Charlie the missing Tortoise

My brother, Brad, works for a pet place in St. Louis, Petropolis. They have an African Tortoise that has it's own sanctuary in the store and roams free most of the time. Earlier this week, he walked out and kept going. They have organized search parties around Chesterfield & there is now a reward for poor lost Charlie. My brother and the owner, Dr. Shifano, have been on numerous newstations around St. Louis. Here is an article with a clip from one newstation.

Hopefully Charlie is found soon...

It's a.......

BOY!!!!

Everything is right on schedule for a due date of Jan. 9th. There was one slight abnormality with the ultrasound, though. The kidneys are a bit swollen. They say this is very common among growing babies, especially boys. If the baby's urine is not released properly it can create swelling. They say it will most likely go away as the baby grows, but it will require another ultrasound at 28 wks.
Now to decide on a name, colors, etc.

My growing belly

Well, I'm nearly 20 weeks along now & beginning to show! One more week until we find out if it's a boy or girl! We're getting very anxious!

Weekend in the Mountains

Ben & I spent the weekend in the Colorado wilderness. We hiked at Mueller State Park while enjoying the serenity & spectacular views. We also camped in Pike National Forest, enjoying a relaxing evening around the campfire. It was absolutely wonderful to not have an agenda. We read, played cards & talked about our baby. Overall, we enjoyed the freedom to take off into the mountains, just us. We also dreamed about the times we will spend in the future camping with our family.

Family Reunion

We hosted Ben's annual family reunion this year! We had a great time showing everyone around Colorado Springs. We had a private tour of the Glen Eyrie castle, spent an evening at the Flying W Ranch, strolled through Garden of the Gods, visited the wonderful sites at the Royal Gorge & much more!

New Mexico

My parents visited last weekend & we went to Taos, New Mexico for the weekend. It is such a neat town. Every building was adobe style. There are no signs on building, only signposts by the road. It is hard to find something you are looking for, but so neat that everything sticks to the old adobe style.

We strolled through the shops, town, & restaurants. We visited Taos Pueblo which is a very old Indian town. They say it's been in existence for over 1,000 years! There are only about 100 people that still live there even though it has no running water or electricity. We also visited the Rio Grande Gorge.

It was great to have my parents here and spend time with them!

BIG 3-0!

So, I turned 30 a week ago! It still is very bizarre to think that I am 30. More weird to say, "I'm 30". I used to think 30 was so old! And here I am...

As with all birthdays, I started thinking about the upcoming year and what it might hold. Not only is this year a big milestone, but the most life changing event will take place...motherhood. This no doubt frightens me beyond words. I started reading a book on the first year & what to do if this or that happens & began to feel utterly overwhelmed & unprepared for this. For those who know me, I am a planner. I like to know all the possibilities of what can happen in a situation & feel comfort in knowing that I have an answer or solution. But with a child I know there will be so many unexpected & fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants moments that I cringe just thinking about it. It will no doubt be good for me in many ways. It will bring some spontaneity into my life & it will force me to trust God more than I can imagine. And so, let the journey begin...

I'm sure a year or two yrs from now I will look back & think 30 sounds young. :)