IT'S A GIRL :-)

Yay for a little girl! We found out 2 weeks ago, and we couldn't be happier! I was SO nervous at the appt. I really wanted everything to be ok with the anatomy ultrasound, and thankfully it was. Our doctor was very pleased with our daughter's progress :-) I've been feeling a lot better these days, with fewer headaches. Hopefully they'll continue to decrease.

Chris and I went and registered at Babies R Us & Target. Boy was that an experience. We had fun picking out all the big stuff, but by the time we got to the bottles, pacifiers, etc - we were worn out! Who knew babies need all that stuff!!

Our little girl has been moving a ton since November 2nd! Chris felt her move for the first time a month later, and has been able to ever since. She can be completely still, and as soon as he lays his hand on my belly - she goes crazy!! Haha, it's great! She's a daddy's girl already! It's hard to believe that we only have 4 months left until we meet her! We can't wait!

Chris is busy taking finals to finish up his semester. He's taking one class during J-term, and then has one semester of school left! He's set to graduate in May - whoohoo! I can't wait! We're praying about what the Lord has in store for us!

I'll post a new belly pic soon :-)

Love always,

Michelle

Boy or Girl???

Tomorrow Chris & I head back to the Dr. for the anatomy ultrasound. This is the long one - where they'll check the baby's bone structure and parts for any defects or other problems. We're praying for a healthy, healthy baby!

Tomorrow is also the day we can hopefully find out what we're having! I've been waiting SO long, I can't believe it's finally here! I'm ready to start calling this baby by it's name, and I'm also way excited about registering! I'll update w/ what we find out soon :-)

Love always,

Michelle

16 1/2 weeks!!!

Baby on the way!!!

Chris and I are SO excited to be expecting our first baby! I'm 16 1/2 weeks, and we can't wait to find out the sex in a few more weeks - yay!

This of course is a huge change in our lives - and we have a ton of planning to do! We never realized just how much is involved...especially $$$$.

I'll start updating more often, and once Baby Shumate is here I'll make sure to keep lots of pics coming!

Love always,
Michelle

Going home...

I get to go home to Greeneville on Monday! I'm SO excited!! I have to be away from Chris for almost 7 days - which is terrible - but I haven't been home since late March! I can't wait to see my family & friends, and my cat Peaches :-).

My brother, John, is graduating from ITT Tech with an Associate's degree on Tuesday night! I'm seriously the proudest sister in the whole world! This is SUCH a huge accomplishment for him. I'm going to videotape, and cry, and videotape some more!

Chris has class all week, so that's why he's remaining behind. He gets to hang out with Gracie all week, haha!

I'll post pictures later on of my week in Gvegas!!

Love you all,
Michelle

I hate how weekends fly by!!

We had a fun weekend...which means it absolutely flew by :-(

Dennis & Vickie came to visit, and we always love having them! We went to a MudCats game, shopped a little bit, and ate a lot! They were able to come to church with us on Sunday, and then they had to head back to Greeneville...

We did get the bad news that our good friend Todd Clendenon, passed away after a long fight with cancer. We're grieving his loss, but are so relieved that he's in heaven, and that he's whole and happy. Please be praying for his beautiful family as they deal with his loss. Chris is going to be singing Todd's favorite song, "High Noon" by Andrew Peterson at the service on Wednesday. I know the service and the reception afterword will be amazing!

Hope you all have a great week!

Love always,
Michelle

It's been a while...

Hello friends!

I finally remembered that once upon a time, we had a blog! Of course it would take ages to catch you up on all that's happened since my birthday (the last time I blogged)...so I'll try a condensed version :-)

We moved into a new apartment across town in May! It's so great! The complex has a pool & fitness room - which makes me very happy :-). We're really enjoying having some extra space. It's definitely a bit different than Seminary housing!

Chris spent the entire summer taking Greek classes. I felt really bad for him since all he did was study. I helped and learned some Greek vocabulary. He's enjoying the next few days of no classes, and then starting his last fall semester on Thursday. We're hoping that he'll be able to get all the classes in he needs to graduate in May!!

I've been boring all summer. I've worked & worked, and spent any extra time at the pool. Our good friends Will & Jenn moved to Houston recently - so we're really missing all the time we use to spend with them :-(. But - we're hoping to visit them soon!

We took a family vacation to Williamsburg, VA this past week! We took Gracie with us and she played in the hotel room while we burnt up outside! We had SO much fun though! We'd love to go back when it's not 100 degrees outside...

We're very thankful that God is taking such great care of us! He always provides :-)

Love always,

Michelle

It's my Birthday!!

I absolutely adore Birthdays!! This year I turned 26, which wasn't so fun, but Chris and my friends made my day great :-)

Chris started by making me a delicious breakfast of pancakes and chocolate muffins - so healthy! He decorated the kitchen and had my gifts waiting on me!

Later in the day, he took me shopping and let me pick out 2 more gifts! We ate dinner and my new favorite restaurant - Red Hot & Blue, and then we went to see "Dear John." What a fun day!!

Here's a few pictures:

Love ya,

Michelle

Mumbai...

Wow! It has been absolutely FOREVER since I've posted anything! I promise to try to keep up with things a little better from now on :-)

A lot has happened between Christmas and now - the most important being our recent trip to India!

We couldn't have asked for a more amazing and moving time. God worked in wonderful ways and it was a very eye opening experience for both of us. It was wonderful to meet fellow brothers and sisters in Christ on another continent, and to witness the way they worship and spread the good news of our sweet Savior.

We're SO thankful and grateful for the prayers and support of our family and friends - we couldn't have gone without you!!! We're already in prayer about future trips God might lead us to participate with!

Here are some of my favorite pics from our trip:

Here I am with a precious little girl who came into the church looking for chocolate! That's a girl after my own heart!!

This shows one of my favorite parts of our trip! Teaching my students how to effectively explain and teach the Gospel to others :-)

Ok, this isn't one of my favorite pics, but I did want everyone to see how disgusting the squatty pottys can be!

I love this pic of Chris! So cute! These boys really enjoyed meeting him and Blake, another Southeastern student...
Typical Chris - surrounded by girls! Haha, just kidding! He's busy handing out Hindi tracks!


Love and miss you all,

Michelle