New Toy

Chris got a new toy today...a Toro lawn mower! While it's not as cool as the one in the video below, he's still pretty proud of it. I'll see if I can get him to put his helmet on while he's riding it one day...I think it'd be hilarious! Enjoy the video, I had to laugh :)

Home Improvements

BEFORE

(Yellow Siding & Green Shutters)

AFTER

(Khaki Siding & Black Shutters...and blooming tree!!)

We're finally done w/ the outside of our house!! I'm so happy w/ the way it all turned out, and I am now in LOVE with fusion spray paint (that's how we painted the shutters). We've also added rocking chairs, which are apparently must-have's here in Columbus. We're painting those this weekend...I'm on a roll!

My Cup Overflows

While writing in one of my many journals the other day (you know my "list habit"?? I have the same problem with journals!), I decided to include some of my answered prayers. I mean, I always write down my prayer requests, but I noticed that I don't always remember to record when those prayers have been answered. As I continued to list my abundant blessings, I realized that my cup is seriously overflowing! It brought me so much joy to look back upon the wonderful things that God has bestowed upon my family & friends this year that I thought I would share a few of them with you.

First of all, the picture above is one of the last ones that was taken w/ my friends in England. Wendy lovingly organized a good-bye party for me at the Old Plough, and we had the waiter get a quick picture of us before we left. When we moved to England, I was terrified. Would I make friends? How would I get involved? How in the world would I get acclimated to a new country when I missed my family so much? I prayed for a group of women that I could relate to, that I could become a part of, that would become my "new family". Well, you're looking at a snapshot of that answered prayer. These are just a few of the women that touched my heart while we lived overseas....just a few of the beautiful ladies that I will forever remember. God saw my despair & fear, and provided ten-fold. I am so grateful.

And my sweet girl, Elliana. As you all probably know (if you read my blog!), we prayed for this child. Our hearts longed for her (or him...we didn't care!). And I cannot tell you how amazing it feels to have this little life inside of me. She is a miracle, I am convinced of that more and more every day. And even though she isn't here yet, I am filled with a sense of wonder & amazement that we have been given this unbelievable gift. And God knows her intimately already:

"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart." Jer 1:5

And my loving husband. This picture shows multiple answered prayers! First of all, that God provided me a husband that is absolutely perfect for me. I couldn't ask for a better man. Secondly, that he has been given the opportunity to live his dream. His has a heart for the military, and for flying, and that he has been able to get paid for that absolute love is just awesome. The fact that we got stationed in England, that he deployed & essentially saved lives, that he was a crew-member in the Mighty Eagle...all blessings, just stacked on top of each other! And lastly, that he came home to me, safe and sound, on what was possibly the happiest day of my life.

And then today, in a simple email, another prayer was answered.

It's always hard to move, and those same fears & concerns that I had in England have, once again, found me in Columbus. I have been praying that we find a church home (we're still looking), that I can find a women's bible study here in the area, and that I might meet some women in the same type of situation as I am (military/student wives) for fellowship. Well, seemingly out of nowhere, I got an email today from the DO's wife that included some info about the area, and the names of some women who will be the "Reps" for the students here. One of the Rep's has a blog, and even mentioned how much she enjoys her Bible Study. Even if I'm not able to join it, I just feel as if God is urging me to stop worrying, and to remember that He really does have everything under control. It's a remarkable feeling really...knowing how huge the world is, how many problems there are...that He truly cares about me & my simple fears & concerns.

We serve an AWESOME God, and I encourage you to take a moment to look at your own cup. I bet that you'll find that you've got some overflow as well!!

Need A List?? I'm Your Girl!!

Well, the blog has changed a little bit, but I'm still contemplating about whether or not I like the new title. I'm afraid I've hit a creative roadblock, and can't come up with anything more exciting than "The Duncan Diaries". I like it, but I don't...I think I'm just indecisive. I'm all ears if anyone has any other suggestions! Oh, and I'll be changing everything up again in a few weeks (hopefully) when Elli arrives because the AWESOME Jen has given me the name of her fab-o blog designer, and I want mine to be cute like hers! I'm waiting til Elli gets here so I'll have some cute-ums pictures to display :)

I tried my absolute hardest to make my own header...FOR HOURS!! I really wanted to make it myself, and I would have been so proud had it actually worked. But alas, I am not the computer goddess that I dream of being, and I finally gave up about the time that thoughts of my computer sailing through my window started sounding like a good solution. So, out-sourcing it is...and no, I'm not ashamed!

Thanks for all of the encouraging posts about Elli's chunk-status (I say that with all the love in the world!). After praying about it, we've decided that unless it is absolutely necessary, we're not going to induce. Check back with me in about a week though because this whole "heel to the rib" thing is really starting to get a little bit old :) We're ready though, emotionally & physically. Well, if you can ever really be ready, I guess. Our bags are packed, the car seat is strapped in the car, the nursery is finished, her bows are organized...I threw in that last one to see if you were really paying attention! At this point I think I'm making myself nuts with stuff that doesn't really need to get done, but fills up my time. There are lots of lists happening...recipe lists, grocery lists, must-have lists, don't forget lists, a list to remind me to look at my lists. You catch my drift?! Can you just see Chris? He's lovin' the fact that his wife has officially gone off the deep end! But, I'm just anxious. Anxious, excited, and oh-so-happy. I just can't wait to meet our daughter...so what if I've gone a little bit crazy??!!

Blog Fun...

I'm attempting to change things around a little bit on here...I think I have too much time on my hands!! Hopefully, by tomorrow, I'll have a happy new header at the top of the page w/ a fun new name since we're no longer living in England! More than likely though, when you visit my site you'll see a big MESS!! At least I warned you :)

Baby Scoop

I had another Dr's appt today w/ my fab-o OB to find out when Miss Thang might make her grand appearance. The first words out of his mouth when he walked into the room were, "Well, Mrs. Duncan, looks like you're going to have a BIG baby!", after which he proceeded to chuckle quietly. I failed to find as much humor in his comment as he did!!

Let me back up a little bit...

At my appointment last week, he said that I was 1cm dilated, and was 50% effaced. Since I had no idea what that meant, I quickly went home and googled it. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE google?? Anyway, I found that it basically meant nothing...could have a day, could have another 5 weeks. But, since I was only 35 weeks and in no hurry, I just took it as a good sign that things had started happening. He also ordered another ultrasound for me so that he could get a good estimate of how big our sweet girl might be getting...and, of course I was excited to be offered another chance to see her!! So, I went in yesterday and the tech said that our little Elli was weighing in at a healthy 6lbs 11oz. Hmmm, that seemed a little on the large side, but the tech seemed fine w/ it so I just focused on the cute chubby cheeks that were dancing across the screen.

That brings us to today, and the aforementioned comment by my Dr. In all the baby books that I've read, I must have skipped the part about babies gaining 1/2 to 3/4 lbs during the last weeks in the womb. How could I have possibly missed that?? So, let's just say that I go full-term...she could weigh over 9 lbs! I know that plenty of women do it, I was just hoping that I would be staying (a little more comfortably, I might add!!) in the 6-7 lb club. But, I know it's not in my hands, so there is no reason to stress...and, those cheeks are pretty cute...yeah, I should definitely focus on that :)

And, despite my usually very accurate gut instinct, I am still only dilated to 1cm. I could have sworn that she was coming last week...just a lot of changes & fun labor symptoms that I'll spare the details on! It is great to know that she's ready, in position, & obviously pretty healthy, though! I can't really ask for anything more :)

Weekend Ramblings

I heard one of my favorite songs on the radio yesterday, "It's a Great Day to be Alive" by Travis Tritt. Have you heard it? I just love it! Every time I hear it, it brings a smile to my face and I just can't help but sing along. I was definitely having one of those days yesterday; happy & thankful, and just lovin' life. Hearing that song just topped it off!!

Thanks to everyone who has given me their advice about sewing! I'm so glad to hear that I have so many friends that I can call on to help me out when I totally mess up whatever it is that I'm making!!

I've been feeling really crafty lately, I just love working with my hands (not to be confused w/ getting my hands dirty, which is a totally different story!). I recently made Elli a super cute bow holder, not to toot my own horn or anything! You all know the love that I feel for Etsy.com, and when I was browsing a few months ago I came across these great bow holders that were CRAZY expensive. So, I thought to myself, if they can do it...I can do it. Now, I must admit that mine isn't as fancy or as perfect looking as some of the ones that I found; however, I'm pretty proud of myself for at least trying and I think Elli might like the fact that her Mama made it for her...hmmm, we'll see :) I'll update this w/ a pic later.

I also made her a lamp shade for the lamp that will go behind the rocker in her room...too bad we don't have the rocker yet! Have I mentioned that I'm a little bit impatient? So anyway, I was thinking that I needed a pink lampshade (because really...can there BE enough pink in there??), but didn't want to throw any more moolah into nursery decor. What was a girl to do? Well, one old white lampshade, a few yards of ribbon, my trusty hot-glue gun, and a little help from my mom later, I had my solution!! What do you think??

My next project is learning how to make hair bows! Funny thing is that one of my other friends wants to become a bow expert too!! I think a collaboration might be coming on :)