Love Dare

I JUST had a friend post this app to Facebook. Naturally, I checked it out. WOW! I strongly advise others to get it because I have a feeling this will be very useful. And it's only .99cents!

Today's message is below:

God uses marriage to help us eliminate loneliness, multiply our effectiveness, establish families, raise children, enjoy life, and bless us with relational intimacy. But beyond this, marriage also shows us our need to grow and deal with our own issues and self-centeredness through the help of a lifelong partner.

http://bit.ly/a9qrZ3

Sent via Love Dare Reminders

How grateful am I for the help of my lifelong partner? We have walked through so much together in the over 10 years we have been together & the 5 and some odd months we have been married. Chris has truly made me want to be a better person and has taught me so much that he wasn't even aware of. Even yesterday he came home with a little surprise for me - a new Lilly Pulitzer cup like one I already have & love. Day before - Crazy Love book that I have wanted for a while. It's those little things that brighten my day :)

So, take some time today to give thanks for your lifelong partner - thank them for everything they HAVE done and the exciting things you still have to teach each other. Thank you Lord for the wonderful gift of marriage!

Be Still

This morning I was getting ready when Ellie decided she wanted to come say hi to Finley. Sweet dog, she scratched my belly as if to tell him it was ok to come outside to play :) Well, it hurt. Let me clarify - my belly was bare & her little nails were freshly groomed. That combo together is not fun, but when your skin is as tight as Joan River's face, it stings like the dickens. And so I cried. And cried. And once the tears started they weren't stopping. Poor Chris, I am certain he thought I had lost it. I was crying while I made toast, crying while I got ready, and still crying when he left.

I had to go into work, but that was just going to wait. I knew it was one of those times that I needed to just let it all out. There are so many emotions during this last little bit of pregnancy. I feel like I am mourning the end but excited about it, too. I am looking forward to seeing my sweet Finley, but anxious about how it will happen. Excited that I will be a mama & Chris will be a wonderful daddy, but nervous about everything that entails. There is so much to think about! However, I am glad that I can think through and recognize these emotions instead of stuffing them down & not acknowledging them. I feel it really has helped me & helped Chris, too.

This is when I am so very thankful for the faith that I have that allows me to cling to my Father for peace. "Be Still and Know That He Is God" is my mantra these days. He has this all under control. He has from the very beginning when we turned this pregnancy over to him. He is always beside me. Always protecting me. He has great plans for us - plans for hope and a future. For this I am so thankful.I am learning more about it in my Jesus Calling devotional which has been very helpful since I got it a few weeks ago. Each day the Lord gives me a new word to cling to, to make my own, about trusting Him. Why wouldn't I? He is almighty!

Sitting. Waiting. Wishing

Yup, that's the name of the game these days. As far as progress we haven't made much but we all know how quickly things can change. It is interesting to think/talk about when we want him to come, when we think he might come, etc knowing the entire time it is up to our Lord & nothing will surprise him. He already knows Finley's birthday - down to every last detail!

I am thankful that we made it through all the showers & my family's celebration of January birthdays and are now looking at a fairly clear schedule. Chris has numerous appointments this week & I am working up until he arrives, so we are staying busy with work for sure. On my end, our big dinner is on my due date & I am also training the wonderful woman who will do my job while I am on maternity leave for 2 months. You don't really realize how complex your job is until you try to teach it to someone else, whew!

As I type this Fin-man is moving around like crazy & making me question his every move. I wouldn't say I am uncomfortable, but have certainly been more comfortable before. However, I do know that soon I will miss feeling his every move & knowing that he is protected inside of me. Can't wait to meet my little man & also want him to keep growing & progressing. Your will be done, Lord!

FAQ at 37 weeks pregnant

How are you feeling? I feel very pregnant. I think I waddle but no one will confirm that(I need new friends, mine are too nice) & I am definitely slower getting up, walking, etc. Finley is very active at certain times of the day(every night at 9pm like clockwork my belly turns into an amusement park) so that can get uncomfortable because he is running out of room, but I feel good.

Are you ready for Finley to be here? Right now, yes & no. I want him to cook a bit longer. Do I want to see him, meet him, hold him, kiss him - of course! But I don't feel like I am there quite yet. God knows his birthday so we have to trust, as we have this entire pregnancy, that His timing is perfect. It is funny when you tell people the due date & they have to tell you every known birthday within a one month time frame of someone they know that would be a "good day for him to come" :)

Are you sleeping at night? Well, other than getting up every couple hours to go to the bathroom, yes. We both had a rough night the other night but many prayers have been said for us to rest so we can fully function the next day & we can feel them - so keep them coming!

Are you still working? Yes, I sure am. My biggest prayer is that I won't go into labor at work. I know Paul & Chassen, as well as all my other co-workers, would appreciate that, too!

Any cravings? Hot chocolate, hot fudge sundae with nuts from Sonic, and yesterday a banana milkshake from Sonic(my Nana would be so proud!).

How can I pray for you guys? Pray for rest, peace, and for us to make the right decisions for us & our family based on what we want, not what everyone else wants or thinks. Specifically for me - definite signs of active labor so we will know when to go to the hospital(I have a high pain tolerance so that is a concern of mine), and then a very wonderful birth experience that we will fully enjoy with our healthy baby boy.

We are so excited to meet the little blessing God has made for our family & are thankful for all of the support we have received the past months. It means so much!!

Psalm 126:3 The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad!

Random Prego Thoughts

My car door never felt so far away when it's open.

If there was ever a good winter to have your third trimester in, it would be this one. Way to go TN!

Wal Mart or any other large store feels like a challenge. And they should have more bathrooms. Not just the front and the back of the store.

Modesty goes out the window the minute you sit down. Just because I can still cross my legs doesn't mean it's going to happen. Hello, pants.

I consider it a "busy day" if there is pretty much anything past 2 things on a to do or to go list.

Wanna find cute pjs for the hospital? Look before Valentine's Day hits the shelves. Not exactly practical, folks.

You know what's amazing? When you can't get comfortable enough to sleep at 4 something in the morning & your husband & dog are snoring. Not gonna lie, you may or may not want to wake them up...

When I get pregnant I won't...

Drink anything other than water - coke, oh no. No way. (um, yup - totally done that one a few times)

Go out of state - that's dangerous. You could have some kind of problem. Never. My butt will be home my entire pregnancy. (2 trips to the beach & 1 to Chattanooga within 5 months)

Eat fast food/junk food (a girls gotta eat...especially a pregnant one!)

Work all the way up until I have my baby(that's the plan right now)

Overdo it (funny how quickly that can happen without you knowing it)

Wear sweats in public (oh, no doubt I have broken this one. But I do love me some wideleg black cotton pants. Heck, I have even wore them to work and church a handful of times!)

And the list goes on and on and on.

It's so sad how quickly women judge other women for decisions they make. I will never forget seeing a girl at Which Wich who was possibly about 8 months pregnant fill her cup up with a coke and I was appalled. What? Coke while pregnant? No way. Never will I do that. Let.it.go. That's her body, her decision. It's not like she was smoking crack! I just have to laugh now thinking of all the things I said I would never do. And I haven't even started parenting yet. I KNOW that will have a lengthy list, too.

So to all of you ladies out there when I see you at Target & I have on sweats go ahead & take a mental note on how you will NEVER do that. Then get back to me when you take a trip or 4 our of your home in sweats. And remember that we all make our own choices. And as soon as you judge someone for their's, remember that you have never been in those shoes before. And when you are - rock those sweats. Because you are one comfy prego and that's all that matters.

And let me add that during our trip to Sonic after Chris insisted I throw my cup away before we leave because,"It's a sticky, nasty mess." To which I replied,"You haven't seen anything yet." His response? Finley will not be eating ice cream in his car. No way. Too messy....I will definitely follow up on that one. ;)

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Pretty sure my sweet little family has enjoyed our Christmas & New Year's break tremendously. We stayed in comfy clothes most of the weekend while we caught up on tv show DVDs, I wrote thank you cards, ate some good food, and we even managed to get some things around the house.

While it was certainly a time of relaxing, we did accomplish some big things off the good ole to do list like taking down Christmas decorations(with me breaking about once an hour from all that moving around & going up
& down steps) & I even managed to re-decorate the house in no time as well. Chris gave me a deadline of lunch and I was done by 1pm. Not too shabby if I say so myself! Now I still have a few projects up my sleeve but nothing too crazy. I think I also may have finally gotten my mantle decor right where I want it, too. It only took 5 years ;)

With all of this time to relax I definitely have had lots of time to think about our fin-man's arrival and whoa...little bit overwhelming! It's not like I haven't known he was coming eventually but it always seemed far away. Now, not so much. Especially having my first baby shower this past Saturday & seeing lots of friends & family it really started to sink in. There are definitely mixed emotions - anxiety for his birth & the unknown(what if I can't breastfeed?, what if my labor is super long?), excitement thinking about seeing him & meeting him, and definitely the overwhelming thought of becoming a family. It's going to be amazing - that I know for sure - but I also know it's not going to be easy, sometimes it won't be fun, things will not always go as planned, and I will be tired. But on the bright side I have one heck of a sidekick husband who I know will be willing to help anyway he can(and already has shown me this by doing laundry, unpacking all the shower gifts, etc.) and I have a wonderful support system of family & friends.

So, in the end I feel like it's totally ok to feel all of these emotions since I am going through a life changing event and I just have to remember that the Lord knows everything that will happen & has happened and it's all in His very capable hands.

Matthew 6:34
"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes."

P.S. today is ONE MONTH until our due date!