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Friday, March 29, 2013

it is finished.

He lived an ordinary life unmarked by fame and fortune.
                   
"He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.”
Isaiah 53:2
                  
For years he walked the earth healing the sick and comforting the poor.
          
"He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”
Isaiah 53:3

 On Friday he would be broken.

“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5

Our guilt and shame on the cross He bore.

"All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned-every one- to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
Isaiah 53:6 

Listen. Maybe you hear the birds singing or the wind blowing. Maybe you hear the drone of your office as printers and staplers begin the work day. Whatever it is, let the sounds of your day melt away. Block out the noise, hear the silence.

As you close off everything else, imagine the sound of feet marching on stony roads.
 Imagine the crowds shouting, “Crucify him!” Imagine the whips cracking, the flesh ripping. Screams of agony echo across the courtyard walls, pain can literally be heard from the sounds coming from the man awaiting his crucifixion. Imagine the guards yelling as they push the man towards the hill of execution. The people laughing, spitting, calling out for the man to save himself. Imagine the nails ringing out as they are hammered amidst flesh and wood. The screams as the cross is raised, as the crown is set, as the pain increases.

Imagine the sound of the struggling breath. The whisper of words between two men hanging from their crosses. Imagine the tears of a mother, the sounds of her cries as she watches her son die. Imagine the fears of friends as they watch their teacher, their savior and his last breaths fade away. Imagine the horror of the crucifixion. Hear the sounds of pain, of agony, of death.

Listen closely. Hear the savior calling,  
(John 19:30)


 It's Friday. The beginning of the next 3 days that would forever change the world. The beginning of the most agonizing suffering that had ever been witnessed. The beginning of redemption. The day that Jesus by his blood paid the price for my sin, for your sin, for the sins of the world. The day that joy would be brought to the world. The day that forgiveness could be seen, could be felt, could be obtained. The day that Jesus took our guilt, our shame, our disease.

Listen. Hear the sound of joy. Hear the sound of love. Hear the angels singing as the stone was rolled away and the tomb was found empty. Hear the sound of singing, of praise, as the disciples saw their Jesus risen from the dead. Hear the sound of redemption. Hear the Savior whisper in your ear, “It is finished.”

"...but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; 
Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee; 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'" Then they remembered his words."
Luke 24:5-8


Special thanks to my sweet husband for writing this post today!

This is probably my favorite song and video depicting Christ's death and the price he paid for us. I cry every time I watch it! Take a few minutes to watch for yourself.
It Is Finished by Matt Papa

If you're in the Memphis area and are looking for somewhere to come worship on this Easter Sunday, I invite you to join us at Island Community Church in Downtown Memphis. We'd love to see you!

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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

12 weeks


How far along? 
12 weeks - officially in the second trimester!

How big is Baby? 
the size of a plum - 2.1 inches

Weight Gain? 
I haven't been keeping up at home - last doctor's visit (at 10 wks.) was +3 lbs.

 Gender? 
We'll find out the gender in about 4 1/2 weeks! Daddy thinks boy. I've been thinking girl this week. (subject to change!)

Maternity Clothes? 
I bought a maternity shirt (pictured above), but don't really need it yet. Chances are, if I'm wearing any kind of pants, they're most likely unbuttoned! (I need to invest in a BeBand) I've been on the hunt for comfy cotton maxi skirts and trying to wear dresses to work.

Stretch Marks? 
Not yet!

 Sleep?
I've been doing good up until the past few nights - usually waking up to go to the bathroom or with restless legs

Symptoms? 
Not too much this week! - I only had morning sickness/nausea from about weeks 5-9 so I'm doing great.

Movement? 
Can't feel any yet, but we did see a A LOT of movement on our 10 week ultrasound!

Food Cravings? 
Nothing different than my usual non-pregnant cravings. Although I did REALLY want some Brim's white cheddar popcorn yesterday Yum!

Labor Signs? 
no way, Jose!

Belly Button in or out? 
In

What I miss?
Nothing

What I am looking forward to?
Our 16 week appointment to find out the gender!
  
Best moment of the week? 
Will's g-ma gave me some maternity clothes spending money!



P.S.
If you missed our pregnancy announcement, check it out HERE

If you want to read about how we found out we were pregnant, look HERE
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Monday, March 25, 2013

Weekend Recap - me and the dogs

Just warning you -- the only photos in the post are of Ginger & Remi. I couldn't help it. My husband was gone most of the weekend so it was just me and the dogs. He took a Spring Break class last week and part of their class was a "field trip" to the Creation Museum in Ohio. He left early Thursday and got back late Saturday afternoon. We missed him!

Thursday and Friday night was spent watching Criminal Minds reruns. I've told you before that I watch way too much of that show. The dogs were totally over it.


 Finally I think Remi had had enough of it so he proceeded to try and drag me off the couch to go to bed. I complied and went to bed only to watch Big Bang Theory season 1 for the umpteenth time! I also flipped to the back of What To Expect When You're Expecting and read all about delivery. Safe to say I'm pretty freaked out/terrified. Luckily, we've still got about 28 weeks to go.
don't you love Remi's heart on his side?!
I had plans to sleep in pretty late on Saturday morning, but I opened my eyes to this.

I guess he's used to having Will wake up early with him to play and was fed up with my laziness.

We were excited to have Will back home! We spent Sunday at church and then at my parents all afternoon.

In other news, I started the second trimester yesterday! Warning No. 2: I will be posting weekly "bumpdates" starting this week. I don't know about you, but I'm excited! Woo! 

Hope Monday treats you well!
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Wednesday, March 20, 2013

How We Told The Fam

I've always thought about how we would tell our families that we're pregnant--even before it happened! I stashed away ideas on Pinterest for the longest time. (Don't you love those "secret boards"?!) In the end though, Pinterest didn't come through for me. It was YouTube that gave me an idea on how to tell my family. I browsed through countless "pregnancy announcement" videos and finally found ONE that I knew we had to do.

My family likes to play Mad Gab. We don't play every time we're together so I knew I'd have to come up with a reason to play. I had it all planned out. 

Side note: My middle brother was supposed to be home from college that weekend (February 9) so it was perfect. His plans ended up changing and he stayed at school. I didn't know what to do because I did not want to have to wait another week to tell everyone and I also didn't want to tell him on the phone. My impatience won that battle and I gave Cody a call and let him know why I wanted to come in town so bad. He was excited for us and reassured me that I needed to go ahead and tell everyone. He knew I was about to bust!

Now, back to Mad Gab. We went to my parents' house and I came up with some crazy excuse to play the game and threw in my "imposter" card.

My dad caught on right away. One, he could tell that this "card" didn't match the other cards so he knew something was up. My mom started reading "Might ought hers praying nut" and wasn't getting it. It was hilarious because she was actually saying "my daughter's pregnant," but didn't realize it yet. Dad was behind her saying, "Your daughter's pregnant." She still wasn't listening. I think she was so focused on the card that she didn't listen to him. My youngest brother, Colin, kept throwing out phrases like "my daughter prays at night??" It was so funny. FINALLY, my mom heard Dad or Colin say the correct phrase and just looked at me and said, "NU-UH!!!" We missed having Cody there, but he can always say that he was the first to know!

We had plans to go to Will's parents' for Sunday lunch. They were cooking fried fish, hush puppies, etc. Before we went over there I told Will that I wasn't sure if I could handle the fried fish smell. My nausea was in the beginning stages and I just didn't know. It bothered me a little at first, but I guess I got used to it after a while. I even managed to try some! We sat down at the table and I told Will to say the blessing. It went something like this:

Dear God,
Thank you for this beautiful day that we can spend with family. Thank you for this food. Please use it as a nourishment to our body. Be with Courtney over the next nine months because she's pregnant.
In Your Name I pray,
Amen

We looked up at had four pairs of wide eyes just staring at us. At first everyone thought we were joking because Will is such a jokester anyway. We finally convinced them that we were serious!

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Tuesday, March 19, 2013

3 Year Anniversary Photos


I know you've heard me go on and on about our photographer friend Kelly and her hubby, John. She is, afterall, the one who encouraged me to start this little blog of mine! (She is also the one who took our colored powder photos last Fall.) Kelly and I (& Will and John) went to high school AND college together, but didn't actually become close until after her and John got married. Weird, I know. Regardless, I am SO GLAD that we've developed such a friendship with these two! They were so supportive and excited for us when we told them about Baby K--even sent us a "Congrats" card the next day! Once you book them to take your pictures, you'll understand why! They are so easy to work with. John always comes with Kelly and does so well at assisting her while she works her magic! They make a great pair...see for yourself!
Jon Sharman Photography
Aren't they cute!?

You can check out Kelly's website HERE. I could look at her photos all day.

Also, go ahead and Like her Facebook page!











My favorite!



Look, I've got a baby bump! (This was at 10 weeks)


If you're anywhere near the Memphis area, please remember Kelly the next time you have an occasion that calls for some great photos to be taken!
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Monday, March 18, 2013

Weekend Recap - Dog Walkin'

We saw Baby K on Thursday! I sit here not even knowing what to write about this ultrasound. I can't describe how amazing it was to see a wiggling little baby on the screen. I don't know what I was expecting to see, but it wasn't a baby that was stretching and moving all around! This was actually my third ultrasound already, but the first where he/she looked like a baby with arms and legs and hands and feet. It was amazing. Have I mentioned that already?! I wish we would have taken a video of the ultrasound, but I think that Will and I were both so shocked to see movement that we totally forgot. The feeling of seeing your baby move for the first time though is something I'll never forget. I'll be posting more pregnancy things on Wednesday...trying not to bombard you with my pregnancy craze!

I don't think I mentioned this on any form of social media (because I watch waaay too much Criminal Minds), but Will was "away" for two weeks house/dog sitting. Yes, he was still in town, but by about 7:00 every night he would have to leave to go stay at the other house. (It was like we were dating again!) It was just me and Remi and Ginger in the bed for two weeks. Once Will was finally home for good, Remi was so clingy cuddly! He didn't want Will to leave anymore!

The weather was beautiful on Friday in the 70's. After work we took the dogs on a walk. They were anxious to go!



After our walk we went to my parents to watch the Memphis game (Go Tigers!) and eat dinner at Cracker Barrel. I don't know if it was a pregnancy craving or not, but CB just sounded so good!


We had plans to spend Saturday at the dog park and grilling out with some friends, but sometimes plans have to change last minute. Will's "Mawmaw" was in the hospital for a possible stroke so on Saturday we drove up to Illinois and got back last night. The good news is that Mawmaw didn't have a stroke and she's on the mend!

And in other news, I just got this text from Will:
Helllllo Dentist.

Tomorrow I will be posting photos from our 3 year anniversary session with Kelly!
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Friday, March 15, 2013

Green Smoothie Update

You may remember this post where I asked for your opinion on green smoothies. I got a lot of good feedback from everyone saying the smoothies actually don't taste "green" and they're pretty tasty. 

I should let you know that we only made about 3 or 4 smoothies. After my initial post on green smoothies, I started feeling nauseous all the time from morning sickness and all food just disgusted me. Now that I'm coming out of the first trimester and feeling better, I want to make some more smoothies and try out all the recipes you suggested! 



This was the first green smoothie we made. It definitely was not the best, but it's trial and error I guess!

Ingredients:
spinach
frozen strawberries
frozen peaches
ice
water

I think this is where I went wrong: too much spinach, too much ice and water, not enough fruit


The end result did taste a little green and was real watery. I'm excited for Spring and Summer so we can start getting some fresh fruit that actually tastes good for these smoothies!



Our second round with the smoothies was better...possibly because Will was the one who made it. We also used vanilla almond milk instead of water and that helped A LOT. Like I said, I didn't drink much of it because of feeling so sick, but I'm looking forward to making more now that I've gotten my appetite and some energy back!

Have a great weekend! The weather is supposed to be beautiful here in Memphis so we're pretty excited!

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