Only 9 more weeks to go!

Time flew by so quickly this summer! I can't believe it is already November and Thanksgiving will be here in no time. 

We have been very busy the last few months with work, preparing for cub to arrive, and catching up with family and friends. David and I were blessed to become aunt and uncle back in September. David's brother and his wife had their first child, Emmett Nathaniel Peach. We are so thankful that the delivery went smooth and our new nephew is finally here. 

Aaron, Crystal, and Emmett

Historically, David and I have flown to New Jersey for Thanksgiving to spend time with the Peach/Miele family. However, with there only being 5 weeks left of pregnancy (at Thanksgiving) we will have to delay in seeing our new nephew and the rest of the family. We are sad that we will not be able to visit family but at the same time don't want to take any risks weeks before delivery. 

In October, we traveled to Beaumont and were blessed by our friends whom threw us a baby shower. My sweet girlfriends; Brittany, Kendall, Renee, and Kristen showered us with love and gifts. It was so great to catch up with our friends and we are so thankful for the relationships that have grown and developed over the years. I have included some of the pictures from the shower; it was a a french themed shower and it was absolutely LOVELY! 

The food, company, and gifts were so wonderful! We are so blessed and can't wait for our little cub to get here and meet everyone!

David and I have finally decided on names and we have a boy name and a girl name picked out. If it's a boy, we are going to name him Seth Alan and if it's a girl it will be Zoey Elizabeth. David has loved the name Seth since he was in high school and knew that when he got married and had kids he wanted to name his son Seth and Alan is David's dads middle name. Seth means "appointed one" and he was the 3rd son of Adam and Eve (part of my name).  For the girl's name, we both fell in love with the name Zoey which means "life" and part of my name means "giver of life". We didn't really know the meaning of the names until after making a final decision and thought they were both very fitting. My pregnancy has been very low key and have not had any major problems/complications along the way. My placenta was a little low for a few months (too low would have to have a c-section) but went for my last check up a few weeks ago and the placenta has moved up and are in the clear! I continue to pray daily for our cub to continue to grow strong and healthy and for strength as I begin to prepare for labor and delivery. I have decided that I would like to give birth naturally. I have been reading many different articles and books and truly feel that laboring naturally is truly how God intended it. Now, I am open to an epidural if the pain becomes too much and I am not able to relax to where delivery will be successful. I don't want to put myself through something that could be compromising or the cub either so I will have an open mind as I am going through labor and delivery.

Here is a recent picture of my progress. David took it about a week ago. I am finally starting to have a tummy vs. just looking like I gained weight...LOL!

Thank you all who have continued to pray for us and checking to see how we are doing. The due date has not changed and tentatively our cub will arrive on 1/13/2014.  I/we will try to be better about giving updates on our blog and Facebook as the big day approaches. 

Gender Neutral

The question everyone has been asking... are you having a boy or a girl?

Let me just first say that I understand most people want to know the gender of their child so they can begin preparing for their arrival. I know a lot of our family and friends have been finding out the gender of their baby and I understand a lot of people want to know so they can plan ahead and choose gender specific colors for the bedroom, clothes, car seats, strollers, and other baby items. In my opinion, you can still plan for your sweet bundle of joy to arrive, choose a theme for the room, purchase items that you truly need for your child, and be able to enjoy the element of surprise at the same time. I know some others I have talked to can't stand not knowing and wanting to have control every step of the way but I personally enjoy surprises. David and I did have many discussions as to whether we were going to find out or not and it took some coaxing on my end to get David to agree for the gender to be a surprise. We weighed the pros and cons and came up with a list of reasons to not find out the gender: 

1. Removal of gender stereotypes or biases. By not knowing this gives you more options rather than being put in a define category of being bombarded with gifts of blue or pink. 

2. No room for error. There’s no chance of mistakenly creating a boy room to only find out it's a girl.

3. It bring out the fortune teller in everyone. I love hearing the wives tales of bump shape predictions, analysis of the nausea and heartburn, or the regulated heartbeat of the baby; it brings great entertainment value to the 9 months of pregnancy.

4. No need to revamp the nursery for numbers 2,3,4 .......... Plus the decor of the nursery is more for you and not the baby. The baby isn't going to care what the room looks like, as long as it's loved and cared for it doesn't matter. 

5. It will make labor more exciting of wanting to find out. It will give me even more drive to push through to the end to find out what the gender is, not to mention just being able to see our precious "cub" as well. 

6. Family and friends will be anxious and excited upon arrival. The waiting room will be packed and every will be on pins and needles of wanting to know if it's a boy or girl. Others will be awaiting via digital media- text messages, Facebook, emails, etc. 

And finally, my favorite reason: 

7. Great surprises are few and far between in life, I feel it will be one of if not the best of surprises in life! God's work is so perfect in creating this little person growing inside. I'm still in awe of this precious miracle!

Many have been asking and I am not one to post pictures of myself but here is a picture of me today with my very small "bump" at 19 weeks.