Don't Panic...it will be fine.

That is what I keep telling myself. "Don't Panic!" I know there is no need to worry, and since I was a kid I have not been a worrier. So...let me start by saying I have 8 weeks left till my due date.

Today we started our "every 2 weeks" appointments at the Dr.
As you may or may not know (or care), I have a bi-corniate uterus. The entirety of my pregnancy so far has been making sure (each month) that the baby has room to grow and my body is able to hold it well.
So far, so good. (this is also the reason I am able to have so many pics of the baby)
Now, we are having the opposite "problem." The size of the uterus may be restricting growth...MAY BE...so we have to keep a close eye on it.

Durring the appointment we reviewed that the baby 2 months ago was somewhere in the 80th percentile, which sounds about right for a Beard baby! 3 weeks ago it was in the 50th percentile and today it was in 37th percentile. Indicating that the growth of the baby is slowing. So...we are on to every two week appointments where we monitor the growth. The Baby is super healthy and fully developed. The Doctor told me today that if something were to happen with my uterus or cervix that he would not put me on bed rest, because it is fine to have the baby now...but if we can help it, it would be good to let it go to full term...on the other hand, if the baby can't grow in my body, we will just need to take it out of my body. I asked what we were shooting for and he said, "In two weeks, I want to see a 15% growth." I then calmly asked, So what if we don't get a 15% percent growth, but a 10% growth?" His answer...
"Then we have a baby."

The moral of the story, We could have this little nugget anytime between 2 weeks and 8 weeks.

So, I would love for you to pray for us.  Pray that the baby grows and that if that isn't the way this is going to go, that I don't panic...That I can still enjoy every miraculous second of this pregnancy and birth.
And don't worry, everyone around me is super stable and has no worries - which is helpful to me.

The Sweet Little Beard.

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Thanks for stopping by and thanks for your prayers.

Sarah, Andrew and Baby

(ps. I had a beautiful baby shower this weekend and can't wait to show you the pics...they will be up in the next few days, so stop back by!)

A simple project

Andrew and I are of the mindset that when folks come to stay with us we should provide a box fan. The box fan is good for two things; 1. Air Circulation, 2. White Noise. 

In our new "guest room/baby room" we have been decorating and getting things ready. Our old white box fan was dusty and disgusting! I got this ingenious (if I do say so myself) idea to clean it and make it match the room. SOOOOO.

I got my screwdriver and these two cans of paint.

I used the glossy color for an extra fun pop.

I took the fan apart and once I had the front and back grates off, I knew I had to do more intense cleaning. I took those bad boys to the tub and scrubbed with a brush to get all that dust off. Then I worked over the inside parts of the fan with paper towels and fantastic. 

I took off the feet, the handle and the knob and set aside. 

I had intended to paint the grates, but once I had the pieces separated and cleaned, I decided to leave the grates white, paint the metal tan and all the moving parts and accents the glossy teal. 

Handles and knobs...and the tan metal frame.

Once the parts had dried, I put it back together and I now have the "cutest box fan ever". (self proclaimed).

Finished product!

Staying out late.

A few weeks ago my friend, Elsie, posted this blog about her husbands band, Sucre, playing in Dallas. 

photo by Elsie, source. 

On Tuesday night we went out and met up and heard them play and I got to visit quite a bit with Elsie. 

Me and my love

I walked up and hugged her and then stood by her at the table. She looked at my stomach with questionable eyes and said, "Did you tell me about this?" "ha. No, I guess not." She was so sweet! It was great to spend a little time catching up.

Me and Elsie

Oh my gosh, you're pregnant?!

And the band was amazing!  

Check Elsie's Store out, Red Velvet, and her blog, A Beautiful Mess. (If you don't know who she is already) and check out Sucre. You will not be disappointed!

a strange, sweet moment

This morning I had to run to the grocery store. I am clearly at the point where you can tell that I am having a baby, so a lot of people make comments or ask about the pregnancy.

Today was the first time I had a stranger touch my belly. And I have to say, it was, at the least, the sweetest moment of my day.

If I don't have too much shopping to do I go to Kroger. Kroger hires adults with special needs. This is all you need to know to be ready for the story.

I was walking to the eggs when I notice a man, probably in his upper 50's, with special needs looking at my belly and then immediately make a b-line for me. I look at him and smile and slow down.
He says to me, "baby?" as he patted his own stomach.
His speech was poor, and I could tell he didn't want to use many words.
"Yeah, its definitely a baby!" I say with a little bit of a laugh.
He reached out toward my stomach and for the first time looks me in the eye and says, "Could I feel it?"
"Of course you can."
He reaches out and places both hands on my stomach, one higher and one lower so he is sort of cupping the baby, "boy or girl?"
"I don't know, we aren't finding out."
"first one?"
"Yep it is."
He said "congratulations", and then walked away.


I finished my shopping and then went to check out. I was checking out and a man was bagging my groceries when this first man came and took over. He just kept looking at my belly and smiling. After my groceries were bagged and I had paid, he said, "can I take this?"
(it is totally normal there for them to walk you out to car with your groceries)
"Of course"
As we walked to the car I asked him how he was doing today, He said, "Great".
"First One?" he asked again.
"Yes it is."
We got to the car and he loaded up the back with my groceries and asked if he could touch it one more time.
"sure," I said. "Its kinda crazy isn't it?"
"its cute. beautiful." he let go and started moving my cart. "good luck, you will be back sometime, right?"
"Absolutely. Have a great day."

And then I left.
I do wish I would have gotten his name, but the truth is, it was just a sweet, sweet moment for me, and I think it was for him too.

looking down at the baby...
I had to stick out my left foot for you to be able to see that I have feet.

Weekend in review

Well, this weekend was super fun! It was packed with lots of fun things to do and we even had a fun event creep up on us. 

On friday night, we finally got together with some of our friends, Mark and Kari. Kari is an awesome photographer and a foodie...so check out the linked blogs. We haven't hung out with them since January and we had so much fun. We went to a new restaurant called Chicken Scratch. It was an awesome atmosphere and good food. We ordered family style so we could try lots on the menu.

Photo by Kari. Taken on iPhone 

Then we ended up hanging out at our house till 12:30. I am doing a great job staying up late! 

On Wednesday of last week we found out that Saturday was Record Store Day. Not too much about that got me really excited until we found out that one of our all time favorite bands SWITCHFOOT was going to play a time slot in the afternoon! 

We got to Good Records really early and I was really hungry and the place was slammed with people, so we decided to take a short walk down to a mexican restaurant where I at the best Chicken Mole Ever. It was totally surprising how good it was, the restaurant was Mextopia, and it was so fun to just sit on the patio in the sun with Andrew. 

We headed back down to Good Records, once we were there we learned that it was just going to be Jon and Drew from the band, but we were NOT disappointed. 

After they played we got to chat with them for a minute. 

The last time we saw them I was pregnant and didn't know, I found out the next day. So, I guess you could say that they were baby's first concert...I am sure baby likes them too - 

it moved a lot during their set. 

This was on Saturday at the record store. 

Good Records Decor.

Drew and Jon at Good Records 

Sunday was Senior recognition at HPUMC. It is crazy that we have been here for a year. Our first sunday in church (after Easter) at HP was Senior recognition last year. We honored our grads and we went to a lunch with all of them. It was a great afternoon. 

The Seniors and Youth Staff. Andrew is on the front row second from the left (the cute one).

After lunch we took a short nap and then met our youth choir at their end of the year party at a place called Top Golf. If you are from out of town and the weather is nice when you are here...and you like going to the driving range, we are totally taking you! 

We have some Groupons for movies that we needed to use, so while we were at Top Golf Andrew asked me if I wanted to go see a movie. 

OF COURSE. We went to see The Lucky One. It was pretty good, I wan't to read the book now and see how different they are. 

Anyway, the only thing we paid for all weekend was dinner on Friday and lunch on Sat...everything else was free! That is my kind of weekend! We are really trying to take advantage of all of our date opportunities because I think that will probably slow down a bit come June. 

I hope your weekend was equally great. 

Small Space Living: Maximizing closets

Small space living is the name of our game. I have been quite good at maximizing all areas of space I live in, if I do say so myself, but now I am doing it out of necessity and want...not just one or the other.  I did my first post on small space living about my mini washer and spinner, which I still adore!
As it gets closer to the time for baby to get here, I will be showing you lots of things we are doing to repurpose some of our furniture and maximize all of our space.

Today it is about closets. SMALL CLOSETS. We have exactly 4 closets. This is all the storage space we have.  I have learned that a want must also be a need...or have an exact place to go before it is purchased.
A lot of closets have two untapped space resources...The inside of the door and up high...a place for an additional shelf.

I don't actually have any before pics, but let me assure you that they were a hot mess. Here are some ways we have added space to our not so spacious closets; Be aware that we are real people and these closets are not staged...so that is all.

This is my closet. I added the shelf up top to get more storage and the shelf down low so that I can add a layer of boots and have a shelf to add anything I may need. Also, the shoe rack on the door saved all kinds of space. 

This is Andrew's closet. It is in our living room. Top shelf has things like our computer box, and our Christmas Decorations...Yes, all of my christmas decorations are in that blue laundry basket. The next shelf is hoodies and other things we may need...documents and such. There is a whole front part of that shelf that can hold lots of other goodies.
the shelf below the clothes holds mission trip clothes...then the the floor holds all our games and my screen printer and other art goods! Notice again, the shoes on the door...it is a great way to clear the space.

I know this isn't a closet, but it is Andrew's Dresser with the rest of his clothes. It is placed in our dining room/office. The place where the round table is will eventually be the place where our high chair will be stored. In the mean time, we have created a nice vignette. 

This is our linen and extra stuff closet. Again we used the back of the door to hold the awkward shaped things.

 I used a cardboard box on our tall top shelf to help sort/organize some of our blankets and our beach towels. They can stand taller and stack fairly easily. On the right, which looks sloppy is the stack of stored extra sheets and pillow cases. I have them organized by folding nicely the flat sheet, fitted sheet and one pillow case, then store those in the other pillow case (a little tip for keeping sheets nicely organized). That stack is all pillow cases holding the extra sheets .

 This is our laundry basket. (There is another one that usually sits on the floor there) and the vacuum.

This is the Kitchen closet. The kitchen closet has a top portion and a bottom portion (With two different doors) This is the top part: We have stored our larger serving dishes and plastic wear on the top the bottom is for some food and the tupperware...which must be organized, otherwise it is a messy nightmare in there! 

 This is the bottom part. It looks messy, but it isn't really that bad. On the left side is where we store the brooms and swifter, and the right side holds everything else.

 This is the door of that little closet. Those doors are not an inch thick, but this shelving system is awesome to help us stay organized.
 NOW, we understand that when the baby comes it is probably not a great idea to have the cleaning products available...so we did this!

And this is how we use all of our closet space! 

1 year ago today

One year ago today our lives changed. We said goodbye and also said hello.
(Note - all of the photos were taken on the iPhone and may not be of highest quality!)

We woke up incredibly early and were met at Starbucks by these amazing people.

I have since lost this, my favorite, sweatshirt.

We hit the road. Andrew in front with his Momma, Anne.
And me trailing in the Infinity with Katie Loew.

And we became Texans

We were greeted by Gepper...who still hangs out on our porch.

we broke into the "forbidden" wine...we had been saving from Italy.

We still don't take for granted the beauty of our new neighborhood.

And here it is...Dallas, TX. 

It is hard to believe that a year ago we moved to Dallas, TX. It has seriously been one unbelievable year. The changes have been more than are countable. The lifestyle difference is night and day. I would never say things are better here than in Liberty, MO. But, I will say that the Lord is Good and Faithful and has taught us much...like the joy of living in obedience.

Some of the biggest changes have been:
Our schedule - which is actually manageable.
We hang out with friends a lot more here - due to schedule.
Our living style - smaller and simpler.
We are far away from our family.
Andrew is in school.
Our jobs are very different and also very wonderful. (not in a better way, just in a different way)
We are having a baby!

things that are the same:
Andrew and I love each other more than ever.
Of course, the Lord is just soooo Good always.
We work with Students and love it.
our car! haha.
We are active in our church.


*UPDATE - I was just tweeted by Katie Loew, she reminded me that also on this day, we officially closed on our house and andrew got his acceptance call into seminary! What a year!


It is just really hard to believe that it has been a year. I really do think that it is so much fun to follow the Lord where He leads. The mystery of the future can be a little overwhelming...but as we sang on Sunday morning...

"We can face uncertain days because he lives!"

Abruptly Awake

Oh my goodness, friends. 

Last night I was Abruptly awoken at 1:30am, I ended up falling asleep just 5 minutes later laughing so hard that I wasn't sure if I would be able to fall asleep!

I have weird dreams a lot. Andrew does not. He doesn't really get how I my dreams are so vivid. Well, last night was a different story. 

See this art? It is really light, and hung on a nail right by our bed (obviously).

So this is the story. 

I am sound asleep. I hear "OW!" or an "OH" or an "AH!" (but I interpreted it as "OW!")

I am awake and sitting up in 0.2 seconds. I look aver and Andrew is reaching up and pulling the painting off the wall with one hand. 

"Andrew, are you okay"

"Ehhhh!" followed by a distressed sound

"Andrew? What are you doing?"

At this point he gets the painting off the wall and begins smacking (banging) it on the ground by his bed. (I am cracking up typing this!)

I ask "Andrew, what is it" in my mind he had a bug or a rat on him (which we have never seen in our apt) and his best option was to brush it to the floor, pull the painting off the wall and try to smash it.

"What are you doing?"

"I can't get it because of the wood!" (in a really small whiney voice I have never heard him use)

"the wood on the painting?"

"no the wood on the trim, I can't get the painting against the wall"

"It's fine, Just lean it - Why did you take the painting off the wall?"

"uhhh" and other weird sounds.

at this point I am starting to laugh.

"Do you not like that painting"

Silence. He gets comfortable with his head on the pillow again.

"Why did you take that painting off the wall?"

then the answer...in that same weird voice..."You told me to in my dream"

"Well, thank you." I say while I am laughing soooo hard.

 

I took this opportunity to get up and go to the bathroom and came back to bed laughing so hard. I cannot explain how funny this was! I was crying I was laughing so hard. I think it embarrassed him, and he cannot remember the dream this morning...But I am still laughing, and I got his permission to tell the story.

Man, I love him. 

Those lips

Well, I am not one to post a whole lot about the baby, but I felt like it was time for a little update.

I am pregnant. I feel like my belly button is going to rip open...I have 10 weeks and 3 days to go until the due date. The baby is kicking ALL THE TIME. It loves time with Jesus...which is hopeful for people who work in ministry. Any time there is a sermon, if I am reading my Bible, during our Bible Study, when Andrew and I pray together, or even when we are having a theological conversation, baby gets to moving and not just a little. It has been this way for about 10 weeks and has not slowed down.

I am still feeling great, aside from being sleepy.

So, we had an appointment this morning with our doc. (if you didn't know, we have to/get to do sonograms every month). The doc said that everything was PERFECT! YAY!

As you may know, getting a good shot shot of the baby as it gets bigger is a little more difficult, so these are some rough, yet wonderful, pics!

Here is a foot!

This is a profile shot, you can see the big ole lips on this baby! 

if you look closely you will se a squished face of a baby...awesome.

This is my favorite. This is what I like to call the "nose on the glass" pose.
THis is the nose and the top lip!
We seriously can't get over those lips! 

Watch it Wednesday:: Flying Trucks.

Yesterday, as you may have heard there were 12 tornadoes in our area. I was sitting on the computer doing some work when the sirens went off.
Andrew was at a lunch with his staff for some birthday celebrations, and we have talked about how we would go to the church basement if a tornado warning happened.

So here is the text convo
A:  1:29 - Is there a tornado warning?
S: I think so. I will turn on the news. Should I go to church
A: Maybe if it looks bad, what does the news say?

I tried to call him now, but the phone service was down...but texts went through.

S: Where are you, there are tornadoes in the metroplex...the sirens just turned off...(I see a live video of a tornado) There is a tornado moving across 20 south of Dallas.
A: We are driving back right now.
S: Should you pick me up?
A: hmm

THEN I SEE THIS ON THE NEWS LIVE.



S: There are 18 wheelers getting thrown up in the air on the news...Holy Crap!
A: We are picking you up now.

Then he did and we spent the next 2 and a half hours in the church basement...It was a crazy day.

And seriously...when this video aired, I thought "this is stuff they don't even put in movies, because it is UNREAL!"

An update

Hey friends,
I have been extremely blessed by the generosity of my friends and family as I have been raising money for my salary with His Voice Global.  It has been a great two months of support raising.

As of this morning I hit 41.5% of my goal! I am so blessed by this! 

If you are interested in reading more about what I do (from a previous post), click here to read "The Ask".

If you would like to help me reach my goal (which I would love to do before the baby gets here - June 21st) there are two ways to give. You can send a check, payable to "His Voice Global" with "Sarah Beard Salary" in the memo to 3434 1/2 Shenandoah st. Dallas TX 75205. 

or

You can make a on-line donation through Network for Good. Just make sure you type "Sarah Beard Salary" in the "designation" box. 

Thank you so much for all you have done for our family and for these orphans all over South Sudan, India and North Korea! 

Please let me know if you have any questions about supporting me or if you want to hear more! 

This is at the Kansas City shower, where I was able to see so many of my supporters and friends!

This was Saturday Morning at the Carry the Jerry 5K with His Voice.

Me and the little one!

Out of focus...but a pretty great moment.