Last Friday = False Alarm

  This was last Friday at Cherokee Park.  We had fun walking around the park and playing with the new camera.
   Little did we know that a couple hours later we would be headed to the hospital because we thought that my water broke! I was wrong!  We called our midwife, Beth Bary and she said that if our water bag had broken we would need to go to the hospital because you would want to deliver our baby within 24 hours of it breaking!  We rushed home and grabbed our bags (finished packing) and went to our hospital, Clark Memorial.  Needless to say, I was a wreck and fearful that something had to be wrong...again lack of trust in the Lord!  Mark was super calm and trying to be patient with me!  The nurse was super kind and gracious at the hospital and gave me a check to see how I was doing and if my water bag was in tact still.  Which to our surprise it was and found out that I was 80% effaced and 2cm dilated! We got to hear Molly's heart beat for a long time and it was great to hear her so steady and healthy! :)  The nurse said we both were healthy and now its time to keep waiting till the baby is ready to come out!  It was dinner time so we decided to go out on a date to Cheddar's after we left the hospital....what a night!
   Now, 1 week later I am still in the same position...waiting.  I'm finding it harder and harder to keep waiting.  I've learned from our Bradley classes (natural birthing classes) that the typical woman goes 41 weeks and 1 day before having a baby...since this is the norm I have plenty of time.  My due date isn't till Sunday, so I am still in good shape to wait.  Just realizing once again how impatient my heart really is with God's timing! I hate that I'm not joyful in waiting and seeing as waiting as an opportunity to worship our loving Father. Whatever season we are in, we are called to wait on the Lord.  And, waiting is worship to the Lord.  For He knows all our days and has written them in His book before one has come to be!  So, just trying to remind my soul to wait on the Lord....He knows the best day for Molly to arrive and is lovingly sovereign in all His dealings with His children!  I can find rest today and be thankful!

   On a plus side, Mark and I have been enjoying nice quality time together and going on many "last dates" together....I know that it will be so different once Molly is here and now the Lord is giving us time for Mark and I to be just us. Which has been so sweet.  Since we've only been married almost 10 months in a couple of days, I shouldn't be in such a hurry to pass this time away...I cleaned the whole house yesterday and had some sweet fellowship with a friend too! Then watched the UK game last night with Mark. These days are precious and given by the Lord...all our days!

   I was just going to ask that you'd pray for me in this time of waiting. I know in the big picture there really isn't much time until she arrives, but just want to be full of faith in this time.  And, please pray for the labor and delivery aspect too!  We are hoping with the Lord's grace to go naturally.  The Lord has provided us a Doula, our good friend from church, Athena!  This is such a mercy! And, for the past 12 weeks we have been a part of a Bradley class and have learned so much!  God is so wise in all His designs! Crazy how every detail is planned by our gracious God...seriously this whole baby-prego time is truly a miracle and only grace that we get to go through this season.  Also, my mom is arriving this coming Monday to help us! She delivered all her 4 daughters, naturally! God is the only one who can sustain life and He has been kind to do so for Molly thus far! May He keep doing so and be so glorified in her life! Also, may the Lord prepare Mark and I to point her to her only true Hope, Christ....may she see the Gospel in our lives and see her need for a Savior! May the Lord save her early!

  This morning I read Psalm 63. Super encouraging, may it be my prayer continually!  ...Stay tuned...truly it could be at anytime now...and now is the time for me to worship the true King and wait in faith! :)

Psalm 63

"O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
  So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
  Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
  So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.

 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
  when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
  for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
  My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.

 But those who seek to destroy my life
shall go down into the depths of the earth;
  they shall be given over to the power of the sword;
they shall be a portion for jackals.
  But the king shall rejoice in God;
all who swear by him shall exult,
for the mouths of liars will be stopped."

11 Days till Estimated Due Date & Video Clips!

I can't believe how much time has flown by.  We are now approaching just a week and 1/2 till my EDD...which it being our first baby I have a feeling we will pass the EDD (March 28th) and end up having an April baby!  I have no clue and can't pretend to have a clue on when the day our baby will finally arrive!  Our prayer is sooner then later because we are excited to meet Molly Hope!! :)  Sleeping has been harder to come by these remaining weeks (given why I'm awake now at 1:30am!) and having to go to the bathroom every hour tends to be harder to get sound sleep!
...But, we have a lot to be thankful for!  I went to my weekly check up today with Mark and everything looks good.  I even managed not to gain any weight this week (which is a first since being prego) and so hopefully things are steadying off and my body is getting ready for her arrival.  I choose not to have our midwife give me the check to see how far I'm effaced and dilated because not really a need to have it done yet!  Next week, I think I will have her check.  Glad that our midwife doesn't pressure us to have vaginal checks weekly b/c of how it can lead to bacteria growth that could be harmful for the baby.  Also, even if I'm a little dilated it isn't the true test of when my labor will start.  Lots of things are working behind the scenes in my body before true labor can start.  So, must be content to wait.  Like my mom says, "the fruit will fall when it's ready!" So, the way God designed the body is amazing and works for the most part like clock work.  My main job is to wait and trust that the Lord governs all our days and will allow our baby to come in His good timing!
...We are just doing last minute type of things around our house.  We even got our car seat in the mail yesterday (a sweet gift from my sister-April!) which makes it feel pretty official.  My mom is coming in town March 29th and planning on staying as long as we need her to! Which is such a grace! And my other sisters are planning to come in April to meet Molly too!  We are thankful our family wants to be a part of her life. Of course, Mark's family lives here in town so we will get to share Molly with them lots too.


Here's 2 video clips of us painting Molly's room PINK....this was several weeks back and we are now basically finished with her room, I will put up a video of that soon!  ENJOY family!

Molly's Room-Part 1

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Molly's Room-Part 2

Prego Pics & Updates!

We finally downloaded some shots from the camera last night! It has been a long while and haven't really shown my family in Texas what I look like prego! I can't believe that I just started my 38th week yesterday! Only 3 weeks till estimated due date (March 28th).  Time is going by so fast now! It's hard to believe that really at any time from now (since I'm considered full-term) I could go into labor!  Still haven't had any milestones that lead to this (mugus plug or water breaking), but it does seem that she has dropped a little.  Again, I'm no expert at this so I guess we will find out soon! Thankfully the Lord knows the BEST timing of all these things and when we will get to meet our baby Molly Hope!  Thankfully, the house is coming together more and Molly's room is almost complete! Just need to rest in God's timings and plans....Now for some pictures:

We were blessed with 2 sweet baby showers! The Lord is gracious and always provides!

Family baby shower given to us on Feb. 13th

33 Weeks:

 

After my IBC baby shower!

34 Weeks:

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37 Weeks:

We took some pictures for my nephew, Coleman around Louisville area for a school project this weekend. We went to Churchill Downs and that's why we have a picture of me there the other day! And, this is a picture of my sweet friend, Lauren in our entry way of our house.  We (Katie White and myself) had the joy of throwing her a shower for her this past Saturday for upcoming wedding-April 3rd! So, you can see my belly-large and in charge! :) It was fun having lots of friends in our home for their shower-first time we have been able to have a bigger group over, since our house is almost all complete from all the crazy renovations! Totally need to put pictures of that process up...

The Lord has been so faithful and gracious! I can't believe that time is approaching and Lord willing we will get to hold our baby in our arms! We are so grateful for this blessing...knowing everything in our lives is only grace and nothing we will ever earn or deserve....it is all from the Lord's hand! Both the good and the hard! And for that we can trust Him and have rested hope.  It has been such a busy season with trying to get the house ready...we are looking forward to rest...ultimatley our Final Rest in the Lord.  All these changes has grown Mark and I to long for Heaven to be with our Christ forever...knowing that is where are true joy and hope are found.  May the Lord create in us a deeper longing for Himself and not loose sight that this earthly home is only temporary and we have an eternal destiny to be with our Savior forever-which far out weighs any blessing here on earth!  We long to teach and instruct Molly to see her only true hope and happiness is in Christ alone! May the Lord grow our understanding and our longing for His appearing above all! Love you all...grace and peace.

FlipVideo!

We got a cool gift this Christmas from Mark's sister Rebecca. It's a Flipvideo, a little recorder to capture and make fun movies! I finally got around to downloading the clips we've made so far.
The first one is Christmas Day when we recieved the gift. And as you can see, my husband loves to make people laugh...we are laughing all the time in our home! He just loves life! Sorry this is so old...it's already in the middle of Feb! :)

Enjoy....more little videos to come!!  soon to be starring the famous baby Molly! :)



Click to Play

"Jesus Paid it All"

 Sometimes (okay all the time) I just need to be reminded of the simple truths that are the foundation of my life. "Jesus Paid It ALL" is what gives true and lasting hope. Lately, I haven't been sleeping too well, and the Lord is good to call me to Himself in the wee morning hours! I was writing an email to a friend just now who is in a super hard trial and was reminded of this song we sing at our church. Thankful that this truth is always relevant...no matter what season we are experiencing. This was written way back in the 1800's and is still precious and true today! Praise the Lord, for He has done the impossible-reconciling man to Himself, only through the precious blood of His Son! May our hearts worship the true living King and humbly embrace all His harder providences in our lives...knowing it's producing a peaceful fruit of righteousness (Hebrews 12:11)...for the praise of His glorious name!

Jesus Paid it All

-by Elvina M. Hall, 1865

1. I hear the Savior say,

“Thy strength indeed is small;

Child of weakness, watch and pray,

Find in Me thine all in all.”

Refrain:

Jesus paid it all,

All to Him I owe;

Sin had left a crimson stain,

He washed it white as snow.

2. For nothing good have I

Whereby Thy grace to claim;

I’ll wash my garments white

In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.

3. And now complete in Him,

My robe, His righteousness,

Close sheltered ’neath His side,

I am divinely blest.

4. Lord, now indeed I find

Thy pow’r, and Thine alone,

Can change the leper’s spots

And melt the heart of stone.

5. When from my dying bed

My ransomed soul shall rise,

“Jesus died my soul to save,”

Shall rend the vaulted skies.

6. And when before the throne

I stand in Him complete,

I’ll lay my trophies down,

All down at Jesus’ feet.

'babymoon'....here we come!

We are going away for the weekend to Cincinnati for our 'babymoon' trip! It will be our last little weekend away before Molly comes (and we are celebrating our 8th monthivseary of marriage too)! I am so thankful to be with my husband non-stop all weekend! We are so blessed and praise the Lord for His kindness He has shown us!

We are going to hit up the Creation Museum and the Planetarium tomorrow (Saturday)! And plan on swimming in the hotel's indoor pool, walking to breakfast to a local spot near our hotel we saw online, relaxing and reading together, and before we head back on Sunday we are going to hit up IKEA to look for some deals for our house and Molly’s nursery! :) We got an incredible deal at a Marriott's 4 star hotel! :)

I had a horrible dream last night that Mark got shot and died! It was so real and vivid that when I woke up this morning at 5:45am I had to call Mark's work and make sure it was just a dream! (Mark goes into work at 4:30am!) Thankfully, it was just a dream...and I have more time with my sweet Mark. It just made me thankful for him and his servant hearted-leadership in my life! He constantly is pointing me to my great hope-Christ and wants me to find all my contentment in Christ alone. It was just one of those dreams that made me appreciate the Lord's wisdom and provision in my life!

I'll put up pictures when we get back of our trip!
Grace and peace in our faithful King Jesus.

a full-time homemaker?

All I can say is that once again change is here. 2009 has been a lot of changes for me and I can only imagine that will continue in 2010 because we will be experiencing many first... yet it's freeing to know that we are in the exact spot/season the Lord wants us to be in! He determines our times and places according to what He has predestined to take place (Acts 4:28)!

Last night was my last night working for The Artist in You. It's hard to believe that since I was 15 years old I've always had some form of part-time job. Also, since before kindergarten I have not taken a semester off from school! This is the first time I will not be in school! That is a long time, since I will be 27 at the end of March! I have 1 more class remaining at Southern, it's my internship class for my Masters in Biblical Counseling. They only offer this course in the spring, so I won't be able to take it this spring because Lord willing Molly Hope will be arriving near the end of March-early April. So next year I will be able to take my last class in order to complete my Masters, if the Lord wills. I do desire to complete this degree since I'm so close! Yet, thankful for a season outside of school!

This is why it's transition time....I am now considered a full-time homemaker for my home with Mark. Wow, I've always desired this role, but still seem a little scary to take on. I know it’s a real blessing I do not have to work outside of the home, which will allow me to have time to focus on our home and help finish up the renovations needed before Molly comes in the next 2 months! Also, just provides me time to love and serve our church family, and not to mention learn more about being a better helper for Mark. Mark really has wanted me to be in the home full-time, and I'm thankful that he desires to be the provider for our family. Again, a blessing from the Lord. We came up with goals for each day for me to accomplish while Mark is at work. I even got to go walking this morning at 7am with a friend from church who lives down the street! So far day #1 has been good. Cleaned the bathrooms and cleaned the floors (the kitchen is next!). I just want to work hardly unto the Lord and not become lazy. We have plenty of things that still need to get done around here and made a list of projects that I can do without the help of Mark. Just going to need a lot of grace and self control to work wisely. Especially since my energy level is just not the same being pregnant.

Been reading online and learning from other woman how to be more frugal with our money. We are down to one car and one cell phone, which help a lot. We did get the internet (the slower kind) which is a perk but also a sweet helping to me while I'm here in the day. Still needing to learn and grow in this new role! Please pray! I feel so weak and need the Lord in everyway! The Lord is so faithful. And is gracious to give all the grace we need for each season. Regardless, we are all called to work since the Fall.  Now, just learning a different sphere of work.  And cleaning tolits has never been a fun task, but a task that needs to get done! :) I know things will look even more different with a baby! That's why I want to learn all I can before she comes!

(FYI-this is not really what I look like anymore...I can't find my cord to plug my camera in to download new pics..so hopefully soon I'll be able to put recent pics of me prego!)