I had my first leg cramp the other day. I expected it to be a mild cramp like a charley horse, and somehow I had missed that they come in the middle of the night. We were sound asleep and all of the sudden it started cramping and... it hurt really bad!! I started whining "Ow, my leg!!" but I was still sleepy sounding so Ben couldn't figure out what I was saying. Poor guy thought I was having a contraction or something. It lasted for quite a while and it's still sore! I'm sure that's as bad as the pain is going to get, even through labor... haha, I wish. ;)

Check out our new online photo album, for lots of pictures and some fun stories. Look on the sidebar for the link or go to http://picasaweb.google.com/bgbrendle

Yesterday we went to a Springfield Cardinals game. I'm not all that into baseball but it was still a lot of fun. Ben had never been but seemed to get pretty into it. Today was Ben's day off so we went for a picnic in Finley park. It's so nice just to spend a day together and not have to worry about all that we have to do! We didn't get much done, today but it's been so relaxing. When we got home I made some dinner and I'm not sure how we got started, but we ended up each taking an IQ test. I tried to act like I was just asking Ben random questions so that he'd give me the answers, but he's too clever. We ended up scoring pretty close to each other though! That could be because I said that I was 12... just kidding. ;)

Monday through Thursday our church had VBS and I was in charge of the 2 and 3 year old's. The VBS was a water park theme, so the kids were in groups that would go to different "huts" for crafts, songs, snacks etc. Since my kiddos were so little we had an inside classroom but we still had fun. I think everyone was glad that it didn't go the full week though, all of us (even the kids) were pretty tired out by the end of it. It was really fun to get to know the kids more and to figure out how to be creative enough to keep their attention for the whole time. :) Who knows if I succeeded. :D Yesterday I went to a cookout at our worship pastor's house with the worship/production team from our church. It was a lot of fun but I wished that Ben could have been there. Then today I went to a jewelry party at my friend Libby's house. Get a bunch of girls together, then add jewelry and snacks... it's guaranteed to be a good time. :) Plus, I've gotta find some way to spend all this cash Ben's bringing home. *wink,wink*

The Finley river in Ozark flooded unexpectedly on tuesday. There is a park bench next to this tree on a normal day! Here I'm standing near the river's bridge - usually there's about 10-15' of clearance between the surface and the bottom of the bridge. The water level rose to just a foot below the bridge - pretty scary.

Here's an updated picture of Magnum. Needless to say, he's grown a bit.

A few months before we found out that we're pregnant Ben started writing out the Bible for our first child. He thought that it would be something meaningful to pass down to her once he's done with it. Every chapter starts with a unique letter, which is making it look awesome! I'm so proud of how it's looking I just had to show a picture!

I've been feeling great all throughout my pregnancy, but more and more lately I've just been tired. I can't complain though, since I didn't have hardly any morning sickness or really any complications so far. We're getting so excited for her to come! Sometimes it feels like the weeks are flying by, but at the same time it feels like it'll be forever until she's here. We haven't really taken too many "belly shots" yet. Mainly because I just don't feel like I'm showing enough for them to be any fun! Someday soon maybe I'll be good and let Ben take a picture and post it. :) (note the "maybe") Yesterday our neighbor loaned me her prenatal heart listener thing so that we could listen to the heartbeat, but I guess I'm not talented enough to figure out how to get the thing to work. All I could hear was static, but I'm not worried because as I was laying there waiting to hear her heartbeat she was kicking so hard that she knocked the thing off my belly! Apparently she's fine. :)