Free Ad Space!

I have decided to offer ad space to local businesses/blogs in the future.  

For the month of November, I am offering this ad space free for the first 3 people who want it!

Afterwards, for a very minimal price, you will be able to post an ad on this blog (as long as it is an ad I agree with and support, i.e. nothing inappropriate please).  

Please let me know if you would like your business' ad up on the sidebar in November (for FREE) of

Meet the Marshall's 

and we will work something out!

3 Babies

Saturday was a shower for a friend of mine. 

She is expecting her first child (a boy) in a few short weeks!

Another friend is good to go any day now (a boy as well),

and I am ready to go in Jan.  

It is so nice to have friends to talk to who will have children of similar ages, 

and see how different pregnancies can be for each person.  

I can't wait for the arrival of these two sweet boys, 

and the arrival of our little girl. 

Unexpected Blessing

When Wes and I first found out we were expecting, there was one question that tended to be asked from almost everybody we told the news to:

Was this a planned pregnancy?

To that we answered that no we had not planned to get pregnant when we did, 

but by no means does that mean it was an unplanned pregnancy.

God had it planned for us, even before we knew it. 

God knew that we would be parents in 2013 to a beautiful little girl 

(if it is also in his plans for everything to go smoothly).

God knew how many hairs our daughter would have on her head,

What she would enjoy doing in the future, 

and how she would live her life each and every day 

(I pray that this is a life that is dedicated to God and 

he uses us as the parents to fulfill this)

Sadly, society has been put in the place where if a pregnancy is thought to be unplanned, 

abortion has become an increasingly popular way out.  

According to statistics, 

in 2010, 64 641 children lost their lives due to abortion. 

Lives that God had intended to be lived. 

Of these, over 25 000 were performed on women under the age of 25. 

Now please do not get me wrong, 

I understand being pregnant young is hard 

I understand it may throw a twist in your plans, 

or even place an entire maze in your plans. 

Wes and I were shocked and a little bit unprepared when we found out the news. 

But in our eyes, our little girl is a wonderful 

Unexpected Blessing. 

It will be hard, but God has chosen us to be parents to this girl.  

He has given us the responsibility to raise her in a Godly home.  

How LUCKY are we?!

I cannot imagine getting this news at a younger age, 

and I am truly proud of the women I know who have raised their child from a young age

and chosen to give their child the life they deserve, 

whether it be through adoption or taking care of them themselves.

If you are having to make this difficult decision, 

Please talk to somebody before taking any action. 

 

And if you are finding out you are pregnant (whether unexpected or not),

Congratulations!  

How cool is it that God knows exactly what your baby will be like even now?

 

More Abortion Facts Here

Week 27

How far along? 27 weeks !



Maternity clothes? Just trying to stick to the ones I have (though if there is anybody who has an old maternity coat that I could use for the rest of the pregnancy I would be ever so thankful!) 

Exercising: Walks and some baseball with the kids I babysit, although I find I cannot stay up long, so I do short spurts more so than anything. 

Stretch marks? yep.  Seeing how the cocoa butter does still

Sleep: Harder and Harder.  I switch side to side all night and get up to go the bathroom soo many times each night. 

Best moment this week: GENDER REVEAL!

Have you told family and friends: Yep.

Miss Anything? Being able to go for longer walks and jogs.   

Movement: Yep! It's at the point its not just kicks I'm feeling, I feel the little one rolling and all sorts of gymnastics in there.

Food cravings:  nothing weird....

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not anything in particular

Have you started to show yet: Most definitely.  

Gender prediction: No longer a prediction.  It's a girl!!   

Labor Signs: No where near that point yet

Belly Button in or out? Starting to push out... though still in...that's weird since usually my bellybutton is very deep

Wedding rings on or off? off (wearing them on my neck though)

Happy or Moody most of the time: Ask Wes, I feel as though my judgement on this may be a bit bias....

Looking forward to: The weekend.  I am so tired and need the break (and plus Shauna's Baby shower for her little boy!)

Not loving: The numbness in my lower stomach I get if I am standing too long.   

Fellow Bloggers

 I came across this prayer for all my fellow bloggers.  

Blogging is a wonderful way to further the Kingdom of God. 

It can however, be a hindrance as well.

Many times, we find ourselves striving to get as many followers, views and comments as possible.  

This has been something that has really reminded me of the real reason I started blogging,

and I hope it will do the same for you:) 

A PRAYER FOR BLOGGERS

I am no longer my own blogger, but Yours.

Refine me with each post how You will, rank me how You will.

Put me to service, put me to suffering.

Let me be a follower — instead of seeking followers

Let me post for You —  or be put aside for You,

Lifted high, only for You, or brought low, all for You.

Do with me and each post whatever You will, because You alone know best.

Let me not strive but submit

                                                                              Let me not compete but care.

Let me not desire hits but holiness

Let my blog be full of You, and let it be empty of me.

                                       Let me crave all things of You, let me care nothing of this world.

Let my words be focus only on the greatest of audiences: You, And You are enough.

May I write not for subscribers… but only for Your smile.

               May my daily affirmation be in the surety of my atonement not the size of my audience.  

       May my identity be in the innumerable graces of Christ, never, God forbid, the numbers of my comments.  

 May the only words that matter in my life not be the ones I write on a screen — but the ones I live with my skin.

I freely and heartily yield every sentence, every title, every post, every comment… or no comments… all to Your pleasure and perfect will.

My only fame is that I bear your name

My only glory is the gift of Your Grace

My only readership, Your eyes that seek to and fro to find

Make this so. Lord…

Yawhew, you alone are my God, not Google

Jesus, you alone are my Savior, not site meters

And Holy Spirit, you alone are my Comforter, not comments

So be it, today, yesterday, and every post to come.

O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

thou art mine, and I am thine.

This is my prayer I have made on earth, over the keyboard…

let it be ratified in heaven.

In Jesus’ Name…. Amen.

--ann voscamp

It's A...

This weekend we finally had our gender reveal party!  

Though there are more pictures (and a video of the actual reveal!), here are some of the highlights!

My family, Wes and I got all ready for the party, including getting together some games and food and even both blue and pink punch:)   

Friends and family started coming at 7:00 pm. 

Wes and I had made blue and pink bows with ribbon for everybody and they all picked the colour they believed Baby Marshall would be.  

Everybody was on Team Blue except for myself, my dad (who know thinks he can tell the future as he had a hunch it may be a girl after months of thinking it was a boy), and a few friends. 

We started off by playing a few games.  

The first was a game where Wes ad I answered a bunch of questions and according to Old Wives Tales, we determined what the baby would be.  

We then tried to guess "What Baby Ate". 

Each diaper had a different chocolate bar melted inside.  

Emily Won with 7/10 correct!

Then it got close to the big reveal!

It was great having so many people there to enjoy this time with us! 

Even my little brother (who is in Spain for the year) joined us via skype.  

 We are so excited for our little Baby Girl to arrive!

Everybody changed their ribbon colour after ;)

We had a jar of blue/pink jellybeans for people to win if they guessed the right number. 

Louise R. won (only being 33 off!)

We ended the night with some cake, snacks and time talking to each other.  

Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 

Psalm 139: 16

Week 26

How far along? 26 weeks !



Maternity clothes? had to get myself another pair of pants this week since I was using only one pair and my regular jeans are now unwearable...   

Exercising: Got to play soccer at the Youth Conference on Sat which was fun only definately not able to play like I used to be able to.  Other than that though I have been walking a bit.  

Stretch marks? yes-  I started using a cocoa butter formula this week and it has been working a bit (though not gone, they are much easier to look at now)

Sleep: Harder and Harder.  The baby kicks whenever I am in a position they don't seem to enjoy.  So I end up switching side to side all night.  

Best moment this week: Ultrasound-- The place we went to this time was so nice and the doctor was very helpful and talkative which was nice.  It was too bad Wes had to work but it was really nice to share that moment with my Mom and sister.  This was the first ultrasound I felt the baby move while seeing him/her move on the screen-so cool!

Have you told family and friends: Yep.

Miss Anything? My normal walk.  I'm waddling now ;)

Movement: Yep!  Not only just feeling the kicking but also able to see my stomach move.  Kinda weird at first.  It's so cool to just sit with Wes and watch my stomach move all around.  

Food cravings:  nothing weird....

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not anything in particular

Have you started to show yet: Yep!

Gender prediction: I really don't know.  I guess we will just have to wait until Sat!

Labor Signs: No where near that point yet

Belly Button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? off (wearing them on my neck though)

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy ---though definately getting more moody 

Looking forward to: Sat! Sat! Sat!  Find out if we are having a boy or a girl!

Not loving: The numbness in my lower stomach I get if I am standing too long.   

On The Other Side of Things:

If you have a business you would like to get the word out about, I would love to contact you and set up a giveaway!

Getting Ready for the Big Reveal

Wes and I are so excited--  our Gender Reveal Party is on Saturday!  

We spent the night painting the box grey on Sunday and I decorated it the next day. 

On Saturday, we will open the box and see if we are expecting a mini-Bre or mini-Wes!

Any Guesses?

Ultrasound Time!

Yesterday, I was able to see the baby once again at our second ultrasound.
Unfortunately, Wes couldn't go due to a mishap with the scheduled date for the ultrasound.

Instead, I brought my mom and my sister with me.  It was great having them come and see the baby on the screen.   My sister loved it since she understood all the stuff the doctor was saying about each and every single detail about our baby.

Baby Marshall is now 2 lbs, a steady heart rate of approximately 146 and everything else is healthy with the baby so far (keep praying it stays that way!)

Wes is sure that the baby has his nose (the first thing he said when he saw the picture after work), and I am completely fine with the baby looking like his/her daddy.  I can't wait to see what the mix of the two of us looks/acts like.

These last few weeks have been so exciting!  Lately the baby has been kicking so hard that we can see it rather than just feel it.  It has been so exciting to have things like that to experience with Wes.  I can't wait to find out if it's a little girl or guy on Sat!

Winner!

So the end has come for the Girl's Night Giveaway!

 

I am very excited to announce SAM MCBRIDE as the winner!

 

Congrats Sam!  Contact me to get a hold of Jenn

Have a wonderful time at your girls night!

Week 25

How far along? 25 weeks (oops forgot to do this last week)



Maternity clothes? currently have one pair of pants (need more soon!) and a few shirts- finding alot of my older shirts are too short 

Exercising: Did a bit of jogging this week, though definately not as long as the jogs I did before 

Stretch marks? bleh. mhm .-- any good ideas to get rid of them?  Let me know!

Sleep: My Side-- Switching side to side every few minutes...

Best moment this week: Thanksgiving- It was great seeing family in Ottawa and being together.  Plus I officially have my first car.  Thanks Paul and Joeanne!

Have you told family and friends: Yep.

Miss Anything? I tend to get numb in my lower half if I am up for too long... I wish that didn't happen and I was back to how I used to be. 

Movement: Yep!  Really getting strong which is nice except during classes... a bit of a ouch every now and again.   Perhaps a soccer player or big flutterkicker? 

Food cravings:  nothing weird....

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not anything in particular

Have you started to show yet: Yep-- Wes has really noticed and made sure he told other people to look at how big I'm getting... not sure how I feel about that ;) ..

Gender prediction: I had somebody tell me by the way I was carrying looks like a boy.  Who knows?

Labor Signs: No where near that point yet

Belly Button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? Depends on the day.   If not on then I wear it on my necklace (more on necklace now than on)

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy ---though definately getting more moody 

Looking forward to: Youth Conference at the Church

Not loving: Sore back, sore side, headaches. haha though I've lucked out symptom wise and I know that    

On The Other Side of Things:

Don't forget to put in your entry for the giveaway!  See who wins on Monday!