Drumroll Please.......

When we had Danny's side family Christmas we hid a little matchbox with the verdict inside and whoever found it got to open it up and tell everyone the news.

Our niece found it and after painstakingly opening the box, (seriously- it took forever!) she let everyone know that...........................

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The "another" part is just because there's already an abundance in that family.  Not because we already have one!!  We just got home from our second ultrasound and everything looks great!  Honestly, it took a little getting used to since we both wanted a boy, but now we're excited!  Especially since she'll have 2 and maybe 3 other girl cousins her same age:)  Now to settle on her name...

Wrapping Up 2014

Well, once we got everything moved in, we had two days to get partially organized before family Christmases started up.  It felt like a little bit of a whirlwind but it was much anticipated and really fun!  After church on Christmas day, we came home and had our own little Christmas.  Technically not our first Christmas together since we were engaged last year, but our first one without parents in the next room as we tried to exchange gifts with just the two of us!

Then it was off to Danny's side of the family for the big overnighter.  Except we cheated a little and came home to sleep.  But we just got our own bed back which is SO comfy and cozy, AND we were all packed to leave for a week the next day.  So it was just easier to do it that way this time.  But we stayed late and went back for breakfast the next morning!

We did a progressive pregnancy picture-

Jessica: due in July

Me: due in May

Cassie: induced one day after the picture

Sonya: baby born in October

The menfolk posed for a quick picture after their rendition of Little Drummer Boy.  It's rather entertaining:)

The kids put on a nativity play for us- entirely written and directed (with background music and special lighting) by our oldest niece.  They did a great job!

The next day we were off to Illinois- and got to stay for almost a whole week!  I was not complaining!  Little buddy was feeling sick so he's not really showing it, but he was pretty excited to have his own pair of boots.  Just like daddy and grandpa!

Present time!

We happened to be there during turkey load out day and Danny got in on all the "fun".  He now has a renewed sense of appreciation for his desk job!

Game night with some of my favorite people in the world.

New Year's Eve was spent eating snacks, relaxing, and playing incredibly intense games like Hungry Hungry Hippo and The Farming Game.  It was a really fun night!

I hated to leave, but it sure was nice to come back to our own home and be able to officially take down the building permit sign from the window!

Looking forward to what's in store for 2015!

Pink Or Blue??

The last time I went to the doctor, we finished up by scheduling my next appointment which will include the big gender reveal!  

BUT

A couple weeks ago, I had some concerns that resulted in an early and unexpected ultrasound!(Everything is fine, we just had to go check to make sure.)  But that ultrasound was late enough in my pregnancy that we were able to find out sooner than we thought!  

We told our families at Christmas and now we'll tell the rest of you!  But not for a few days yet:)  First you have to vote.

Some things to consider:
- Danny's family has a very strong representation of girls.  It seems to be the common theme as there are 11 girls and only 3 boys thus far.  There must be something in the water.

HOWEVER

- With the exception of about three of my sister in laws, most people in both sides of the family strongly suspected that it's a boy.

So will this baby follow the trend and be a girl?  Or are all those suspicions true?  You decide!! You can vote in the poll in the top right corner of my blog.  The poll closes next Monday (January 5), which is the night before our sonogram that has been scheduled all along.

Happy voting!!

This World Is Not Our Home, But.....

Well the house is a mess and I am worn out but we are here!!  And we are thankful.  We feel pretty undeserving, actually.  We're not sure if it's something God specifically intended for us to go through or not.  The question I always wonder is, would this have happened no matter which house we had bought?  Or did it just so happen to this house and we just so happened to buy it?  Regardless, His hand has been in it and we feel blessed.  

Now how about some pictures!  If you missed the previous post, that's where all the before pictures are.  Structurally, the kitchen is basically the same.  Since all the plumbing and wiring was already in place there wasn't a whole lot we could do different.  But we did extend the counter, put in a stove top oven, and new microwave above the stove.  We got new light fixtures and the soffet (I have NO idea how to spell that-it's that part of the ceiling that was lower than the rest) was taken out.  And that bright green paint went bye-bye.  It's so much more open looking and much brighter lighting!

Like I said in the last post, the living room didn't change much.  The big walls used to be more of a beige color and now they are more gray.  We have that same gray throughout the whole house with a few different colors splattered here and there.

The bathroom is still yellow, but a little more subdued than the other yellow we had before.  And we got a new counter top, faucet, and floor.  It wasn't actually damaged but it was something we had wanted to do anyway so we decided to just do it while the rest of the house was getting done.

And then there's the basement..... Danny loves the color orange and would have loved to paint the whole thing orange.  But he has a wife who does not share his affinity for the color.  So he settled on one wall.  And I have to say, I like it a lot better than I thought I would!  But I'm glad we did just one wall and kept the rest gray:)

We went with gray (it's my favorite neutral color) for the siding with white trim.  Our bedroom, bathroom, and the other two bedrooms are pretty much the same so I didn't post any pictures of that.

While there have been changes made, there is yet one thing that remains.  That pink bathtub and toilet!  We just couldn't justify changing those out when all they needed was a good cleaning.  There may come a day when we move out of this house and I find myself missing those pink bathroom fixtures, but until then I just have to smile and shake my head at them:)

Now our prayer is that we can use this house for God's glory.  Whether by keeping it a safe haven for our family, making others feel welcome and comfortable in it, or whatever it might be, we don't want to take it for granted!  Thank you to everyone who offered prayers on our behalf.  We are grateful for them!

Merry Christmas To Us!!

We are so excited that in just ONE week all of our stuff will be coming back from storage and we will be able to move back HOME!!!  Here's just a few pictures to remind you of the before stages of this process.

Things will look a little different than before- especially in the kitchen.  The living room will pretty much be the same, because I really did like the blue.  After we painted that green kitchen, I decided it was just a little too bright but was just going to live with it because it was finished and we didn't want to paint anymore for awhile.  But that theory only lasted about a week.

We are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy to be past this point!  (Can't add enough "O's" there...)

As I was looking through the pictures I saw this one and remembered taking it right after the fire.  Five months later, it's still true!  It just about makes me cry to look at those words.  But then again, a lot of things make me cry these days.  Gotta love those raging hormones:)

For real though- we didn't always have the greatest of attitudes and there were days when it felt like we would N.E.V.E.R. see progress.  But God met and exceeded all of our needs and has most definitely shown us His faithfulness.

And if you ever are in a position where you need fire damage restoration, we highly recommend J Yoder Inc out of Ft. Wayne.  They were great to work.  They gave us high hopes of being in before Christmas and they didn't let us down!

Hopefully I'll manage to get a post in next week of our "after" pictures!  Woo Hoo:)

Pregnancy And Other Stuff

I'm 15 weeks today!  According to my handy "What to Expect" app, the wee one is roughly the size of an orange now.  Significantly bigger than the little pea it once was!  My next appointment is December 2 and I'm getting pretty anxious to go hear the heartbeat again.  Then I think the appointment after that one will be when we get to find out what we're having!  Yes, we will find out and yes, we will tell.  Not the name- just the gender.  We're both way to curious to keep it a surprise.

I never threw up, but I was pretty nauseous from week 6 to week 13ish.  I still have moments, especially in the evenings when I don't feel great, but overall I am much better.  Which I'm so thankful for because I was getting pretty discouraged by the end of October and just wanted to feel good again.  If I ever have some sort of chronic condition where I never feel good, I will require a LOT of grace to press on and not complain.

Okay- new topic.

I'm so excited to decorate for Christmas and go Christmas shopping!  Except the problem is, I'm not sure where we're going to be living in the next few weeks.  I'll probably do a few basic decorations here in the trailerhood but I don't want to get a bunch of stuff set out and then a week later have to pack it all up to move back into our house.  The contractor still seems to think we'll be back by Christmas!  But who knows... maybe I should just deck the halls of the trailer anyway:)

Well, this is pretty short and boring but it's just been so long since I did a post.  And we have almost a whole Saturday at home doing not much of anything so I figured now would be a good time to get one done.

We are looking forward to being with family and friends next week for Thanksgiving- I hope you are too!  We truly have so much to be thankful for.

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."  James 1:17

Then And Now

Just shy of one year ago, I went on my very first date ever.

Now, after a wedding, a honeymoon, another vacation, a house fire, living in grandma's house, another vacation, a new job, and moving into a trailer temporarily....

I'm pregnant!!

That escalated quickly:)

Baby Bertsch due May 16, 2015!