"Do you know what you're having? Because to me it looks like a ..."

This is what the doctor said today at our 32 week appointment. Except she didn't stop there...she actually said the first syllable of boy or girl (I'm not going to say what she said right now)! We were just having a quick ultrasound to see the position of the baby (whether his/her head is down) and she decided to show Shaun the legs, head, back, etc. Then she swooped it by the general region and said, "Oh look! Do you guys know what you're having? Because to me it looks like a..."

We of course said no...and then she quickly back-tracked and said, "Well, now that I'm looking closer at it I'm not quite sure...no, I'm not sure." ARG! ARG!! ARG!!!

First of all, I'm frustrated that she spilled it out! After 7 1/2 months of waiting she almost blurts it out...and then on top of that, I'm frustrated because now I'm even MORE confused. Was she really trying to backtrack or was she sincerely saying she wasn't sure?

This the LAST thing we wanted to happen...we heard horror stories of this happening and we were convinced it wouldn't happen to us. Although I must say we did have a good chuckle at the time. I think I'll still be surprised--either way. I hope.

And no...we're not going to tell you what she said. =) You'll have to wait. Ha ha ha ha!

Feeling like a marshmellow, and baby/interview/weekend stuff...

Firs t of all, I'd like to thank all of you for your wonderful, encouraging compliments. You are all too kind...it sure helps to have people tell you you're glowing & beautiful despite the fact that I feel like I big marshmellow most of the time. =)

In response to Shannon's comment regarding what WE think this baby is. Good question...I'm LEANING towards girl. I have ALWAYS thought I'd have a boy first, so when we found out we were pregnant I assumed it was a boy. But for some reason around 2 months in I started thinking girl--and that thought made me SUPER excited. Shaun's kinda thinking boy (although he doesn't really want to say one or the other) but is not sure. So either way...we'll be excited...

As far as names go...we have 2 names for girl and 2 names for boy picked out. Personally I don't feel like posting them for the world to see and give me their opinions on (some people are cruel)! So if you're super curious you can email me and I'd be happy to tell you. But please remember...we value your opinion but it is OUR decision. =)

We had a nice weekend...Saturday morning we got up early (well, early for us on a Saturday morning) because Shaun and his Dad brought our 1989 Jeep Wrangler over to the local college. They have a used car sale there every week so we thought we'd put it up for sale there and see what happened. Within 3 hours it was sold--we got $3200 cash for it, and we were hoping we'd get at least $3000...so we were happy! Now we just have to get our Suburban all set to go and try to sell that one too. Once we have cash for that baby we'll set out to buy a "new" (new for us!) baby-safe and family-friendly vehicle!

Saturday night we spent the night at our friend's Nathan & Becky's new condo. They are in Chicago for 2 weeks visiting Becky's family, so they gave us the key to their place and said we can stay as long as we'd like. SWEET! We also stayed there last night...we decided we might as well take advantage of our own space while we can. They have this MASSIVE California King bed with memory foam. So we've been sleeping well!

Sunday we went to church...I got up early to make a blueberry streusel for the Sunday School class (my turn to bring sweets). It's supposed to have a crumbly top but for some reason it all melted into one big blob of dough. It still tasted good...Mom, can you guess what I may have done wrong?

In the afternoon we came back to our place (well, our current home) and I cut Shaun's hair and Shaun's mom & I made a tasty lasagna dinner from scratch! In the evening we went back to the condo and we spent some time playing games and prepping for Shaun's interview, which was this morning.

So...the interview. Went well...he has his third and final interview with the Regional Manager next week. We're bummed we need to wait so long for an answer. I guess all the managers have some sort of conference this week and will be out of town. So we have to wait until next week for an answer. I guess the Lord is just really wanting us to be patient and wait! In the meantime we're keeping our eyes and ears open to other options. Thank you for your continued prayers for us. We REALLY appreciate it.

Tonight we're off to Bible Study and then we'll try to catch 24. Good show.

Later.

Baby Sawyer at 32 Weeks

Oh my goodness...today Baby Sawyer is 32 weeks. That means that sometime in the next 6 to 9 weeks we'll be parents. I know EVERY week I freak out more and more. I can't believe that it's coming SO quickly! Everyone told me that my pregnancy would seem SOOOO long...but it's been just the opposite. It's coming too fast. Check back in a month though--I may have changed my mind!

These pictures were just taken a few minutes ago...I sure look a lot bigger now that I am seeing a picture of myself. Crazy. Although I still can't believe that a 4 lb, 19 inch (approximate) baby fits in there, and is STILL going to get even bigger. Crazy. Can I say that again? CRAZY.

I am so excited it's the weekend...although we don't have much planned. Work ended up getting a lot better this week and the Lord definitely provided for us. Shaun's interview went well and he has a 2nd interview (in office this time) on Monday morning at 10:30am. If he does well at that one then there is one more interview with a regional manager. Please pray that the Lord's will becomes evident so we know whether to continue with this or pursue another field. I'll describe more about this job once we know more. Again, thanks for your prayers!

if You want me to...

the pathway is broken
and the signs are unclear
and i don’t know the reason
why You brought me here
but just because You love me
the way that You do
i’m gonna walk through the valley
if You want me to…

cause i’m not who i was
when i took my first step
and i’m clinging to the promise
You’re not through with me yet
so if all of these trials
bring me closer to You
then I will go through the fire
if You want me to…

it may not be the way
i would’ve chosen
when You lead me through a world
that’s not my home
but You never said it would be easy
You only said i’d never go alone

so when the whole world turns against me
and i’m all by myself
and i can’t hear you answer
my cries for help
i’ll remember the suffering
You’re love put You through
and I will go through the valley
if You want me to...

-- Ginny Owens, Without Condition

Sorry to be posting so many songs lately...never mind...I'm not going to apologize...this is my blog. Right. I guess it's one of the ways I express myself--by listening to songs that mean something to me. My friend Andrea reminded me of this song (thanks Ange!) this week. She had been going through a "trial" recently and I had sent her these words...and then this week she emailed me back and reminded me of them.

This song has meant a lot to me for a number of years. It seems to me my "trial" song. I've decided I'm going to learn how to sing and play it on the piano...that would be a good challenge.

Things ARE going better...I have peace that God is in control and that He will take care of us. My mom's example of imagining myself putting my situation in the mailbox really has helped me visualize what I'm supposed to do when I TRUST. It means I can't take it back...

Shaun's on the phone as we speak for his phone interview. I'll keep you posted.

The Shadow Proves the Sunshine

Sunshine, won't you be my mother
Sunshine, come and help me see
My heart is darker than these oceans
My heart is frozen underneath

We are
Crooked souls trying to stay up straight
Dry eyes in the pouring rain
When the shadow proves the Sunshine
The shadow proves the Sunshine

Two scared little runaways
Hold fast to the break of daylight
Where the shadow proves the Sunshine
The shadow proves the Sunshine

Oh Lord, why did you forsake me?
Oh Lord, don't be far away...
Storm clouds gathering beside me
Please Lord, don't look the other way

I am a
Crooked souls trying to stay up straight
Dry eyes in the pouring rain
Where the shadow proves the Sunshine
The shadow proves the Sunshine

Two scared little runaways
Hold fast to the break of daylight
Where the shadow proves the Sunshine
The shadow proves the Sunshine

Shine on me
Let my shadows prove the Sunshine

-- Switchfoot

These last few days have been rough...the Lord is really challenging me to just TRUST Him. Why is it so hard to do? Because I want answers NOW...I want to try to figure it out myself. But He is asking me to let it go...

Today I was really frustrated and worried. Shaun's applied for a few jobs but had not really heard anything in response. Work has been crappy for me...my boss has been sending me old leads which don't help me anything. And I'm too chicken to stick up for myself and tell him he's being unfair. Last year in January I had already made 4x what I've made this year. Arg. And now is when money is most tight for us...I went into our bedroom and just cried...Shaun came in and lead me to the computer to listen to this Switchfoot song. I think the words pretty much explain where I'm at. Lord, help me not to doubt Your presence during this trial...let these "shadows" prove that You are more real in our lives than ever.

Later this afternoon I emailed my boss requesting NEW leads...he sent me 4 and by tonight I had booked 2 of them. That helped! And Shaun also got a call requesting a phone interview for Thursday with the company we really hope he can be hired with. Praise the Lord!...He is good...whether I make bookings or not...or if Shaun doesn't find a job as soon as we'd like. We are thankful for this trial and pray we'll come out on the other side shining more like Him.

Thanks for your prayers.

birthday & baby stuff...

Sorry this is such a blurry picture...it is just such a cute picture of Kari--I had to post it!

Happy 22nd Birthday, Kari! I know I'm a day late on this...I hope you had a WONDERFUL day yesterday and that you ate all the ice cream you wanted! =) We look forward to watching you & Ben get married in 6 months (ahhh!) and also look forward to spending much quality time with you in the future. Baby Sawyer is VERY excited to meet you!!!

.....on to other news.....

Today Baby Sawyer is 31 weeks. AHHHHHHHHHH...it's just coming so fast. Everyone says the last few months just are so slow, but at this point they are going WAY too fast! I just read this morning that our baby is 3 1/2 pounds and around 18 inches long already. Now that's big...he/she just needs to fatten out before his/her arrival!

Tonight Shaun & I are going to see the End of the Spear movie. Anyone else planning on seeing it? Not much planned for this weekend...

Our best buds Nate & Deb are leaving today on a trip to Italy for 10 days...we are going to miss them SO much. We see them so many times during the week that it's going to be a lonely week and a half without them!

Well that's all for now...I'm racking my brain trying to think of other interesting things to post, but I can't think of any. Who knows...maybe I'll be back later.

Things to watch...

First of all, thanks to everyone for your prayers and support...it is so great to know that we have friends & family all over the world (literally) praying for us right now!

Happy 26th Birthday to my beautiful cousin Rose!

Rose, you have always been one of my closest friends (and cousins)...I am so sad that we are separated by all these miles, but I do cherish our talks on the phone (every so often)! It has been so great to watch you and Jeff as parents and to see what beautiful girls the Lord has blessed you with. I love you, and hope you have a WONDERFUL day!

By the way...the picture is of Rose and the deer that she shot herself (in ONE shot!)...yes, she IS a wonder-woman! And the girls are all hers...Sarah is 4, Abby is 2, and Julia is 6 months old. SO CUTE!!!

Some exciting things to watch for this week:

Just a reminder to everyone to check out Skating with Celebrities tonight on FOX...that is if you don't watch Lost! Good thing we have TIVO so we can record both and watch the other later. =)

Also, there is a movie coming out this weekend, called End of the Spear. It is based off of the true story of Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, and 3 other missionary pilots (with MAF -- the same organization that my sister Julene & her family are with) who were killed 50 years ago by the Waodani Indians. I really recommend going and seeing it, if you get the chance--not only because it is an incredible story but also to support the message!

What's been up...

Well, it's been an interesting week. I haven't blogged because we've been trying to figure things out. Last week (at the beginning of the week) Shaun & I came to the decision that Shaun should take some time off of culinary school. For a couple of months now he has been seriously debating whether this is truly his "dream" career or not. He's mentioned it to me a few times but I haven't really listened because up until this point I felt like he wasn't having enough "faith" that this is where the Lord had lead us to. I finally listened...and so here we are...Shaun's out of school, and looking for a job. This is a HUGE step of faith for us...we're having a baby in 2 months and we have NO idea where the Lord is calling us to. We both feel a huge peace about the culinary decision. The thing that kept us going these past few months was that we finally had some motivation/direction for Shaun...now we're back to square one. What has made it an easy decision for us now is that if he DID continue in the culinary career, he would be working evenings, weekends, and most holidays...and we both weren't quite ready to sacrifice that, especially if he didn't LOVE it. I know this probably doesn't make a lot of sense to "the world"...we are thankful for our friends & family supporting us in our decision, and also thankful for the peace that passes all understanding that God has given us, despite our unknown future.

All that being said...Shaun spent the last week job searching and is continueing to do so. We're really open to anything and anywhere the Lord may call us to. He's so talented...pretty much good at everything he does so I know if he found something he enjoyed enough he would accel at it. He said this past week that he wishes he was just REALLY good at one particular thing so that he would know for sure what he was supposed to do with his life. We're praying that the Lord leads us to the right people/places so and that doors will swing open wide where they're supposed to and shut tightly where we're not supposed to go.

So...it's been a WAYYYYY different new year that I expected.

My week went okay...besides being emotional and "questioning" why God was asking us to do this. My faith has been strengthened this week, and for that I am thankful. I have been 10x more emotional than normal...mostly due to my horomones and the fact that we're having a baby sometime in the next 2 months.

Work was okay...it's hard to get back into the swing of things.

Something fun that happened...Friday afternoon I went with Debra to a live taping of the show Dancing with the Stars. I wish I could've all warned you in advance to look for me, but I hadn't realized it would be a live taping! It was the results show, so we actually didn't get to see a lot of people dancing. However, it was cool to see some semi-famous people. We tivo-ed the episode and watched it later...can't really see us except for our faceless forms in the crowd. Oh well...we tried to be famous. =)

Speaking of being famous...don't forget to watch out for me and my friend Rachyl at the premier of Skating with Celebrities on Wednesday night! It's on Fox, at 9/8pm central. Rach & I sat to the right of the judges, in the 2nd row. It was taped a few months ago, so I'm won't be the large pregnant woman that I am today. =)

Saturday I worked a bit and in the late afternoon we went down to Ikea to buy a shorter dresser that we're going to use as a change table/baby storage in our office/baby room. I feel so much more organized now that it's all set up. It looks pretty cute if you ask me! Now we just need to get the changing pad for the top.

Alright, that's enough for today. Thanks for listening...and we appreciate your prayers...

Love,
Kristal

Lead Us Lord (Dream Again)

Here we stand
At a crossroads again
Like You said
In time the season’s change
Looking back we recall the blessing and the pain
But now we turn our hearts toward
What is still to come
We want to dream again

Lead us Lord
Into a life of fruitfulness
Prepare our hearts to risk again
As we trust
Taking simple steps of obedience
We know
That You will lead us Lord

Come and lead us, Lord

--Brian Doerksen, Today

Back to Cali...

Well, it's Friday afternoon and I have to pack...ah, I can't believe our time here in Abbotsford is over. I am sad...it always goes sooooo fast. We had such a great time. We caught up on sleep (I think we were in bed past 10am most of the days) and were able to see friends & family. I'm not sure we're quite ready to get back into the swing of things, but we really don't have a choice, do we? I know the next few months will bring many changes and we are excited to see where God is going to lead us this next year!

Baby Sawyer is 29 weeks today. Wow...only 11 left (if he/she is on time)...I cannot believe it! Baby has been kicking SO much lately...I wonder if he/she ever sleeps. Yesterday I was drinking Starbucks (could've been the caffeine) and my arm was resting on my belly. The baby kicked so hard the my arm literally jumped off my belly...I laughed so hard. This little one is getting restless.

I am SO confused about what we are having...the majority of my mom's family says girl, and many of my dad's side say boy. My gut was saying girl for quite awhile, and now I'm just confused. Hmm...I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Well, I'll write more once we're back in sunny (hopefully) California. God Bless.

SHOWER #2!!!

Last night was my second shower...wow...we are BLESSED! It was with the Friesen side (my Dad's family). He has 8 brothers & sisters, and I have about 25 cousins on that side, so we were given MANY gifts. Shaun & I have 2 extra suitcases packed to take home with us today. I am amazed by these blessings. Thank you to everyone for overwhelming us and helping us feel more prepared for this exciting stage of life in front of us!

My mom made & decorated the cake...so cute, huh?

Lunch with Kirsten...

On Wednesday we had lunch with my friend Kirsten. She's a great friend...you can also see this picture on her blog! Kirst is SUCH a catch (SINGLE!!! for any available men out there) and is beautiful inside & out. I am so thankful that we can keep up our friendship despite the miles. =)

Hanging out

I just got this picture from Heather...you can see it posted on her blog too! We hung out at Matt & Heather's last week. It was great to see them and catch up. Amazing how time flies...

Cutest Nephew Ever!

I just had to publish this picture...isn't Paeton SO cute???

Breakfast with friends...

This morning we got up early (well early for vacation!) and met our friends James & Cherylene for breakfast. It was great to catch up with them. Cherylene is studying to become a maternity nurse, and James is also in nursing, so we were able to talk a lot about labor & delivery a lot. They had great advice! Thanks for treating us to breakfast, James & Pix...you guys are the best. We love you and look forward to you coming to visit us in California!!!

Ben's Hockey game

My brother, Ben, plays on a hockey team every Monday night, so last night Shaun, Adrienne, and I went to watch his game. It was fun cheering him on, even though they lost 4 to 2. Sorry the picture is kind of blurry...we're still trying to figure our new camera out!

SHOWER!!!

Yesterday i had my very first Baby shower for Baby Sawyer! It was at my Aunt Monika's house with my mom's side. It was so much fun! They attempted to surprise me...and it kinda worked. I had been suspicious upon arriving, but when we got there no one was there--so I thought I had been wrong. But then when my family started showing up I realized we WERE having one. It was wonderful...we had a tasty lunch of potato soup and homemade bread, then opened gifts. We received many cute neutral baby outfits...it was great! Thank you so much, Aunt Monika, for blessing us this way. We love you!!!

New Year's 2006

We spent New Year's at Carolyn & Eric's house in Langley (Carolyn is my cousin). They made a tasty salmon dinner for us, and we had a great time just catching up. We didn't watch the countdown on TV because they don't have cable...so we had our own countdown at some time around midnight. It was great to be with my cousins...Julene even called right before midnight from Indonesia. It was so wonderful to hear her voice--the connection was perfect. Sure do miss her...

Canucks Hockey Game

Here is a picture from the Canucks game last Wednesday...so much fun!!! Shaun has officially become a faithful Vancouver Canucks fan...good thing or there'd be some tension in this family. =)

The other cute couple

Here's ben & Kari at the Canucks game...we drove in together with them but unfortunately didn't get seats together. We met up with them during the intermissions though...

The boys

This picture is from Boxing Day (the 26th) but I didn't realize I hadn't posted it. I love it...all my boys except Chris & Paet of course. Aren't they so handsome???