Happy Easter!

Getting Bigger!

27 weeks pregnant and growing! For the longest time people told me I didn't even look pregnant. Ha! I'm laughing bout that now because I grew so much, so fast!!!!!!!!!!! This is a very cool passenger train car that is parked behind our youth house. It is from the Hartwell Scenic Railway. Jeremy and I are thinking of some creative decorating ideas for the bottom picture.

My Journey to Motherhood

On Sunday, October 7th, 2007 I just didn't feel right. We had been gone all day on a youth outing to the Mall of Georgia to see Transformers on the imax screen. When we got home at 8:00, which on this particular day felt like midnight, I had to drag myself to Wal-Mart for some necessities. While I was there I decided to pick up a 3-pack of pregnancy tests, since I knew something just wasn't right. In the meantime, Jeremy was at a Halo 3 marathon at the youth house since the next day was a student holiday. I arrived at home and unpacked all of my groceries. Then, there was the item with no home: the box of pregnancy tests. Even though I was home alone I just couldn't wait to take the test. I couldn't believe my eyes when it was positive. I debated with myself...do I wait until 2am when Jeremy gets home to tell him the news or do I drive to the youth house and show him the evidence. I decided to drive to the youth house. I freaked him out because I told him he had to come to the car immediately. When he got there, I showed him the test and he was in shock. He didn't know what to say. We hugged, and I returned home to take another test, just to be sure. Of course, I had to wait a while to be able to take a test again, so I took another one at 11 pm. Again, a positive result. I hardly slept that night. I woke up the next morning to take test number three....another positive result!

Now, you need to understand news in Hartwell spreads like wildfire. I was only about four weeks pregnant, so I didn't want anyone to know quite yet, just in case something went wrong. I made it through Monday, but on Tuesday, I just couldn't contain myself. I had to tell. Well, the whole community knew by lunchtime. Oh well. Then the hard part began....the waiting until the first appointment.

Our first appointment was on November 6th in Athens, GA. Our little bundle will be born at Athens Regoinal Hospital sometime around June 13th. It was an amazing thing when we saw this on the screen...

It was real at this point. We are really having a baby! We got to see and hear the fluttering heartbeat. 171 beats per minute. What a miracle!

Our next appointment was December 3rd. I was 12 weeks and a few days pregnant. At that appointment we got to see this...

Our "little alien" was really growing. It was so reassuring to have this doctor's visit. Those first 14 weeks are so critical, so I was pleased to hear that things were right on track.

We have a very good friend who is the administrator at Hart County Hospital. They don't deliver babies there, but they have a very nice ultrasound machine. He invited us for a free ultrasound. Ultrasounds are the best part of early pregnancy, so we went to get a glimpse of our little miracle. We got to see some really awesome stuff that day because the technician really took her time pointing everything out to us. It is amazing how developed a baby is at just 16 weeks gestation. He had really grown a lot in 4 weeks! This picture was taken on Dec. 28th.

Then on January 24th, the moment of truth came. Is it a boy or a girl? I knew it was a boy all along, so when the nurse said it's a boy, I wasn't surprised! Now I could start calling it a him and by his name: Avery Carson Green.

Feet...

Profile shot...

Today I am 24 weeks and 1 day pregnant. I still can't believe I am going to have a baby, but we are so excited. He is already full of energy, rolling around in my belly. I can feel him move very frequently. He doesn't want me to forget he is in there. He even kicks hard enough so Jeremy can feel it. I just can't wait to hold him and kiss him and love him.

It's a boy!

Just wanted to let you all know that we are having a boy: Avery Carson Green

Things are awesome here.  We are just working and playing.  School is in full swing for both of us. We are getting ready for Avery to make his entry into the world.

An ongoing prayer request: Our house in Canton is STILL for sale. Please pray for God's will. We both believe that this is a blessing in disguise, but we are ready for the next part of the blessing.   

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Jeremy and Lori!

15 weeks pregnant

Too Long

So, I just realized it has been four months since I posted anything. That is pretty sad! Anyway, I will outline the high points of the past months...

• We found out we are going to have a BABY!!!! The due date is June 13th. We are soooooo excited. I am 15 weeks and 1 day as I type this. We will know the sex January 24th.
• Jeremy was accepted to begin his Master's of Divinity at Asbury Seminary in Kentucky (cyberspace) and then a month later found out he got a FULL SCHOLARSHIP ($41,000) from lady who left a trust fund in Roswell. He will begin in February. Praise God!
• The youth ministry is awesome. The people of Hartwell are so wonderful. We love it here. We are making many new friends.
• I am beginning my Education Specialist Degree in January. I decided that having a baby wasn't enough, so I wanted to add something to my plate. Husband, mom, mom-in-law, and many community members have promised to help me survive. I will be done with half when the baby comes, so I think I can make it.
• Prayer Request: Our house in Canton is still on the market. Please pray that it will sell before the baby comes. That is our prayer these days.

That is all for now. I will post some pictures when we get back to Hartwell. We are visiting family for Christmas right now. I hope all of you have a very merry Christmas!

Our New Adventure

So, many weeks ago I posted that Jeremy and I were about to embark on a new adventure. Well, we are here! Jeremy and I moved to Hartwell, GA for him to be the new Director of Youth at Hartwell First United Methodist Church. For those of you who have no idea where Hartwell might be, it is the very last exit on I-85 before you get to South Carolina. It is a very small town: three elementary schools, one middle schoool, and one high school. This is quite a change, considering I have no idea how many elementary schools Cherokee County (my previous employter) has. Hartwell is also surrounded by the beautiful Lake Hartwell and only 45 minutes from Clemson University. Anyway, God opened the door for Jeremy to get to work with the first minister he ever worked with and who Jeremy admires greatly. We moved here on July 24th, and it seems that we have been going non-stop ever since. We live less than a mile from the church and less than two miles from the middle school where I teach. I am teaching 7th grade, which is a big switch for me since most of my experience is in 11th grade. However, I would have to say "so far, so good" with my experiences with the 7th graders. I have taught 9th grade in the past, so I just tell people that 7th graders are like 9th graders, only smaller. Life is awesome here. The people have been so welcoming and we really love it! It is definitely different, though. It is pretty similar to Dahlonega, but without the outlet malls 20 minutes away. We do live about 40 miles north of Commerce where all the outlets are, so it isn't too bad. :) Our house in Canton still hasn't sold, and only two couples have looked at it in the three months it has been on the market. Please pray for God's will in the selling of our home. We were blessed to be able to move into the house we are going to buy here, so that is awesome, but it sure would be nice to go ahead and make it official! Well, I could type so much more, but I will spare you! Thanks for reading! Take care!