SO, I really don’t have anything new or exciting to say today.  I just noticed it had been a few days since my last post.  I guess I can say I am totally excited about going to see the new Narnia movie this weekend!  WOOHOO!  We are going with a couple from our growth group and another one of my bestest friends, so it should be a blast.

I am at work today and it is currently raining pretty darn good outside.  It’s a good thing my hubby mowed the lawn yesterday!  It had been needed it since the weekend, we were just super busy this past week, so it got put off. 

We got our first official baby present in the mail yesterday!  YAY for babies.  My brother-in-law and his wife sent us the bathtub.  It is so cute.  It is the Fisher Price Aquarium tub set.  It is really neat and can grow with the child.  Our mattress from Andrew’s mom was also delivered yesterday!  WOOHOO, it is getting so exciting!  We cannot wait for little Katie Renee to make her entrance into the world.  Please continue praying for a safe, healthy and successful pregnancy, as well as a safe and problem free labor and delivery.  Pray Katie continues growing strong and as she should.  Thanks guys!  God Bless!

So, this weekend overall was GREAT!  It was a little rainy, muggy, nasty some of the time, but yesterday turned out to be pretty nice.  Friday we had a nice relaxing evening at home, ate dinner and watched a movie together.  It was a silly, no brainer movie, so it was nice to just have something stupid to laugh at. 

Saturday, we didn’t get to sleep in, but it was still a good day.  Andrew and I went to the churches money seminar and it was actually really great.  Casey Graham did an excellent job and you can really see his love and passion to help people live to their fullest, get out of debt and learn to be wise with their money and resources.  Something else cool we did Saturday was give our money away from our churches “reverse offering” the week before.  Andrew and I added a little extra to what we each received and got Winn Dixie gift cards.  We then walked around the store and looked around, and listend to the Holy Spirit, for someone we felt could use a little help with their groceries.  I gave it to a sweet lady with a newborn.  She had several cans of formula in her cart (which costs ALOT!) plus she was getting groceries.  As soon as I saw her walk into the store I knew that was who God wanted me to bless with the card.  When I gave it to her she smiled so big and said thank you so many times and even gave me a huge hug.  It was really cool that you could see in her eyes and hear in her voice she needed that little bit of help and was truly appreciative.  HOW AWESOME!  Andrew and I think we may start doing this every other weekend, because it was truly one of the neatest and most amazing experiences I have ever had! 

Later that day, we went to Hobby Lobby and got some REALLY cute things for Katie’s nursery!!!  ALL ON SALE.  They match the bedding perfectly and I am very excited to be able to start putting things together.  We decided it would be better to get bits and pieces here and there, rather than trying to get everything all at once.  It makes budgeting much easier!

Sunday was great too.  JourneyKidz was neat.  Our lesson was on how God will provide your needs.  The kids actually told the stories of how God used them to provide for someone else’s needs through the reverse offering. The really neat thing was how God provided for me afterward, which was cool considering the lesson was on that!  I am continuing to work out while pregnant and have really enjoyed it.  However, I was in need of some maternity workout shorts.  My pre-pregnancy workout clothes all still fit, but with my growing belly some of my shirts are rising upward and my shorts are getting shorter, haha.  So, after church Rachael, another volunteer, and pregnant as well told me she had some things in her car given to her by someone else.  They were my size so I could take them!  Well, there was 2 pair of workout shorts!  YAY!  I was very excited, thankful and blessed.  It was pretty humbling.  There was even a maternity swimsuit in there as well.  That was nice because I didn’t really want to spend money on buying one to wear only a few times, so I was excited!  Now, I will have something to wear when we visit Andrew’s family in Florida!  God is so awesome.

So, folks, God really will provide your needs.  Not always in the way we expect, but he will, he promises.  In fact, there are MANY stories throughout the entire Bible of how God has provided.  Check it out!  He will not always provide “wants”, but he will always provide the needs.  I didn’t necessarily “need” a brand new maternity swimsuit or workout shorts, but God knew I needed something to wear, and He provided.  It was neat.  Think back through your week this past week. . .how has God provided for you? 

And, yesterday was mother’s day and my husband surprised me with flowers, a HUGE card that sings when you open it AND cooked the most amazing lunch :-)  I felt very loved.  It was a wonderful and special day together.  I LOVE YOU ANDREW!!!

Ok, so when you are pregnant people always ask you how you are feeling.  So, I will answer that for you people today.  Today, I am tired, a little cranky, I didn’t sleep well last night, my back aches on and off, and I am constipated!  Ok, sorry you asked, and it happens when you are pregnant, ladies watch out!  HAHAHA.  I am like Juno, for those of you who have seen that movie, you ask how I am or feel, I will tell the truth, maybe too much sometimes ;-)  Ok, the reason I didn’t sleep well was because I kept waking up during some pretty wierd dreams.  The one I had last night involved, Ariel, Ursula, and Prince Eric (yes, from the Little Mermaid)  Why?  NO CLUE.  I haven’t seen that movie in awhile and there wasn’t even any commercials for it on TV last night before I went to bed.  Also, it didn’t take place “under the sea” but in the setting of my old High School!  WIERD.  It was kinda of like the last scene of the movie where they were fighting Ursula.  That is what I was doing, but instead of using the boat, I was throwing plastic spoons, not the little ones, the ones used for baking, the heavier duty, longer ones.  Not like they would really hurt anyone, but all the same, that is what we were using to fight each other.  Ursula then ran away from me because I threw a spoon into her tentacle, she ran out the exit door to the stairwell.  When I went after her and opened the stairwell door, there was the sea, Prince Eric and the boat.  WHAT!? It was probably one of the WIERDEST and most random dreams I have ever had.  I was a little disappointed that Scuttle, Sebastion or Flounder never showed up or any of the catchy tunes, oh well!  I wonder what it means?  Who the heck knows.  Maybe Baby Katie wants to see Little Mermaid?  Don’t know! LOL!  So, there you go, pregnancy dreams can be strange.  I am not the only one who has admitted to this either, several websites have actually done research on the crazy dreams pregnant women have.  I guess we can blame that on the hormones too!

OHHHH YEAH!!!  I am all about this!!!!!  They just gave pregnant women an excuse to eat chocolate.  Oh ya, and my favorite, dark chocolate, is the best!  Check it out!

http://www.babycenter.com/204_chocolate-may-ward-off-pregnancy-complication_5231635.bc?scid=momspreg_20080505:2&pe=2Uv8ckh

This rocks.  What more could a pregnant woman ask for!  So when you are craving chocolate soon to me mommies, go on. . .eat it. . .it’s good for you, and I am not just saying that!

I got an e-mail today from a friend, which overall was pretty good.  It was a story explaining why God allows pain and suffering.  It was a conversation between a man and his barber.  The barber does not think God exists because there is too much pain and suffering in the world, saying if God really did exist, there would be none of that.  The man found a way to explain it. He found a homeless man with long scraggily hair and said to the barber, oh barbers don’t exist, because if they did, this man would not look this way.  He then used that to prove God existed and said we have pain and suffering because we don’t turn to God or go to Him, just as the man has scraggily hair because he doesn’t go to a barber.  While I agree with this in general, I cannot fully agree.  Yes, pain entered the world when Adam and Eve sinned, we ruined the prefect relationship with God.  However, you know, sometimes God allows pain and suffering even for those who turn to Him and are following Him.  We all have “scraggily hair” moments, even as Christ-followers!  Pain and suffering happens sometimes only to allow us to grow our faith and nurture our relationship with Him.  Yes, other times it is a consequence of our actions or disobedience, but not always.  Sometimes, people who become Christians think there life will automatically be easier and free of pain, then they get angry at God down the road when their life is not going as they thought it would.  We need to remember as Christ-followers, our lives are not automatically easier and free of pain, we are not even promised that, we just have the confidence, and promise, in knowing we don’t have to go at it alone.

Ok, so lately, I have been a little curious as if to this wierd sensation is Katie moving around.  We know from the sonogram that she is a dancer alright, so Andrew is encouraging me, honey, if you have never felt it before, it’s probably her.  So, yesterday I googled about what peoples babies felt like when they first felt them move.  Haha, it was pretty funny some of the explanations.  One such as “Yes, I thought I had gas from something I ate, only to realize a couple of days later it wasn’t gas, it was the baby” or “It feels like a goldfish swimming around” or “It feels like a creature trying to escape from the inside” or one of my favorites “I threw off the covers thinking a bug was on me, only to discover it was INSIDE my skin not on it!” So, yes, all women are differant, every pregnancy is differant, so I wasn’t too sure what it would feel like.  Wierd, I tell you, that is the only way I know to desribe it.  Kinda like the goldfish or something swimming around, just on speed!  So, last night, we went out for date night (that was a fun experience, more on that later) then to an engagement shower for some friends for an ice cream party.  What?  Katie wanted ice cream, so I gave it to her.  I am just glad to enjoy it again! :-)  So, I guess the spicy foods, mixed with the sugar, mixed with my laying down, plus a little long hair chihuahua paw on my belly really got her riled up.  Man I tell you what, it was definaltey more distinct this time!  I am looking forward to when it actually feels like kicking :-)  Although, I think I did feel her tap at me, cause it woke me up, haha!  So, very exciting and its so fun.  I cannot wait for the day when our dog steps in the wrong place and Katie kicks her back!  hahaha

Ok, so our date night.  We went out for Mexican.  I am doing WAY better on spacing out the mexican food, yay.  So, when we went a few weeks ago with friends, we had a certain waiter that I am guessing was new.  It took him three tries to get my order right!  LOL!  It wans’t a hard order, I said “#41 with corn tortillas”  Well, I kept getting flour tortillas, not once, but twice, so ya, it was kinda funny.  Well, last night we had, you guessed it, that same waiter.  I was a little skeptical, but went into it already ready to get my order messed up!  Well, it happened, AGAIN, three tries to get it right.  This time I order something even easier!  Oh well, I kinda was waiting for that, so I was prepared and laughed at it, although it was a BIT frustrating.  We talked to the people who know us really well there and they were upset too.  So they will be talking to the manger, because the agree that there should have been no confusion with what I ordered, people get it all the time!  HAHA, so we shall see what happens Ok, enough babble. . .yay for Friday!  Have a great weekend and God Bless!

So first off, yesterday at Journey was good.  JourneyKidz was fun and we finished up yet another Elevate series, “Super Sports Spectacular.”  I absolutely love this one.  The kids did to, boys and girls alike.  The songs were great, easy to learn, upbeat and fun to dance to.  The girls especially got into “shaking it up” as one of the songs said

So, now for the title of my blog:  Memories.  With Andrew and I expecting our first child in September, Katie Kulp :-), it does bring back some memories from the past, some wonderful and some not so wonderful.  I think as parent we always want our children to have a better life than we did.  Now, I am not saying I had a bad life, I didn’t.  In fact, I think I had a pretty great life with a wonderful mom who I know loved me very much.  However, we did go through something very hard in our life when I was only 12, my sister not even 6.  We came home one day after a half day at school to discover my father had taken his own life.  Now only being 12, I guess I cannot accurately remember EVERYTHING about the kind of man my father was.  However, I can honestly say we felt there were no signs.  He was laid off his job and being somewhat of a perfectionist and a worry wart, felt he could no longer support our family and probably felt he failed us.  This memory has been a pretty hard one lately, considering we are having our first little girl and my father will not be here to be a granddaddy.  He would have been a great one.  My father, even with the fatal mistake he made, was a loving man, a godly man and one who enjoyed helping others.  I learned so much about Christ’s love and Jesus from my mom and dad.  In JourneyKidz this week, the main point was “To play on God’s team, you don’t give up with times get tough.”  I can honestly say this is very true in life.  God doesn’t promise a life free of pain or trials, but He does promise He will be there for us through them.  This earth is corrupt, we are corrupt, so bad things happen.  However, when they do, we musn’t give up.  Keep on the path for God is with you through it and will use it to strengthen our faith and relationship with Him.  Thankfully even through this tragic time, God has allowed me to use this experience to help others.  The Bible verse we learned in JourneyKidz was this. . .this is a hard verse sometimes to live by, but it is very true and if we can do our best to live by this verse, our life, though difficult at times, will be filled with more faith and more blessing.  Here is the verse.  If any of you have gone through this, or losing anyone you love, or just any hard times, hang in there.  Contact me if you need, I will be praying for you and do my best to help and encourage you.

The next memory that will be a hard one in the future is having to sit down and have “the talk” with Katie.  Not because I am afraid of talking about those types of things, but because it is at this time I know I will have to talk to her about the abusive relationship I was in in college, the fear I had of staying in it, but how I had more fear to get out of it.  How after I finally had the courage to leave, I then fell into a group of friends that was not a good influnece on my behavior either and how I went to parties too much and too often.  I know and trust though that the Lord will use this as a bonding experience with my daughter. I pray it will help her see her mom as human, have respect for me, and love me more for being open and honest with her. 

However, there are SOOOO many more good memories I have of growing up that I hope to pass on to my daugher.  The songs my mother wrote for me as a child I hope to adapt to fit Katie’s name and sing them to her.  How Christmas morning was filled with excitement and how Christmas Eve we shared the Christmas story with each other.  Family vacations.  Birthday parties.  Worshipping together as a family at our church.  Family devotions.  My dad tucking me in at night, telling me a story he created about a little girl, Matilda, and her fairy princess.  I got to pick how the story went, pick the places they visited, and my dad would create an amazing story for me.  All of these things are wonderful memories, however I know we all have good and bad memories and times in our life that shape who we are today.  So, I wouldn’t trade any of my circumstances or situations, because God has used all of them, good AND bad, to make me the Emily I am today, and hopefully, the mother I will be.  God Bless!

Well, yesterday was the BIG DAY!  The sonogram day, the day we find out whether little Baby Kulp would be called Drew or Katie.  Andrew was able to work from home yesterday so he would come with me.  My appt was not until 2:30, so the entire morning I was so excited and pacing around the house!  When we got to the doctor’s office we got called back pretty quickly for the sonogram.  The techician, a lady, was awesome.  She first had to check a bunch of stuff before we could see the baby in motion, which she said didn’t want to sit still :-)  I did have a latte beforehand to make sure it wouldnt’ hide, however I have a hard time sitting still myself, so put those two together, it makes for one active baby.  When she was done checking, she explained to us what she did, what she looked for etc.  Our baby is happy and healthy and everything is developing as it should, brain, bones, heart, spine, so we are truly blessed and thankful for that.  Continue praying for the healthy development to continue.  WELL, then she asked us if we wanted to know what it was, and I said, of course, yes please!  Well, she then informed us that Baby Kulp was a little girl!  So, we will be having a little Katie come into the world (around) September 23, 2008!  Wow, this experience was so amazing.  To be able to see your little baby in the womb like that was awesome.  She was kicking, it even looked like she waved at us, as well as do the Hook ‘Em Horns sign.  I think that was more for Grandma though, considering I went to Texas A&M :-)  hehe.  So, yesterday was a truly blessed day! 

So, today is a pretty good day and its only 9:00.  It is a a beautiful morning outside and I just overall feel pretty good.  This weekend I pulled a muscle in my back.  Oh man, the pain was excrutiating.  Ask Andrew, it was pretty bad.  Well today, it seems a little bit better.  Be praying it stays that way!  This weekend was a great weekend as well in ALL of these categories, faith, family and friends.

First in FAITH:  Journey church was pretty great yesterday.  We had a guest speaker, and from what I heard, he did a wonderful job.  JourneyKidz went pretty well to.  The kids are doing so much better at listening and getting involved.  Even some of the quieter kids are particitpating so much more.  We were learning about being humble yesterday in JourneyKidz.  Of course, that can be hard sometimes for kids to understand, but for the most part, most of them understood it!  I think some of our sports boys understand it, but need a little more encouragement to learn how to be that way, even on the sports field.  But, eveyone listened, answered questions correctly, so I know all those kids are going to grow up to be great Christ followers!  It is very encouraging to see how they are growing.

Family:  Andrew and I had a nice day together Saturday.  We didn’t really have any plans, except someone came to look at the house, cross your fingers everyone!!!  We spent some time outdoors together, taking a walk and just relaxing and talking,  It was very nice.

Friends:  Yesterday, after church we had friends from our former church come to eat lunch with us.  She is also pregnant, so it has been so much fun sharing pregnancy stories with each other.  She is a wonderful friend and great encourager to me, I am truly thankful for her.  We all just had a great time of fun and fellowship with one another.

Overall this past weekend was awesome.  I hope everyone else had a great weekend too!  Let’s all get this week started with a bang!  Let’s really focus on the amazing things the Lord gives us, love one another, encourage one another. . .if we do that, we can’t HELP but have another great week!  God Bless!

So I was listening to one of my girlie pop dance albums. Yes, I like that music, its fun and upbeat and always puts me in a good mood. . .especially when I leave it on in my car and Andrew gets in to drive and starts dancing to it to make me laugh :-)  So, a line in a song said

“Sometimes you have to go through the pain to experience the joy”

Well, this is very true.  Especially for pregnancy.  In order to experience to joy of becomming a mother you have to experience a certain amount of pain first.  Childbirth.  Even some parts of pregnancy can be uncomfortable and painful at times. . .but when you think about the end result, you know going through that pain is worth it, because it will bring you the joy of holding that little baby in your arms.

What are some areas in your life that seem painful right now, but you know will result in joy?  If we remember what joy is biblically it may help to put things in proper perspective.  Remember joy is something we an always have with Christ, no matter the circumstance.  Even this life on earth can be painful, but as Christ-followers, we know we will one day experience the joy of eternal life with Christ.  There are many things in life that must require some degree of pain (physical or emotional) before experiencing the joy that comes after.  The good news is, with Christ, we know ALL things work together for the good of those who love him. . .He promises us that!