Heartbeat!

As amazing as everyone told us it would be...it was even wilder. We called our widwife right before we left for Colorado to see if she'd stay a few minutes late at work so we could try to hear the heartbeat again. With another two weeks under my belt, the baby was high enough to be heard this time. When the doppler hit the rapid little heartbeat, she said "That's your baby, guys!" We were literally speachless. I was thinking, "Dang, there really IS something alive in there?!" It was an awesome thing to hear. So then we headed off to Colorado early, early the next morning and ended up having a great time with family & friends there. It was so breath-taking to see the mountains again and all the open space and the hugeness of the sky. Especially after being in a cramped city! We enjoyed sunshine and mid-40 to 50 degree weather the whole time. Much different than the cold Northeast as we face 6-9 more inches of snow today here in Philly. But even in the midst of the beauty and comfort of Colorado, we were both really reminded of where we feel called, which as of now, is to the city of Philadelphia. The things we love about the city would never be found in a town like Fort Collins. The culture, the diversity, being stretched in ways we'd never anticipate. It was a wonderful break to be in Fort Collins, but at the same time, it was great to come back and be with our friends last night and realize that this is our home and our family's calling for the time being. But our travels are not yet over! Tomorrow we leave for Charlottesville for a fast two day trip, so we'll need your prayers to be spared from exhaustion and sickness - which always seems to attached when you're rushed and pooped! Stayed tuned for an updated pic...it's starting to grow...

New Pics!

Sorry it's taken us so long to get these on. They're actually from a few weeks ago, so we're hoping to get a more recent one with me now nearing 14 weeks. I think you'll get a kick out of them though, so it's worth a look. Tomorrow morning, we wake up at an ungodly hour, get driven to the train station by a faithful friend (willing to rise at 5am to get us there!) and head to the airport for our early flight out to Colorado. We're trying to prepare our hearts in the little ways like spending our last evening here with our awesome friends at Home Group fellowshipping and enjoying being apart of a community. And for me, joining the Women's Fly Fishing Association again here in Philly and planning a trip for Matthew and I when we return, to go explore the mild rivers of the east...compared to the unbelievably beautiful rivers of Colorado. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so I think we'll grow to love our little secret fishing spots here once we give them a chance. In April I'm heading to a "Casting Tune-up" workshop with the ladies...which will be interesting to see my belly stuffed into my fishing waders. Thankfully, they're pretty forgiving and roomy! These are the little things we're doing to continue to make our home and life here now, but that doesn't mean it won't hurt to be surrounded by so many familiar faces, loving embraces and the mountains of Colorado! Especially for Matthew. We'd love your prayers this weekend...that we'll just relax, enjoy our friends and family, and come home refreshed. We'll post some pictures from our adventures when we return...since we know that's all anyone cares about anyhow...just kiddin' Love to all you crazy folk!

Pappa Sneeks One In

Well so far, this has been Amy's page to share about her pregnancy, but I thought I would sneek a little post in here, while she wasn't looking. The last three months have been really nuts for both of us. It keeps getting nuttier each day. Today though, our friend Maria came in with her two boys, and the honest prognosis that she is feeling terrible (she is in the midst of her own morning sickness - pregnant with their third kiddo!), and for me, seeing those two boys, whom I am really growing fond of, lent to a growing longing to see our hidden one soon. It's almost like I miss our little baby, even though they haven't been born yet. The thoughts just get silly and gooey from there. I have no idea what fatherhood will do to me, but I have a feeling I am going to be rocked. Amy, thanks for bearing our wee joy, in your wee body. I love you. M

The Pooch

As tiny as this little kiddo is, it's still making my insides stretch and groan and expand. I'm feeling ALL kinds of weird things going on. Sharp pains from ligaments stretching, dull aches in my lower back, and the worst of all, my selection of pants to wear to work quickly decreasing as the lower stomach muscles push out. Well, the clothes SELECTION isn't whats worst of all, it's this in between time of a month or two when you're not big enough (or desirious enough) to wear maternity clothes but all your pants are getting a wee bit too tight and uncomfortable. So I want to live in my fleece pants...or just sit with my pants unbuttoned all day...which doesn't vibe with working in an office of 7 men. Thus the reality of this pregnancy is now becoming visable...well, at least to me and Matthew. No one else will probably be able to tell for another two months. Then the pooch will morph into the basketball belly that I hear most girls like me have. Yeay, haven't you gals always wanted a basketball for a belly? Yeesh. So that's the latest prego news for those of you who were asking. Other than that, we've got a busy few weeks ahead. Laurel, Matthew's sister, is flying in tonight to visit with us over the weekend. We're pumped to see her since it's been WAY too long (since the wedding!) Then next weekend, we fly to Fort Collins for another long overdue visit with our friends and family out there. We're desparately trying to prepare ourselves for the beauty and stark contrast to this city of Philly. But we feel like we're in one of the better spots to return to Colorado, knowing this is now our home and our community...but it'll still be tough. I only lived there for a year, but the long stretches of road, open valleys and incredible mountains made a little place in my heart that aches every now and then. For Matthew, this is only intensified a hundred fold having been born and raised in that beautiful part of the country. After that trip, we're heading down to Charlottesville to celebrate sister Em's birthday. Then I'll be on to month 4 of this pregnancy! Hopefully we won't be moving that next week, but it all depends on the latest details in the scale right now. There are two prospective gals looking at our place as we're looking at moving into the city. That in itself holds a whole host of emotions for us. Struggling with where we feel called and the community God is providing there versus the drastically different way of life in that specific area of the city and moving onto a street where we are the minority and drug houses and crime are fairly common. Odd, since three streets down, that doesn't seem to be the case. That's the city for you though! Safety, comfort...all that must be left in Christ's hands if we take this step of faith and move into an "unknown world", in one sense. Please keep us in your prayers these next few weeks as we wrestle with that. Especially myself, thinking of being home alone most of the day and wanting to move out and love our neighbors and the community we'd become apart of...not stay a prisoner of fear in my home. Christ wants to change my heart and expand it and grow in me a new love for the brokeness of people around me, because that's what He was about. I'd much rather stay self-centered, comfort-centered, easy-life centered, than move into the life of others...even my husband's at times?! Much less strangers!?! I'm a wholed-up, self-focused mess without Christ constantly rubbing my stony, cold heart into a warm, beating heart of flesh that loves and lives outside of the "normalcy" of social rules or levels of comfort I've constructed in my safe little paradigm. PRAY FOR ME FRIENDS!

Grade-school Lime Babies

We just got back from an awesome weekend with our church, Liberti (check it out: www.liberti.org) and are feeling excited about taking the jump to get involved and commitment. One of those steps is moving closer to the city, the community, the brokeness. We were planning on moving in the fall when our lease is up, but Baby Smith decided to come along right at the same time, now forcing us to decide whether we head out before our lease is up or wait another year until s/he is sleeping enough to help us make a sane move. The only issue now is trying to get out of our lease and get our security deposit back so we can use it for the next place we might rent. Our landlord is awesome, but the owner of our home lives in Flordia and seems to be a stickler for rules. Subleasing is out of the question, so the only other possibility is if a former tentant would take over our lease, and this Friday there will be one coming to look at our place! So please pray that God will orchestrate this...and not our worrying, fretting, and "solving" in our own heads. We're looking to move into an area closer to our home group with the church and a group of friends we've gotten to know. One of the couples just found out they too were pregnant, which would be fun when we're both bored at home to be just a few blocks from each other! So also pray as we go look at rentals this weekend, that God will open the doors to a perfect place. As for baby update, we had our 12 week appointment yesterday, but unfortunately couldn't hear the heartbeat because my uterus is tilted back and still hasn't fully risen above the pelvic bone (sorry, if there are guys reading this who'd prefer not to hear ALL the details!). We did hear it moving around, per the widwife...although it just sounded like random blast of wind to me over the doppler. We're going to go in again next week when I'm another week along to try again. The little kiddo is about 2.5 inches...the size of a "large lime" my widwife said. I thought that was humorous since we had "Lime Babies" when we were in grade school. Some of you all might have done it with eggs...I guess our teacher didn't trust us and we did it with limes. But you have to carry it with you and take it everywhere as if it's your "baby", to show you what a big responsibility it is. I let mine rot in my locker. Hope that's not foreshadowing of the type of mom I'll be!