This just in...

Corporal Punishment is allowed in Tennessee! When I heard it I could NOT believe it. Chris and I help lead the youth at our church and one of the students, who goes to a private school, is getting paddled today. I thought I misheard him, but I didn't. He preceded to tell me that paddling was allowed at private schools if your parents sign a waiver when you first enter the school saying it is OK. Of course I was curious so I asked all about how it goes down. He said that he has to go into the principal's office, get patted down (making sure he doesn't have a wallet or anything that would get in the way of the paddle. Which, yes, means the principal touches his butt), touch his toes and get paddled 3 times. Seriously? That just seems so 1800s to me. And wrong. How can a parent actually think that having their 16 year old son get paddled by their principal is going to make him behave better? Ridiculous!

On the Edge

Kristine and I feel we are on the edge of something great. We've been praying the same prayers and fearing the same fears for long enough. We have struggles and questions and joys and answers, but we feel something big on the horizon. We just pray that we stay sane and patient long enough to get there, and to appreciate it when it happens, instead of saying "it's about freaking time!"

Kristine told me to blog about something funny, so I'll lighten this up a bit.

Is it weird to pray for your unborn child to have superpowers? (If your answer is "yes," then we probably aren't very close). Nothing that would effect his appearance (i.e. gills, prehensile tail, green skin), but flight, invulnerability, or super strength. I'm not saying I do pray for this, nor am I denying it.

Follow up question: Would you take the power of flight IF you could then never walk again? You could land on your feet, sit, lay down, etc., but you couldn't run, jog, skip, or walk when you wanted to move. You could only fly, or hover from place to place. Would you?

I would in a freaking second.

Let's get this straight... there are certain things you can say and certain things you CAN'T say to pregnant women. Let's just say the list of things you can say is way shorter than the list of things you can't. Here is what you CAN say:

You look amazing!
Wow! Pregnancy REALLY agrees with you.
I hope I look as good as you when I'm pregnant.

The end. That's ALL you can say. I will say that this is completely unacceptable: You're ONLY six months along? You're big for six months.

Just thought I would share that advice with you. Chris knows what he can say, and is so great at making me feel beautiful, even though my face keeps getting fatter, day by day.

Some photos

My sweet nephew Jacob... look at those teeth!

My beautiful niece Abby, holding a blanket my neighbor knitted for our son.

My friend Kaitlyn and me at just over 4 months. Yes, I realize my face is gaining weight.

Me at 4.5 months...

My amazing sister and precious mother... aunt Mindy and Bebe

I loathe Kay Jewelers commercials. First of all, they have the worst actors. Second, could they be more cheesy? For example: the last one I saw (2 minutes ago) a couple is at their cabin, looking out the window at the "horrible" storm. Lightning strikes and the woman (who apparently has never seen nor heard thunder before) spins around to her husband and hides her face in his shoulder. And he says, "I'm right here... and I always will be" and then hands her a small jewelry box with a diamond necklace in it. Come on! Really? They couldn't come up with anything better than that? And now, the song at the end has a man singing an octave lower with the familiar lady's voice, which my husband has said makes it sound like a Beauty and the Beast song. Ridiculous!

DALLAS!!

Chris and I drove up to Dallas last week to go to a wedding and visit with friends and family. It was a successful trip! Other than the drive, we had a blast and got to see almost everyone we wanted to! Jason and Jouleen's wedding was beautiful. We are so thrilled that you are husband and wife. My sister, sister-in-law, and best friend threw me a baby shower where I got to see tons of friends and family and our little guy (did I mention we're having a BOY!!) got some great stuff for his new life! We are making a Superman themed nursery (which we already painted his room and are going to hang the awesome curtains today... then we'll post pictures) that Chris, his dad and I are super pumped about! Our last night in town we had a fun Sushi Loco get together and scarfed down some delicious food and had fun spending our last night in Dallas as non-parents with our friends. Yes, that's right... the next time we come to Dallas we will be bringing our son with us. I can't believe I am 5 months pregnant! Time has flown by so fast. Chris and I can't help but talk about how much we can't wait for his arrival and how we hope to raise him to love Jesus and us.
The San Antonio Reyes' came in town for the showers. It was so much fun. I have the best friggin family ever. We tried to spend a lot of time with them. Jacob and Abby are getting so BIG!! They are 2 of the most beautiful, adorable children EVER! Abby is so sweet and loves her little brother and talks all the time. Jacob is a little wiggle worm and I see him as a drummer in the near future. Before Matthew had to go back to SA for work, my sister's friend took some pictures of our family (minus Scott... he currently resides in Colrado and won't be home for who knows how long). So here they are... like I said, Abby is so beautiful and Jacob is so stinking adorable!!

Two months is too long...

2 months is a long time to go without posting, so I apologize. Things have been busy around the Munselle household. In September Chris left for a month to be on the Keith Urban tour as the AV tech. I'm sure if any of you read my news feeds on Facebook, you would know how miserable I was without him. 30 days is a long time for someone to be gone... especially if your wife is pregnant. My emotions did not fare well without him here. After the first week we started Skyping and the first few times I cried like a baby. Seriously, it was ridiculous. I honestly could not help it. After that it got better, no more crying! I had a few friends spend the night with me to help with the loneliness, but the last week I could not take it any more and took my home group leaders up on their offer and stayed with them. It was so incredibly nice of them to offer up their home to me and feed me and take care of me, which they did really well. AND it made the last 7 days go by so much faster. Before I knew it he was home.
He had a good time on the road and made a few good friends, met some really nice people, and made great connections. Oh, and did I mention he stood next to Nicole Kidman at several of the shows?! I was a little jealous. He affirmed that she is just as beautiful (and tall) in person as she is on screen. We also decided that he would NEVER leave for that long again. I cannot imagine going through that again. I don't understand how people do that for years and years. It was really hard. I missed everything about him. And I got a glimpse at what my life would be like without him and I hated it. He is my everything, the one I love with all my being. I am so lucky to have him as my husband and the father of my soon to be child!