She has a name!

As of Saturday the 29th of August, our daughter's name is officially Margaret Elizabeth Molder. We already affectionately call her Maggie Beth or Miss Maggie. It is precious to hear Price call her by her name. He is not great at his "th" sound so it sounds like "Maggie Beff"....so cute! He stills talks to my belly button daily! Its like he thinks it is the speaker into my tummy where Maggie can hear him. A couple of days ago we were at the grocery store. While I am inspecting apples to put in the bag Price lifts my shirt, belly button exposed, and proceeds to ask Maggie if she likes to eat apples! Feeling mortified that my tummy is bare in the produce section, I gently back away, lower my shirt and smile at Price (not wanting to embarrass him). I look out of the corner of my eye and see a middle aged woman with an adoring grin on her face and she says "what a great big brother he is going to be."

I wish Nana could meet her and know her name. I am sure she does though. I would like to think that when heaven rejoices over birth and the "big events" of life or maybe even the small ones; that not do the angels sing, but loved ones that are there in heaven get to share in that joy as well. I don't know, but I can hope.

Jon said that if we were to name her after someone, it would only be fitting to name her Maggie. Not only do we like the name, but if a name comes with certain attributes, why not name her after the strongest, kindest, most loving and affectionate women either of us has known? And then we named her Maggie Beth! So there ya go!

We drove over to announce the decision to my mom. She cried...no, she wept with joy! I know she would have loved this baby girl regardless of her name, but obviously this name holds a special place in her heart. We are all excited to have a name for her. She is loved. Soon we will get to meet her!

Place your "Vote" here

Yes! I am still alive. It has been a few weeks since I have last posted, but we have been so busy. We have been working on the nursery, which is coming along nicely! I am fluffing my nest! In other words, organizing, painting, getting projects done and making room for another little person in our house. So fun!!

A few updates:
I am now 6 months pregnant; starting my third trimester! I feel fantastic. Price talks to the baby all the time. I know when she is born she will stare at him with wonder; finally able to put a face with the voice she knows so well.

We have not yet chosen a name. We are deciding between two names. Eden Elizabeth Molder, nickname "Edie." This is the name we had picked out if Price had been a girl. The other name is Margaret Elizabeth Molder, nickname "Maggie." This is Nana's first name. Elizabeth is the name of my great grandmother (my dad's grandmother), an amazing woman of God. I pray for our baby girl and Price every morning, so I am waiting to hear from God about what name HE has for her. I am hoping God will do for me what he has done plenty of times in the Bible....say "You will have a child and you shall call her______." Ha! Well, one can hope! I will let you know what we decide. She will at least have a name by the middle of December...and it just might take that long!

If you look over to the right, just under my profile, you will see a place where you can "vote" for your favorite name. I am curious to see what the favorite will be.

I will post pics of her nursery when it is done...it is getting so close to being finished! Now all we need are lots of clothes and bows...the fun stuff!

Little Fish!

We really enjoy having a pool! Price swims nearly everyday. He has improved so much in his swimming abilities this summer. I am very proud of him! He can swim really well! He gets diving rings in the shallow end, jumps off the diving board and swims to the ladder. His favorite thing to do is ride on Jon's back to get the diving rings from the deep end. So cute!

We like to take a swim in the evening. Jon hooks up itunes to the outdoor speakers and we crank up the music. Sometimes we swim while waiting for dinner to cook or while Jon is grilling. Other times we like to eat dinner then take a dip in the pool. Either way, we have alot of great family time swimming. Here is a video of Jon and Price getting rings...and another of Price jumping off the diving board! (Sometimes when the mood to swim hits with urgency, there is not time to retrieve a swimsuit. In this video Price is wearing his undies to swim. Jon however is wearing a swimsuit! ) We love summer!

6 years!

This Sunday, Jon and I will be celebrating our 6 year anniversary! Most people say their married life "have been the best years of their life," but I am not going to say that. Jon and I have had our fair share of tough times and bumps in the road...

Actually, in keeping with the analogy, we have had more than "bumps." We have driven off the road, rolled our marriage vehicle and crashed into a tree! People were "injured" and things at times have seemed to be a total loss. But, through prayer, forgiveness, communication and reconciliation, we have made it through. We have learned to let each other be who we are. See the potential in each other and encourage it. I have seen both of our priorities shift for the better, greater good of our marriage and family. We have grown spiritually and are more sensitive to each others needs and love language.

I would not trade those tough times for anything! We are better off for having experienced them and come through on the other side. God has been faithful to see us through raising a child, Jon's changing career, moving towns, finding our church home, deaths of family, miscarriages, financial strain, life's everyday stresses and now the anticipation of having another sweet angel in December.

I thank God for my husband! There are so many things I love about him! I think the goal of marriage is to help, respect and take care of each other. I can say with 100% certainty that I love Jon more today than I did the day we got married. We don't FEEL love for each other every single day, but we continue to learn to CHOOSE love, ACT with love, SPEAK with love...even when we don't FEEL love. Loving even though we have flaws, isn't that what true love is anyway? I am so glad Jon is willing to frequently overlook mine!

It is not a secret; I am far from perfect and so is Jon, but we are perfect for each other!!

The Playlist is a collection of songs that mean something to Jon and me. We started dating in 1998! These are just a few songs remind us of each other and different chapters in our relationship.

Flashlight Adventure

Price was scheduled to go to VBS with Nanny (Jon's mom) this evening and he wouldn't get back until after his bedtime, which is normally 8:00 pm. By the time he takes a bath and reads books, it is late when he finally gets to sleep. So, this afternoon I encouraged Price to rest on his bed. I was hoping he would fall asleep, and he did.

Since he slept for an hour and a half this afternoon, I told him when he got home from VBS, we would go for a walk in the dark with our flashlights. After a snack and a bath, he grabbed two flashlights and we headed out.

He was so cute! He listened to the crickets and started making up a story about "the mystery of the golden cricket!" He would shine his light on everything in the street...a smashed golf ball, shoe laces, sticks, grass growing in the cracks, water puddles, rocks and lots of other things! They look so different and interesting in the dark! He would shine his light up in the trees, on stop signs and mailboxes (continuing to add to his story). He stopped at a large area of concrete in the street that was all chipped and broken. Very excited, he called Jon and I over to check it out. "Look, it is the footprint of triceratops! Isn't that amazing?" he said as he kneeled down to touch it like a real treasure.

We had fun! I love this adventurous age. Combined with Price's imagination, these types of outings end up being great entertainment!

Reconnecting

My mom and dad have a place at Tenkiller that they visit nearly every weekend from April to October. My parents invited Price to come with them for a couple of days. They left Friday at noon and are on their way home as I type this blog. I was looking forward to a weekend with my hubs, but I had no idea....

Friday afternoon, I went to his office and help do some work. Even though he doesn't say it, he likes it when I am there. I can tell by the look on his face. Later that afternoon, I stopped by Sherwin Williams to pick up some paint to finish painting the trim in the nursery. I took it home and started painting. Jon came home around 6:30 and we decided to go eat. We went to BJ's. It is a local hamburger/pizza/sandwich place. After discussing our thoughts on having a daughter due in December, we wanted to revel in it a bit, so we went to Wal-Mart to check out all things pink. Jon kept selecting outfits that were not pink, which I liked. She will need a good variety of clothes, not just pink. I made a stop by the grocery side of the store and picked out some icecream!

Saturday morning we got iced coffees from McDonald's and then drove the town checking out garage sales and then stopped by the Farmer's Market. When we got home, we worked together on insurance stuff while we watched Mama Mia! I enjoyed it; Jon endured it for me. We stopped by some friend's house and picked up a huge bag of maternity clothes that are being given to me to wear for the next 4 months or so! Cute clothes that I am so thankful to borrow!
We got Chinese take out and came home to watch another movie as we vegged out with full tummies. Around 4:00 we jumped in the pool. I fell asleep on a raft. I loved every second!
I hopped in the shower while Jon went to wash my car (I like it when he does that)! We went on an insurance appointment together just outside of town, then headed back for dinner around 9:00. We went to A&E Grill, sat out on the patio, had great conversation and enjoyed the cool summer night.

Sunday morning, Jon went for a bike ride and I stayed home and got around to head to the city. We left around 9:30 and had brunch at Bellini's. Again, we opted for the patio. It overlooked a pond with two water fountains, geese, green grass and lots of landscaping. The weather was beautiful! We had a delicious breakfast. We sat there for close to 2 hours. We laughed, casually talked about future plans and told stories that neither of us had heard (after 12 years of dating/marriage it surprised me there were things about him I did not know). We left and went to the mall. We strolled through the entire mall, grabbed a Starbucks coffee and headed home. When we got home, we took a nap and waited for Price to get back.

We had a whole weekend...face to face, great conversation, no interruptions, lots of laughs and memories made. I often forget about the real person behind the man who comes in and out of our house. He pays the bills, takes out the trash, wakes up early and works hard. I know he feels the same about me. He often forgets about the real person behind the woman who takes care of the household, spends her day with the kiddo, cooks, stays up late and does the laundry. I love my husband, that will never change! I am so thankful that I still get butterflies for him. I love hearing his voice and opinions.

This weekend, I got a fresh look at his dreams and plans. I was inspired by his passion. He is an excellent father, friend, brother and husband. We didn't take a fancy vacation but what a weekend! I loved the quality time I got with Jon. It has recharged us as a couple. Things were good before this weekend, but there is alot to be said for reconnecting. Maybe even more so when there were no obvious signs that we needed it so badly! We did,we just didn't know it!

Baby GIRL!

Tuesday, Jon and I went to Oklahoma City for my doctor's appointment. We were also meeting with an ultrasound technician to get measurements and make sure that all is well with baby. We were both hoping that we would be able to find out if our sweet pea was a boy or girl. When called back to the ultrasound room, I laid down on the table and prepared for the ultrasound. Jon stood to my left, the ultrasound tech, named Tammy and the screen were on the right. The lights were turned off and instantly we saw our precious baby. The profile was so distinct, and to me, looked alot like what I remember from Price's ultrasound picture.

She measured the head, located the bladder and kidneys, and did measurements on the bone lengths and saw the chambers of baby's heart. It is amazing to see the little heart just pumping away! She started trying to get an angle that would tell us if we were looking at our little boy or our little girl. Sweet little modest thing kept running from the ultrasound wand!

Jon had his head stretched out over me, studying baby's every move. Tammy said, "Yep, looks like it's a girl." I quickly pulled my hands to my head, whacking Jon in the face and said "What?! Really?!" I looked at Jon and he was smiling. I started laughing and crying. "I said are you sure?" She said "yes, look right here..." and sure enough, as clear as Price was a boy, this Princess had the girly parts. It felt like the world stopped as I saw her type "It's a girl!" on the ultrasound picture. She printed out the pictures for us to take home. Jon and I kept looking at each other with the cheesiest grins!

We texted our parents and told them we knew what we were having. They all tried to get it out of us, but we told them they had to wait until dinner. We met for dinner at a local Mexican food restaurant. We all got there about the same time. We settled into our seats and then Jon stood up with the camera and said "Let me get a pic of everyone at the announcement." He stood at the end of the table and held up the camera. He said "1-2-3-saaaaay 'it's a girl!'" He had set the camera to record video, so we could capture the reaction. The table erupted with noisy excitement!

My mom looked at me and said "What?! It's a girl?!" I answered "yes" then she started to cry. My dad has a soft spot for his little girls, so he teared up at the thought of another one to love on. My mother-in-law could not believe it. She kept asking "Are you serious?!" I must have assured her 3 or 4 times that we were not joking. Jon is the oldest of 4 boys. (He has 44 first cousins and 40 of them are boys!) It is a very rare occasion that a girl is born with the Molder name. When Kari finally believed we were not pranking her, she started to cry too. My cousin Evva kept saying "I knew it. I knew it was a girl all along!" Jon's dad and brother pretty much didn't react at all, but that is to be expected from those two.

Price was excited, but got tired of all the attention and questions people were directing at him. This morning, he came into the living room with a smile, crawled up next to me to cuddle and said "Good morning Mama and good morning little baby girl" as he patted my tummy (his voice jumped an octave higher when talking to the baby). So sweet!

We are thrilled!!! I cannot wait to stock up on bows, pink clothes, baby dolls, princess outfits and tu tu's! Jon has already mentioned how expensive prom dresses are. He also said he will be asking for a gun for Christmas. Ha! Jon has had a big smirk on his face for the last 24 hours. He is a proud daddy, just like he was when we found out our first born was a son! We are so excited. What an unexpected surprise!! I happily receive my new title as Queen because there is definitely a new Princess in the house!

I have been trying to upload the video for 2 days and it just won't do it! I will keep trying.