Cribbs Family Christmas Newsletter 2008

Dear Family and Friends,

I am so excited to be writing another Cribbs Family Christmas letter…filled with highlights of the past year. Looking back over 2008 has allowed me to remember the many joys and challenges we have faced. But the reoccurring themes of the past year are God’s faithfulness, love and mercy. He blessed us with wonderful memories and He never left our side during times of heartache.

I must start off by saying; there is not a day that goes by when I am not thankful for my wonderful husband. He is in the middle of pursuing his master’s in Engineering at UNT. Not only is he doing extremely well with his grad school classes and teaching his AP & Pre-AP Physics classes at Ryan High School, he is able to spend quality time with his family. He also recently wrote and submitted several grants at RHS. He won three: one for the Physics department, one for the Robotics club he heads up and one for grad school. I could not be more proud of him. He also participated in his 4th adventure race in September. He and his team competed for over 24 hours and covered many miles via canoe, trekking and biking. Unfortunately they weren't able to complete the entire biking segment but Dave was well prepared. He had been riding his bike to and from work for a total of 34 miles...exercising and saving money on gas.

In April, Dave and I, along with my sister, Erika, and brother-in-law, Josh, went on a week-long cruise. Zoey stayed with my parents and all of us had the best week ever. It was such a wonderful time of rest and relaxation before the craziness of preparing to go to kamp. That’s right! We packed up our family and spent another wonderful summer in Missouri working at Kanakuk Kamps, K7. This was my 8th summer, Dave’s 15th and Zoey’s 2nd. Unfortunately, this summer began with a very great loss. We found out we were pregnant on Mother’s Day but then I miscarried at the end of May while at kamp. I had a difficult time finding a doctor that would see me and Dave was still in Texas finishing the school year. This was our second miscarriage since being pregnant with Zoey and it would have been so easy to be utterly discouraged. Thankfully I was surrounded by my kamp family who helped me get through this very difficult time.
The great news is that the Lord is faithful to expand our family. Right before we came home from kamp, we found out we were pregnant again. We are currently 25 weeks along (about 5 1/2 months) and due April 2nd, 2009. We are so grateful that this pregnancy has continued but it's a daily reminder that we are not in control and the Lord is the giver and taker of life. Every day is precious...count your blessings.

Our little Zoey Michele has had a full and wonderful year. Although, it did start off with a minor surgical procedure in January to repair her supra-umbilical hernia. I think it was more traumatic for Dave and me than it was for her. She was back to new in a couple of days. She had the best summer of her life at kamp. She enjoyed swimming, boating, going down the Kamikaze Cribbs (the twisty, waterslide named after Dave), the lake, the trampolines, and playing with her kamp friends. And, of course, she couldn't get enough of her two favorite babysitters: Katie and Olivia! Zoey will be 2 years old on December 28th and she is the funniest and smartest kiddo I know. She loves being outside, reading books, her family, spaghetti, Pooh Bear and her baby doll (she's going to be a great big sister!). And according to her pediatrician, she's going to be one tall lady.

Well, we are less than a week away from another Cribbs Family Christmas Roadtrip Extravaganza. We will be heading north to celebrate Christmas with Dave's dad in Pittsburgh and stopping along the way to see many friends and family. We've done this trip twice before but this will be the first time with Zoey. I think we're well prepared, though. We've got lots of snacks, new toys and the most important thing...we borrowed a DVD player. Even with two weeks set aside for this trip, we're sad to admit we're unable to see everyone. We're just hoping and praying for safety on the road and pleasant weather.

Thank you so much for stopping by our blog to read the re-cap of 2008. We hope you swing by from time to time to see what we've been up to and see pictures of our growing family. We wish you a Merry Christmas and hope that whatever you do to celebrate the season, you are reminded of the reason we celebrate...the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas!

Love, Dave, Jenni & Zoey

click here to see pics from our family photo shoot

GO STEELERS!!!

Steelers 20, Cowboys 13

Need I say more?

a few reasons why I love my zoey

My sweet Zoey amazes me every day. She is so incredibly funny, so sweet, and so considerate. It is so much fun to see the Lord develop her personality. She continues to learn more and more words each day and her memory is amazing. Here are some recent Zoey Michele highlights...

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she started saying "daddy" today instead of "dada"

she holds her baby doll like a new mother tenderly holds her newborn

she kisses my prego belly and says "hi" to her little brother or sister

she's figured out how to peddle her trike and rode it a couple of feet

when she takes a drink of her water she offers some to me and daddy

she loves raw spinach and eats her salad like it was going out of style

every Pooh-Bear she sees is her best friend and requires hugs & smoochies

her favorite song to sing is 'Jesus Loves Me'

she always wants to hold my hand when we're driving in the car

she makes "calls" on her phone to Josh, Erika, Grammy, and Papa every day

out of the blue, she will ask to hold hands and pray

when I ask her who she wants to pray for, she always says, "daddy"

she loves to say "hi" to her shadow

she cannot contain her joy when her daddy comes home after work...it's precious

o

I could go on and on. I love her so much.

Thank you, Lord, for my family. I am so richly blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving 2008

Happy Thanksgiving from the Cribbs' Family

Dave, Jenni, Zoey and baby cribblet (due 4/2/09)

taken at the Turkey Trot, downtown Dallas, Thanksgiving morning

new pics posted on flickr

Thanksgiving...Then & Now

Thanksgiving 2007...Zoey Michele, 11 months

Thanksgiving 2008...Zoey Michele, 23 months

Step Stool Fun

We bought a two-step step stool the other day and it has easily become Zoey's favorite thing to play with. Anytime...and I mean anytime...I am in the kitchen she goes to the pantry and asks to pull out her "ses-tool." She is completely content to stand near me while I cook, wash dishes or clean up. She plays with whatever I put in front of her on the counter and spends time going up and down the steps. She has fallen off once, so far, and got a pretty good bump on her head. But it was nothing that a little boo-boo bear (a cold press shaped like a bear) couldn't fix. She loves being a part of whatever I'm doing and she loves to be higher up so she can see what's going on.

20 weeks

Here's the prego belly at 20 weeks. We had our sonogram and the baby looks very healthy, but is measuring a little big. We chose to look away when the doctor was checking the lower half of the baby so we do not know if we're having a boy or a girl. It was a surprise with Zoey and it was so much fun not knowing. So much fun that we decided to wait on this one, too.

Zoey's Christmas & Birthday Wish List

Here is Zoey's wish list for Christmas and her 2nd birthday. Thank you for taking the time to look through it. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I tried to give plenty of options and price ranges. Just let me know if I need to take an item off the list after it's been purchased.

Little Tikes grocery cart available at Wal-Mart

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Disney tea pot available at Target & Wal-Mart

has been purchased

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Dora the Explorer Fairytale ride-on available at Target

has been purchased

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Radio Flyer Pathfinder Wagon available at Target & Wal-Mart

has been purchased

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Mammut Table (blue) available at Ikea

has been purchased
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Mammut chairs (4-green) available at Ikea

has been purchased
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Puzzles and puzzle holder (Parents Brand shown) available at Target

has been purchased
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Parents Brand Bee Bop Band Music Toy Set available at Target
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Bible Story books with toddler friendly pages

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g Books by P.K. Hallinan
(already have How Do I Love You? & I Like To Be Kind)
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Zoo related toys and books...we're having a Zoo themed 2nd birthday party for Zoey

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Steelers gear (size 3T)

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Winter clothes (size 3T)

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Trick or Treat

Zoey's first trick or treating adventure was great. She went as a Steelers cheerleader and Dave and I wore Steelers jerseys. I'm so glad we dressed up, too. It's way more fun when the parents participate. We stayed pretty close to our house and went to the houses on our street. At first, Zoey didn't want to walk and she was kind of whiny. But once we went to the first house and she realized people were giving her candy, she couldn't wait to go to the next house. She was very polite. She said trick or treat and thank you to everyone.

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Once we got home, we posted up in the entry way with the front door open and passed out candy to the kids. Zoey had a ball. She stood in the doorway with candy in her hand and called to the kids to come get their candy. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen her do. (Check out the video clip at the end.)

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Dave and I were so pleased how giving she was. As excited as she was to get the candy and eat the candy, she was even more excited to pass it out to other kids. I know she doesn't completely understand what's going on but she's a pretty smart cookie and I forget how much she really does understand. I hope she continues to display a giving heart.

o

more pics posted on flickr

Happy Halloween

Posing during our trip to the Pumpkin Patch

My Little Pumpkin

Halloween morning...saying, "hello" to our 'paw-paws'

And of course, smoochies for the 'paw-paws.'

Cheese...

Zoey will be going trick-or-treating tonight for the first time. She will be dressing up like a Pittsburgh Steelers Cheerleader. Don't worry, we'll post lots of pictures later.

new pics posted on flickr

pictures updated on flickr

I just updated flickr with 166 new pictures. Whew...pace yourself. Now you're caught up. You'll see everything from the tail end of kamp, the birth of Leo, Zoey's first haircut, Dave's birthday, the state fair, washing the car, and my new haircut. Enjoy!!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thecribbies/

Why I Can't Vote for Obama...by Huntley Brown

Why I Can't Vote For Obama

By Huntley Brown

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Dear Friends, A few months ago I was asked for my perspective on Obama, I sent out an email with a few points. With the election just around the corner I decided to complete my perspective. Those of you on my e-list have seen some of this before but it's worth repeating..

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First I must say whoever wins the election will have my prayer support. Obama needs to be commended for his accomplishments but I need to explain why I will not be voting for him. Many of my friends process their identity through their blackness. I process my identity through Christ. Being a Christian (a Christ follower) means He leads I follow. I can't dictate the terms He does because He is the leader. I can't vote black because I am black, I have to vote Christian because that's who I am. Christian first, black second. Neither should anyone from the other ethnic groups vote because of ethnicity. 200 years from now I won't be asked if I was black or white. I will be asked if I knew Jesus and accepted Him as Lord and Savior.

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In an election there are many issues to consider but when a society gets abortion, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem-cell research, human cloning to name a few, wrong economic concerns will soon not matter. We need to follow Martin Luther King's words, don't judge someone by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I don't know Obama so all I can go off is his voting record. His voting record earned him the title of the most liberal senator in the US Senate in 2007. NATIONAL JOURNAL: Obama: Most Liberal Senator in 2007 (01/31/2008) To beat Ted Kennedy and Hilary Clinton as the most liberal senator, takes some doing. Obama accomplished this feat in 2 short years. I wonder what would happen to America if he had four years to work with.

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There is a reason planned parenthood gives him a 100% rating. There is a reason the homosexual community supports him. There is a reason Ahmadinejad, Chavez, Castro, Hamas etc. love him. There is a reason he said he would nominate liberal judges to the Supreme Court. There is a reason he voted against the infanticide bill. There is a reason he voted No on the constitutional ban of same-sex marriage. There is a reason he voted No on banning partial birth abortion. There is a reason he voted No on confirming Justices Roberts and Alito. These two judges are conservatives and they have since overturned partial birth abortion. The same practice Obama wanted to continue. Lets take a look at the practice he wanted to continue.

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(very graphic...be aware...jc) The 5 Step Partial Birth Abortion procedure A. Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist grabs the baby's leg with forceps. (Remember this is a live baby) B. The baby's leg is pulled out into the birth canal. C. The abortionist delivers the baby's entire body, except for the head. D. The abortionist jams scissors into the baby's skull. The scissors are then opened to enlarge the hole. E. The scissors are removed and a suction catheter is inserted. The child's brains are sucked out, causing the skull to collapse. The dead baby is then removed. God help him. There is a reason Obama opposed the parental notification law. Think about this: you can't give a kid an aspirin without parental notification but that same kid can have an abortion without parental notification. This is insane.

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There is a reason he went to Jeremiah Wright's church for 20 years. Obama tells us he has good judgment but he sat under Jeremiah Wright teaching for 20 years. Now he is condemning Wright's sermons. I wonder why now? Obama said Jeremiah Wright led him to the Lord and discipled him. A disciple is one in training. Jesus told us in Matthew 28:19 - 20 'Go and make disciples of all nations.' This means reproduce yourself. Teach people to think like you, walk like you, talk like you believe what you believe etc. The question I have is what did Jeremiah Wright teach him? Would you support a White President who went to a church which has tenets that said they have a 1. Commitment to the White Community 2. Commitment to the White Family 3. Adherence to the White Work Ethic 4. Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the White Community . 5. Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting White Institutions 6. Pledge allegiance to all White leadership who espouse and embrace the White Value System 7. Personal commitment to embracement of the White Value System. Would you support a President who went to a church like that? Just change the word from white to black and you have the tenets of Obama's former church. If President Bush was a member of a church like this, he would be called a racist. Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton would have been marching outside. This kind of church is a racist church. Obama did not wake up after 20 years and just discovered he went to a racist church. The church can't be about race. Jesus did not come for any particular race. He came for the whole world. A church can't have a value system based on race. The churches value system has to be based on biblical mandate. It does not matter if its a white church or a black church it's still wrong. Anyone from either race that attends a church like this would never get my vote. Obama's former Pastor Jeremiah Wright is a disciple of liberal theologian James Cone, author of the 1970 book A Black Theology of Liberation. Cone once wrote: 'Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. Cone is the man Obama's mentor looks up to. Does Obama believe this?

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So what does all this mean for the nation? In the past when the Lord brought someone with the beliefs of Obama to lead a nation it meant one thing - judgment. Read 1 Samuel 8 when Israel asked for a king. First God says in 1 Samuel 1:9 'Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.' Then God says 1 Samuel 1:18 ' When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day.' 19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. 'No!' they said. 'We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.' 21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, 'Listen to them and give them a king.'

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Here is what we know for sure. God is not schizophrenic He would not tell one person to vote for Obama and one to vote for McCain. As the scripture says, a city divided against itself cannot stand, so obviously many people are not hearing from God. Maybe I am the one not hearing but I know God does not change and Obama contradicts many things I read in scripture so I doubt it. For all my friends who are voting for Obama can you really look God in the face and say; Father based on your word, I am voting for Obama even though I know he will continue the genocidal practice of partial birth abortion. He might have to nominate three or four supreme court justices, and I am sure he will be nominating liberal judges who will be making laws that are against you. I also know he will continue to push for homosexual rights, even though you destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for this. I know I can look the other way because of the economy. I could not see Jesus agreeing with many of Obama's positions.

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Finally I have two questions for all my liberal friends. Since we know someone's value system has to be placed on the nation, 1. Whose value system should be placed on the nation. 2. Who should determine that this is the right value system for the nation?

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Blessings,

Huntley Brown

New Foods...Yummy!

I was so impressed with Zoey this past weekend. She tried three new foods and LOVED all three of them. She tried salmon, broccoli, and zucchini. I really didn't think she would like the veggies, but she not only liked them, she asked for more. And if you're thinking it was a one-time-thing, think again. She ate more zucchini for dinner tonight. It makes my heart so happy that she is expanding her culinary palate.

Zoey's Check-Up

Zoey had her 18 month check up this morning...even though she'll be 21 months in 6 days. She received 2 shots...yuck...but she was very brave. Dr Day says she's very healthy and he made a comment that she is going to be very tall. He said the rule of thumb is that a child will typically be twice as tall as they are at the age of 24 months. As of today, she will be about 5'9"...and we still have 3 months until she's two. Here are her stats...

height: 34.5in (90%)

weight: 26lbs, 3.2oz (60%)

And if you're wondering about the outfit in the picture...a wonderful friend of ours passes on all of her daughter's clothes to Zoey once she outgrows them. We have so much fun going through all the boxes of "new" clothes. And Zoey has gotten to the age that dressing up is sooooo much fun. Here she is sporting a Sponge Bob Square Pants bathing suit (over her regular outfit) and topped off with a puffy vest and Daddy's belt. Watch out red carpet, here comes Zoey Michele.

Zoey's first haircut

the before shot, front

the before shot, back

Cool Cuts 4 Kids

getting Zoey strapped in

checking herself out in the mirror and driving the fire truck

not so sure about this

oh, wait, I do like all this girly stuff

I look so pretty

the finished cut from the back

my big girl

My mom and I took Zoey to get her hair cut for the first time this morning. We took her to Cool Cuts 4 Kids in Flower Mound. She did really well. When I first strapped her into her little seat...a vintage firetruck...she seemed really excited. But as the lady put on her smock, Zoey got very nervous and told me she was done. I stood next to her, hugged her and kissed her and she relaxed and allowed the lady to cut her hair into a very cute, shoulder-length bob. I can't believe how much older she looks. I can just see her going off to kindergarten...in 4 years.

b

In other news, I had my 12 week appointment today. I heard the baby's heartbeat, yea, and everything is great. I'm feeling sooooo much better than I did a few weeks ago. I'm hoping the afternoon/evening sickness has passed.

b

last set of kamp pictures posted on flickr

Pictures from Baby Leo's Birthday

Erika(in labor), Jenni and Zoey...somebody likes to be in the spotlight

I'm so proud of my seester(still in labor)!!!

Erika(no longer in labor), Josh and baby Leo

Precious little man...only a couple of hours old.

Little Leo being held my his Uncle Dave. This was taken 2 days after his birth just before the Wiese family got to go home.

Just a little side note for those who don't know. Leo was Erika's and my maiden name. Since my parents only had girls, the name died with us. Erika and Josh decided to carry on the name. What an honor to the Leo family.

Introducing...

Leo Joshua Wiese

7lbs, 9oz, 19 3/4in

born at 9:09pm

m

Erika, my hero, pushed for three hours to get this little guy out. She is exhausted and completely in love with her son. He is absolutely beautiful and I will get some pictures out later today. Already we can tell that Leo has a very laid back personality...just like his daddy. During his bath and check-up he just chilled and only let out a couple of little peeps. I can't even begin to tell you what it was like for me to see my little sister holding her own child. While we were waiting in the lobby, it was impossible for me to picture her with her own baby. But, as soon as we walked into her room and saw her holding him, it was like watching the most natural thing ever. She looks like she was born to be Leo's mom. The look of love on her face was something I will never forget.

b

The Wiese family is going to rest this morning and we'll have a chance to see them a little later this afternoon. As of last night, breastfeeding was going very well but please continue to pray for Leo to nurse well.

n

I have never been more proud of my sister than I am right now. She is truly a warrior.

HE'S HERE!!!

7lbs, 9oz

born at 9:09pm

that's all we know...so far

she's pushing

I came back to the hospital at 5:30pm and spent time with Erika and Josh...and the rest of the fam...for almost an hour. Heather came in to check Erika's progress at 6:15pm. We all waited in the hallway and the nurse came out to tell us that we would need to head to the waiting room because Erika was going to start pushing. Yippee!!! Well, it's 8:20pm and we haven't heard anything from Josh, yet. We keep stopping by the nurse's station for updates. Erika is doing great. The baby is making progress and they've decided to turn down her epidural to help Erika feel more while she pushes. We can't wait for Josh to come in the waiting room and give us the news. Every time the door opens, we all hold our breath. We've been making predictions as to what they will name the baby and what time he'll be born and how much he'll weigh. My guess is that he'll be born at 8:27pm, on 8/27, weighing 8lbs, 2.7oz. We'll see....

the latest...

We heard from Kit (Josh's mom) that Erika was in a great deal of pain and has received an epidural. Whew...she is reportedly feeling much better and sitting pretty at 7cm.

the latest on baby wiese

Zoey and I were able to go to the hospital this morning and hang out with Josh & Erika for a while. We arrived around 11:15am and Erika had been on pitocin for about 2 hours. Originally, pitocin was a last resort, however, the baby's heart rate dropped dramatically for a few minutes earlier this morning and the midwife, Heather, decided it was best to start the pitocin drip. They started her out at the lowest level but over the course of the past few hours they have cranked it up to the highest level. Just before I left to go back to my folks' house for Zoey's nap, Heather came in to look at Eri's stats. Heather wants to give her another two hours on the full pitocin drip and then she wants to talk about breaking Erika's water. Not exactly how Erika wants it to go, but whatever is best for this little guy is great with Eri. When I left, Josh's parents and sister were all there and my parents left with me. So, Erika has had a room full of wonderful distractions. A moment ago, I got a call from Josh. He said the nurse had come in to help Eri go to the bathroom and as Erika stood up her water broke...all on it's own!!! Praise the Lord. Apparently the contractions have gotten much stronger and closer together so she could be on her way to meeting this little guy very soon.

They're having a baby, TODAY!!!

My sister, Erika, and her hubby, Josh, are pregnant with their first baby...a boy. He was due to arrive this past Sunday (8/24) but apparently he wasn't quite ready to deal with this Texas heat. So, at Erika's appointment this past Monday, she was scheduled to come into the hospital this morning at 7:15am for some help to jump start the labor process. She is not being fully induced, yet, she's only being given a little medicine to see if her body will take over on it's own. Erika really, really wants to have a natural labor and delivery and when induction enters the picture, it is very difficult to go natural. I'll keep you posted when I can. Please pray for Erika and Josh today. They could not be more excited to meet their son.

8 weeks...and we heard the heartbeat

our little shrimp

Big Sister, Zoey

She doesn't know what it means to be a big sister but she seems excited about the possibilities.

Hello everyone! Zoey has some great news to share with all of you. She is going to be a big sister!!! And we are all very excited about it. As you know, we miscarried twice within the last 6 months(1st miscarriage, 2nd miscarriage). So today when Dave and I went to see Heather, our midwife, we were overjoyed to hear and see that tiny, but super-fast, heartbeat. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about being pregnant again. It seems real now. Yesterday when I read my pregnancy journal, I thought to myself, yeah the hands may be forming but what if they're not? What if the baby stopped growing and we're going to miscarry again? But today, I know there is a heart and it's actually beating. I am fully aware that life is in the hands of our creator and a million things could go wrong over the next few months. But, this is farther than we've made it since being pregnant with Zoey. We saw our baby on the screen. Praise the Lord! Our due date is April 2nd so stop by from time to time to catch up with the progress.

Love, Jenni