the dance

So maybe some of you out there have heard of pregnant people becoming less than graceful when they get pregnant.

Something about a change in their center of gravity...or something like that.

It's the #1 reason why bike riding during pregnancy is discouraged.

(insert sarcastic voice here) Now I've always been proud of my graceful movements. I'm an amazing dancer, and I never fall up the stairs (yes, up is the correct term). And last night, at Bible study, my dear husband affirmed my gracefulness.

As I sat on the couch with a plate full of food balancing on my lap, my glass of tea in one hand, and my napkin and chocolate chip cookie in the other, I noticed him eying me carefully.

"Careful with all that," he commented. To which I sort of annoyedly responded "I will."

"Well, you haven't been the most graceful lately.

Ok, so maybe I drop things on a regular basis, and maybe I spend a good portion of the day picking up things that I knocked over. And maybe I can hardly get out of the shower without killing myself.

But the other day, when the shade fell down, I did not try to re-roll it 4 times because I kept dropping it and finally gave up.

I think I'd better stay off of bikes.

The story (and a picture)

Just to make this a little easier (for myself) I'll just copy the note I wrote on facebook when announced we were pregnant.


As some of you know, I've been treated for infertility for the past year. We've received several diagnoses, gone to 3 different doctors, and tried lots of medications, supplements, and diet changes-all with no success. Right after Christmas, my doctor did lots and lots of tests, and basically told us that we would never conceive naturally. Her recommendation was to move forward with doing In-vitro fertilization, and we decided that we would go ahead with it. (I won't go into a lot of details about ivf- if you want to know more, google it). We put down our deposit to begin the process the end of March, and I was instructed to call when I started my period the next month so I could start on the MANY medications I'd have take. During the next couple weeks, I prayed off and on that if it was God's will, I'd sure love it if we didn't have to go through with IVF, although I admit I didn't expect that God would answer my prayer. I was pretty sure He wanted us to go through with IVF. Why else would He have brought us to this point? 6 weeks later, I still hadn't started. While this isn't always abnormal for me, it's getting to be longer than usual. So while at Walmart, I picked up a cheap brand of pregnancy test, not the kind I usually buy, and I only got one, instead of the package with 5 of them. :) 6 weeks to the day, I took the pregnancy test, and then went out to the kitchen and started making myself some breakfast. About 5 min later I realized I should go check on it. When I saw a positive sign on that test, I seriously about fell over. Luke wasn't home, so I scrambled for my cell phone to call him, and during that time, I pretty much emotionally lost it. When he answered the phone my first (heavily sobbed) words were "it's positive!" To which he responded "no way!" I sobbed for a while longer, called my mom and sobbed some more, called the doctor's office (and barely made it through talking to the nurse), and continued this throughout the day. :)

We are just praising God for His sovereignty! The month after we were told we'd never conceive naturally, it happens! It really just goes to show how it's all in God's timing and His control!

As a side note, we found out we were pregnant exactly one week after I got fired. Talk about even more amazing timing by God!

Oh, and the picture above is from last week, at 14 weeks.

So it's been a while...

So as I'm sure you've (all like 2 of my reader's) have already heard the news, but we're going to have a baby! It's seriously just been amazing to see God at work in our lives over the past few months. I'll post the story sometime, but it's kind of a long story, so I'll wait for another time.

Anyway, this picture is from our 12 week appointment. Can you tell what part(s) you're looking at? No? Well, you wouldn't be the only one. :) The baby is looking right at you. Check out the right side of it...see the two "empty spots?" Those are the eyes. And yes, it does look a lot like an alien, but we love it anyway.

We are now almost to the 14 week mark, entering the 2nd trimester, feeling much better, starting to gain weight (praying for no stretch marks), and growing quickly.

You know you have a lot of dishes when...

You have to do them in shifts throughout the day!

Ugg! I thought about taking a picture to post,
but the thought of it depressed me too much.
Just take my word for it, there's a lot of them!

Consider it all Joy!

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let
endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect
and complete, lacking in nothing.
James 1:2-4

Our church is going through small group Bible studies on the book of James. I was very excited about going through the book, and being in the small groups. We finished the first 3 Bible studies, covering the whole first chapter. I felt like I had some great opportunities to count it all joy, and rejoice in the fact that God was working to bring me closer to him through those "hard" times.

Then God decided to really give me a test in thanking Him for my trials.

It's a long story, but I got terminated from my job. While specifics aren't necessary, I will say that I did make a mistake, but that it was also a fairly common and easily corrected mistake. And for some reason, God allowed me the one who got reported, and the one who got fired.

This post isn't to try to make you feel bad for me, or tell me how hard it must be for me, but rather to inform you all about how great my God is!

I had wanted to learn about James, and God gave a me great opportunity to really understand better the first chapter.

James 1:12 says that "...a man who perseveres under trail...he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him."

God desires me to be close to Him, but as the human I am, I'm usually not seeking Him if things are going really well. Sometimes it takes things like getting fired to make me fall on my face and ask for His wonderful grace.

James 1:17 says that "Every good gift is from above coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow."

Something I had pray that God would help me remember is that every good gift comes from Him - and those gifts are necessarily things that I consider good, but they are good for God's glory. And God does everything for His glory.

I am still working on being thankful for being fired, but am so thankful that God is working to bring me closer to Him through it!

Love it

I just love this song. It's such a great reminder to rely on God, trusting him through everything.

One year ago today...

I posted that this little guy had been born.

And today, Max Jeffery turns one!

Happy Birthday Max!