in the states

today marks one week that we have been in the states.  so far, it has been a great time visiting with friends and family.  we are trying to spend as much time with loved ones as well as balancing it with some rest at the same time.  we are truly blessed to be surrounded by the love of our friends and family.  

as far as culture shock goes, i think we have been ok.  for me, little things shock me or remind me of the differences between the 2 cultures.  a few things are: the organization on the roads, organization in general, lack of bugs in houses, convenience, not seeing any walkers or buses on the roads...those are a few things that come to mind.  

i have been blessed with 2 great baby showers so far.  the first one was with my friends in indy from elementary school to present.  it was so great to be with them and share things that God has been doing in my heart as well as our ministry.  i am very thankful for all my friends who drove to indy and spent time with me! it was so amazing.  the next day, the cantrells had a family gathering/shower for us/me.  it was great to have their support and ideas.  compared to my family, the cantrell (jared's dads side) and murphy (jared's moms side) families are much larger, so it has, and is, taking me a long time to get the families and names all straight.  it was great to spend time with their family and get their advice about parenting.

right now, i am 17 weeks pregnant, 4 months.  i am starting to show a lot more (some say i dont look pregnant), which is fun and weird at the same time.  jared and i had a meeting with the midwives in san jose area before we flew out to the states.  i was praying that jared and i would have a peace about our decision of where to have the baby, and at the end of our 3 hour conversation/getting to know you time, i think jared and i both felt good about the midwives.  they really took time to get to know both of us, which i really appreciated.  

we also got to hear the heatbeat, which was very cool.  i couldnt believe it was inside of me. hearing the beat, 150 BPM, was a reality check that a baby is really growing inside of me.  the baby is growing well, and all my measurements and heart rate were healthy.  i have been feeling the baby move inside of me and jared was able to feel it moving on sunday, which is pretty cool!