The Fanning Four

Wow- June has been a busy month!! I volunteered at VBS, Tom and I went to child birth classes, we celebrated Father's Day, had a baby shower and I have some friends in town this weekend! It's great because it is keeping me occupied during the hot summer months of this pregnancy. I don't have the energy to write at length about each event so I'll give you five words for each: 1. VBS- exhausting, loud, messy, coloful, rewarding 2. Childbirth classes: Terrifying, comforting, reality, informational, breathing. 3. Baby shower: Fun, food, friends, gifts, blessing. 4. Father's Day: Family, Food, thankful, anticipation, love. 5. Friend's visiting: Beach, dolphins, talking, silliness, awesome. Bethany is doing very well. We had a doctor's appointment last week and the medical assistant who took her heartrate was kind enough to show us where Bethany was positioned. She has her little bottom sticking out right by my belly button and her head is down, almost where it sh...

I am now only two months away from due date!! Yay!! Just wanted to update with a quick picture. I'll write more after my baby shower this weekend. Here's my 30 week pic-getting ready to go swim with a friend:

So the other night I had a dream that I was at the hospital- not quite sure why I was there, I wasn't a patient. But I was walking around and was clearly in a lot of pain, I was audibly groaning. So a nurse stopped and asked me if I was ok. I told her that my feet hurt really badly. She said, "Oh, it's probably because you're dehydrated." She then proceeded to give me apple juice through an IV. Yummy!!! Needless to say I went and bought some apple juice yesterday and am already halfway through the bottle!! Mmmm, there's nothing like a cold glass of apple juice on a hot summer day!! Speaking of hot summer days- check out what my amazing husband got for me: Oh yeah!!! It's absolutely perfect and Bethany and I LOVE it!!!! So, if you're looking for me, that's where I'll be- apple juice in hand!!! We continue to waddle along through the pregnancy. I'll be 30 weeks on Saturday- t minus 10 weeks and counting! Tom looked at me yesterday and said, ...

My mom has always commented on how children seem to always pay attention to me when we are out and about. And she's right- they look at me, smile at me, talk to me. And I often find myself helping children reach things in stores, playing peek a boo in restaurants, or washing their hands in the bathroom when they can't quite reach. So am I the pied piper of children? Definitely not- I think it's just simply that I pay attention to them and this is not a common thing for adults to do. For the most part, in a child's daily interaction in the adult world, they are essentially ignored by strangers. There are several factors that make them invisible to many adults. 1. They are significantly shorter than their grown up counterparts. Passers by must look down to even notice them. 2. They're viewed as less intelligent, unable to carry out the ever important "adult conversation". What do they possibly have to say that is of any importance to the average adult passin...

Who is Charlie and what is his horse doing in my leg?!?!? That's right, one of the dreaded symptoms of pregnancy showed up in the middle of the night last night. I woke up literally screaming in pain from a nasty Charlie Horse. If my reaction to that pain was any indication of how I will handle labor, we're in for a long haul! Sorry I've taken so long to write. I sat down to write many times but no words came out. But alas, here I am... Bethany, Tom, and I have been doing well. We can now watch my stomach and see her move. Last doctor's visit 2 and a half weeks ago she was 1.9 pounds. She's getting bigger for sure! We had a scare a few weeks ago when an ultrasound showed a cyst. I volunteered to be a patient for the sonography school finals at our local community collge and when the professor did her check she saw the cyst and printed a picture off for me to take to my doctor. Fortunately my doctor said it is nothing to worry about and it should go away on it's ...

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...