snow day

(we tried to make a cute heart on the baby at the wedding last night. it sorta worked :))

ahhhh i love snow days. it is nice to relax at home for an evening. slowly we are getting things done before the baby arrives...

1. set up arm's reach co-sleeper in our room--check! (i guess it's pretty important that the baby has a place to sleep)

2. assemble changing table in our room and stock with diapers, wipes, burp clothes, and onesies--check!

3. put together crib--semi check (we're not buying bedding until after the baby arrives, so this is as good as it gets)

4. write thank you notes for all of the baby/shower gifts--check!

5. register for march 7 & 8 childbirth class--check! (we're cutting this one a little close to the due date :))

6. organize hospital bag--check!

7. preregister at hospital--check!

8. type phone tree of people to call after the baby's birth--check!

still to do:

1. install carseats in our car and practice using them.

2. participate in childbirth class next weekend.

3. attend cwe baby shower next sunday (and write thank you notes).

4. attend baby shower with my work on march 20 (and write more thank you notes. my mentor just emailed me to tell me they were throwing a shower, so i'm pretty excited. i really wasn't expecting any of these showers and am thankful for baby kehrli's sake).

5. make a birth plan? eh, i don't think i'm going to type one out. the hopeful plan is to go into labor naturally, receive an epidural as soon as i arrive at the hospital (this is why i love NW Med. more than Mercy), avoid a c-section and pitocin if at all possible, and circumsize the baby if it is a boy. i think that covers most of the basics.

i am so so excited about monday. i can't wait to go to the doctor (even though i have to do the group b strep. test), watch the bachelor finale (i'm pretty sure i'm the only one in the world cheering for molly), and watch ku stomp all over missouri. i realize i am setting myself up for big disappointment if 1. the doctor finds anything wrong 2. molly loses 3. ku loses, but i have a good feeling about this one. love you all!

EDIT: apparently i am an idiot and the ku game is on right now (sunday afternoon). how did march sneak up on me like that???

on wall decorations

on the lighter side of things, we had a wonderful baby shower last weekend at my house. i've been wanting to decorate the baby's room, but since we're waiting to find out the gender (and i don't want yellow or green decorations), i've been resisting the urge to nest. however, we needed some decorations for the shower, so i decided onesies would be perfect. for about 30 seconds i contemplated the best way to hang up baby clothes. we didn't have any clothes pins or string, so my choice was narrowed to thumb tacks or tape. hm...which one would make my husband the least upset? tape for sure! i went a little crazy with the clothes, and even took some down because it was overwhelming, but not before capturing a few pictures. i give you our living room...

i hoped that my husband would leave them up until baby kehrli arrived, but when i got home from going out to dinner with friends, he had already taken all of them down :(. oh well. i'd like to add that the tape did NO DAMAGE AT ALL.

busy weekend ahead. kara and matt's wedding in fayetteville tomorrow night, james works saturday and i am getting a pedicure with lisa (first pedicure since i've been pregnant!) and going to my friend's birthday party for her 1 year old, then sunday we are hosting a bbq at our house for our small group. should be fun. love yall.

on the nicer side

our pastor at church shared a conversation on sunday that he had with a woman who bluntly told him that she didn't think fellowship church cared about the poor so she did not want to attend. he asked her why she thought fellowship did not care about the poor, and she told him to look around at the cars in the parking lot and the way people are dressed. the pastor then went on to tell her about fellowship's heart for the poor and all of the programs the church administers to help the underprivileged in the community and she decided to give the church a try.

although i do not feel that i need to justify that i care for the poor like our pastor justified our church's mission, and don't really want to write a whole entry on compassion (although it is terribly important, especially for christians), for the people out there that feel i have heartless soul, i would like to share a little bit of my heart/life. in last year, james and i have done a variety of things to help the community...

1. we worked (james still works) for camp war eagle. if you are not familiar with the mission of cwe, the camp was started 3 years ago from a walton foundation endowment to provide underprivileged kids in northwest arkansas with a premier summer camp experience. 80% of the children go for free (cost is based on family income), and there is no greater joy than seeing these kids escape the harsh reality of many of their family lives for a week of fun and love at camp.

2. we not only worked with these kids last summer, but we volunteer at events throughout the year for the kids and families, like the cwe christmas dinner where we served 400 of the poorest families in nwa a full turkey dinner and gave presents to 250 kids.

3. we've also served food at the samaritan community center.

4. we've initiated the good neighbor food drive in our neighborhood to help stock local food banks.
5. we've donated money to loving choices pregnancy center.

6. james built homes for families in mexico on a mission trip and we've supported other missionaries accross the world.

that's all of the tangible things that I can think of right now. i don't list these things to brag about how great of people we are because there are so many needs in the community and i wish we could spend more time volunteering because ultimately it is relationships that matter. however, i do recognize the need to help and love on the less fortunate people in the community. i've truly enjoyed getting to know these people (mainly the camp kids and families) and learning more about their life stories.

anyway, thank you all for your comments (both in agreement and disagreement) on the last post. i love discussing issues like this, and i especially love when people disagree because it challenges me to reflect and reevaluate why i believe what i do. although the high school debater part of me wants to break down the arguments and provide line by line responses, i think i'll pass.

a few random side notes though--pugsnotdrugs is my friend julia, who went to free state and jbu with me. although we've had our share of interesting blog experiences ;), i respect her opinions and experiences. we've actually emailed a couple times since my last post, and we agree on much more than we disagree on (i.e. the importance of taking responsibility, the need for improved education programs, etc.).

i'm not sure who kartasi is? apparently she's been stalking reading my blog for a while. i think it's ironic that she left a comment about not judging the poor, but in the same paragraph labeled me and my childhood as "upper middle class" because i grew up in lawrence and attended jbu. hm... that's kinda interesting. i never knew that all people who live in lawrence are upper middle class and i'm pretty sure i received a full scholarship to attend jbu, so my parents' income played no part in that (and while we're talking about giving to others, james and i donated money to jbu last year, too, as a small token of appreciation for all of the people who gave money to fund our educations). i deleted kartasi's comment because i thought it was rude and ignorant (and i have no idea who the heck she is).

okay i'm turning into mean silvy again. in other news, i have my 36 week checkup on monday and am excited nervous about the doctor checking my cervix to see if i am dilated at all. i kind of want to be dilated, but i'm not going to be disappointed if labor still looks far away (as in 4 weeks). the doctor will be checking me every week from here on out, which is pretty crazy exciting that our baby is close to being in our arms!

james and i might have big news soon (sorry sam, it's not that we're moving to denver :(). i can't say anything until everything is finalized, but we're keeping our fingers crossed and i'll give an update as soon as i can.

sweet dreams, good night. love you all!

35 weeks

163 pounds (35 pounds gained. 35 really? yup, definitely 35)

i am continually humbled and thankful for the love of family and friends. james got the baby and me each a rose for valentine's day (i guess i never wrote about valentine's day--it was great, but too late to write about now). my friends threw a 'pamper mommy' shower for me this weekend, and it meant a lot. 1. i appreciated that they recognized that our baby doesn't really need any more onesies 2. their thoughtfulness to have a shower and give personalized gifts was a blessing. they knew i love shutterfly, coldstone, b dubs, chick flicks, and a couple of them made a cute little basket with all of my favorite treats (dr. pepper, gummi worms, reeses, cashews, brownie mix, and a fun assortment of lotions).


thank yall!
it's late. the jayhawks won!! i love clicking the friends tab on facebook and seeing 80% of my friends status updates say "rock chalk ku!" now if we can just beat missouri sunday it will be a very successful season. i also love how most of my friends gloating ku victory statuses did not go to ku (like me).

an entry on wic, nadya suleman, and responsibility is coming soon. also on the upcoming agenda is an entry of lovely pictures of shower decorations that got me in big trouble with my husband :). love yall and hope you are having good mondays (how can mondays not be good with the bachelor and jayhawks??)

on man as provider

there's a popular country song out right now ("down the road" by kenny chesney) about a man pondering a marriage proposal, and the lyrics of the chorus reflect sentiments of the woman's family:

Her momma wants to know
Am I washed in the blood or just in the water?
Her daddy wants to know
If I make enough to take his daughter

there is great truth in the honesty of these questions, especially the father's desire to know if the man "makes enough to take his daughter." although my dad never said it to james that bluntly, i know it was very important to him that any man who wanted to marry me make providing for our family a top priority. walking me down the aisle and giving me away to james meant that my dad had to give up his reigns as my provider and hope that james would love me as deeply and sacrifice as much to take care of our family as my dad did for so many years. i can't imagine how hard this is for fathers.

that being said, i think it is important to acknowledge a couple things before continuing:
1. God is the ultimate provider.
2. women are not exempt from responsibility (and there are times and seasons in life when women may be the primary financial provider for the family. this is not a bad thing at all).

i respect both my husband and father so much, and i am thankful the the ways they have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice for our family. part of the reason james and i waited several years to get married was because james wanted to establish himself financially by working for a couple years after college. at one point in our relationship, he asked me how much i was expecting him to spend on a ring (ha, who does that?). i told him i would never give him a dollar amount and although i would like something nice, it was more important to me that he could pay cash for the ring than go into debt. he ended up saving and getting me a prettier rock than i ever imagined (thanks jules ;)), but what meant the most to me was that he was able to pay for it himself.

james continues to sacrifice for our relationship not only daily, but by paying for things like our honeymoon to jamaica, vacation to ecuador, the down payment on our house, etc., and i deeply respect him for his attitude about finances. perhaps the thing i respect most about james is that he does all of this without making a huge living. his degree is in youth ministry and he works for a non-profit summer camp, but his mentality is so focused on providing for his wife and family. there is no doubt in mind that he will always be able to take care of us, even if it means working a job that is not necessarily ideal or working two jobs at some point to do what it takes. again, i hope to do everything in my power as well to live frugally and help our family out as much as possible, but i know james will step up if we are ever facing hard times.

1 timothy 5:8 it says, "if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." while this is kind of strong language and can have many interpretations (i.e. emotionally providing, etc.), i like how it emphasizes the importance of providing for your family. i am so thankful that my husband lives by it, and i know there are tons of other great guys out there working hard to provide for their families as well. perhaps the question kenny should ask is not "do you make enough to take my daughter?" but "do you understand the value of money and the responsibility you have to provide for a family?" i sure hope so.

updates

nothing much is going on tonight, so some random updates of what's new with the kehrlis:

1. got direct tv today! i'm still trying to figure out where my favorite channels are in the mess of everything, but the picture is awesome (thank you new hdmi cable)

2. got the oil changed in both of our cars and had the dealer replace the serpentine belt in the corolla. crossing things off the to do list before the baby arrives.

3. james is still enjoying emt class, especially the practical nights. 1/3 of the way done and he hasn't missed a class yet!

4. james organized a rec. league basketball team (it's an annual tradition) and has been loving playing ball with his friends. i love cheering with the other wives (who are some of my best friends).

5. i've been walking and biking almost every day for an hour and have yet to feel any back pain or experience swelling, thank you God. james loves going to the gym as much (if not more) than i do, and i love this about him.

6. i have no idea what a contraction feels like and don't think i've felt any yet, although my doctor asked, and my pregnancy book says i've probably experienced many braxton hicks contractions.

7. i am really looking forward to the baby shower my friends are throwing this weekend! thank you guys :).

8. james' work is throwing us a shower as well. they told me to pick out a carseat and they'll buy it. very generous, but how awkward. carseats range from $50-$300, and i have no idea what they are thinking in terms of price, so i told them i would be fine with anything. then they told me again to pick one, ahh, so i'm leaning towards this grayco one:

9. the baby's heart rate was 156 at my visit on monday, once again making me think we're having a girl. the visit before, it was in the 130's (first time ever below 140) and i hoped thought for the first time that there was a chance we were having a boy. oh well.

10. i am addicted to hearing about the octuplet mom and her messed up life. i realize this is mean-spirited of me, but the lady is absolutely ridiculous. i wish america would make a pact not to give her any contracts for pictures, books, etc.

11. i'm not a big fan of the stimulus package (there may be more republican in me than i admit). i don't think we should bail out anyone. let the automakers crash, let the lending companies crash, let the overbuilt housing market adjust itself by lowering home prices. i believe in an darwinian capitalist economic system where supply and demand dictate the longevity of businesses. let companies fail naturally.

12. i have no pity on people facing forclosures. you are buying homes you cannot afford!! stop living beyond your means. i realize there are some people out there with extinuating circumstances, but they are few compared to the number of irresponsible people.

13. i am really just selfishly annoyed with the stimulus package because i don't feel like much of the money directly helps me or other hardworking people who are not in a financial crisis. i am glad a large chunk of the money is going to state gov'ts for roads, education, etc., but the housing parts frustrate me.

14. james organized a guys' night last night and said he was encouraged by great conversation with the other three non-married guys (all with serious girlfriends). he told me about how he could relate to their struggles and doubts at that point in life, but realized how much he has changed and grown throughout the last year after getting married. he said he feels like he has gained so much wisdom about women and relationships, and i am really encouraged by how God is daily molding both of us to be more loving spouses.

15. i asked james if we've had any big fights since we've been married, and after 3 minutes of quiet thinking, none came to either of our minds. either we have great selective memories or we're really good at forgiving and forgetting. i love my husband and love being married.

16. the other night we had a crazy thunderstorm, so we turned off the tv, opened the windows, and cuddled. it was a magical moment where we realized how blessed we were to have each other and a warm, wonderful home. we are thankful.

that's more than enough for now. love you all.

on work and socializing

no one really knows what i do for work. even if i explain it, people still don't really understand, and no one's heard of my company, Acosta. this is all fine with me because i love my job and it's fun to remain slightly mysterious. we have about 60 people in our bentonville office on the wal-mart team, and many of my fellow employees have already become my good friends. i've never met anyone more encouraging than our wm team president, brian. throughout my interviews and everything involving our unexpected pregnancy (that happened before my official start date), he's remained super positive and excited to have me as a part of his team. the office culture is refreshing--we have softball teams, charity events, food days, holiday parties, and from what i've observed, everyone truly lives out the values of our company. i've seen several of our team leads at church and was pleasantly surprised when we prayed as a group for our christmas luncheon food. plus, almost everyone is out of the office by 5pm, and the company strives to promote a healthy work-life balance.

anyway, i am participating in the leadership development program in the office, which is almost like an honors program in the corporate world (with its perks and downsides). the program gives exposure to all areas of the business: retail, marketing (analytics), and sales (client relations). in retail, we go to different wal-marts to check on our clients' products. my team is focused on clorox, welch's, minute maid, ocean spray, and ruiz foods, so i spend many hours looking at these products and gathering competitive information.

along the way, i get to meet lots of interesting people. today i ran into dr. lindsey duncan, ceo of genesis today (i didn't know who he was until i got home and looked on their website). he was scanning all of my minute maid products to check on category sales with his executive team, so we talked for a few minutes and he mentioned that he is good friends with the ceo of acosta, nice.

i've always been a fairly (no very [sarah how do you use that cool strike through feature??]) outgoing person, so i love meeting people in my stores. being pregnant has only made me more friendly because every day 10-15 strangers ask me about the baby, especially other pregnant women and new mothers. i have to admit that i love the attention, but i also love the excuse it gives to strike up conversations with other strangers. there's something so comforting about knowing that we all have a common bond of experiencing pregnancy and motherhood.

before i became pregnant, i could've cared less about babies. i never really saw the big thrill of holding infants and only bought people baby presents if i was invited to a shower and felt obligated. now i am addicted to looking at other mothers' facebook pictures of their newborns and reading about others pregnancy stories. i am amazed at how many non-mothers (?) have sent baby kehrli presents and how seemingly genuinely interested my single friends are for the baby. props to you--it means a ton to me and i am so thankful for your thoughtfulness! it's amazing how being pregnant has already changed my mindset toward mothers. now i soak up every bit of information i can get about pregnancy and parenting, and i wouldn't have it any other way.

here's to hoping i can still be a good friend to my single and non-barren (ha, there must be a better word) friends. i try not to talk about the baby unless someone asks how it is going, and then i try to be brief even though it is hard to gush about everything i am learning, thinking and feeling. that's why i have my blog i guess :). love you all and hope you are having wonderful weeks!!

34 weeks

160 lbs (32 lbs gained!)

the baby is getting huge! i took a couple pictures of my bare belly and asked james if i should post them, to which he quickly replied, "please no." so this is all you get :).

everything is still going really well, which i am thankful for. i'm pretty sure the baby's head is "engaged," which is producing more pressure and pain. it's not unbearable by any means, but it does hurt. the baby inching its way into my expanding pelvis is simliar to how an expander feels before braces (where you have to turn the key a little bit each day to widen the space). actually it's more like the sore, tender feeling you feel on your tailbone after your first day of snowboarding. you don't realize how sore you are until you've been laying down for a while, try to get up and it hits you-bam!

i'm wondering if since the baby "dropped" earlier than most that i might deliver early. we'll see. off to grill some steaks. here's a lovely diagram i found on the internet of the baby dropping, ha. love you all!

truckin' on

it's been a good, busy week. sunday i threw a bridal shower for my best friend, heather, in lawrence. lots of people, good food, and fun games (wedding charades/taboo with international friends is bound to produce laughter).

monday night we went to jj's (new sports bar in rogers) with friends. it's a good alternative to bdubs if you want to watch sports, and the food is much better! our friends actually own the restaurant, so our food was free! came home in time to catch bachelor and the ku/mu game (boo). i still think ku is going to do well in march madness (and hopefully good games will be on while i am in labor!)

tuesday james had class (got 100% on his test! ha, i feel like a proud mother, but really i am proud of my husband because although he hates school, he is taking the emt class seriously). i finished our taxes (feels so good to have them done!), watched biggest loser and relaxed.

wednesday my friend kristin came over for dinner with her 3 kids, including her 4 month old baby. after they left, james looked me in the eye and said he was ready for our baby to be here. i still wouldn't mind waiting a few weeks, but his words were very encouraging. we also met with the girls who are going to live in our siloam rental house from may '09-may '10. james and i feel very blessed that 4 groups emailed us without having to advertise or go to much trouble to find new renters. i am also v. glad that this will be finalized before the baby arrives.

tonight i am going to my friend melissa's for dinner and cleaning the house.

my work just started a workout challenge to encourage employees to be proactive with their health (which i truly believe saves the company money in the long run by reducing medical costs). if we do 30 minutes of exercise 5 days a week for 8 weeks, we get $50! there are other incentives for regional office teams and weekly winners. walking and household chores count as physical activities, so those will be my primary outlets this last month of pregnancy. love you all!!

valentine's day

i can't believe valentine's day is coming up so quickly! it is definitely one of my favorite holidays. i love celebrating love (i know, gag me). james and i have a couple traditions that make the day even better...

1. we alternate planning every other year. this is my year to make the day special, and james is pretty excited he has no pressure to plan anything. (since he does not read my blog) we might go hiking here:

hawksbill crag (harrison, arkansas). after our friends got engaged at this gorgeous place last year, i've been dying to hike the trail and take some pretty pictures. however, we'll see how the weather cooperates and might make this an activity for later spring.

2. we have a rule that we are not allowed to buy presents for each other but make something instead in an attempt to minimize commercialism and hopefully give heartfelt notes/poems/crafts.

anyway, a few quick pictures of old valentine's days and then i am off to bed

2008 (brazillian steakhouse in fayetteville):

2007 (james surprised me by coming to siloam! and cooked a delicious dinner):

2006 (chillin in siloam when we weren't officially dating):

p.s. the mother of the octuplets is absolutely ridiculous (love the dateline special right now). i think the only people not outraged by her behaviors are the same women who love sarah palin. that's mean, i know, but this is my blog. love yall :)

blah

it's been one of those days. i came home from work today and james asked me what was wrong. i said nothing and proceeded to warm up a twice baked potato in the microwave and drink some skim milk. "i know by that walk that you're worked up about something." (i guess the fact that i broke routine and didn't kiss him when i came in the door might have given it away, too). "okay fine, i hate dealing with insurance companies."

it all started when my poor pathfinder got smashed in siloam springs 3 years ago. although the other driver admitted fault on the scene and the police ruled it 100% her fault and gave her a ticket, i still had to spend hours and hours on the phone with safeco. $8000 worth of repaired damage (4 trips to the shop until they finally fixed everything) and 2 rental cars later, i finally got my car back and got them to pay for everything. ughhh. i still don't think my car runs as well as it did before the wreck, but i'm done fighting.

today i called our health care provider, united, to talk to them about a bill i received for $577 in the mail for lab work. i specifically asked the doctor before he did the work if it would be covered with insurance, and he assured me that it would be 100% taken care of. well someone filed something wrong, and after talking to 4 different united health care reps, our doctors office administrator and the company the doctor uses to outsource billing, and waiting on hold for what seemed like forever with each one, i think it is finally resolved and they are going to pay for it. i just hate wasting time convincing them that this is covered with our benefits. i could go off about the reps, but it's probably not their fault they are neither trained nor educated.

it didn't help any that i had to drive to grove, oklahoma, for work today and almost got killed when a queen sized box spring blew out of the truck bed in front of me and almost hit my windshield on the windy backroads. thank you very much. oh and the cell phone service on the way to grove? absolutely terrible.

plus all day i was thinking about the 8-10 page paper I had to write tonight for our leadership development program at work. i love the program, but it's pretty much like still being in school with homework constantly looming. i'm way behind on facebook messages, too. i know that is not a big deal, but i hate waiting days to write people back, especially when others are trying to help plan for the shower this weekend and are waiting for my reply.

last but not least, two of the bridesmaids want to throw an 80's dance party for our friends' bachelorette party. i DESPISE 80's parties, and i'm not a huge fan of dancing (unless it's slow dancing or choreographed). how about a nice relaxing girls night out at melting pot? sounds much better to me, but then again it's not my party. however, i have known our friend for much longer than the other girls so i think my vote should get extra weight. ugh, not the day to send me this email.

anyway, i am finally feeling better. i just finished my paper and the insurance bill is hopefully worked out. although i hate dealing with insurance companies, i am very very thankful that james' work covers the full cost of our health insurance. not a lot of workplaces do that any more, so i realize we are blessed. the baby is healthy, too, and that should be enough to keep me happy. thank goodness tomorrow is friday. i need it. *love*

33 weeks

158 lbs (30 lbs gained)

i feel like my body is growing by the second. the doctor said my belly is going to double in size from here on out, but i don't think that is humanly possible. my pregnancy book said most women lose 2-3 pounds the last month of pregnancy because the amount of amniotic fluid is decreasing and carrying around the extra weight burns more calories. i'm not sure if i believe this either, but we will see. everything looks good to go, though! the baby's head is down and hopefully will stay down. there is extra pressure on my pelvis and i can feel the baby kicking my ribs, but it is not painful (yet). we have one more trip to kansas this weekend, and then james and i are staying home for 2 months!! woohoo.

i am absolutely trip-ed out right now. we had a lovely time in denver and i should be excited about going home this weekend to throw a bridal shower for my best friend, but i'm tired. thinking about the future trips we have planned just makes me even more exhausted. here is what is tentatively on the agenda:

April: baby is born! our home floods with visiting family and friends
May 8: travel to Wisconsin. James' mom's one wish for her 50th birthday and mother's day is to be with her grandbaby, so we're going to do everything in our power to make it happen. plus all of her family and friends in wisconsin want to see the baby, so a trip makes sense.
May 28: heather's wedding in kansas and all of the duties being a bridesmaid entails. james just got asked to be a groomsman in his high school buddy's wedding in another state the same weekend, so it looks like we may have 3 or 4 days apart. luckily my family is excited to spend time with the baby and help out.
June 20: erin's wedding in california. not quite sure if james or baby will be joining me.
July 3: fly to canada for a week as a wedding gift from james' friend.

i dont' know if all of this is going to happen or any of it for that matter. our carefree life will be over very soon and maybe i will learn to slow down. anyway, a few pics from denver (still my favorite city ever)

the boys
the nuggets

the group

my love

love you all!!