What are Cankles????

"What are Cankles?" she asked. So, I promptly raised the leg of my pants to reveal a swollen foot and ankle that could not be distinguished from my calf. A cankle literally looks like an elephant leg. Big, puffy, without any definition from the calf to the ankle. I could tell by the somewhat horrifield look on my friend's face not only had she never seen a cankle before, but she hoped to never see one again!

I have only one pair of flip-flops that I can wear. If my cankles continue to get bigger...I have only two options left. Go barefoot or wear house slippers. Neither option is very appealing as going grocery shopping and running errands I would hope to still have some since of fashion even though some might call that vanity. All I know is a "King girl" would never wear house slippers in public!

For the sake of sparing your eyes from the cankles, I've posted a picture of me at 36 weeks pregnant. Bruce took this picture last week before our doctor's visit. The pregnancy is going well. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Baby Gwen within the next couple of weeks.

Showered with Gifts!

We recently had two baby showers! A group of friends from church hosted a baby shower. Amy Schmucker hosted the event at her house. Karen Barfield and Laura Fisher sent out invitations and prepared wonderful goodies to eat. Patty Lugo and Nancy Caldwell were so gracious to arrive early and stay late to help with all the details. It was such a meaningful shower as over 30 friends took time out of their schedule to celebrate our baby girl. We received a pack n' play, boppy swing, boppies, onesies, along with several hand-made blankets, a handmade smocked dress (shout out to Laura), tons of adorable baby clothes and so much more! I love each and every gift we received.

Also, a longtime friend, Dorothy Patterson, hosted a Shower by Mail for friends and family that live out of state. This unique shower allows friends who do not live local to celebrate via long-distance. Each person purchased a gift and mailed it to our house. I had so much fun each day finding boxes that had been delivered to my front door. The generosity of such great friends is overwhelming. At this shower, we were given baby monitors, crib quilts and sheets, and the travel system which consists of the stroller, baby car seat, and base for the car and so much more!

This is getting scary!!

Over the last few weeks and months, I have caught myself at times wondering how scary it will be to actually have a baby. Not just going through the labor and delivery (which is troubling enough) but the whole idea of having someone be totally and utterly dependent upon Bruce and myself for every necessity of life. Last night, however, the words I have been thinking actually popped out of my mouth. Bruce and I had just finished a 4 hour adventure of assembling the baby crib. The directions were in English, thank goodness, but not very detailed to say the least. In the end, the crib stood sturdy and proud awaiting a new little bundle of joy. I stepped back to get a better view of the crib and said, "This is getting scary!!" Bruce looked at me as if to say, what have we gotten ourselves into? We just stared at each other and then burst into laughter knowing that there is no turning back now. We are filled with joy and great anticipation at the arrival of our little girl, but a little scared at the same time. I guess that's normal.

Bruce celebrates Father's Day!

I was especially excited to celebrate my first Father's Day! Heather gave me some brand new shoes and a 'I love Daddy' outfit for the baby. God blessed on this first Father's Day as we saw 36 people receive Christ as their Savior during our 4 weekend services. We are counting down the days until September 10th.

Baby Moore celebrates 6 months!

Last Friday I went for a Level 2 sonogram. This high powered songram enabled us to get a even better idea of how Baby Moore is growing. Each little bone and organ was measured. The great news is Baby Moore's growth is right on track. Her heartbeat is 151 beats per minute. She weighs 1 lb. 7 oz. Most of the time she had her legs up over her head!

Vacation May 2008

Here are some pictures of our time in Paris, TX and Maine!

He likes chocolate ice cream, she likes strawberry!

Out of every trial comes a blessing. The same day the fish bone incident happened is the same day Bruce and I had ice cream with Bush 41 and Barbara! We left Boston, to spend the rest of our vacation in Maine. Driving up the eastern seaboard, Bruce suggested we stop by Kennebunkport to see the beautiful home of former President Bush as it overlooks the Atlantic Ocean.

As we turned off the road going through the main part of town, two black SUV's passed us. Bruce thought hmmm.....wonder if that's the President. He pulled into a parking lot to turn the car around and the SUV's had stopped about 100 yards in front of us. Just then, Bush 41 and Barbara get out of the car. I start screaming, "get the camera, get the camera" thinking we could get a picture of them from the car. But no.....Bruce starts driving right towards them! The secret service men, wearing earpieces, are now eyeing us. One driver repositions his SUV right beside us. So Bruce backs up and goes around him! By now, I am thinking...we just left the hospital in Boston and I don't want to have to go back there because these secret service men take us down! Bruce parks the car and says, "let's go see if we can meet the President!"

We walk up the ice cream stand where the Bush's are placing their order. Just to make this story more interesting....George likes chocolate.....Barbara likes strawberry. The secret service guy asks us not to take a picture while they are eating ice cream. We then ask if we can at least say hello. The guy kinda grunts yeah. So we wait for the Bush's to turn around. As they do, we say hello to Barbara. She waves and gets into the SUV. President Bush walks over to us and says hello and shakes our hand. He was friendly. Bruce tells him we are from FL and how much his son, Jeb Bush, is loved in FL. When Bruce mentions that he is a pastor, President Bush becomes very friendly and shook our hands again! He noticed I was pregnant and asked about the baby. Then he said to me, "Well, then you better get in the picture with me!" Bruce took my picture and I took his picture with the President.