The verdict is out - we know what it is...

IT IS A...............................

BOY! Okay so the ultrasound tech kinda gave it away by typing male at the bottom of the picture. If you look right in the center of the black spot you can see his little penis between his little legs! I don't know what is at the top of the black spot, though. Enjoy it now because I don't think we will be posting anymore naked pics of our little man in the future.

Here is a side view. Up top on the left you can see his head. Right below his chin is a shoulder...I think.

This pic is already labeled, but I will tell you anyway - here is his foot! The left one to be precise. His toes are more towards the middle of the big black spot off to the left of the screen.

Here is another profile shot of his head, closer up. His head is off to the right and his torso is to the left. Some sinuses are visible here too.

This is the best head shot I think. In this shot he is facing towards the top of the picture. His tongue is visible inside his mouth. One of his hands is touching his forhead and right below his hand his nose is visible. Perhaps we will save this shot for when he needs a pic for the program for his recital (whatever instrument he chooses!). :P

During the ultrasound he was very busy. He started off in transverse position, switched to vertex (head down) facing sunny side up (glad I was not in labor!) and then turned to look down! No wonder I feel him moving around ALL the time!

Anyway, there is our boy! We think he is very great. By the way he is wriggling around trying to say hi, so from the munchkin - "Hi!"

Matto is the Bomb!

So I just want to say a quick word about how great my husband is. He has been so great with all the pregnancy symptoms. He comes to all the doctor appointments (Okay, so there has only been 2 so far, but still!). Here is a specific story about how great he is:

A few weeks ago I absolutely neeeeeeded lobster. Yes. Lobster. At the time he was taking a nap in the bedroom and I felt so bad waking him with such a frivolous need. I waited as long as I could, but I finally had to go in there. I sat on the bed and stared at him. He looked so peaceful. Finally, I said his name and he opened his eyes and smiled at me. I said, "Matto, I need some lobster. I am so sorry!" He said, "Well, lets go to Red Lobster. However, if this craving becomes a regular thing we are going to have to learn to cook lobster because that can get a bit expensive." That's it! No - "Katherine, lobster is expensive. Can you not crave something else." Nope. And no cranky I just woke up Matto either. He just took it in stride. I am proud to admit that was the last time I craved that. Whew!

Also, one night all I wanted to eat was Lipton Chicken noodle soup. When Matt discovered we didn't have any he just got up, grabbed his keys, and went to the store. No complaining, no grumping (despite the lateness of the hour) or anything. Yeah. He is that great.

Anyway. Just had to put in a good word for my wonderful man! He is definitely the Bomb!

I DON'T LIKE BEING A NOOB!

The title pretty much sums up my frustration. I do not like being new at things. I am a new nurse and very frustrated about it. I am constantly learning and trying to incorporate what I learn into my work, but I am so frustrated. I want to know it all now and I am tired of making mistakes. I wish I could have all the experience of a 30 year veteran nurse right now! Everytime I miss something or everytime I make a mistake I just want to kick myself. Some of those things just stem from not having the knowledge and I know that knowledge cannot all be learned in the space of a week, month or even a year, but I hate not being perfect. I guess that is the material point, isn't it. I. hate. not. being. perfect. I want to do my best and I think I do for the most part, but let's just face it: my best isn't good enough right now because I don't have the experience. Oh frustration.



As I sit here think about what to write next the thought comes to me: What does every solved problem have in common? God. He is definitely perfect and is an expert at it. I really need to trust Him and believe that He is still in charge and will carry me as I figure this thing out. It all comes down to that Rebecca St. James song again doesn't it? I really can trust Him with this. I know that it is God's will that I be a nurse. I have seen His hand in the whole journey to becoming a nurse. So what is the deal? Why am I fighting Him now? I totally identify with Paul in Romans 7 when he talks about how he is always doing the things he doesn't want to do and never doing the things he wants to do. woot for sin nature (insert sarcastic tone here).

God - I can trust you with my career. I can trust you with my pregnancy. I can trust you with my future parenthood. I can trust you with my life. I can trust you with those that I love the most deeply. Now that I've said it, will you please help me believe it. Thanks. Amen.

Prego: It's in there!

Whelp. With e-mail, cell phones, and facebook everybody pretty much knows already, but for bloggings sake (and the fact that I don't have anything to do at work right now and reading tends to put me to sleep) - Yes I am indeed pregnant. If you look to the right side of the blog you can find out exactly how far along I am. I am not telling the exact due date (although if you know your math you have probably already figured that out) because I want to avoid harrassment around due date time. Suffice to say we will have a new friend around Halloween and a new addition to our family circle at Christmas time.

Working where I work I am both blessed and cursed in regards to pregnancy. I know everything that is normal and am therefore not afraid or concerned at the normal pregnancy symptoms. However, I am also cursed in that I know everything that can go wrong, as I see it on a weekly basis at work. This is a big prayer request for me. I need to trust God with this pregnancy. A song that keeps coming to mind lately (maybe because I have had the CD playing in my car) is Rebecca St. James' "I Can Trust You."
Here are the lyrics:

I Can Trust You

Yes, I know that you have paved a path for me.

Yes, I know that you see what I do and don't need.

But when it comes to the deepest things

I have a hard time relinquishing control

Letting go

God, it hurts to give you what I must lay down

But when I let go, freedom's found

God, it hurts to give You what I've held so dear

Because of Your love its clear

I can trust you with this

I can trust you with me

I can trust you.

Lord, I know that you are worthy of my trust

For you have shown me time and time again

You're faithful and yet

I'm so scared of letting go of this

Afraid of what you might do with it

How could I forget who you are like this?

Me forsaking

Heart is breaking

I let go of what I've held so tight

Freedom's mine now

For the taking

I move in faith, not by sight

Let your will be done.

Every word cuts to the quick. Why shouldn't I give God my fears about this pregnancy and everything else in my life? He has always taken care of me and my family. Why would He stop now? Anyway, I could use some prayer in this. On that note....

Yay! We are going to have a monkey! Giraffe....BABY!

Thoughts on The Little Drummer Boy

Come they told me, a new born King to see; Our finest gifts we bring to lay before the King, so to honor Him when we come.

Little baby, I am a poor boy, too. I have no gift to bring that's fit to give the King. Shall I play for you on my drum?

Mary nodded. The ox and lamb kept time. I played by drum for Him. I played my best for him. Then he smiled at me; me and my drum.

So I always thought of this song as one of those songs that really has no Biblical basis and is just another fun song to sing, along with "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer" and "Santa Claus is coming to Town." However, recently I really listened to the lyrics. Okay so no drummer boy is mentioned anywhere in the gospels, but I really think this is saying something more than just, "There was this kid and he played his drum for the baby Jesus."

Some of the thoughts going through my head when I would listen to this song before were, "Really? Play a drum for a baby? Is that really such a good idea? Seriously. Isn't it kinda loud?" and "So the pa rum pa pum pums are getting a little redundant and irritating!" This year however I heard a really cool version of it by a group called "Denver and the Mile High Orchestra" that kind of jazzed it up a bit and added their own thing too it. One of the things added was: "I played my best for Jesus!" That got me thinking.

What do any of us really have that we can offer the King of Kings? Not really anything because everything we have already belongs to him. All our possessions, all our talents, us...it all belongs to Him. The best gift we can give to the King of Kings is to use what he has given us for him: To "play our best for Jesus."

So whatever talents Christ has given me - music, nursing, caring, teaching, compassion - I better just do my very best and stop fooling around. That is the only thing I can give Him to show my gratitude for his ultimate gift of salvation.

My hope for reward is His smile. Well done good and faithful servant. My I be worthy of that smile and statement.

Katherine, the directionally challenged: but divine appointment accomplished anyway!

So, Thursday while my handsome husband was at the Integrity music worship conference I was scheduled to volunteer at the crisis pregnancy center. I left in plenty of time, but as the title of my post implies (or rather bluntly states) I am apparently directionally challenged. Mind you, I did not get lost in the part of town that I rarely travel. No, I got lost in Friendswood, where I go all the time because lets face it...Alvin, Tx doesn't really have much to offer in the entertainment arena, but I digress. Here I am traveling along I-45 south (which I do frequently) and I totally missed my exit. So I got off two exits down and did a U-turn and got on I-45 north. I took the correct exit this time, but instead of going straight to 528, I turned onto Nasa rd 1 going in the opposite direction from which I intended. I finally got turned back around and found the freeway again and found a different intersection that I am quite familiar with and finally made it to my destination...15 minutes late. Oh, great. So, not only am I leaving early (to meet Matto for dinner), but I am also late. The thought going through my head when I parked is, "I might as well not have come at this point." However, God definitely had a plan for my life and another's life, as you will see.

When I got there, the other volunteer was taking a pregnancy test back for counseling, so I pretty much hung out and talked with the director. Then another client came in with her sister and mother, so I got her set up. (At this point I am feeling sleepy - not sure why - and rather complacent.) I took the girl back to one of the rooms for counseling and discovered that she was 15, already 29 weeks pregnant, and her mom just found out the week before. I counseled this girl on abstinence and STD's before I even got to the spiritual issues. Then I shared the gospel with her. God is so good. Everytime I present the gospel it is different. God always puts the words in my mouth that the receiver needs to hear. This girl ended up accepting Christ that day and we got her plugged into a pregnancy center a little closer to her, as well as a church right across the street from her high school. (One of the volunteers that works on Monday just happened to be visiting the center at that moment and she knew of a church my client's area.) The girl will probably come back to our center when I start teaching Childbirth education classes in January so I might get to see her again. I was also able to counsel her mother a little too.

As I look back on this experience I can see two hands working here. I definitely see Satan trying to influence this appointment. I didn't want to go to the center at all because my lazy self wanted to stay at the hotel and...be lazy. On the way to the center I got lost ( in a familiar part of town) not to mention sleepy (which is probably why I was having so much trouble). When I got there I was still sleepy and rather complacent. But God, right? God won (as He always does). I made it to the center (albeit 15 minutes late). Once I got the client in the room I woke up and God put the words she needed to hear in my mouth and opened her heart. My friend, Megan, just happened to be available to give me the name of a church for this girl to go to. God set the situation up perfectly to bless both me and this client. There is no barrier that keep us from God's will. It will be done!

Good times this week!

So this past week Matto went to a worship conference, hosted by Integrity Music, in north Houston so we decided to get a hotel room and make it a little "minibreak." We really only got to see one another in the evening as Matto was at the conference, so during the day I went about business as usual.

Wednesday morning I came home from work and went straight to rehearsal for the ladies quartet I sing with. It did not go well. Katherine gets a bit cranky when she hasn't slept all night. Then my mom helped me pack so I could get a couple hours sleep before I was to meet Matto for dinner. I ended up being about a half hour late as I apparently have absolutely no sense of direction. Hmm. Anyway. We had dinner at PF Chang's and then Matto dropped me off at the hotel while he went back to the conference for the evening session.

(By the way, he had and awesome time at the conference. He got to hear Lincoln Brewster, Paul Balosh (I know it is not spelled right - I'm lazy, okay!) and other names I am not familiar with. Too much fun. He was really excited and I think it did some good things for his spiritual walk as well. I am very proud of how much Matto has grown in Christ since I've known him. I am so excited to watch him continue to grow!)

...to continue...I hung out at the hotel until he came back from the conference. I soaked in the jacuzzi tub that was in the room (oh, yeah! - in the room) and watched tv. (Boring you say? Perhaps not. I watched a very interesting documentary on the weather channel all about the big fat hurricane in the early 20th century that killed so many people in Galveston. Natural disasters are always entertaining.) When Matto came back to the hotel we just hung out in the room. Very fun and relaxing!

Thursday Matto had more conference and I had Crisis Pregnancy center so we went our separate ways. I actually did not want to go to the Crisis pregnancy center and was thinking about backing out, but I went and was rewarded (it is a long story so I will post that one after this one.) We met up for dinner again and this time had Saltgrass. (Oh. yes. Definitely a real Texas steakhouse and therefore the only kind of steakhouse worth going to.) After dinner we went to the final concert at the conference together. Very cool.

I am now a fan of Paul Balosh ( I know it's spelled wrong - get over it!) and Lincoln Brewster. Not so much of the Canadian folk singer guy, but there you have it. Paul Baloche's (are you happy now? I looked it up and it is now correct.) music is very accessable for worship. The tunes are easy to follow and the words are theologically correct and very God focused. Lincoln Brewster is fun and the words are worshipful, but not as accessable as Paul Baloche. I digress.

Back at the hotel more fun with the jacuzzi action and hanging out and Friday we went home and had fun hanging out there too, despite the lack of jacuzzi tub.

Saturday I went with my mom, niece, nephew's girlfriend, and some friends from the crisis pregnancy center to se "Twilight." Very fun. A good movie that I will definitely own! Mind you, it is not necessarily a cinema masterpiece, but was definitely fun for fans of the book. I felt that it actually followed the book quite well.

Now, I am back at work. Yes, yes, I know. Only three days, but it is hard to go back to work after such fun not at work.