An Answer To Prayer

Last night one of our prayer requests was answered! We have been dilligently praying about finding a daycare. We were starting to get frustrated and disappointed because it seemed like all the referrals we had were already full with maximum number of infants. Thankfully, on Thursday, one of Jared's friends from work referred us to her daycare provider. Jared's co-worker has been going to this daycare for seven years and recently enrolled their 3rd baby, so we feel good about the referrence. Jared called and there was one spot left for an infant.

We set up an interview for Friday night and it went very well. The woman is a very Christ-centered person and it was evident from talking with her. She is involved in her church and passionate about what she does. She is an older woman who has been doing daycare for quite some time. We loved that her sweatshirt she was wearing said, "Grandma's love is everlasting." Her home is near Christ the King Church, which is nice because it is very close to our home. Jared will do the drop-off in the morning and I will pick her up in the afternoon.

Thank you to those who have been praying with and for us on finding a daycare. It is a very big decision and we are thankful God answered our prayers in such a wonderful way. His timing is truly the right timing!

Thanksgiving Memories

Well, it has been well over a month since we last updated our blog. So, we figured it was time to get back on the ball.



This past week, we spent Thanksgiving with the Norberg side of the family in Chicago. It was a wonderful time and we made lots of family memories. We left Tuesday night for Omaha so we could be ready for our flight on Wednesday morning. We are thankful that God granted us with safe travel. When we arrived in Chicago, we checked into our hotel which was located right on the river and a block off Michigan Ave. Once settled into our hotel, we hit the Mile and strolled around. Thanksgiving Day, most places were closed so we spent time hanging out in the lounge with family reminiscing. We went to an amazing restaurant called David Burke's Primehouse. It was a five course Thanksgiving meal and was incredibly delicious. We decided we need to walk back to the hotel in order to burn some of the calories we had just devoured. Of course, it was then time for Thanksgiving Day football watching and naps. Friday we went shopping and it was crazy on the Mile. But, it was fun. After shopping, we took an architectural boat tour. We learned tons of interesting information about many of the buildings. The long awaited meal on Friday night was at Lawry's. They have the best prime rib and mashed potatoes a person could dream of. It was great family time which ended with a carriage ride through the Gold Coast. Saturday came too fast! We had such a wonderful time and are thankful for all the blessings and memories God has granted us.

On the baby front:

I am now 35 weeks and only five weeks left until we meet our daughter! She will be considered full term though in two weeks. We are hoping she comes a couple days before the end of the year, but she can come when she is ready :) The time has flown by and we praise God for a healthy pregnancy and baby. We continue to pray for the health of myself and our baby and that labor and delivery go smoothly. At our last appointment, I was measuring right on schedule. She is getting big and taking up much of the room in my stomach. Jared and I have fun guessing which part of her body is protruding when she is moving. It is amazing to see and feel. Next week, I start my weekly appointments and will hopefully be finding out if our bundle of joy might be coming early...my guess is she won't because if she takes after her parents, she will be stubborn!

ALDS 2009

This past weekend we had the opportunity to witness the final Twins game ever to be played in the Metrodome.

The trip really started last Tuesday following a great play-in game between the Twins and the Tigers. After half an hour hitting redial on three phones and watching eight windows of Internet Explorer waiting in line to get tickets, we were able to score seats!

We headed up to the Cities Saturday morning, with a detour through the Medford outlet mall. Though the trip had just started, stops at Carter's, Osh Kosh b'Gosh and Gymboree made Angie's weekend a success (and our daughter's of course)!

Saturday night we ended up at the Mall of America in Macy's Women's shoes department and it made Jared's night - really. Although none of the other patrons recognized him, Jared noticed they were shopping alongside Mariano Rivera, his wife, and daughter. We thought it was too weird to talk to him without purpose, but we did follow him around for a while (is that less creepy?).

The game finally came around on Sunday night, and we were pumped. Though Friday's game had been something less then disappointing, we hoped the Metrodome crowd could help carry the Twins to victory. We did our best, but unfortunately the crowd was unable to convice Nick Punto he couldn't go from 2nd base to home on a grounder to the shortstop.

Though the game did not work out as planned, we were glad that we were able to witness the final game in the Metrodome for the Twins and look forward to many more Twins games in the new outdoor stadium for years to come.

Updates:

• Our daughter is doing well and is growing quickly-as evident by Angie's expanding waistline.
• We are in our third trimester! Offically 83 days until our due date! The time has flown by and we are our very excited to meet her. We our thankful that God has blessed us with a healthy pregnancy and continue to pray that Angie and the baby will remain healthy throughout the pregnancy and delivery.
• Angie's glucose test came back normal but her hemoglobin count was 11.5 and it needed to be at 12, so she is on an iron pill.
• Angie's master's paper is going well. She has her proposal, ch. 1, and ch. 2 finished. Now, she is working on chapter 3.

A Grateful Heart

Church is a place of worship and celebrating the amazing gift of eternal life we have been promised if we choose to believe in the words of God and choose to walk in His ways. This morning, we attended Trinity Baptist Church. I felt very blessed as we walked in the sanctuary doors. Trinity holds a special memory in my heart. It is the place where I married my husband-the man God had chosen for me before I was even born. However, today I was reminded of another blessing that is all too often taken for granted: family. Sitting in the back row of church today was my sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and parents. What a blessing when a whole family can worship together and that God has blessed both Jared and I with a family who loves Him.

This was not the only moment I realized all of the blessings in my life...God has been abundantly good to me and to my husband-and all to often, I tend to take for granted the faithfulness and goodness of God in our lives. As I sat beside my nephew today, I was once again taken aback by the miracle of life that God alone creates and grants. It is amazing to watch our nephew grow and develop into a handsome young fellow and to think that Logan only started out as two cells meeting!

However, today I was also humbly reminded that the creation of a new life is a very fragile miracle. I cannot imagine losing our child that is growing inside of me. Jared and I love this baby in a way that is indescribable, but the life that is inside me belongs to God and His purpose. We thank God daily and pray daily for our child that she would continue to grow healthy, but most importantly, that she would grow to serve and love her Creator and to give Him glory through the way she lives her life.

A Late Night Adventure

Last night held much excitement at the Fluth household. As Jared and I were doing our nightly routines before we turned in for the night, I had the grand idea of having a slice of cinnamon bread instead of the usual-animal crackers (I always take something with my vitamins). Unfortunately, I did no have the ability to foresee what was going to happen within the next few minutes-which then turned into hours.

As I went to the cut the deliciously smelling bread, I also cut through part of my index finger. As I stood by the sink, screaming and crying in pain, I knew that this was not going to be good-as did Jared once he took a look at my wonderful carving skills. So, at 10:15 we warely drove to Avera's Emergency room. I was somewhat relieved when we went in and found an empty waiting room. I thought this meant it would be a short visit. That was not the case. The nurse took me back and did paperwork, checked blood pressure and all that jazz and proceeded to look at my throbbing finger. With one look, she said, "Yeah, that's gonna need stitches." So, we waited until 11:30 to get into a room. I was then told I would also need a tetnus shot! Not my night...I was really hoping not to have to get a shot, but that wasn't an option last night. So, I got my tetnus shot and as well as numbing injections in my finger so that I would not feel the pain. We finally arrived home after midnight and were ready for bed.

Jared said I am no longer allowed to use bread knives after 10:00pm, and I am completely fine with that!

Another Year...

This week, I celebrated my 26th birthday-which I think is crazy. I can no longer say I'm in my mid 20's. I now have to say I am in my upper 20's...yikes!

Posted below is a picture of the DELICIOUS cake Jared made for me. I now am going to have him make it more often :)

This week I began to feel stressed about all of the happenings in the months to come. I am trying to work ahead on writing my RAP while gathering all of the data for my paper and setting up all the parts to the study in my classroom. I am no longer doing a quantitative study because of other factors that went along with my study. Hopefully, the qualitative study will not require much more writing than the quantitative :) While I have made a lot of progress, I am beginning to wonder how I am going to get it all done once our daughter arrives. I just have to trust that God will not give more than I can handle and that all will be well.

Thankfully, I have found a long-term sub. However, we are still in search of a daycare. Most daycares will not reserve a spot this early in the year for a spot at the end of February. Please pray that one of our two options that we like the best will work out.

The First Week of School

Well, the first week of school has come and gone. All in all, it was a pretty normal beginning to the school year. I did forget about how tired I would feel at the end of each day! My class of 15 kiddos is unique and sweet. I am sure there are a few who will always provide me with a story to share, but that's what makes it fun :) In fact, Jared has already heard a few! Good thing he enjoys listening to them...at least he appears to!

Jared was able to feel our baby kick for the first time last week. It was a very exciting moment! Other than that, nothing new to report. Everything is still going well. Praise the Lord!

New Crib!

Stan and Marlene gave us a wonderful gift tonight! They purchased a crib for our baby girl. We set up the crib and then we purchased the baby bedding. It was a great time seeing it all come together and is exciting to think that in a few short months our precious child will be sleeping in the crib. We still plan to paint the room, but one project at a time.

Here are the pictures of the crib and bedding:

It's A Girl!

Today we had our ultrasound and found out we are having a healthy baby girl! Praise God for answers to prayer about the developmet and health of our baby.

It was very exciting to see how much she had grown since our first ultrasound on June 2nd. The little girl was moving but was being very stubborn. We almost weren't able to find out the gender because she was face down to my back. With much poking and prodding on my stomach, we were able to get her to move. Because of the position, we were only able to capture a few 3D images, and none of her full face.

It was an amazing experience! We cannot describe what it is like to see your future child growing and moving inside of you! We will post pictures soon!

Thank you for your prayers!
Jared and Angie

The Hospital Tour

Tonight, we were able to visit our hospital. It was very exciting! We visited the labor and delivery room as well as the post-partum suites. Both were extremely nice. I am pretty sure Jared's favorite part of the tour was the unlimited access to the cafe on our floor-all the soda and food a husband can want! I especially liked the free spa service provided at the hospital for the moms. We are very excited to meet the new addition to our family and the visit made it even more exciting.

This coming Monday, we have our hour long ultrasound where the doctors will do lots of tests to look at the development of our baby. This is also the day where we will be able to find out the sex of our baby-if it cooperates!

Falls Park

Last night we had the opportunity to enjoy time with our nephew Logan (as well as Dan and Jenny of course).

Together, we visited Falls Park. We don't get to the falls that often, but it is always fun to see them. We seem to be in a habit of forgetting our camera lately, but this night we made special effort to remember.

Enjoying the scenic background...


Dan, Jenny, and Logan...


Logan meeting the ducks...


Logan telling us what he thought about the ducks...



It is always great to spend time with family; we had a great night! Thanks Dan, Jenny, and Logan.

The Return of Zubaz Pants!

Our vacation week was very relaxing and fun. We spent a couple days at the farm and then headed up to the cities for a night where we got together with Mike, Joni, and Ava. We had supper and caught up.

The next day we headed up to Duluth, MN to stay at a bed and breakfast for a few days. We were both very surprised at the city of Duluth! Whenever we go on vacation, we usually have a lot of interesting things happen to us and we meet very interesting people.

Our first night there, we went out for dessert at a little ice cream shop that overlooked Lake Superior and the boardwalk. All of sudden, we heard the song "Rock Me Gently". We thought it was coming from the tour boats that were on the water. However, to our surprise it was coming from right below us. Of all times I wish I had my camera to capture an image, it was this! Unfortunately, I forgot it back at our room. There was a man strolling down the boardwalk in black high-top tennis shoes, American flag Zubaz pants, and a stars and stripe shirt with a big black boombox on his shoulder! He was rocking out to the music while he was taking a stroll down by the water. It was quite fitting for how the rest of our night had gone up until that point!

Later in the week we thoroughly enjoyed a couple's massage. It was a first for the two of us and a great experience.

At the end of a relaxing week, it was great to come home and pick up Gracie. She got to spend the week on the farm with Marlene. She enjoyed watching the animals, barking at cats, and taking lots of walks. We are afraid she is now going to be bored with city-life.

Jared and Angie

Vacation

Well, the beginning of our week was bittersweet.

On Tuesday, we had a doctor's appointment. At this appointment, we got to hear our baby's heartbeat! It was sweet. Jared and I were surprised at how fast and loud the heartbeat was:160 beats per minute! The doctor said everything was great. It is so reassuring to hear those words! In five weeks, we have the big ultrasound! At this appointment, they will do all the major screenings for our baby's health; it usually lasts about an hour. We will also find out if we are having a boy or a girl! So exciting-we cannot wait :)

The bitter part of this appointment was that the doctor advised me not to go on our trip to the Boundary Waters since I would be too far away from medical care and there could be complications if I were to get a disease from the water or from the mosquitos. Our baby's health is way more important than any trip. It was hard to hear because we had been planning this for a year and it is the only week of vacation time we have together.

After much prayer and communication, Jared and I arrived at a comprimise. We both wanted to please the other. So, Jared is coming out of the Boundary Waters on Wednesday morning and then we are headed to the Cotton Mansion (bed and breakfast) to celebrate our 4 year anniversary. This place is absolutely gorgeous! We also scheduled an hour long couples massage, which we cannot wait for! We are both excited and ask for prayers for both of our travels.

4th of July Festivities!

We spent the weekend in George celebrating the 4th of July. We had a wonderful time!

• It started with the duck races at 9am, and though it was drizzling we still had a fun time watching our ducks. They did not win, of course, but we did get to see Tyler's duck take 6th place for $50.
• We followed the ducks with breakfast at the Strike Zone where apparently Jared has a "usual". We also found out that we didn't need to tell anyone in George that we were expecting, apparently the whole town already knows!
• We went to George and Genola's house to hang out with family, but first made sure we staked out our places for the parade. If you do not have your chairs in place 3+ hours in advance there is no way you are sitting along the street!
• Before lunch was served we went across the street to the George Museum. Although we didn't know going in, Grandpa George gives tours at the museum on Sunday's so we had a professionally led tour.
• After lunch, we headed down to the carnival for 25-cent games of BINGO. After 8 games and not a single sniff of victory, we gave up. The most exciting part of the game was witnessing Fred the cop have to take away a man for public intoxication!
• We spent some time in the late afternoon relaxing out at the farm and taking Gracie for a long walk. She had spent the whole day alone at the farm, and did a great job not causing any ruckus. Whenever we were there, she could not stop from going window-to-window to take in all the sights. One window had a view of the cattle, another the sheep, and the third the cat and her kittens. Suddenly our windows at home which hold simply cars and people walking by were boring in comparison.
• We ended our night by heading back to town for the fireworks display. Although the pie auction took some extra time, we heard it brought in around $14,000 so that was great! The fireworks were also awesome, though our favorite part was listening to all the little kids oohing and ahing over each display. We anticipate future year's displays where we can listen to our own little one doing so.

We hope you all had a great time on the 4th, we sure did!

Jared and Angie

The ducks coming around the first corner...


Getting closer...


And the finish...

A New Chapter

Hello Everyone!

I was recently inspired by my friend Robyn to start a blog about our family, and lovingly, Jared went along with this idea!

Exciting News:

God has blessed us in many ways in our lives and the most recent blessing He has given us is the blessing of a child. Our precious baby is due January 3rd and we could not be more excited! It was an amazing experience to see our baby for the first time at our ultrasound. Our little one was moving its hands and kicking its legs. It is amazing how much you can love someone you have not yet met. We were both reminded of the goodness and faithfulness of God and the miracles He alone creates.

We ask for your prayers that we will continue to have a healthy pregnancy and that our baby will continue to grow and be healthy.

God bless,
Jared and Angie