It's a ....!

Nathan and I had decided early on that we were going to find out the gender of our baby. Our 20 week sonogram was scheduled for December 4th and we thought that we would use an idea from our mentor couple. They had told us about asking the sonogram technician to write down the gender on a card and then open it for Christmas.

We took a purple elephant card and handed it over to the tech and waited patiently for 21 days. The morning of Christmas, we woke up in bed and being the girl that I am, I begged to open it right away! Nathan opened the envelope and I opened the card in front of his eyes only. His expression gave it right away.

Nathan was convinced that we were having a girl, and he slowly and surely convinced me too. We had given in to the old wives tales and we both thought that we would welcome a baby girl in April.

Well in fact, his expression of shock at the card told me that we are in fact having a BOY!

We waited until 4PM EST/3PM CST to tell the rest of our family the great news. Here is a video of us sharing the joy of our future son, their future grandson, great-grandson and nephew.

Visiting the Chi

Nathan and I were fortunate to spend the Christmas holiday with his family in Itasca (right outside of Chicago). We left Tuesday afternoon with our luggage in the trunk and Lyla and Kenzie in the back. They did not last too long, though. After a lot of crying, we let them out to roam as we drove through VA, MD, PA, OH, IN, and IL.

We arrived around 1:30 AM central time, but the rest of the trip has been filled with great conversation, catching up, wonderful meals (thanks Don!), movies, and best of all - relaxation.

For Christmas dinner, our friends Carson and Nickie, who recently moved to Elmhurst from Portland, joined us. It was a treat to see them, and Nickie made a fantastic torte to complement Hilary's delicious apple pie.

(Carson, Nickie, Meredith, Nathan)

Thank you Sandell family for always making us feel so welcome and relaxed. We love you tremendously.

(Nathan, Meredith - 5 months pregnant, Hilary, Rosa, Connie, Don)

Faithful Prayer

Nathan and I went in for a scheduled ultrasound for the baby on December 4th. We were really excited and thought this was just a chance to see our baby. Everything, for the most part, went well. Our little one did want to show his or her face during the photo shoot - I guess this baby is a little camera shy.




Everything seemed fine, until the very end of the appointment when the doctor came in and told us that our baby has two choroid plexus cysts on the brain. We had no idea what this meant except we heard "genetic disorder."

On Monday, we went for the four-month check-up at our doctor's office. Dr. G also brought up the cysts and told us the following:

1. There are two choloid plexus cysts that are in the center of the brain.
2. The cysts are not big (i.e., the techs did not even measure them) - this is a good sign.
3. There were no other markers for a genetic disorder.
4. The cysts are considered a minor structural abnormality for a gentic disorder (not a major).
5. 1% of babies have the cysts and almost 100% of those cysts go away.
6. Without the cysts, the baby would have a 1 in 400 chance of having a genetic disorder - - BECAUSE of the cysts, the baby now has a 1 in 100 chance of having a genetic disorder( ie., 0.25% to now 1%, or 4x more likely).
7. Just because the cysts go away, the chance of a genetic disorder is still 1 in 100 - it is because the cysts were even present that the risk is increased.

They gave us a couple of next steps that we need to consider and pray about. The first would be to have an amnio test that would show for sure the chromosomal make-up of the baby. The risk with this is that there is a national average of miscarriage of 1 in 200.

Another option we have is to have another ultrasound at week 26 or 27 and see if the cysts are indeed gone. This would show us further progression, but again, our baby could still have a genetic disorder.

Our final option is to do nothing and wait until the baby is born. Both Nathan and I are leaning towards this option because it is the only option that solely relies on prayer and faith in God's will.

So, we ask that you please join us in praying for our baby's health and that no matter what, Nathan and I are faithful in following God's will. Thank you for your love and support!

God's Sense of Humor

On August 18th, I decided I needed to know. Nathan was traveling in Minnesota at the time for SCOR training, but we both had our suspicions. We decided we would wait until the Saturday he came home, but I just could not wait - I had to know.

It took about two minutes until I discovered:

We are pregnant!

I immediately cried, smiled and thanked God for this wonderful blessing. My next thought was how I would break the news to Nathan. I didn't want to tell him over the phone or video chat (yes we are Mac nerds), so I kept the news to myself for 4 days - 4 very long days!

I went to Target and Buy Buy Baby and found a cute white onesie with a little monkey on it (after all we have no idea what the sex is!) and a sweet book called, "Daddy Cuddles."

As Nathan walked in the door after midnight, I greeted him and anxiously waited for him to come into our room where I hid the gifts under his pillow. He found them and opened the card first, which had a sentimental message and most importantly, a positive pregnancy test in it!

Then he opened his first Daddy presents, we hugged, and then went to bed to get ready for our early alarm for the DC Schools project.

The moral of the story, just when you think you are going to start down a path in your life (such as writing a blog about you and your husband's life), God lets you know that He is ultimately in charge. And, thank goodness He is - our lives are truly blessed because of it!

DC Schools Project

In late August, Nathan and I participated in McLean's second annual DC Schools Project. Last year we worked with Union and had a great time, so it was an easy 'yes' for this year. The only difference was this time we volunteered as Captains.

Saturday, we woke up extra early to pick Sarah up and grab some Starbucks, then we were off to American University.

We met the rest of our team and went to our next stop - our school: Mamie D. Lee in Northwest. This school is dedicated to special needs children and we were so excited to help.

Our tasks for the day were to clean up garbage around the school (a task Sarah and I handled quite well!) and to paint either the parking stripes or the doors.

The volunteers we worked with were wonderful and the new principal, Lisa Grillo, was sweet and you could tell how passionate she is for the school. With all of us working together, we finished our job around 1:00 PM and headed to 18th St. for some lunch with other Union couples.

Serving with Nathan is such a gift that makes us a stronger couple. I'm lucky to have a husband who is willing to step out of his comfort zone and give back in the spirit of Christ! I can hardly wait for the rest of this year's Union Serve events!

Just call me 'lil Martha

This week I decided to take on Edible Arrangements and make my own for Anne in celebration of Lily's birth. I decided on the fruits of pineapple, strawberries (both regular and chocolate-covered), grapes, blueberries and raspberries. I figured those would be easy to skewer and would keep better than some of the softer fruits.

After receiving some help from Kendra (who really is Martha Stewart in disguise), I set off to Michael's and bought an adorable pink flower pot, some styrofoam and a cookie cutter for pineapple flowers.

Surprisingly, it was not too difficult to make the bouquet. I think it turned out fairly well and the fruit was delicious (I felt it was my duty to make sure it tasted ok - and I love eating fruit).

Here are some pictures of the finished product:

Unfortunately, transportation was a bit of a hiccup with speedbumps, pot holes and plain bad driving (I will admit to it). There were some raspberries lost and the whole thing just tilted to the right. I sent these to Anne so she would know that at one point, it actually did look pretty.

So, as soon as I figure out how to transport these puppies, look out world - here I come! Ok, more likely if you are my friend and have an exciting event happen in your life, please request a specific gift or else you will probably get one of these!

And with that, I'm off to go grab eggs from my private chicken coop. Just kidding, I don't have a private coop...yet.

Our First Family Blog

Normally when women start family blogs it is because they are pregnant or just birthed a baby. I have accomplished neither one. No babies. In fact, when I held a baby today I felt completely out of my element. I thought she was going to break just by being in my arms. I think she realized it too because she started crying (babies have a sixth sense about these things).

No, no, this blog is all about Nathan and me. I keep hearing, "you're young - now is the time to be selfish!" So that is what I am going to do. I shall chronicle our adventures as a newly married couple so that when the time comes to blog about our child(ren), we can look back at these beautiful memories of our time together. Beautiful might be too much. Let's be honest, they will most likely be pretty-boring-and-suburban-memories. I'll treasure them though.

Now I am off to pick my wonderful husband up from the train!