27 Week Pic

Sorry for the lack of posting, I was out of town for my friend's Karyn and Dan's wedding this past weekend and returned just yesterday. Their wedding was in northern Michigan near Traverse City and it was absolutely beautiful. I will be posting pictures from the weekend soon. This picture was taken on Saturday, I was waiting in line with my friend Ruth as we were waiting for a chair lift to take us to the ceremony site. 

I am in my 27th week (just about the third trimester!) and I am so thankful to be one week closer to meeting our son (good Lord's willing). I've been feeling pretty good minus the new nerve pain I've been experiencing in my left leg when I am sitting down for long periods of time (long car rides and airplanes are particularly uncomfortable). Most likely my sciatic nerve. And near my incision, where I had my c-section, the muscles are really tight. As much as I try to stretch nothing seems to be helping and it seems to be getting worse. Has anybody else experienced this?

And I have to thank my sister for going shopping with me in Columbus to find this dress at Destination Maternity (and the saleslady who put the dress in the dressing room, I probably would have never picked it out and almost didn't try it on). It was the last dress to try on and Brittany really encouraged me to try it on. I tend to stay away from prints because they scare me but after I put this dress on I fell in love with the peacock print. And the dress was so comfortable. It covered me in all the right places and I didn't spend the evening pulling and tugging on it. Thanks again Brittany for your amazing help! I wish I could always have you with me every time I went shopping.

And here are a just a couple of pictures from the weekend to give you a taste at how beautiful everything was...

 this is where the ceremony took place, overlooking Lake Michigan. 

this is the dock at my friend Karyn's cottage on Glen Lake. the lake water was so clear, 
probably the most beautiful lake I've ever seen. 

S'more please

this picture was actually taken on national s'mores day made by me on my electric stove

Another favorite thing I love about the cottage are s'mores! I don't know why I love the so much but I do! I've actually been craving s'mores so much this summer that I have resorted to making them on my electric stove. I'm currently out of graham crackers but when I get them I'm going to try a little peanut butter on it, yummo! And I'm just going to be honest here, I had three s'mores at the cottage and Josh only had one. I figured this was our only trip to the cottage this summer so I better make the most of it.

(this picture was taken a couple of weeks ago and my belly is bigger, I'll post a new picture soon)

Cottage Weekend

Last weekend Josh and I traveled to Michigan to visit his family. I am so glad that we made the 6 hour trip.  I was starting to think another summer was going to go by without us visiting his parents cottage.  I know that the schedule of a med-student doesn't always allow for trips such as this, but a summer without the cottage just doesn't quite seem like summer to me.

Now I know I've only been around the Glupker crew for a little over 5 years, but the first summer of Josh and I dating, I fell in love with the cottage. I'm sure his family is thinking, Bethany loves the cottage? She loves one small bathroom shared by all, no cable, internet, or cell phone service, spiders and other buggies, and swimming in Todd Lake where real fish live?

First, the bathroom thing is no big deal. Second, I love that I can get unplugged from my cell, the internet, and even TV and read. Third, the bug thing is kind of eek to me but I can put on a brave face and not let it get to me. And lastly, I don't have to swim in the Lake, though this summer I might have conquered those fears. I know I can sometimes be on the high maintenance side (you try having ridiculously curly hair that frizzes up when wet) but I always enjoy my time at the cottage. There are just so many memories for Josh and me, I just love the feeling I get every time we're there.

Here are some pictures from last weekend, all of them are of our nieces and nephews who we clearly ADORE! 

  I was loving Weston's denim diaper. Have you ever seen the commercials for these diapers? They are hilarious!

Weston is such a good little swimmer, he didn't want to get out of the water.

 I love this picture of the two of them. When we were leaving Addie said it was okay with her if Josh stayed and I left.

This was her first weekend wearing her new goggles and she didn't want to get out of the water. She barely came up to take a breath she was having so much fun swimming.

See...I got in the water! My life jacket kept riding up but as long as I kept my legs moving (to keep the fish away) I was fine.

 I don't think I've ever posted pictures of my niece Katelynn. She belongs to Josh's brother Aaron and his wife Lynn. She is almost one year old and she didn't really like her sunglasses.

She also got really hot and figured she's at the cottage so what the heck, who needs a shirt anyways?

 And now it's time for a my sweet Holden's picture montage.
He is so stinkin' photogenic I can hardly stand it.

 Umm yeah, he'll be four at the end of October.

 Thomas the Train swim trunks people. He loves loves Thomas.

It's just not fair to be this cute, he's such a little stud.

I'm pretty sure he wasn't getting what he wanted in this picture. I still love that sweet face.

As always the weekend went by too fast and it was hard for me to leave everyone. I'm just thankful we were able to have at least one weekend this summer at the cottage. Until next summer...

Re-Post

You know how on Twitter you can re-tweet someone's tweet? Well I think blogging should have a cool term like that....re-post??? Sorry, that's the best I can come up with for now. I'm sure there is something that is a whole lot more clever than re-post.

Anyways, because I can't figure out why I can't insert a YouTube video on my blog anymore (when I go to insert a video my only option I'm given is from my computer. Does anyone know how I can fix this or what the deal is?) I want you all to go over to my friend Kristen's blog and check out two hilarious videos she posted. And she just told our small group that she's pregnant! I'm so excited for them, they are going to be wonderful parents.

And I can't believe it's Thursday already, where did the week go?

24 week sono pics

Today I am completing my 24th week of pregnancy! I'm happy things are moving along kind of quickly but I would be totally fine if tomorrow was already October or November. I'm just anxious to meet our sweet baby but  I'm really trying to enjoy this time I have. Thankfully Josh's schedule has been amazing and we've been able to spend a lot of time together.

This has been kind of a strange week. On Monday night after my friend Sarah left (she helped me pick out a new paint color for the nursery - she is amazing at interior design and really should start her own blog) I started having a lot of abdominal pain on my right side. Since it was evening and I didn't want to go to the hospital, I decided to wait to call my OB in the morning and our little nugget was moving around like crazy so I wasn't too worried. I was able to get into the doc Tuesday afternoon and of course everything looked good. The nurse practitioner poked around, listened to his heartbeat, and checked my cervix. All was good. She ordered a sonogram to make sure the placenta was ok and of course the sonogram showed nothing but a really active and healthy baby boy. The practitioner said it is probably ligament pain but I've had that before but it's never taken my breath away it hurt so bad and it's never lasted over 25 minutes. I'm going to pay attention more to see if it happens more after I eat (I've had issues with chronic pancreatitis) and I haven't been working out this week to see if I was over-doing it.

Even though they couldn't find anything definitive, it was nice to be reassured that the baby looks good. And we got some really great pictures from the sonogram! My heart already melts when I look at these pictures, and I know all mothers are pretty bias but he is already super adorable!

for the love of chipotle

I'm not quite sure why we document this but since we did with Leyton, Josh saw it only fitting to document this experience with g-kid. And just so you know if you have forgotten, Josh and I looove us some Chipotle. Praise the Lord Erie is finally getting one and soon!

When we went to Pittsburgh in July for Josh to take Step 2 of boards, we were able to hit up Chipotle on the way home. The past couple of times we've eaten at Chipotle I've been getting the barbacoa fajita burrito bowl with a side of guac and the tortilla on the side, I like to make little burritos out of the tortilla. I'm not really sure why you need to know that but there you go. 

Oh my goodness! I seriously just remembered this wasn't the first time g-kid had Chipotle! How could I have forgotten such an important event in our baby's life? We had Chipotle in May (a couple of times) when we were there for one of Josh's rotations. Whoops.  =) 

Mexican food has actually been the number one thing I've been craving this time around. In June I attempted to recreate the barbacoa burrito from Chipotle and it was pretty good. I'll try to find the recipe and post it. And I have a great Better Homes and Garden mag where the whole mag is dedicated to Mexican food, it has some great recipes. At least most of them look really good, I've only made one so far and another is on the menu for later this week.  I'll let  you know how it turns out.

=)

Fourth Year!

I can hardly believe that we are already in our fourth year of medical school (and yes, I count myself in med-school too, indirectly). These past three years have flown by. He has had a crazy year of studying for shelf exams every 8 weeks and then just taking step 2 of boards, I'm thankful he is starting fourth year off on a lighter schedule. He does have residency applications and interviews coming up this fall, so I know we are far from over. But I am so incredibly proud of how hard he works for our family. He has put in so many hours of studying this summer and still found time to spend with me. And as much as I have complained about his mandated study schedule or his school, he hasn't said a peep of complaining. He such an incredible guy and am so blessed to have him as my husband.

 First day of med-school on left and first day of fourth year on right.  

During the course of this past year of med-school we have really seen the Lord's hand take care of Josh. Things didn't always look like we were expecting them too but the Lord had a plan and he carried Josh through. We continue to trust Him in where He is leading us for residency. We will know where he will match for residency in February (or March possibly) and the Lord already knows where that will be. Craziness! All that to say God is good and we give Him all the glory for remaining faithful to His promises for us and for walking with us each step of the way.  

And thanks again Josh for letting me take these pictures of you. I know it's not your fave. =)

Don't Waste Your Cancer

You know when you hear about people being diagnosed with cancer, you never really think it will hit too close to home for you? Of course you know it's always a possibility. And you especially never think one of your best friends from college will ever be diagnosed with cancer.

Last week I received a call from one of my best friends from college, Libby, and she told me she has lymphoma. My heart just dropped. I immediately wanted to get in my car or buy a plane ticket and fly to Chesapeake, VA to be with her. I just wanted to see her and hold her. I remember receiving a phone call from her when I was in the hospital the night I had my c-section when we lost Leyton and she just wanted to come be with me. I now know how she felt.

I asked Libby if it would be okay if I blogged about her and shared a link of her new blog about her new journey. She is an amazing woman. She has a deep passion for the Lord and for her family. I admire her strength and courage during this uncertain time in her life. She is putting all of her hope and trust in the Lord and is already believing good things will come of this new trial. She has a wonderful husband who loves and serves her so well, I'm so thankful she has Justin.

Her blog is called Don't Waste Your Cancer.

She has a biopsy tomorrow afternoon to identify what type of lymphoma she has. Please be in prayer for her and her family. She believes in the power of prayer and would appreciate many prayers.

The past 13 months...

I know this is long overdue, sorry folks. I have a little problem with procrastinating that I am currently seeking help for. And I feel like a blog post of the last year of our life could really get out of hand so I will do my best to keep it under control. 

Usually when people ask me how I am doing, I quickly reply that I'm fine and then proceed to talk about my husband and what's currently happening with him in med-school. And that's pretty much what I'm gonna do here....

Right when I stopped blogging in July of '09, Josh had just started his third year of med-school which meant he was out of the classroom and into his clinical rotations. Every four weeks he began a new rotation and since we really just wanted to get away from everything we spent a lot of time out of Erie and ended up staying with my parents while Josh worked in Dayton (my father has a lot of connections of doctors in Dayton and helped Josh set-up rotations their). At first it was nice to be able to be with my family but after a while it got really unsettling staying in Dayton for four weeks and then Erie for four weeks and Dayton for eight weeks and so on and so on (we were also in western MI for four weeks this past May and stayed with his family). At this point Josh isn't planning on applying to any residencies here in Erie but he is in Dayton so it was important for him to make connections there. Which I totally understand and want him to rotate in locations that will be best for him. Thankfully I wasn't working so Josh and I were able to stay together. 

Josh just started his fourth year rotations (in fact, he just started them today!) and I've asked if we can try to stay here in Erie for as many of them as possible. I know three years ago I was counting down the days till when we would be leaving Erie, but now I realize this is our last year here and I want to be able to spend as much time with our friends here as possible since he will be graduating next May and then we will be moving. As strange as it is to me still, Erie is our home, our first home as a married couple and I like being here. So we will be here for about 8 weeks and then off to Dayton then back here for 8 and possibly back to Dayton. Not sure where we will be after the holidays but I guess we'll see. 

And as for me, I feel like not much has been going on and a whole lot at the same time. I was able to spend a lot of time with family and friends while we were away. We both have parents who are absolutely amazing and make living with them for four weeks easy breezy. Honestly, when are we ever going to be able to spend that much time with our families again? So I really tried to make the most of my time during the months we were away. 

Also during this time, I have been able to learn more about the Lord, deepen my relationship with Him, and truly see Him working in our lives every day. We have learned what it means to not have any control over what happens in our life and to put all our trust and faith in the Lord. There have been some major things we have had to trust the Lord with over this past year but we are believing in His goodness and we are holding to that nothing can separate us from His love. I can honestly say, I experience His grace and love in my life on a daily basis. And it is amazing grace.

One of the major things we are currently trusting the Lord with is we are expecting another baby boy around Thanksgiving time (good Lord's willing)! It took us a little longer this time around to get pregnant but of course the Lord's timing is perfect (remind me to tell you about how the Lord revealed to me when we would get pregnant, it's a relatively short story). But right when I was doing so well with trusting the Lord, He gives me something bigger to continue trusting him with (and as my life goes on He will continue to give me something bigger and bigger - wisdom from my incredibly wise mother). I was initially very hesitant to even blog about this but we would appreciate as many prayers as possible for us and our little one (my brother and sister call him g-kid). I will post a picture soon but I am currently 23 weeks and feeling pretty good.

Okay, I really need to end this post because it's much longer than I had anticipated. But I do feel like there is more to update you all on but I will do that in multiple and smaller blog posts. Thanks for reading!