Christmas 2007

We were able to spend time with both our families for Christmas this year...we first spent several days in Angleton with the Tiltons, then came back up to Kyle to finish out the holidays with the Whites. Good times were had by all!

All the Whites

(it took several takes to get this one!)

From Mike's Dad...I think Mike wants one in his size...

Baby White's first stocking at the Tilton house

We did a gingerbread tree this year...

San Francisco

We were able to take a "pre-baby" get away to San Francisco in December. We were there Dec 13-17 and had a blast! We did a good combination of sight seeing as well as just being lazy and enjoying time together. We like to joke that we sort of "ate" our way through the city...making sure we got a taste of the local cuisine in many of the different neighborhoods of the city.





Our hotel was within walking distance of Ghiradelli square and Fisherman's Wharf. Of course this means we visited Ghiradelli several times for hot chocolate and sundaes (hey, the pregnant lady can't enjoy beer and wine, so I might as well eat chocolate!!) and also had crab and a chowder bowl down on the Wharf. Being in California we also made sure to do lunch at In & Out Burger one day (it was Mike's first time to have it!). We also had Italian Food in North Beach, Dim Sum in China Town, and hit up a small cafe for brunch in Haight Ashbury (we were also offered drugs several times in Haight Ashbury which in itself was an experience). We also did some sight seeing--we went out to Alcatraz, walked along Golden Gate Bridge, saw the sea lions on Pier 39, and walked the "crookedest street" on Lombard.





Overall it was a great, much needed trip!

Golden Gate Bridge

Golden Gate Bridge

Chinatown

Ghiradelli Square

Enjoying a Sundae at Ghiradelli

Alcatraz

Alcatraz-San Francisco Bay and City in Background

Lombard "Crookedest Street"

Union Square

Thanksgiving 2007

So I’m a little late on posting this…oh well…at least here it is!

We did our typical Thanksgiving tradition of going to my Great-Aunt Georgie's (my Grandmother Tilton's sister) this year. She has a gorgeous place on Medina Lake (just West of San Antonio headed toward Bandera). Our family has spent every Thanksgiving but 2 out of the last 20 plus years doing this...I LOVE IT!

We always have a big crew...there is no such thing as a stranger in her house, and this year was no different.

We were joined by lots of new-comers this year though...the entire White family joined us for our first ever joint-family holiday (perhaps the beginning of future gatherings??). Mike's Dad, sister, brother and sister-in-law and three munchkins all joined us out at my aunt's for Thanksgiving festivities. Dayna and the kids were even brave enough to stay Thursday night with us and all stuck around to watch the pathetic excuse for a Texas football game on Friday.

On Saturday, we joined the White's in San Antonio for the rest of the weekend. Went to the mall, took the kids to an IMAX, watched more football.


Overall, it was a blast and Mike and I loved being able to spend significant amounts of time with both our families for the holiday!

On the back porch (it's not really 1/2/05!)

Liz's family
Dad, Mom, Liz, Mike
Kristi, Aunt Georgie, Grandmother, Thomas

Some of the guys watching football (both Dad's and our oldest nephew)

Helping in the kitchen!

Vanessa and Mike with all the munchkins

It's a....

It's a BOY!!

We had "THE" Ultrasound on Friday and baby White has boy parts! It was pretty funny, it seemed like almost right away Mike asked the ultrasound tech if he was seeing what he thought he was. She said, yep, looks like you have a little boy in there! All the measurements they took looked great...still measuring right on for our March 6th due date and baby weighs about 13 oz. right now. They also checked lots of anatomy: 4 chambers in the heart, looked at parts of the brain, good looking spine, 2 kidneys, good arms, legs, fingers, toes, etc. Of course all the doctor can really say is "Things look reassurring", but we were very happy with what we saw. They didn't give us any pics that show off much, but you can definitely tell the baby is growing!

Overall things are going really well. I was fighting horrible allergies for the majority of the last month or so but they have gotten much better in the last week. I've been feeling the baby move for several weeks now too. Movements keep getting stronger and last week Mike actually felt one from the outside for the first time, although for the most part I'm still the only one that can feel them.

It's crazy to realize we're already halfway there now! We hit the 20 week mark last week. We're just glad all is well with baby and pray it continues that way for the second half too!

There's a baby in there!

We had our second ultrasound on August 22nd. It's amazing to see how much the baby has changed and actually looks like a baby since our last ultrasound 3 weeks ago. All was well...baby was jumping, waving, kicking and moving all over the place for the ultrasound tech...and then didn't do much once the doc came in to take a look. It was pretty funny! Here are the pics.

Here I am waving to everyone:

Here I am kicking mom:

First Ultrasound

As previously mentioned, our first ultrasound happened on Aug 3rd at

9 wks 1 day. If you look closely you can sort of make out a head (to the right), feet (to the left) and arms (somewhere in the middle). Ok, I know, so it really was so much more clear on the screen in the doctor's office, but really it was amazing to be able to see our little one for the first time even if it is hard to make out exactly what is where. In the office right in the middle was also a rapidly beating heart, another sign that so far, all is well!

While we can't tell for some time whether we'll be having a little girl or boy, Mike has had a "feeling" since the very beginning that it is a girl. We'll find out in another month or two whether or not he is right!

Change is upon us...

So we've officially entered the world of blogging (maybe?)...

At this point you may be wondering what brought this on. Well, it seems these days that a time of change is occuring in the White household, and with family and friends now spread not only all of the state, but all over the country, I thought what better way to attempt to keep you all informed of the happenings in our world.

The most exciting news at this point for us is that we are expecting a new addition to our family! Baby White is scheduled to make his/her appearance sometime around March 6, 2008. Indeed, you can see why I say that change is upon us!

We were thrilled to find out in June that we were expecting. Things have gone pretty smoothly so far (except for some of the minor, typical pregnancy woes). On Aug. 3 at our first Dr. appt we were in awe to be able to see our little being hanging out via the ultrasound screen complete with head, bottom, legs, and arms. Despite what my dad swears he saw in the picture later, it is still too soon to tell if there are boy parts or girl parts, but per the doc everything looked perfect so far! We welcome any and all prayers that both baby and mom continue to be healthy as things progress.

Mike has now officially gone back to school. Yes, he was busy taking online classes last fall and spring, but now he is back on campus! He started at Concordia University in Austin this past week and is on campus 4 days a week! All classes are for his certification as a DCE (Director of Christian Education) as he prepares to make the transition from accountant to youth minister. He continues to work part-time in between classes at Active Power and we continue to pray that he will be able to transition into full time ministry once he is done with classes in the spring.

Life is interesting to say the least! Check back when you can to see updates/ramblings about things going on in our world as we prepare for our little one and everything else in between!