More Baby Pics!

Well as I post this we are now 22 weeks and 6 days along in our pregnancy. On Monday, Calie and I finally made it back to the doctor since moving up to Minnesota. We were very bummed that we had to leave our doctor in St. Louis who was really great, as he said he was only throwing out the first pitch. But our new doctor here also seems to be very good. We lucked out because a church member is a labor & delivery nurse so she gave us a list of the top doctors in the area. Our new doctor was number two on our list; and even though she was not accepting new patients she made an exception for us! We both really like her even though she talks super fast. Our appointment went well and we got to hear the strong, healthy heartbeat of our little miracle baby. And this time I know I heard it!

The very next day on Tuesday, we had to go back to the health center to get new ultrasound pictures! It took over an hour as they took over 100 pictures but it was awesome! We saw so many different pictures and views of our little one, though not enough to determine the sex; we'll just have to wait 'til baby is born. I was a bit humbled though because every time I thought I knew what I was looking at I was corrected. I wasn't usually even close--not even on the right half of the baby.

Even the ultrasound tech was impressed with how photogenic little baby Vera was. She had never seen such clear pictures of the heart and got very excited over our 3-D pictures. But she kept clicking away and printing pictures. She had to check all the different body parts to make sure everything was there and forming properly. She checked the lips/nose to make sure the baby did not have cleft lip. She checked the heart many times and we saw it pumping with all four chambers. We saw the different pockets near the brain that are holding the fluid for the spine and the inside of the umbilical cord which showed three open areas (that's good!). She showed us the stomach, kidneys, lungs and liver. Everything looked strong and healthy so we certainly give God much thanks for that. It's a wonder how anyone can look at ultrasound pictures like these and not believe that God exists or that He doesn't carefully craft a human from the very moment of conception. What an awesome thing to be a part of God's miraculous process!

That's all for now, hope you enjoy the pictures...

Here's a picture of the baby's profile. It's amazing how much they grow in a few short months. The baby is now too long to view from head to feet so we could only see one half at a time. In fact, the only way for them to take measurements of the baby now is to measure the width of his (or her) head, and the femur bone. As of right now, baby weighs 1 pound, 2 ounces

Say Cheese! Who would have thunk that our baby would be such a ham; this is the face of baby and he (or she) is looking right at us! You can see the eye sockets and nose, even a bit of the jaw.

Here are the little feet that baby uses to regularly flip around. Baby moves around so much that I almost thing we should call him (or her) flipper until they're born.

Actually, on Sunday night I felt the baby move or kick for the first couple of times. Calie has been feeling it for a long time but now I have too. I smile just thinking about it!

This is the first of two 3-D pictures. These were awesome and we had no idea we'd be able to have them. You can see the entire face of the baby, along with the umbilical cord in front of him (or her). Poor baby looks like an alien with those big eyes!

Another 3-D picture. A child after my very own heart. If you look real close at baby's mouth you can see him (or her) sticking out their little tongue!

Updates and more

Since our last post, we have been busy getting acclimated to our new home and trying to get into a routine. It has not been easy as it's just been go-go-go. I have quickly realized that in the life of a childcare worker there is no such thing as a routine day. You go to work thinking that you know what to expect, and then BAM the day changes. I forgot how tiring daycare can be but I am enjoying the children and most of the people I get to work with.

This past Friday night we had a couple from church take us to a Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks game. It is the town's semi-pro baseball team. Basically these guys play hoping to get noticed and called to a AAA club for the Major Leagues. It was a lot of fun, but it got pretty chilly towards the end. They game was fun but really sloppy, 15-14 was the final score with a ton of walks, hit batsmen, errors and more. There was not a single pitcher that could throw strikes that night. But it was nice to see live baseball since we are so far from being able to watch the Twins. They concluded with fireworks, which made Steve very happy.

Saturday morning we were busy at a sidewalk event on the campus of MSUM, spreading the word to freshman students about our church and ministry. Steve was pretty uncomfortable at first but warmed up to it eventually as we got talking with students. It really is all about relationships! But it was a lot of work setting up and moving stuff, we filled out table with candy, free soda, frisbees and Ramen Noodles. They were a hit! Even though it was a long afternoon, it was definately worth it when we saw some of the students that we talked to at church on the following Sunday. That's what we all about, hoping students will make our congregation thier church home, away from home!

Right after that, we headed to a town about 25 minutes away to help and ride on our church's float in the Potato Days Parade. We partnered with a number of area LCMS congregations to walk the parade. We handed things out to kids and information on the churches to adults and parents. A fun, easy way to reach people and let them know our chruches are welcoming. I was able to just ride along the float with a fellow pregant lady. It was a lot of fun, but let me tell you that ripping apart over 2000 frozen freezy pops, makes your hands numb after awhile.

That's all for now. Steve will be posting some other things pretty soon about our most recent doctor's visits. Other than that we anxiously await the passing of this week as my parents will be coming to visit to hear Steve preach his first vicarage sermon. And then after church on Sunday we will leave to head back down to the Cities for the MN State Fair. We'll have to stop eating sometime on Thursday so we can get ready to eat all those unhealthy, deep-fried, treats on a stick!

Working...

Well, as promised, our root beer floats were a hit! The person who came up with that idea at the church was brilliant! We got some very generous gifts from the pantry shower as well. Our church is full of great people, whom we met as they left church on Sunday. There are so many names to remember, what a test of the memory!

Sunday evening brought some more fellowship opportunities. The staff and staff relations committee gathered for some yummy food and games. The Wykoff's grilled to perfection some delicious pork chops. They may have been the best pork chops that I have ever eaten! My mouth is salivating just thinking about them! We also relaxed and played ladder golf, horseshoes, and boche ball. It was so nice to be outside enjoying the weather and new friends.

Monday brought the start of a new job for me(Calie). The first day was overwhelming, as new jobs usually are. I am working at the childcare which operates in the same building as the church. I work in the Infant 2 room, which is the 10 month to 16 month old children. Man, I forgot how many runny noses, poops, and cleaning there is with 8 little kiddos! It has been about 6 years since I have worked in the childcare system, so it was...overwhelming. I am also the Lead Teacher in the room, which leads to a lot of paperwork, most of which has to be done (read remembered) monthly. Thankfully, I am getting the hang of things and I hope to be "in the groove" of things by next week.

We're Here!

Greetings faithful readers,

We have arrived in MN! We are settled into our lovely two bedroom apartment with a dishwasher! We got here Sunday afternoon and were greeted by about 5 men and 1 women from church who wouldn't let me lift a finger and had our two cars unpacked in about 45 minutes!! It was so nice to have so much help! We are very grateful! They even bought us our first meal here, pizza. We had two more guys come and help us eat the pizza.

So since then we have been unpacking and hanging things on our walls. We finally put the finishing touches on the walls today.

I have attached a slide show of our new digs for your enjoyment. All of the furniture was donated from various church members, as well as the possible first ever vacuum.

We are looking forward to Steve's installation and meeting new faces this Sunday, but mostly root beer floats! More on that to follow!