21 Weeks

Another week has quickly passed by...we hit 21 weeks yesterday! I'm still feeling great and continuing to G-R-O-W!!! I guess that means that baby girl is growing like a weed in there. :) Her movements are getting stronger and I'm loving every one of them. I can't wait until I can feel her moving around all day long... She's been a little quiet today and I'm missing her. It's so neat to know that she's with me 24/7. I'm going to enjoy every day of it.

In other exciting news...our baby girl is expecting her first cousin in just two short weeks! My brother Joe and his wife Belinda are about to have a little BOY and it looks like he will arrive soon. We can't wait for our new nephew. I know that these little cousins will be great friends and I can't wait for them to grow up together. Just wish we didn't all live so far apart. It's been an exciting year so far and we continue to be thankful for all of God's blessings.

Thanks for checking in. More to come next week!

Half Way There!!!

I can't believe it, but we've reached the half-way mark already! 20 weeks today. :) Wow...time is flying by. By God's Grace, in approximately 140 days, we'll get to hold this beautiful little girl in our arms... She's kicking away as I write this post. She must know that I'm talking about her. :)
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Life continues to move along at a rapid rate on campus. This is the 6th week of classes already this semester. I've been feeling so good, life hasn't changed a whole lot yet. We're JUST starting to think about the baby room (which is currently the "storage room" for student's things, Nav Night sound equipment, etc), baby furniture, what kind of crib and stroller and all those other good things that babies need! It's a little overwhelming, to be honest... But so exciting at the same time.
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Honestly, I think recently the thing I have been the most amazed by is the fact that as I go about my normal day to day activities, not even having to think about it (though as I'm sure you can tell, I think about her all the time!), she continues to grow and develop and be shaped into the little person that God has and is designing her to be. I have absolutely no control over it. I can't change a thing. (besides taking care of myself, of course!) God is in complete control of her every moment. It brings Psalm 139 to life in a whole new way...

"For you created my inmost being;

You knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise YOU because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful. I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book

before one of them came to be."

Psalm 139:13-16

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Isn't that amazing? We serve a wonderfully creative God. He alone is the creator and sustainer of all life. All the days of our little girl's life were written before even one of them comes to be. I don't need to worry... She was God's idea...

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Enjoying each day, jen

A Beautiful Baby GIRL!!!

Her cute little foot...

Her little hand

Here she is holding her little face with her hand...

Baby's body all scrunched up...

I'm still in shock and absolutely giddy that God is blessing us with a beautiful baby GIRL!!! We are just thrilled, to say the least... We went in to the doctor's office Wednesday morning at 9am and the ultrasound was just incredible. I had wondered if we were REALLY going to find a baby in there! :) And then all at once, there she was! Perfect in every way... I could have watched her on that screen all day long. She moved around and did the cutest things... put her hands up on her little face, wriggled around, it was just precious. A moment that I will always thank God for. It didn't take long at all for the sonographer to figure out she was a girl. So our intuition proved to be correct this time! :)

We hope that you enjoy some of her very first pictures...

19 weeks...

The weeks keep flying by! I'm 19 weeks along today and honestly don't think I've grown much over the last couple of weeks... I'll know more after our appt. tomorrow! We're getting so excited!!! Please continue to pray with us for a healthy baby. I've been feeling so incredibly good and I'm very thankful. God has been more than gracious to me. I'm loving every day of this journey and it's been even more fun this last week as I've felt Baby J kick and wiggle...reminding me that he/she is there! What a miraculous experience this continues to be.

More tomorrow! Stay tuned!!!

boy or girl???

One more week and we have our big ULTRASOUND! We sure can't wait... We'll get to see baby J for the first time and HOPEFULLY, if the baby cooperates, we'll get to find out if we're having a BOY or GIRL... We're so ready to know so we can start referring to the baby as he or she! and not IT... The pictures to the left and right are of Joel and I as little tikes, as if you hadn't already guessed! :) It's fun to imagine what our new little one will look like!

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I'm still feeling great... I'm thankful that as of yet, I have not caught this nasty flu bug that is going around. Joel hasn't been so lucky. He came down with it yesterday and has been trying hard to get over it quickly. I'm hoping that I'm not next in line!

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Yesterday was a big day for me as I got to feel the baby for the first time!!! There have been a few times that I've wondered if maybe I felt it...but yesterday, it was undeniable! And then today, this little one has been VERY active... It sure makes it feel more real to me...that's for sure.

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We continue to thank God every day for this little blessing... It's wild to think how far the Lord has brought us over the last year... It's been fun to look back at journal entries and see how we were praying and what the Lord was doing in my heart in regards to our desire to have children. Honestly, I wouldn't trade the struggle and the waiting for anything. The Lord taught me deep lessons and continues to confirm in my heart and life that He is faithful and that He is good.... I was doing my quiet times in Ecclesiastes recently and there were a couple of passages I wanted to share with you.

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"There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven...He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of me; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." Eccl. 3:1,11

"Consider what God has done. Who can straighten what He has made crooked? When times are good, be happy. But when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore a man cannot discover anything about His future." Eccl. 7:13-14

I am really learning to trust in God's ways in a new way...knowing that what He gives us is His absolute best, even when it doesn't always feel the best to us at the time. He is committed to making me like Him...

Lord, thanks for your goodness and the good gifts that you give... We're so excited for this little July gift that is on it's way!