The Baby Shower

I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of love from family and friends as we eagerly anticipate the arrival of our little bundle of joy. A beautiful day to remember. Thanks to everyone who helped and attended. :)

Opening gifts

My sister, Rhonda and cousin, Lexi.

Game winners!

Cousins!

Cortie measuring my belly .... she guessed way too big! :)

The yummy cupcakes... that looked like a cake :)

Baby's got the Hiccups

Approaching 35 weeks I am starting to feel more anxious to meet my son...and to get him out as I am getting more and more uncomfortable. But I know the safest place for him now is right where he is at, where he can continue to grow and develop.

Throughout my entire pregnancy I have felt like he would be coming a few weeks early... now we shall wait and find out. Generally doctors' say that delivering after 37 weeks is safe and no longer considered pre-term labor, so it could happen in just 2-5 weeks from now. WOW... the time is so near! I can hardly wait! ;)

Currently I am still working at the church... training my replacement part time. This has been a challenge, just because it's getting more difficult for me to get up in the mornings, get around, and focus on anything but baby... my mind is consumed and I now know what they mean by the urge women get to "nest"... all I want to do is get his room ready and prepare for his arrival.

I am thankful, however, that I can remain busy. If I were just sitting around the house, the time would go by so much slower.... so at least this way the days are seeming to fly by.

Marty and I prayed long and hard about how we could afford to survive as a growing family on one ministry income, but we both felt God confirming that He would provide for our needs and that the most important thing is that I am able to spend these precious years at home raising our little boy..we will never get that time back. So that is what we have decided to do. :)

I am really looking forward to this HUGE transition in my life. I never dreamed I would be a "stay-at-home mommy," but I am sooooo THANKFUL that God is providing a way! I know there will be challenges, but I am willing to forgo the excess and comforts I have been used to (ie. eating out regularly and shopping almost every weekend ;) so that my son can have all my attention.

I am going to continue leading worship for Shepherd of the Hills - Woodland Hills Campus and have even considered starting to teach voice lessons out of the house, once baby and I get into a solid routine. I will also be looking for any session work I can get... studio time pays well and I LOVE it! If I can get a gig here and there, that will help a bit as well.

One of the cutest things... baby has been having the hiccups like crazy lately...usually at night. When this happens, I love to put Marty's hand on my belly and watch it jump up and down. This often lasts a while, sometimes as long as 15 minutes. Doctors say this is completely normal and actually the sign of a strong breather! YAY!

My baby shower is TOMORROW and I am super excited! My mom and sister's are throwing it with the help from a few close friends. I will be updating the blog again next week and posting some pictures of the event.... so stay tuned! :)

Love to all!!!
Ash, Marty and Our little Hiccuper :)

Last B-day without Baby!

It's funny and true what they say... "be careful what you wish for!" Ever since I was a teenager I always told my mom I wanted to be 25 years old when I had my first child. I would always pick on her and say she was "too old"when she had her first and that I wanted to be a young, hip mom! ;) Well I guess God heard me, and now that it is truly happening it's almost surreal!

This week was a blast! Wednesday was my 25th Birthday and a very busy day for us. We started the day off with a doctor's appointment, where we got to see our big boy model for us on camera! He is already posing (like father like son!) ;)

We found out that he is 4.5 lbs and and although I was only 32 weeks at the time he was measuring at 33.5 weeks so he could be making his debut any time the end of February through the beginning of March. If he doesn't come by March 11, that is the date the doctor wants to educe me.

Doctor says that he also looks more like his mommy... I don't know how they can tell this from an ultrasound, but he says that the bone structure and proximity of nose to lips, etc. look more like my features than Marty's... I kind of have to laugh at that one, because I had a hard time even distinguishing where the features were, let alone how sharp his jaw line was. :) I hope and pray he has his daddy's handsome looks.

The doctor also said he had a nice strong heart beat and that his head is already down and ready to go! All GREAT news!

After our appointment we had to go to work and then had lunch with some friends at Claim Jumpers! Yummy!

That evening we went to our first birthing class, which I was excited about, but ended up being very disappointed. It was incredibly BORING! The teacher pretended to be in labor for almost 30 minutes - pushing a fake plastic baby out of a bag that she pretended was a uterus. A little strange... Marty said she enjoyed it way too much... haha! One good thing about the class - I got a relaxation massage out of it. :)

We have 2 more classes which I hope are a bit more interesting!

Friday night we celebrated by having a party at our new place with some friends and family. It was a great night of fellowship! I felt very loved and blessed by the outpouring of support and encouragement as we enter this new chapter in our lives.

Marty and I both are getting more and more excited each passing day to meet our son. Now that we are settled in to our new place we are going to begin working on putting his nursery together... very excited about that.

I appreciate your continued prayers during this time as I get more and more anxious and a bit fearful of the actual delivery.

Love to all!
Ashley, Marty and Kung-fu Baby! :)