19 weeks and counting...

Well, I've had many requests for a preggo pic...so here it is. I'm around 19 1/2 weeks (just about halfway through the pregnancy). It really seems as though the baby/belly grows every single day! I'm continuously amazed that there is a sweet little life growing inside of me. I know that I've shared this verse before but the Lord is continually taking me back to it...

"Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward". What a blessing our little baby has already been to us. We just can't wait to meet you in March!

Camping at Jordan Lake

Last week Bradley and I decided to spend a 3 day weekend camping. He loves to camp at the beach so that he can go fishing too...so we decided to go to Topsail and take his parents' pop-up camper. We love it b/c we can regulate the temperature better in there, you have more space and right now...since I'm halfway through my pregnancy, we thought it'd be much easier for me than getting in and out of a tent. Well, we drove down on Friday night and began the process of setting the camper up. Unfortunately, we didn't get very far. Some cables or a pulley or something on the pop-up broke and we were unable to crank it all the way up. So, after an hour and a half of trying to get the thing put back together again (oh, what an ordeal since Bradley's collar bone is still healing and he hasn't fully regained all of his strength), we packed everything up and headed home...very disappointed. Well, on Saturday we decided that we still wanted to go camping, so we regrouped, got all of our tent camping gear (including the trusty air mattress!) and headed for Jordan Lake State Park which is only about an hour away. We found a beautiful campsite right on the lake and stayed there for 2 nights. Chad and Jamie came and camped with us one night and on Saturday, since we were so close to Raleigh, Ashley came and had dinner with us all. It was such a relaxing time for us. Bradley may not have been able to fish at the beach, but he still was able to fish and we still had our relaxing weekend...after a few bumps in the road. :)


The view from our campsite was amazing. The lake was on 2 sides and we could just walk right down to the water.

Bradley's setting up all of our gear.

Bradley was able to get many hours of fishing in. I'm glad that he was still able to fish, despite the fact that we weren't at the beach!

Chad and Bradley sitting on the shore fishing.

Well...finally!

Okay, okay...it's been June since I last updated our blog. I know...it's ridiculous...but I'm gonna try to get better at it. A lot has happened in our lives since then.

First, Steven, Tara and Adaya came for a visit. We finally got to meet our precious little niece. They were in NC for 10 days and we just wanted to spend every waking moment with them! Some of our most treasured moments during that 10 days were just spent hanging out with family at home. Tara and I were able to spend an afternoon shopping and the entire family took some really great family pics that we will treasure for years to come. I loved spending my lunch break with Tara a few days...just talking and catching up...sharing our hearts and loving on each other. We miss you guys terribly and can't wait till we see you again.

Next to visit were my mom and Jake. We were only with them for a short weekend, but boy did we have SO much fun! We ate great food, played games, watched movies and more. Since we only have one extra bed, we made a fun little pallet with a sleeping bag in the floor of my mom's room for Jake. But, since it was a new place, he got a little scared both Saturday and Sunday mornings. And since I told him that if he got scared to come into our room...we had a little visitor both morns. But we SO didn't care. We let him crawl up into bed with us, flipped on some morning cartoons and just savored the moments that we had with him. The pic below is after a looong day of activity. We decided to watch a movie at the house, but had to turn it off early because we were all so tired and ready to go to sleep! :)

We've also done some traveling since June too. We went to Boone (which has amazing weather in the summer...just perfect!), New York City and Nashville. Just loved all three and were able to see family and friends that we hadn't seen in quite a while.

Well, 2 significant things have happened though since June. Two things that have changed both of our lives. First, we found out that we are having a baby. (Yay!). The baby's due date is at the end of March. We've finally gotten used to the idea of being pregnant...but now are starting to have to think about buying baby furniture, preparing the nursery etc. We've had a blast and are so thrilled to have been blessed with a child. The Lord says in Psalm 127:3(a), "Behold, children are a gift of the Lord" and we really and truly believe that they are. I am excited to meet our little baby in March and am curious about so many things...will it be a boy or a girl? Will it look like me or Bradley? Will he/she be stubborn? sweet? tender-hearted? funny? tall? So many things that I'm curious about. I look forward to sharing the journey with you in the days, months and years to come.

The second significant thing that we experienced was actually really scary. On September 19, Bradley was driving to work on his motorcycle and had an accident. He was taken to a local hospital and was there for about 2 hours before he was air-lifted to a trauma center in Raleigh. He was awake and was able to move his hands and feet the entire time. However, he suffered from short-term memory loss. Basically, he couldn't remember anything that had happened the previous week of his life, nor could he remember things that you had just told him 30 seconds prior. I was actually at the dentist that morning and had my cell phone turned off...so no one could get a hold of me. Luckily my good friend and co-worker, Kristin, knew where I was and came and picked me up at the dentist and took me to the first hospital. By the time I got there though, Bradley was already in the helicopter about to be moved to Raleigh. I never got to see him. Thankfully, his parents had been able to see him and speak to him and were able to assure me that he was awake and able to move and that he was even asking for me. (Praise God, he still knew who I was). It was a difficult morning for me not knowing if my husband was seriously injured or not. But, I prayed what I could...for the Lord to protect him. And the Lord answered my prayer. By the time I was able to see Bradley in Raleigh it was noon. He'd had the accident over 3 hours prior to that. We spent all afternoon in the ER waiting for test results etc. While we were waiting, Bradley continued to ask me questions. What happened? Was anyone else hurt? Where was he? What day, month, year was it? Where was his family and were they upset? He asked and I answered the same questions over and over again for 3-4 hours. He started to calm down around 4:00. We found out that he had a grade 3 concussion and a broken collar bone. The hospital kept him overnight for observation. By 7 that night, Bradley's memory was beginning to return. All visitors left the hospital (except for me) around 9 that night and Bradley and I spent the night in the hospital room. I always thought that the first time that we'd spend the night in the hospital was when I'd have a baby. :) I was just so thankful that I could be with him. I shed many tears that night and over the next few days as the reality of the situation hit me. That night, Bradley asked me some of the same questions that he'd asked that afternoon, except this time, he could remember...He knew what hospital he was at. He knew what day it was and that we'd celebrated his mom's birthday 2 days prior. As we were talking, and I could tell that his memory was coming back to him, I just cried tears of joy and relief. Neither of us slept much that night. For one, we had tons of nurses checking in on him...but also we stayed up and just talked about the days events. The next day he was released from the hospital and the healing process began. Over the next few days Bradley and I would have many conversations about the events of the day that Friday (btw...he still doesn't remember anything about Friday until about 7 that night...he cannot remember what caused the accident). And as we spoke about that day, we just couldn't help but be so thankful to the Lord for saving Bradley. The Lord could have chosen to take Bradley that day, but He didn't. As Bradley put it...the Lord wants him here to do more of His work. And I'm grateful for that. Another thing that really amazed Bradley and I during this time was just how amazing the Lord's family (the Church) is. We had people all over the country and the world praying for Bradley within a few hours of the accident. Word spread like wild fire. We had telephone calls and emails from people in Massachusetts, Florida, Texas, Virginia, North Carolina and East Asia. We had so many visitors in the hospital as well. We are SO thankful for the love that was showered on us during that time. It really helped to pull us through. And we know that the Lord answered all of those prayers. If there is one thing that we want other people to realize out of this near tragedy in our lives...it's that the Lord answers prayers, the Lord Saves, and the Lord works miracles. We love the Lord. And we want others to know that He is our comforter, healer, friend and Savior. Thank you all for praying for Bradley.

Well, I will keep on trying to update our blog when possible. We have been slack on taking pictures, but will try to update as often as possible...as we have many changes ahead.