MOTHERHOOD

One of my new favorite stores, Motherhood Maternity. I always thought I wouldn't be a huge fan of maternity clothes, I thought wrong! I visited Motherhood for the first time the other night, I quickly learned that I could have bought half the store! The clothes feel amazing!! Up until now, I have been wearing my Bella Bands with my skirts for work and also my jeans on the weekends. As I have gotten bigger though, every time I sit down and get back up, I have to completely readjust what I'm wearing. I thought I could make that work for the entire pregnancy, I thought wrong! Maternity clothes, especially the jeans, are a little piece for Heaven! I love them. I walked out of that store with 2 pairs of jeans, a jean skirt (which is the best skirt every made), and a cute shirt I found on sale! I was very impressed by the reasonable prices at Motherhood. For some reason I always thought Motherhood would be super expensive, once again, I thought wrong! I came home the other night with such joy in my heart...I actually felt pretty again wearing the jeans I bought! I told Gabe over and over again, how much I loved Motherhood! I can't wait to go back!

Beautiful Fall Day

17 weeks pregnant!

We were determined to see the beautiful Colorado fall colors this weekend. So, we headed up to Woodland Park, and had plans to drive around to find the colors as well as a place to hike. We ran into a family from New Life at Quiznos and they ended up giving us directions to their private ranch in Divide, CO. So, after a long venture, we finally found their ranch. It was a beautiful ranch with Aspens everywhere! We had fun taking pictures, with all of the magnificent Aspens, we couldn't help ourselves. The photo bug is starting to grow on Gabe!

Wonderful Friends!

This post is way overdue, but its never too late to be thankful for friends! I have known most of these girls since my elementary years! My friend Jess got married this summer, so we finally had a "God Squad" reunion. Yes, I said "God Squad"! In junior high, Jess' mom led a bible study for all of us, which I will forever cherish. This is how we became known as the "God Squad", and we were proud of it! The funny thing is that 4 of us in this picture were actually called the "Snob Squad" in 5th grade. I'm not so proud of that title, but atleast the Lord got ahold of our lives! But, on a more serious note, I will forever cherish these wonderful women. The friendships that we built way back in the day will forever continue. Even though we all went our various ways during our highschool and college years, because we have that strong faith foundation, the Lord has kept each one of these girls in my life. I am so thankful! They each resemble such beautiful characteristics of Christ and I can learn so much from each of them! It is really amazing to watch God direct their lives. Of course, I wish we could see more of eachother. We are all scattered throughout Colorado and Kimmie is always in and out of the country, but I do pray they know how thankful I am for them! I will never forget all the fun memories we have made together, I pray for many more memories to come! Love you girls!

From the left...Amy, Me, Kimmie, Jess, Ash, Megs, Kellie

The zapping begins!

A couple of weeks ago, my mom came down to the Springs and took me to Babies R Us. I had already opened a registry online, but I had never been to an actual Babies R Us store! What a fun adventure we had! We walked around the store, and zapped multiples. At this point, I have no idea what brands are considered good or even what colors I'm looking for. But we thought, might as well zap and then I can always make changes to the registry online. It was so fun! When we were looking at the strollers I got so excited. It felt so natural holding the baby carrier and giving the stoller a little trial push!

The precious sound...

There is nothing else I would rather listen to! The sound of our child's heartbeat is the most precious sound I have ever heard! It was the most amazing sound; I wanted to listen all day! I was at the point in my pregnancy where I was very ready to hear our baby's heartbeat, just knowing that there certainly is a child growing inside of me! Our midwife was able to find the heartbeat right away, praise the Lord! It was a joy to watch Gabe's eyes light up like Christmas trees when he heard the heartbeat. I could see the excitement all over his face! The remainder of the day, we continued to imitate the sound of our baby's heartbeat to one another! We are so excited!!

11 Weeks!

Look at the size of our little baby...it is now the size of a fig! Growing everyday! :)

Each week feels so long, but as it is hard to believe I am only 2 weeks away from being through the first trimester! It is absolutely amazing to read about the growth and developments of Baby Jenkins. This week baby is just over 1 1/2 inches long and is now almost fully formed. His/her hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear and bones are beginning to harden. Absolutely amazing! I have a precious child growing inside of me, many times it seems so unreal (especially because I can't see baby yet, or haven't listened the the heartbeat), but God is creating a beautiful and unique person inside of me. I praise Him everyday for this precious gift! Wow, I don't know how people don't believe in God, especially if they have been blessed with a child. He is knitting this baby together with His own two hands. He is the Master Creator!

Family Hiking Week in Breckenridge, CO

Indian Paintbrushes

Me and Jenny

Mom with her little brother, Uncle Bill

Me and Baby Jenkins up at 12,000 feet. I was trying to stick my belly out, I wish I was showing!

Beautiful Colorado Columbine flowers!

The fisherman: Adam

Jenny and Uncle Bill kayaking in Lake Dillon

We celebrated Grandma's 84th birthday, check out this cake! Pretty pathetic, but it gave us all a good laugh!

The lower lake on the Mohawk Lake hike

Me and Jenny

The llama sheperd wanted me to kiss the llama, no thank you!

Finally, we got to go on a vacation! It was a much needed vacation; I had been looking forward to this week for so long! My mom planned a family hiking week because she and her brother have always wanted to hike 14ers together. Considering, I have a precious baby developing inside of me, 14ers were definitely not an option for me. But, I was able to do a couple of easy/moderate hikes that took us up to about 12,000 feet. That was the highest elevation I wanted to reach with baby jenkins. We stayed in a beautiful condo, thanks to my Grandma, right on main street in Breckenridge. The ability to walk everywhere from our condo was great! Our days were very active, but we did get the opportunity to rest in the afternoons and evenings. It was the perfect vacation for me. We hiked Lake Mohawk, where we ran into a llama sheperd. They had atleast 8 llamas up on that mountain, pretty bizarre! They were groomed and all, I've never seen llama's so maintained. I biked the trail from Breckenridge to Frisco while Gabe went flyfishing for the first time with our brother in law, Adam and the others hike Yale. I biked the Lake Dillon trail with my mom while Jenny and Uncle Bill kayaked and finally we did a hike called Black Powder Pass. It took us up to the valley between Boreas and Baldy. It was a beautiful hike with wildflowers everywhere! My mom and Uncle are so tough though, they woke up the final morning after all of us had left and went out and hiked another 14er, Mt. Elbert! It was a successful hiking week and great to spend time with family!