Third Trimester- Baby Crash Testing Begins!

Hi all- I'm posting first then will hand the computer off to Brian to post as well.

We are officially in the 3rd trimester!!!! Time has gone sooo quickly and it's hard to believe we've come this far and have so little time left to get ready! In some ways I feel like we just found out I was pregnant. In others, I'm ready to be done and ready to meet baby _____. (insert boy name here)

I have been avoiding looking at baby stuff for the past few months partly out of fear and partly because we just didn't have time but I managed to go to Babies R Us the other day and at least start a registry. If registering for a wedding is stressful, registering for a baby is 100 times worse. Not only are you trying to pick out things that look nice, but you have to factor in safety, durability, etc. The list they give you of everything you'll need for a baby combined with the sheer volume of product available made for a short and stressful trip. I've since learned that registering online is the way to go. I have a few books (given to me by a friend from church) with Consumer Reports guides to baby stuff and all the products with the highest ratings and those have been really helpful. So we're more or less registered but still need to add a few more things.

Over to Brian for more from the Roelofs family.........

Hello All,

Since I'm not able to actively participate in the growing of the baby - let's face it... hunter-gathering to provide for the pregnant wife just isn't what it used to be, and in our current family situation I wouldn't even deserve the title of hunter-gatherer, I've decided to prepare for our baby in another manner - crash testing. We've got a perfectly suitable baby model in Brina as I don't think we'll still be using the basinet or the stroller when the baby is 55 pounds, so anything that can hold her should be a-okay for him. This idea led to the particularly perturbed and annoyed look on Brina's face last weekend when I managed to get her in position to test the basinet with her red bone (in case our baby has a toy in there with him).

The basinet held up GREAT. Thus, one item has been cleared to go and the bedding is in the process of being cleaned (in case any mothers - grandmothers I guess - were upset about this practice). I hope Brina keeps being a good sport as we've got a stroller to test, two pack and plays and probably a crib coming soon too and I intend to fulfill my role as crash test coordinator.

I've spent all of my other time lately crawling around in the attic and pretending to be a handyman rebuilding our bathroom. We couldn't let well enough alone and just leave our bathroom expansion at just an expansion. We decided to gut the old portion and put in new tile, a new vanity, an exhaust fan and paint. So far, I've just demolished the old stuff and have just about finished the wiring of the exhaust fan and the light fixture in the expanded area, and put those two fixtures in. We've also got the drywall/greenboard to go up, so I hope to have that done by the end of this week - I'm going to post some pictures soon but I have none right now. If anyone feels like making a visit to do a little construction, we have an open invitation - I've got to get this done by October!

Well I hope you're all keeping well and that concludes my portion of the post. More to come on the crash testing and the bathroom building as it proceeds...

Update 2 of 2

Post #2!!

While I was away at Synod, Brian and friends from church started a home renovation project in our upstairs bathroom. For those of you who haven't seen our bathroom, it's barely big enough for Brian and I to stand in it together. So they knocked out a wall and we're expanding the bathroom to almost double the size. It'll be sooo nice to have some extra space! We took out a small section of the soon to be nursery, but there will still be plenty of room for baby. After the addition was built, we kind of decided "why not just re-do the entire bathroom??" So....all the tile came up, the drywall came out and we are in the middle of a complete bathroom renovation. Right now we currently have no sink, no toilet and no walls.

This past week we went on vacation with the Roelofs (Mom, Dad, Chris and Anne). We went down to the New Jersey shore to a beach town called Wildwood. We were in a beautiful house right on the boardwalk and less than a block from the beach. We were at the beach every single day and had plenty of downtime to relax, read and recover. We went to a wonderful nature preserve on Cape Ann and saw lots of interesting birds. We ate well (probably too well :) ), played lots of games and came back refreshed and ready for work again. It was great to hang out with everyone since we don't get to spend much time together. Thanks to Mom and Dad Roelofs for the much needed vacation! We had a great time!

We'll try and do a better job keeping the blog updated. Please pray for Brian, the other leader, Justin, and the 6 high schoolers who will be going to London, Ontario next week for our church's SERVE project. Pray for safe travels and a wonderful time of work and spiritual growth.

Have a great week everyone!

Update 1 of 2

Hi everyone

Sorry it's been so long since our last post! We've been super busy lately with lots going on and just haven't had time to sit down and post. So....since we have a lot to fill you in on, here is post 1 of 2.

Right after our last post, my parents came to Maryland for a few days. Just like Lyle and Laurie (Brian's parents), they worked really hard getting things done in our house. I'm realizing that our parents have far more energy than either of us do. It's quite impressive. Thanks to both sets of parents for all the work!!

Taking a break from work to play some Wii. I'm going for the knock out against Mom in Wii boxing and Dad is looking on enjoying the show.Mom and Dad rocking out in Guitar Hero

Anyway, after working for a few days, we took off for the Eastern Shore of Maryland. We stayed in an awesome bed and breakfast, ate great food and had a fun time together.

We rented bikes and biked around the town of Rock Hall.

After my parents left, I had a few days to get to work before leaving for the Christian Reformed Church's annual meeting of Synod, held in Palos Heights, IL. For all of you in the CRC, look for my picture as the "youngest delgate" in the July issue of the Banner (http://www.thebanner.org/). I also wrote an article with some thoughts about Synod that will be published in that issue. It was an amazing experience to attend and see the inner workings of the denomination. It made me realize how much I love this church and will hopefully serve it faithfully as long as I can. Some highlights- being seated on the floor of Synod and realizing how much of a "minority" I was: 25, asian, female and pregnant. I got to catch up with lots of friends and family both at Synod and on a short trip to Grand Rapids on our day off. It was definitely a nice to not catch the dreaded norovirus that plagued almost 70 of the 180 delegates. I don't know how I managed to stay healthy but counted my blessings. Would have been even better if I didn't get sick right when I got home......

Finally- I'll post a bit on Baby Boaz (as he's been so fondly named by our friends at church). He was in a strange position in the first sonogram so they didn't get to see everything they wanted to. We went back in again a week later to see if he would cooperate. They told us everything looks great and he looks healthy and is growing well!! What a blessing!

We also asked the tech to check one more time to make sure it was a boy. She did check and very kindly labeled this picture so everyone can clearly see that yes....he is a boy. Brian and I kind of laugh because when she pointed out his "boyness" we thought it was his leg....oops. We are happy to report that all is going well. He kicks like a champ and is growing every single day. He is growing...and that of course means I am too! Here is my 23 week shot. Over half way there!

It's a .........BOY

Hi everyone
Quick post letting you all know that we're having a boy!!! We went to the doctor this morning for a checkup and also for the 20 week ultrasound. Everything looks great so far and the tech was sure it was a boy! They didn't get views of everything they wanted to see because the boy was up against his back and they couldn't get him to move so we're going back next week for another ultrasound. It was amazing to see HIM moving around and see how much he's grown since we last saw him! We'll let you give your opinion when we post the ultrasound pics later this week but we both think he has my nose :)

So now we need help from you all with coming up with boy names! I was convinced it was a girl....and we had several good ideas for girl names but nothing for a boy. So leave suggestions if you have any!

More to come later from the Roelofs family (Brian, Katie, Brina, Boy)

Memorial Day Weekend

Hi all-

Giving you an update on baby's "first memorial day weekend." We've had a really busy last few weeks and a super busy weekend but we're finally getting around to posting!

We are slowly starting to accumulate stuff for baby. Last week I received an AMAZING present from one of my best friends, Kim. She got me into long distance running and has always been a great source of encouragement. This is the BOB Ironman jogger she got me!! The picture doesn't do this thing justice....it is amazing. I am so tempted to put a 15 pound weight in it, or put Brina in it and go for a run because I want to try it out!

Brian's parents were in town over Memorial Day weekend. I feel guilty because their "vacation" turned into a weekend of working around the clock doing home improvements in our house. They arrived on Saturday afternoon while I was at work and by the time I got home they were already busy working in the garden and painting our guest room and nursery! Here are some "before" and "after" pictures of the new nursery! The "before" shot is the room with primer and tape. And the "after" shot is the final product! Baby has a room! By the way....the room was not painted blue because we know baby is a boy....we chose a very light blue thinking it would work well for a boy or girl depending on how we decorate!

We also got lots of other work done around the house, like fixing an outlet, fixing our awful squeaky door, yard work, etc. Thanks to Mom and Dad Roelofs for all their help!

Baby kind of ran his/her first race this weekend as well! 2 years ago, Lyle, Brian and I ran a Memorial Day 5k and Lyle and I decided to do it again this year. 2 years I ago I won my age group in this race.....definitely did not happen this year being 4 months pregnant!! But it was still fun to run in a race again. Being pregnant is lots of fun...but I'm looking forward to running like a real person again.

That's about all from us for now. We're back into a busy work week and looking forward to the Ritsema parents coming next week! We also find out if baby is a boy or girl on Monday so we'll be sure to post then! Thanks for reading!

Zoom Zoom Zoom

Hi everyone!

We figured we owe you all some pictures since we haven't posted any for a while. We just don't have that much to photograph right now....that will change soon.

A brief update. We had yet another battle; us vs. house. This time we came out on top....slightly exhausted and worse for the wear but on top nonetheless. I started a load of laundry (1st of 5....don't know how we'll survive when we're washing things for a baby too), and went downstairs to change out my first load and stepped into the huge puddle that was our laundry room floor. Our theory is that when the sump pump stopped working and the basement flooded a few weeks back, it clogged the pipe leading out of the washing machine. So...all the water that went into the machine had nowhere to go and ended up pouring out on to the floor and all the loads of laundry waiting to be done. Brian got home later and we tried using the drain snake. We were snaking the drain, and Brian was laying on the wet floor with his head next to the pipe when all of a sudden a huge nasty clump of something fell out of the pipe. Then dirty water came flowing out on to the floor centimeters from Brian's face. Needless to say, the drain and pipe were clear- YAY- but the clean up of the laundry room wasn't quite as fun. But everything is in working order now and all my laundry got done.

We got a new car! Brian's Jetta kind of works....but won't start if it's raining, can't accelerate fast enough to get on the highway and has 2 windows that won't roll up. So we figured...time for a new car. We brought home the newest addition to our family on Tuesday morning. We're quite proud.

No pregnancy news. We'll find out June 1st if baby is a boy or a girl. Sometimes I think I feel him/her moving around, but it might just be my imagination. The doctors said women normally feel the baby between 16-20 weeks and I'm officially 17 weeks tomorrow so we'll see! Here is my 17 week pregnant shots!

Kind of showing.....not really...but kind of!

I'm definitely starting to need maternity clothes!

More Ramblings

Hi again everyone
Every night I get home and consider posting about my day but really nothing seems that thrilling when I actually sit down to write. But I'll give in tonight and give you an update on the last few days in the Roelofs house.

First of all- sorry for such a downer of a post last week. We did have a rough few weeks but I realize my post was somewhat depressing. I went to a homeless shelter and served breakfast the next morning with some people from church and instantly felt guilty about complaining about my life. I complained about my leaking roof....but I have a roof over my head. I complained about our car....but we have the resources to actually go get another. Really....I have nothing to complain about at all. Stepping outside the comfort of my wonderful life into the reality of the world around me really gave me some perspective. My goal for the next few weeks comes from Philippians 4....to be content in all circumstances.

It's been a busy week thus far. Brian is out of town in West Virginia on a retreat with his department at Hopkins. He had to present a poster and said it went really well. So Brin Dog and I are holding down the fort here in Maryland until he returns tomorrow. I spent the whole weekend and early this week getting ready for a huge presentation in my Greek exegesis class. This is my final capstone project for my year of Greek class and I chose to wrestle with the extremely difficult passage 1 Timothy 2:11-15 which deals extensively with women in church office. This is probably the one passage that directly speaks against women in office and even after extensive research, I'm not sure I can disagree with it. Granted it doesn't take into context the rest of the Biblical story, but this passage is pretty direct and it's been really eye opening to see that. So it will be interesting to continue my research.

No new news on Baby R. Still in there....still baking. I'm almost to week 16 and according to the pregnancy books, I should start feeling baby move soon. Sometimes I think I can feel him/her moving around, but it might just be me really wanting to feel it and imagining it. We'll go in for another ultrasound in 4 weeks and we'll be able to tell you all if it's a boy or girl. About 70% of the pants in my closet no longer fit....and I'll give in to maternity clothes sooner or later.

Well that's about it for now. Time for bed! We'll post more when interesting stuff happens! Hope you are all having a great week so far!