L O V E

In honor of Valentine's Day, this post will be all about LOVE! Broken up into a few different parts, though...

I'd like to start with a cause that's very near and dear to our hearts- the LOVE146 organization which fights against child sex trafficking. Check out this inspiring video:

http://love146.org/valentines

So to try and do at least a small part, Steve and I aren't doing any gifts this year, but are making a special dinner in and making hand-made cards. We'll donate what we would've spent to this worthy foundation instead. Check it out!

Second, I was really feeling the love yesterday as I had my first ever baby shower down at my parent's place in Alexandria, VA (which was sooo beautiful with all that snow!!!) predominantly with family and some close long-time friends of mine and my family. It was so incredibly special. Practically a reunion as some of my cousins and aunts I hadn't seen in years! I couldn't believe the generosity of these women and the afternoon was such a blessing. I do think our little Maelee will be quite a well dressed little girl - people just can't resist those adorable outfits! Here's a sampling of some pics, followed by a slide show of more.

The spread- AMAZING cupcakes, tea sandwiches, chicken salad, pasta salad, marinated veggies, and fruit skewers. YUMMY!!!

Little gifts for the ladies who helped

Adorable little gifts for everyone that attended (tea, tea light and chocolates)

Game supplies! Pictures of babies (everyone had to wear one and try not to say the word "baby" - if someone heard you say it, they could steal your picture. Winner was the person with the most stolen baby pictures), toilet paper (name how many squares went around my belly- what do YOU think???), and a sheet with our little girl's name (how many girl names can you come up with using all of the letters in her name).

Some of the loot- people were SO generous!
And had a blast with the ladybug theme (see picture below that Steve took in FR that became inspiration behind room decor)

Everyone brought a book to help start her library!

Some special mementos from when I was a baby- the specially made dress since I was a preemie and couldn't fit in normal clothes.

My mom's good friend and wife of their pastor actually found this adorable "flute player" onesie online!!!

Here I am with my sweet Cindy who has been a dear friend since 4th grade (!!!), and Deb and Deb! The Deb in the middle took care of all the food and goodie bags and did such a fabulous job!!! The Deb on the outside is Cindy's mom. We lived next door for six years in MD.

The "Metheny" Ladies!
(my Aunt Carol, Dad's sister; my cousin-in-law, Lori, my dad's newphew's wife; my lovely momma with her poor fractured elbow from falling in the ice; me and my preggo self, my cousin Cathy, Dad's neice; my cousin Colleen, Cathy's sister; Hannah, Lori's daughter; and my Aunt Donna, my Dad's brother's wife)

The Delaware Ladies!
(Mommy; Lucy, my Aunt Viv's sister; my Aunt Viv, my mom's brother's wife, moi; Kim, my cousin Sam's wife; Cyndi, Aunt Viv's other sister; Mandy, Lucy's daughter; and "Auntie Coop," a dear friend of my mother's and family friend)

Cindy's and my crazy bellies! Her little girl should be arriving very shortly after ours- can't believe it!!!

With my love at the end of the party

It was an amazing day!

Thirdly, I'm feeling especially strong emotions of love towards two very special family members right now - my Too-daddy and our little girl-to-be, Maelee. (My husband grows dearer and dearer to me as his support just increases more and more with this pregnancy, but my gushing over him can be found in other posts here.)

My Too-daddy: A few weeks ago, we got the devastating news that my sweet Too-dad has bladder cancer. He may be 85 but doesn't look (or act!) a day over 65 and this definitely came as a shock to us all. I think we just had naive hopes that nothing could ever hurt him... So it's been hard to swallow and your prayers over his treatment and recovery would be very much appreciated. There's also a small spot on his lung so he'll start a 16 week chemo treatment this Friday. We got to enjoy a short but sweet visit with him on our way back to NY from VA so it was great to see him, but this will definitely be a difficult journey for all of us.

My sweet Too-daddy and me back in June

My little Maelee: I'm feeling this little baby's movements more and more each day and we've finally started things rolling with her room. I have frequent dreams about her and can't believe how much I can already love her... It really is amazing and I can't wait to meet her! We had our first birth class last Thurs, which was quite informative (almost too much so!) but very exciting and encouraging at the same time. This really is happening!!!

Sweet Maelee in the big belly at 30 weeks

Finally, I'd like to leave you with the famous passage from Paul's letter to the church in Corinth about love. A few ladies are working on memorizing scripture together this year and these are the verses from the last couple of weeks- very appropriate timing!

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast;
it is not arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on its own way;
it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

I Corinthians 13:4-7

As I've been reading these words over and over, and really trying to get them to seep into my mind, they seem to keep coming up in various situations and revealing just how NOT loving I can be... whew. Quite convicting. But such great reminders.

May you experience TRUE love this Valentine's Day!!!

"Before the Baby Arrives" List!!!

In keeping with tradition (if having just two previous lists can even count as tradition...), we had to come up with another list/challenge for the blog.

Click here for the first, and here for the second if you're wondering where I'm coming from.

So, what better goal than things to do before the arrival of our baby girl!!! We're cutting it pretty short, given that I'm into the 3rd trimester and these next two months are going to be c-r-a-z-y with finishing this degree and making sure I meet my teaching obligations, but what the heck. Nothing like a challenge! Ok, here goes!

"Before The Baby Arrives" List
(in no particular order)

1. Finish getting the apartment ready! At this point, that mainly entails going through lots of papers/documents, etc, and trying to get more organized and be more space efficient.

2. Finish Maelee's Room!!! Lots to do here - finish getting rid of all the random stuff in there that doesn't need to be in there, paint a couple pieces of furniture, and DECORATE!!!

3. Finish this degree!!! Almost there- the big defense is 2/16 with the recitals on 2/26 and 3/5. Then, I just have to keep teaching pretty much up until she gets here!

4. Go on more intentional date nights!!! Just the two of us.
4A. Restaurant week.
4B. Brunch and a movie (since movies are much cheaper earlier in the day)

5. Go to a Broadway Show! Just the two of us.

6. Take a "Babymoon!" Even if it's just one night away, we gotta do it.

7. Babysit for friend's kids while we still can! Have gotten a pretty good start on this, but still have a couple other special families we want to help out while we can.

8. Pregnancy photos - the for real kind with both of us. Steve couldn't talk me into doing a belly cast.

9. Learn how to swaddle.

10. Finally get new prescription glasses. I've been wearing the same pair that I got when I first needed glasses, in my senior year of high school. Scared. And they're ugly.

Hmm, that ended on a pretty not exciting note, but ten seemed like a good number. Please feel free to make suggestions if can you think of anything we should add!

As for an update, January hasn't been too exciting... just a lot of apartment work and school work, but we have been LOVING feeling this little life and her more pronounced movements (that we can actually see from outside the belly!) and we're getting very anxious to soon meet her. Our childbirth classes start next week- can't believe it!!!

If you want to remind me how huge I am for someone who still has about 2 1/2 more months to go (as WAYYY too many people have so lovingly informed me of...), here are some recent belly pics, even though they're already outdated at this point since there never seems to be time to update this site:

At ~ 24 weeks

At ~ 26 1/2 weeks

And at this point, I'm at 29 weeks but don't have a recent picture- luckily, there hasn't been too much expansion since the last one. Thankfully, Steve's "What to Expect for Dads" book pointed out that most women gain the most in their 6th month... would've been nice if my book assured me of that!

Just so you don't think I'm being silly or dramatic, here are some actual statements some people have recently said to me regarding the belly I'm sporting:

"Oh my gosh! You're gonna have a FAT baby! She's gonna weigh 9lbs!"
"AAH! My friend is due any day now and you're as big as her!"
"You're not due til April??? Wow, your baby is going to be massive!"

There are more, but those pretty much cover it. Yeah, thanks for the encouragement, people... Note to the wise- even women who have an excuse to have a big belly still don't want to be constantly reminded of it, and no, I actually don't want a fat/big/massive baby. (Although even if she is, she'll still be beautiful to me and I'll love her all the same!!!)

That's all for now!