Carrying Precious Cargo!

Today I had my 23 week appointment. I guess I am officially starting my 6th month (according to the book What to Expect when you are Expecting)! I got to hear Laila's heartbeat, which is always very exciting! The doctor said everything looked and sounded great. I've also been feeling her kick and move around a lot more lately. It's strong enough for Nate to be able to feel pretty good as well! It probably won't be too much longer until we can actually see her moving around in my belly!

As it gets closer to Laila's birthday, I find myself dreaming all the time. Will she have her mama's smile? Will she have her daddy's long legs? (Please Lord, let her have her daddy's long legs!) We absolutely can't wait to meet her! Even though there are babies being born everyday around the world, the whole process truly is a miracle. I just continue to pray everyday that she will remain healthy and that we will be able to hold her in our arms and bring her home from the hospital in less than 17 weeks.

God has allowed me to play so many roles in my life up to this point - daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin, wife, teacher, friend, but I am so looking forward to my new favorite role - Mommy!!! Nate and I both feel so honored that God has entrusted us with so much!

By the way, we've chosen Laila's middle name to be Grace. Thanks so much for taking time to vote on our poll! It looks like most of you thought Grace was the best choice as well!

Baby Belly - 23 weeks

It's a GIRL!!!

We are so excited to announce that we are having a little baby girl! This past Friday we went in for my 19th week appointment and got to see her moving around a bunch on the sonogram! I was so thrilled to hear that the doctor said everything looked great! Check out a few of the pictures below. The first one shows a picture of her "girl parts" and little legs. The second one is a profile picture, but it's a little hard to make out because she was moving so much and she kept putting her hand in front of her face. I guess she didn't feel like posing today! The third picture is cool because you can see her spine pretty clearly.

We have decided to name her Laila Schuck! After choosing the name mainly because we think it is really pretty and it has my maiden name in it, we found a couple of different meanings....dark-haired beauty, dark-skinned beauty, or born at night. We'll see if the meanings hold true! No matter what her name may mean though, my main prayer is that she will be beautiful on the inside as well as the outside! We haven't picked a middle name yet, so if you have any good ideas, let us know! Since finding out we are having a girl, I've already gotten excited and been busy thinking of ideas for her room. I can't wait to get started on it in the next few months. It's hard to believe I'm almost to the halfway point of my pregnancy. I am so excited to meet her and hold her in my arms! The smile hasn't left Nate's face since finding out we're having a girl! He keeps saying she'll be "Daddy's little girl"!

The Holidays!

We had such a great time this year during the holidays! We were down in Orlando for about 12 days visiting family and friends. Unfortunately I wasn't good about taking my camera everywhere, but we did capture a few of our fun evenings below! You can see more of our pictures on Snapfish by going to www.theschuckfamily.snapfish.com/snapfish. If any of you have more pictures from this Christmas of the Schuck & Lail gatherings, send them our way so we can post them!

These first 3 pictures are of the time spent on Christmas Eve with Nate's mom, sisters, and uncle! Linda's famous Christmas Eve meal was DELICIOUS as usual and the time was filled with lots of laughter like always! Bekah, Linda, Susie, & Nate also got to burn off some calories that afternoon by performing a live-version remake of "You got elfed", which I made for them a few weeks before! If you didn't get to see one of those this year, it was hilarious. Office Depot had this program where you could post people's faces onto a body of an elf, and then email the dancing elves to other people! I have to say the "Live" version was much more entertaining! You can enjoy it too by clicking on the video below! Unfortunately I wasn't able to post the original because it expired. (I hope Linda, Susie, Bekah & Nate don't mind that I'm sharing this with everyone!!!)

This picture above is of the Lail family at my mom and dad's house on Christmas Eve night! Nate and I got to enjoy two delicious meals that day! Even though we were missing a few of our family members that evening, I think this is the first time we've gotten most of everyone together for a picture in a while!

One of the days we were down in Orlando we got to go to SeaWorld with Nate's mom and sisters! We had tons of fun seeing Shamu Rocks and the Whale & Dolphin Show. Nate and the girls also got to enjoy riding the roller coaster Crackin a few times! It was a popular day at SeaWorld because we also got to see my sister and her husband, Holly & Robin, and our friends the Schrimshers and Ryckmans with their kiddos! Me & Nate's sisters also had a blast seeing who could jump the highest in front of the SeaWorld Christmas tree. I think they had a little bit of an unfair advantage since they are about a foot taller than me!

Like I said earlier, we also made a lot of other fun memories with family and friends this year that I did not get pictures of. We had a really nice time celebrating Christmas with the Schuck's in Ocala. Even though we weren't able to stay long, it was so nice to see everyone! Congrats again to Nate's cousin Phil and his wife Jill who just found out they are having a baby boy. It will be fun to celebrate Christmas next year with 2 new babies! We also had a very nice dinner with Nate's dad Greg, Donna, Susie, & Bekah!!! Thanks to Holly & Robin we got to enjoy a nice Christmas gathering at their house, as well as a Dungeness Crab feast & game night! Even though I lost horribly at Scrabble, I'm very proud that I won a round of Scene It against the movie buffs Nate & Robin! (By the way, I still think grint is a word!!!)

This year we got to spend New Year's Eve with the Moss Family (John, Erin, & baby), for the 3rd year in a row! We had a nice time catching up at dinner and then went over to the Melting Pot for some very yummy dessert! Erin and I had a hard time staying up until midnight (which isn't unusual for Erin!) since we are both pregnant and tire easily, but we did it!

I hope everyone else had just as wonderful of a Christmas as we did this year! We are so thankful for all of you!

Happy New Year!!!

Our Favorite Time of Year!

This is easily one of Nate and I's favorite times of the year, probably like most people! (Although for me it is a toss up between enjoying a nice summer day at the beach or by the pool!) Seriously though, not only do we love December because it is the month we celebrate the day we became husband and wife, or because we love picking out a Christmas tree and decorating the house, or because we get to drive around and look at Christmas lights while listening to our favorite Christmas music, but most importantly it is the time of year we reflect most on all that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has done for us! It is so easy to get caught up in gifts and parties and the fun things that this time of year has to offer, but I hope and pray that I can take time this Christmas to be thankful for what the Lord has done for me. He has given me an amazing family, wonderful friends, and the perfect husband. I am also so thankful for the baby He is allowing me to carry inside my belly. I can't wait to meet our son or daughter in just about 5 months! My prayer for myself in the coming new year is that I can be a great wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, along with all the other roles He has given to me. I know I can only do these things with the Lord's help. Like so many of the Christmas cards that we sent out this year said, our prayer for you is that the coming year would be full of many blessings for your family! We are really looking forward to seeing a lot of you in the next few weeks! For those of you who have not been able to visit us yet in Tallahassee at Christmas time, here are a few pictures for you to enjoy!

Have a very Merry Christmas! Check back in with us at the beginning of the New Year for more updates and pictures on Baby Schuck!

Love you all,

Joy & Nate

Baby Belly - 16 weeks

As you can see, my belly is getting a little bigger (even though it is not quite as big as my booty yet)!!! I am in my 16th week now and feeling pretty good! Please continue to keep us and our baby in your prayers!

Celebrating 3 Years and a Baby on the Way!

On December 6th (at my 15 week appointment), after waiting at the doctor's office for nearly two hours because they were so busy, I got to hear our baby's heartbeat for the first time! Even though I was so tired of waiting by the end of that appointment, the wait was well worth it. The sound of my baby's heartbeat was so soothing and reassuring! The doctor said everything sounded great! He also said that we should find out the sex of the baby at our next appointment on January 4th! Yay!!!!

This past week we celebrated our 3 year anniversary on December 11th! Nate surprised me that morning with tw0-dozen roses and the sweetest card. He also made me breakfast before I had to leave for work (which isn't unusual)! He's the best husband I could have ever asked for! That night we enjoyed dinner at a restaurant we had never been to called Food Glorious Food. When we got home we watched our wedding video, which has kind of become a tradition for us! It was the perfect night to reflect on all the blessings God has given to us as a couple over these past few years!

Thanks to Nate's mom and my wonderful mother-in-law Linda, the anniversary celebration continued when a few days later we got to enjoy another very nice dinner at Clusters and Hops! She made the reservations and arranged everything for us....it was great! Thanks again Linda! The picture at the restaurant didn't turn out the best, but it kind of gives you an idea of how romantic is was!

***Pictures on Snapfish***

I just wanted to let you know that we have started posting our pictures on Snapfish. (We even have some as far back as our wedding!) We thought this would be a good way to share all of our photos with family and friends (especially when the baby comes)! It is also great because you can purchase the pictures your in or that you want and have them sent directly to your house for a good price! To view our pictures you have to enter your email address and create a password, but don't worry, I've never known anyone that has ever received any junk mail from them. Snapfish is very similar to Shutterfly, if you are familiar with that. I have even heard that the Snapfish site is a little more secure than Shutterfly. Let me know if you have any problems with it and I'll see if I can help you out. Anytime you want to see the pictures, you can click on The Schuck Family on Snapfish from our blog page in the right hand column under Pictures or go to the following web page. Enjoy!

http://theschuckfamily.snapfish.com/snapfish

Jeep For Sale!

Nate's 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee is for sale! So, if you know anyone that's looking for a car in great condition, send them our way! You can view more information about it on http://www.autotrader.com/ (use zip code 32309 for your search). Thanks for spreading the word!

Thanksgiving in North Carolina

This year we got to spend Thanksgiving in North Carolina with Joy's family! Despite the long drive, we had a blast! We rented a cabin for 3 nights in Valle Crucis, NC, which is close to Boone. The cabin was just a few minutes away from our aunt and uncle's mountain house, so we got to spend Thanksgiving Day with them as well. We also enjoyed celebrating Nana's 71st birthday on Thanksgiving Day! The weather was very cold during our stay and we even got to see some snow! If you look closely at the jacuzzi picture, you can see the snow flurries coming down on Nate, Matt, Robin, Holly & Dad! Below, check out more pictures from our trip! (Also notice the huge scary bear above the fireplace!)

Nate and I are so grateful that we got to spend Thanksgiving in North Carolina this year! It was a wonderful time to reflect on all the blessings God has given us. We are really looking forward to seeing the rest of our family that we missed at Thanksgiving for Christmas!

Baby Schuck's First Picture!

This has been a very exciting week for us! Yesterday we got our first Ultrasound! What an amazing experience! As soon as the baby's picture came up on the screen we saw the rapid heart beat. Baby Schuck was asleep at first, but woke up quickly. It was so exciting to see our little baby moving around and kicking for the very first time! The doctor seemed very pleased with everything and he measured the baby at 41 mm, which is a little over 1 and a 1/2 inches. He said that we should be able to find out the sex of our baby in around 8 weeks (which I'm hoping will be right before Christmas)!

A little over a week ago, I also got to feel the baby move for the first time! It was so exciting! It felt like a fluttering sensation or tiny bubbles underneath my stomach! I can't wait until I can start feeling the baby move around even more in the months to come. I'm even more excited for Nate to feel it! This whole experience really does remind you how awesome our God is! I'm in my 11th week now and feeling pretty good! Thank you again for all your prayers! Please keep praying for our baby!