Cassidy and Faith

Won't Be Long Now!

This past week has been an interesting one. Monday was my (Ryan)’s birthday. I turned 31. Wow, that seems old. It is, however, how you feel that counts. If I woke up with some weird kind of amnesia, and had no idea how old I was, I would think myself to be in my early 20s. Probably about 23 or 24. So, I guess that means I am doing good.

Friday night our friends Josh and Cyndel came over. Josh helped us with our computer. Let’s see, on Saturday I searched and searched trying to find an LED light bulb. Apparently no one in Mt. Vernon has them. Surprising advancements have been made in the LED field. These light bulbs work on very little energy, and last forever. I suppose I could order one from the internet, but then, I couldn’t have it today! We are wanting a light that we can always keep on out in the garage. We settled for a small, long lasting, halogen bulb.

Saturday night, our friend Fred called and asked me if I would be interested in driving over to St. Louis to see Bobby and Janice. I really enjoyed getting the chance to chat with Fred on the way over and back from the hospital. Please remember to pray for both Bobby and Janice.

Sunday morning, I got up really early and went to the high school to do my Sunday school lesson. Talk about waiting until the last minute! I finished up a series on apologetics (defending your faith) by discussing Evolution/Creationism. I showed the kids a bunch of slides depicting God’s wonderful creation (Mountains, Sea Creatures, Nebulas, Stars, etc.). The Bible says that God has revealed himself in His creation, to the extent that men are “without excuse” when it comes to believing in God. Teaching a teen class is rather difficult. I feel like I could put even more hours into this, and they absolutely would not care!

Sunday afternoon we went to lunch with our good friends Gary and Nena. The food at Applebees was good, although the service was a little slow. Cassidy also had the privilege of having her friend Faith over. They had a wonderful time.

Pregnancy Update

Due Date: March 9th
Current Week of 40 Total: Week 38 Day 3
Next Doctor’s Appointment: Tuesday, February 28th

Well, it will not be long now. Amy is really ready to have the baby! This time, we have decided to wait to call family members and friends until several hours after the delivery. Last time it was a little hectic in the room. We DO want visitors, and we realize everyone wants to see a new baby, but we need a little time to recover from such a stressful event. If the baby comes in the morning, then it will be afternoon before we will have visitors. If the baby comes at night, then the entire next day will be fine to have visits.

The Wait

Things have been going well, just waiting these days. This weekend we bought a new computer. We also had a wonderful dinner at our friends Bobby and Janice. Monday was Ryan's birthday. Really, we are just playing the waiting game now. Things are going good with the pregnacy, not much to report there. Not much else is going on.

What's In a Name

Things are going good so far this week. Cassidy has been a little under the weather. Today was a really warm day for February, but it is supposed to be extremely cold the next few days. Cassidy and Amy went to Chuckie Cheese on Tuesday. These are the last few times that it will be just the three of us, so we are trying to do all we can. Life is about to change, but with each closing chapter, a new one opens.


Pregnancy Update

Due Date: March 9th
Current Week of 40 Total: Week 37 Day 0
Next Doctor’s Appointment: February 21st

Everything at Amy's doctor's appointment last time went fine. Things with the pregnancy are going good. The biggest problem, however, is deciding on a name. Right now, the possibilities are (1) Callie, (2) Laura, or (3) Tayla. Neither one of us are really leaning towards any of these names. This is such a big decision. The middle name we have picked out is Renee. All of this goes out the window, of course, if the baby happens to be a boy. In that case, the name will most likely be Toby James.

Really Good Weekend

We really had a good weekend. Friday night my dad came over for supper, and also helped us fix our car. On Saturday I went with my friend Bobby to the Whole Foods store in St. Louis. It was a good experience. On Sunday we had some of our good friends from the old college days over for a visit. Tony and Tammy were our campus ministers back then. We have done our best to keep in touch with them, but it is difficult. They are awesome people, and were once missionaries in Brazil!

Found out today that one of my coworkers has a girl named “Callie.” We were heavily leaning towards this name. Choosing a name is a rather difficult task! I will write later to give a pregnancy update! If you are wondering about the picture, it is a cake I baked for Sunday. Thought it was worth making the blog! If you are reading this Bobby, I’ll try not to put anymore food on here for a while.

Fun in the Snow!

Help From a Friend!!

Our friends Aaron and Rachel came over for supper, and Aaron and I changed out the break pads on a car. Aaron seemed to me to be an expert at this, with the entire event taking about an hour (minus the eating, socializing, and guitar playing), and saved the owner over $100.00. Plus, it gave me added experience in this if I want to try it for myself on our car in the future (usually Dad helps me with the breaks, and other things on our car. I also feel like I might be able to help someone else with this in the future too.

All in all, good experience. THANKS AARON!

Awesome Chicken!

This was a pretty good week. Not a whole lot to report. Amy had her baby shower on Saturday. She really had a good time, and received a lot of good gifts for the baby. Wow, we know life if going to change somewhat when the baby comes. Having the baby shower really makes us think about that more.

If you are wondering why there is a picture of fried chicken on here, it is because I (Ryan) have never been very successful at this. This time was different. This was the best batch of fried chicken I have ever made. If anyone wants the recipe, just e-mail us.

The second picture you see is the cake from Amy's baby shower. The shower was at the scrap-book shop. What else? Hmmm, well, we were worried that some of the people from church might be upset with us since we backed out of hosting a care group/supper club. It appears that this is not the case. We have since had several people invite us to attend a couple of groups. We would have went last night to one of them, but Cassidy was sick. Maybe next month, but we could have a brand new baby by then!

Amy finished tutoring for this year. She will probably pick this up again next year. I may take a student or two for homebound instruction (tutoring). What this basically entails, is that you get everything the teachers have assigned the students, and take it to their house. If they need help, you try to help them. You also monitor them while they take tests and quizzes. It can be a really easy sometimes, or it can be very difficult depending on the students involved. Either way, the pay is the same.

Someone broke into the school that is directly behind our house this week. Combine that with the other crime that has been going on in our area, and we are starting to get a little worried. This was once a really safe place to be out here. Once Amy has the baby, I think we will get the 12 gage out and practice a little. It has been a long time since either of us have shot a gun, and if our lives were in danger, it would not be the time to forget how to operate the firearm. Perhaps our friends out in Bluford would want to shoot clay pigeons this spring?

Well, that is about it. Here is the pregnancy update:

Pregnancy Update

Due Date: March 9th
Current Week of 40 Total: Week 35 Day 4
Next Doctor’s Appointment: February 8th

Not much to report. Amy keeps saying she thinks this baby may come early. I will admit she is in much more discomfort these days. She can hardly bend over. She gets pains just sitting or laying. She is now sleeping in the living room where she can sit up more if she needs to. The baby gets the hick-ups from time to time, but I think that is normal too. Just trying to get prepared. We are not at all nervous compared to last time. Honestly, I (Ryan) just want to get it all over with so life can get back to normal (oh wait… will life be ‘normal’ with TWO kids?). Names? Hmmm, still nothing. “Tayla” means “Wolf,” is that what we want? Really struggling in this area.

Difficult Choice

Amy and I had to make a somewhat difficult choice regarding a small position in church leadership. For those of you who read this, I thought you might be interested in our explanation.

Back in December an announcement was made at church that the church was looking for people to host small groups. Since we have both hosted and led small groups in the past, both of us were looking forward to the chance to work in this ministry. We didn’t hear much about this until recently, when we were sent a letter asking us to attend a meeting regarding our role. After attending the meeting we have decided that it would be best for us not to host one of these groups at this time. I really hate it that we signed the sheet and then backed out, but after the informational/organizational meeting, we really felt this is what we must do. We both hope to work in this ministry in the future.

Not a whole lot else is going on right now. We will write later to give an update on the pregnancy.