Baby Contacts Outside World!

So I was lying on the couch last night reading from a magazine when all of a sudden... poke!  It just came and went that fast!  There was no warning or re-do.. just poke!  Despite the fact that it was 10 at night, I texted my network of friends to share the excitement :)  My mom says I must not be that sensitive to my body since I didn't notice all the flutters and went straight for noticing the kicks... I'm excited to start feeling it more regularly.  Feeling movement just gives you a certain peace, knowing that everything is ok in there.  Anyway, I can't write long, because Caleb is waiting on me to be done at the library.  But, pics soon to come: tonight we are carving pumpkins and also I am making a trip up to KC to see my mother in law and sis in law!  So I will try to take some snapshots and post them soon!  Also, we find out the gender of our lil peanut in less than 9 days!  So, be watching to find out!!!!

Fall, Tummies, Doggies, and Memories!

Greetings Friends!!  I am excited to post again and feel like I have so much to tell you about (and so many photos to post)!  Things are going well in the Gutshall household :)  We are loving the slightly cooler weather and enjoying the fall season.  I am currently sitting at the Fayetteville Public Library, one of my favorite get-aways in town, and staring out the window at the colorful trees and sunshine.  This is a fantastic week for me, because I have a week-long break from classes!  I begin my last two classes next Monday, which is a joyous thing.  I am taking a discipleship ministries class and a ministry of teaching class.  I will definitely enjoy them, yet I will be excited to be completely-finished-with-school-for-the-rest-of-my-life-in-December :)  I keep finding myself saying that exact same phrase...

Anyway, Caleb and I recently purchased a nice, round pumpkin and some bright mums to spruce up our little porch.  Here soon we will carve our pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern, which we will surely post pictures of!  Here is what our porch looks like now...

The pregnancy is still progressing nicely!  I am growing a lil belly and I am wearing maternity tops most days now.  It is an exciting time... it is also amazing to see the miracle that God performs in creating another human being.  Even though our weeks seem to be passing by quickly, it feels like our ultrasound doctor's appointment is not getting any closer!!  I cannot believe it, but we begin our 5th MONTH in four days!  This is flying by and we will be parents in no time... kinda scary isn't it?  So, here are some pics we have been meaning to post of our tummies...

9 weeks (when we first found out I was expecting):

12 weeks (I see a bump!):

And 17 weeks (just a few days ago):

I plan on wearing the same shirt each time so the pics are consistent and we can really see the progress.  Oh, and here is Caleb and his tummy at 9 weeks:

Haha... actually Caleb hasn't gained any sympathy weight, which I think is a little unsympathetic, don't you?  But he has been great with taking care of me during the pregnancy... he runs slower with me when we run.  He does favors for me (such as fetch my drink off the counter or turn off the light), since I'm pregnant... :)  I have a good husband!

Anyway, I haven't introduced our dog to you yet, so I thought I would do so in this post.  His name is Brody and he is 2 years old.  We began fostering him last February and it eventually turned into adoption.  He is an Australian Terrier and he is part of the family.  We are attached to him.  He is such a quirky dog, which you will discover when being around him for a short time.  He had a traumatic day yesterday, because I was trimming his toenails and accidentally cut one too short, causing it to bleed....and bleed... and bleed.  He kept licking it which would result in blood on his face.  So, he needed a bath (which is also traumatic for him).  Then, because he wouldn't stop licking it, which would make it continue to bleed, I had to make a bandage for him which we tied around his foot (also traumatic).  I wish I had a video of  how he walked with that thing on.  It was hilarious!!  He took normal steps with all his other feet, but took giant steps with his front right paw... so funny!  He couldn't get his mind off it.  Anyway, here are some pics of our boy, Brody.

I apologize for such a terribly long post.  Who knows if you are still reading it at this point.  But I have one last thing to share.  Three years ago, when Caleb and I were dating, we went to a park in Siloam Springs and carved our initials into a tree.  Every so often we go back and see our tree.  This past Saturday, we went back to Siloam to spend the morning.  We got some coffee, walked around JBU, visited our tree, ate at this little English tea room (delicious!), and explored the downtown area.  It was a wonderful day, full of reminiscing.  Our tree still stands and the initials have now turned black, making it look as if we branded our initials into the tree (kinda cool)!  Here are some pics:

My, how our lives have changed throughout the past 3 years... we never would have guessed that we would be expecting a baby at this point in our lives.  But we are blessed with a very good life.  Though we might be poor newlyweds with a baby on the way, we are joyful each day, because the Lord is accomplishing His will (even though it might be different than what we thought).  We are also grateful for each of you, friends, and the blessing of getting to go through this experience with you by our sides :) We hope you have a splendid week!

Our New Church!

Greetings Friends!  I just wanted to share with you all our excitement about our new church.  We have been attending University Baptist Church and have loved it so far.  We joined a Sunday School class of young married couples which is wonderful.  It is exciting having people to relate to who are in the same stage of life that we are.  We are going through 1 Thessalonians currently :)  We also love the Sunday services.  The worship is fantastic and we love the pastor's style of preaching...  We also just joined a life group, which is a group of 20ish people with a wide range of ages.  In our life group, which meets on Sunday nights in a member's home, we are reading the book Radical by David Platt.  It has certainly been challenging us spiritually.  It has been a wonderful experience getting to know so many new, amazing people.   We thank the Lord for this experience and this church which is such a blessing to us already :)  We are so excited to get even more involved in our new church family!

New Chapter, new blog!

Hello All!  Welcome to the Gutshall Tell-All!  I have just been thinking lately that with us starting a family, it would be a good idea to create a blog so our friends and family can follow along throughout our pregnancy and parenthood with us :)  I realize that with Caleb and I not having internet this might be difficult.  However, I am going to do my best to keep you posted fairly regularly.  So, here goes...

We just began our 16th week of pregnancy (Due March 24th), which means our baby is about 4.5 inches long and just about 3ish ounces.  Baby's eyes are sensitive to light and now responds to touch (though I'm not quite sure I have felt baby move yet)!  It has eyelashes and eyebrows :)  I am thankful to say that I have had a very smooth pregnancy thus far.  I have not had any morning sickness.  The only sysmptoms I have had are headaches, slight abdominal cramps, and I had a bloody nose the other day!  I am wearing maternity clothes for the first time today and it is much more comfy!  I will try to post pictures soon of my baby bump! I am so thankful it has been a smooth process, since I am still completing school.

Caleb and I are both closing in on completing our Master's degrees.  I will finish in December with my Master's of Arts in Christian Leadership.  Caleb will finish in May with his Master's in Electrical Engineering.  He will begin the job search in a few months.  We are hoping to settle somewhere in the midwest.  Possibly Northwest Arkansas or the Kansas City area.  I am planning on getting a part time job in a few weeks, to save up a little money before we have the baby. 

This weekend we came up to Joplin for me to meet up with a few of my high school friends.  It was a good reunion :)  We also took a trip to the Pumpkin Patch today and picked out some mums and a pumpkin, which we will carve into a jack-o-lantern soon (see pics below)!  We enjoyed getting to see my family and enjoy the fall season with them!  Thanks for reading the Gutshall Tell-All!  I hope to write again soon!