News & 13wks!

All's rather quite here in the Wilson household. I'm in my 2nd trimester (Praise God!!!). I never saw myself getting this far, either. I am so humbled to have this child growing and living inside me. It's hard to grasp the reality of. We had our 13 wk appt & NT test today, which was utterly amazing to watch the baby move, hiccup, suck it's thumb, and see that beautiful heartbeat flashing away. Even though I listen to it on the Doppler, it never loses its beauty to me. I think today's ultrasound was a reality check for us, as we saw something that really resembled a baby on screen and had to acknowledge that it was ours and inside me. It was very touching. (Pictures at the end.)

The 4th of July weekend was awesome! My family was still in Vermont so we spent the entire time in NC with Jonathan's family. We are so grateful that our families live about 12 minutes from each other - but it does make holidays rather busy since we choose to split all of them between both families (with the exception of Thanksgiving). It turned out to be really nice that we were just in one place the whole weekend. We did go over to my parents to see Seth & Karen & their girls for a cookout and swimming one evening. The flight (in the 4-seater rented aircraft) did not go over well with my morning sickness, but I survived (how come airsick bags are always missing when you need them?). However, we landed in Charlotte to pick up Jonathan's brother, and since he was still working and we had 1-2 hours to kill, we headed over to my favoritest restaurant - Quaker Steak and Lube! I pigged out on Louisana Lickers & Arizona Ranch wings, so apparently my stomach recovered nicely. J kept saying, "I don't want to see this later." :) He also purchased me my very first maternity clothing - a very touching moment for us to have. (Sorry we didn't call you CLT friends to meet up, we didn't know if we had 30 minutes or 2 hours!)

Not having to go so many places also allowed us to go visit both my grandfather and my grandmother in their respective nursing/assisted living homes. I had not seen them in a few months and was really missing them. Each visit is really, very difficult emotionally, because they change/decline a lot between each visit. My grandfather has Altzheimer's, which regresses with time. Since my last visit my gradmother has had a feeding tube put in and all her teeth removed. They were also separated, as she needed nursing home care and he did not (and insurance only allows you to be treated at a place appropriate to what you need). It was a lot to take in. Jonathan had to remind me over and over as I wept for the memories of who they "used" to be, that this life here on earth is just a shadow, that it's just a little dot in time. Their spirits are made for an eternity in heaven and that's where the only lasting true joy is! That I will meet them again where there is no age and suffering and illness, and we'll worship God together and bow to our Savior. It's hard when you've had such wonderful memories and times here on earth to not selfishly weep for "what was". It's hard to always keep true perspective. Jonathan is so good at reminding me.

And now, on Friday, we head back to NC again. My brother Stuart is finally tieing the knot!!! I am super, incredibly excited for him! This is looking to be a wonderful wedding, and I'm so grateful to see my brother marry a girl we all love so much and who loves him & loves Christ. My father is the best man, my 2 other brothers are groomsmen, and my brother-in-law is a groomsmen. You can tell we're a really tight-knit family, because none of these choices are out of obligation, it's a personal decision. :) They're headed to Prince Edward Island for a 10 day honeymoon, which sounds fabulous!

Se without further adieu, here's our little 13-week-old baby. I'll have lots of updates and pictures after this weekend!!!