A Little Color

On our recent trip to Great Britain, I picked up some oil pastels and sketch book at a shop in Oxford. I've doodled swirls and fleur-de-lis-type objects in the margins of notebooks meant for lecture notes since high school and college. On the guest bedroom wall in our friend's home in Oxford was a 4' x 5' painting of colorful swirls. I was in awe. A few days later after we had made our way north to the tip of Scotland, I took out the few art supplies I had and started swirling and twirling colors myself. This is what came of my time in Freswick:

Colors Twirling
oil pastel on paper

We're Expecting a....

BABY! Yes, that's right; it is, it is! We are officially 10 weeks along now, so it's still too early to determine gender (although lots of people have been asking). We have seen the heart beating, and at our next doctor appointment we will get to hear it, too!

Going to the obstetrician here in Austria is quite different than in the states. We walked right in, and before we could sit down on the sofa to wait, the doctor came to get us. He took us into his office and talked for a while before he took my blood, weighed me, took my blood pressure, and then did the ultrasound exam. We never saw a nurse, and we were finished in under 30 minutes. All of the exams and tests only cost us €80 (about $115). Since our temporary insurance in Austria doesn't cover pregnancies, we have to pay for it ourselves. What a blessing that the government subsidizes medical care!

While "morning" sickness could be worse, I've been suffering through it for nearly 4 weeks. I'm pretty tired of feeling yucky and ready to have energy to accomplish things that need to get done. We are planning to move back to Texas in February, and while I'm sure to feel better before then, I'm hoping our last 3 months in Austria aren't spent with me in bed.


The ultrasound photo above is the first of our baby. While the lower half mostly looks like fuzz, you may notice a clear black area (the uterus) within the fuzz. Inside the uterus is more fuzz, and that's the baby. In this photo (taken on October 24) the baby was only 12.8 mm long. Now the baby is about 4.5 cm (about 2 inches) and growing rapidly.

Please pray for us, that mom will stay healthy, that baby will grow perfectly, and that dad will continue to be such a wonderful help.

Artwork of a Beginner

Throughout my lifetime, Autumn has always been a very busy season for me. All three of my sisters and my mom have birthdays during the fall, and there is usually some trip, conference, or gala smashed into the calendar as well. This year is quite different, and for the first time, I'm able to do some of the things I've always wanted. Painting and sketching, has been a long-awaited treat for me. I've never taken a single art course, but I found a beginner book and basic watercolor set in London. Here are a couple of my first artistic pieces. Thanks to my friend Steven Purcell for the inspiration!