The Fanning Four

The belly touching has started- I don't mind too much unless it's a complete stranger. I must be getting bigger though because way more people feel compelled to give my belly a rub and complete strangers make comments about my obvious pregnant state. Here's the latest pics from 24 weeks 2 days:

Well, the last two weeks have seen much progress in making room for baby Bethany! Tom has worked diligently to help get the room ready for her. This involved doing some major rearranging/cleaning in the garage to make room for the guest room furniture so that the guest room could become Bethany's room. On top of getting ready for Bethany, we are so fulfilled by the other activities in our life. We lead the young adult group at our church and were so happy to have 15 people there last night (including two new people). We have seen so much growth since we started and are so excited to see the work God is doing. I have also started a new sixth grade girls' small group and can't express my excitement to be back with middle schoolers (I'm a youth ministry addict for sure!). What does it say about me that I'm 27 years old and some of my favorite people in the world are middle schoolers?!?! Boy bands, make up, shopping trips to the mall, high pitched laughter, and a chance...

We had a doctor's appointment on Monday and it went well. We have now seen all the doctors and the midwife in the pracitce (any one of of them could be the one on call for Bethany's birthday!). We have our favorites but I trust all of them to do a good job taking care of us during the delivery. Everything looked good and the heartbeat was strong. It is always so reassuring to hear her heart beating!! But also reassuring on a daily basis are her little kicks. I started feeling them almost a month ago and they have just been getting stronger and more frequent since then. She seems to kick the most when I'm about to eat a meal (she gets excited cause it's food time), when I'm playing my oboe or at orchestra rehearsal (that's my little oboe prodigy!), or when I am trying to go to sleep (she's thinking, "Hey! Why aren't we moving anymore?"). No matter what the reason for her movements- I love them!!! On another note, I have been having a very strong...