Wanna Make $50?? (or more)

I'm so happy and proud to announce that Will has officially started his website/graphic design company. God led us in this direction, and we are really excited about where it's already headed. He has been working so hard, and I can't say enough how proud of him I am.

So, as his wife, I will be bragging about him. :)

To start off his business, he is offering a referral deal. If you refer someone to his business for a website/graphic design, he will pay you $50 for each referral that goes through. Seriously, people... easy money. Just send out an email to all your friends and (you never know)... you may end up with 50 easy bucks in your pocket... or more, I guess.

Cai's Room

It has officially begun. I've looked forward to this since the first day I found out I was pregnant. It's time to nest, and I love it. Since we just moved, we only started... but I'm so excited to keep goin. We still need to paint the room, hang up stuff on the walls, add some furniture, make curtains and crib skirt, etc. But I wanted to show everyone what we've got so far.

I'm so excited. I feel like a momma bird going crazy trying to get things ready for her babies. Only, my baby won't be sleeping on moss and yarn that I found outside ;)

I'm super pumped too because my extremely talented sister (who is an artist) is coming to visit in a couple weeks and will help me with some drawings to hang up. She is seriously soooo good!!!

Here's his cute green/grey stroller and carseat...

My mom is a great garage saler. She got us TONS of clothes. These are just the newborn clothes.

Here's his Ikea rug...

The kid better like Ikea. Here's his crib, lamp, and decor. Moggie made that precious blanket before she died. I feel so blessed to have it.

Micaiah is a monkey for now. Will drives him around in the stroller. He even has a diaper on :)

Ikea changing table...

Pack and play...

Gibson is already jealous. Ha ha. Here's clothes that people have bought him so far.

Here's a closer look. Do you see a pattern? Hint: Will's favorite instrument...

Birthing Options..... Thoughts?

Good news! I finally found out that I qualify for medicaid. This has been a tiring process and I'm sure glad it's figured out (at least for now). Actually, the whole application process was a sinch... seriously I was surprised how many questions they didn't ask me. But I think because I am so far along in my pregnancy, they are wanting me to get medical care right away. So, that's nice.

If you aren't caught up, the reason why I had to apply for medicaid is because we moved and no longer qualify for signing up for individual health care. I called so may insurance companies, just to hear them say "sorry... no can do." I even called the department of insurance here in Georgia to which the woman told me " you won't be able to qualify for any insurance. No one will take you or your husband since you are pregnant." Which I didn't realize was the case... but oh well. Here I am trying to figure things out to the best of my ability.

I already decided that I want to give birth with a midwife. Since I am doing this whole thing naturally, I cannot have someone distracting me or asking me every 5 seconds if I want an epidural. I would probably slap them :) So, I am really wanting a midwife to be able to go through the whole thing with.

I would LOVE your thoughts... anyone that has them. Here are my options.

1. Under medicaid, I can go to a doctor's office that has certified nurse midwives available. I would have my first inital appointment with a doctor and then I would see a midwife from that point on. I would also have ultrasounds. I would end up having the baby at the hospital under the midwife supervision. From what I know, all costs would be covered.

2. I can have a homebirth with a midwife for about $2,500. Medicaid sometimes reimburses this, but I am just not sure yet. I would have the medicaid just in case something goes wrong and need to go to the hospital, otherwise I really wouldnt use it much. I would have the option to still see doctors for prenatal appts but wouldn't have to. I could just see the midwife, but no ultrasounds would be offered if I did.

I think I'm leaning toward the first one because it just seems easier. It also seems like the best of both worlds.
Here are my concerns with either of them...
- Is it hard to have a natural birth in a hospital setting? Even with a midwife?
- With a midwife in a hospital, will they let you walk around and do what you want to do? Or are you still told what to do?
- Anyone experienced a homebirth before and like to tell me their thoughts?
- Anyone been on medicaid before while pregnant and would like to tell me how it works? Do you get full care or are you treated less than other patients?



Gosh, I didn't realize there would be so many options!! I just want to have my baby! :)
The main thing that concerns me is that hospitals really scare me. I feel like they are run really according to laws and regulations, rather than thinking of what's best for the mother and baby. Ideally I'd love to be at a birthing center, but that's not an option here.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be highly appreciated!! Love you all.

Hello From Georgia

We live in Georgia. How crazy is that? I'm not sure if it's even hit me yet. We love it here so far!! Not only is it beautiful everywhere you go because of all the tall, thick trees... we absolutely love the people here. Our new church is awesome. We had recently met some of the people and 4 of them showed up on Saturday to help us move in. It was a really, extremely hot day too and they completely sacrificed to help us out. We couldn't have done it without them. We went out to some good Chinese afterwards and got to know them some more. We love our new friends :)

Our apartment is adorable. It's about 1,400 sq ft and the space is really perfect for us. We got a 3 bedroom knowing that we would have the baby soon and lots and lots of visitors! It's got a vaulted ceiling which makes it feel bigger and the view from our back porch is awesome. It's all woods behind us with huge trees!! We also have a pool here, tennis courts, volleyball courts, and a path that walks around a private lake where people can go fishing. I mean, how cool is that?

We are starting to get settled. Right now we have boxes everywhere but most of our stuff is starting to find a place. I LOVE decorating a new place. They will let us paint here, but Will doesn't like the thought of having to paint it back. SO... he compromised with me and I'm going to paint some accent walls. One in the dining room, one in our bedroom, and one in the baby's room.

Speaking of baby... I haven't talked about the little man much these days. I am now in my 21st week (which is crazy to me). He's about the size of a banana and is starting to swallow the amniotic fluid. This means I need to really be careful about what I'm eating, since it's all going to him too. Apparently when I eat different things, he can taste them. Even later in his life he will recognize the flavors and may be more picky to things that he didn't taste in the womb. Good thing I'm not a picky eater. Little guy is still moving like crazy in there. But now those kicks and movements are really strong. Will felt a kick for the first time, which was awesome. The weirdest thing is when I can feel him completely turning or when I feel him kicking my side. Sometimes I can feel him kicking my bladder and that gets really uncomfortable. But overall I love it so much. I just wait to feel him start moving in the day. It's like I can time it. They say that you can start getting an idea of what your baby's sleep schedule might be like at this point. I usually feel him like a mad man at night right before bed... and then he starts moving again as soon as I start talking in the morning. I think I wake him up ;) We talk to him all the time knowing that he can hear us. Will says some of the funniest things into the belly button microphone. Ha ha.
As for me, I've been feeling good. I can't tell if I'm just worn out from the move or if I'm starting to get worn out physically from pregnancy. While unpacking boxes yesterday and sitting on the floor, I quickly learned that I get out of breath easily. Even sitting weird on the couch makes it hard to breathe. The other day my feet were pounding just from walking around the apartment all day. I had to keep sitting down because they hurt so bad. So, maybe this is God's way of telling me to slow down. I've been a little frustrated on the clothes side of things just because NONE of my normal clothes fit. I really got to see it laid out in front of me yesterday when I was hanging up all my clothes and putting all my pre-pregnancy jeans in a box. I have a few pairs of maternity pants I wear, but my main problem is shirts. I thought I'd be able to fit a long time in normal shirts, but they are all so short on me... so they look funny now. But, oh well. I'll survive :)

Anyway, our little family is doing great here. My parents are coming tomorrow night to see us and hang out a little bit. We are so excited to be closer to everyone here. So, that will be fun!

If you've been praying for us, thank you so much and we are so thankful for all of your support. Although this is a season of faith and testing, we are so glad we are here and that God truly is providing in every area. We can't wait to see how our faith grows during this season.

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

What's Up Now (a pictoral)

This is our last day here...

This is how we feel about that...

This is where we are headed...

Where the road maps look like...and they have....
And most importantly an incredible church...
Where we can raise all our future...So, bring it on...
(don't worry, I won't be doing any heavy lifting) :)

You can't stop us from doing this...
Because God is so good!

You Are Holy

THIS JUST IN!

Will's new worship album, "You are Holy," is now available for download on iTunes.

You should go now and get yours.

Seriously, this is the best worship album all time. And, I'm really not being biased. God's heart is all over this album which is what we're excited about :)

Will Stern - "You are Holy"

Pass on the word!

Life, CD, and Baby

Sorry it's been a while since my last blog. Things have been Cr-AZY... (to say the least). But in an oh-so-good way!! I can't even describe how good life is and how awesome and faithful the Lord is. I know this is going to KILL most of you, but I will have to hold off explaining what's going on in our life for another week or so. Only because, by that time, we will know. Right now things are a little up in the air... but it's totally good and so of the Lord.

I can't believe how much we will be going through in ONE year. Basically all the things that they say are huge stress makers for people, we won't just be doing once or twice, but possibly 3 times. Not to mention having a baby before the end of the year to top it off. Amazingly, there has been so much grace and favor on all of it that we haven't yet completely felt stressed. Although hard, not stressed (if that even makes sense). It's put us on a dependence of the Lord like we've never had before.

So, to catch people up.... Will's CD is done. Finito. If you know us, you know that this is a huge deal!!! He has been working on this for so long. Actually, the first song that he wrote for this CD, he wrote at the Call (which was the time that we became officially a couple). That was a while ago. God has really been moving in this CD and it's so cool to see! Every single song is birthed from the Lord...directly from His heart. It is something we will be able to cherish forever because of how much the Lord taught us through it. I even sing on a few songs, which was fun.
To hear some of the songs, go to www.willstern.com and check them out. It should be up soon on ITunes.
I AM SO PROUD OF MY HUSBAND. He did this ENTIRE CD himself. ALL the instrumental parts, ALL the songwriting, ALL the recording, ALL the mixing/mastering, the artwork. I mean ALL of it. Ha ha. I am so impressed by his gifts and I know the Lord is so pleased.

What else? We pick up Will's mom tomorrow... she'll be hanging out with us for a few days, which will be fun. Not much to do here in Louisiana, but I'm sure we'll find something to entertain us. :)

As for the little man... I can tell he's growing like crazy. I feel his kicks most of the day... not just randomly anymore. It is the cutest thing ever. My stomach gets bigger and bigger too :) I know I'm 18 weeks (almost 19 in about a day or so) and I still haven't done my walk to 40 weeks. Woops. Looks like I may have to do every 4 weeks or so. Time is just going by so fast... I can't believe I'm almost halfway through. So, sorry I'm slacking on the belly pics :)
As for new news with the pregnancy... I've had my first heartburn I've ever had in my life. It happens quite a big actually. They say that it's tied to the hormone of hair growth... that women who have heartburn will usually have babies with more hair. I sure hope so... how cute would that be? I've also been having awful ligament pains... like sharp pains every once in a while. I guess because everything is growing. And I've been having major heart palpitations, which I hear are normal too. I have learned that all of those silly myths about having a boy and a girl are just stupid. I have had the opposite of all of them. The baby had a heart rate over 140 the whole time (which they say is a girl). I have only wanted to eat fruit, no meat (which they also say is girl). And a bunch of other crazy ones. I think it's funny.
We are so blessed to have such a healthy baby so far. We heard the heart beat nice and strong super early on. We found out that he was a boy with no questions. He moves like a maniac in there. We are proud of him, lol.

Anywho... that's about all I can update for now because I am getting stressed out with Will's CD blaring in the background (for full effect) :) and Gibson biting me to play with him. Time to go.

Until next time....