Woah, Baby!

Apparently the baby decided to grow overnight because this belly seemed to come out of nowhere! Surprisingly still not in maternity pants, although some are getting close to not fitting anymore. Spencer and I are going to be really busy the next 3 days....moving to our new place. Its bittersweet having to leave our first apt. but exciting we get to move to a bigger place to make room for our baby! Only 5 more days until we can call it by name and not 'it'.

A Growing Baby!

Yesterday I was 18 weeks (5 months)! I can't believe it! We are also counting down the days 'til July 6th! Our appt. was moved from 9am to 4:15pm, so if you don't get a call from us until later that night, don't worry we're not trying to keep it from you :) Tonight Spencer starts teaching at series called 'weird stories of the Bible'! Not much else to update on. Next blog will hopefully be about Seth or Paige!

Busy Travelers!

Spencer leading our team in Tug-o-war at beach rec

Our costumes that portray 'the kingdom'-- Burger King, Dairy Queen and Jack in the Box!

The view of the Gulf from our condo in Galveston, TX

Our team at camp- The Vikings!

Celebrating our first anniversary in Glen Rose, TX

Spencer's first Father's day gift!

The month of June has been packed with so much traveling for us! Nearly every weekend has been filled...actually every weekend is filled! The first weekend we drove to Houston for a college ministry conference, the next week we left Thurs. for Memphis for Stew and Kassie's beautiful wedding where Spencer performed the ceremony...of course he did an amazing job! We got home from Memphis on Sunday and left the next morning for a week in Galveston for youth Beach Camp! Spencer and I were family group leaders for the upcoming seniors. Our team for the week was called the Vikings...the students made a flag and bandanas for us to wear during Rec time. There was also a costume contest one night where we had to wear something that portrayed the 'kingdom' which was the theme for the week. Spencer and I decided to be Burger King and Dairy Queen...and included the baby as Jack in the Box! Overall it was a great week....we connected really well with the upcoming college freshman for next year!

Right now we are living in a sea of boxes as we pack up our stuff and move next weekend! Spencer and I went to look at the new place and measure everything to make sure everything would fit and we think it will. Luckily we decided to get movers to haul all of our big stuff! I will post pictures as soon as everything comes together at the new place!

Only 2 more weeks until we find out if we are having Seth or Paige!!!

Little Ears

Just a quick little update...
Our baby can now hear! So, of course you know we are now talking non-stop to our baby throughout the day! Spencer talks to my belly every morning and every night...so cute! In the mornings the baby and I have Bible story time and at night I put a little ear phone to my belly and put on soft music! Also I've been slowly out growing some of my shirts and am now in the market for more 'flowy' shirts and some smaller maternity shirts! I keep trying on materinty pants with no luck...Im still too small. So as of now I am at the 'in-between' phase. Our house is now filled with boxes and empty walls as we begin the slow process of packing up and moving to our bigger apt. in less than a month. We are excited about this weekend, Spencer will be performing his first wedding---his brother, Stew is getting married this Sat. in Memphis!
Continue to pray for our little baby's development and growth!

2nd Trimester

We have finally made it to the 'golden trimester'---the 2nd trimester. I definitely understand why expectant moms call it this. You actually feel normal and not sick! Today we are 15 weeks and 2 days and our little Seth or Paige is starting to make themselves known! This week our baby measures about 4.5 inches and weighs about 2-3 oz. about the size of a navel orange! His/her ears are positioned properly on the sides of the head and the eyes are moving from the side of the head to the front (they are still fused shut). Seth/Paige can now wiggle his/her fingers and toes and even suck a thumb! Even though I can't feel it yet our little blessing is working out--kicking, flexing and moving those arms and legs!! Spencer and I went to the Dr. again on Monday and got to hear the heartbeat again. It was 140 beats/min! The nurse immediately said, "I think its a boy." Spencer's reaction was an extatic 'YES!' Alot of times the lower the heartrate the more probability that its a boy...but only a few more weeks until July 6th and we will know for sure! Be praying that our little guy or girl will be in the right position. Good thing we will be busy with college conferences, weddings, and beach camp so we don't go crazy wondering what it could be! Our next few weeks look like this:

June 5-6--SBTC college conference in Houston (Spencer will be speaking in a few sessions!)

June 11-13--Memphis for Stew and Kassie's wedding!

June 15-19--Beach camp

June 26-27--Spencer goes to Ohio with SWBTS profs

July 2-4--move into our new and bigger apt.

July 5, 12, 19, 26--Spencer preaches on Sunday mornings!

July 6-- boy or girl? We find out!

We also enjoyed a fun weekend with Spencer's parents who made a quick trip to TX last weekend....it was a couple of days filled with: Joe T's, frozen custard, water gardens, BBQ, and a playoff game (on TV)!! As of now I am filling my days will morning walks and slowly packing up our apt!

Cheerios

Today I'm offically at 11 weeks! Not really a milestone week, but only 2 more to go until I'm out of the first trimester and hopefully goodbye to nausea after that!! Recently I've found that the best remedy (for me anyway) has been dry honey nut cheerios!! I wish I would have discovered this a few weeks ago. So Spencer and I bought a huge box! I'm also getting really clumsy, I drop every thing I try to pick up or knock stuff over! As you can see the baby is revealing itself...a little. I'm really trying to push my stomach out so you can see, but hopefully in the next few weeks I won't have to. Spencer is really excited to finally see some evidence of the baby. Its still kind of surreal because I'm not showing really. Our college students are going to have a big surprise when they come back in the fall...I will be six months along by then! They are all really excited and can't wait 'til Nov.! Our next appt. is actually tomorrow, just a check up to see how I'm progressing. July 6th seems like an eternity away until we see how our baby again on the sonogram...that's when we will find out if its a boy or girl! Join Spencer and I as we pray daily for the baby's health and development...we know that God has fearfully and wonderfully made our child!!

Last weekend, Spencer and I flew to Nashville (I secretly want to move there!) for a national college conference (it was actually 2 conferences that overlapped and we went to both.) We mostly went to the sessions for church based collegiate ministry...which was a bit smaller only about 40 people. They had a wives session which was really refreshing to get to talk to other wives in the same situation I am in....4 out of 8

us were pregnant...AND...there were 2 other girls there named Shelley who even spelled it the same way as me!! We also went sightseeing...here is the Grand Ole Opry. Anyway, Spencer got to make a lot of contacts and enjoyed hearing people like Mark Dever, David Platt and Ed Stetzer speak. In one of the pictures Spencer is talking to one of the Lifeway guys after a breakout session about ministry, this was a regular occurance last weekend! We are so excited about the doors God has opened up in the college ministry and in our lives over the past few weeks! We are prayerful about the upcoming fall semester! We had our first meeting with new leadership team, we really believe God is doing a work in them, not only in their personal walk but also as they invest in other people! They are leaving an amazing legacy at TCU.

We were in Nashville on Spencer's birthday so we celebrated a little early before we left. We had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in Arlington! The waiters of course sang to him and gave him this special dessert plate! He picked the carrot cake cheesecake! The picture doesn't look like it, but it was huge...but so good! Spencer loved getting the cards and the gift cards from family in the mail! I was telling him that this will be his last birthday with just me...next year we'll have a 5 mo. old!!

We have plans to move to a bigger apt. sometime in July to make room for our baby! I took Spencer to Babies 'R Us the other day and he was in complete shock! He had never seen so much baby stuff! He loved looking around though and helping me pick out some potential baby stuff! We won't register until we know if its a boy or girl...so sometime in July we will make the big trip to register! Can't wait!

...and baby makes 3!!!

me at nine weeks- still no evidence but I know our baby is in there somewhere!

A pic of our college students reaction!

The invitation I gave Spencer to tell him I was pregnant!

Our baby at 8 weeks! Its actually facing us!

Spencer are are so excited to announce our newest blessing.....we are PREGNANT!! I am 9 weeks along and our due date is Nov. 24!

It has been so hard trying to keep it a secret...especially from the college students!!!

We had a suspicion I might be before we left for China. Our suspicion was correct...we found out the day after we got back!!! I broke the news to Spencer by giving him a birthday invitation to our baby's birthday in November!! I was so excited!! The week after we got back from China was probably the hardest because I was dealing with jet lag plus nausea, not a good combination. But we kept saying that it was a good sign that I was nauseous...haha. But its so amazing to think about God forming and shaping our little peanut everyday! Spencer has been so amazing, he has helped out so much around the house...the baby just zaps my energy! He has also been bringing me breakfast in bed...only toast and OJ sounds good right now. But as of lately I have not been as nauseous in the morning. Now its moved to a during the day and sometimes in the evening. I have been eating as healthy as possible, but sometimes I crave really salty stuff, like chips! (I've heard if you crave salty food that its a boy...we find out July 6)

Last Monday, April 13th we had our first sonogram!! We heard and saw the heartbeat!! We were so excited! I was a little nervous going in, but I knew either way, that God had a plan for us and that it was all in His hands!! Its heart was beating about 153 beats per min. !! It was so exciting because that day in my quite time, the scheduled reading was 127. That chapter says, 'children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.' Spencer and are so humbled that God would chose us as parents for His child!

Since we got to see the heartbeat, we decided to finally tell people...it was so hard to wait!! We told our college students today! We took one picture and said 'everybody say cheese' and we took another one and said 'everybody say Shelley's pregnant' and we caught their reaction on camera!!!

Both sets of grandparents, great grandparents and aunts and uncles are extremely excited and anxiously awaiting Nov. 24th! Spencer and I have plans to move into a larger Seminary apt. that will give us more room for the baby. Hopefully we will be moving early in July.

We keep you updated with lots of pictures in the weeks to come!!

Please keep all 3 of us in your prayers. God has definitely given us such a blessing....a child. Psalm 127:3-4

Quick update

one of the places where we went shopping on our last day in China

View from our restaurant of street vendors

Me and Spencer at the 'bund' with a view of the famous skyline of Shanghai

Corner of of Spencer's new office at work

Spencer hard at work in his new office

A brief update for everyone!

Spencer has moved into a new office at the church!! He loves it and plus there is even more room for all his books!!

We are also fully recovered from our trip to SE Asia over spring break! We met so many college students and were so excited to be able to share Christ with them! The best part was to look on their faces when they heard it for the first time!! We are so excited about what God is doing over there! Some of the ones we made contact with are now in 'seeker' groups and may be close to believing soon!!

Spencer is closing in on another semester and his last language class! We are looking forward to a fun filled summer-- weddings, camp, retreats! The weather is starting to get warmer...yay!

4 weeks away!!!

As many of you know the college ministry at Southcliff is going on 2 mission trips this spring break: one international trip to SE Asia and one national trip to Florida to minister to other college students. We have about 40 out of our 75 students that have signed up to go....they excited about how God is going to use them in a few weeks to share Christ with others. A few of our students are working hard trying to raise support through writing letters, doing services projects and other odd jobs! We know that God is faithful and will provide for these students! Some are still falling short of the cost in order to go on the trips. If you feel that God is leading you to help financially send these students out to proclaim Christ please let us know! Any amount would be humbly accepted by these students.
Please contact Spencer: 817-673-8999 or email: spencer@southcliff.com or
spencp7@yahoo.com

How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, " HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!" Romans 10:15
Thanks so much for being a vital part of the college ministry at Southcliff!!

Happy New Year!

Spencer and can't believe its almost the end of January!!
Our new year was spent with some of the college students that come home from college during the holidays...so it was really good to catch up!

This past Thurs. we just had our Spring semester photo-scavenger hunt to welcome everyone back and for the small groups to catch up and hang out! The next college thing on our calendar is the Superbowl party, Feb. 1st---GO CARDINALS!

Spencer started back at seminary- Ph.D- semester #2 ! Right now he's taking: 1) Baptist and Free Church Reading Seminary 2) Pneumatology (study of the Holy Spirit) and 3) Latin....however he may get to substitute his last semester of Latin with Dutch...this should help him later on with his dissertation topic!

The spring semester is filled with lots of traveling for the Plumlees!!
Jan. 22-24- New Braunfels, TX - SBTC collegiate leadership conference
Feb. 6-7- Leadership retreat- all over Fort Worth
Mar. 11-20- SE Asia!!!!
Apr. 29-May Nashville, TN- SBC Collegiate leadership conference
May 10- Mother's day and our 1 yr. anniversary!!!!!
June 5-6- Houston, TX - SBTC Leadership conference
June 12-13- MEMPHIS, TN - KENNEMORE/PLUMLEE WEDDING!
June 15-19- Southcliff Baptist Church Youth- Beach Camp-we will be adult leaders

We are so thankful for all the ways God has shown Himself faithful already this year... We serve such an amazing God:
HOW MARVELOUS!!!!!
I stand amazed in the presenceOf Jesus the Nazarene,And wonder how He could love me, A sinner, condemned, unclean.

how marvelous! how wonderful! And my song shall ever be: how marvelous! how wonderful! Is my Savior’s love for me!

He took my sins and my sorrows,He made them His very own;He bore the burden to Calvary,And suffered and died alone.

how marvelous! how wonderful! And my song shall ever be: how marvelous! how wonderful! Is my Savior’s love for me!

When with the ransomed in gloryHis face I at last shall see, ’Twill be my joy through the agesTo sing of His love for me."