4 Years Together

Thursday Josh and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary! We celebrated Thursday night by cooking a meal together, shrimp cocktail (I had just a few) to start, some grilled cedar plank salmon with asparagus and roasted potatoes as the main course, and some sparkling white grape juice and an M&M McFlurry (can you tell someone's pregnant?!) for dessert! Friday night we went out to a really great restaurant here in Pasadena, the Parkway Grill! It was soooo wonderful! I got the filet which was excellent, and something I had been craving for quite a while, and Josh got the Kobe burger with sweet potato fries. For dessert we had this awesome twist on traditional smores. I would go back again just for that!! What a great place to celebrate such a special moment in our lives!

We are both amazed at how fast time goes by. We feel so blessed to have had the last four years to spend with each other and wouldn't change a thing about all that has happened to us during that time. Not only has our love for each other grown deeper and stronger but we have grown into true best friends! We look forward to seeing all that God is going to do in our lives over the next four years!

Here is a look back at our past four anniversaries!

Our wedding day:
March 19, 2005
Atlanta, GA

Unfortunately, I do not have a digital picture from our one year anniversary.
We were living in Murfreesboro, TN and celebrated with a weeks vacation to my parents condo in Panama City Beach!

2 Year Anniversary:
Living in Abilene, TX.
We celebrated by taking a weekend trip to Austin, TX!

3 Year Anniversary:
Living in Abilene, TX with an addition to the family, Shiloh!
We celebrated by taking a week long trip to Panama City Beach!

4 Year Anniversary:
Living in Pasadena, CA with another addition to the family on the way!
Celebrating with a trip to Panama City Beach in June!

Visiting the Doctor

We had two doctors appointments over the last few weeks. Our first one was with my regular OBGYN. Since my last visit I have gained four pounds putting me at a whopping 101 pounds which my doctor was quite pleased with seeing as I had lost weight at my previous visit! My blood pressure was good, 117 over something (I don't remember but they said it was good). He listened to the baby's heartbeat (baby was moving all around so it was hard to hear it) and said that it sounded really good. I go back in 4 weeks and will probably find out the sex at my 21 week appointment if not sooner! I am beginning to live my life in four week increments anxiously anticipating the next time I get see and hear our little one!

Our second appointment was with the doctor at the hospital again (see last post for details). Unfortunately, it was good but unsuccessful. There just wasn't enough room for the baby to lay flat with the way my placenta is shaped and positioned. So we will just have the one test during my second trimester to go on.

The baby was very active which was fun, and was sitting up when we first saw him! The heartbeat was 150 beats per minute which the doc said was normal. He is measuring at 13.5 weeks which is about a week earlier than where we are. This could mean our due date might be a week off or the baby may just be growing a little faster right now and will even out a little later. OR it could mean I could just have a big baby...which I am not to excited about! We got to see the little fingers and toes wiggling today which was fun! And he certainly is not shy of the camera because he kept turning to face us which was really cute.

SO.....mommy and baby are both doing well!

Here is a belly picture of me at 14 weeks...that bump is starting to grow!

Moving along...

We had our first trimester screening test today, or what was supposed to be our first trimester screening test. The test was an ultrasound and the baby had to be in a certain position, on his back with his neck up, to be able to measure the amount of fluid at the back of the neck. I guess they have found that babies with down syndrome have more fluid at the back of their neck than those without.

Needless to say, our little one did not cooperate very well. For the first 5 to 10 minutes he was completely asleep, would not move at all. Then they had me drink some cold water and within a few minutes the baby woke up. It was amazing. It first arched his back and stretched like we do when we wake up. Then he started moving all around, arms and legs, we could see him kicking from the knees and moving his arms. He would turn and face us and we could see his face and then he would turn away from us. It was amazing.

We could see the spine and got to hear the heartbeat which the doctor said sounded good and was at a good rate. We could see the ears and the eyes and even the stomach (a little black whole in the belly) and the urinary track!

After about 15 minutes the doctor decided that my uterus (which he said this was normal) was shaped in such a way that the widest part was at the top and the smallest was at the bottom so he did not have room to lay flat on his back with his head back. So we have to go back on Monday to try again.

It was so amazing to see the baby moving around and all it's little parts (minus the part that tells us weather it is a boy or girl!). Hopefully he will cooperate more on Monday and my uterus will have grown enough for him to lay more flat. We are excited for the chance to get to see our little one again so soon!

No pictures this time but more belly pictures coming soon!

Growing belly...

So my belly is slowly beginning to grow. Here are some pictures of the start of that growth...

4 weeks

9 weeks

More to come soon!

Becoming a family...

Josh and I are taking this moment to announce to you all that we are going to be parents!! We will be delivering our first precious child on September 15, 2009. We went to the doctor today to see how our little one was growing, and what a precious moment it was. We were able to see the head, body, spine, heart, little leg buds and arm buds. We also had the privilege of listening to the tiny little heart beat pumping away! Here is our precious little one's picture:


We must take this opportunity to thank God for this amazing blessing He has given to us. We know we do not deserve it but we are so grateful for the chance He has given us to grow our family in His name. We pray now that He will use this little one to bring glory and honor to His Kingdom!

We must also thank all those who have been praying for us to have this opportunity of becoming parents. Thank you for your sweet petitions on our behalf. And thank you to those who have been with us from the beginning of this process as we have anticipated the healthy growth of our little bundle of joy!

Stay posted as we update you on our continued journey into parenthood!!

Update coming soon...

So it has been quite a while since I have updated our blog. It is a busy season of life for the Strahans! I promise to give a real update soon!

A quick shot out to Ashley who has been working on updating my blog! I wish I could do things like that! You are so talented! Thanks Sis!! Also, a plug for my bro's new website, grahamscobey.com. Check it out! I know I am biased but Graham your pics are incredible! I can't wait to see all that God is going to do through your art!

More to come soon!!

Our Christmas started a week early with the Strahan stocking tradition. We had so much fun sneaking around each other the night before and surprising each other with gifts the next morning. Shiloh truly enjoyed "sharing" in the opening of gifts!

Our travels began on December 22nd with a red eye from LAX to Atlanta arriving at 5:30am. Needless to say we did not get much sleep on the flight due to Shiloh's desperate attempts at "talking" to us throughout the whole night.

We had so much fun hanging out with Graham, Ashley, baby Scobey, Mom and Dad. We got to see all the cousins and meet all the new "nieces" and "nephews". They were so cute! We had so much fun getting to know each one!We did a lot of traveling while home, helping my Nana and Papa move from Florida to Alabama, then to Tennessee to visit Josh's parents for a few days, then back to Alabama to share in a wedding of a good friend, Brittney Kennamer (who we Scobey's consider family), then back to Atlanta for a day before heading home to LA.

It was a whirlwind of a trip but so nice to be home with family for a while. Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday!

Josh and I are excited to see what God has in store for us in 2009. Happy New Year Everyone!!