35 weeks

36 weeks... Christmas Eve at the Wayside Inn

Merry Christmas!

We woke up this morning t a perfect dusting of snow on the ground making it a beautiful white Christmas!  God is so good; we are so happy to be celebrating the birth of Jesus today!   This year, the Christmas story has taken on a whole new meaning to me.  Being pregnant has made me think of everything more from Mary's perspective.  I am in awe of her belief and trust in the Lord when the angel came to her telling her that she would bear a son, and he would be the Messiah!  WOW!  And the loyalty of Joseph, to stay with Mary and help her bring this child into the world.  I am amazed and thankful!

This Christmas has been a very different one for me; we are in MA for the whole Christmas break, doing Christmas with just a small number of us who are gathered in MA.  Lori, Andy and Beck made the trip home for the holiday's.  We have been enjoying watching Beck as he plays with his toys and talks about everything he sees, we have made a couple of sewing projects, we ate lunch at the Wayside Inn yesterday (a 25 year tradition of the Engbers' family) and tonight we will make a nice Christmas dinner and open gifts with each other.

Yesterday, the 24th, marked one more month of waiting and anticipation for our little bambino to arrive!  As the countdown begins the days seem to be going a little slower than they were.  This growing belly is leading to growing discomfort and times of insomnia.  Despite the typical pregnancy woes I have been feeling good, and the baby is moving around all the time!  

happy thanksgiving

we are thankful for God's faithfulness this year... a new niece and nephew, and two more on the way! a healthy pregnancy thus far, we can't wait to meet little boy engbers in January :)  good jobs, safety, friends and the ever loving support that we have from family each and every day.  thankful to be in Michigan for the week; to see old friends, catch up with family at our thanksgiving gatherings and relax away from the business of the daily grind.  We are reminded of God's blessings on this beautifully sunny crisp fall morning and are thankful for all of you!

(31 weeks)

Nursery progress

We' re getting there!  Now, to fill the drawers and shelves with all the supplies we will need!  Kyle did a great job painting the stripes... I love how they turned out :) 

 

28 weeks

Baby stats: weight: 3 lbs

length: 17 inches 

(I can't believe he could be that long already, makes me claustrophobic thinking about it :)

He is kicking and moving all the time... with much less room than before.  I can watch my whole belly move!  Its so cool, but really weird at the same time!  I have been feeling good for the most part, went to swim laps today to see if it will help me sleep better at night being extra tired.  We'll see!

happy halloween!

~ Love, Duke

27 weeks

27 weeks... we are 'buttoning up the hatches' preparing for the hurricane!  Already have school cancelled tomorrow,we are  getting out the flashlights and candles, and hoping for the power to stay on all day!

 

Duke... a.k.a. the watchdog!! 

showered with love.

This past weekend was wonderful!  Mom came out for a quick visit and a baby shower :)  My friend Miranda and mom-in-law RoseAnn planned and hosted a wonderful afternoon shower on Saturday.  I had so much fun and feel so loved by friends and family.  It is overwhelming how much is going to change in the next few months but this was one more reminder of how much support God has surround us with through friends and family.  Although baby boy's room isn't ready yet, we have just about everything we need to welcome this little one into the world!!!

We got home and realized we didn't have a photo from the shower... hoping to get some photos from others.  A HUGE thank you to everyone who came and Miranda and RoseAnn for hosting! (25 weeks)

Bike racing

Brad and Jenny have been in the area for the week with Brad's cyclocross races!  We had a blast getting to see several races and having them stay with us for a few days.  Here are some pictures from the week...

 Brad's very experienced pit crew!

 Race in Gloucester, MA

Watching their daddy race is tough work :)

Macen's race!

 Making sure those tires are all pumped up on the Strider

mmmm.... Uncle Kyle spoiled Macen with ice cream after the race in Providence on Saturday!

Despite the rainy weather, we had a blast all week having them around :)

baby growth

21 weeks

22 weeks 

At 22 weeks the baby is approximately 8 inches long and 1.2 lbs!  I don't think the 1.2 lbs is enough to explain my recent add on of lbs!!!  I have been feeling pretty good and we are looking forward to a weekend of more progress on the house!  

Labor Day!

 We had visitor's for labor day!!!  My parents came out to exchange cars and have some fun for the weekend.  We spent our time shopping, cooking, and visiting Block Island. 

 

The downtown as we pulled up on the ferry!  The white hotel is 'The National', it was a great lunch spot sitting out on the porch.

 Such beautiful views off the coast.  This was on our island tour given by Paula, a descendant of all the settlers of the island.  She was great and it was fun to see the whole island with a history tour!

 

Duke wasn't sure about his 'spot' being occupied by someone else :)  As soon as dad moved to reach for his coffee, Duke shimmied up on the couch!!! lol :)

 

And here we are at 20 weeks! 

Bring on

the trains, planes and automobiles!  We are going to be blessed with a baby boy in January!

Baby boy is doing great!  So far, he is a very healthy little one.  He is already taking after mama- just hanging out upside down!  He was a little camera shy, but we still learned a little bit about him!

Fun facts:- his feet are 1" long right now
                 - he is weighing in at 7 oz.
                 - we could see all 4 chambers in the heart on the ultrasound!  Its beating away at 145 beats per min.

let the countdown begin...

We are going to have several countdowns going over the next months....

We have several House projects to be completed....
      ....the upstairs bathroom
      ....fixing up the attic- turning it into a craft room/bonus room... and then
      ....we will begin the countdown to the nursery!!!!!!!!

We are expecting a baby in January and we have lot to accomplish before we become parents!  We are both stoked to enter this new chapter of our lives and will enjoy every step of the way :)

17 weeks and feeling good!

WE'RE FINISHED!!!!!!!!

Complete with new paving on the sidewalks and driveway/ parking pad.... we are finished with the Cottage St. duplex.  As it goes with every project there is always more to do, but the tenants moved into the bottom unit today so it is ready to be lived in!!!

Summer Trips & Visits

We have still been busy since our Seattle trip!  Kyle has been working super hard on the Cottage Street duplex as well as keeping up with work in Cambridge.  I  took a trip out to Montana for a reunion with the girls I lived with in college, from Montana I went on to California for a conference for a computer software we use at school to manage our student data and classroom information.  And to round out July, Tracy came to visit this weekend! 

At the top of a hike in Montana, a little rainy which felt really good!

 The view Camie grew up with in her backyard.  Absolutely beautiful!  We had such a good time catching up with each other!

 

Checkin' out the North Shore by Annika's house in Beverly, MA

 After the Duck boat tour, a rainy walk to the North End in our freshly bought Boston sweatshirts!

Paul Revere's house in Boston.  Over 300 years old... pretty cool piece of history!

Pictures of the Cottage Street duplex to come later this week...

Seattle Trip

The week of July 4th we went out to Seattle to visit Brandon and Amy and go to Julie Bratt's wedding (friend that I lived with in college).  WE HAD A BLAST!  To sum it up, here are a bunch of photos!

 

Family photo- finally not in the winter :)  Fourth of July

 

Buchart Gardens in Victoria, BC- this whole space used to be a rock quarry

 Our view of the fireworks for the 4th... on Brandon and Amy's apartment balcony!

 

Rattlesnake Ridge hike... at the top.

 

Julie's wedding.. she was a gorgeous bride :) so glad we could come for the big day!

 Downtown Seattle and Pike's Market

Tourists!! Space needle... (I don't know why I can't get the photos to show the right orientation, sorry)