A Little Behind

So obviously I suck at keeping up with this blog, but I'll try to do better. Another obvious statement - a lot has happened since my last blog! So let me try to catch up a bit and at least give some highlights.

The month of January was pretty low-key (at least until January 26th :) ). We didn't plan anything and used the time to prepare for Caleb's arrival and rest up while we could. We watched TV episodes on the computer,

Chris attempted to knit,

and we played some Wii Fit and MarioKart. A couple of weeks before Caleb was born we went to a Shane and Shane concert which was really good. As of my 39 week appointment I was still only 1 cm dilated and 70% effaced. Nothing happened the following week and we left for the hospital the night of Monday January 25th to be induced the next day. Tuesday morning they started the induction and everything was moving along smoothly until Caleb's heart rate kept dropping and my doctor informed me that we may have to go for a C-Section. Shortly after Caleb's heart rate dropped and didn't come back up and we went for an emergency C-Section just after 12:00 p.m. It all happened so fast and before I knew it we were in the OR and they had started surgery. I was obviously numb and I must say the sensation was one of the strangest I've ever felt. At 12:26 p.m. I heard the most beautiful sound as my son exercised his lungs and vocal cords for the first time. I got to see him for about 30 seconds before they took him to be weighed, measured, bathed, etc:

A little while later they brought him to my room and I finally got to meet the little guy when I was a bit more with it and not so tired. It was a beautiful meeting:

Gram knitted him some booties that were so cute!

I could of course put loads of photos on here, but I won't. Some of the highlights include:

First outing (to his first doctor's appt. and to Target):

First bath at home:

First snow - in Texas!!

Going shopping and trying on sunglasses:

First St. Patrick's Day:

Playing with Eeyore:

A trip to Ft. Worth Botanic Gardens:

and his first Easter:

So we've enjoyed being with our families and letting them soak up all the time they can with him before we leave. We'll make one more trip down to see Chris' family in SE Texas. We'll go to a family reunion and celebrate our nephews' birthdays and I'll go to my sister-in-law's baby shower. Then we'll return to Lewisville and my best friend will arrive for a visit to meet Caleb and help celebrate my birthday. Our appointment service will be in Chicago on May 4th and we will depart for London on May 13th. It's coming so fast! We would appreciate prayers as we wrap up our time here, pack, and say some hard good-byes before heading back to London.

Christmas Time is Here...

So it's been two months and obviously a lot has happened since my last post. We spent the next two weeks saying goodbyes and packing up our flat. We had to pack up the entire flat (except what was already furnished) since we will not be going back to that place. The last 2-3 days before we left were quite frantic! The Hands On interns, our 6 month intern and another good friend of ours joined us to say goodbye at the airport. The flight was uneventful, but I got a picture of what our trip back will be like. There was a British couple a few rows up from us, in the bulk head row, with a baby so I was able to see what a 10 hour flight with a baby is like. Should be interesting!We arrived to my parent's house in the late afternoon and then later had the dinner I had been planning for weeks - steak at Texas Roadhouse! It was just as good as I remembered. Then the next day for lunch I had my next favorite food:

Sonic greatness! We were having a great time being home, but realized how hard it was not

having a car. But our second Sunday home we received a huge blessing that we couldn't have seen coming. We were at our church in Arlington talking to a lady we knew and told her of our need for a car. Not half and hour later she called Chris over and told her she had a lead on a car. She introduced us to a lady who said that she and her husband had a spare car they had tried to sell but couldn't. They wondered why they were keeping this car around and now we are the third people to be able to use it. They said we could have it for as long as we needed it. What a blessing! We spent the next two weeks in southeast Texas with Chris' family. We spent a few days with Chris' youngest brother, his wife and their little girl. It was great to spend time with them and meet our niece for the first time. That Friday we had dinner with Chris' other siblings and their spouses and I met Chris' other brother's wife for the first time. Crazy! We had a great time concluding with a great baby shower.

These are the shower hostesses (my sisters-in-law and mother-in-law) and me:(from left)

Lacey, Angela, me, Amber, and Jamie

This is Chris' first pair of shoes. And the bottle in the back is actually a candle that his mom had

at her baby shower before she had Chris.

My sister-in-law made this cake. It was so good- and cute!

Then we went back to the Dallas area to spend a few weeks with my family. We arrived on Monday and Thursday was Thanksgiving. Once again, I failed to actually get pictures of people but I got some of the food and pretty table!

Yummy turkey!

My beautiful cranberry dip.

Pretty place setting.

The rest of the time was spend doing a lot of sports watching, baby shopping, and Christmas shopping. But one of the most important things was cookie making! My mom and I had lots of fun with some very delicious outcomes.

We had barely gotten started and I already got flour on Caleb!

Of course I had to taste test along the way. :)

Me and mama had fun cooking! We were making some cookies that my Grandpa Hurst's mom first made. And we were being silly in the process!

The finished products - beautiful AND yummy!

While we were working on taking our Christmas card picture I was just having some fun taking pictures of my parents' tree and some ornaments. I also took this picture of a special present that will arrive about a month after Christmas:

We can't wait for his arrival!

My parents' pretty Christmas tree.

Pretty ornament

Awesome ornament

My grandma made this when she was in the nursing home. She was pretty unresponsive to anything else, but when they put a paint brush in her hand it was like she remembered what to do. (She used to be a painter).

A few days ago we came back down to southeast Texas to spend the two weeks leading up to Christmas with Chris' family. On Sunday we did Christmas with Chris' brothers and sisters and spouses (we draw names for gifts) since one of the couples won't be here on Christmas day. We had a lot of fun and it was the first time all the siblings and spouses had been together for Christmas (well, early Christmas anyway).

So that basically catches us up to now. There have been doctor's appointments mixed in there but nothing significant to report. Everything is good and he is head down. Next appointment is December 28th and then I'll start going weekly. Can't believe I'm closing in on 8 months!

So that's what's been going on with us. Hopefully I will be better about updating this especially when our little guy arrives.

Merry Christmas!

2 Weeks

Nothing really monumental to report. On Tuesday Chris celebrated his birthday; the big 3-0. On Monday we went to our interns' flat and had lunch and cheesecake - so good! Then we went to a movie and dinner with some friends. We had dinner at a yummy bbq place Chris discovered a few months ago. The picture below was taken Tuesday night. In my family, the birthday sign has been hung for every birthday in our house since I can remember so we have carried on the tradition.

Now, in reference to the blog title, two weeks from today is when we depart for Texas. I can't believe it's so close! There's so much to do before then but we're making our way through our to-do lists. The weather has been beautiful lately and today is another sunny day. There's always something to be happy about when the sun is out! :)

Cereal

They seem to be big on healthy cereals here. Sure, you'll find some Cocoa Pops and Frosted Flakes (which is actually the store brand name here; the Kellogg's brand is Frosties). But for the most part the cereals are on the healthy side. Which is probably a good thing and I've found cereals I like so it's all good. But the other day I was just really wanting some Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Which I know they don't have here. So last week I was in a little shop, that's kind of like a small 7-11, looking for cereal. I figured I'd just get some honey cheerios and be on my way. But then I saw this:

As I read the box and looked at the picture I thought, could it be? So I bought it and had some when I got home. Actually first I smelled it and it smelled just like Cinnamon Toast Crunch. This is a good sign, I thought. So I took the first bite and said, Well that just made my day! It's the simple things really. :)

A New Blog

So for a while now I've been thinking that I wanted to have my own personal blog. Chris and I sort of have one together on our website, but I just want to have my own. At this point many of my posts will probably be about getting ready to return to the States as well as our new addition arriving in January. But there will also be random thoughts about life, things God is teaching me, etc. So an update on life at the moment: in 4 weeks we will be flying back to Texas to live for 6 months while going through the turnaround process to come back to London "long term" (whatever that looks like - first term will be 3 years). About half way through our time at home, Caleb Austin Lynch will join our family. I am currently 21 weeks along; here is Caleb's latest scan and my latest belly shot:

But before we leave we have our last volunteer team coming from the States for a week. They will be partnering with us in a town just east of here where a large part of our work is taking place. Also, Chris will celebrate the big 3-0 in a couple of weeks! So we'll be a bit busy for the next month but look forward to a relaxing time at home with our families. That's all for now!