All Moved In

We are finally all moved in. It took us quite a while to get everything set up and in working order. We just got internet access today (although that was less due to the move and more due to an error on AT&T's part). Last night we did the finishing touches on the place by hanging our picture frames and coat rack. And the place looks pretty nice even if I do say so myself.

Shannon and I are very pleased with our new residence. At first we both had much hesitation about living at this new place. We were afraid that we had made the decision prematurely and had locked ourselves into a 1-yr lease for an apartment with not enough room. But, we made a few tactical decisions, such as moving the TV and entertainment center into the store room at least for the time being, and now there's room for everything, especially the baby's room. We also were struggling with guilt that the place we had might not meet the societal expectations for raising a child. But we regrouped and decided, "nah! that's just a pack of lies." The place we have is cozy and perfect for raising our first child, albeit a little cold.

The house has a crawl-space underneath, so it's get cooooooold at night and it hardly warms up during the day. At least the summer won't be too hot.

I want to give a shout out to our friends who helped in the move: Dave, Peter, Noah, Terrence, and Erik. You made the last stretch of the move fun and quick. Also, a thanks to my parents for coming all the way from El Centro to help us clean the place up. What loving parents! Below is a picture of our new place. Yah God! Thank you for our new home!

Baby McMahon

Alright. Here's the post all of our friends have been waiting for. This past Monday, Shannon and I went to an ultrasound place in UTC for her mid-term ultrasound. At first I was really skeptical. Our insurance probably won't be covering as much of the ultrasound as it does other services and I was pretty upset about this. Money doesn't really flow free with me (but you already knew that!). But I gotta tell you. Wow! Their equipment and professionalism was awesome. It was a great experience. If any of you care to do so, you're welcome view the VHS recording of the ultrasound at anytime; just let us know.

So, without further ado, I will turn this blog over to Shannon who will tell you how she feels and you can enjoy all the pictures along the way. God is great! Hallelujah!!!! ~Mike

Our last appointment was just before Christmas. According to the doctor and many of the books that I have perused, the mother can start to feel the baby move around 16-20 weeks. I was hoping to feel it early and wanted to feel kicking by Christmas, which came during my 16th week. Christmas came and went and no kicking. Weeks 17, 18, and 19 came and went.
no kicking. Week 20 came and still no kicking. Now I was getting a bit nervous. Was our baby okay in there? I voiced my concerns to Michael and we kept holding our hands on my belly hoping to feel movement. Sometimes I would feel sensations in my abdomen that felt like gas bubbles, but I wasn't sure if maybe these were the "flutterings" other women had told me about. A week before our appointment, I asked a woman at my church to pray for me and the baby. She and some other women did so, and I was reminded that God loves and cares for this child even more than I do. This child's health is in His hands. I made it through the next week and finally this Monday had my fears completely done away with.

Not only is our baby alive in there, it has all twenty of its fingers and toes and all four of its heart chambers, is growing according to plan, and is performing its daily activities of standing on its head (she/he is definitely his/her mother's child) , chewing on its amniotic fluid, and sucking its little thumb. You can imagine my delight at seeing the first signs of our baby's personality! The baby was literally turned on top of it's head, with it's feet up near my right rib cage, it's butt curled up around my right lower abdomen, and it's head resting near my left lower pelvic bone. The ultrasound technician had to poke and prod it and turn me on my side to get a good shot of it's face. But, man, with that 4-D camera did he get a good shot! We could actually see the baby moving it's jaw up and down, screwing up it's face, and putting its thumb in its mouth. The technician was even able to check its upper lip for any clefts.

Michael was curious to see if the baby is missing any of its lumbar vertebrae like he and his dad are, so the technician isolated the spine for us and we tried to count them. They seem to all be there. The brain was also checked and the length of the main bone structure. The baby is now a whopping 9 1/2 inches in length. In the end, the technician claimed that according to what he could see, we have a very good looking baby (in terms of health and completeness...it still rather looks like an alien!). All in all, it was quite an amazing and relieving experience.

Afterwards, Michael and I discussed that we had both been surprised that our baby is healthy. Oh, we of little faith. God has given us this child, and yet we keep waiting for calamity to strike.
We get robbed of a lot of our joy because we are concentrating so much on the what-ifs. We confessed all this to God and asked Him to give us more faith. I think that we are going to need it with our new job titles (mommy and daddy! we are going to be mommy and daddy to some person, some little person and eventually some big person!). I've heard that the potential to worry never goes away for a parent and often only increases as your child gets older and has more freedom and responsibility. But I am confident that "God will supply all of our needs according to His riches in glory," and as far as I know, He is pretty rich.

Pregnancy Is Amazing

We've yet to actually acknowledge the fact on this blog, so finally, without further ado, Shannon is pregnant. She's about 21 weeks, that's half-way! We're through the "scary" time of pregnancy where the greatest possibility exists that the mother may miscarry and about 2 weeks from the time when pre-mature babies have an actual chance of surviving. But really, this has not scared us. We have really been trusting in God to see this pregnancy through to the full 40 weeks with mother and child healthy and, Lord-willing, comfortable and un-drugged.

Even from the beginning, we've known with certainty that this was planned by God. (We certainly didn't plan it! hehe) But seriously, we know that God really wanted to bless us and is blessing us through this entire experience. As soon as I had a minute to process the fact that Shannon was pregnant (4 months ago) I was overwhelmed by the waterfall of grace God was bestowing on me to the be the father of one of His children, His intimate creation. And at the same time I felt affirmed in my manhood because He is bestowing on me such a great responsibility. Since that time I've felt my spirit and mind strengthened with grace and truth that God is with me and my family. I've really grown into who I am these past months and am longing to meet my child 4 1/2 months from now. ~Michael

(PS - I'll be posting pics of the ultrasound in the next post).

We're Dating Again!

Wow! So we stop watching media and guess what? We actually had a bona fide date! In the recent past, our date would have comprised of eating dinner in front of the TV while watching Stargate episodes or a movie that we rented. Every once in a while we'd actually go out... to the Drive-in. Sigh... I'm sorry to let all the fellas down. I've not been much of a stallion lately, that is until now!

Well, actually it was Shannon's idea, but I made it happen. She wanted to surprise me with a campfire at Mission Bay along with a little "camper's delight." So I went to Food 4 Less and got some firewood while she prepared some hot cocoa and our aluminum foil-wrapped chicken-carrot-potato masterpieces (camper's delight).

Once to Mission Bay, what did I find? No fire pits anywhere near any houses! They took them away! What's up with that???? So we trudged on (me carrying 40 lbs of firewood in the sand) back to the car and went to an area away from houses on the bay and found a campfire. After about 45 minutes the logs finally kept themselves alive. And after 30 minutes in the fire, our camper's delight was half-charred, yummy ;p.

Overall it was a fun night. We finished with some Mexican food from the taco shop across from the Belmont RollerCoaster.

For anyone who actually continues to read our old near-forgotten blog, stay tuned for further updates from the last three months. ~Michael

Time Out From Media

Since Shannon and I have been married (and before that, I'm sure), we've allowed ourselves to be inundated with media. This comes in the form of movies, TV shows, the internet, books and video games. During this time, though we've seen spiritual growth and maturity come about, our relationships with God have seemed a bit stagnant. At the same time, I think we've begun to cling to media for our source of joy. It's the thing that we look forward to at the end of the day. For empirical evidence to support this claim, we need only look at the gifts we received/requested for Christmas and how much of our free time we have put forth toward taking in media. I got 2 Miyazaki movies, the X-Men Trilogy, and X-Men Legends (an X-Box Game). Shannon got the complete Jane Austen collection (book) and the recent cinematic version of Pride and Prejudice (it's very good if for anyone who questions the brilliance of Jane Austen as an author). When this is added to the fact that we just borrowed two seasons of Stargate from my friend Peter, we have at least 120+ hours of media entertainment (180+ hours for me with the game included).

All this said, we're overloaded and practically enslaved by media. What are we to do? But only this week I believe that I heard God very clearly. It was sort of an answer to prayer and yet very unexpected because I thought myself incapable of hearing such a request from Him. I've fasted from media before, usually for 40 days at a time, but usually to very little gain on my part. So I really didn't feel like giving up playing video games anymore or giving up movies for another 7 weeks of my short life which is left on this earth. But, somehow, giving up my free time to God was the only thing that made sense to me this past Wednesday night. I was shocked that I could even conceive of the idea let alone actually think it was a worth while idea. It was almost immediately obvious that God's Spirit was doing a work in us when I told Shannon and we both had agreed that night.

So now we're choosing to live media free. The reason I share this is mainly because I'm not viewing it as a fast. Fasts have a pre-decided duration. This one is completely up in the air. From the beginning I felt that we would just know if it was ever okay for us allow it back into our lives. When we decided, I also felt that God was answering prayers for a deeper closeness to Him and greater hunger for His kingdom rule in our lives. This is not to say that I've seen any explosive breakthroughs, but suffice it to say that He is working. I know that He's going to renew our hearts for the purpose of spreading His name and renown. I also feel, but am not sure, that He will redeem our hearts as far as media is concerned and that we will no longer look to it as our source of comfort. Rather, we'll find our meaning and purpose in His Son's death and resurrection and live lives set free from the curse. I know that this is God's plan for us. It's the only thing that makes sense to me really.

Right now, to be honest, I don't feel like worshiping Him or studying the Bible. I'd rather watch a movie or do something else that would not be very fulfilling. But I know that the life He has for us must be bigger than this. I see my friends who enjoy media but don't seem to be enslaved by it. There are other friends that enjoy so many things the world offers and yet appear to live lives devoted to God. I want that for us. I want to be able to enjoy the life God has given me in the many forms that it presents itself and live free from guilt and condemnation. I want the cross to cover my life completely not so that I can do whatever I want, but so that I can do whatever God wants and be able to exult in it. I want to live free. ~Michael