Well it’s another birthday! Today I am starting year 27. 27 sounds so old, haha!I know it’s not though. I am loving this season of life and am thankful for all the time God blesses me with. Being a mom has been the most amazing experience of my life. With that I am so excited to announce that we are expecting again!! I am 10 weeks along. May 22, 2015 is the due date for our baby. I would be very impressed if you remembered that Breckin’s due date was May 28th! It’s so exciting/crazy to think that in May we will have two kids two and under! This will be an adventure that I am very excited for.
My pregnancy so far has been full of sickness and blah so I won’t bore you with the details but I would appreciate your prayers for health and endurance. Pregnancy for me is definitely the worse part of it all…at least it’s the shortest part of raising children! All I have to say is I am so thankful for my mom! We have been staying with them so she can watch Breckin and take care of me. I am soooo thankful for her and the ability to do this. I am also thankful for Nathan who has to commute a lot farther and does a lot for me too. He’s a wonderful hubby and daddy!
Back in March we got some family pictures taken by Photography By Sarah Crail (make sure to click the link and check out her website!). She did such a wonderful job. Here are a couple of my favorites! If you are in the Indianapolis area and need a photographer she is great!! Thanks Sarah!!!
Well, I haven’t written in a long while. Honestly it’s because life got really stressful and hard. 2014 has been a tragic year. Recently, I’ve been thinking about writing more again but I just haven’t gotten to it. On Wednesday night I received a call from my mom. My Aunt Debbie had passed away in a tragic accident. I was and still am in shock. I felt that it was fitting for my first post to be about Aunt Deb. She always encouraged me so much about my blog, always commenting on it and sending me messages about how she enjoyed hearing about our growing family. So this first post is about my Aunt Deb and the legacy she has left.
Aunt Debbie is my dad’s brother’s wife. When we were growing up she would always wear dresses to our family get-together’s. When I was little I loved wearing dresses too and I remember thinking she was the most beautiful person ever. She is still one of the most beautiful people I have ever met both on the inside and out. Aunt Deb had the best voice and laugh. I would hear her laugh across the room and it always made me laugh too, even if I didn’t know what they were talking about. She also made the best jello-jigglers, hahahaha. They were my favorite at our Thanksgivingmas party.
I really got to know Aunt Debbie better because of facebook. She would send me encouraging messages and let me know she was praying for me. I am really going to miss those messages. She always posted verses and inspirational notes to facebook too. They were always what I needed at that moment. There was even one she posted just a couple of weeks ago that I shared last night because it was directly related to a conversation I had with my brother, yesterday. Aunt Debbie loved her family so much and you could see that love shine from her face. My heart is so broken for my uncle and cousins and their kids. I love you all and am praying for His peace and comfort during this time.
I am going to be honest, this year has been such a testing to my faith. It just seems like God is allowing one thing after another to happen to my family or those closest. I do know though that Aunt Debbie would not want this to shake my faith but to strengthen it. She has started her eternity with Christ and would point us all to Him even more now than she did while she was here. It’s been hard to see the goodness of God these past couple of days (and months) but as my mother-in-love said yesterday “God is good all the time. All the time God is good. Everything good we have is because of Him.” I needed to hear that and I am so thankful for the reminder.
I’m going to miss you Aunt Deb. I love you so much!!
I am going back to work tomorrow after my 11 weeks of maternity leave. I am excited to see my volunteers and everyone that I have missed these past couple of months. The excitement doesn’t change the fact that my heart is broken. I do not want to be away from Breckin this much.
I have a wonderful job that God has so blessed me with. I get to minister and love on the women in our community. I get to spend time with amazing women of God who have awesome testimonies of His mighty works in their lives. The job is only sixteen hours a week; Monday-Thursday from 1pm-5pm. Such awesome hours. Breckin gets to stay with his awesome grandma’s who will shower him with love. I have nothing to complain about this situation and everything to be thankful…yet I am still struggling with discontentment. I have always wanted to be a stay at home mom. Now that I have Breckin in my arms I desire this dream even more but for the time being it is still just that, a dream. Money is not the only reason (though a very big one) that I am continuing to work. The other big reason is I just don’t have a peace to quit. This has come as a surprise to me since I have always been passionate about being a stay at home mom. One thing I have learned in life is we are not called to understand…we are called to obey. Therefore I am choosing to obey and not just obey but specifically be content. Philippians 4:12-13 keeps coming to mind, “…I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry,<span class="crossreference" style="vertical-align: top;" value="(P)”> whether living in plenty or in want.<span class="crossreference" style="vertical-align: top;" value="(Q)”> I can do all this through him who gives me strength.“ Also, 2 Corinthians 12:8-10, “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace<span class="crossreference" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(P)”> is sufficient for you, for my power<span class="crossreference" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(Q)”> is made perfect in weakness.<span class="crossreference" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(R)”>”<span class="crossreference" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(S)”> Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight<span class="crossreference" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(T)”> in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships,<span class="crossreference" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(U)”> in persecutions,<span class="crossreference" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(V)”> in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (I definitely do not consider my job a thorn in my flesh, just a surprise calling during this new season of life.) I repent of my discontentment and tomorrow and on I will be content through His strength and grace. I will get up tomorrow through His strength and grace. I will spend the morning with Breckin through His strength and grace. I will take Breckin to Nana Finlay’s through his strength and grace. I will cry through his strength and grace because crying is not a sign of weakness but of reality. I will get to work and genuinely be happy to be there and enjoy it through his strength and wonderful grace. I will pick up my beautiful baby, go home, make dinner for my wonderful husband and we will enjoy our evening together through Jehovah Jireh’s awesome strength and amazing grace. I will be joyful and content and enjoy this wonderful life He has blessed me with through His strength and grace.
I would appreciate your prayers tomorrow as we embark on this new season.
Breckin turned one month old on June 13th. This month was obviously full of firsts. First breath, first cry, first kisses from Mom and Dad. This has been the best month of my life. Breckin has made our transition into parenthood pretty easy. It has been so fun watching him become more aware with each day. Here are some pictures from my iphone from Breckin’s first month!
I have been slacking when it comes to our family blog. I have a good reason though. I have been taking care of a baby. Chacha has been born! May 13, 2013 at 11:02 am, I gave birth to a baby BOY! Breckin Michael Finlay was born 6 lbs 12 oz and was 20 inches long. He is healthy and already 4 weeks old! Honestly, labor and delivery was not as bad as I thought it would be. I didn’t do it all natural. I had some pain medicine and anti-nausea medicine in my IV at the beginning but it wore off by the time my contractions got really bad and it was time to push. Things progressed very quickly up until that point so I didn’t go with an epidural because I figured recovery from the epidural would take longer than just having the baby. I am so glad I made that decision. Once it was time to push it was actually a relief. After an hour and a half of pushing Breckin Michael was born. He is very healthy. The only thing that scared us was he didn’t pass the hearing test in his left ear until the final try. The doctors were not worried about this but I was because of the hearing issues in my family. Thankfully, he did pass though so we know he can hear.
There are three very special moments that stick out to me from our hospital stay.
1. Nathan announcing “It’s a boy!” He was so excited and I was so happy that he got his son. It was worth the 7 1/2 months of waiting to find out the gender.
2. Watching Nathan and Breckin take their first nap together.
3. Our first night together. Nathan got a terrible case of poison ivy the day Breckin was born so he was drugged up with Benedryl our first night. Therefore it was just Breckin and me. It ended up being good because Breckin and I had a wonderful night of bonding. We worked on nursing and found positions that we both liked and I rocked him all night long. I will never forget that night and cherish it forever.
Breckin is now almost 5 weeks old! He is a lot more alert. He’s getting a little chubby too. He is so laid back and calm. He really is the best baby. We are so blessed to have him a part of our family. Breckin is always grunting and “talking” to us. It’s so cute. I love our special time together nursing and cuddling. These past five weeks have been wonderful. Nathan said it well when he said, “This is the most natural thing we have ever done.” It really feels that way. There have been some difficulties though. I had a virus or mastitis and then I got thrush from the medicine. That is the most painful thing I have ever experienced. If it wasn’t for the fact that breast milk is the healthiest option for Breckin and that I really love nursing I am not sure I would have continued nursing. Thankfully we are thrush free now. Then Breckin got a cold and had a cough. This broke my heart. I cried more for him during his cold than I have every cried. He is doing much better now though. I’ve also had to give up dairy because I am pretty sure it makes him gassy and uncomfortable. I didn’t realize how much dairy I ate and I really miss my Oreos and milk, it’s so worth it though! It’s amazing how the difficulties all fade away when you just look at your baby. I wonder if that will be the case when Breckin is a teenager ;)?
Well, here are some pictures of our little B! Enjoy!
Wow! It’s been 10 weeks since I last posted. I am now 35 weeks and Chacha is ready to be born…right now! I’ve been on bedrest for a week. Last Wednesday morning at 12 am Nathan and I went to the hospital because I was having contractions 10 minutes apart. We were there until 6:30pm the next day. While I was there my contractions became 5 minutes apart and I had dilated. EEEEK! We are not ready for Chacha quite yet…Well, I am ready to hold my baby but I know he/she needs to stay put and grow some more! The doctor and nurses were able to stop the contractions and I am now on bed rest until I am 37 weeks. I still have contractions every day but thankfully they have been controlled by my medicine. I am so thankful for modern medicine, that’s for sure! I would also like to say that our hospital is awesome! They are so accommodating. Once the baby is born it stays with mom and dad the whole time. They don’t take it to the nursery to sleep. They let you do skin to skin with the baby right away to get the temperature regulated. They do all of the checking and bathing in your room. Honestly, I don’t know if this is normal for most hospitals but I am glad it is the policy at mine. We have decided to decline the Hepatitis B shot for the new born and they didn’t make us feel bad or weird. All we have to do is sign a form declining it. I also love our group of doctors. They are all Christians and it’s so nice that they share the same faith as us. They have taken really good care of us. They explain everything so clearly and do not mind us asking questions. It’s just so nice!
Here are all of my belly pictures from the last 10 weeks. People keep telling me I look small but I feel huge and the baby makes my stomach move and it freaks people out. It’s kind of funny and I am going to miss having this baby safe inside (baby hiccups melt my heart every time) but I am really getting excited to meet my Chacha Baby!
We have good news! Nathan got a promotion to manager at work! Yay!! I am so proud of his hard work. God is providing for us in so many ways. I should be able to go part time now when the baby comes! This makes me so happy!
Well, I haven’t felt very creative or inspired lately. That’s why I haven’t posted. I had a crazy busy week at work last week and I am still recovering from it. My house is a wreck but I can only clean for so long until my body tells me to stop. It’s only 7:30 pm but I am ready to go to bed. Also, I thought I was supposed to be done puking like 8 weeks ago…blah…Ok…enough with my complaining.
I am 24 weeks now. I feel huge but everyone kept telling me today that I look small. Today, I had two people tell me they thought I would have 5 lb babies…I feel like it’s still early to tell how much my baby will weigh at birth. I wouldn’t mind having tiny babies as long as they are healthy. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow. I tend to take their medical advice more seriously then my clients.
Here are some pictures.
Well, I have the dreaded cold. Praise God it has not gotten bad. Yesterday I felt pretty good though today I woke up feeling bad again. I was really nervous when I felt the cold symptoms coming. Normally when I get the symptoms I become an over the counter druggie and Day and Nightquille become my best friend. Being pregnant, this time around I am pretty much stuck with only Benadryl for colds. Benadryl makes me pass out asleep so I have only taken it a couple of nights. Well, this time I have been wiser with my illness. I have drank a ton of water (yuck) but it has helped. I also have eaten alot of blueberries. I am not sure if this helps but I did learn not to eat a ton before bed…you will wake up with stomach cramps. I am also throwing in a lot of garlic in everything I cook. One thing that I really think has helped is I have stayed home and rested. I am not drugging myself up and going on with my normal routine. I am actually letting my body relax and work on this sickness itself. You know what? The world has kept spinning and everything is still working properly even without my management. That is a reminder that everyone needs. I am so thankful that God has protected me so far and I pray that He continues to do so.
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