And just like that...

Matt has a job. that will provide for our needs. just in time.

Yup. He cares for us.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?..." Matthew 6:25-26

Blessings

*Just when I thought I would go insane and cry (mmhmm) if I felt any worse, my late afternoons and evenings have been so much better in the nausea department (if I eat a TON of hearty foods earlier in the day). Saturday, I was feeling so good, I was able to make a "good" meal for my family...and do it joyfully. (Sundays we have big family meals...so we're still working on left-overs. :) )

*This Sunday, I started teaching a 1 year old Sunday School class with Stevie and another little boy. I was feeling awful before it began, and my wonderful husband gave me just the snack I needed, and the class went wonderfully! Totally exceeded my expectations! The lesson, including "coloring page", took all of like 5 minutes, but I was so encouraged for the first week with such active, little learners!

*Matt still does not have a job, and I really needed to get Stevie some more fall/winter clothes. Lo and behold a few shirts and pants that he wore last spring still fit! He was so chunky, he needed the big sizes rolled up! Now, he's slimmed down a bit and can still wear some! I received some hand-me-down clothes for Stevie yesterday too...including 3 sleepers and shirts he really needed!! He only has 1 sleeper at the moment that fits him well, and he wears it every night! Total blessing to have a few more! They are exactly what we've been praying for. God knows just what we need!

*I was able to get Stevie a box of overnite diapers for $12! I was also able to get another good cloth diaper for cheap. We are now able to go at least 2 days of cloth...which makes things a lot easier for laundry!

*I was given "left-over" prenatal vitamins from a family member...so I should be good on those for awhile!

*We were given a double box of my favorite cereal, a giant container of snacks for Stevie, and a huge jar of salsa for Matt...just so we know we're thought of...and for some groceries.

*My husband is seriously the best. He cares for me so much (and it's not always easy when I'm not feeling 100%). He always takes care of the "nasty" jobs that need to be done here too. Whether it's fixing the toilet or killing things...he's my hero!

*My 1st appointment, and I think ultrasound, is this Friday, and it looks as though Matt will be able to be there. Our insurance lasts through the end of this month, so I'm thankful it will be covered...just in the nick of time.

*Stevie took 3 steps for Daddy yesterday!!! I missed them, but I saw his first step last Thursday! We're very excited!

Sometimes the waiting is hard and confusing, but I wanted to stop and count some of the recent blessings God has given us. We've been through challenges before...Matt's deployment, desiring children, in need of jobs, etc. He has always provided for our needs, as well as given us additional blessings along the way. I want to be sure I keep aware of those blessings for my own heart and share the ways God has provided with my children. I want them to grow up sure of the love of God for them. He certainly is a loving, providing, trustworthy God. In my own humanness, I need that reminder as well. Reflecting on some of those blessings...that are so much more than coincidence, is one of those ways I'm reminded of His greatness.

Random Thoughts

Well, I'm feeling it. I forget that I'm pregnant, but I don't forget feeling sick. It doesn't help that the weather has been feeling more Fall-like. I'm on almost the same schedule pregnancy-wise as with Stevie, and I felt terrible through the Fall...my favorite season. Last Fall, the weather reminded me of my nausea...and the waves just keep coming back now. At the moment, I'm trying to ease it with Cheddar and Sour Cream chips. I may regret typing that out...for I know that sounds ridiculous to eat when feeling like you're going to chuck it back up. But, I tried. I tried so hard these past couple of weeks to not eat as much. With Stevie, I gained 13 pounds my first trimester. Yeah. The reason: the only thing that helped my nausea was to eat. I know, ridiculous. Then it would come back 10 minutes after a snack, and I'd have to start all over. So, this round, I thought, maybe I need to not eat so much. Well, I tried. The nausea got worse the longer I tried to stretch it. So, here I sit, eating. And, I've never had super great hormones...soo, I never really had the cravings to eat a ton during "that time." Well, I suppose my body makes up for it when I'm pregnant. Not only does it make my stomach feel less sick, I am needing food...I'm basically ravenous. I'm pretty sure I'm on my way to another big baby. And some people like to think it's twins. Both my mom and I had dreams it was. Heavens to Betsy if I have to carry 20 lb twins! Matt says he'd love twins. The other day he mentioned it, and Stevie had gotten into everything imagineable, and made messes of everything. His sippy cup of milk was all over the floor (my mind was who knows where, and I forgot to put the rubber stopper in it to keep it from spilling), he had dumped a new package of snacks all over the floor, and he was just generally keeping me super busy. I was able to laugh through that day, but I was like, really, you think twins would be fun? ;) Back to the hormones, I'm a little nervous. I just want to get over the first trimester hump to breathe a sigh of relief. It took me longer than that to get rid of my nausea with Stevie, but hopefully, I won't go through another episode and spend the day in the ER. I'm a little nervous it might happen again. That was really scary...and so was the decision making.

I'm not going to go furntiture browsing again too soon. We spontaneously decided to go to one place to look at couches/loveseats. We have my parents' old ones that are almost as old as me. :) Well, I was a bit moody (so was Stevie), I was not feeling the greatest, and the salesman had me look through every fabric sample imagineable. I'm totally not interested in new furniture any time soon...you know, unless it's free....and doesn't smell weird...I can't take the smells right now!

I got a few baby girl clothes from a garage sale last weekend. We aren't planning on finding out the gender again, so I need to be prepared if it's a girl. And, oh how I love finding those garage sales that sell baby and children's clothes for 25 cents a piece!

Stevie went with Matt to the auto parts store this morning. So cute. I should've taken a picture. Stevie gets heart broken if one of us leaves or goes outside without him. So, I asked Matt if he would take him. They were both very excited. After his nap, I'll take him outside to watch Daddy work on (Stevie's uncle's) car for a little while.

We went to Wegmans last night. It's like a little date for Stevie and I whenever we go. I usually only get a few things from there, but instead of rushing, we take our time. Stevie gets his free kid cookie. That, I need a picture of too. He chomps away as he watches all the people. He always manages to get chocolate chips all over his face, and I always manage to forget the wipes. Then we stop by the train. Oh boy, he would watch that for hours! Do I have a little boy or what?

Tonight, I'm going on a little date with Matt. Stevie's going to have dinner with Grandma and Grandpa. We haven't been on a date in a really long time. I honestly don't remember our last date. Yikes. But, we already have another planned in 2 weeks.

Some Changes Around Here

And, I like them. :)

Stevie seems to be aware of some things that just make me smile...and be in awe. Earlier this week, for the first time since he was pretty much a newborn, he sat with me. I'm talking, he sat with me on the couch for a good 15-20 minutes or more. This does NOT happen. Though he is still not walking (but seriously, any day), he is a zoomer. He doesn't sit still much any more. Right before he sat with me, he was running his little walker toy around the house...then it was his train. I thought it was so special to sit with my boy and enjoy some Wheel of Fortune together.

He also started doing this thing where he lifts up my shirt. I have no idea how that started. Is it an age thing? I remember my nephew around that age doing this when I was newly pregnant with Stevie, but I think he was trying to tickle me. Well, whether this is the real case or not, I like to think he knew something before I did. I like to think he was trying to get a glimpse of his little brother or little sister in there.

Yup, baby #2 is on his or her way to the family. That's why I liked the quote in my previous post for a "couple of reasons." I know, I've used that quote everywhere, but I just love it so much. It truly speaks my heart. Anyway, I just found out last Tuesday, on my parents' anniversary. I'm still very early pregnant. I can't hold out 12 weeks or so before spilling the beans!

I was really surprised to see that plus! (I like to have the tests with the plus...because I'm weird and figure I'd rather it be "positive" than a negative positive...umm, yeah, makes total sense.) I had been having a bit of nauseousness and hot flashes the weekend earlier that have left me wondering, but all that didn't start for a couple weeks into my pregnancy with Stevie so I was pushing that wonderment away. The morning I tested, I was up early, like 5:30. I had to go to the bathroom. I wanted to test the day before because of my potential symptoms, but thought that it was a bit ridiculous, so I said I'd wait till the next day. While the test was working, I was totally shaking....exactly like when I got that plus for Stevie. I waited a second while the line went across. Then I saw the plus!! I was shocked! Don't get me wrong, we were hoping for a 2nd baby any time, but I just didn't think this would be it...I went off my herbs that help regulate my hormones, I started running again which messes my body up, and we were a bit stressed with Matt having lost his job. I was thinking it'd be highly unlikely. But, this Sunday at church, we sang a song that the beginning of this journey has been so close to my heart, "Mighty to Save"...which is the meaning of our boy's name if this is a boy. (We're pretty sure we already have the boy and girl name picked!) I suppose that leads me to think this is another boy because of that but who knows. Anyway, back to the stick. I couldn't believe it. I, unfortunately kept saying, "Holy cow, holy cow"...over and over. It's a phrase I used a lot as a kid and prefer not to use now. I was just so shocked. Then I realized what I was saying and was like, I mean, "Wow!"

I stumbled into our dark room and tried to find the flashlight in the closet. I couldn't find it and tripped over a screwdriver instead. I got in bed and said, "Hey, Matt"...then got out of bed because I didn't have a flashlight to beam the stick, so I turned on the light, got back into bed. Excited and crazy, much? I wanted to say it in a memorable ...surprising...way, but I was just wayy too excited to get too creative. I just said to Matt, "How would you like to be Daddy to 2?" He popped up like a shot! "Are you serious?? No way!" I showed him the plus! We laughed, I teared up, we laughed some more...and chatted about boy or girl. We were both SO excited, but I'm a little more nervous having an idea of pregnancy already. We talked about Stevie being a big brother, and we gave thanks to the Lord for this blessing! I looked at Stevie a few months ago, when I wasn't sure if I was expecting...and Stevie just didn't look ready to be the big brother. The day before the positive, he had this mature look...he looked older, and I thought, "Whoa, I think he's ready."

Can you believe how big this boy is? He'll be 15 months on Saturday! And a big brother sometime late April/early May!!




For some reason we tend to have pictures of Stevie in the morning while he still has his ...morning look, haha.

Ready or not, we are so excited to meet the newest member of our family!!