Think blue!

Boy Oh Boy, we're having a boy!

Many prayers later, and a few tears- the ultrasound tech on Friday confidently told us that a boy was on the way. (I would have posted the picture- but the time it would have taken to find a scanner, etc...)

Joel and I agreed, we fell in love that morning. Seeing the little man stretch, kick, and wave his arms, was amazing. He even cooperated, at first he was on his back, and by simply laying on my side while the tech punched in some numbers to determine where his measurements fit on the scale to determine his due date, he flipped over and the tech got some awesome profile shots. (I'll send the pics with Joel in the morning and have him scan them).

The MOVE:
The move, the move, OH THE MOVE. We made it! A special shot out to my dad, sister, and niece who were are welcome party upon our arrival. Our major hiccup was that the storage containers were not big enough for all of our 'stuff'... by the time we left we threw away all our food, kitchen items, made several trips to the goodwill, and had the car packed so tight, it would make any college senior proud!

The ride itself, went well. We made our first leg of the trip on Friday and spent the night at my best friends apartment from High School in Chapel Hill, NC. On Saturday, we had a simple 5.5 hour ride up to Maryland.

With Ilse's help and multiple trips to the grocery store, we settled in quickly. We even had enough energy to head down to Annapolis on Sunday, which was the highlight of the weekend. I know we only hit the surface of seeing the many gems of the city, a ride over and back on the bay bridge was especially exciting- in the rain. It was quite awe striking to see a barge below that looked 'small'. (the funny part was dad romping around with the camera around his neck, claiming he hadn't been a "tourist" in years (quite comical).

Our next adventure is finding a place to live! I'll keep you posted!

Have a great day!
Joel, Jac, and Mr. BabySamples

and the beat goes on...

Hello!

I thought I would take advantage of the time I was resting with my feet propped up to update everyone on what is going on at the Samples household...

Joel is in town for the weekend, and has been working feverishly to sell his car, so far- to no avail. Please pray that we are able to miraculously sell it before the move. It would be SOO nice to only have to drive one car up North.

Joel flies out tomorrow evening and thus begins my very busy week without him. I am soo excited though to know that this will be the last time I will have to drop him off at the airport. After this weekend, I will be going with him to Baltimore. The plan is as follows:

Mon. - meet with friends

Tues. - get my hair highlighted and cut! (SOO revved about that!)

Wed.- last minute packing, meet with friends - (i know, rough life)

Thurs. - the movers come to pack up the apartment and load the storage containers. Joel flies home that night!

Fri.- 8:30 am, last Dr. appt with my Atl OB and then at 10:00 am we have a sonagram scheduled to tell us the sex of the baby and to make sure there are 10 fingers and 10 toes.
We are planning on leaving straight after that to Chapel Hill, NC to stay with my best friend from high school.

Sat.- leave NC in the morning and head to Baltimore, MD where my sister, niece and dad will be anticipating our arrival. (I AM SOO EXCITED)

My sister and I were talking about all the reasons to pay people to come and pack our stuff- even what little we have. I told her the most important reason to me was that I didn't want to wear myself out. I know the move will be hard enough- Joel having a new job, new city, new baby, etc... I didn't need to start our next adventure burnt out. I am so thankful the Lord has provided that option for us.

I found out GREAT NEWS today, the apartment complex does not require a notice AND does not have a check list of cleaning that has to be done. Their only request when you leave is that you leave no trash behind. What a relief! I was dreading cleaning- from the base boards to wiping down the blinds. (the Lord is soo good).

This past week I finished up my last week at work. It was crazy busy, but it went soo well. I will miss my buddies! It's amazing the relationships you form with people you spend 40 hours a week with. I promised everyone that I would stop before we left town to tell them if the baby is a boy or girl.

Joel and I are still rolling names around, we've narrowed down our choices for boy names, but aren't having much luck making progress on deciding on girl names. We seem to always disagree. (watch- the baby will be a girl- then we'll really be up creek w/o a paddle :) That's ok- I'm guessing we will spend much of the trip to B-more digging in the archives of our brains for names... (now if only i kept that list from 5th grade...) hehe.

Well- that's it. Oh- mark your calendars for the first weekend in August. (2nd). If you're around - Ohio that is... stop by! Joel and I will be in town visiting!

Have a great day!
Jac, Joel and babySamples