12 Weeks Down...23 to Go!

It is true, I am 12 weeks today. Everyday we get more and more excited about this tremendous blessing God is giving us. Yes, its going to be a LOT of hard work, but its also going to be a lot of fun!

The scary part for us, is the 23 weeks to go. There is so much we need to do in this short amount of time, our list is endless. Moving countries, finding Matt a job, finding a place to live, buying a car (hopefully two), and somewhere in the midst of that, get ready to become the parents of three!! Its slightly stressful to think about!

For those wondering, I am showing. I haven't decided yet how I feel about posting pictures of me, so for now, you'll just have to imagine! I am feeling great! I lost about 5 pounds during the first 6 weeks, probably because no food sounded appetizing in the least bit! Since then, I haven't gained any, but I also haven't had a huge increase in appetite yet. For those of you wondering, my doctor assures me this is great, because I need to gain the least amount of weight possible to protect me from preeclampsia, which is a greater risk for me than a normal pregnancy.

Things that are Absolutely Disgusting:
-Chocolate ( This is so sad to me, and I'm hoping it will stop making me feel sick very soon!)
-Sweets (I can eat sweets in small portions, but if I eat more than that, they make me sick)
-Garlic (I can now tolerate garlic in small portions, but some things are still too garlicy)

Cravings:
-My biggest one: Popsicles! Yum!
-Anything made of potatoes, probably because they are so bland!
-Fruit!

Pregnancy Prayer Requests:
-That all three babies will continue to grow equally, strong, and healthy.
-That my body will continue to handle this pregnancy well.
-That I can carry the babies for 35 weeks. Most mother's of triplets don't make it this far, but this is our goal so our babies can spend no time, if little time in the NICU.

Budapest

Matt and I along with our good friend Becca have been to Budapest so many times for soccer and basketball trips. Matt and I for coaching, and Becca always being our number one fan, who also drove us! So although we have been to Budapest more times than we can remember, and we have actually never seen downtown Budapest. We only made it to the outskirts where the two different schools we played were.

When all three of us found out we were leaving, our goal became to actually see Budapest before we leave. Finally, last Sunday we were able to go! We borrowed a car, and took a day trip (its a two hour drive, one way) to Budapest.

It was very interesting to see a town that used to be part of the Austrian-Hungarian empire along with Vienna. A lot of the architecture was very similar to that in Vienna, and very beautiful! Here are a few shots of our favorites...

This is St. Stephens Cathedral. It was HUGE and beautiful. We didn't plan on seeing this. We were just walking along the Danube River and came upon it. It was a communist revolution memorial, to remember those shot into the river. The shoes were made out of metal, and there were all kinds, including children's. This is one view of the Rathaus, the city hall. It used to be on of the world's largest. This is the famous chain-link bridge, and Matt and I in front of it.

We ended the day with my favorite part, PIZZA HUT!!!! We don't have these in Vienna, and the pizza we have is good, but there is definitely no pan pizza. The pizza was super cheap and amazing. Definitely the perfect end to a good day!

Junior Formal

Most of the senior girls and Jon!

Saturday evening was the junior formal. This is an event planned by the junior class to honor the senior class. At six they began taking pictures across from the hotel in Stadtpark, which was beautiful!

At seven we walked over to the hotel and ate a nice dinner, followed by a program put on by the juniors to honor the seniors. This included a slide show with their senior pictures and childhood pictures, a song sung by two juniors, and individual senior awards. Finally the evening concluded with two hours of dancing by all, staff and students.

DK, Toni, Suraj, Dong, and David (Senior Boys)

All but 5 of the Senior Class

A Student's Baptism

This past Saturday afternoon we were invited to be a part of one of our 6th grade student's baptism. Sophie has been raised in a Christian family. Her father, an Egyptian, has an amazing testimony of how he came to Christ and was forced to flee the country. He is now a missionary to the Muslim community all over Europe. Her mother, an Austrian is the mother of 5, soon to be 6! They are a really sweet family, and it has been a joy knowing them.

We rode our bikes to the place of the service, as it was only a 10 minute bike ride from our apartment. It is amazing to us the places that exist in Vienna. The place where they had the service was a huge garden, with several hundred different kinds of plants and trees, animals, and lots of water. It was really beautiful. They had a whole service for Sophie's baptism, with worship, a message, prayer time over Sophie and then her baptism. After her baptism, there was another prayer time followed by a few more songs of worship. Here are a few pics.

Piano Recital

One of the best ways to develop relationships with our students is through activities outside of school. One of the ways I (Stephanie) do that is through music lessons. I have three piano students and one saxaphone student. My saxaphone student is only in first grade, and is actually too small to play the sax, so I have started him on the recorder, which has the exact same finger positions and whatnot as the sax. Its worked out really well. All of my students worked really hard for our spring recital, and they all played very well. Here are a few pictures of my students.

Craving: Funnel Cakes!

I have had several interesting cravings in almost 10 weeks I have been pregnant. Many of which are for American food or products that I can't get over here, which is just depressing! Although I can't buy funnel cakes anywhere over here, I can make them!! And thats what we did! Friday night we had a few friends over to play Settler's of Catan (great board game!) and eat funnel cakes. They were pretty much amazing.

Status of Funnel Cake Craving: Fulfilled

Above: A delicious masterpiece! Below: Better grab some before its gone!

Finally Announcing...

Our big news to the blogworld. We figure everyone who reads our blog has already heard the news, but oh well. Here's the story...from Stephanie.

In February of 2004 I was in a not so fun car accident in which I sustained a brain injury, stitches, and a pretty scar. But that is a whole other long story. But as a result of my brain injury, my brain stopped communicating with my reproductive system, hormones stopped being produced, and I had no cycle. After the wreck, Matt and I were dealing with some major issues, so we were definitely okay with me not having a cycle and us not getting pregnant.

Around Christmas time in 2006 we decided we were ready to start the process of getting me up and running so we could have a baby! My first doctor's appointment was in January of 2007. It has been a long journey. There are no words to describe the way it feels to want a baby so badly, and then each month to find out you are still babyless. We never imagined we would be the couple who would have a hard time getting pregnant. However, we also never imagined I would be in an accident that would mess up my body so badly. Regardless, the last year or so has definitely been an emotional roller coaster for both of us.

In December of 2007 we started another new and stronger medication, called clomiphene. This is a very commonly used drug. Before starting the regiment, the doc and I discussed all of the risks involved, the main one being the small risk of having twins. Of course that wasn't enough to deter us from having a baby, we'd love to have two! Every month on the medication I would go and see the doctor around ovulation time to see if the meds were working. December-nothing. January-nothing. February-maybe, but most likely not. March-my last month on this medication before taking more serious measures, the doctor told me to not even bother coming in. My body hasn't responded so far, so if it actually does respond, great!

Well, for some mysterious reason (we like to call him God) my body finally responded. By the end of March, I knew I was pregnant, and we were overflowing with joy, and praising God for our miracle! On Saturday, April 5 I took a home pregnancy test (Austria style) to verify my thoughts, and to make sure we weren't getting our hopes up for nothing. The medication I was on had several side affects that are also pregnancy symptoms. Cruelness, I know. Anyways, it instantly showed us two purple lines. Pregnant!!

On April 8, we went to the doctor for confirmation, yet again! He did an ultrasound, and after a brief moment told us "Congratulations--you were right, you are pregnant!" Although we were thrilled at the news, we could both tell there was more. I instantly feared there was something seriously wrong with our baby. After what seemed like forever he said "But, I am seeing multiples." I instantly asked "How many?!?" So the doc checked, double checked, and then triple checked, and finally told us the most shocking news we have ever received "Well, it appears that you are pregnant with triplets."

My jaw instantly drops open in shock and Matt just starts laughing. We were shocked beyond belief. After talking with the doctor some more, he said one of the babies is much smaller than the other two, so he didn't want to give us a firm "diagnosis" for another few weeks, in fear we would lose the little one. As we left the doctor's office, we were elated to know we were pregnant, shocked that we were expecting three, worried about losing the little one, and heartbroken because we realized we would have to leave Vienna.

Talk about wierd prayers...praying for three healthy babies when you have no idea how on earth you are going to manage it. Definitely the strangest prayers we have said!

On April 21 we went back to the doctor and had another ultrasound. This time we saw three healthy babies, all about the same size (one was still a tiny bit smaller), and all three with strong heartbeats! God's hand in our lives, yet again.

Last night, May 5 we went back yet again, for another ultrasound to check on the babies growth and devlopment. We have three perfect babies! We even got to see Baby 1 moving around a bit, it was truly amazing! I think Baby 2 and 3 were snoozing. I will post some of the ultrasound pics (at 9.5 weeks) at the bottom.

As I breifly mentioned earlier, we are returning to the States. There is just no way we could do three babies over here because we are going to need the help and support of lots of family and friends. The plan is to move back to the Jefferson City/Columbia, Missouri area where we have a huge network of family and friends waiting to help.

We will definitely keep you updated as we learn new things about the babies and figure things out with the move, job, and house situation. But in the meantime, please keep us in your prayers!

Prayer Requests:

-For us to finish strong here in Vienna and be able to say good bye to people and a place we love so much.

-For the move, we have a lot to do and need a lot of money to move countries!
-For Matt to find a great teaching job.
-For three healthy, strong babies, and that Stephanie can carry them to 35 weeks. This is the week we are hoping to deliver (The last week of October).

Here are all three babies!

This is Baby 1, the biggest baby at 26 mm long!

This is Baby 2, the second biggest baby at 25 mm long!

And finally, Baby 3, who is 24 mm long.

Mayday = No school!

Can you believe it is already May 1? This year has flown by! May 1 is a public holiday here in Austria. I was reading about the origin of Mayday and it is very interesting to see how it started as a pagan holiday, and has evolved into a "labor day." Today, Mayday is an international working class holiday. We are just thankful to have the day off from school!

We got to sleep in this morning (until like 8) and then we made mock cinnamon rolls for breakfast (yum!). We were also able to get a few things done around the house, which is always nice! Matt then left, riding his bike to school, to help cook ribs for our soccer and basketball party. Since a lot of the same boys made up the soccer team and the basketball team, we decided to combine parties. It worked out really well, and turned out to be a fun afternoon!

Around 5, we finally left school and rode our bikes home! It was really nice outside, so it made getting some exercise easy! Once we got home we decided to just relax (we were thinking of putting away all winter clothes and getting out summer ones). All in all, a nice day off!

High School Musical

April 17-19 were the three showings of this years musical, Disney's High School Musical, at VCS. We went to the first showing Thursday night and absolutely loved it. The students put a tremendous amount of effort and spent a lot of time working on this musical. Their hard work definitely paid off, the show was amazing! They kept the crowd chuckling through the entire performance. As usual, we were amazed at the talents of the students at VCS. Anyways, enjoy a few pictures! Everyone involved in High School Musical

Student Actors

Directors
Musical Band

The Lead Roles
The Basketball Team

Relaxing...

I have been wanting to take a picture of Gideon chilling out on our living room carpet for quite some time, and I finally got one. It cracks us up that he lays like this--and its no unnusual thing. He lays like this quite often! You might think he wants you to pet his belly when he lays like this, but trust me, he doesn't!