Oh how time flies....

Everyone warned me that the pregnancy would fly by. I didn't believe them. At times, it felt like it would never end. Indeed though, it did end, on October 22, 2009. And, we welcomed into the world our wonderful little man, Derrek Nolan Underwood!






As you can see, I did end up having a c-section. I went into labor on the 21st, and when we went to the hospital, they determined the little bugger was still in a full breech position. We are all doing well now and recovering well. I'll be adding more updates as I go now that Derrek is sleeping longer during the night and Daddy and I are starting to feel a bit more human. I'll also post the full on birth story for those who like to read them.

Lots of updates......

Ok, so it has been a while. But, I have been busy!!!!!!! That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it ;-)

Of course, we have had the beginnings of Football season. And, my Raven's are doing pretty well! Even Ebony is excited!

We are also getting stuff rolling in church as the Fall came storming in. Ray is teaching Adult Sunday School and I'm leading the same study in an evening group at our home. I am also leading the youth group.

As for the yard/garden? Well....ummmmm, yeah! The weeds got it. I think it is a Nebraskan conspiracy or something! I have been able to keep up with the front yard and a bit on the side. The rest? Not so much. Bending over to pull weeds just does not jive with having a growing baby in the belly. There is always next year. Not to mention, next year we are going to be turning a portion of the back yard BACK into a lawn instead of a garden full of flowers, cactus, weeds and rocks.

Oh yeah, and we have Derrick getting closer and closer to his arrival each day. I am due on November 7th, and so far we have had a healthy pregnancy. Let's pray that does not change. Many have asked about the final update and pictures of the completed nursery and my belly. Enjoy!!!!

New Belly Pic

Well, ok....here it is! People have asked, and now I am delivering......






The picture is of Ray and I out and about at Rock Creek Station near Fairbury, NE. I'm a huge history buff, and the California/Oregon Trails as well as the Pony Express went right through here. You can even see some of the wagon ruts left. Not a lot of detail, but no doubts that I am 23 weeks pregnant in this picture! Thanks to my lovely sister for snapping this one... ;-)

It's Done!

And now.....the long awaited announcement you have all been waiting for......



THE BABY'S ROOM IS DONE!!!!!!!!!



This is the room, as you may remember, was Pepto Pink when we moved in. Well, not anymore! Good thing too since it turns out that we are having a boy. The room is painted, the carpet is in, and the dresser is in the room. My mom and sister will be visiting next week. Therefore, we still have the twin bed in there and the crib is still in a box on the porch. When they leave, the bed will go upstairs and crib will come in.


Here are some pictures of Ray learning how to paint his first room:






And now...the finished product!!!!!!!

It has been a long process, but I'm so excited that it is over! We learned a lot about our home as well as to not expect anything to be square or even in a house that is over 100 years old. Now we have plenty of time to get everything ready for little Derrick to arrive around November 7, 2009!

Water Rescue At The Dog Park

This past Monday, Ray and I decided to take our 50 lb puppy to the dog park in Lincoln. Ebony LOVES the dog park! She is a very well mannered, curious and social dog and she can practice all of that there.

Now, Ebony is a mix. We know she has lab and german shepherd in her. She has the webbed feet, tail and coat of fur that labs are known for. Her head, ears and personality however are all shepherd!

Back to the story. We got to the park and she explored and played for a bit. Then we ended up over at the creek and pond. She is a lab mix who is not so happy about being wet. She has webbed feet for goodness sake! So, this could not last for long. We tried to get her to go into the water and check it out, assuming that she would like it if she jumped in. No success! She would sniff the water, drink the water, but didn't even want her paws wet.

With that, we decided to take action. A dog with webbed feet should be swimming on a hot and sunny summer day. Ray took her around to the other side of the pond area, and bumped her into the water.

She fell into the water and immediately climbed out. But then, she seemed a bit curious. So, into the water she went again with a little help from Ray. And then it happened....Ebony froze. She did not fight the water, but she sat down and would not move or try to get out. At first we thought she was just getting used to the water. Then we realized she didn't know what to do and she was unsure about swimming in deeper water that she would have needed to go through in order to come out the other side toward us.

After about 15 minutes and her making no attempt to even really move around, it was time for a Ray style water rescue! He took off shoes and socks, and went in the water to bring her out.

And that fast, Ebony was again the happy and playful pup she always is, although very wet. She immediately started playing with another dog and running around.

We stayed for a while to let her play herself tired and to dry out a bit before getting back into the car. Next time we plan to take waterproof shoes or sandals, some towels and treats and see if we can get her to follow us into the water. It would be such a shame for those very cute webbed paws to go to waste!

Oh yeah, you did not see double. Ray and I are wearing matching t-shirts. Totally unplanned, but neither of us felt like changing that morning. No jokes please ;-)

One Step Closer

Today was a good day. Yes, it was the day that Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson passed away. However, it is apparent that life does go on. We were able to have our 20 week ultrasound today and to witness just how new life grows.


For your viewing pleasure, let me introduce to you......Derrick Nolan Underwood! We can't wait to meet you!

Say goodbye to the pink!!!!

When Ray and I first looked at the house we moved into, we knew right away that one of the bedrooms on the main floor was perfect for a nursery or kids room! The problem? It was painted pink. I mean REALLY PINK!

Even if we end up having girl, who would want to sleep in a room the color or Pepto Bismol? So, it is now painted a nice soothing and neutral color. We pulled up the old and ugly slate blue carpet hoping that the hard wood under it would be good. Surprise! It wasn't!

Not only was the horrible pink and white paint all over it, the hard wood as you can see did not even reach the wall on two sides! Ack! So, we changed plans and decided to cover it with laminate flooring. Not realizing (like a dummy) that the 100 year old hard wood was probably not level, we tried in vein to lay the floor. After a few days, we knew it was not happening without a lot more work. And, my pregnant body was not up to the task considering all the manual and physical stuff the rest of the house and the yard requires.

So, we ordered carpet. We are hoping to have it installed within the next couple of weeks. Once it is in and the room is decorated with cute baby things, I'll show more pics. But, that probably won't be until much later this summer.

Baby Update: He/She is moving like crazy! It is not really hard kicks or anything like that, but I feel a ton of movement, especially in the evenings. Our doctor's office is getting new ultrasound equipment installed on the day we were supposed to go in for the 20 week ultrasound. So, we have been rescheduled for later that week. Hopefully, we will be able to find out the sex of the baby. Considering that I have caught the "I must buy all cute baby things" flu, it may be a good thing if we are not able to find out! However, I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to know.

Yummy!

Well, at this point my veggie plants are paid for. I harvested my first round of lettuce today, and Ray and I enjoyed it in a salad for lunch. It was very yummy and it was really neat to be able to go to the yard for food instead of to the grocery store!

By next week, I should have some berries to harvest too. In fact, I'll have enough of them for about 1000 pies by the end of the season! Maybe I'll try to sell some at the church farmer's market with the proceeds going to missions. Or, I'll process them and freeze them so I can bake in the winter.

Regardless, the yard and the veggies are coming along. So is my pregnant belly. No doubt I am pregnant now! Although I'm not brave enough for a full out naked belly picture, you will get the point.




Considering that I have not gained, but lost 15lbs since I stopped working, my doc said I may be lucky to gain 15lbs by the time all is said and done. But, it is totally normal considering I'm not eating out 2 or 3 times a day, sitting behind a desk for 10 hours a day and driving in the car for another 2 hours per day. And, I could stand to lose some weight anyhow.

Our next doctors appointment is on June 22 and they will do the 20 week ultrasound. Assuming the baby cooperates, we will be able to find out the gender, if we decide to do that. Still not 100% sold on letting the sex be a surprise up until the birth. I guess we will have to wait until that day to decide for sure. Either way, it will be a good day.

And now, both Ebony and myself need a walk. Catch ya later!

Memorial Day, 2009

Well, the day is almost over and Ray and I have had a great one! We slept in, then worked together in getting some much needed house work done. We have lots to do over the next week to get ready for a furniture delivery on Thursday. However, the weather was beautiful and this afternoon we decided to cook out on the grill for the first time. The grill, by the way, was another perk of buying the house! Here are some pictures of Ray cooking dinner:









While he was cooking, I was enjoying the garden yard. It is so much fun because it changes every day. And, the veggies are doing GREAT!!!! In fact, I will be harvesting some lettuce tomorrow. The strawberries are also growing. We are going to have a ton of them. Good thing we really like them. I'll have to find some recipes for smoothies. That would be perfect for the summer. As for the flowers, here are some pictures for you to enjoy:

In Flanders Fields

By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

According to the web site http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/flanders.htm

McCrae's "In Flanders Fields" remains to this day one of the most memorable war poems ever written. It is a lasting legacy of the terrible battle in the Ypres salient in the spring of 1915. Here is the story of the making of that poem:
Although he had been a doctor for years and had served in the South African War, it was impossible to get used to the suffering, the screams, and the blood here, and Major John McCrae had seen and heard enough in his dressing station to last him a lifetime.
As a surgeon attached to the 1st Field Artillery Brigade, Major McCrae, who had joined the McGill faculty in 1900 after graduating from the University of Toronto, had spent seventeen days treating injured men -- Canadians, British, Indians, French, and Germans -- in the Ypres salient.
It had been an ordeal that he had hardly thought possible. McCrae later wrote of it:
"I wish I could embody on paper some of the varied sensations of that seventeen days... Seventeen days of Hades! At the end of the first day if anyone had told us we had to spend seventeen days there, we would have folded our hands and said it could not have been done."
One death particularly affected McCrae. A young friend and former student, Lieut. Alexis Helmer of Ottawa, had been killed by a shell burst on 2 May 1915. Lieutenant Helmer was buried later that day in the little cemetery outside McCrae's dressing station, and McCrae had performed the funeral ceremony in the absence of the chaplain.
The next day, sitting on the back of an ambulance parked near the dressing station beside the Canal de l'Yser, just a few hundred yards north of Ypres, McCrae vented his anguish by composing a poem. The major was no stranger to writing, having authored several medical texts besides dabbling in poetry.
In the nearby cemetery, McCrae could see the wild poppies that sprang up in the ditches in that part of Europe, and he spent twenty minutes of precious rest time scribbling fifteen lines of verse in a notebook.
A young soldier watched him write it. Cyril Allinson, a twenty-two year old sergeant-major, was delivering mail that day when he spotted McCrae. The major looked up as Allinson approached, then went on writing while the sergeant-major stood there quietly. "His face was very tired but calm as we wrote," Allinson recalled. "He looked around from time to time, his eyes straying to Helmer's grave."
When McCrae finished five minutes later, he took his mail from Allinson and, without saying a word, handed his pad to the young NCO. Allinson was moved by what he read:
"The poem was exactly an exact description of the scene in front of us both. He used the word blow in that line because the poppies actually were being blown that morning by a gentle east wind. It never occurred to me at that time that it would ever be published. It seemed to me just an exact description of the scene."
In fact, it was very nearly not published. Dissatisfied with it, McCrae tossed the poem away, but a fellow officer retrieved it and sent it to newspapers in England. The Spectator, in London, rejected it, but Punch published it on 8 December 1915.
Thanks to Mack Welford for reminding me of this great poem.

Thank you to all the men and women who serve in our Armed Forces! We appreciate your hard work, dedication and sacrifices!!!

Family Heirlooms

Ray and I have been very fortunate. We have been able to buy a great starter house at a price that was a steal. We are expecting our first child. We have also been blessed in some of the "things" we have acquired. Included in this has been my grandmother's china. I finally got around to washing it and putting it into our china cabinet. I don't normally care about really fancy, expensive stuff. But this is a little different. It is a part of my families history that I will be able to continue sharing with others. Here are some pictures:

You probably saw some other heirlooms, both old and not so old. But, all of them tell a story of Ray's and my heritage, present and future. I can't wait to have someone come over and visit so we can use them!

Thank you Grandmom!!! I love you!!!

Veggies Anyone?

All my veggies are now in the ground! Well, at least all of them that I have to plant for now. I still need to get a few tomato plants and clear one more corner of the little plot in the yard I am using.





I took the above picture to show you the process of clearing this area and getting it ready for veggies. The prior owners of the home had prepared this area for and planted several cactus. So, I had to remove all the river rocks (as you see on the right side of the picture), turn the earth to mix in the small layer of sand on top with the good soil underneath, and fertilize before planting the veggies. It is not a huge area, but enough that doing it pregnant tuckers me out after a while.

So far, we have planted:

Rhubarb
Iceberg lettuce
Red leaf lettuce
spinach
bell peppers
broccoli
zucchini
green beans

So, one corner left, then plant the tomatoes. Then all that is left is watering and watching my veggies grow! Oh yeah, then eating them up too!

Home and Garden...and a lot of work!

As I mentioned before, our yard is not your normal yard. It is a garden. AN ENTIRE GARDEN! While I was working, I tried to explain this to my coworkers. I don't think they understood. One of them, Kelly, came to my house to get some rocks for her yard. She was shocked! She had no idea how big this "yard garden" really was.

Here are some pictures so you may have a better idea:

So what do you see? I see tons of plants, more rocks then one will ever need in a yard, and way too many weeds to keep up with. I have always loved to garden, and this yard is giving me my dream to have a huge one! While it is a lot of work, I'm enjoying it very much!

Right now domestically, I have 3 projects going:

1. Get the baby room painted and the floor done before furniture is delivered on May 28. (Ray is painting this weekend. Then I'm putting the laminate floor down next week)

2. Get the veggie garden plot ready (meaning getting rid of all the rocks and getting the soil ready) and get the rest of the veggies planted.

3. Keep up with normal maintenance in the yard.

Needless to say, #3 is the one that I have been slacking with the most. I think that once the baby's room is done and the veggies are in and growing, I'm only gonna take on one project at a time along with keeping up with the yard.

Life is busy, but is is fun and definitely not boring!

Holy Smokes....it is has been a long time!

It is interesting how life changes over a few years. Since blogging here initially, I have joined facebook and Myspace to keep in touch with friends and family. I have done some blogging on there. However, I sort of like having a totally separate blog, just for me to rant, rave and ramble. I guess I'll have to just cut and paste everything onto myspace too. Why can't there be just one universal program that EVERYONE uses????

Just to catch you up on things in one paragraph, I met a dude online, his name is Ray. After a while of chatting and his returning home from deployment in Iraq, I moved to Omaha, NE to be closer to him. We were engaged in November 2008, married in August 2008, bought a house in December 2008 and found out late February 2009 that we are expecting our first child. Shew...ok.

Ray and I are finally REALLY getting settled into our new home. How long can you really call the home "new" after you buy it? I plan to say it until we are settled. So, 6 years from now it is totally possible that I will still be calling this house new. Funny how that works when the original part of the home is over 100 years old!

The house has 3 bedrooms, a great multi-purpose room upstairs and a fun porch/sun room on the front of the house. The things I LOVE about the house is the old country flair it still contains. Most of the beautiful and original (I think) woodwork is found throughout the house. The living room has 2 windows with leaded glass accents that throw every color of the rainbow into the room when the light hits them right. My other favorite part of the house? The yard!

This is no normal yard! In fact, the only grass that exists borders the street. Otherwise, it is a very well developed garden. Mind you, this is a corner lot. So, that includes the front, sides and entire back yard. Since I'm pregnant, I'm not going to be able to do as much this year as I would have liked in the yard. But, there is one area of the yard that had been dedicated to cactus, of all things. I took them out yesterday and that area will be my new veggie garden. In fact, I already transplanted some rhubarb that a very generous lady from church brought by.

I'll post some pictures in a few days. I'd go take some pics now but it seems a storm has blown up and they are calling for rain for the next few days. That means lots of flowers, right? Somehow, I don't think I'm going to have to look very far to see a ton.

3 Down, 40 To Go!

Well, I have come up with 3 "things to do." Here is the list so far:

1. Buy a house

With the way housing prices are staying so inflated and with rising energy costs, I think the house deal may be a very long term goal. Perhaps it would be wiser to come up with a step by step plan towards this goal and use them as "things" for my list.

2. Find a new church

Ok, all I have to say is that it makes me very sad to see my church dying in the way that it is. I grew up there. The people in the church have helped me through so much in my life and I have spent so much time and energy there trying to help and starting ministries. But alas, all good things must come to an end and I fear that my church will be dead in a few years. Finding a new church home is my priortiy right now. I visited a brand new church this past Sunday and absolutely loved it! I do have to go to my old church this coming Sunday. But after that, I am going to go to the new one each Sunday.

3. Blog at least once a week

Ok, this one is going to be hardest for me. For any of you who know me, you are well aware that it is not often that I don't have something to say! When it comes to putting it down in writting though, it is much more difficult for me to keep up. I always have great ideas, but I also get bored very quickly. I'm hoping I will not get bored with this.

I will say goodbye for now and come back with a real blog entry. I just wanted to give an update to my last entry.....

What do you want to do?

Seems like an innocent enough question, don't you think? I thought so too; that is until I tried to answer it.

You see, a friend and co-worker of mine has been hanging out on a web site called 43things.com. The premise behind the site is that it creates a community of people based on the things you want to do, see/visit or read. So after much proding, I created an account and logged in. The first thing it asked is..."What do you want to do?" I should have a ton of things to put there and coming up with a list of 43 things should not be difficult, right? WRONG!

I'm at a total blank. Everything that came to mind are things that other people want me to do. For example, finding a husband or finishing my BA degree are things my family and friends want me to do. They are not my dreams.

I don't think it is accurate to say that I don't have my own dreams. It is just that up to this point, I have accomplished pretty much everything that I wanted to. I have great family and friend relationships. I absolutley love my job. While my church leaves something to be desired, my faith is still very important in my life. I have traveled and am continuing to travel. I am also doing some recreational stuff, including the Raven's Marching Band and having season tickets to the Orioles.

So, what else do I want to do? What else do I want to accomplish? Learn? Travel to? I don't know. But, I will keep you up to date!

Driving 101

Day 2 was a lot of fun! I woke up to my mom flipping out because her car was making a funny noise and I had to wake up and take her to work. I should mention, I am not a morning person!
But, by the time I got to work myself, I snapped out of my bad mood. The day was busy making the time go by fast. No surprises there!

It was not until I got home that my surprises started. Have you ever had one of those moments where God tells you something, and then confirms it for you? Well, that is what happened to me tonight.

I had just finished eating dinner when the phone rang. It was my 18 year old nephew Matthew. Gosh I love that kid!!!!! He is learning to drive and wanted to know if I could ride with him during his practice time. I said of course, come and pick me up. So, he and my sister pulled up a few minutes later and my sister crawled into the back seat to allow me to sit up front with Matt. We had a good time, and I was right there as he drove for the first time in both the city and on an interstate highway. He did so great and is very teachable.

While I loved being invited to tag along and being able to teach Matt all of what I know; the thing I loved the most was that both of them just simply wanted to be with me. And, I also loved spending time with them. With life being so busy for all of us, we do not get that opportunity to hang out and enjoy each other like we used to.

I'll tell you more about my sister and nephews later. But, the point I want to make here is that the only times I feel alive is when I am with the people I love. I think that was God's surprise for me today. But, I don't know that he trusted I would totally get it. So, he gave me a sign and confirmed it for me as I was getting ready for bed. I have been trying to read before bed instead of watching TV. In the book I picked up was the confirmation of my surprise.

I bought a new book to read a few days ago. It was written by a woman who I have a high regard for, so I just picked it up without really knowing what it was about. The subject of the book is about how women are created to crave and desire both love and rich relationships. As much as I may say that I don't crave love, I really do! I hate to admit it, but the idea of being loved for who I am totally and completely really does appeal to me. In fact, it excites and energizes me. I have a wonderful family and set of close friends. I'm thinking I need to start making more time for them. Even if they don't realize it yet, they need love just as much as I do! We all need it because the reason we were created was simply for this......To love and be loved by God. That's it! No more and no less.

I love God's surprises!

Day 1 Disappointment?

Well, day 1 came and went and I am not sure if there were any so called "surprises" from God. Would you believe I actually forgot to pray the surprise me prayer until I after got to work?

Anyhow, here are some thoughts that passed through my head as the day progressed. I am a corporate recruiter for an organization that helps children and adolescents who have are severely emotionally disturbed and their families. I do not work directly with the kids, but I see them and interact with them every day.

When I think about these kids and their problems, it makes me sad. But, most of all, it makes me very angry. The majority of kids are having these issues because of how they are growing up and the culture they are living in. The inner city of Baltimore is no joke. We have an extremely high crime rate that is not improving, but is only getting much worse. These kids have so little, and most do not even have a family to help them. For the majority, the family is actually part of the problem.

These problems are so much bigger than me. I really want to help all of these kids and their communities. But, how do I start? Am I capable of even making a small difference?

Perhaps today's surprise is really a calling from God to look beyond myself and really see what goes on around me. Perhaps it is a call to action. Only time will tell. So I guess today was not a waste after all. No disappointments here. If nothing else, this experiment is teaching me to look to God much more often and to keep focus on Him.

Reality Faith?

Hello Friends!

I just finished reading a new book by Terry Esau, "Surprise Me." The book is basically a diary the author keeps over a 30 day period. Each day, his only prayer is this, "Surprise me, God."

I think the book was phenomenal. So, with that in mind, I am going to take Terry's lead and try this myself.

I must confess here and now, I am a control freak. So, this "faith experiment" should not only be interesting, but also a huge challenge.

Starting tomorrow, I will take a few minutes to record my surprises here on my blog. Enjoy!


P.S.......Don't feel shy if you would like to try out some reality faith too!

God made me do it!

Hello Everyone in blogville!!!!

I have contemplated starting a blog for a year or so, and have finally decided to jump in and give it a try. The reason I am doing it however is a little odd, because the reason I am doing it is God.

That's right, God made me do it. I just finished reading this cute new book named "God's Blog." Ok, so it really is not a blog, because it is a book. However, I loved the book and it inspired me to go online and start sharing some of my off the wall thoughts.

As it just so happens, I don't really have many thoughts today! So, tomorrow I will be back and hopefully then I will have something interesting to say.