Family Vacation

Last weekend, my dad, mom, brother and sister-in-law drove up from Idaho for Elana & Mark's wedding. Andrew & I did not know for sure that Drew & Hayley were coming, so it was a nice surprise to have them come too!
They arrived on Thursday-just in time to drive to St. Vincent Hospital for my last ultrasound.
It was great to have them there to see our growing baby girl. The technician thought that Anaiah weighed about 5 lbs. 13 oz. at the appointment, which is average. She had definitely put on baby fat since our last ultrasound and SHE IS SOOOO CUTE!! Andrew & I are very anxious to meet her!

After Mark & Elana's wedding (which was wonderful!), we headed over to Seaside to spend a few days at the beach. Andrew, Drew, Hayley and I drove over in one car, and mom, dad, & Manda came a little later in a different car.
The drive was beautiful and the beach did not disappoint. Sunday morning, we visited Canon Beach and saw Haystack Rock. We ate a lot of food, browsed shops, bought salt-water taffy, took lots of pictures, and had a great time visiting with each other.
It was a great weekend. I feel so blessed to be a part of the Evans family and count it a blessing every time we are all together.
Here is one pic from the weekend. You can view more by clicking on the picture, and going to flickr.

What's a Girl to Do??

For those of you who know me, you know that I don't really do "free time". It's extremely hard for me to sit, relax and be still; and although I have slowed down since being pregnant, I still need stimulation throughout the day to keep me going.
Here's my scenario: I work part-time; and right now, it's very part-time, like 1 or 2 days/week. So, on the days when I am not working, Andrew has the car and I'm at home. It doesn't matter what time I go to bed, I'm an early riser, so my day starts about 7 am, which makes the time tick by even more slowly. Everyday, I have a "to-do" list for myself, but I've been finding that I get my list done with-in a few hours and then it's 11 or 12 o'clock and I'm stuck with NOTHING to do!! It drives me crazy.
I do my best to keep myself busy...I clean, bake, read, watch TV, read blogs, go through e-mails, do laundry, listen to music, take walks and play games online.
I've got all of Anaiah's blankets & clothes laundered and put away. Her cradle is set-up and both our bags are packed for the hospital. We are stocked up on diapers and wipes.

So, my questions to you is this: Do you have any ideas for what I can be doing until our baby girl is born? (And yes, I know...once the baby comes, my life will change forever. I'll never lack for anything to do, blah, blah, blah.) I've heard all of that, and I know that I will be busy once she is here, but what do I do in the meantime to keep myself occupied??


**And I must give a shout-out to my dear Grandmas, from whom I inherited this lovely gene of "busyness". Thanks to both of you. :)

Okay, I'm done

So, I'm finished with my momentary freak-out about being a parent...but I'm sure it will come back again sometime soon!

Thanks for all the advice/comments that everyone left for me.

I'm so excited to meet my little girl--only 6 more weeks until my due date! (Hopefully she is not late, but let's assume she will be so that I don't get disappointed!)

I have a baby shower today in Keizer, so I'll post about that soon.

A Little Bit Freaked Out!!

Please tell me that it is normal to be experiencing these feelings!!

We have been taking Childbirth Preparation Classes at Salem Hospital, and they have been really, really great! I understand that the knowledge that we are receiving about labor, delivery, postpartum, and taking care of the baby is going to prove helpful; knowledge is power.

But, on the other hand, I feel like in this day and age, there are so many conflicting opinions on how to handle labor & delivery, how to feed your baby, how often to feed your baby, when to feed your baby, how much to feed your baby, how long your baby should sleep, where your baby should sleep, how to soothe your baby, how to teach your baby to soothe him/herself, and on and on and on....

I feel overwhelmed by all this information and am honestly scared to death to be a parent--I mean, what if I really screw up our baby girl for life?? I already take my role as a parent very seriously; I also know that I tend to take myself too seriously sometimes, so I probably run the risk of doing that with my child(ren).

Any advice for a soon mom-to-be??

31 weeks and counting...

Here's the latest pics. Only 9 more weeks to go...we are getting so anxious to meet our little girl!!

Time Marches On

It seems like life is happening so quickly these days.

First of all, it's June--did you hear me? I said June. I feel like just yesterday it was Christmas time and Andrew & I were in Idaho celebrating the marriage of my brother and Hayley. I must be getting old, because old people always say, "Well, where has the time gone?" And that's how I feel.

The sea container has been packed and shipped and will soon be arriving in Kenya, to be driven by truck to Uganda. What seemed like such a daunting task is now done...a huge milestone in our pursuit to move to Uganda. Thank you to my husband, Ryan, and Jeff for working so hard on a gigantic job--they did GREAT and sacrificed many hours of sleep to get everything packed "just so."

Andrew and I are working hard to gather the remaining start-up costs that are needed for our move, secure a salary for our family, meet with every life group at Vancouver (our sending church) so that we can get to know people better, and talk out the details of emotional/spiritual accountability with our missions committee. (and we only have 6 months to get this all done!)

I am in my third trimester of pregnancy and am due to have our baby girl in 86 days.

I am having a baby...WOW!! It still amazes me that God created this little life inside me, when we had all but given up on trying. I am excited and apprehensive for everything that will come along with this new life that Andrew and I will be caring for.

Whenever she does come into this world, she'll hit the ground running. From trips to Idaho, California, Thanksgiving and early Christmas celebrations before we leave for Uganda, our schedule will be packed and Andrew and I will most likely be worn out. But it will be great and she will be loved.

I know that time will continue to tick away and before I know it, Andrew, Anaiah, and I will be boarding a plane to move to our new home in Fort, Portal, Uganda, Africa.

Until then, I think I'll just take a deep breath, relax, and see what God has in store for me today; after all, the Creator Himself told me that I should focus on today and He will provide for all I need and take care of all that lies in store for me.

"Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." -Matthew 6:34

Prego Pics

Well, here I am...21 weeks and 3 days. I have been feeling our daughter move this week, which has been so much fun!! (Although it is hard for me to explain to Andrew exactly what it feels like...all I know is that I LOVE IT!!)

I hope that you enjoy the pics as much as I'm enjoying my growing belly!!

It's A Girl!!

After having two ultrasounds, Andrew and I found out that we will be having a baby girl!!!

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!

It's been amazing to watch our little one kicking and moving about on the screen at the hospital; I still haven't felt the kicks, but I am anxiously awaiting that exciting moment!!

We've been thinking about how much fun it will be for Kinley to have a little girl to play with when we get to Uganda, after dealing with all of those boys!

We hope that when she is born, you all can meet her before we go to Uganda. Thanks for sharing in our joy!