Lankford Love

Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way I just started reading Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist. I read her first book Cold Tangerines last year. It was fabulous. Today I began this one. I think her prologue pretty much sums up my life these past six months and the way I have come to redefine my faith. "The idea of bittersweet is changing the way I live, unraveling and re-weaving the way I understand life. Bittersweet is the idea that in all things there is both something broken and something beautiful, that there is a sliver of lightness on even the darkest of nights, a shadow of hope in every heartbreak, and that rejoicing is no less rich when it contains a splinter of sadness. "Bittersweet is the practice of believing that we really do need both the bitter and the sweet, and that a life of nothing but sweetness rots both your teeth and your soul. Bitter is what makes us strong, what forces us to push through, what helps us earn the lines on

This video is so sweet! It brought tears to my eyes. My dad sent it to me, along with a sweet message. Love you, Dad!

How precious is she? And this is what her sweet sister drew for me: We are all now one big happy family! Too cute!

I am now 20 weeks... well almost 21, I guess. The baby is as long as a banana! It's been kicking a lot - but not hard yet, just cute kicks. And Brendon has been able to feel it, which is fun! And I've been feeling great! Second trimester truly is bliss! We went to the doctor today, and it is 12 oz. From what they can see, everything looks healthy! Heart beat is 144 - aka healthy. And we got to see him or her sucking their thumb - A LOT! It actually switched thumbs a couple times, I'm pretty sure, and then tried to get it's whole fist in its mouth! We told the tech that we did not want to know the baby's gender... and apparently the baby does not want us to know either because it was sitting Indian style. So the tech couldn't even tell. Although I will say, it did take a break to kick my bladder... delightful child! Here's it's profile. There were several pictures, but this is the clearest. Little Baby Lankford has its hand under its chin. The doc

Image courtesy of Pottery Barn When we decided we wouldn't find out the baby's gender, I thought about a Texas theme for the room. And with the bedding we already have for the full-size bed staying in the room... ...and the crib bedding I just ordered...  Again, image courtesy of Pottery Barn . Check out how the patchwork and stars detail matches the artwork above. Now back to what I was saying... Given the beddings I've chosen, I think this piece of art would coordinate well. But for $200 (on sale!), no thanks. So what do you think? Can I pull off making this? If you have an idea of how to get all those small pieces of perfectly cut wood, let me know!! The floor is now open... ideas please!

After visiting B's grandparents, we headed over to Breckenridge! My dad recently bought a place there, and since he was there for the week, we decided to visit him as well. I love Breckenridge! Such a cute town! One day we took the gondola to the top of peaks 7 and 8 to eat and play put-put! Eventually we headed home, through New Mexico, where we had some friends from church we stopped to see and stay with for a night. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of that! (Bad, photographer!) But here's a picture of our stop on the way there. We stopped at the Rio Grande Gorge. I was too chicken to go all the way to the middle though, where you can stand directly above the gorge and look out. No thank you. And our drive back... Sammy was tired of riding in the car. It was good to get home!

William at his pep rally with our 2-year-old sister Morgan. Austen had been bugging William, my 18-year-old brother, for awhile now to play football. Austen was a great football player and had loved it so much that he just knew William would too. William is great at basketball, but football's not really William's sport. Still he decided to do play football this year, his senior year, in memory of Austen. At the start of the season, William went to his coach, who had also coached Austen for one year, and asked him if there was ever the opportunity for him to score a touchdown, would the coach allow him the chance in honor Austen. The coach, of course, said yes. Last week at William's game, Kinkaid was way ahead of their opponent. So with a few minutes left, at the 7 yard line, the coach called a time out. He told the team their only job was to get William the ball and to guard, no matter what their normal position may be. And he told William his only job was to run the

This past week I was 18 weeks, and since it was another great fruity week, I'll share a picture! This past week the baby was as long as a mango. I have felt the baby every day this week, which I was not expecting at all. I mainly feel the baby at night when I lay down or in the morning before I get up, although I have actually felt it while I have been busy doing other things throughout my day. Some people compare the first baby movements to a butterfly or bubbles or even a goldfish. But it just feels like I have a mini person in there nudging me. Press your finger lightly to the inside of your arm, and that's what it feels like for me. I'm hoping Brendon will be able to feel the baby soon!

We drove to Colorado again this year! It was wonderful and relaxing to spend time with hubs and Sammy! We began our trip with one long day of driving. We made it to Buena Vista for the night, where we stayed at a motel... sad... the Best Western there didn't accept pets. For those of you who don't normally travel with pets, surprisingly many hotels accept them for an additional $10-15 pet deposit fee. And Best Westerns typically are dog friendly, just not this one... sad. So Super 8 it was. And let me just say this - not impressive. They put us in their pet room, which smelled like cat urine that had been covered up many times over by air fresheners. This pregnant (or even non!) lady was not going to have that. Fortunately though hubby convinced the woman at the front desk to move us and our well-behaved dog to a non-pet room, where we breathed much better. Phew. The next morning we finished our drive by taking Independence Pass over the Continental Divide. So beautiful!

Well this past week while we were in Colorado, my tummy popped! Being so petite, I totally thought it would pop out sooner. Everything I read lead me to believe I would. After all the baby has nowhere to go but out! But petite or not, I think 17 weeks is somewhere around average... but I totally thought I was going to bust out at 10! ;) As you can see, the baby was the length of a bell pepper that week. (I am now 18 weeks and a mango... I'll work on a picture!) Notable events of week 18 (aka 17 weeks)... The first stranger commented on my pregnant tummy! We were hiking, and a t-shirt, as roomy as they may seem pre-pregnancy, become much less roomy once pregnant... you can definitely see the bump through there. Anyway this woman was impressed I was doing this hike... and I was too! My hubby and his cousin led me to believe it wouldn't be strenuous. Yeah, right. I also felt the baby move!! I can feel it most mornings now if I lay still. So fun! This is on the early end I