Happy Birthday Hubby

Yesterday was Andrew's 33rd birthday and we had so much fun celebrating him! Actually the celebration began Friday night at our Bible study when they surprised us by signing a giant card, getting him a cake, singing the birthday song and collecting a very generous gift for us! We are so blessed by them! Then yesterday we had Andrew's favorite breakfast- cinnamon rolls from the can :) (and some whole wheat banana bread and fruit for a little nutrition) , a surprise dinner out to Clancy's Crab Broiler in Glendale since crab legs are Andrew's favorite meal and then home for cake and presents! This year he requested a chocolate banana cream cake and it turned out pretty yummy! My mom is also here this week taking care of us as I am still on bedrest for the next 3 weeks and were so happy she was here to celebrate with us too! We are so thankful for our Andrew and all that he is and does for us! I can't believe that I am the lucky girl that God chose to be his wife. We love you so much- Happy Birthday!

Our sweet Bible study singing to Andrew

Some Summer Fun

Even though it's been pretty hot the last couple weeks- our neighborhood has still managed to enjoy being outside! Our house- mates :) , the people who live in the front half of our house, planted some veggies and herbs which we will all enjoy, then a group of guys from our Bible study came over and served us by taming our jungle of a back yard and then we had a little neighborhood BBQ in the front yard in which we all pitched in bringing different parts of the meal...so much fun to get to know our neighbors better!

Thyme, Rosemary, Basil, Cilantro and a few others...

Peppers, Tomatoes, and Zucchini

Mrs. Vanessa Salamanca and bubs watching the men sweat digging up all our weeds

Thanks guys for all that you did! What a difference~

The Beutlers- Our wonderful house mates! Matt was the master on the grill doing skewers and dogs, we had pita, salads, fruit and chips ( weston's favorite!) and of course dessert!

Enjoying his chips

Cute neighbor boys

Weston stealing their chips!

God is so good

Here is our sweet little guy today! Every time I go in to the specialist, I am given a dvd that captured the sonogram live! It was so amazing to watch him open his mouth for us and show us different angles of his little face. This technology simply amazes me and I am grateful to be able to get such great care.

More good news to report in that the little one is now growing at a normal rate! The bedrest is working as the Dr. had hoped and was very positive today that things should stay going well- Yay!!!

I am to continue on 6 hours/ day bedrest for the next 3 weeks, since this is working so well. The Dr. said it might be my "magic formula" for a healthy baby- but we know there is more to it than that! Our great God is the author of life and is creating this tiny person as He sees fit! He is so gracious to us and we give Him all the praise for the health of our children.

I have had an increase in the intensity of my daily contractions, but so far the specialist isn't super concerned about them. I go in to my regular OB tomorrow ( the famous Dr. Frields) and will see what he says about the contractions. But the consensus seems to be that if they aren't doing anything besides causing some minor discomfort, than we aren't to worry :)

We thank you all for your prayers and help during this time! It has been humbling for me to again hand over my wifely and mommy duties, but it has been a joy to see how the body of Christ works together...we are so blessed by you all!

Week with Papa

This past week Andrew's Dad was here taking care of us- we really enjoyed our time with him and are so thankful for all that he did! I got so much rest while he took Weston on daily walks, trips to the park and I didn't cook a meal! Here Papa is making a family favorite called

" Mexican breakfast" but we are having it for dinner :) The meal consists of diced potatoes cooked slowly in a little oil and spices in a skillet until perfectly tender, homemade refried beans, homemade salsa, fried eggs over easy and all this is eaten with flour tortillas- Yum!!!

He also got up early each morning and did some work on our backyard, making it more inviting. On Saturday some guys from our Bible study came and finished what he started and it has really been transformed back there. More pics to come on that. Thanks Papa for all you did, we love you! Also, by the end of the week, we finally got Weston to say "Pa pa"!

Weston helping Papa cook

Time to eat!

Andrew and his dad playing a little after dinner catch

Weston and I hung out and watched the men play ball

From baby to little boy

This picture was taken this week at my friend Ashley's house- she took care of us for the day with yummy meals and lots of love. Weston enjoyed playing with all of his buddy Noah's fun toys and with Duane, Noah's daddy :) He especially loved being pushed on this little train.

I just can't get over how big he looks in this pic- so not like a baby anymore! If I wasn't pregnant, I would be having baby fever after looking at this picture. My baby isn't such a little baby anymore!

Praise!

Here is a side/bottom view of our little guy's face today and we are praising the Lord that he is doing much better in his growth! Thank you so much for praying for us!

2 weeks ago, his stomach was measuring at 17% vs. the 46% ish it was a month before that! A scary drop in just four weeks. So for the last two weeks I have been on bedrest and eating a hearty diet and it has paid off- today his stomach is measuring in the 37%! Yeah!

I am still on bedrest, but for 6 hours/day. Much better than the entire day if you ask me! And the Dr. ordered that I can't do too much during my "up" time, but I am so thrilled to at least be able to cook dinner and maybe do one chore a day aside from being able to cuddle my little Weston alot more.

I go back in two more weeks to hopefully see even more improvement. God is so good to answer our prayers in this way. Even though we have 14 more weeks until this guy makes his appearance, we are hopeful that if I am faithful to follow doctors orders that we could have a baby boy with a normal weight at birth!

Some Firsts

3 days ago Weston gained some more coordination and balance and was able to walk using his little push cart for the first time! He wants to do nothing else now, and it probably won't be long until he is walking on his own :) we are proud of our little man, especially since it took him 11 1/2 months to crawl~

Today was not a very fun first-Weston needed to get some blood drawn for a routine test that his doctor does at 1 year. No amount of explaining what is happening to a 13 month old will help in a situation like this! Poor little guy cried so hard as we held him down and the nurses extracted barely enough blood after five minutes with that needle in his arm. Longest five minutes of our lives! Mommy also had blood drawn today for my glucose tolerance test- my least favorite prego test, so Daddy took us all out to Starbucks after and we are feeling much better now :)

The Life...

We have been here in AZ for almost a week and will be coming home to daddy tomorrow- yay! The time has just flown by and we have been spoiled rotten as usual. Weston has had lots of fun playing with his Omie and Grandpa, Auntie Leah and cousin Ryder and I have had lots of rest. Thank you to my family for taking such good care of us- we love you! One more week of bedrest to go until my next appointment and we find out what the verdict is for the rest of the pregnancy.

Cousins havin fun!

Henry the horse is Weston's new favorite friend!

Laying in the pool counts as bed rest too, right?!