As noted before, Suzanne is a twin. Her sister, Julie (a.k.a. Doody), and bro-in-law, Chris, live in NYC. Also, as you may know, Suzanne’s older sister just had twins. Well, Suzanne is currently in the South to visit them. Please pray for her safety as she travels. Evan and I miss her lots.

As you probably know by now, we drove down to Calgary last week for our ultrasound. On the way back, we stopped at an unnamed (to protect the guilty) fast food “restaurant” for lunch. We don’t eat out much, but we have not had the best fast food experiences here in Canada for one reason or another. Don’t get me wrong, there is a plethora of wonderful things about Canada. Fast food is just not one of them. For example, KFC does not serve biscuits or white gravy here in Canada. WHAAAT? They might as well not serve chicken either! Biscuits go with fried chicken like milk goes with cookies. Actually, the only way to have white gravy here is to make it yourself. That’s not too surprising, though, since white gravy is a typically southern thing. The fast food here is usually fine, but we just do not get what we ordered. So, we have learned to check our order before we drive away so that we can ask for whatever is missing or have them take the mayo and onions off of Joe’s burger…again.

This particular visit for fast food proved to be another check mark on the list of “You Got My Order Wrong…Again.” I ordered a deli-type club sandwich instead of a burger so that I could partake of a delicious ice cream treat. But it turned out to be WAY less fattening than a burger and even a regular sandwich. See why:

Looks promising, yes? I took 2 bites before I realized something was missing:

I asked for no mayo, so that was supposed to be missing. But do you notice something else that’s missing. Uh, how about the turkey, bacon, and ham! No, they are not hiding under the lettuce and tomato. They were hiding so well that they couldn’t find them to put on my “club” sandwich. This “club” sandwich belongs to the “vegetarian club,” which is not where my loyalties lie.

On this visit, we went through the drive-thru, and I got in the back seat to get Evan started on his lunch before I ate mine. So, by the time I took a bite out of my BLT (Bread, Lettuce, Tomato) sandwich, we were too far down the road to turn back. I did put ham on it once we got home and enjoyed it anyway. I still have hope that one day, our fast food visit will add a check mark to the “Pigs Must Be Flying, Because My Order is Right, List.”

This video is a few seconds longer, so it might be easier to get a glimpse of our sweet little one. Isn’t technology so cool? Even more, isn’t God so amazing? What a miracle pregnancy is, and what an honor to be a part of it!

On another note, I forgot to mention that the technician said everything looks great as far as measurements and development of the baby, and that I was a GREAT person to scan. I’m not sure why? She said I could come in ANY time to get an ultrasound. I bet that will be our last one, but that was nice anyway. The reason we had this ultrasound is because my doctor was slightly concerned that the placenta was still too low. The technician said that is no longer a concern, which was great news since a c-section would be in order if it didn’t move up.

The only concern for now is that she said I have a kidney stone. That was such a surprise to me, since I haven’t had any pain that would lead me to believe something was wrong. I have never had so much as a bladder infection, so I am a little nervous about that. Sorry if that’s too much info., but would you pray about that if you think of it? Thanks!

Enjoy the video!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkeSlA0vrwg]

We went. We saw. We know.

We went to have an ultrasound this morning, that is, and saw our baby in 4D. Amazing. And yes, we DID find out if it’s a boy or a girl! But before I tell you, check out this video. DO NOT scroll down. Don’t do it! Don’t. Do. It. Would you change your guess after seeing it?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TmeTt_ukw4]

One thing the technician did say is, “Oh, look at that nose! What a beautiful profile! That’s a good size nose for a baby!” Is that a compliment? I’m not sure, but I can’t help but think of Jerry Seinfeld’s joke about a nose job being called “rhinoplasty.” As if the person seeking the nose job isn’t insecure enough about their overly large nose, and then the doctors basically compare the size of their nose to a rhino. Ouch. That’s hurtful. Anyway, we, of course, thought that this baby was just perfect and will surely be one of the two most beautiful babies ever (Evan being the other).

So, without any further babbling on my part, I will tell you that if you guessed a boy, then you are…

wrong. The majority rules in this case, since most of you guessed girl! If you guessed wrong, no worries. I have guessed wrong in almost all of our friends’ pregnancies, and I guessed wrong when I was pregnant with Evan. Thanks for playing! Now, what to name her…we’ll reveal that one when she’s born!

I’m working on a post now.

Check very soon for an update on our ultrasound!

We’ve got some exciting things coming up that we’ll be blogging about in more detail in the weeks to come. Side note: the spell check on this blog does not include the word blog/blogging. It gives suggestions such as bogging, logging, boggling, etc. How’s that for irony? Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

As I was saying, we have some fun things going on that we want to share with you:

1) My next ultrasound is this Friday. Do you think it’s a boy or a girl? Leave a comment with your guess. I will post some ultrasound pictures on here sometime on Friday or Saturday.

2) Next week, we will make our annual trek down to GoodSeed USA in Idaho for our annual staff Bible Camp. It is a great time for our offices to get together for a few intensive days of Bible Study, fellowship, and an all around good time. I hope to take some more pictures like this one (taken there last year):

3) From there, I will be flying south to visit my new niece and nephew in Mississippi while Joe and Evan drive back north for the winter. I’m sure it will be my last long trip for a while before the arrival of baby #2!

4) We’ll be back here soon!

My friend Jennifer “tagged” me on her blog, so since I’ve never been tagged before, I thought it would be a fun way to give you some insight on my husband. Plus, I think that the term “my man” is really funny:

1. Who is your man? Joe. Also know by me as: sweetie, Jooooooooooe!, Joseph, or babe. He’s a wonderful husband and father, and I feel very blessed and undeserving of him.

2. How long have you been together? Dating/courting + engaged + married = nearly 9 years

3. How long did you date? 14 or so months, and then engaged for 7 months.

4. How old is your man? 29, almost 30 - he is 5 months younger than me, which he calculates in dog years or something and makes me out to be ancient compared to him.

5. Who eats more? He does, although I look like I do.

6. Who said “I love you” first? I think he did. I’m the one who is supposed to remember things like that, right?

7. Who is taller? He is, thankfully, but that is not saying much! Most people are taller than me. He thinks it’s funny to get on his knees and ask me if I would have married him had he been that short. I say NO!

8. Who sings better? He does. No doubt. Except when he sings badly on purpose, because then it is really bad.

9. Who is smarter? He is. He is good at everything, which is really annoying sometimes, but he’s not prideful or arrogant, which makes me really proud of him for being good at so many things - when I’m not annoyed, that is.

10. Whose temper is worse? Depends on the day. We’ve worked hard on being better communicators, though, so I don’t see his temper too often.

11. Who does the laundry? I do, but he helps me a lot.

12. Who takes out the garbage? He usually does. I’ll sometimes take it out during the day while he’s gone.

13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Is there a wrong side?

14. Who pays the bills? God provides the money. Joe and I both write the checks!

15. Who is better with the computer? Joe. By far. He taught me lots of what I know.

16. Who mows the lawn? He does. Thanks, Joe!

17. Who cooks dinner? I do, I do! Occasionally he’ll get in the kitchen and make something really good!

18. Who drives when you are together? Yep, Joe again.

19. Who pays when you go out? He does. Unless he forgets his wallet.

20. Who is most stubborn? I am NOT stubborn. Nope. Not me. Not ever. Never.

21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? He is, only because I’m never wrong. And I’m not stubborn either.
22. Whose parents do you see the most? His.

23. Who kissed who first? Our first kiss was at our wedding.

24. Who asked who out? He asked me. He was nervous. It was cute.

25. Who proposed? I’d like to propose a toast now…to Joe!

26. Who is more sensitive? We’re each more sensitive about some things than the other.

27. Who has more friends? I’m probably better (but not great) at keeping up with friends, but a lot of our friends are the same.

28. Who has more siblings? ME! I have 4, he has 2.
29. Who wears the pants in the family? Joe, Evan, me. Although I’m the only one who wears skirts, too.

Thanks, Jenn! That was fun!

There are two things that I love. Well, I love a lot more than just two things, but for the sake of time and interest, I’ll only talk about two of those for now. And those two things are (drum roll, please)… autumn and baking. Since those two things go so well together, I thought I’d share one of our favorite fall recipes. This might be a “girlie” post. But I AM a girl. And, ANYONE can make these. Certainly, anyone can enjoy them. Well, not anyone like babies, those who might be allergic, or those who do not like pumpkin or apples or good-tasting things. Anyway, once again, I digress. Sorry. Back to the recipe:

Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins*

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups peeled, cored and chopped apple
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 18 muffin cups or use paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, sift together 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 cups sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together eggs, pumpkin and oil. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture; stirring just to moisten. Fold in apples. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons flour, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle topping evenly over muffin batter.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
5. Enjoy!

I added step #5, because I find it really funny when recipes say that. I have been making these muffins for years, and they are one of the reasons we look forward to fall. Yes, they are that good. So, what are you waiting for? Go make them already! And then feel free to send them to me.

*One of my favorite websites is Allrecipes.com. I find lots of recipes there, including this one.