May and June Update

Well, once again it's been a while since I've updated, so there is a lot to tell! Most notably...

JORDAN SCORED A FULL-TIME, PERMANENT POSITION WITH COASTAL FEDERAL CREDIT UNION on the 1st of June!!! He has been working for them as a contractor for almost a year now and we are thrilled that the job is now permanent and includes excellent benefits! The Lord has been SO faithful to us and we give Him all the praise and the glory!

But now I have to back up to May...
The weekend after our last beach trip, we were invited by my sister and her husband to spend another weekend at the beach, this time in an ENORMOUS beach house! We had a great time, although Jordan was unable to join us because of work :( Here are a few pictures from the weekend...




For a a look at all 130 pictures from our weekend away, go here

The very next weekend, we headed to Nashville, TN for Jordan's brother's wedding. It was SO MUCH FUN! We got to see so many people we haven't seen in years... it was literally like a reunion. Here's Isaac and Ethan with Uncle Brandon before the wedding:

And here's the bride and groom with Jordan and Brandon's parents:
We managed to sneak in a family shot:





















Here are a couple from a cool park in Nashville that we took the boys to:
The boys had the most fun swimming at the hotel pool. First, a race with Aunt Julia:
Then Isaac took a rest in the hot tub:
While Ethan played around in the big pool:

All in all, it was a GREAT trip. We are so blessed to have Ashley as part of the family now and we're glad we were able to make the trip for their big day!

And last, but certainly not least, in May, after 8+ years of working full-time and going to school, Jordan graduated... with honors!!!! I am so proud of him! Unfortunately, I don't have any graduation pictures to share. After 8 years of school, he'd had enough of the place and decided not to "walk" and sit through the boring ceremony. Honestly... I don't blame him!

That brings us to June. Many exciting things have happened so far this month, with more to come. For starters, we were able to get some ultrasound pictures taken for free. A good friend of ours works for pregnancy support services and they were looking for some pregnant models to come in and let them practice on so they could get re-certified. We were so blessed to be able to participate. It was so fun to lay there and watch the baby for nearly an hour! It was very active, and very cooperative for all the measurements they needed to take. Here are a couple shots of our little miracle:
Praying perhaps...???
You can see the baby's ribs in this one:
Unfortunately it was still just a tad too early to find out the sex with any certainty. But my next doctor's appointment is June 22nd and they will be doing a full-anatomy, Level II ultrasound. So just a little over a week until we know for sure. We can hardly wait!

Also noteworthy in the month of June... we decided that we will be homeschooling the boys next year! I could not be happier about this :) I have been busy putting together curriculum and will be spending the month of July making lesson plans and getting organized. The boys are VERY excited (we'll see if they are still excited once they see it doesn't mean staying home all day to play!!!) Their official last day of public school will be June 30th. They will take the month of July off and we will hopefully start up in August and follow somewhat of a year-round schedule to allow for flexibility when the baby is born.

Ethan will turn 7 on the 24th of this month, so I'm sure a post will soon follow with pictures of his special day (or, in my case, pictures may follow in several months when I get around to posting again!)

I think that pretty much covers everything over the last two months. We are continually amazed by and in awe of God's provision for our lives and how he has blessed our family. I will, once again, leave you with a much anticipated picture of my growing belly. This was taken at 17 weeks:




















blessings... ~c

It's Been A While...

Okay, so once again I am failing miserably at this whole blogging thing, but seriously, things have been a little out of the ordinary around here. If you are reading this blog, then I'm sure you already know that we are unexpectedly expecting. This makes me smile :) You also probably know that means I haven't been doing much of anything the last two months except for... well... I'll spare you the gruesome details and will instead let it be the excuse for my absence in the blogging world. I must say I am feeling much better, and much to my surprise, much quicker than expected. This also makes me smile :) I am currently almost 11 weeks, due November 23rd, but am guessing based on previous experience that the little one will make its glorious appearance in early November... at least we can hope, right? The boys have been busy, busy, busy putting their new hockey equipment to good use. They have completed the first hockey class and have two weeks left in the second class before we will take a break for a while. They love every minute of it, and we have enjoyed watching them.

Isaac just celebrated his 8th birthday! No one is more shocked about this than we are! We like to drag out our celebrations, so we started out with a family party at the park. The cousins had a great time playing baseball together, despite the 90 degree heat.





Isaac specifically requested a "dirt cake," and yes, those are worms in the cake, also a specific request! The last picture should have the caption "Ashlyn grows one for the team." If you have no idea what that means, read this The birthday celebration didn't stop at the park. Once we got home, the Legos were immediately assembled (with daddy's help, while mommy took a much needed nap!) and many light saber creations were made. Isaac took tons of pictures with his new digital camera, and the day ended with a cook out in the backyard and several hours of fun on the new Slip N Slide...


... but of course, the fun didn't stop there! On Monday, my mom and I headed to the beach with Isaac and Ethan (per Isaac's request) as an extension of his birthday.
The weather was absolutely PERFECT! 82 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, and just enough of a breeze to keep you from being uncomfortable. The water definitely could have been a little warmer, but we weren't complaining... just happy to be there! There is something about the ocean... something about the sound of the crashing waves and the breath of a cool breeze brushing against your cheek that seems to melt all your cares away and allow you to truly marvel at the awesomeness of the Creator. My morning sickness seemed to be carried away by the wind that day and swept deep into the ocean. I was able to truly enjoy myself for the first time in a long time, and I am happy to report that my most miserable days seem to have been left behind. My day at the beach was truly a turning point for me, and that is definitely something to smile about :) After our beach trip, we spent a few days enduring the miserable after effects of being in the sun for too long, but that will not keep us from going back! We are already planning another trip to celebrate Ethan's birthday in June... and this time, we plan to bring more family along! Thursday was Isaac's actual birthday. We spent the day at an INDOOR pool, so as not to add insult to injury :) The sunburns are finally fading and giving way to the itchiness that begins the peeling process. Next time, maybe we will spend a bit more time UNDER the umbrella! In the weeks ahead, we are looking forward to our first ultrasound and REAL doctor's appointment which will be May 12th. We will spend Memorial weekend in Nashville, TN to be a part of Jordan's brother's wedding. The boys and I will be making the long drive on our own and Jordan will fly out and meet us in time for the rehearsal dinner. I am not looking forward to the long drive, but I AM looking forward to the festivities and the extended time with family!

All in all, things are going well at the Whiteside household. We have so much to be thankful for and praise God for the many blessings he has poured into our lives. We ask your prayers for the health of the baby and for provision for this pregnancy, and we continue to pray that Jordan's job will soon become permanent so that we will have health insurance. We know God is in control. He has an amazing track record for being faithful (flawless, in fact!) and we are excited to see what he has in store for us through this unexpected, yet welcome adventure. I leave you with my one and only belly shot so far, and a promise to upload the ultrasound pictures as soon as we get them. This was taken at 10 weeks...

blessings... ~c

All On a Christmas Day...

Christmas was wonderful! We spent a lot of time with family and loved every minute of it! It was a little different this year, this being the first year that Jordan has not had vacation over Christmas and New Year's, but that just made us savor every moment even more. We started out Christmas morning at our house with a few gifts, and then it was on to my mom's house for more family fun. The boys have been begging to play hockey this year, but with it being such an expensive sport to play, we just didn't see it happening. We made a deal with them that if they put all the equipment they needed on their Christmas lists, and they ended up getting it all, we would let them play. They asked for nothing else this year.... no toys... just "hockey stuff." And their family didn't dissapoint. They came through with the last piece of equipment necessary being opened just before midnight on Christmas night! Daddy even scored a hockey stick, too, so they were able to play a little street hockey before going to Grandma's house. We headed over to Grandma's for food, fellowship... and of course, more gifts, but most importantly for time together with family celebrating the birth of our Savior. It was great to have our whole family together this year. My brother Chris, who lives in Minnesota , flew in with his girlfriend, and it was great to have them with us this year. After opening gifts, we had several hours to spend together as a family just having fun. Of course, the new toys proved to be great entertainment for all! Something as simple as a nerf football can provide hours of family fun! Isaac, Ethan, their cousin Matthew, and Daddy had fun playing football together, while I played with Ashlyn and Jessica in the leaves. Later, the three boys played a game of Star Wars Monopoly, a gift to Isaac and Ethan from my sister and her family. We all spent much time, "ooohing" and "ahhhing" over Jordan's new hockey stick that he received from my sister and brother-in-law... An official, game used, Corey Stillman autographed hockey stick... Wow! What can I say?... they have connections! This will make a nice addition to our Hurricane-themed office at home. Jordan was quite impressed... and so were the rest of us... well, most of us anyway. The boys had a hard time understanding why they couldn't take it out in the street and play with it! Afterall, they had a bunch of new hockey gear!We had a wonderful dinner/dessert and played some board games and wii. Then Jordan's brother came and got the boys and took them to the airport to pick up his fiance'. Jordan and I had some time with just the adults playing games and then we headed over to his parent's house to visit with them and exchange gifts. We had a great time there as well. The boys received the rest of the hockey equipment they needed (just before midnight) and we got an AMAZING framed family portrait to put over our fireplace... along with some "hockey gear" of our own. The boys were incredibly exhausted, but didn't want to close their eyes for a second. Once they had the last piece of hockey equipment, they couldn't wait to put it all on. That, in itself, was about a 30 minute process... EACH! They were so worn out by the time they got it all ON, that they were ready to take it all OFF after about 3 minutes. We did, however, get them to face off in the kitchen so we could get some pictures :) We didn't get to stay long at Jordan's parent's house that night, being that it was almost midnight when we opened the last gift, but we spent more time with them in the days that followed. The boys went with Uncle Brandon and soon-to-be-Aunt Ashley to watch the Hurricanes practice at the Rec Zone one day, and then went ice skating with their new equipment. It's amazing how much fun you can have FALLING on the ice when you have all those pads on! They had a great day with Brandon and Ashely and I enjoyed having another day to spend with my brother before he left town again. Jordan unfortunately had to return to work, but we got to have Christmas dinner all over again that night when he got home :) Although we were exhausted, it was all so incredibly worth it! The time spent with family, the laughs shared and the memories made are moments that will last forever. For us, Christmas proved to be a wonderful time, filled with the warmth that only comes from personally knowing the Savior who was born that day. I can think of no better way to celebrate such a holy night than with the fellowship of family and the joy of making memories that will not soon be forgotten.

blessings... ~c