Why am I awake right now?

So it is 1 am right now and I am wide awake. After the traditional e-mail check and facebook scan, I decided that not being tired = great time to update the blog. For some reason I can not find the connection cable to our camera, so my apologies for no pictures (come on, we all know pictures are the best part of blogs, and we just sift though all the blabbing to get to them!)I do have some more recent sightings of "the belly". But I will post those when the MIA cable returns.
The last few weeks have been a blur. The cold front has officially hit Kentucky and is here to stay. It is on average about 30 degrees every day. It is weird to think that now the cold is here, it really will not be gone until our little Spring chick arrives! March is about the time that it starts to get warm and stay warm and just so happens to be when our little joy will be here to stay. Its fun to think that little Saunders will be here in one more season!
Thanksgiving was in a word 'laid back' this year. Compared to last year, when we had about 16 people crammed into our apartment, and I started cooking @ 8 or 9am. This year we spent it with may of the same people as last year, minus a few. There were 12 of us I think, and we were all crammed into our friend's apartment. Basically all of our families are too far away, so we were all depressed together. But whew, the food was delish! It was a great time to fellowship and just be with people we love here in KY~
I am pleased to say that this year, Ben and I experience our first...Black Friday. We got up @ 3am and met up with our friends Danny & Stacey (the other native Californians...who by the way are more hard core than us and didn't even go to sleep at all) And we stood out in front of Office Depot for 3 hours waiting for it to open...In the freezing cold. Our patients was repaid with $350 laptop computers...well Danny & Stacey bought one. Ben and I sold our laptop ticket we got to some Indian guys for $20. But all in all this is what we ex caped black Friday with:
1 $60 500GB external hard drive
1 $5 jumbo size box of baby butt wipes
3 $10 jumbo size boxes of diapers
and....a 20 dollar bill from the Indian guy

I think I might be hooked

19 weeks- Popped!

I have officially popped! I can tell that there is a big difference when people at work are seeing me walk by and say "Chels....your pregnant"...why thank you! I think the belly touching has begun, and I'm loving it. I just can't help but look down and smile! Other than having to get up a few times a night to pee, things are wonderful at this stage of pregnancy. I am assured that it won't be so delightful soon.

In other news, Ben is MIA this weekend. Some guys dragged him against his will to go to the Kansas/Texas football game this weekend, in Kansas, as VIP, to sit in the defensive coordinator's family box, and stay at his house. OK, so Ben didn't need a lot of convincing or dragging. But He was so cute, as I'm dropping him off at the airport he whispers in me ear "I'm going to my first college football game" with his cute grin on his face. So hopefully Kansas wins so that their trip ends on a good note!

I have started 2 new jobs at the moment. I know, before you think that I am crazy, check out how much it cost for a plane ticket to California. I started as a seasonal employee at Potter Barn a few weeks ago and have worked about 1-2 days a week. It really is not much due to the economic state right now. Not a lot of places can afford a heavy pay roll. PB usually hires around 25 seasonals a year and this year they hired 7....not a ton of people flocking to buy candles and throw pillows right now. But none the less, i am loving my "brainless" job as I call it. I love going to work and not having to do much else besides be nice and take their money. No Executive Summaries to calculate here!

My other job that I have possibly not so wisely ventured upon right now is Pampered Chef. Yes, I am a new consultant. Here is how this started...two friends of mine, Anna and Melissa and I went to a Pampered Chef party a few weeks ago and saw a couple things that we would love to have in our kitchens. So we manufactured up this amazing plan to work the system and all be consultants together under one name and work as a team. So some how, I was chosen to be the "one person" to sign up. So far we have had one party and to our surprise we sold $500 worth! So we have 30 days to test it out and see how it goes. So if anyone would like to host a party, please let me know!

18 Weeks-Movin and a shakin

I'm definatly startting to feel more pregnant now a days. I can't zip up my work pants any longer, so it might be a soon transition to stretchy pants! Ben got me these wonderful things called belly bands that are link a spandex tube that goes over the top of your pants to hold them up. So I think they might buy me some more time.
Little one had started a movin and a shakin! I can feel it most when I lie down. Such an amazing feeling to feel a life begin to move inside you! I love it!

16 Weeks!

15 weeks!

Starting to Poke out! My pants are getting tight!

8 Weeks!

We Passed!!

Around July 3rd or so, some cells started dividing and some hormones started tripling to give us this grade on a recent test we took!

At the end of Juse the Dr found an ovarian cyst on my right ovary that was the size of a baseball. They weren't very sure what caused it or why it got so big so fast, but they recomended that I have it removed. The posibilities of the cycst were a little scary and worst case senerio I could be left unable to have children. I was scheduled to have surgery to remove it on July 14th. I purchased a preggo test just to be sure that I was not with child when they operated, but I completely forgot to take it the morning of the surgery. The surgery went well and I recovered very quickly. That following Sat, Ben and I were sleeping in and chatting before we got out of bed. For some strange reason I remembered the pregnancy test I bought and just for the heck of it asked Ben if we should take it. Not expecting it to be any thing but negative. I proceeded with the test and lightly saw the second line appear vaguely. I ran back into the room to find Ben sitting on the bed reading the box and asked Him "what symbol means positive?" , His face lit up and he said "let me see it!". We traded test for box and looked at each other in disbelief.

What a roller coaster these past few months have been! All the way from pondering what it would be like not to be able to have children... to... surprise! you are able to have children and you will in 9 mos! We are so thankful for the grace that God has shown us in allowing this little one to be formed. At a time that we were so unsure of what the future held, God knew and found it fit to give us a perfect gift!

So little Saunders is on his or her way and should make an apperance some time around March 27th 2009. We could not be happier. Praise the Lord for this execelent and perfect will for our lives. We give him all the praise!

So I have a little catching up to do....

OK, I realize that these pictures were taken way back in May and it is now officially fall, but better late than never right? Back in May Ben and I had a wonderful and much needed vacation to Loreto Mexico. It is one of our favorite places to vacation and we were so blessed to be able to have the resources to go.

We were there for a week of relaxing on the beach, fishing, clamming, scuba, snorkeling, kayaking, and of course eating yummy Mexican food.

The last time Ben and I were in Loreto was
the summer before we were hitched. It was

so much fun for us to go back and spend a week
relaxing and
catching up with family and friends.

I would probably have more to say about this vacation had I blogged about it right when we got home, or even a few weeks after, but I confess I am a lazy blogger. So enjoy the pictures.

The Spurgeons meet at last!

In case you can't tell from the video....that wooden thing is a carved statue of Charles Spurgeon....our first son's name sake. Well.....we could hardly contain our little man's excitment at getting to meet this amazing preacher for the first time. As you can tell he is thrilled....We couldn't bear to tell him that he was made of wood.....or maybe it was just the cat nip!

Country Livin'

One of the best parts about moving to Kentucky is that....we have never been here before. There is so much history and sites unseen that it is hard to fit it into the school and work schedule. We have made it a goal to take any friends or family that come to visit us #1-to the home made ice cream and pie kitchen (your just going to have to come visit us to try it!) and #2 to a destination here in KY that we have never been before. We have so far not run out of fun places to go, although there are some that we will not be returning to:) A few weekends ago our friends Jimmy and Carolyn now Anderson (they came a few weeks before they got hitched) came down from OH to hang for the weekend. We hadn't met Jimmy's bride-to-be yet, so we were really exicted to get to spend the weekend with both of them. First we headed to the Rec center on campus to get in a few games of couple's raquet ball...and then off we ventured to Huber's family farm. It is a local farmer's huge farm that he has transformed into a tourist dream. We had a blast trying to hit a floating target with a apple sling shot, eating fresh strawberries, sliding down huge slides made of piping, kissing pigmy goats, eating fudge, feading monstourous coy fish in the ponds, wine tasting, and who could forget the corn cannon.

It was a whole bunch of good ol' country fun, only found in the blue grass state.

I had to post this!

Ben and I have sort of started a tradition or habit what ever you want to call it, of sleeping in on saturday mornings and then having pancakes. It is either pancakes or waffles....which ever we are in the mood for. We are getting to be quite conosures. Well this last saturday...we got a little surprise! Maybe God was trying to tell us something, but I don't think I could have done this if I tried.....please tell me that you see what we see in the second picture below!
Us with our pancakes!

I'm not sure how this happened, but Ben and I were rolling laughing.

Its that time of life!

Yes...it has begun, first all our friends were getting married, and now they are having babies! Our good friends Moy and Amy just welcomed Rebecca Kristen Sanchez into the world! Such a cutie.

This is our other friend Anna holding baby Rebecca. Poor little thing broke here coller bone on here way into the world.

There is the proud papa.

Here are some more friends...from left to right Joe, Melissa, Moy, baby Rebecca, Amy (mommy), Ben and Me. We are all pretending to smoke pink chocolate cigars!

Mom and Dad in KY!

I have been a major slacker in posting things lately. So backing up to April.....Mom and Dad Saunders came to visit us! There is a huge conference here in Louisville every other year called "together for the gospel". It has speakers like Piper, Mohler, Mahaney, and McArthur that are all here for....well....the gospel. So Scott brought with him a wonderful friend of the family and a elder from their church back home, Jack Swift. We had such a great time getting to spend time with them. We got to take a trip up to Cincinatti OH while they were here to see the Creation Museum. It has only been open a year, but it is a whole museum opened by the AIG (answers in genesis), which gives archeological evidence for creation. It was so interesting to see the whole gospel layed out in a museum coupled with archeological evidence that supports biblical truth. We learned so much and were very encouraged that a ministry like this is out there.
The conference was from tuesday to thursday for the guys. Jack and Scott also got to go with Ben to some of his classes. We loved being able to show them what life is like for us at this point. While the boys were out, Dena and I planted my very first garden, did some creative cooking, and just relaxed and wondered where the boys were. The whole week was so refreshing.

My garden that my MIL and I planted! It has grown a lot since this

This is my beautiful MIL stopping to smell the flowers. There is a really old Cemetary here in the Ville that has amazing flowers and trees in the spring.

Ben and his mom and the amazing DogWood tree. I love this picture!

A huge T-Rex at the Creation Museum. I learned that they found the T-Rex bones here in Colorado, Montana, and Utah.......I had no idea....I guess I should have paied more attention as a kid in school.
Giddy Up

Our favorite Ice Cream shop....'The homemade icecream and pie kitchen"....Ben and I have to limit ourselved to this place to once a week...It is SO good

Murder Mystery Night!

Last Friday night our good friends the Keune's hosted a murder mystery night at their house! It was so much fun. The scene was in the 1920's in Chicago. Ben went as "Billy the Kid Throwa" a base ball player, and I was Melissa A Afferthought a reporter for the paper. It was hilarious hearing everyone give their best chicago accent and pretending we were all criminals. I was horrable at the accent part, but Ben was seriously a natural. We had so much fun eating good food and hanging out with our friends.

Here are some fun pictures!

Promotion!

After about 10 months of working at my current job I got a Promotion!!! I started with Humana as a Purchasing Buyer, and they just moved me up to a Commodity Analyst! We are so excited. God has been so good to us in taking care of our every need!

My sweet husband took us out for a celebratory dinner to a restaurant called "Seivichi". It was the nicest dinner we had both had in a long time! But SO yummy!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! We had a wonderful Easter on Sunday. After a great Easter service at church we came home and whipped up a Easter feast! We had about 11 people over for dinner. Most of them were from our caregroup at church. It was a great time to fellowship and a good substitute family since we could be home with ours!

Our Little Man!

Here is some pictures of our little man. This first photo is of Spurgeon's "post". He likes to stick his head out the the poles on the staircase and watch every thing that is going on in the living room.

This is Spurgeon in his "cubby hole" It is an extra storage room off of our bedroom, and we put his kitty box in there so we call it his room. He can actually open the door. Some times he will race us up the stairs and pretend like we are chasing him and run directly into his cubby to hide. He keeps us laughing!

We Moved!

As of January, Ben and I have roomates! 6 of them to be exact. We moved into a house with a family that we met here at seminary. They also go to our church. Their names are the Gordons and they are from New Zealand. Mark and Tania are mom and dad and they have 4 children. Anna-Marie (13), Rachel (11), Joel (10), and Matthew (7). We have really enjoyed being a part of a family and getting some "hands on" training. It is such a blessing to be allowed to observe a Godly family. Ben and I are taking furious notes:)

Here are some picture of what the house looks like:

The best part is the house is literally next door to seminary! So Mark and Ben have a great commute in the morning! Ben and I have two rooms and a bathroom on the top floor. There is a kitchen, living room dining room, office, and mark and tania'a room on the middle floor. And the kids have the run of the basement. So far we are loving it!

Our New address is:

2909 Meadowlark Ave

Louisvlle, KY 40206

phone:502-897-1334

Rent 'a' SportsCar!

We had to take our car into the shop to get the breaks fix, and this is the rental car that they gave us! I'm not sure what they were thinking, but Ben and I both had a blast with our sports car for a few days! It is a Infiniti G35....

I think we will be taking our car in to the shop more often!

Lets try this One more time

As you can see, I tried to start a Blog about a year ago here on this site and it didn't go over so well. Over the past year I have really enjoyed reading Friends and family's blogs, so I think I'm going to give it another shot. We are finding it more and more difficult to keep updated with friends and family being so far away. So bear with me as I try to keep consistent.

By way of catching up, 2007 was a very busy year for Ben and I. It started out with a letter on Dec 31st 2006, from Southern Baptist Seminary telling us that Ben had been accepted to Seminary in Louisville KY!. The crazy part was that school started Jan 26th 2007! That gave us just enough time to put in our notices at our jobs in Redding and give a notice at our apartment. January 15th we rolled out of California carrying our whole life in a 14ft box van. It was quite the adventure. 2007 was full of God's blessings and assurances that we were where He wanted us to be.

We have enjoyed living in Kentucky. Every thing from the beautiful spring, the Kentucky Derby, the snow in the winder, tornado warnings, the rolling hills, and being able to visit so many other cities has made the past year a blast for us. I started working at the Seminary right when we moved here, but then got the job that I am currently in in June. I work for a company called Humana. They are a pretty large health insurance company based here in Louisville. I work in the purchasing department as a technology analyst. God has really blessed us with jobs, a wonderful church, and great friends so far.