Pictures in Alaska

Just a couple more pictures for you to see what it's like here. The sunsets are often bright and colorful. This picture I captured with a wire heart in the foreground, someone else's artwork left at the beach.

Then there's BearHunter at one of his projects, this time building the bunks for the new students. Now there are two girls using this bunk. They say it's the best bunk that's been made here so far. Way to go! BearHunter has been doing the lock down and unlock for the buildings as well as organize the snow shoveling teams. Though now that the head maintenance guy is back, BearHunter has not been required to continue with those responsibilities. Of course he still shovels snow on his rotation. And every other Saturday he's on the meal prep and cleanup, besides being on dish duty one day during the week.

On the other hand, I spend my time thinking/dreaming/planning/doing menus, food shopping and cooking. Food portions and budgets and leftover consume much of my thoughtlife! Now small talk with BearHunter is about the last and next meals. I am enjoying the job most days. And I'm learning not to be such a perfectionist when it comes to the clean up crews putting things away in their proper places, or following my written directions to the T. I find ways to adjust and make things work and not get "worked up" about the missing or rather misplaced items. So far I've done different meals each lunch and dinner. My only repeat has been chili and cornbread. Generally the food turns out well, occasionally a few minutes late, occasionally portions too small. But praise God no one has gotten food poisoning yet. And to top it off, I'm learning lots of new recipes.

Tuesday evening we go in for our first and perhaps only ultrasound. At our prenatal visit last week, the baby measurements taken indicate we're growing on target and there's probably only one baby in there. We'll let you know how the ultrasound turns out. Baby is still kicking regularly, though not all too frequently. BearHunter has been able to feel kicks on many occasions, so that's a special blessing. Feels and looks like my belly grows bigger everyday. We'll get a picture posted as soon as my camer is working again. Love y'all. -CallaLily

Kickin' It!

Ahah, baby's first kicks this last week. Very exciting moments... Both "mom" (me) and "dad" (BearHunter) got to feel our first kicks the same night, within minutes of eachother. I, mom, had been feeling small kicks internally for a while, but nothing with my hand on the outside yet. Then, on Tuesday night, when I went to bed the right side of my belly felt warm compared to the left side (baby lives on the right side). So I decided to let my hand rest there and feel for any other differences. Very soon, I felt a little tap on my hand just under my index finger (from my belly), and immediately after that two more soft taps under my other fingers. I could also feel the kick inside my belly. It was like my skin just barely lifted my finger up a bit. Soon afterwards there was another push under my palm.

Dad was out of the room at the time, locking up the buildings for the evening. He returned shortly and I told him of my experience. Of course I kept my hand resting there waiting to feel anything else. While we were chatting, I could feel internally that the baby was still moving around quite a bit. Hoping that there might be more kicks I suggested Dad come and rest his hand softly in the same spot. So happily he did. And wouldn't you know, as if on cue, baby kicks his fingers, too. Twice, even. I burst into laughter. It was so funny to feel the internal punch while on the outside Dad is feeling it with his hand at the same time. His eyes got big when it happened, and he seemed in almost disbelief. He wasn't sure if that was it at first because the feeling was so slight. But by the second thump, he knew he was feeling it with his hands. He said it was like he heard the kick rather than felt it because it was such a subtle movement.

Since that night, I haven't felt any more good kicks like that with my hand, but I do feel more definite kicks inside me. Often during meals I notice them, or when I lay down for bed. They're not strong enough to wake me up or bother me.

Daily it seems my belly gets bigger and tighter. The baby wad as I like to call it is getting taller and wider in my abdomen. My stomach is more noticeably sticking out under my shirts. Even the first pairs of maternity pants that I bought are feeling tighter. I'm trying to walk regularly for some exercise, but it's hard now that I'm busy being a cook. That's my new responsibility on the base.

White Christmas

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas:
Snow's been coming regularly now. One of BearHunter's jobs is shoveling sidewalks at our facility and around the adjacent church building. Since all other staff are gone for the Christmas break, BearHunter shovels alone these days. I did help him once, just cuz I thought it would be fun. Some days after he digs out all the walkways, by late afternoon the strong winds have drifted snow right back on top, deeper than they were in the morning. He also had the fun of driving a snow plow! A friend came to donate an old table to the YWAM base and plowed the driveway for us while he was here. He let BearHunter get behind the wheel and experiment a bit. This was happening after 10 at night. Plowing seems to know no bedtime.

Feeling Baby:
For two mornings in a row this week I found that I could locate my baby - it's on my right side. But I knew that from the first month. This week it felt like a tennis ball in my abdomen when I laid on my stomach...but only in the mornings. I think my innerds relax and settle during the night. One morning in particular this tight little wad would move around in my belly. I didn't feel any "kicking" sensation, just funky movement and could tell with my hand that the little ball wasn't where it just was! Pretty cool. The Hubbie has a harder time feeling it, he's afraid to press too hard.

Christian Emotions:
We heard a great sermon last Sunday. Main thing I want to relay to you is the necessity of emotion in a Christian faith. Some people fear emotionalism (emotions for the sake of emotions) among fanatical Christians. But to have a stoic faith, a salvation of only your mind is not really salvation. The pastor read from a book which I can't recall the title now, but it read something to the effect of this: Can you truly know the damnation of your sins and feel nothing? Can you claim to know and receive God's love without some joyous and happy response? What have you been saved from if only your mind is aware of it?
Our minds weren't headed for hell alone without our souls. Rather, our whole person has been saved and is being changed. So our response to God is with our body, soul (mind, will and emotions), and spirit. And all three are part of your person and are interconnected.

Landed in Alaska

We arrived safely on Thursday morning to our new hometown. We had only a few hours sleep the night before, due to snow storms causing our flights to be delayed. But a very friendly host picked us up at the airport at 1:30 and returned us there by 7:15. So we were able to stay in a real home for the brief evening. Hopefully next time we're in town, we'll be able to spend more time getting to know this neat family.

We moved into our room on the base. They gave us the "nook" which is a T shaped room with an elevated nook. BearHunter was immediately excited to make that his little reading or writing space. We moved furniture around and found a layout we like. Turns out we'll need to buy a few household supplies to get our room all ready, but it's a cute spot. Right now it's barely below freezing temps and it's light out between 9:30am and around 5pm I think.

Walking is our way of getting around town. So Saturday we made a few trips around the town, by foot, carrying our new pillows, mirror, laundry soap, etc. My hips hurt! But I think that's the pregnancy talking.

Pregnancy Update: I'm still feeling great, as I have been for the last few weeks. I have energy most days and no nausea. I still have some breast tenderness. And my urine volume is massive. Happily, it doesn't wake me up during the night yet. This is my last week of first trimester. I'm looking forward to my skin clearing up sometime soon. And my belly is showing a bit more all the time. I feel fat, but know I'm not supposed to diet. I'm buying my own soymilk to help me drink enough calcium. At the school here we're allowed just one glass of milk each morning (usually used for cereal). So I have a personal stash of cereal and soymilk for breaks. The last week or more I've had a dramatic increase in my appetite as well. I found myself wanting breakfast or lunch AGAIN just a few minutes after eating it. So when I have the chance to eat, I'm eating more to try to make it last a bit longer in my stomach.

Baby Shower

It's early for a baby shower, I'm only 13 weeks along. However, since I'm moving out of state, it seemed the best time to have a shower with my friends in California. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a chance. A group of girlfriends from church came to celebrate our pregnancy. We spent time talking and hanging out, eating, playing games, opening cards and gifts, and praying. I loved having the time to chill with these friends, since I've been out of town most of the last two months. One gift, seen in the picture, was a little red knitted hat (with bears on it) that BearHunter's mom saved from his toddlerhood and gave to us. Sorry the pictures is sideways, I don't know how to change that!