23 Weeks & Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Blog Family!

It's a little Christmas present from me to you that this BUMPdate is up a day early :)

Here is the 23 week BUMPdate: 12/25/13 -

And the side-by-side from last week:

I think she had quite a growth spurt this week, no?!  Both Julie & I thought it was quite a change from last week.  It's really hard to believe that next week we will be 6 months along.  SO crazy.

She is now over a pound and 11 inches long.  She's about the size of a mango this week:

I needed to find a picture that would give me a little size clue because one single mango on a white background wasn't helping me picture how big she is.  This picture really made me stop for a second.  She's actually that big right now.  Crazy.

In other developments this week, if Julie were to play a little music and begin dancing Kamdyn would recognize the movement.  Soon we should be able to see Kamdyn moving from the outside of Julie's belly.  {I'll say one more time that I cannot wait to lay on the couch and feel her move for hours upon hours…or until Julie gets tired of me! :)}  Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing and the sounds that her increasingly developing hearing can pick up are preparing her to enter the outside world.  Loud noises that are becoming normal to her {dogs barking, loud music, vacuum cleaner, etc} won't even phase her when she arrives.  {Julie, feel free to make as much noise as possible!  We have a loud family! :)}

I will be back this weekend with a recap and photo dump of the incredible Christmas we've had.  We are so blessed with family we genuinely enjoy, laughter, health, and joy.  We have unloaded and unpacked so many amazing gifts this Christmas - but my favorite gift this year?

Not only what's inside that belly - but the people who are in that home.  That family is one of the most incredible, life-changing, out-of-nowhere blessings I've ever experienced in my life.  Not only for me, but for the many people who have fallen in love with our story.  Many of you are reading this blog post because you know me in real life.  Others of you are reading this blog because you've heard about our story from someone you know who knows someone I know.  It has always been my prayer {and Julie's} that our story would be bigger than us…we wanted to share our story because we hoped it might inspire others to give intentional acts of kindness to others.  The magnitude of her act of kindness will never stop being incredible to me - but I am honored and humbled that this is the life God has given me.  I'm so thankful for this gift and have vowed that I will never stop telling Kamdyn the beautiful story of selfless, humble, Godly love that brought her into this world.

Thank you for making this little blog a part of your life.  You are one of my biggest blessings.  :)

Merry Christmas -