Viability

24 weeks pregnant= VIABILITY!!

24 weeks is an exciting point to reach in pregnancy because if she were to arrive, a medical team would intervene to help keep her alive. As many of you know, 24 weeks is still SUPER early but it is amazing to know that she is already to that point! I remember being about this pregnant with Charlotte & having the opportunity to deliver a patient that was 24-25 weeks along. I went to visit the family in the NICU the following week & was just in awe as I watched her move around. It was funny to see the little jerky movements with her arms and legs & realize that those are the same movements they make inside their mommas. I smiled and thought "so that is what Charlotte is doing when I feel that funny wiggle!" So, we will pray that Miss Eloise can stay growing inside me for at least another 14 weeks while still believing that God has already picked the perfect day for her to arrive.

I am feeling great this week. I mentioned before that we have dealt with all kinds of sickness around here. To top it off, the day after Valentine's Day, I lifted Charlotte to put her in her car seat & immediately felt this AWFUL pain in my lower back. The next 2 days, I was unable to sit up or stand without Robby doing all the work. It was a little scary & frustrating really. We had some wonderful friends that were willing to show up at my house & spend the day with me to help with Charlotte. This was all we asked them to do....they did SO much more! Cleaning and cooking + keeping me company or letting me take a 3 hour nap....those things combined with a pain medication, muscle relaxer, heating pad & ice packs helped me make it through Wednesday-Friday. Over the weekend, I felt much better & today I would say I am almost back to normal. Although normal now includes being extra careful when lifting my little chubster ; ) I will say I greatly enjoyed feeling every movement Eloise made while spending so much time in bed or on the couch.

Eloise has been showing off some pretty crazy dance moves the past few days! She should weigh over a pound now & it definitely feels like she is long and lanky when I feel a foot on one side of the belly and a head on the other : ) We are excited to get moving on some projects in the girls room! Robby is going to build Charlotte a toddler bed that she can move into sometime between now and when Eloise is ready to move from the cradle to the crib. I have some bird houses to paint & hang, some floor pillows to make for in front of the bookshelf, flat sheets to match for the toddler bed & a blankie for Eloise. This on top of getting up into the attic to pull out the little bitty clothes, setting up the bouncer & thinking about how to take care of a newborn again will probably consume a good amount of time in the coming weeks.

We are anticipating a week spent with each set of grandparents in March. I am looking forward to having someone here that loves playing with my busy toddler so this momma can put her feet up and relax!

Living in the Sunshine State

Oh how we are enjoying the warm weather! I cannot imagine living in a place where I was cold in February ; ) Central Florida has been absolutely lovely this past week and we have been taking advantage of being outside.

We enjoyed popsicles as a family after her nap the other afternoon. She took FOREVER to eat it, savoring every bite, just like I do with Reese's. She was sticky from head to toe and got a bath afterward but I think this cutie pie loved her raspberry popsicle!

Quite the goofy pair pictured below. Bennett is sillier than Charlotte sometimes & the combination of the two is always good for a laugh. I will say that he tolerates Charlotte & her antics pretty well but when he is done, he is out of sight!

Sunday morning, we decided to head over to downtown Celebration before church and spend some time as a family. I thought we would take a leisurely walk around part of the lake then turn back. What actually happened was Charlotte ran the entire way! I think we may have a future track star on our hands ; ) I was more tired than she was when we got back in the truck! We saw lots of ducks & squirrels but missed the gator this visit. She waved at all the doggies that walked past us but shook her head "no" when an older man or woman said "well aren't you just the cutest thing!" We are working on being cordial in public.

Charlotte is 19 months old now & still growing so fast!

My favorite part was just after the above picture was taken. She stopped and reached her hand up to mine and wanted us to all walk together holding hands. This is rare...I have to fight to hold her hand to walk across a busy street! Sweet time though with the three of us. I couldn't help but remember doing my maternity pictures & Charlotte's newborn pictures around the lake. Overwhelmed once again as I watched Char and Robby enjoy those same surroundings while feeling Eloise wiggling around in my belly. The Lord is oh so gracious to us. For those of you who are not experiencing as much sunshine as we are, please, get on a plane (if you can) and come visit!

Visit with GG & Grammy

What is better than having a Great Grandma & Grandma visiting the same weekend? Not too much : ) Robby's Mom, Jeannine & Grandma Virginia spent the weekend before Valentine's Day with us & we had a ball! The girls got PLENTY of loving, the kind that only Grandmas' can give; )

Here are all the pretty ladies

Robby's Grandma Virginia had 5 grandsons before welcoming her first granddaughter, Caroline into the world. Since then, she has been overjoyed to be blessed with Charlotte, Karis & the news of Eloise to add to all the boys in her life! The girls weren't the only ones spoiled, GG & her sister in law, Edna watched both girls on Sunday night while we went on a double date with Steve & Jenny! We have not done that since before Charlotte was born.....sad but true. We had such a wonderful time catching up uninterrupted! Thank you!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Another Valentine's Day to celebrate as a true Valentine! I have loved my last name since I knew I would be a Valentine & it is too fun that we have a holiday named after us ; ) Today, I did not think my last name was as fun as the medical staff at the doctors office thought it was....it was not my desire to spend the morning waiting to be diagnosed with either an upper respiratory infection or major allergies...although I was glad to brighten their day with a "cute" last name.

This has been a sick house for the past week with a double whammy of stomach flu & respiratory infection for Robby & me bringing up the caboose with a combo of coughing, runny nose & sore throat. In fact, the total amount of days we have been sick in 2011 are more than the days we have been well! We seem to be sick at the start of each year & through that small amount of suffering we rejoice in another great promise of scripture:

"So, we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day." 1 Corinthians 4:16

We have found ourselves thankful lately. The Lord continues to renew our hearts, keeping us faithful to serve here in Florida & causing us to delight in Him alone as He is the ONLY one who can satisfy.

Valentine's Day for us over the course of 7 years has consisted of a couple romantic evenings in or out, a couple parties with all sorts of people or just plain relaxing with the 2 of us. Due to our illness/recovery for 2011 Valentine's Day, we plan to eat soup for dinner, spend some time with sweet Charlotte then enjoy a giant cupcake coupled with some previous years Valentine's Day Office episodes......maybe by candlelight ; )

Here our some pictures of the littlest Valentine in her "Be Mine" outfit......she went from serious to silly very quickly which made for an assortment of cute faces!

one pic of the family

and of course, we had to capture Charlotte's interest in baby Eloise

So, however you decide to spend your day & evening, we hope you enjoy it!

Love-

The Valentines

E is for....

E is the first letter of many words & many names. In fact today, Charlotte & I went shopping and purchased this to add to the decor of the girls room at the Valentine home:

this E stands for ELOISE

It's official! Baby Valentine #2 has a name & we love it : ) Robby actually picked the name Eloise when we were on vacation early last summer & it took some time for me to agree that it was adorable. We feel like it has the same sweet, charming & antique sound as Charlotte does.

Eloise means multiple things as any of you who have looked at baby name meanings know information doesn't always match.....

Here are a couple we found:

• 
  
  famous warrior



• 
  
  healthy & wide

We find it humorous that Charlotte means petite & womanly which seems like the opposite of Eloise ; ) Also humorous, Charlotte is definitely not petite at this point in her life, but is a healthy little girl!

We are still discussing possibilities for a middle name but think we have it narrowed down to a few.

Eloise is getting bigger and crazier with her movement throughout the day but mostly during the night. She wakes me up around 5 with her morning exercise routine..... it is absolutely amazing. She is loved dearly by her big sister who is more interested each day with the growing bump. Charlotte has attempted to say "Eloise" a few times. It has come out as "eee-ooo-sss" & "ee-oos." Can't wait to hear it when she says it to her for the first time when she is out of my belly : ) Speaking of that growing belly, I feel like I am starting to waddle a little bit, but I like waddling so that is great!

Eloise Valentine, what a sweet name you have. We can't wait to meet you this summer & will continue praying that God grows your body healthy & strong.....and wide ; ) We love you.

Beyond

As many of you know, Robby & I moved to Central Florida in May 2008 to be part of a church plant called Celebration Community Church. Our church has been meeting at Celebration High School each and every Sunday for quite some time. We are thankful for what we have but are looking forward to having a place to call home : ) We are in the beginning weeks of sharing the vision for the future of our church with others & Lord willing will break ground in the coming weeks on our building!

Check out the link below to watch the video on our website:

LINK TO VIDEO

Please join us in praying for the Lord to provide abundantly as we believe He will & check the website for future updates!

20 weeks into this marvelousness : )

Pregnancy #2 is absolutely FLYING by thanks to my busy toddler that keeps me on the move all day every day! I realized the other day that I have not blogged very much specifically about this pregnancy so here we go : )

Some common questions I have heard throughout:

1. Were you trying to get pregnant?

After our 2 1/2 year journey to getting pregnant with Charlotte, we felt great peace about seeing what the Lord had in mind for a timeline in conceiving another child. We joked on the way home from the hospital with brand new baby Charlotte that we were ready to have another baby right away. We definitely began to strongly desire a second child as we neared Charlotte's first birthday. It actually happened the week after I stopped nursing....this is good to know as we move forward in growing our family : )

2. Do you want another girl or a boy?

Of course I head this more frequently prior to finding out it is a girl but still, I love this question. It makes me laugh because after being around many families, it seems like parents LOVE whatever they have. I would venture to say that most would agree that God perfectly places a son or a daughter & any combination of, under the care of a mother and father. I can't wait to see if we will have more girls or a boy one of these days : ) For a long time I pictured myself as a boy mom....not sure why but it could have something to do with having brothers. I was convinced Charlotte was a boy and actually called her "Owen" until my sonogram at 18 weeks. When the sonographer said she was a girl, I was shocked! It took about 2 seconds to change my thinking & be thrilled about a girl : ) This time around, I found myself equally as excited and emotional about having either. When I found out it was another girl, I cried like it was all I ever wanted : )

3. Have you been sick this pregnancy?

Haha! Charlotte got me used to what my "norm" is in the first half of pregnancy. It actually made it much easier to tolerate this time around. I threw up everyday, sometimes more than once & felt pretty awful until 16 weeks. Zofran got me through the day that I worked but on the days I was home, I toughed it out most of the time. The weird thing was that even with the nausea, I was starving all the time.

4. How are you feeling about having two kids?

GREAT! From what I hear, my little organized life is about to be rocked but I really can't wait. Lord willing there will be more after this one so I might as well get used to it.

5. Does Charlotte have any clue what's going on?

I think she does...more so in the recent weeks. She is very interested in my belly & if anyone asks where the baby is, she can't help but lift up my shirt & show me off to whomever asked the question : ) She sometimes shows her belly too. She received a book about being a big sister from my parents & we read it at her request multiple times each day. She loves pointing at the baby and nodding her head "yes" when you ask if she is going to be a big sister. She kisses my belly each night after we pray for Charlotte & her sister. She is obsessed with other babies so I have no doubt she will enjoy having her own at home.

Here is the 20 week picture from each pregnancy, left- this time, right- last time

I really don't see any difference, do you?

One thing that I am excited about is that I have kept up my weekly belly book entries with this pregnancy. I was determined to not jip this little one out of something special I did for her big sister & I am actually really enjoying journaling. It forces me to take time out to focus just on baby #2 & recognize how amazing pregnancy really is.

This sweet girl does have a name which we will share soon. Many of you may know that we are still debating on a middle name & will hopefully have that figured out by the day she arrives : )

She is big enough now to kick hard enough to see it on the outside. Robby got to feel her kick last week and Charlotte cannot stay still long enough to wait...imagine that!

I had a dream about her the other night. It was the end of labor with delivery. I didn't feel a thing (unlike my previous delivery), she came out with one push (unlike my previous delivery) & she weighed under 8 lbs.... 7lbs 14 ounces to be exact (unlike my previous delivery). She looked very different from Charlotte but was gorgeous & we were in love at first sight (JUST like my previous delivery).

Pregnancy is marvelous, the nausea & vomiting for me is out weighed entirely by feeling those sweet little tootsies kicking in my belly & knowing the love that I have for her is only growing stronger.

We are back to the OB for a regular check up tomorrow & look forward to hearing that strong heart beating! We continue trusting the Lord as he is sovereign over her growth & development along with sustaining her each day of her life. We love you baby girl.....20 more weeks and you will be in our arms!