24 Weeks - Big Kicks and Decorating

Howdy folks!

Well its been a fun couple of weeks! Nathan has been home and we have been very busy. As I stated last post, we were just about to dig-in to the nursery planning. Well, we sure did. Within a week's time, we (meaning Nathan) shampooed the carpet, painted the nursery the most perfect shade of blue, put together the crib, bought a distressed & antique dresser, transported my grandmother's antique dry-sink to be the changing table, hand painted a darling owl to hang, and created custom lettering to place above the crib. Honestly, I tell Nathan quite frequently that he is the picture-perfect dad-to be; seriously ladies, you need a clone of this guy!

Here are some pictures of the nursery, thus far. Niles had a lot of fun helping Nathan put the crib together and I suspect that Niles will sleep in the room with Jude. Since he's deaf, he'll sleep through all the early morning cries! Fiona on the other hand, doesn't know what to think of the big changes upstairs...























I had my 24 week check up Monday and received a perfect report. This week, Jude is over 12 inches long and close to 1 1/4 pounds! Although I have been very fatigued lately, I started taking an additional iron supplement which seems to be helping. Jude is growing perfectly (to the day) in measurements. My blood-pressure was a whopping 100/60 and I've gained a total if 14 pounds. For 6 months pregnant, I'm pretty proud of that modest number! I am sure it will begin changing rapidly now though, especially with all those cookies Jude is making me eat... ;-) While at the doctor's office, I actually saw Jujubee move from the outside of my shirt!! Reminds me of Alien...

Although my medical reports are going well, I have been losing a lot of sleep lately. For some reason (baby maybe!?) I keep waking up with either radiating muscle pain in my back or in my stomach. Jude is not moving around at night, but I sure am... I got my first prenatal massage last night and that helped a lot. I read yesterday that your husband should be able to hear the baby's heartbeat through your skin now if they put their head against you so Nathan tried that last night. Funny - he didn't hear anything, but Jude gave him a swift kick to the cheek at that exact moment! It was so cute! I think he knows when Daddy is touching my belly, because he always become very active, versus when I put my hands on my belly.

My next doctor appointment is November 24. At that time I will have my glucose test to check for gestational diabetes. Please pray that I continue to progress in perfect health and that my body keeps up the hard work.

Nathan and I also attended a Halloween party Saturday night and fully exploited my "condition" as the "ultimate nascar fans". Enjoy the pics!














Our Love,
The Ehmans

Bring on the backaches and nursery planning! (22 Weeks)

Hi Friends! Oh how unbelivable the last few weeks have been. As you saw on our last post, Marie got engaged and we met Baby Jude for the first time! I hate to bring bad news to the blog, but ultimately it is joyful news.

My precious Poppie died shortly after my last blog post. We had our ultrasound on Tuesday, September 30 and Poppie was in the hospital one floor down. He was the first family member to see Jude Cole, his first great-grand baby, who is appropriately named after him (Cole). Within several hours of our appointment, Poppie fell into a deep sleep as his body prepared to end his 90 years on earth. Early Friday morning, October 3, Poppie went to be with the Lord and his beloved Roselyn. We quickly packed up and went to Tennessee for the appropriate activities and thanks to my dad, Nathan was able to fly in from Texas to be with us.

Shortly after the funeral, Nathan and I rushed to the local ER due to "contractions" I began feeling. We are still unsure of the diagnosis, but everything checked out fine. From what the Doctor could tell - my body was just too stressed and emotionally exhaused from three weeks of chaos. Poppie falling, moving to Indy, Marie's engagement, Marie's birthday, Poppie's decline, meeting Baby Jude, Nathan's travel, etc... But God is good and I was released from the ER after an hour with a perfect report and we got to hear Jude's heartbeat as a "bonus", although I would have prefered not to go to the ER in Jackson, Tn!

So, onto happier news, Nathan comes home today from an 8 week tour and BOY do we have our work cutout for us. In the next two weeks while he is home, we need to pick out and order the crib, bedding and paint plus register all over town which requires knowing what stroller, carseats, monitors, and boob-pumps we want!! I tell you, it is a good thing that human babies take 9 months to bake! Otherwise we would be up poop-creek...

Here are a few pieces of art that are our inspiration for the nursery. We want it to be untraditional in decor - so not just cars and baseballs for little boys. There are some amazing independent artists out there that have incredible creativity and great prices...
















I hope you like the ideas we have so far. Now it's just a matter of finding the perfect bedding and crib to coordinate. We'll be in touch soon with more news.

Cheers,
Bonnie, Nathan, Jude, Niles and Fiona

The Half-Way Point

Hello everyone!

Well, this week has been quite eventful. Beginning Monday night, we checked my grandfather into the hospital. Unfortunately, his health is deteriorating very rapidly. Please pray for his comfort and our strength. Its a matter of time before he goes to the Happy Hunting Ground or for him, the big yard that needs mowing every day ;-) and we want to be sure he is out of pain. Its a very difficult thing to come to terms with... we are so close to the birth of his first great-grand baby and it breaks my heart to think that he will not meet them. But, we must focus on the long and amazing life he has lived.

Along a different note, Zach proposed to Marie last Thursday, so naturally that is a very joyful thing we have to celebrate amongst the sadness of Popie's condition. I will be so blessed to have Zach as a brother.

Lastly, on a very exciting note, we have some wonderful news! I managed to surprise Nathan and our families by moving our 20 week ultrasound up by a week! Tuesday (yesterday) morning, I woke Nathan up with a card stating, "get dressed! we're going to the doctor!". He was very confused, but it didn't take long for him to process that we were going to meet our baby for the first time!!

The ultrasound went perfectly. The brain, fingers, toes, heart, lips, nose, stomach, bladder and placenta look like God crafted them Himself, cell by cell. Please pray thanks and praise to God for his gift to us.

Now, the news you have all been waiting for? What were the little private parts? And WHO is our Baby!? Well, watch the video below and I think you'll see... (its only 3:54 - and the baby's name is at the end...):