Long Post!

We ended up packing a lot into this weekend! We didn't even realize it would be so full, but it was very profitable and a lot of fun.

Is it the End or just the Beginning?

This past week our Pastor had to go out of town and asked Andrew to preach for him at our church on Sunday. As I came into Andrew's office on Saturday, I was pointedly reminded of one thing...though we are very excited for Andrew to graduate in May, this is a picture that I'll be seeing all of my life! There will always be sermons to prepare, lessons to teach, new things to study....and I am glad he enjoys studying so much! (though I will still be excited when classes and projects are finished. :)

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We have begun the process of doing the baby registries, so also on Saturday we went to Target to officially register for baby Graham! We are registering at Babies R Us & Target and while it is a lot of fun to start picking things out, it very daunting trying to weed through the hundreds of products that are thrown at you as "necessities"! Does he need a crib? Probably...does he need something that takes 16 batteries to entertain him? I hope not... :) I had been doing some things online, but wanted to see what they had available in the store and also have Andrew be involved as well. (He wasn't nearly as in to it as when we did our wedding registry!) In fact, by the end he was about hyperventilating at all the baby gear and prices! He has deemed that Graham should be just fine sleeping in a dresser drawer for the first year, and that I should be able to carry him around in a sling until he's 3 years old instead of buying a stoller. (Please pray for me :)

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We had planned on just registering at Babies R Us, but several people have commented to me that they have Targets readily accessible, but not Babies R Us, so we're doing both. And while I tend to like Target products a little more, I am also finding that their in-store selection is very limited. They have a great range of products, but a lot of them are available only online. So we'll see how it works...

Speaking of Graham...my brother David sent this adorable MN Twins outfit...so cute!

He now has 3 outfits, and 2 of them are MN related!!

After a long day of studying, Andrew decided to relax a little and build a small sand sculpture. (At least that is what he wanted me to tell you :)

Realistically, if he was building one, it would look more like this one done by a local elementary school. :) :) Actually, it was the annual Neptune Festival Sand Sculpting Contest. "Professional Sand Sculpturists" come from all over the world to create these works. What was even more amazing this year, is that for the 2 days leading up to this, we had been hit by a good nor'easter and been pelted by rain and wind for 24 straight hours! We still don't know how they still managed to create these through that!
So, we asked this lady to take a picture for us, but apparently we forgot to mention that we wanted more than just MY ARM in the picture!
ok, Take 4...she finally got us. :)
On our walk home from the sand scultures...it was a beautiful night. And yes, I did trek about 5 or so miles for that walk! I think my days of 5 mile walks are over for the next 4 months. :)

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On Sunday evening, instead of a church service, our church split everyone into small dinner parties. So we closed out our weekend by hosting a dinner for 9. Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures, but we had a great time of fellowship with several families from our church. There was a southwestern-style meal, good conversation, Kimberly's delicious tres leche cake, and lots of laughs playing Taboo!

Air Show

This weekend Andrew's parents came up to enjoy the annual NAS Oceana Air Show. It was fun to see the Blue Angels and other air show performers again. It is quite amazing what they can do in an airplane!

first, we celebrated Mom H's bday with peach cobbler!!

gotta have a pic of the fedex plane!
the elite Blue Angels
in flight...

What's in a name?

We didn't realize there were be so much interest in to how we came about choosing Graham's name...so here are a few details...
First of all, it's not really that interesting of a story! We had heard the name about 6 months ago and it really stuck with us. We really only considered one other name at all, and we weren't even close to having a girl's name! We didn't talk about a lot or have a lot of drawn out discussions. Going in to the ultrasound, we hadn't even set on it then. But on our way home we just said, "So, is it Graham Owen?" and we decided that it was. So I think the Lord just gave us this name and this baby was "Graham" from the beginning! We are really thankful, because I was kind of dreading the name process and know that sometimes it takes a really long time to find "the name" and for both to agree...
Owen had originally been a first name choice. We really like the name and Andrew has chosen to study the theological writer John Owen as a life-long pursuit. But we know several people who have used that name in the past few years and so we decided to use it as a middle name instead.

Our church Sunday School class is currently a study on parenting. It has been perfect timing for us and the class has been so great! One couple who is leading the class has 8 children (8 incredibly well-behaved, well-mannered children!) It has been so neat to learn from them. Yesterday at church the wife happened to have a baby names book with her, she shared with me what it had for Graham and it was such a blessing. Now we're even more glad we chose that name!

Graham means obedient spirit.

The verse given was Deuteronomy 13:4:

You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.

Our greatest prayer for Graham is that the Lord would draw him to Himself and that Graham would always walk in obedience, not just to us, but first and foremost to God.

Introducing our baby...BBBBOOOOOYYYYYY!!!

Ultrasound this morning told us that our baby is movin' & groovin' like crazy! And growth wise is exactly where is expected!! Oh, yeah, and just like we suspected... he is a HE. :)

His name will be Graham Owen Hughes.

This is so fun for "it" to finally have a gender, identity, and name!!! We are so excited!

After our appointment we stopped and got our first official boy outfit - so, so fun!!

it was time for daddy to make an appearance in the baby posting!

my favorite...his thumb in his mouth!!
Psalm 139:13-14

For you formed my inward parts;you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;my soul knows it very well.

Blessings

This weekend brought a couple of things that were completely unexpected blessings!

>Hanna

Saturday we were a little nervous about Hanna coming our way since we haven't experienced a tropical storm or hurricane since we have moved here. Especially now that we live right by the shoreline, we weren't sure what to expect. But, when all was said and done, Hanna didn't hit our area hard at all. We had some strong winds & rain for a couple of hours on Saturday morning, but no damage and we didn't even lose power. So we were very thankful - the sun even came out by the late afternoon!

>Shopping

By Saturday afternoon we were feeling very cooped up in the house and were ready to get out for a bit. We figured it was a good mall day. We picked a good choice!

I found 2 maternity shirts for $6 each (since I am quickly growing out of all my regular clothes!).

Then, American Eagle had a special where if you try on a pair of jeans you got a free movie ticket! We kept looking for the hidden "catch", but it really ended up being as easy as trying them on, didn't even have to purchase. So we did and each got a free movie pass and now have a free date for next week! Thanks AE!!

>Baby Stuff

This week at 18 weeks I felt the baby move for the 1st time. That was definitely the very best part of being pregnant so far!!! Now I am feeling it move all the time and it is so special!

THURSDAY we go for the big ultrasound and will find out the gender!!! (we will post as soon as we know.)

Our friend Gloria sent us our very 1st baby outfit!! We loved it!

Maybe a subtle hint :), but my family will definitely appreciate it. thanks Glo!!

weekend in Pittsburgh

This past weekend we were able to spend 4 days in Pittsburgh. It was wonderful to get away for a little trip and also see some good friends. For those of you wondering how we picked Pittsburgh, let me give you a brief summary.

This past spring/summer, 3 family units from our church moved to Pittsburgh to start a brand-new church. They had thoroughly researched the area and found that the need for good churches there was very great. They have now been there for a couple of months and things are just starting to take off. Their next priority is finding a building to meet in. For now they are meeting in a home, but hopefully will soon find an outside source to meet together. God has already started to bring new people to the church! We were so impressed with everything we saw regarding this new church. The team is solely focused on Christ building His church and it was exciting to see how God has already met their needs and we pray will continue to do so. Our biggest prayer request for them right now is that Adam (one of the pastors) will find a job (since the church cannot afford to pay him yet), especially one with benefits. Also, that God would provide a meeting place for their church. Joining this church plant is something we are prayerfully considering after Andrew graduates in May.

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overlooking the city at night - isn't it beautiful?

have you ever had a sandwhich with meat, fries, and coleslaw all piled on? This is Primanti Bros. and that's how it is! The tradition started for truckers who were on the road so they could get their meal all in one piece!

Stadium where the Steelers (Pittsburgh gods!) play
fountain at Point Park

at a Pirates game! this is our fifth stadium that we have been to. We love visiting baseball games all over!

with part of the Pittsburgh group - Dan, Adam & Adrianne
Sunday - meeting in the Joyce's home

cookout after - Marshall is always hilarious!

we had such a great weekend and thank the Pittsburgh team for being so hospitable and gracious, and taking the time to walk us all over the city! We never thought of Pittsburgh as a cool, trendy, fun city...but discovered that it is a very neat city and actually reminded us a lot of Minneapolis. We know that whether we end up there or not, God is using that team in a great way and we are excited to see what He is going to continue to do.