it's a girl!

we found out yesterday at 2 pm that we will be having a girl in february. we are very excited to be adding a girl to the josti family as this is not a normal occurrence. her name will be madeleine leigh josti. of course there is always the possiblity that it might change, but it's not likely. so not only can we refer to the baby as she but we can now refer to her as madeleine. for those of you who like to know the origin of names, madeleine is the french form of magdalene, which is commonly used in the english-speaking world. magdalene is from a title which meant "of magdala". mary magdalene, a character in the new testament, was named thus because she was from magdala - a village on the sea of galilee whose name meant "tower" in hebrew. she was cleaned of evil spirits by Jesus and then remained with him during his ministry, witnessing the crucifixion and the resurrection. leigh derives from leah which means meadow. leigh is also a family name on kelly's side of the family. it is an amazing experience to choose a name for your child. here are some pics from yesterday's ultrasound and some additional pics of my growing belly. felix wanted to be in this picture. you can see the tip of his nose.

look at that spine. she was on her stomach at the beginning, then rolled over on her side for awhile, then laid on her back. perfect for getting good shots of her profile and seeing whether she was a girl or boy. good job...now you can go back to being modest (C:

cute babies

i wanted to post pics of the cute babies that are currently in my life...either daily or through email pics...

here are some pics of karin and eric's little boy, eric manuel. adorable.

i got these pics today from my cousin of their little boy, grayson, and my uncle. i couldn't resist posting them.

miscellaneous

so it takes us awhile usually to upload pictures from our camera and since they are now uploaded, i figured i would post them to the blog. enjoy.

these are pics of my 28th birthday. the girls brought over lunch and gave me an amazing trip to pyara for an hour massage. i think this is my favorite way to celebrate my birthday...let's do it again next year!

allyson, kc and karin

me and ellie

stacey, amy and dena

lots o' food...yummmm

yummy cake with coconut and orangish raspberries on top...delicious

posed shot (C:

these are pics from opening day 2007 at fenway park. go red sox!

waiting in the clergy/ active military line at gate b...we get standing room tickets for 7 bucks.

me, nathan (pastor of church at the gate), stacey (ccpc team coordinator), dena and tj (pastor at trinity church of brighton), heather (student at emerson - my guest), and melissa (minister at tufts university - now at virginia tech...miss her)

the crew in our usual spot in the grandstand looking down on third base line. in case you haven't noticed, it was cold.this is on the wall behind where we stand. i love it.

that's all. hope you enjoyed our randomness.

Trip to Maine

Steve and I were able to take a trip to Ogunquit, Maine last weekend and stay at the Smith's studio at Perkins Cove. Below are pics of both of us with Felix as he did not like being in his crate in unfamiliar territory so only Steve could walk the Marginal Way (a walking path that follows the coastline behind me around to Ogunquit Beach for about a 4-5 miles roundtrip). I have walked this many times and it was Steve's first so I sacrificed the walking ocean view for the sitting ocean view at Perkins Cove. It was so hard to sit there and enjoy this amazing view. We also took the Smith's canoe out for a little trip through the cove, under the bridge and out to the mouth of the cove where we decided that our little vessel was too wobbly for ocean waters. (C: As you can also see, Steve enjoyed the lobster we got at Maude Hutchins (new discovery from last year's trip with Jamie and Kristen) in York, Maine. Our recommendation next time is to get the lobster steamed there and get your corn, potato and slaw at the grocery. We had wimpy corn and a small baked potato to compliment our amazing lobster. We also went to the outlets at Kittery and I purchased my quota of maternity clothes. I also had Steve go into one of my favorite stores - Spoiled Rotten - (by himself) and grab some Stonewall Kitchen Maine Blueberry Jam...amazing. We had Dippin' Dots ice cream while enjoying an evening view of the ocean, walked around Perkins Cove shopping, and enjoyed mornings with tea, coffee and breakfast on the porch overlooking Perkins Cove. All in all...it was, as always, an amazing trip to Ogunquit.



You can see the studio behind Steve (go up and left) in canoeing picture - grey with tree and large rock in front.

anticipation

so we are eagerly anticipating our 16 week appointment tomorrow where we will hear the baby's heartbeat again and schedule our 18 week ultrasound where we will hopefully find out if Baby Josti is a girl or a boy. all of this depends on how modest he/ she is but i'm counting on that not being the case and being able to share with you all when we find out.

i am to the point now where i need to go shopping for clothes. my best friend, karin, has loaned me a plethora of tops to wear but i am down to one pair of pants that fit and that is only because they are so low that they fit just under my belly. it is starting to get cold here and the leaves are already changing which is so early but i love it. steve and i are heading up to ogunquit, maine this weekend for a little retreat before we start working on all of our projects that need to be completed before the baby comes and i am so excited.

we had a great visit with my parents and had a relaxing weekend at the lake with amazing weather. we played lots of bocce and pinochle. as you can see, we were very precise to see who was the closest. i think yellow wins in this one (C:. we are looking forward to seeing them and the rest of my family again at thanksgiving.