Today is my sweet husband's 24th birthday! It's so hard to believe that we were both 14 when we met almost 10 years ago!!! When I met him in July 2000, I honestly never would have thought that in 10 years we would be so happily married, completely in love, raising one smart and beautiful daughter, and about to welcome our second precious daughter! It is so amazing to think about how far we've come and to see God's hand through it all.
Yesterday, we were talking with David's mom about when she gave birth to David and Jonathan. David had been in the birth canal and the plan was for him to be born first, but Jonathan pushed his way through so he was actually born first. But the plan was that the firstborn would be named Jonathan.
So they started saying things that I would have actually married Jonathan - who would still be the same person with a different name. So weird. BUT then the thought occurred to me that things may not have turned out the way they did if that were the case. World Changers 10 years ago, we were assigned certain crews randomly based on names. So DAVID Gunter was put on the same crew as me. Had the boys been born in a different order and been given opposite names, I would have been on a crew with the opposite brother. Soooo .... even back at BIRTH God had his hand in it to make sure that 14 years later I would be paired up with my wonderful husband! :) Amazing isn't it?
Our sweet Carissa is growing smarter and smarter everyday. I have lost count of the words she says, and I can't keep track of how many new words everyday she picks up. She tries to say almost every word we ask her to say, and she says so many things with meaning! It is so wonderful to be able to communicate with her. She blows me away!
- Currently she can NAME and IDENTIFY correctly her: head, hair, ear, eye, nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, cheeks, belly, arm, fingers, hands, belly, knee, toes, foot, back, bum.
- She has become fascinated with letters. We've been reviewing "A B C" lately. She can say them all, but not quite able to pick them out all the time yet. But she LOVES them!
- She absolutely LOVES her baby "Sissy, Katie"! She gives her kisses and pats. It is so precious. I can't wait for her to be able to meet her in June!
- She is learning "please." Although, it either comes out "pee" or "peez." Anytime we tell her she needs to say "please" first, she does. But if she wants a bite of whatever we are eating, she will come up and say "peeeeeez." It melts my heart!
- Our little girl has become a fearless daredevil. The world has become her playground. She climbs on everything, wants to go down the "sliiiiiii" by herself, climb the stairs by herself, etc. Although, there are times where she knows she needs help, and she will stick her hand up to us and say "hand!" so that we will hold her hand to help her!
- She has become Mommy's Big Helper! She loves to push the Swiffer around; help me push the laundry basket to the laundry room; put the clothes in the basket, washer, and dryer; unload the dishwasher; put ice in drink; cook; clean up etc. Whatever it is she says "help help" and proceeds to help Mommy or Daddy! Love it!
- She loves to "play"! And we have to "play" with her. She will come and grab our finger and say "play" and drag us to her toys and pull us until we sit down with her. Of course, if we are unable to drop what we are doing to go "play" at that moment, and her attempts to pull us fails, she will let go and try to pull our other hand. I guess apparently if one of our hands doesn't work, the other is supposed to. Toddler logic is absolutely adorable! :)
- Her favorite past times are puzzles, books, coloring, play dough, playing with babies, teddies, balls, slides, playing "ousii' (outside), and dancing!
- She loves "choo choo"s, "mouse" (Mickey and Minnie), and all animals and the sounds they make.
In other news, we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our precious Kathryn Elena Gunter (aka Katie)! I was quite confident from the ultrasound in January that she is a girl, but something about these hormones kept making me wonder "hmm ... what if it was wrong? what if we do all this girl stuff and she turns out to be a boy?" Those thoughts have been put to rest! Since then, our little girl showed her parts to the world in an ultrasound so I am 105% sure she is a girl!
Which is a REALLY good thing ... because our nursery is pretty much set!! :)
I still have much to do, but I am loving the way the nursery looks!!
Now that the "big projects" are done, I can work on catching up on everything else in my house that has gotten behind due to exhausting myself with big projects. My goal is to have the house caught up soon, so that I can work on keeping it up. I am hoping to not start out life with 2 kids being behind on housework! :)
The closer we get to due date, and the more fun I have with Carissa, the more excited I am to have two sweet, silly girls!! I am really looking forward to watching them grow up together and become two peas in a pod! :) As we are quickly approaching the end of this pregnancy, I am able to learn Kathryn's patterns already. While there have been aspects of this pregnancy that have been different than with Carissa, the two girls' activity patterns are identical! Both of them had active periods around 10pm-3am. They both liked to lay with their head in my left hip (although Kathryn has decided she needs to snuggle much lower than Carissa did), and kick my right side. I do hope though that Kathryn decides to move her head out of the hip and into the birth canal long before I've been through 4 days of labor (unlike Carissa!). She has already started on a 2 hour sleep/wake cycle. I notice she is active for a little while, then rests, and is active again in 2-3 hours. I didn't pay much attention to the time with Carissa, but once she was born that is the cycle she had herself on. Both of them had some vicious kicks and were/are very active during their active times. While sometimes it is somewhat painful or uncomfortable, I love every minute of feeling and watching my insides be turned into a punching bag!
I just know that one day my life will be so full of excitement having 2 nonstop active little girls! I look forward to tea parties, dress up, and sleep overs!
Although, I think Daddy is going to be in for trouble! He already is wrapped around one little girl's fingers ... just imagine when he has two wrapping him tightly around their little fingers!! :)
Yesterday we were able to go for a 3d/4d ultrasound.
We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and loved watching our little Diva on the screen!! She already knows how to smile and pose for the camera ... practicing for when she is born! :) She showed us so many facial expressions... including pouts, mad faces, a devious face, smiling faces, and her sweet resting face! Looking at her features compared to Carissa's newborn photos, it is safe to say that they will look a lot alike. I would not be surprised if one day the two of them are mistaken for twins. :)
It is hard to believe that I will complete my 29th week tomorrow. Anywhere from 8-12 weeks left - WOW! This pregnancy definitely flew by! I am looking forward to June.
In final news, please continue to pray for us as David is STILL searching for a job. He has had some interviews and prospects that seemed like great opportunities, but sadly was turned down due to "not enough experience." Someone, somewhere has to be willing to take a risk on someone with little experience so he can gain more experience. I know God has something in store for us, but it does get hard to wait without knowing. I guess that is what faith is all about!
Psalm 25:5 (New Living Translation)
Lead me by your truth and teach me,
for you are the God who saves me.
All day long I put my hope in you.
