Say hello Aidan!

I'd like to introduce Aidan Alexander Mullen to the world. Here are just a few pics for now. We should be home from the hospital tomorrow and we will provide more...and share the hilarious story of his birth!

Baby and Weather Update!

Well, Cliff had to cancel another teen event today due to weather. It has been so crazy!!!! We have gotten 42 inches in a week and a half and are expected to have another 5 today. I believe it, it is coming down so hard right now!!!! Cliff continues to shovel snow 2 or 3 times a day. We are really praying it lets up sometime soon.

We had our 38 and a half check up today. Last week I was 2 centimeters dilated and 80 percent efaced. Unfortunately for us, today I was exactly the same. BOOOOO! He told us last week that I would go early and this week he smiled and said "Right on time." I thought to myself, "why are you smiling?" He asked me if I was having any contractions and I told him no. During the exam he laughed a little and told me that I was having a contraction right then. I asked him if that was strange that I couldn't feel it. He stated that all women experience contractions differently and I should be very thankful. I expressed my concern that I wouldn't be able to feel them when I needed to know. He laughed again and said, "Trust me, you will know." I feel a little naive at times about this whole pregnancy stuff but I am learning. For example, as I am typing this I am having a contraction. I just know what it feels like now. LOL. Finally he brought us into his office to schedule a day for me to get induced assuming that Aidan goes past due. I am due the 9th of January and he scheduled it for January 10th. Ahhh, I love my doctor, a lot of ob's wouldn't due that, especially with your first baby. So we now know that we will have the little one no later than 12 days from now. Good news!!!

37 and a half week checkup

Well it was a lot of work but Cliff managed to shovel enough snow to get us to my doctor's appointment this morning. Last Wednesday we got 24 inches. Saturday to Sunday brought another 9 and last night we got another 4. It is pretty crazy around here. Unfortunately our garage entrance is in the alley which makes things even that much more difficult. Luckily we had one of our friends from church come over with a snow blower on Friday and that was a big help to Cliff. We also have access to a four wheel drive truck if we need it but thanks to my very tired husband we should be okay.

At our doctors appointment Aidan's heartbeat was 161, which is very good, and he was measuring at 38 centimeters. And I lost half a pound (which is exciting to me, as long as our little one is still growing). After my exam he told us that I am 2 centimeters dilated and 80 percent effaced. We are obviously new at this so we weren't quite sure what that meant as far as timing was concerned. Our doctor told us that was a little ahead of the game though so we were excited. We don't necessarily want a Christmas baby but having him before January would be quite all right with us. After talking to my mom, however, she informed me that it was not abnormal for her to be 2 centimeters dilated three weeks before she was due so who knows what will happen. Cliff asked what we could do to speed things up and he recommended walking. Being that this is not easy for us right now due to the weather, we decided to improvise. Gazey has been having cabin fever so we went home and got her and headed up to the church building. She ran around the auditorium for about 30 minutes, which she loved, while I did my 30 minute speed walk. We are now back at home for the evening. Cliff is currently on the roof trying to get rid of some of this snow to prevent leeks. I'm hoping he will come down soon and just relax. He deserves it!!!!!

A Very Snowy Anniversary!

Well Cliff and I got a unique anniversary present today. We both got the day off!! Cliff tried to go into work but wasn't able to make it. I called my employer this morning and she told me to not even think about coming in. This was good news to me because it too me 2 and a half hours to drive 7 miles home from work yesturday. So we are taking it easy and enjoying the time together. Let's just hope I don't go into labor considering there is no way to make it into the hospital and they have cut off emergency services to the hospital. Here is a report I found on the internet about our last 24 hour snowfall and some pics and video of the puppy getting her first Winter Washington snowfall. The second pic is of our backyard and the third pic is our front yard. The red truck, that we are borrowing, cliff was able to dig out this morning to get us some groceries, but if you can make it out, there is another car parked right behind the truck. You can't even see it! That car belongs to our temporary roommate Dave. He has been with us since a week before Thanksgiving. I hope he doesn't plan on going anywhere today:)

RECORD REPORT...CORRECTED PREVIOUS RECORD YEAR
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA
1015 AM PST THU DEC 18 2008

...24-HOUR RECORD SNOWFALL BROKEN ONCE AGAIN IN SPOKANE...

LOCATION SNOWFALL PREVIOUS RECORD PERIOD OF
(INCHES) (INCHES) RECORD

SPOKANE, WA 19.4 13.0 IN 1950 127 YRS SINCE 1881


19.4 INCHES OF SNOW HAD FALLEN AT THE SPOKANE AIRPORT OVER THE PAST
24 HOURS AS OF 10AM. THIS AMOUNT SHATTERED THE OLD RECORD BY 6.3
INCHES. THIS RECORD MAY BE UPDATED LATER TODAY SINCE SNOW IS
STILL BEING REPORTED AT THE SPOKANE AIRPORT AS OF 10 AM.

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

Today is my dad's 56th birthday!! Wish I could celebrate with you dad but I look forward to seeing you in less than a month!

Best Husband Ever!!

I had my 37 week appointment early this morning. Nothing new to report. On time and baby is still very healthy. After our appointment, however, Cliff suprised me by taking me to a day spa for a full body massage. It couldn't have come at a better time. I had the worst night of sleep last night and my body was so achy. He definitely knows me very well. The spa he chose was right ouside of Spokane and was also a coffee and gourmet chocholate bar. After my hour massage, I came out to have a mocha and my choice from several chocholates. Thank you Clifford for being such a thoughtful husband and soon to be father!!

Annual Christmas Date

Cliff and I can now say we have an annual Christmas date tradition. We start the night off by going to get coffee. Gazey even likes this because when we go through the drive thru she knows she will get a dog treat. We then, having scoped out the best places, go around town to look at Christmas lights. We were a little disappointed this year with the lack of lights but it was fun all the same. Finally, we come back to the house to watch our favorite Christmas movie "Christmas Vacation." I never seem to get sick of this movie. All in all a very fun cheap date for us!! Here is a short video of what we consider its best clips!! What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?

Eight Things

Eight Things
Got this from my sister-in-law Beth. Happy Reading!

Eight TV Shows I Watch
1. Survivor
2. The Office
3. Amazing Race
4. One Tree Hill
5. Lost
6. American Idol
7. The Biggest Looser
8. Wife Swap

Eight Favorite Restaurants
1. Red Lobster
2. Wendys
3. Pizza Hut
4. Red Robin
5. Chili's
6. Macaroni Grill
7. Subway
8. KFC

Eight Things That Happened Today
1. Slept In!!!
2. Watched an episode of Gilmore Girls
3. Took a shower.
4. Deep cleaned the kitchen.
5. Vacuumed and folded laundry.
6. Took a nap.
7. Read part of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
8. Went on our annual Christmas Date with Cliff.

Eight Things I Look Forward To
1. Not being pregnant.
2. Meeting my son
3. Maternity Leave
4. My parents coming to visit
5. Walks in the snow with Cliff and Gazey!
6. Thursday Office Nights with our friends at our house!
7. Going to see family in April
8. Sunday small group!

Eight Things I Wish For
1. A healthy baby boy!
2. Health babies for Ryla and Holly!
3. God-loving and God-fearing children
4. A House
5. College Loans to be paid off
6. To be a stay at home mom!
7. To stay in Washington but to be closer to family
8. To never have to clean my bathroom!

Eight People I Tag
1. Holly
2. Ryla
3. Rebekah
4. Amy
5. Erin
6. Lindsey
7. Vanessa
8. Heather

Family Pics

Cliff and I were getting ready for our first prepared childbirth classes about three weeks ago and decided to take some random pics before we left. We are trying to give Gazey a lot of attention right now because we know she won't be getting as much attention in a few short weeks. I can't believe I am already 35 weeks. I am so ready!!!!!!! This kid is a beast!

Aidan's Nursery & Thanksgiving

Well, we've got a lot of stuff to add to the blog this week. Things are pretty exciting around here as Aidan's arrival gets closer by the day. The most recent development is the completion of the nursery. I stuck in a before shot so you could see how much it's changed since we've moved in. Here are some pictures of that...











We thought it would be funny to put Gazey in the crib since she is so accustomed to trying out any bed she finds. She thought it was nice, but not as comfortable as our bed.


As we celebrate our first Thanksgiving away from home we want to send a hello to our families. My dad, mom, and sister are out at my Aunt Becky's for the holiday and to celebrate my gma Moore's 80th birthday. So happy birthday. We miss you guys and hope you have a wonderful time. And happy Thanksgiving to Laura Beth's family. We wish we could see all of you and are looking forward to the upcoming visits we have planned. We are both grateful for the caring and supportive families we share. They've each helped us out in so many ways. It is bitter sweet to celebrate this holiday. We miss so many people, but we also have so many things to be grateful for.

Quiz

Got this quiz from one of my favorite friends, Holly. It was fun...I thought it was funny how a lot of my answers were identical to hers.

1. Where is your cell phone? bathroom
2. Where is your significant other? Work
3. Your hair? messy pony-tail
4. Your mother? far away :(
5. Your father? jolly like Santa
6. Your favorite thing? Spending time with my husband
7. Your dream last night? don't think i had one
8. Your favorite drink? Dr. Pepper
9.. Your dream/goal? homemaker
10. The room you're in? living room
11. Your fear? losing a loved one
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? a mom
13. Where were you last night? at the church for a youth event
14. What you're not? patient
15. Muffins? ugh!
16. One of your wish list items? a healthy baby boy
17. Where did you grow up? Salina, KS
18. The last thing you did? ate dinner
19. What are you wearing? sweats & a t-shirt
20. Your TV? just cut out watching over half my shows to start setting a good example for my future children, I only watch about an hour a day now
21. Your pet? spoiled and treated like a child
22. Your computer? needs to be replaced soon
23. Your life? good but stressful
24. Your mood? stressed
25. Missing someone? my family who seem so far away right now and my best friend Ryla
26. Your car? 2008 Honda Accord
27. Something you're not wearing? a bra
28. Favorite Store? Target
29. Your summer? Way too hot
30. Favorite Color? brown and blue
31. Describe you? about to tip over
32. Last time you cried? 30 minutes ago
33. Who will/would re-post this? Beth
34. Four places I go over and over? Church, home, Work, Park
35. Two people who e-mail me (regularly)? Beth and Ryla (if you consider facebook)
36. Four of my favorite foods? shrimp, burgers, fries, cheesecake
37. Four places I would rather be right now? Andover, Lincoln, Hutchinson, and in the hospital waiting to meet my son!!!

Revolve Tour 2008

Over the weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to be a chaperone for the Revolve Tour. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the Revolve Tour is basically a teenage version of Women of Faith. The girls and I had a great time. I was particurally excited because I got to see my favorite rock band Hawk Nelson!!! I have never been to Women of Faith but they are coming to Spokane in March and Revolve made me very excited to with the women in my church.

Aidan's Shower and Other Random Pregnancy Things

Well first and foremost, as you can see, I am getting huuuuuuuge.

The doctor says I am right on track though and that the baby and I are very healthy. I did however bend down to get something tonight at church and tipped over in my chair. That can't be good. Cliff and I start prepared child birth classes on Monday night from 6-8. I can just picture him now doing the breathing exercises with me. It will be funny.

Our church held a baby shower for me on the 10th. It was so much fun.

There were around 40 people there. I had four wonderful hostesses.

Two are parents of teens in the youth group. One is our church secretary and the other is Tanya who has become the closest friend I have made here. She is actually down for emergency contact in case Cliff can't for some reason make it to Aidan's birth. She will be going to one prepared child birthing class with me as well.
She was responsible for all the decorations and my cute cupcake displays.

Overall Cliff and I were extremely pleased with the amount of kindness that our new church family showed us. We have been very blessed being a part of this congregation. I was so amazed at how much stuff we got but even more amazed that after writing over 40 thank you cards today that we still have even more things to get before little Aidan's arrival. I would have to say that my favorite part of the evening was recieving gifts from all my relatives in Kansas. What a Surprise!!!! A big shout out to my mom who made me the cutest monogrammed burp rags, among multiple other gifts. You're the best mom and I miss having you here during this time. Here are some other pics of the shower.

Bitter Sweet

Well I would say that I finally feel like I'm at home. Cliff and I have met so many wonderful friends here that we have quickly bonded with. We have a small group that meets every Sunday night that we absolutely love. It is with five other families who all have children under five years old. We are learning a lot from them and have had some great discussions to help us build our spiritual growth. Every Thursday night we have friends over to our house, around ten of us, to watch The Office. We feel so blessed to have met so many people our age that want to get to know us as much as we want to get to know them. We already feel like we have known them for years (cheesy I know, but it's true). The Church is throwing us a baby shower on Monday night. We are very excited. The youth group is still doing wonderfully. We had a Halloween Party last week with over 35 teens there. There was a hay rack ride and a zip line. They LOVED it. The only thing missing is our close friends who are now scattered around the country and of course family. I am especially missing my brother and sister-in-law right now as they will be having their second baby, Harrison, on Tuesday. I wish I could be there with them. I will be so great for Aidan to have a boy cousing just two months older than him. The little boys are starting to dominate on my side of the family. Will make for some very fun holidays.

Maternity Photos

Hey Everyone. Here is the link to view our maternity pics if anyone is interested. Enjoy. Let me know which one is your favorite. I'm trying to decide which one to put in Aidan's nursery.
http://www.sobluephotography.com/darkroom/proof/?client/cliffnlaura

What's Up Old Man...

So I'm really not much of a blogger myself- I try to leave that to LB, but I feel I need to throw my two cents in on this one. This crazy 3D face you see here is none other than little Aidan. He's been kicking around for about 28 weeks now. I've been telling everyone he's gonna be a little hottie and now I finally have proof! This was taken just a few hours ago and we're both more than excited. We both thought his face looked a lot more like an old man than a little baby. I think that's pretty neat- he's already so mature and wise!

The best news is that everything is developing beautifully. We spent about 10 minutes watching his little heart beat like crazy (146 beats per minute to be exact). He currently weights 3 lbs. 4 oz. I also enjoyed watching the ultrasound tech chasing him around his little home trying to get the best shots possible. It really makes such an impact on me to see the details of his face and tiny figure. He is no longer just an idea, but a very real and unique person. Too bad he's still stuck inside that cramped womb!

Today marked a pretty major shift in how I think about him. As soon as his pudgy nose pop up on that screen I was no longer worried about gliders and paint choices. I just wanted to get knowing my little boy.

We were able to take a tour of the facilities where LB will be delivering and recovering. We really enjoyed the staff and were impressed by their friendliness and desire to help answer our questions and calm any worries. We also have one of the men in our small group who is a family doctor at the hospital we chose. He was kind enough to stop by while we were waiting around. It was good to see a familiar face.

So I think I've exceeded the common space for single blog, so I'll wrap it up. Here are a few more pics of our little stud...enjoy!

West Coast Living Update

I realized that I haven't posted in over two weeks so I thought it was time for an update. Cliff and I are still enjoying our time in Spokane and feel very blessed to have met so many amazing people. This is a picture of some of the friends we have been hanging out with on a regular basis. Most of them graduated from Cascade and have moved back to Spokane. Two of them have just been hired as the community outreach ministers for our church as of last night. Cliff is very excited to have a bigger staff especially since they are his age.

For a baby update. My doctor says I am doing great and am right on schedule. I feel abnormally big but he said it was simply because I am so short. I hope he is right. We have been getting things together gradually for Aidan's arrival. We have the crib and dresser here and the baby bedding is in. We finally finished registering and plan on paining this coming weekend. Still a lot to do but thankfully we still have three more months to do it. Time is certainly going by fast however.

Finally, here is a pic of some of the girls from the youth group that came over for my 80's party. They got all dressed up and had fun taking goofy pictures and then we snacked while we watched Girls Just Want to Have Fun. I think they enjoyed it. Cliff took the guys over to the building and played games around the church. He had 26 teens in class on Sunday morning which has been the average. Everything has been great and we are just enjoying all the blessings God is throwing our way.

Update on Job Status

I forgot to post that I did get offered the job!! I was a little worried because they interviewed several people but in the end it all worked out. They also offered me more hours than I originally planned as well. I will be working 8-5:30 on Wed, Thurs, and Fridays. I start next Wednesday and am very excited. I have also seen my first client at my private practice and have a couple scheduled for next week. So, God is good. Cliff and I love it here and it has become very clear why we were brought here.

Shout Out to Jordan Sparks at the VMA's

I have never been a huge fan of Jordan Sparks but have always thought she was very talented. However, she did something at the VMA's that I thougt was too great to go without mentioning. The host of the VMA's, Russel Brand a comedian/actor from the United Kingdom, chose to bash the Jonas Brothers in his opening speech for wearing purtity rings and basically making fun of anyone who chooses to stay a virgin until they are married. Jordan Sparks came out to announce an award and took the opportunity to say that she thought purity rings were a good thing and that "maybe people want to wear them so they aren't sluts." The next time Russel Brand came out to speak he appologized to the "teen audience" and to the Jonas brothers for his comment and said that he never meant to offend those who chose that path. Way to go JORDAN!!!!

Job Interview!!!

Well I am finally excited to announce that I got a job interview. I was looking for something part-time while I begin starting up the two counseling centers. This process is going to take several months, maybe even a year, so I needed part-time work pretty quickly. I was starting to get stressed about it, especially with the baby on the way but I think I might have found the perfect job. I go in on Sunday afternoon to interview with a family who is looking for a nanny for their 2 and 4 year old for 20 hours a week. The hours sound great to me because it is from 8-6 on Wednesdays and Fridays. She knows I am expecting and we discussed over the phone about being able to bring Aidan with me once he is born, which will be perfect!!!! So everyone keep me in their prayers for my interview with them on Sunday, this sounds like it will be perfect and I would be able to do it and not have to find daycare for Aidan. YEAH!!!!

Just For Fun!

So I finally decided to go take advantage of all the rose bushes in my front yard. I believe we 6 or 7 all together and they are gorgeous!!! It is so nice to have fresh flowers in my house whenever I want. Pluse roses are one of my favorite flowers. So FUN!!!!!

Adjusting

Well Spokane is for sure starting to feel like home. Cliff and I went and got our Washington drivers licenses today and we only had to wait two hours :( We got new telephone numbers, health insurance, and a growing baby who likes to kick a looooot. So this is what it feels like to be an adult. We had a lot of fun watching the Summer Olympics and found out that the 2010 Winter Olympics are only six hours away from us, so we decided to get tickets and make a whole vacation out of it. We were suprised that tickets go on sale this coming October!! We have invited some family so hopefully it will be a really fun trip. Cliff is headed out for his first retreat this weekend with the teen so it is just me and the pup for four days. Hopefully I will hear from one of the parttime jobs I have applied for in the next week or two so I won't be so bored. But I have to admit, I am enjoying cooking more, okay and the sleeping in. Cliff and I finally decided that we have taken a break from exercising long enough. We are walking/running around 12 miles a week and our bodies are def. feeling it. But it is good for us, Gazey, and Aidan. It is really wierd to get on the scale every 3 or 4 days to see that I have gained another half a pound. Well I think that is all for now. I'm off to look at Baby Furniture!!!

Our Move

Well, it has taken forever but I have finally found time to make a post. We have been in Spokane for 8 days now and everything has been great. We loaded two weeks ago in Abilene and were pleasently suprised to have so many friends come to help out. We had it done in about an hour and a half. They were great! Thanks guys!! We headed out on Tuesday the 12th. Cliff drove the 26 foot truck and Gazey and I followed in the car. Cliff got me a GPS system so it made the trip very easy. Cliff got jealous of the one he got me and stopped after a couple of hours and got him one to. Our first day was a 12 hour drive for me and 14 for Cliff. We stayed in Colorado. After we got to New Mexico
the trip started to be very pretty.
Our next day was just as long. We
statyed in Montana. After a late start
the next morning we headed for our
third day on the road. We arrived in
Spokane at 4 in the afternoon just in
time to meet to meet the inspector to
walk through the house. It is about
the same size as the one we had in
Abilene but has a basement for storage. An hour later around 15-20 people showed up from the church to help us unload. They had it done in about an hour. When they were done Alex, one of the deacons, pulled out a grill from his truck and started to grill hotdogs. Other people brought snacks and we had our first bar-b-q in our front yard. It was hilarious and totally unexpected. On top of that they filled our house full of groceries, gave us gift cards to the grocery store for our cold items, and gift cards to local fast food places. Sherri, one of the moms of three teens in the youth group, also dropped off a welcome basket full of cleaning supplies, trashbags, and candles. It was awesome. We felt so welcome!!!!! They headed out after a couple of hours and we headed straight for bed. The next morning Cliff and I woke up at 6 a.m. (still on midwest time) to start unpacking and we had a nice little suprise from our teens in our front porch. Cliff and I feel very blessed to have found such a great church family. We are looking foreward to starting our life here and even more excited for the weather!!!!! Mid 70's today and loving it!!!!!