I Felt Rebekah Kick...or maybe it was a punch!

Either way, my daughter is going to be a stud. While Jane has been feeling her moving around in there for weeks, last night was the first time I felt her move. After many false alarms where Jane thought I might be able to feel her, I finally did. Based on the force of her kick, or punch, to Jane's midsection I have narrowed down her future to hold one of these three potential careers:

If it was a kick...

She will likely be the next Mia Hamm

If it was a punch...

Then she'll probably be the next Laila Ali

And then there's always the possibility that she could be...

The next Joan of Arc

uhhmm...Maybe?

Preaching This Sunday! and random pictures...

Please pray for me this week as I prepare to preach at church this Sunday. Although I have done it a few times, it is always challenging. A lot of work and preparation goes into every message and trying to find a balance with spending time with Jane and taking care of other weekly responsibilities can be difficult.

Tonight I got a hold of some sweet pictures of the good ol' days...


I was informed that this beer was given to me by my Uncle Steve. He won't be allowed to babysit Rebekah. :) I must have acquired my ability to grip a can from my dad. We went camping once and I have several friends who still can't figure out how he successfully fell backwards out of his lawn chair, did a complete back-somersault, and never spilled a drop. Can one say that is a natural ability? or learned?


Seriously...fanny packs? Mom, Dad, what were you thinking? Uhhm...at least we match? Erin, you and I rocked those things like it was 1991...Oh wait, it was 1991.


This is me and my Great-Grandma Lillie...I was a pretty adorable little boy, eh?

Update on Stuff

As you can see, we are now past the halfway point in our wait for little Rebekah to arrive. Having a name already has been exciting because everyone has been trying to decide what they are going to call her (nickname wise). I personally like The Reb.

Until we have baby pics, I'll just keep uploading fun pictures of us and cool people.

This is me and my sister Megan.


Jane and my sister Erin


Me, Jane, and Megan posing for a serious picture.

While you are at it, you should check out a video our youth group made two weeks ago when we had our American Gladiators Adventure Night. www.youtube.com/tayloraustin22

I Love Being A Youth Pastor!!

Tonight was one of those nights where God not-so-subtly confirmed my call to be a pastor. After letting Tony, a guy I have mentored over the last year, know we found out our baby was a girl, he organized this group of students to come and love on us and our unborn baby. One of the really cool things that really got me thinking was how three of the five who showed up tonight (Tony, Max, and Kayla) all went with me to Mexico, but also have had Jane as a teacher at some point in the last four years. Max and Kayla have her now, but years ago, B.C. Tony had her too. And now Tony is in college and is pouring his life into high school students, and bringing them over just to celebrate with us.

They made us signs, bought a Sponge Bob window cover, a hat and socks that say "I love Daddy," some binkies, baby lotion, a stuffed duck for Rebekah, and a really nice card that they all signed. I had a professor at NTS who told us during our Personal and Spiritual Development of the Minister class that being a PK (pastor's kid) can be tough, and so we need to make sure we constantly remind them of the times like this where they were loved on in crazy ways...fun...now it's time to go to bed.

It's A Girl!

Woohooo! Jane and I just got back from our super high tech ultra sound where they were finally able to tell us the sex of our baby! They also told us that we are likely a week further in our pregnancy than we previously thought. That makes us 19 weeks in, or so, 21 weeks until the arrival of Rebekah Jane Lillie. Beautiful huh? Well, check out these photos of our beautiful baby...


Here's her face!


Here's a foot (it is about 3 cm - about an inch)!


The picture on the left is the evidence that our baby is a girl. The picture on the right is the cutest little butt ever.

Yay!

Another Pic of Janer and I with Fam!

Okay, so if you look really close you can see my step-dad Dave between our heads! I am definitely still waiting for some of my family to send me pictures of us with them, but as I was scanning through all the pictures in my stockpile, I found this beauty. Dave, Congratulations...you successfully did on accident what I purposely try to do every time I see a family, some love-birds, or a large group trying to get a picture in public. Welcome to our Hall of Fam...or as some might even say due to the wide-spread popularity of this blog, Hall of Fame!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US!!

That's right, today is our 3 year anniversary! And what an exciting 3 years it has been...

I thought a fun way to acknowledge the last 3 years would be to throw up a bunch of pictures of us with people that we love. As I went through our pictures I realized that we don't use our camera much (or at least we have gone through spurts of not), so I don't have pictures of us with everyone (mostly my fam). So if you are not on this blog, the reason is 100% because we don't have a picture with you. That means you should send me one. curtisl@discovery-livermore.com


Nayrb (Bryan spelled backwards) and Candice (that's ice, not ace - thanks B for that little trick to remember) at the Lathrop corn maze where Jane broke one of my favorite pairs of sandals and I had to walk back out in the dark with only a flip - no flop.

This is us in a famous spot in Enumclaw just this last year. Many of you may recognize this on-site location as being the place where I first proposed to Janer (Jane + R, the initial of her middle name Rebecca. Most people like to make shorter names for nicknames, I'm all about raising the bar). Oh by the way, the Starbucks which at one time was the host for this famous site has now moved across the street, and has been replaced by some smoothie place. Boo smoothies.

Jane's family has this weird habit of taking pictures of weird and disturbing faces. I prefer to make mine alone in front of a mirror where they only last but a moment. For your safety I chose to post a

To be honest I can't remember exactly when this picture was taken...but if I were a better husband I would be able to look at the decor of our home (note: the heart wreath behind us, the mirror on the floor to the left, and the absence of a huge bookshelf directly behind us) and I would be able to carbon date them to pinpoint an accurate date. Jane changes our pictures and furniture at least once a month, I try to keep track of the latest changes...I promise I do.

Greg and Andrea up in Gresham. Andrea and Jane go waaaaaay back, while my friendship is much more recent (4 + years to be exact). I must say however, that we became pretty good friends very quickly. How could you not, when you meet someone for the first time just hours after they gave birth to their first baby

Jane and I at Multnomah Falls in Oregon. My wife, the hiker! Not her favorite activity, but she's a good sport about it. Unlike me who hates playing the Brady Bunch game, and thus refuses and begins to pout every time I hear the words "Guess who I'm thinking of."

Benjamin and Kristi (hope I spelled that right...eek). Some super fun friends who used to be Livermore friends, but are now Portland friends as they've moved up to their old stomping grounds. Ben used to be a youth pastor with me in Livermore, now they are up north where he's teaching and Kristi is flight attendanting for Horizon.

We randomly were able to work out going down to Disney Land with Jane's parents last fall. Randomly at the last minute we also called Becca (Jane's sister) to see if she could work it out to come too. It was fun...Sorry that the best picture I have only includes half of John's face. What a great day!

Jane and I on a boat ride to Alcatraz! Jane had never been, so we went for her birthday. We spent the night in San Francisco and had a great day together. On the left you can see the Golden Gate bridge and right between our heads you can see part of the island of Alcatraz.

Welp as I said before, if you send me pictures I will post them. I want to include everyone who is important to us, I just don't have pictures of us with everyone. Here's to 3 incredible years, and 74 more to come!

Grace and Peace...