This post is dedicated to Ms. Macayla Marie Kellhofer, my lovely little niece whom is turning 5 for the second time today. (I told her that she must turn 5 three times before she's allowed to be 6 ;)
She is growing way too fast for my liking! But me oh my am I proud of her :)









Happy Birthday, goober :)

I know I promised pictures of the new place.. but I haven't gotten that far yet!
So.. here's the most recent "family" pic at the park down the road from where we live. Minus the goofy half-blinking look on my face, I really like how it turned out :)

spring...

(photo from Veer.com)

Revelation 21 (New International Version)

The New Jerusalem

¹Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ²I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

⁵He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

With Spring fresh on my mind, as I read this passage I couldn't help but think about not only the amazement of the second coming and how glorious that will be, but also how much it will feel like the most beautiful spring after the longest, coldest winter. Life now is full of death and pain. Many of us think that overall life isn't all that bad- as long as you have the basic needs of food, shelter, clothing and someone to love. But those we love can choose to betray us or let us down. Those we love can pass away. There is love in this world, and there is also hate and we hate to say goodbye to those we love. There's a reason for that. We all desire to never have to say goodbye, because it was never intended for us to be separated from those we love forever.
I cannot count the times I've heard the phrase, "Where was God?" Whether it be after the loss of a loved one, after a terrifying disaster like 9/11.. after the hurricanes and earthquakes that have devastated so many. Where was God? He was reaching out to people so that when disaster strikes, when death comes, life and LOVE stands on the other side with open arms. He was there in the darkness to comfort us and lead us to His light. He looked death square in the face on that cross and through his actions said there was no place for it anymore. Him rising again shows that DEATH could not hold him back. He is enough.


The next post will be full of new pictures..
The new apartment, the growing bump, and other spring things, so check back soon :)

I haven't posted for awhile. SO I suppose it is time to..
every time I think about posting something lately I just think I don't really have anything to post. But since I haven't tried just typing and seeing what happens, I guess that's what I'll do!

My belly has officially popped, and it is just a matter of time before my belly button joins in on the popping action.

Question! Do you think it is "unclassy" or "unprofessional" if you can see a pregnant lady's belly button poking out through her shirt? I mean.. I'm going to be extra large and extra pokey during the summer months, so wearing thicker clothes is out of the picture. I'm kind of wondering if they make.. like.. belly button pads to give it a smoother look? LOL the things I think about these days...

Other things on my mind...
I really like cutting hair, and have been doing so more often :) It's nice to be getting into it again. Now to just get my license back so I can be legit!
(My license expired after I came back from a year in Minnesota when I could not find my username and password needed to renew it.. and so now I have to retest 3 hours away from where I live.) :P Maybe after baby sometime? The test is LONG and there is only one restroom break.. sooo it will HAVE to be after baby!

In 9 days we will be hearing the heartbeat for the first time :) We have seen it beating on the ultrasound, but we have not actually HEARD it. So that will be fun. THEN our next appointment will reveal the biggest mystery of all :) Girl or Boy?! This will be fun also!
I find it kind of humorous that when people ask me if we are going to "find out" and I tell them we are.. they say, "You don't want it to be a surprise?"
I think it's going to be a surprise whether we find out now or later- I'll be surprised. It's almost like saying if you find out ahead of time, it's like choosing the sex and taking the surprise out of it.. buuut it is definitely going to be surprising either way :)
Just another thing I think about.. haha.

I've always said that I would not learn to knit until I was pregnant. I think it was because it was a good excuse to not have to learn any more crafts that my mom and sisters loved to do so much! So then, being pregnant.. I had no excuse anymore. Then my dear, wise mother reminded me that knitting takes a looong time to actually make anything, let alone a blanket and can be frustrating if you want real results without spending hours at a time on it. I was also kindly reminded that I barely have the patience to put together a puzzle that has more than 100 pieces. She was right. So she taught be to crochet instead. I really like it.. for a little while anyway. It usually lasts for a good half hour, so I'd say I like it more than most crafts.
Then again, I often think it will end up being our baby's first birthday present ;)

Major FIND for any and ALL expectant parents on a BUDGET and possibly overwhelmed with trying to create the nursery they'd love to have for their little bundle of joy to come home to.. without spending a fortune. I thought I had some good ideas to save money.. second hand things refurbished, painting things, being artsy or trying to be :) Buuuut upon looking at TONS of pictures I became very sad because I knew what I wanted for our little one's room, but there was NO way we could afford the price tags. I imagined all kinds of mismatched pieces thrown together that we just hoped would work.. and then realized it didn't in the end. I also imagined registering for the cribset and matching decor from the baby superstore that we liked more than the others, and all of our friends and family getting together to buy those types of things for us, leaving the many smaller items on the registry for us to buy. Not that I don't expect to buy SOME things on our own- I know we will! But the little things add up very very quickly.
SO what if we were to save money on the decor by designing and putting the major nursery items together on our own, and leave the registry open for things like the carseat, pacifiers, and wipes?
BUT HOW?
I give you the greatest online find I've had in a long, long time.

Creative Baby Nursery Rooms

and a link I found on the previous site is here:

Cheap Baby Nursery Decorating Ideas

The first link is a website FULL of amazing nurseries that people designed and put together themselves that are INCREDIBLE. I like them more than the ones I see set up at the baby superstores! Seriously a m a z i n g.
And: LOW COST.. which brings me to the second link!
This one is an Ebook that I downloaded for $6.95 that has 60 or more ideas on how to save money and still have an awesome nursery. These are really GREAT ideas, and I also received 2 other Ebooks. One was a Baby Nursery Safety Checklist to go through to make sure the nursery is baby ready in every way. The second was additional creative ideas for the nursery.
Very cool, highly recommended, and worth every last penny.

Bekah Joy Brooks..

OR

Jaden Patrick Brooks..

What does everyone think?? Girl or boy?

It is hard to see, but the words in between the pictures are scriptures :)

Jeremiah 1:4-5

"The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

before you were born, I set you apart;

I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

Psalm 139:13-15

"For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book

before one of them came to be."

Happy Valentine's Day to my lovely readers!! :)

Brian and I celebrated the day of love by enjoying dessert at one of our favourite italian restaurants last night. We haven't been there for a couple years, and we enjoyed talking about all the Lord has done in our lives and in our relationship from that time to now. It was sweet. We also enjoyed a hot caramel apple impanada with ice cream and a non-alcoholic pina colada :) YUM!

Today was difficult, as I was really missing my sister. I paid a visit to her gravesite after church. The snow was about a foot high and my bare feet nestled inside my little brown flats decided it was a better idea to simply throw a snowball at her instead of walking through the snow. I'm sure when my time comes, I will be greeted with a giant snowball.. but at least then frostbite will be a thing of the past :)

Today we were blessed as we visited with her 2 little girls that are growing up so quickly, and my brother-inlaw and his wife, Mindy. The ladies all got haircuts and I received a glorious back massage from my "almost" 11 year old neice, Jessica. These ones have a large CHUNK of my heart.

Tomorrow we have another BABY APPOINTMENT!

Ultrasound update soon! :)