Life in Conway

Our First Home!

Megs, Mac, and I at the intramural fields cheering on

 our husbands! 

All the hostesses at the baby shower for Ethan!

Craig and I headed to a UCA bears game.

                                           Celebrating Annie's engagement at YaYa's!               

     Well it is our first official fall in Conway, and I must say we are enjoying it! There are definitely the hard emotions that come with transition and starting life again in a new place, but we are slowly finding our spot here.  We have managed to stay pretty busy with getting the house together, childbirth classes, puppy obedience training, intramurals (craig that is), hanging out with old friends and family, and meeting some new ones! Oh yes, and we officially adopted a new kitty! He was a stray that befriended Brinkley, so of course as animal loving yuppies, we adopted him. So now Brinkley has a friend...Oliver! I know  you are all thinking how crazy can they be, a puppy, a kitty and a baby! Yep thats us... the crazy Conners we like to go against the grain I guess! 

      Can you believe I'm 36 weeks tomorrow?! The little guy will be here soon! I've been having some Braxton Hicks contractions, which are no fun let me tell you, and he has "dropped" so that means he is preparing himself to come! As of last week he was 5lbs, 2 oz, so the the doctor said he will probably be between 6 lbs and 7lbs when he arrives! It is really weird going to bed each night thinking..."He could be here tomorrow!" We hope he waits a few more weeks to come though because the nursery still isn't ready! Talk about a work in progress! We just got the crib and chair in, so it should be coming together soon! I will put some pics up when his room comes together! We have come to accept though that if his room isn't ready when he arrives that it wont be the end of the world, since babies typically sleep in your room for a few months! Im learning to be flexible and realizing that I can't always have my ducks in a row, as much as I would love to all the time!

        Well, I posted a few pics of our life in Conway! Hope you enjoy! Much Love!

       

Home and So HAPPY!!

Hey All,

I've never been more excited to be at home and feeling well! Yesterday when they discharged me from UAMS, I nearly ran out....seriously! My dad thought it might be better to be escorted down in a wheelchair though since it is hospital protocol! :) 

After 11 days in the hospital, I've gained a new found appreciation for the many comforts home offers! Craig and I laughed last night as we snuggled into bed at 9 pm because we were so excited to be in our own bed. Yes, for 11 days my stud of a husband has slept on a pullout chair hospital bed.....I thought I had it bad, he had it worse! 

    All that to say, I am home now and doing well, and so is little Ethan! For those of you wondering why I was in the hospital, I will summarize our family's journey the past week and half as best I can. 

About two and half weeks ago, Craig and I got a virus that had been going around Conway. We both thought we had let it run its course but for whatever reason, I wasn't getting any better. Since I couldn't keep anything down, I went to the hospital to get rehydrated on fluids hoping that would give me the needed push to get better. Sadly, it didn't, so on Friday the 25th of September they admitted me into the Labor and Delivery floor(they do this for anyone over like 25 weeks when you are pregnant) at Conway Hospital. After a week, I was still unable to keep any food down and started having persistent pain in my esophagus. After a lot of tests, my GI doctor and OB GYN knew that I was having bad GERD(acid reflux) due to pregnancy but they couldn't figure out how to control it despite the help of several medications, so they decided to transfer me to UAMS in Little Rock where there are more high-risk doctors. 

After a trip in the ambulance to UAMS, Craig and I found ourselves truly living on a prayer, hoping that the doctors could find some remedy to my illness. I continued to baffle the doctors at UAMS as well, but a feeding tube malfunction and four IVS later, I found myself determined to get better. This past Saturday, I remember praying and just begging the Lord for strength and wisdom to get better because I was so weak and weary.  That morning, I told the doctors that instead of pursuing the feeding tub, I would like to try and eat again. So extremely determined and strong-willed, I drank an Ensure and kept it down and drank Ensure the rest of the day! WOO HOO! The next day, I started eating soft foods and just slowly started incorporating more solid food as I could. A few days later, once my potassium count got high enough, I was home bound!

The Lord is so faithful. I really believe He gave me the wisdom and insight into my body that I needed to help get me better. I am so thankful to be out of the hospital and doing better. I'm sure you are all wondering about Ethan and he is one healthy little boy. The ultrasound we had before leaving the hospital showed that he is 4lbs and 7oz and doing well! All I can truly say is THANK YOU! Thank you for all of your support and prayers. They truly encouraged my faith and blessed our family more than you will ever know! 

   We love you all very much! I will try to post some pics of our home soon and give you guys some more updates! Much love!

The Last Few Weeks

Hey all! Well, I've decided I'm not so great at this blogging thing , but I'm trying to improve! 

The last few weeks have been a lot of fun! Craig and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary by going to St. Louis and seeing Coldplay! We loved every second of it except that we literally waited 45 minutes in our parking spot after the concert without moving an inch! haha But other than that, Coldplay was fantastic. At one point in the evening, they got off stage and came directly behind us to perform. AMAZING!  I was not ashamed to stand up on my seat to make sure I got the best view! They literally were only like 10 feet away from us....so awesome. Craig and I really enjoyed ourselves. I still can't believe that we have already been married 3 years. It seems like just yesterday I was walking down the aisle, but agh now I'm pregnant. That is still so surreal for me sometimes. I can truly say I am more in love with Craig though than ever before. I never really understood people when they would say that but now I get it. I love all of the ways he "gets" me...sometimes it is even scary how well he knows me. We laugh with each other a lot, and I am just so thrilled about starting a family with my hunk of a man! hehe

We also went back to Conway for the last time before me move this past weekend! Talk about weird. Only three weeks until we move back, and we are both mixed with a lot of sadness and excitement. It really hit me when I got back from our weekend there that I will be leaving behind some dear friends and a place that has truly fostered so much growth and truth in my life here at Doulos. It will be really hard to leave this place, but I know moving back to Conway is where the Lord has us. There will be a lot of transition and change in the months to come which isn't always the most exciting, but I am truly hopeful and expectant of the many ways the Lord will richly provide for us in Conway! 

One piece of exciting news is that WE BOUGHT A PUPPY! We have been looking for a while now for a labradoodle puppy, and we found one in Brinkley, AR. So this past Saturday we made the trek to Brinkley and played with our to be puppy! He was a little skittish at first but got really playful after a while. His name is Oscar, but wee have decided to change his name to Brinkley because we love the name and he is from Brinkley! Like on You've Got Mail! Craig has never had a puppy and I have been dying to have one for three years, so we can't wait to pick him up in three weeks! We like the idea of Brinkley and Ethan growing up together! :)

   

Little Ethan is doing well! He is kicking a whole lot which is fun! I will be six months next Friday....time has flown by so quickly! Well, I will try to get better at blogging so when I do they aren't so incredibly long! Much Love!

   

Ethan Asher Conner

Let me just tell you there are so many names out there! Sadly though, Craig and I had a name picked out like a month ago, okay maybe like two months ago....  We both love "E" and "C" names, so ever since we found out I was pregnant, we have been mulling over name choices. I know your are probably thinking we will be those people that send out Christmas cards and our whole family will have "E" or "C" names... and you will want to gag yourself. haha. Well, let's be real it just might happen, so don't judge us! But i give you free reign to make fun of us!

On a serious note, one of my old mentors Stephanie Qualls talked to me one time about the importance of the meaning behind a name, and why her and her husband decided to look at names that they not only  liked but that had a deeper significance, so that they could pray over their child based on the specific meaning of their name.  That really resonated with me, so Craig and I were on a mission to find an "E" or "C" name that had a special meaning as well! We officially decided on Ethan Asher Conner! Ethan means strong, firm, optimistic, and enduring, while Asher means fortunate, blessed, and happy!  Both names are Hebrew, and Ethan in the Old Testament was a member of David's court and wrote Psalm 89. The first part of the psalm says, 

               

  "I will sing of the Lord's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.  I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself."

We pray that our little Ethan will grow up to be a man who deeply knows the Lord's love and faithfulness in a way that will bring hope and light to others! The Lord has already used Ethan to deepen our understanding of the Lord's deep and committed love for us, so I can't begin to fathom how He will use Ethan to share love with so many others! 

It's a Boy!

  As our first blog, we thought it fitting to announce we are having a little baby boy! After a cancelled appointment two weeks ago, we have been reeling with anticipation and excitement to find out the sex of our baby, and today we did! We officially knew the baby was a boy when the ultrasound tech announced, "Look there is his little turtle!" Hilarious! I'm sure he will blush every time he hears that story when he is older!

  Craig and I were completely overjoyed to see our little man today! We watched the monitor in awe as  our little one moved around in my belly! He yawned, kicked, and even sucked his thumb for us...so precious! The 3D/4D ultrasound was incredible! We could see his eyes, nose, ears, fingers, and toes. It is so hard to believe that after only 20 weeks God has created such an intricate precious human being .  We truly feel thankful and blessed! We spent most of the day talking about him and dreaming about him, and we even bought him his first Cardinals t-shirt...Pujols of course! The first of many, I'm sure.

   Today was such a great blessing!  As I sit here reflecting on it, I am amazed at the many ways God has already been using our little baby boy to teach us and love on us! Craig and I have both been learning so much during this season of pregnancy about deepening our trust in God's unwavering character! So many fears and circumstances have pulled at us to try to take away our joy in this season, but the Lord keeps showing us that we must put our hope in Him, not in fear or circumstances because there will always be things to fear. I truly feel so much more aware of the Lord's presence in my life through this little one! I can't believe there are only 4 more months until we get to meet our little guy! That blows my mind! 

   We are excited to see what the rest of this pregnancy journey will bring, and we feel so blessed to have incredible friends and family to walk alongside us in the process! We love you!