Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas! In anticipation of sending out baby announcements in the next few weeks, we've decided not to also send out Christmas cards, but to post our "Christmas" pictures on our blog. Our friend Val took them and you can check out more of her stunningly creative work on her website at http://lgracephotos.blogspot.com.

It's truly hard to believe that another year has gone by and that it's time to reflect back on 2008. Aside from realizing that the 2000's are quickly coming to a close and that we are both quickly approaching our 30's, we also celebrated our 4th anniversary, our 3rd summer in Lancaster, our 2nd trip to Disney, and of course our 1st pregnancy!

The year started on a super high note and we wondered if the rest of the year was going to be able to keep up. Less than 5 weeks apart in February and March, I (Brian) took two trips to Florida! (which doesn't even count being in Tallahassee the previous December for a wedding!) The first was my Christmas present from Brynne's dad and her grandfather, and included staying at Pap Pap's condo in Bradenton, 4 beautiful days of golf with her dad, her uncle Pat, and family friend Mick, a visit to the Pittsburgh Pirates' Spring Training facility, and the best orange juice I've ever tasted from Mixon's Fruit Farm. While we were suffering in Florida, Brynne got to spend some good, quality time in cold, snowy Pittsburgh with her family and friends.

The second trip to Florida was strictly business. Brynne and I were "hired" by my parents to "baby sit" my then 15 year-old sister, Kathryn at Walt Disney World, while they toured Israel with some of their best friends. It was extremely taxing, hard work for us, but we fought to see the silver lining in it all :) In all seriousness, I'm not sure we even had as much fun in Lake Tahoe on our honeymoon! We jumped on the beds of our Polynesian Resort hotel room, stayed out at the theme parks until 3 am (you can do that when you stay at a Disney resort and don't have parents with you!), lounged by the volcano pool, ate huge buckets of ice cream, and had the time of our lives with Kate.

In May, my brother Chris joined us for a 5-mile race in and around Lancaster City, and then celebrated with us the very next morning when we found out that we were pregnant. While the last 8 months have had their share of challenges, the excitement and joy of bringing a new life into our families have overshadowed them all. Brynne's pregnancy was made a little bit easier by sharing the experience with our pregnant sister-in-law, Bethany, and our pregnant friends Allison, Betsy, Sharon, Yolanda, Julie, and Sarah, just to name a few.

Another significant change for us came at the end of July when I decided to go back to teaching high school math. Unlike my first 3 years of teaching freshmen and Algebra 1, I now have juniors and seniors and Precalculus and Calculus!!! This has provided a fun new challenge that I see myself doing for quite a while.

In between leaving the bank and starting the new school year, Brynne and I squeezed in a trip with her family and our good friend, Molly, to the Outer Banks. Finally, the fall was punctuated with a few visits to Pittsburgh and New Jersey, and a couple of baby showers. We realize that we have undeservedly been blessed this year by the Giver of all good things, and awaiting the arrival of our son has given us a heightened awareness of the miracle of Jesus' birth. May the Lord bless you this Christmas season by his grace and mercy.

Painting the Nursery

Some days it's more of a reality that I'm going to be a dad than others. Like getting married and planning a wedding, so much time is spent planning for and talking about the single event of the delivery, that it's easy not to think about life once the delivery is over. But tonight as I was painting the baby's nursery the reality hit me again. Painting the nursery-it's probably the most cliche scene from TV and movies to demonstrate the excitement and preparation for a couple's first baby, which is why I think in the middle of doing it the significance sunk in. I was more than happy to spend my entire Saturday doing something for my son. I felt like a real dad. I know that there will be plenty more "Saturdays painting the nursery" as he grows up and I can't help but feel honored. Honored that God created this little boy specifically for Brynne and I. Honored that I get to follow in the footsteps of my dad as a loving husband and father who demonstrated to his sons the sacrificial love of Christ. Honored that I get to tell my son the greatest story ever told and introduce him to Jesus. Jesus was a baby boy once too. He didn't have a nursery-He had a manger. I'm honored by God's humility that I get to give my son something not even the King of Kings had.

8 Months.........

Each month I wonder how my stomach could get bigger and then I wake up one morning and realize that yes, my stomach did grow bigger. :) This little guy is still moving a lot and now you can feel and see a hand or foot move across my stomach. Overall I feel pretty good. I am still getting more braxton hicks contractions than I should so I just have to take it easy most days. Brian has been doing an awesome job encouraging me and helping me out around the house. I couldn't ask for a better husband or friend. :) I know my son will be richly blessed in this life by having this man as his father.
This past month included a lot of fun things. We were able to travel to Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving to spend time with the Colabrese family. I had my first baby shower there and it was so fun. We felt so blessed by all of the gifts, love and support that people gave. The next week our families traveled here to Lancaster to join us for our second baby shower. It was an awesome time where we were once again overwhelmed by everyone's love and generosity. Baby McHugh is going to be one stylin little guy. I can't wait to put all of the new little outfits on him. Putting all of his clothing, blankets, bibs, etc. away makes this all seem so much more real. We get more excited as each day goes by.
Brian started to paint the baby's room and it looks awesome! It is going to be a chocolate brown color. We have waited so long to put this room together and are really excited about it. I wish I could help but I have to just sit back and watch my hubby do all the work. We will post pictures of the progress soon.
Brian's brother Tim and his wife Bethany are expecting their first baby in 2 weeks. We are so excited to meet this little one and find out if our son will have a little boy or girl cousin to play with. We pray that Bethany and the baby remain healthy and that they have a quick and safe delivery. We look forward to all of the exciting things that lay ahead. God's blessings continue to amaze us every day!