Watching Baby Richert Grow

10 weeks... I know, I don't look pregnant, but I was excited.

15 Weeks

22 Weeks

25 Weeks

30 Weeks

34 Weeks... Right before my baby shower

Valentine's Day... our official due date, and HUGE!

Well, I had time to post the pics. It's been fun watching my belly grow. When I look back at the early weeks, I can't believe how "little" I was! I can't wait to have a baby on the outside, rather than carrying a heavy basketball on the front of my body everywhere I go. Since I'm obviously so great at keeping this up to date, I assume the next time I write will be because Baby Girl is here...

Waiting...

So it's been a while, yet again, since I've added to this, but I have to tell you I made an honest effort about a week ago... and it didn't work!! I don't know if the website was having trouble or if it had been so long that I forgot what I was doing... either way, I apologize to those of you who might actually look at this once in a while.

Today is our baby girl's due date, and here we are at about 5:00 in the evening, just hoping I will go into labor any second. (Of course I know "most" first babies are late, but I tend to listen to the stories about people having theirs early/on time... and ignore the ones who were late.) This little blog is kind of a test to see if it will actually post this time. Then I want to add another one with pics of my pregnancy, which can be found on my Facebook page, but I know not everyone looks at that. If I'm lucky, I'll be in the hospital before I have time to load the pictures!!

Flying Solo

I'm four days into Jon's ten day trip to Rwanda, and wow, I miss him! He went with Eternity Minded Ministries, an awesome organization that goes all over the world to visit schools, orphanages, give eyeglass clinics, put on festivals with music and preaching, and do whatever else God wants them to do while they're gone.

Some of the things the team is planning on doing include helping with an eyeglass clinic (the team brought 4,000 pairs of glasses that they will give to people who have never before been able to read because they couldn't see properly), encouraging Rwandan pastors, visiting a school and an orphanage, and visiting an AIDS clinic to talk to the people getting treatment there. Anyone who's been on a missions trip knows that this could be what they end up doing, but you never know what might come up! He could be doing something completely different, like preaching in a church or sharing his testimony in front of a group of people. I'm proud of him, no matter what he does.

Anyway, I'm hanging out by myself, realizing how much I appreciate Jon's presence. He makes me laugh, helps me around the house without ever being asked, listens to how my days go, and basically just makes me happy. This is the longest time we've been apart since we started dating over four years ago, and I really don't like it!

Baby news: I'm getting rather enormous and can feel baby girl kicking ALL THE TIME. (At least it seems like it.) She's strong and healthy, as far as I can tell from the outside! My pregnancy has been pretty much a breeze, but I'm starting to feel it now that I'm a couple weeks into the 3rd trimester. It's getting hard to sleep, since I can't find a comfy position, and after working all day my whole lower body tends to feel numb and puffy. I have plenty of weeks left, but I really can't wait till this girl is here so I can sleep on my tummy again! Last week Jon and I shone a flashlight on my belly and moved it around because I read that babies at this point can see the light and may respond to it. Baby Richert seemed uninterested at first, but after a couple minutes of Daddy teasing her, she decided to punch him. That-a-girl.

Is it bad that I'm ready for this girl to get out?

So I've heard many friends and women who are pregnant rave about the experience. How amazing it is to know you have a life growing inside of you, and that everything you do is now effecting another human being. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the miracle of life and think that God's gift of creating and having a child is freakin' awesome.

But seriously, I'm ready to be able to bend over without grunting (and yes, I realize my stomach has a LOT more growing to do), walk up a hill without breathing creepily heavy, and just to again feel like I am the one who's in control of my body. And I'm only ALMOST 6 months along! I know the time will fly by and there will definitely be days when I want to put this little girl back in once she's out, but 3 more months seems a tad like an eternity right now. Baby Girl Richert has decided she's going to be a kickboxer when she grows up, and is practicing on Mommy's uterus and ribs. (She prefers the rib that I fractured four years ago, which has never really healed.) Jon says she's just like her momma.

She's a girl, but don't make her wear too much pink

A couple weeks ago Jon and I got our ultrasound and found out baby Richert's a girl! She was facing downward for most of the time, and the doctor actually had to push on my stomach pretty hard, and have me get up and walk around, in order to even get the blurry, not so great profile you see here. She's a feisty one, which is why I was actually thinking she might be a boy. (Most of the time the big kickers have been boys from what I've heard.) Of course Jon is already saying (and worried) she's taking after mom. (A girl's got to stand up for herself... that doesn't mean she's feisty, right?)

We've got big plans for her already: doc said she's already got long arms, so our dreams of having a pro beach volleyball player is on its way to fruition (those legs better match the arms). We just hope she's not an Amazon woman who can't find any boys that are taller than she is. It's been fun to think about what it will be like having a girl, especially since most of the people around us, including our closest friends, all have boys. We can't wait to meet her!

I Know it's Either a Boy or a Girl

Jon and I get to find out the gender of our baby tomorrow morning! We have been anxiously awaiting this day, and kind of can't believe it's here. We were talking this afternoon, and when we think about the day we watched the second pink line appear on the Magic Stick (3 separate times), it feels like years ago. At the same time we can't believe we can "already" find out what it is!

People have been asking me if I have an inkling or premonition because some women do. I don't. Not at all. I have no idea what it is cruising around inside me, but I'm pretty sure it's a boy or a girl. I think it's because every couple minutes I change my mind as far as what I'd like it to be. As long as there's still only one, I'm good with the outcome.

Oh, Baby!

For those of you who look to this blog for updates on the Richerts, I apologize for being so horrible at keeping it UP to DATE...

So much has happened since our major plans changed, and it's pretty amazing to look and see how God worked through it all. How He knew exactly what He was doing, and even as we went about our business, thinking we knew what He wanted, He was preparing us for what was and is to come.

When we thought we were going to be teaching in Ecuador, we sold most of our belongings (including a car and all our bikes... that's 10), packed everything else away (except a few duffle bags to get us through 2 years), and moved out of our much loved first apartment as a married couple. We also quit our jobs, which had been doing a very good job of sustaining us over the last year.

Here are a list of things God has provided for us (so far) since the day we found out I was pregnant and we wouldn't be going anywhere:
*Jon got his job back with no hesitation from his boss, and I landed a long term sub position in Atascadero (no more commute!!) that just happens to last from now until January. (Baby's due Feb. 14th...)
*An amazing apartment in Templeton that we've always admired, owned by a family friend, perfect for having our first child in, became available just a few weeks after we knew we'd be sticking around... and we moved in.
*We found an affordable car (that we like!) right before we would both need transportation for work.

The list is longer, but those are the "big" things that were taken care of while we were jobless, living at my parents' house with one car, and pondering what in the world we were supposed to do next.

Because of all this, Jon and I were able to spend the entire summer together (he got to enjoy a "teacher summer"), which will probably never happen again, since our family will soon consist of 3 instead of 2. We joined a new ministry at church, since the thought of leaving the country caused us to leave the ones we were involved in before... we are HUB group leaders this year for the high school youth group at ABC, and I get to help my brother lead worship there, which is so cool.

It's pretty amazing to see all the pieces fitting together. As much as it threw us for a loop when our plans changed in June, it's quite a comfort to look back and notice all the huge, and small, ways God has provided for us through this. I've learned not to make plans too seriously. We thought we knew what we were "supposed" to be doing, but it ended up being something completely different... it needed to be ok with us... and it was.

Now we're anxiously awaiting my appointment next week, when we get to find out the gender of our baby! (Yes, we knew we wanted to find out from the very beginning.) And no, we are not telling anyone our name choice... until it's born! Sorry, you have to wait. :)

I will be better at adding to this. Not only for the readers' sakes, but for our future child, who someday will be able to read about the year his/her parents were led all over the place before ending up with the precious gift of becoming a mom and dad for the first time.