Half Way There!

My Sweet Princess,
I cannot believe that in less than 20 weeks you will be in my arms! I am so excited to see your sweet face! I know you are going to be breathtakingly beautiful! I love it when you let me know that you're in there and sometimes I can't even sleep at night because you love to dance!

On Monday (9/28), your Daddy and I had our 5th doctor's appointment (or I like to call it the "half way doctor's appt."). Everything went perfectly! The nurse took your heart beat and it was 146 bpm which she said was great! When the doctor came in, she measured my belly and I measured right at 20 weeks. You are perfectly on track! Although, I do feel like I have grown over night...especially at the end of the day! You are growing so fast! They didn't take any pictures of you this time, which was kind of a bummer because I love to see what you're doing in there! Most of the time you are sleeping, or sucking your thumb, but sometimes you are a squirmy little thing! (Maybe Mommy needs to lay off the sugar)! They also took my weight and she said that was normal too. The nurse told me I should gain about a pound a week from here on out. We'll see how that goes! I will go back to the doctor again when you are 24 weeks for another checkup.

Time seems to be flying by so quickly and I want to make sure that I cherish this special time I have with you. I never want to take any kick, squirm, jab, or weird pain for granted! Your Daddy and I love you so much and we thank the Lord everyday for our little miracle! So for the meanwhile, stay warm in there, and don't kick me too hard (well...just kidding, you can do whatever you like!) and we will see you in about 20 weeks!

Love Your Mommy

Powerful Sunday

Yesterday, our church had a one weekend only "Student Takeover" event. Pastor Steven reached out to our students yesterday and the results were amazing! Over 7000 in attendance at all of our locations, and 500 salvations! God is incredible and His glory is displayed at Elevation every Sunday!

Even though Pastor preached to the students, his message was applicable to everyone! I believe one of his greatest gifts is, of course, preaching, but also being able to relate to everyone in the room. He listed the 4 most important questions students/adults would have to answer.

The first question was "What is that in your hand"? This was a question of calling. He used the passage out of Exodus 4:2-5 (read it). God has given you a gift...something that you're passionate about. What's the potential God has put in your hand for you to use to change your generation? You should surrender it and let God's work be shown through your actions.

The second question was "Am I now trying to win the approval of men or of God"? This is a question of acceptance. I think this is the one I struggle with the most. Pastor said something a couple of weeks ago which made me think of this: "Don't let your need for acceptance interfere with other people's need for Jesus" (I might have said that before on here)...but it's so true! We shouldn't be so selfish-minded and worried over what "man" thinks of us. Salvation is through Christ alone...read this. Pastor commented on the whole VMA incident with Kanye West and Taylor Swift. He said that it wasn't Kanye's award to give, so he should've kept his mouth shut (I added the last part). Basically when it comes down to it, when you face Jesus one day, you'll either accept your award of eternity in Heaven, or the total opposite. Ok, I've talked enough about that one. :)

The third question was "How can a young man keep his way pure"? This is a question of integrity and Pastor used this verse to answer it. It's pretty straight forward in my opinion. Live according to His word. Everyone always says "it's impossible in today's culture to do that"...no it's not. Pastor said that it is very possible to live in a counter-cultural way. Live according to God's design.

The fourth, and last, question was "Who do you say I am"? A question of eternity. Jesus asked this to Simon Peter here. Pastor gave the example of "Facebook Faith" which was very relevant to students as well as adults. If you don't know what facebook is...basically it's a social networking site where you have the option to "accept" people you may know to become your friends. Jesus isn't up in Heaven looking for "friends" down here on earth. It's not like he's lonely. So often, the question comes up..."have you accepted Jesus into your heart?" Jesus doesn't want your acceptance...He wants you to be a fully devoted follower of Him. It's not who your friends say He is, or who your parents say He is...but who do you say He is?

Ok, I know this was a long post and thank you for reading if you got to the end! It was a huge Sunday at our church and something totally worth sharing about! You should really watch the sermon for yourself...Pastor Steven does a lot better job than I do! Go here to watch. Enjoy!

PS: My belly's getting bigger (pics to come)!

It's a...

Well, today Adam and I went to the doctor and we found out what we're having! All the days leading up to this day crawled by and now...we know! I am so excited to finally start thinking about names, colors for the nursery, registering, buying clothes, and so much more!! The nurse said that she was for sure of the sex of the baby and that we had nothing to worry about. The ultrasound was mainly done today to make sure our baby has everything...2 eyes, 1 nose, 1 mouth, 2 arms, 2 legs, etc. and also of course to tell us whether we were having a boy or girl! Everything looked great and our baby's heart rate was 143 bpm.

Well, I can't hold it back anymore...to everyone who thought we were having a boy...you're WRONG!

IT'S A GIRL!

Yay! Adam and I are so excited and we couldn't be more thankful and feel more blessed that the Lord has given us a daughter! What's even better is that my sister had her little girl 10 months ago, so they'll be close enough in age to be playmates...and to get her hand-me-downs! Anyway, we're so excited and we wanted to share with all our readers the great news! Check back for updates!

17 weeks!

Today marks me being 17 weeks pregnant! I can't believe how fast it's already gone! Pretty soon, I'll be at the half way point! Crazy stuff! I get these little updates every week telling me how things are going, how big my baby is, and how I'm changing. This week, our little one is as big as an onion and is about 5 inches long. We go this coming Wednesday to find out if it's a boy or a girl and we can't wait! Looks like from my poll that people think it's a girl...we'll see! Anyway, just a random little post about my sweet baby! Hope everyone has a great Labor Day Weekend!

Back to School...

This past Wednesday, Adam and I started back to school. I have to admit, it was pretty hard to get back into the swing of things (and I'm still trying to adjust), but I think this year is going to be a great year! Last year was the first year the Elementary students had Spanish, so this year I feel like they're starting off with more of a foundation...which makes it a little easier (and more fun) for me and for them! I am also teaching TK and K this year which is new, but they are so cute...I can't wait!

One day this past week I talked with my 6th graders how Spanish and the Great Commission are related. It was really neat because I could see their minds turning and really making the connection between the two. I told them that I looked up the word "commission" and found that it means things like, to give an order to, or someone granted authority to do a particular action.

The "Great" Commission (or great order) says that we (as Christians) should go and make disciples of all nations. God, who is over all authority gives us the power to be witnesses here on earth until He comes back. Today, we went to Adam's parent's church and we got to go to their Sunday School class. Adam's Dad taught their class today and he talked about this very thing. I thought it was really neat because it was pretty much the same thing I talked about with my class on Friday. He taught in Acts 2:1-14 and specifically in verse 8, it tells us that we are given the power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us to become witnesses not only to the world around us, but even to the people as close as our next door neighbors.

We all "know" we should be witnesses to the people around us, but how many of us are actually bold enough to act upon the "order" that we are given from God, himself? I know that I have been guilty many times, but all it takes is one sentence to hopefully change someone's destiny. I was looking over my service notes one Sunday where our pastor talked about our faith and witnessing to others, when the Lord put something on my heart. I wrote it down because I didn't want to forget it. Now, I'm not one of those people that say they "hear" God, but I do believe that He speaks to you many different ways and you should always have your ears and heart open to listen. Here's what He gave me...

"Don't let your insecurities get in the way of other people's need for Jesus".

In the words of my Pastor, "you have everything you need, to do everything God has called you to do". So...don't let the devil talk you out of speaking the truth to someone! Odds are, he probably will, so expect it, but don't give into it!

Anyway, that's my little word of encouragement to myself and to all of you! Thanks for reading! :)

Another Doc. appt...

We had another doctor's appointment this past Wednesday to get my results back from all the bloodwork. Everything came back normal and my doctor told me the risks for miscarriage go down tremendously since I am in my 2nd trimester. We also got to hear our baby's heartbeat again which is always a good sound! I've only gained a pound so far, but she told me I will start gaining about .5 lb per week now. I've also gotten kind of lazy on my exercising, but I plan to start back soon!

The past 3 days we've had cheerleading camp for the girls at the school. My future sister-in-law (whose also the coach for ASU) came down and did the camp for us. It was very fun and helpful, but also very hot and exhausting! I guess it gave me a little taste of how I'll feel after a full workday. Afternoon naps are definitely going to help me, and my sweet husband encourages me to take them because he knows I'm tired. I love him!

Adam and I will go back to the doctor in about 4 weeks to see what we're having (I'm about 14 weeks along). It's crazy because it seems to go by so fast! So...I want to leave everyone with a little poll...girl or boy?

[polldaddy poll=1873754]

13 weeks...I've graduated!

I am officially 13 weeks. Yes...I've graduated into my 2nd trimester! Woo hoo! No more queseyness...(well maybe a little more). Adam and I went to our 3rd doctor's appt. this past Monday for my 1st Trimester screening. The nurse took some pictures (which I'll post at the end) and I got some blood taken. She told us that as far as she can tell with the pictures, everything looks great, but we won't know for sure until my bloodwork comes back. We go back next Wednesday to get all the results.

While she was taking the ultrasound, she needed to get a specific picture, but low and behold...our baby was sound asleep! She even poked around on my stomach to see if she could wake him/her up...no such luck! I guess that could be a good thing when they come into this world! So most of the pictures you'll see, the baby is sleeping!

I've pretty much gotten out of being quesey feeling all the time. The only time I feel bad is when I wait too long to eat. The tiredness is still there and I've had people tell me that it only gets worse! I'll be starting back work in a couple weeks, so I guess we'll see how it goes...pray for Adam!

Our little baby is so cute already (maybe I'm a little biased)! I'll leave you with a few pictures of Baby Hamilton...

[caption id="attachment_291" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="A profile shot (head is to the right)."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_294" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="This is one of my favorites...he/she looks all snuggled up!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_296" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Another profile shot!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_297" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Here\'s a close up...you can see its nose, lips, and chin! (very photogenic already)!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_298" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="A good shot of its arm...and all 5 fingers!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_299" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Here\'s a shot of its legs...his/her feet are heel to heel."][/caption]