Fantasma la Storia

Once again...I'm horrible at updating this thing!

I know...I know...I suck at this. I am no good at keeping up with this stuff. I guess that's what happens when life happens :P

Lot's on the home front as of now.

I'm 33 weeks pregnant...and growing steadily. Baby Elliana is very active and has blessed me with many early and painful contractions which has been an absolute blast!
The doctors finally cleared me from being on partial bed rest which was extremely exciting! I went 4 months without being allowed to have any aerobic activity or hold anything that weighs more than 5 lbs. It sounds like it would be a nice break...to have a medical write off to be lazy...but it was actually very sad. I'm just super happy that even though I was forbidden to exercise at all I still have only gained 20lbs total in my entire pregnancy. Now I am doing my best to make up for the atrophy and walk when it is not 100 degrees outside. Brian has been very nice to walk with me in the evenings when it cools down :)

We are going to be blessed with a niece due to Heather and Aaron in December! We're excited to meet Baby Holly and know that she and Ella will be the best of friends! Vince is growing like a weed and I have to say that I get quite a bit of satisfaction from the fact that every time he sees me...whether or not his Mom or Dad are holding him...he always needs me to hold him. It's a tough job being the kid's favorite person ever...but somebody's got to do it!!

Mom and Dad celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary (the actual anniversary date) in June. My darling sisters and I had the privilege of planning a vow renewal ceremony for them. It was awesome to see that after all of that time they are still madly in love with each other and were so eager to say "I Do!" again. No one could ever truly be as blessed as my sisters and I to have such an incredible example of God's picture of what marriage should look like. By God's grace we'll all have what they have someday.

The Avenue launched out from LSCC's facility in July and we are now meeting on Saturday nights. It has been quite an adjustment for us as half of our weekend is taken up by practicing, and setting up and tearing down Brian's drum set every week but we have really enjoyed being part of the team. We have been blessed abundantly by the awesome group of people that are working so hard to keep everything up and running at The Avenue and are so excited to see what God has in store for our baby church!!

Brian started his new job at Plattform Advertising in May..gosh has it been that long since I have posted on here!?...He is really enjoying working there...minus the 45 minute-hour long drive to Lenexa and back every day. It was really an answer to prayer that he got a job at this place because the insurance is absolutely what we needed in order for me to quit my job and us still have the same coverage and doctors that we had.

As mentioned, I will be quitting my job at Summit Tech when our baby girl comes to take on that full time job of being wife and mommy! I'm really looking forward to spending all of my time with my sweet Elliana but it will certainly be a change! I will also be working on our photography business for income, so if anyone of you needs any portrait photography services give me a shout! Now is the time to think about photos for your Christmas cards!!

Brian and I are celebrating our 2 year wedding anniversary a week from today. I was working on our wedding scrapbook the other day (yes...still working on it) and got to re-read the vows that we wrote for each other. It brought tears to my eyes when I read Brian's promise to my Dad to take care of me and then Brian's vows to me. He has kept every word...I couldn't be more blessed. There is no way to describe how awesome it is to be married to that man!


Ok...that's all I can think of to update on for now. I'll try to get on here a couple more times before our D Day...I mean Delivery Day :P

Do you ever have things that happen in your life that make you really dwell on a certain theme or thought? Where everything seems to be pointing to the same exact revelation?
Appropriately enough, I have incessant thoughts about motherhood lately.

I had one of the best moms anyone could ever have. She sacrificed SO much to stay at home with me and my two sisters - homeschooling, playing, and just getting to know all of us individually as we became the women that we are today. Growing up I think I completely took advantage of the awesome mom that I had...mostly I think because my mom was the one that I was at home with all day, who was reminding me to study for that History test or that napping isn't really as productive as say, putting away laundry. Now I realize, as I take care of my own household that every single thing that she said has prepared me for what I do now. If she hadn't said those things and pushed me to be the best of me I wouldn't be able to handle it all at once.

How mom handled her spiritual life, marriage, AND motherhood was also deeply impacting. She would ALWAYS put God FIRST, then my dad, then us. If we went into her room in the morning to ask her a question when she was having her quiet time she would tell us to come back later if it wasn't important. What a great example to set for children - not only because it was important for us to see that as her first priority for the day, but also to teach us that above all she needed to maintain her relationship with Christ. She would also spend the last hour or so before Dad got home cleaning up the house, preparing dinner so it would be ready when he walked through the door, and making sure that we had everything we needed before Dad got home so he wouldn't get bombarded upon walking through the door. She also made sure that she wasn't ragged when he got home so she could save her best for him - it was a very rare occurrence in everyday life that Mom greeted Dad at the door unshowered and discheveled. She would always say, "Give your man a reason to come home." My parents are celebrating 25 years of marriage this year - after all this time he still wants to come home and it is very apparent that he adores my mom more with each passing day.

It will be difficult to not allow my world revolve around this new little being, but I know what a huge impact it makes when you put your Saviour and spouse before your children. By no means am I saying that I will neglect my sweet baby girl, but when I am with my husband I will strive to put his needs before my daughter's, and certainly before my own - and without spending daily time with Christ I will not be able to even attempt to take hold of the challenge ahead of me so I must be diligent to spend time with the One who made all of this possible.

Now I'm starting to think past getting through pregnancy and more to the fact that within the next several months I am going to have a daughter who will look to ME to learn what a wife and mother is to be. I feel as though I can approach that with confidence because of what my mom has invested in me - and with pride I will do my best to pass that down to Elliana.
This does not mean that I have any idea of what to expect or that I will be able to handle it any better than the next person. Not by a long shot! But I know that God has given me the tools to be the absolute best mom that I can be and I am ready for the challenge.

Some may know this but others may not...it is such an awesome thing that I have to share.
Last year my doctors diagnosed that it would be difficult for me to conceive without the assistance of fertility drugs/treatments due to a hormone deficiency. They offered to prescribe fertility drugs for me with the warning that "there is a high risk of conceiving multiples" if I were to take the drugs they wanted to give me. Heh....not quite our ideal...but we gave it some thought.

Then I was reading Hebrews 11 and this verse knocked me off my feet:
"By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he [ Or By faith even Sarah, who was past age, was enabled to bear children because she] considered him faithful who had made the promise."

My immediate thought was...who am I to say that God can't do this? Do I not think that God is faithful? I'm so young...a lot crazier things have happened! I knew that the fact that I was so young and already having issues didn't give me much hope for the future being any better but I was so willing to give it a shot.
We said no to the fertility drugs and yes to having faith and knowing that whatever happened...it would be in God's perfect timing.
This was painful because all I have ever wanted is to be a mommy. So not knowing if that would be a possibility was hard. During this time period...the verse that got us through it was this:
Hebrews 11:1-"Now faith is being sure of what you hope for, and certain of what you do not see." We got such great comfort and joy from this verse...saying to ourselves over and over..."it's not up to us."

Then we got the joyous surprise in January that I was pregnant!!! Followed by complete disbelief of course. I called the doctor, they did tests, and it was true!! What was even more humorous is that after the tests were done we figured out that when I had met with the infertility specialist who prescribed the fertility treatments...I was already pregnant! How's that for God's great sense of humor!?

It was even more real today when we went to get our 3rd sonogram...this time with the anticipation of finding out the gender of this little Fantasma. After doing all of the measurements and seeing it move around and cover its little face with it's hands the technician said she was going to check if she could see the gender of the baby. At this point, I'm pretty sure that everyone in the room held their breath. After some searching around she said...."this looks pretty girly". After another couple of looks she confirmed...we've got a baby girl!!

Most say that it is pretty early yet for the name for our baby girl to be set in stone...but it is.
Her name will be Elliana Joy Fantasma.
Why are we so certain? It's easy. The name Elliana means "the Lord has answered my prayer". How perfect is that!? That's exactly how we feel!! Baby Ellie is our answer to prayer - our smile from God saying I know the deepest desires of your heart and will not keep them from you - our miracle. As cheesy as all of that is, it brings a tear to my eye...that may be crazy pregnant woman hormones...but I would like to think of it being truly that moving :P

Brian and I are so excited and so thankful for our friends and family who have given us such great support and heartfelt congratulations...not to mention proud of ourselves for not allowing a fear of the unknown or lack of faith get in the way of God responding with joy to give us our little answer to prayer.

The sickness that has been floating around our friends and family has been awful. Over the weekend and specifically Tuesday I decided to join in on the fun!
I have had the stomach flu. I have never been one to catch anything like that very badly but this really knocked me down....I'm guessing because I have another person that's trying to live inside of me.
I called my OB at about 4:30 Tuesday evening and told the nurse that I couldn't even keep a sip of water down. She said...ok then...you need to go to the Emergency Room.
So off we went. When we arrived we were supposedly the first ones in line because by blood pressure was in pretty bad shape. Two hours later they finally brought us back to our room and put me on some meds to get me rehydrated and then they started an IV to get me to stop being sick. Then the doctor gave us a pleasant little surprise. He asked if we wanted to hear the heartbeat or anything to make sure the baby was ok and of course we said yes. Then he said that he could do better than that and could let us see our baby instead. We were so excited. My doctor had told me on Monday that she didn't want me to have a sonogram until I had hit 18 weeks so this was very welcomed.
He brought the machine in right away and we got to see our baby for the first time! It was so awesome! It was just bouncing around in there, probably really pissed at me for the hell I put it through. Then it waved it's little hand and put it's thumb right in it's mouth! It was so cool. The doctor had perfect timing in snapping the baby's first picture too...it's thumb is still in it's mouth...as you can see below :)
Even better was that Brian and I got to have our own little moment seeing our baby without any distractions.
Now I have reached prepregnancy weight, am completely sore, and have a rediculous headache, but I would take the stomach flu any day to see that sweet baby again. It was so worth it.

I was recently challenged by a friend to write more, and with all of the changes that have been going on in the fabulously frantic lives of the Fantasmas I figured this would be a good way to get my writing in.
As I sit and think how to sum up the latest events...the only thing that comes to mind is...Life is good.

We are expecting our first baby in September and could not be more thrilled! After having been told by doctors that it would be difficult for us to conceive, that positive pregnancy test was such an answer to prayer! We will find out the gender of the new Fantasma in April or May. It's hard to be impartial about the outcome of that sonogram but we are super excited that either way Vince will have a new best friend to play with!

Brian and I are both staying very busy with our new church, work, and just being crazy. In all of the madness we have tried really hard to make sure that we save time for ourselves...so if you call us on Wednesday nights and we don't happen to answer our phones that would be because it's our date night! As busy as our schedules are we have to take that time out to just be together otherwise we would be completely mastered by the madness of our frenzied lives. It has been really fun to try to be creative with our date nights - we try not to just watch a movie, or eat dinner with the TV off, but actually spend time together instead of just being in the same room. It's difficult to think of something new every week but it sure has been fun!

Our new church move was a surprise to us but it has definitely been a blessing. We had no reason to leave LSCC, it has been a great church family to us for many years, but the opportunity to assist in spreading Jesus love throughout the area and to be a part of our ever expanding community was something we just couldn't pass up! LSCC has recently conceived a brand new church to be delivered in July to a new location in the Northern Lee's Summit/Blue Springs/ Independence area. It has been really wonderful to be a part getting everything started. We are on the communications team which has established the look and feel of the church i.e. the logo, colors, and any media work and we are both doing the music thing still as well. Brian is drumming away and I am singing a couple times a month. Once again...it has been a joy to be worshipping with such an amazing group of people.

Work is busy. Brian is a Web Designer for an advertising company called Builder Consulting. He's learning a ton about website coding and design. We're really hoping that experience will help with his income, because after baby is born we will be a one income family! We have decided that I will stay home with the little bambino which will be a challenge for us financially, but I'm not carrying this thing around so someone else can raise it!! We have peace that this was God's timing for us to have a child, so there is no doubt in our minds that He will take care of us! Keep us in your prayers that Brian might either get a new job or a pay increase at his current one :) My job has been busy because I am trying to remember everything that I do so that when they have to do without me things won't be as difficult to keep track of. It'll be even harder for my employer because of the three of us gals running the office; two of us are due to have babies at the beginning of September! It's crazy.

Well...I think that's all for me now. I'm really going to try to keep on top of this.