to even pick out a few things for their kids themselves. A lady from a local church donated play mobile toys that we were able to surprise the children with set up on Christmas morning. We also had several church knitting groups custom make socks, blankets, and scarves for our mom's and children.

Setting up for Christmas Morning

The story that touched my heart the most, however, was that of 3rd grader Anabella. After seeing a homeless man on the street she began to wonder about the children of Marin who might not have a special Christmas. After praying and talking with her mom she decided to give all her good grade money ($50) towards buying Christmas presents for other children. She challenged her friends at school and other church members to donate a little money and in the end managed to raise $1000! She was able to bless all of the Gilead House Children with 2 gifts and the children of 3 other shelters! That totaled over 30 children! It is amazing that God and use even his youngest children for his purpose!

Surprise gifts for one of the Gilead House Families

We finally had a group of teens from another local church Flipside Youth Group come and help us take down our Christmas decorations. In their time at the house they were able to clean up and Assemble several new bikes the house had gotten for Christmas  They also had a chance to love on a few of our Gilead Kids. One mom told me, "It was such a blessing that they were able to give me a break from my kids just for a few minutes."

It  has been such a blessed Christmas season. So many Christians have shared the testimony of Christ in so many different ways with our Gilead House families. I am looking forward to getting to do follow up with our moms in the coming weeks. I hope hearing about others sharing the love of Christ has inspired a few of you to go out in the new year and do the same.

Merry Christmas 2012

Cinnamon rolls on Christmas Morning

Christmas day was nice and relaxing this year. It's hard to believe this is Steve and my last Christmas as a family of 2. We were so blessed this year as my family traveled all the way from Mississippi to spend the holidays with us! We will blog about their trip separately. Steve and I were so blessed by so many people this Christmas. One of our favorite gifts this year was an internet booster! It is allowing me to type this blog from the couch! This is something we haven't had the privilege of doing since moving off campus.

Gifts aside throughout the day I thought many times, "It will be much different next year." As many of you know we are now almost 26 weeks along! This time next year we will have a (most likely) mobile baby. The most exciting things about Christmas will not be the gifts and Santa Clause (Side note: we have not decided what we want to do about Santa Clause yet...), but things like the lights on the tree and Christmas ornaments hanging just a little too low. Steve and I are so ready for our world to be turned upside down! In my limited understanding of parenthood I can only think it will be much like I felt when I became a Christian. The feeling of, "how did I ever think I was complete and happy before?" For now, however, while I wait in anticipation, I am enjoying treasuring all of these things up in my heart just as Mary did long ago. (I also have an appreciation for how far she traveled on that donkey!!!)

January 2012 riding a donkey in Jordan. It's a very bumpy ride!!! I can't imagine doing it with a  baby on board.

A little look at Christmas this year:

Daddy (Steve) bought Baby Reynolds 1st Christmas gift! A pouch of veggies!!!

A stroller from Mom and Dad Bullock

Carlena came over to celebrate the birth of our savior too!

Rebecca in her new helmet.

Our BIG gift from Mom and Dad Bullock!!! Thank you from all 3 of us!

Baby Reynolds Week 20

Wow! We've made it to the half way point! If the second half of our pregnancy goes as fast as the first half did we're going to have a baby here in the blink of an eye!

Since we last posted about Baby Reynolds we've had a couple of check ups. We got a healthy check up at week 17 and and went in for the big ultrasound at week 18.
The big ultrasound was a blast! It was amazing to see that there was someone in there growing and wiggling around! We were also amazed because got to learn a little about our little one's personality too! Our baby is a little bit shy and a little bit stubborn. Our technician, poor thing, was frustrated because the baby did not want to move around to take the pictures she needed. Despite the lack of cooperation she was able to see that the baby had all it's parts. Praise God! Unfortunately, she could not get a good picture of the heart. Sooo we're to return in two weeks to try again. On the bright side we get to see our sweet little one again!

Today we go in for another regular appointment and are hoping for another healthy check up!

Here are a few pictures for those of you who are curious:

(If this helps you figure out the gender please do not share with us! We're still in the dark!)



Baby is showing off their drinking skills for you! (Open the mouth)

(Close the mouth)

The End of an Era

As the end of school draws increasingly closer so does the end of an Era. I have now spent the last 19 years (not including preschool) of my life, with no breaks, being a student. That is all about to change! I cannot quite imagine what a life with no papers, reading requirements, and tests will look like. "What will she do with all her new free time?" they ask. My response, "I have no idea." Without a doubt I will be busy. After all I will be trading the title of "student" for that of "Mom." However, I know as most mom's do that I will be much more than that title. So, this morning, I have decided to brainstorm some of the things I plan on filling up my free time with after graduation.

*** Note: While there are many papers to be done and books to read even in this last month of school I feel this is an important project because it will give me the motivation to finish strong.***

Laura's List of Free-Time Fillers:

• Make cute crafty things for the baby
• Make some easy to pop in the oven (nutritional) freezer meals in preparation for the baby
• Read my copy of the new Duggar's book that Steve got me for my birthday I haven't had a chance to open
• Load and unload the dishwasher in a timely manner
• Send some hand written cards to loved ones
• Go to the weekly farmers market for free samples
• Skype with people
• Finish my Middle East trip photo album
• Join a local mom's group
• Take Guitar lessons

 

The Duggars are my favorite!

 

 

Cute baby outfit crafts!

 

I have no idea if any or all of these time fillers will be accomplished but it sure is fun to dream!

Baby Reynolds Week 15

Sorry we're a few weeks late giving the update on our last baby appointment which was week 13. The appointment would have been really short except that I didn't know they wanted me to go to the bathroom and I went right before they called me into the appointment. Luckily as I'm learning (from the 2-3 trips to the bathroom a night) it doesn't take long before a pregnant lady needs to go again! Baby Reynolds is doing really well and has a good strong heart beat! We didn't get to see a picture of our little one but hearing them was really great too!

So when is the next appointment?

Our next appointment is in 2 more weeks.

So how are you feeling Laura?

This is the most common thing that people have been asking so here's my short answer: Thank you for those of you who have been praying for my morning sickness. It has eased up a lot with only a few hard days a week. With the second trimester kicking in please pray with Steve and I that I continue to feel better and get some energy back. Working 2 jobs and being a full time student is not easy! That being said I will be wrapping up my time as a babysitter at the first of December and a student December 14th! I can't wait for graduation day!!

Is it a boy or a girl?

We don't know and hope to keep it that way until baby Reynolds arrives! I know that may sound crazy to some but it sounds fun to us. We love surprises!

Here is an updated picture on the pregnancy process:

Week 14 Day 6

Here is a picture of week 8 to compare:

8 weeks 6 days

Baby Reynolds!

In case you hadn't heard yet… Surprise! We’re having a baby!

I decided to write a blog that would hopefully answer many of your questions about baby Reynolds.

You were in the fost-adopt process. Did you think you couldn’t have children? What’s happening with that now?

All are fare and good questions. Yes we were in the fost-adopt process and that has sadly been put on hold. We were about 1/3^rd of the way through our paperwork when we found out. We were able to talk to our social worker Rolf about it and he was very gracious. He encouraged us to apply again when we felt ready. There has never been a known issue that we couldn’t have children we simply feel called to adopt. Therefore the process is not over just put on an extended pause for right now.

Were you trying to get pregnant?

Maybe a better way to word the answer than a yes or a no is that we were ready to be parents and God blessed us in this way. We are very excited to be parents in 6 and a half months!

How far along are you?

That is a tricky question. We believe we are at 10.5 weeks. However, that being said when we went in for our 8 week appt. the doctor told us the baby was measuring at 9 weeks and 5 days. She assured us that we were not going to have a giant baby that it was just on a growth spurt. So we really don’t know how big our baby is now haha. Steve said it’s a Reynolds therefore it’s going to be big.

When is your next appointment?

Our next apptointment will be on September 27^th. Not sure what we’ll find out but we’ll keep you posted.

Do you want a boy or a girl?

We don’t care at all and have no guesses yet. Oh and we’re planning on keeping it a surprise even to us! Sorry for those of you that we disappoint by that.

When is the baby due?

April 5^th

When did you find out? (Ok maybe no one is asking this but it’s a good story so I’ll share anyways!)

This summer we went with 8 of our youth group and 3 other leaders to Disney Land. I suspected that something might be up about halfway through the trip, but seeing as there was no alone time to sneak away I didn’t know what do you. The morning of Disney I started to stress out a little because I began to worry that I shouldn’t ride the rides. If I was pregnant I didn’t want to hurt the baby. I also didn’t want to get Steve’s hope’s up over nothing. I came up with a plan to ask for the keys of the van to run to Target. I was turned down because I was not on the rental insurance. I finally broke down and asked Steve to take me. Steve asked me if I remembered that we were about to leave for the park in 30 minutes and that he was responsible for buying everyone’s tickets. I said yes and that it couldn’t be avoided because I needed to see if I could ride all the rides. Confused he asked what that even meant and I told him there is a chance I might be pregnant. Shocked he said oh ok and we were on our way. With no time to take the test before we left I was doomed to wait until we arrived at the park. God blessed me with a chance for Steve and I to be alone. Another leader had needed to go back to the hotel for something and did not have a ticket to enter. I did what felt like a science experiment with stalls flushing all around me and then waited for what felt like forever before seeing the word “pregnant” appear! I came out so shocked that I all could do when I saw Steve was say you’re going to be a dad! Our moment together was short because the other leader walked up and so I quickly excused myself back to the bathroom because I started tearing up. It truly was a magical day and the happiest place on earth!

How is Laura Feeling?

In short not great. I’ve been dealing with a lot of morning sickness. That title is the meaning joke ever because really I feel sick most of the day. While I have learned some things that help I still am feeling pretty sick all the time. Please pray with our family that by week 12 I will be getting some relief! Please also pray for me that Tuesday nights I would be feeling well. I have a night class then and it has been really difficult to go so far.

Here are some pictures:

(Please be warned if you're not into pregnancy pictures!)

Baby's first outfit!

Celebrating with Donald!

6 weeks and 5 days

8 weeks and 5 days