"Very Normal"

Good News from the Dr.:
Everything with our little baby boy is "very normal" (to which Jonathan responded, "he can't be our child, then..." :)
It was amazing the detail that we could see during the whole thing- his little fingers opening and closing, the kicking that I could see at the same time I could feel it- he even reached down and played with his feet- just an amazing thing to be able to see him already while he's still growing in me- Praise the Lord!!!
By the way, it sounds like he's going to take after both the Lemke and the Ebeling sides with his length of arms- the tech commented on the length of his arms already- said he's going to be a tall one! They also were able to measure his weight- 1 lb., 3 oz already!
Thanks to everyone who kept us in their thoughts and prayers- we know God listens~

Em

22 weeks!

Hello, again!
So, I have been having a great time this past week hanging out with friends and spending time with my hubby. A really good friend sent a care package in the mail and gave us a gift card to Applebee's, so on Saturday night, Jon and I went on a date! We did dinner and a movie (we finally went to see the Dark Knight) and spent only a little over $8 (we had a movie gift card too- thank's to a special promotion at our local grocery store:)
Well, I guess we spent a little more than that- I got EXTREMELY cold while sitting at Applebee's, and decided that it would probably be just as cold in the movie theater, so I went to Gap Maternity that was right across the mall from the theater, and picked up a $20 sweater. it is actually really nice, so I don't feel too bad about spending that much on a gap item.
Anyway, the majority of the weekend was spent with my younger brother, Josh, and with friends on Sunday- we had a special going away service at Point of Grace for John and April, who are going over to China to teach English. God's Blessings on them- we will try to remember them as often as we can in our prayers!
The pic of me is from just a couple minutes ago- 22 weeks already!
this afternoon I will be having the ultrasound to make sure all is ok with baby- since the last one showed a couple choroid plexus cysts, we need to make sure the rest of him is developing normally :)
thanks for the prayers!!!

em

21 weeks, 1 day

Hello, All!
I just spent a wonderful week with my family out in Michigan and Ohio- I left last Wednesday, and Jonathan flew in on Friday on a friend's plane to a little airport just outside Garden City, MI. We had an awesome dinner at Red Robin (neither of us had ever been to one- since we don't have them here in WI) with Jonnie, Kimmy, and the kids, then drove down to Heather and Richard's place in Ohio that night. We stayed with them until Monday morning, and had an awesome time all around!
These pics are from this afternoon- 21 weeks and 1 day. Baby now measures over 10 inches long and weighs about 3/4 of a pound. He's growing fast!
A lot of people have been asking what we're going to name him, and I don't know that we'll know until his birthday. We have a lot of names that we like, but I can't see us actually settling on one until we see him in person. We'll see- that may change :)
I was supposed to have my ultrasound this morning, but Jonathan had a mandatory work meeting at the same time, so we had to reschedule it for next week. I did, however, have a terrible nightmare that I had to go to it alone, and that they found some major birth defects and was told that the baby wouldn't survive outside of the womb, and that I had to decide what to do, without Jonathan being there! All this news was told to me in front of a panel of Doctors, so I didn't have time to really think about what was going on and absorb what the Dr. was telling me, and all I could do was cry and mourn, knowing my baby wasn't going to survive. How depressing! Needless to say, I was thrilled to know that I was dreaming once I woke up, but it still took me a while to realize that it wasn't real- it was just a dream. It still left a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I guess deep down I still am really worried about our baby- even though everything else on the ultrasound last time appeared completely normal and healthy. I guess it will help to have that confirmed when we have the appointment next Monday.
Please Keep us in your prayers- thanks!! :)

Part of my weekend..... :)

Part of what I do as an artist is I take wedding pictures- and this weekend I had the privilege of taking pictures for a good family friend, Lynn, and the pictures turned out BEAUTIFULLY!!!
You can see more pictures and projects that we've done at www.ebelingartstudio.com

Halfway there!

So Jonathan and I have officially reached the halfway point with the pregnancy- 20 weeks! It's just amazing to think that this is already halfway finished (well, hardly, if you take into account the number of years that this little boy will be with us:)I have still been getting "morning" sickness at random times, about 1-2 times per week. I will take that over having it every day!

Anyway, I just recently accepted a position at St. John's in Wauwatosa to be their art teacher. A very daunting and exciting thing at the same time. I will be teaching grades 1-8, and am pretty much in charge of everything art. I was supposed to go to the faculty meeting yesterday morning, but that was one of the random times that morning sickness struck. How unfortunate to miss my "first" day of working there! I was really frustrated with myself and that in turn threw off my whole day.

Jonathan had his last softball game with Paulie's pub team last night, and unfortunately they lost. I haven't really told Jon this, but I have been living vicariously through him while he's playing softball- I miss it SO much! I have to be careful of what I say to him, cuz I try to give him tips for batting, and I don't want to do it too often or the wrong way, because that will just frustrate him. So I let him be sometimes, and still, he gets frustrated. Oh, well.

Sunday we had an awesome picnic with our friends B and Katie. Katie graduated with her Master's from Marquette, and is also expecting her first baby- a girl! I have a couple pictures from that besides the preggo pics. Nick and Diana were there, too, so I got a couple good pics of Sam, too- He is SUCH a great kid!!!

The pics are from this morning, so really they are my 20 week, 1 day pics.
Have a great week, everyone!