She's a Squash

Kieren Joy is now 22 weeks, and I just learned today that she is the size of a spaghetti squash! Fun!

Babies Everywhere!

Hey there!

So there is definitely 'something in the water,' because I have SO MANY friends who are pregnant or just had a baby! Crazy! My best friend from high school, April Neslund Mucci, has been a great friend through my pregnancy because she has been sharing in my joy/delight/pain/backache as she has also been pregnant. During a trip to Lakeland, Florida in early August we got to take preggo pics together, me at 4 months and her at 8 1/2 months. How fun!



I was able to make a trip over to Lakeland when I was in Florida for labor and meet her new son who was just born, named Jacob. Such a handsome boy!



What a blessing to share life with wonderful people who I have known since high school. Many great memories and new ones made.

Here are some other great Lakeland friends from my visit in August:


Brian and Callie Neslund


April Neslund Mucci, Cassie Pflieger Miller, and Sarah


The NEW youth group at my church from high school, First Presbyterian Church of Lakeland. I got to hang out with them this summer in Georgia at the Fun in the Son camp!

BOOK REVIEW

'Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life' by Martin E. Seligman



Well the books are back :) We are both finding the new rhythm of late summer/early fall and are finally finishing up some books. This book was recommended to me from a good friend, Allie Russos and it was a great read. I would recommend this to anyone who wishes they were more optimistic, positive, and wants to embrace life to the fullest. Personally, I can struggle with being a 'realist' and not always thinking positive, but this can really have negative effects on my life and heart. This book has given me some great tools to change my thinking and look to the now and future in new and positive ways. For anyone who struggles with depression, or just wants a better outlook on life, I encourage you to check out 'Learned Optimism'!

Love,
Sarah

United Way Videos

Hey everyone!

I am really proud to be working for the United Way this fall, a non-profit organization all over the US that partners with local agencies in each area fund and partner in building stronger communities. We are just starting our fall campaign here at the Triangle United Way, which is why I am on board here, and it's very exciting and inspiring. I wanted to share our site because we have some videos that United Way has created about their new campaign, and you should check them out! Go to this site:

http://www.unitedwaytriangle.org/news/2008video.asp

And I really encourage you to see the video called 'Meet Patti.' Her story is incredible, and she is working with the United Way this fall to give back all that has been given to her. Amazing!

Have a great day!
Sarah

Kieren's first outfit!

Okay, I admitted it this week. I am beginning to 'surrender' to the pink. In small doses. But who can resist this cute gift from my great friend Sarah??

Love,
Sarah

Meals on Wheels

This week I was privileged to take a trip with my new job at the United Way to serve on a Meals on Wheels route.

Here is what Meals on Wheels seek to do:

Since 1974, Meals on Wheels has been providing nutritious meals to the home-bound elderly and persons with disabilities in Wake County in an effort to improve health, reduce isolation, and prevent inappropriate institutionalization. Serving close to 1350 meals daily to homes and nutrition centers, Meals on Wheels provides the frailest of our community’s citizens with a voice to achieve healthful independence.

This is one of those organizations you hear about so often, but I had never volunteered with them personally. It was a real blessing to me, because these people are seeking so much more than just a meal. The friendship and human interaction is probably way more fulfilling then anything they can eat, while many of these people have little to no family or friends in their lives. This is an incredible organization that is truly encouraging people in real and deep ways. If you are looking for a way to serve, think about Meals on Wheels! If you live in Raleigh, you can check out their site at www.wakemow.org.


This is a video a mom made about her experience on her Meals on Wheels route with her daughter, and will give you a great peak into the incredible outreach done through this organization.


Love,
Sarah

Sarah's bump - week 20

Hey guys - here is the GROWING bump - wow! 20 weeks already! Half-way there and now counting down towards when we all get to meet Kieren!


On the beach in Ponce Inlet, Florida



Being LAZY on the couch in Florida

Labor Day Get-away!

Hello everyone!

Hope you all are having a wonderful labor day weekend - because I sure am! Every labor day weekend since college I get together with a group of girlfriends from school, and this has been one of the best reunions. We studied abroad in London for a semester, and since then have called ourselves 'Chanda' because of a personified overhead chandelier in our flat in London. These girls are incredible friends, and every time we get together we laugh our faces off, eat great food, and catch up on all of life. It is SUCH a blessing, and I leave each weekend feeling loved and grounded. This one will be no exception. Here are some pics of our fun as I start to head home today!






Katie and her daughter Layne, Sarah, Shanel, Amy, and Cathleen


Layne (Katie's daughter) and Kieren meet for the first time :)


Layne in her 'chanda' onesie




The girls with the belly








Lounging around the condo


An annual game of phase ten

Stay at Home Dad

It's been said that "the stay at home dad is a demographic that has been ignored far too long by the gangster rap world..."

We agree.

This is Casey's future.

Sarah's thoughts...

Hey friends and family,

So thought you might want to hear from the momma too, about all this new news. I can't even describe to you all that I have felt on Monday and the days since. I was so excited and nervous about the appointment on Monday that I couldn't even sleep. I knew our lives would be drastically shifted from that point on, once we learned boy or girl. The appointment was great, although Kieren is already showing her personality in being very stubborn; we searched around my belly for like 30 minutes looking for the 'girl' parts! Finally she gave in, and all of a sudden we were having a girl, Kieren Joy Prince. I actually was crying the whole ultrasound (no not awkward...) but once we found out that news, I was overwhelmed and emotional beyond what I even expected. The funny thing is, the last couple weeks I just new it was a girl, and all summer I felt like God was preparing me for a girl. I was privileged this summer to be around many young parents of little girls, and I loved every minute of it. And especially being with young dads fathering little girls, I mean who is going to be a better father of a girl then Casey?? He is going to be the best dad ever! But still, to get the news was more then I could handle. I couldn't even say the name 'Kieren' for the rest of the day, even though we have had that name picked out for years. It's slowly setting in, and has really helped me to connect with her as she grows inside of me. It's no longer an alien invasion (and I mean that in the most sensitive, nurturing way), but it is Kieren growing inside me. It's just crazy insanity and I can't even grasp it, but I love it all. I find myself holding my belly, praying for her, and thinking about her all the time now.

Here's things I haven't done now that I know Kieren is on the way. 1) Buying 'cute' baby girly baby clothes. Hi, have we met? I don't do 'cutsie' stuff that well, so we're going to have to figure out what to do here. I told Casey that we are going to go for 'township chic' (a phrase I coined) for Kieren, so when she is in Africa in the future she doesn't get beat up, or we don't get beat up. So yeah, no clothes yet. 2)I haven't decided the baby room 'colors.' Yeah, I don't know what to do about that because again, not cutisie mom, most stuff is really cutsie. So I do know this, one of the colors will be chocolate brown and then we'll throw in a green or purple or something. But just wait on all your baby quilts or whatever, I'll let you know. 3)I haven't started singing or talking to her yet. I know that will happen because I talk to Lance all the time, but just not there yet. Maybe I will get Lance to talk to her...

Okay, those are some thoughts for this week. Job going really well, I am EXHAUSTED at the end of the day, but so thankful for this opportunity. I feel like I'm in the perfect place and it's a great step towards whatever is next. Pray for Kieren's health and beautiful growing body and heart, and mom's health in the process. Feeling pretty good, but normal 'pregnant' stuff is always to be expected.

Love you all - thanks for all your love and support!
Sarah

It's a GIRL!!

Monday, August 18th, my world changed forever! I found out that I will be the father of a precious little girl!! Can you believe it?!?! I'm going to have a sweet, perfect, father-loving, little girl!! I'm so excited about this and it's making the pregnancy much more real. No longer is she "Sea Monkey" or "Alien", but she's a real person. With a heartbeat, a brain, some kidneys, a stomach, a spine, arms, legs, and even the beginning of woman parts! And best of all she has a name, Kieren Joy Prince. 'Keren' is the name of one of Job's daughters when he gets a family the second time. At that point those children were a true blessing to him as she will be to us. We added the 'i' to make it easier. Her middle name is from Sarah's grandmother, Joy, who just deserved to have someone named after her. Unfortunately 'Prince' is non-negotiable.
Sitting there watching the ultrasound was so mind boggling. It should be a worshipful experience to think that God is knitting together that child inside of Sarah. It's totally a miracle. I've been in awe of God since yesterday morning as I've continued to think of what he's creating there.
Please keep praying for Kieren. So far she seems to be healthy. She has long legs, 4 valves in her heart, a 3 veined cord, etc. Pray that she continues to grow like she should!
Here are some ultrasound pics. The first 3 are where you can notice that she's a girl! On the second one you can see her leg sticking out. She's basically mooning the camera, just like her Dad!








The next one is of her head tucked in towards her belly. The head is on the right.





This one is her head and body, but she's scratching her head with her arm. So, cool!





This final one can be a bit freaky. It's one of those more 3D images. You can see her arms and they are sort of in front of her face. I think that she's almost looking at the camera at this point.




This is such an incredible journey. I'm so thankful that I have an amazing woman to do it with. Thanks for all your support!!

Casey

Praise God - Sarah Got a JOB!

Hey everyone!

Many of you have been praying for me as I have been on the job hunt much of the summer for after my YCM camps finished. It's been a 'busy' few weeks back at home as I have gone stir crazy and organized EVERY SINGLE THING in our entire house (but no I will not come and clean yours now...). So finally got an interview Thursday with the United Way for a temporary position working with their Campaign Fundraising drive this fall - and I got the job today! Praise God! It's a great opportunity with an incredible company. I feel blessed!

Here is a link with info of the campaign I help to work with:
http://www.unitedwaytriangle.org/cc/index.asp

My job title is 'Speakers Bureau Coordinator' which means I get various speakers trained and connected to non-profits in the Triangle to speak to organizations and corporations who are giving to the Campaign. Here is more of what I am helping with:
http://www.unitedwaytriangle.org/cc/speaker_request.asp

Thanks for all your support and prayers - I am excited about the new opportunity and have so much to learn!

Love,
Sarah

Hey everyone!

Here are our last two ultrasounds of the baby growing in my tummy! The first is only 8 weeks so it's just a sea monkey. The second pic is 13 weeks so baby is definitely out of sea monkey stage to quasi-alien form (head it at the bottom if you can't tell what's going on there). And during that ultrasound we saw an arm - what?? So fun. More to come!

Love,
Sarah



Baby Prince at 8 weeks



Baby Prince at 13 weeks

"I Saw What I Saw, and I Can't Forget It..."

Hey there!

Casey found this last week and I wanted to share it with you all. It is a music video on youtube by a Christian artist named Sara Groves. The song is called "I Saw What I Saw" and it's inspired by a trip she recently took to Rwanda. Certainly brought back many memories for us, and I hope it touches you as well!

Love,
Sarah

Sarah and the 'bump'

Hey everyone! We are going to start using our blog for baby Prince updates! I am currently 17 weeks pregnant and the bump is growing! We find out soon if it's a boy or a girl, so we will keep you posted.

Lots of love,
Sarah


Sarah at 17 weeks