The Mixed-Up Adventures of the Merry Mederich's.

I've decided that I'd like to develop the habit of blogging every Sunday.  Sunday is typically my favorite day of the week.  We wake up, go to church, occasionally have lunch with friends, and that's about it.  Sometimes we nap.  Sometimes we go on walks. We really enjoy our day of rest, and thank the Lord for giving us such a gift.  So even though I power blogged earlier this week and posted 4 blogs in one day, I'm still going to post a quick update today and begin my new Sunday habit. This week was crazy busy.  We are blessed to live a full and abundant life.  On Monday nights we have small group and this week I was really blessed by the content.  We are going through a book called, "Real Marriage" by Mark and Grace Driscoll.  This week was all about being friends with benefits.  One of the most critical foundations of a solid marriage is friendship.  My friend, Jamie Christ, pointed out that Jesus said it best in John...

Justin and I were so excited that Jasmine was going to be in town on the day of our 21 week ultrasound and she was able to join us for the appointment.  The hardest part of the appointment was when we had to turn our heads while the doctor looked for Via's gender.  We had Dr. Allison write the gender down on a piece of paper and put it in an envelope so that our friend Adria could take it to the bakery without anybody knowing the gender before the reveal party.  Here are some pictures of Via's ultrasound. Here's her sweet profile. I love her little bum. This one cracks me up because she's Tebowing. Dr. Allison laughed at this one because she has both fists under her chin like she's posing for the picture. She's a pretty fiesty little girl.  Always moving around and getting her exercise.  I'm excited to meet her, and until then, Justin and I are just enjoying this journey.  

Against my better judgment, I agreed that it would be pretty fun to have a gender reveal party.  As our 21 week ultrasound approached, the planning began.  Our friends Nick and Kelly Robbins offered to host the party, and our friends Aaron and Adria (mostly Adria) agreed to take care of the gender reveal cupcakes.  Invitations were sent, and read something to the effect of: Come and be the first to see if Baby Mederich is a he or she. Wear pink or blue to cast your vote; winners earn the right to gloat. Here are a few pics from our little bash. After playing a candy guessing game and a wives tale trivia game, taking pictures in Jordan's photo booth, and eating food themed after things I have eaten a lot of during my pregnancy, the votes were in and it was time to dig into the cupcakes. As you can see, the votes were overwhelmingly "beau." Thanks to technology, Larry and Kelli, Aunt Jasmine, and my mom and dad were able to join us via a Googl...

Around week 15 I began watching craigslist like a hawk for good baby deals.  I decided that I wanted to get white furniture and then decorate in orange and grey.  Although we planned to find out the gender of the baby, I still prefer more gender neutral nursery themes.  A few weeks into my craigslist search I spotted a great deal.  $300 for a crib and dresser/changing table.  Great deal?  YES!  Good enough?  NO!  I also felt a little weird about buying baby stuff so soon into the pregnancy.  What can I say, I like to be prepared!  I kept an eye on the furniture and it dropped to $275, then $250, then $200.  At this point I told Justin I thought we should make an offer and he agreed that the deal was on!  We purchased a crib, 4 piece bedding set, dresser/changing table, changing pad, and changing pad cover all for $180!  I felt super blessed.  The bedding even has orange and grey in it.  As a side note, I che...

Friday, February 17, is a day that everything changed for the Justin Mederich Family.  Justin and I were, as usual, excited to be done with the work week.  For some reason, I didn't feel quite right about having a glass of wine on this particular night.  Instead, I took a pregnancy test.  Sometimes you go with your gut, and sometimes your gut is right! What a terrifying moment!  Justin was instantly excited and definitely in dad mode.  I was in disbelief.  I took another test that night.  Positive.  Another test the next morning.  Positive.  Another test on Sunday morning.  Positive.  Okay, okay, okay.  I was beginning to believe it.  At our 8 week appointment Justin and I both had tears in our eyes when we saw this little kidney bean sized human growing in my belly.  What an amazing gift from God and what an overwhelming sense of love and responsibility. After this appointment my excitement reall...