Water Woes, But God is Bigger!

On Saturday, I stumbled while walking through our dining room. I turned around and saw that two long sections of hardwood planks had buckled and were sticking up above the floor. Alex checked for water under the house. All dry. The air conditioner in the attic wasn't leaking through the ceiling. So, I called the local company that installed the floor for my parents three and a half years ago. The owner of the business came over after work today and literally uncovered the problem in 2 minutes. Our dishwasher has been leaking. A lot. For a loooong time. A hose was installed improperly or something like that. The sub-floor in the kitchen, dining room and possibly the laundry room needs to be replaced. Mold is everywhere. Even the drywall in the dining room is damp on one wall. Everything down to the support beams under our house will need to be replaced. Tile floor that was installed just a year ago in the kitchen needs to be removed. Beautiful hardwood floors are ruined. I can't imagine what this is going to cost, but the flooring guy is running an estimate for us. Since our insurance agency was closed for the day by the time we discovered the chaos, I got online and filed a claim with the insurance company. Now we're praying that they will cover the damage because otherwise we'd need a loan to cover what I'm estimating to be $10,000 or more in repairs. Our homeowner's insurance is with the same company as our auto insurance. They were excellent to deal with when I had my car accident in October, so I'm hoping that this experience will be positive as well.

Honestly, I was more concerned about cooking dinner and feeding my hungry belly (I'm ALWAYS hungry now!!! Sheesh!) than being upset about mold in our house and having to stay somewhere else while repairs were being done. God will provide. He was faithful to see that this happened before the baby arrived so that it will be a distant memory by the time we bring home our precious bundle. Please pray for us that we will have favor with the insurance company and that whoever ends up making the repairs will do an excellent job so that there are no complications down the road.

The Man Cave Makeover Continues

We got a great start to the nursery this week during our stay-cation and now I'm in full-on decorator mode. I can't wait to see everything come together! Here's a sneak-peek at what we started:


This morning, I got up bright and early to hit a couple yard sales close to my house. I snagged a changing pad and three covers, a waterproof crib liner thingy, sleep sacks/gowns, and two onesies for $31. Buying all gender-neutral yellows, white and greens is kinda boring, but at the same time it's still really fun to finally shop for my own baby! Eeeek! I found a pink gown that I loved, so I had to get it, and to even things out I got a cute boy one with a puppy on it, because we LOVE puppies around here!


Speaking of puppies, I saw the cutest boxer pup yesterday that I wanted to take home with me so that Layla could have a buddy. He was tied up on his front porch and looked lonely. Poor thing! If dogs weren't so expensive to feed, vaccinate, etc, etc, I would find Layla a playmate pronto.

I hope you're having a great weekend! I'm going to try and make the most of what precious little time we have left before returning to work on Monday. *Sigh* No more mid-day naps for me....

The Man Cave Makeover Begins

Alex and I are on a one-week stay-cation this week, so we decided it was a great time to start turning his old office (now a storage room) into the nursery. We picked out paint yesterday and then lost the motivation to actually put it on the wall once we got home. The primer and main color are now finished and we'll start painting some stripes tomorrow. Hopefully the painting will be done tomorrow or the next day! I can't wait to see my vision come together, although I'm a little nervous that it might not turn out the way it looks in my head. We've started shopping for a crib, found one we liked and then discovered that the color we want has been discontinued. The crib search continues! We did find a neutral shag area rug for the room though, so it's coming together little by little. I'll post pictures of the nursery once the painting is finished!

How Do I Say This?

God is just so GOOD! That's all there is to it. I've thought of a million different ways to write this post, but I think straight-forward is just gonna have to do instead of something fancy and creative. I'm pregnant! We found out April 16th at just 3 weeks and 5 days along. Now I'm 11 weeks and had my first official pre-natal visit today. My doctor normally doesn't do ultrasounds until 20 weeks, but I think he wanted to let Alex see the baby for himself so that it seemed real, so he scheduled an earlier u/s for us. Here's the first peek at baby Godin!!!!!:


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The heartbeat was 167 beats/minute, which is on the high end (wives' tales say that girls have faster heartbeats, but we'll see!). It was such a dream come true to look at our precious baby up on that screen. We saw the heartbeat for a split second and then got to hear it. What an amazing sound!!! It was music to my ears!

I'm due on Christmas Day, which might seem like a bummer to some, but it is such confirmation that things happened in God's timing. About 5 years ago, while we were still dating, Alex and I picked out a boy and girl name. Our girl name, Natalie, means, "born on Christmas Day". I don't want to jump to conclusions that we're having a girl, but how cool would that be?! I'll be super excited with either a boy or a girl. If baby G is a boy, we want to name him Nathan. Middle names are still up in the air because Alex has always hated the idea of middle names (loooong story), but I'm determined to convince him to give our baby a middle name or else I'll sneak one onto the birth certificate! ;)

So far, I've been nauseous all day long, but have still been able to eat everything except onions and sharp cheddar cheese, and breakfast. Apparently the baby doesn't agree that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Even though I've been really tired during the day, I usually get a second wind once I get home in the evening. I told my boss my news a few weeks ago and am going to tell my co-workers tomorrow with the ultrasound pictures. I wonder if they've already figured it out? Thank goodness babydoll-style shirts are in style since they hide a lot!

Alex and I have both enjoyed keeping track of the baby's development with babycenter.com's email updates, but I've really enjoyed reading Praying Through Your Pregnancy by Jennifer Polimino and Carolyn Warren. Each chapter covers one week of the baby's development and shows you different ways to pray over your baby. For example, when hands and feet are forming, you pray for them to grow properly, but also that your child would grow to use their hands and feet to serve others and live out the Gospel. It even includes chapters on how to pray while you're waiting to conceive.

For so long it seemed like we would never get pregnant, but now I'm so thankful that things worked out the way they have. It seems cliche, but it's so true that God's timing is perfect and His plans are perfect. Waiting is so hard, but without the waiting, I might not have learned things about the Lord that He wanted me to see. My eyes were opened to have compassion towards couples struggling with infertility. I don't want to take the next 7 months for granted because I've waited a lifetime for them.

I'm A Basket Case

A dear friend recently arranged for a lady from our church to teach a basket weaving class for 9 eager women and girls. I didn't know that people still made their own baskets until last summer when my college roommate received a gorgeous hand woven basket from her future husband's grandmother as a wedding shower gift. I was instantly intrigued to say the least.

The class lasted 5 hours, plus an extra hour at the end to stay and talk, as we women love to do! Here's how the project progressed:






I think it's safe to say that we all left the class addicted to basket weaving. It's very therapeutic! Now I just have to find the perfect spot in the house for my basket...

My Sweet Serenity

I'm back from sabatical once again. It's been hard to come up with anything interesting to write about (or at least something that might seem interesting to someone other than myself!). Alex and I have just been enjoying life. The rain has kept us indoors a lot, but we've ventured outside to tackle some much needed yard work this weekend. I joke that we have the 2nd worst landscaping in our neighborhood, second only to a man two doors down who keeps a rusty broken-down car, rolled up dirty carpet and an old recliner chair in his driveway. We've tackled the weeds, but oh how I'd love to do more than just try to maintain what landscaping we have. I dream of putting down fresh mulch and ripping out some of the 20-year old holly bushes that are just not so good-looking anymore. Someday, someday...

Last night, we went to a fish fry with my parents, a friend and her little boys and her parents. It was so peaceful to sit on a deck overlooking a little lake just enjoying the scenery and company. I feel like that kind of sums up my life right now. Things are peaceful and serene. God is good. I have wonderful friends, I feel closer to my family, I'm so blessed. I pray that the same is true for you.

Grateful for Gideon

I went to the doctor today because of concerns about possible thyroid issues and not being able to conceive after 11 months of trying. Several friends and my sister in law have all been to this particular doctor and have had very positive things to say about him. This was actually my second visit, but today he had a more profound impact on me than my first impression. Before I get into what I really want to write about, I didn't get any definite answers to why I'm tired all. the. time. But, he wants to do blood work soon to rule out thyroid issues and anemia. And he was really encouraging about us starting a family, even though it's taking longer than I ever imagined. We're going to give it a few more months before moving forward with a specialist.

During our visit, the doctor kept quoting Scripture and relayed the story of Gideon to us. He said, "If you had gotten pregnant right away, you might have taken the glory for yourselves, instead of giving the glory to God. Gideon started out with an army of 32,000 men and the enemy had an army of 135,000. God knew that when Gideon defeated the Midianites, he would take all the credit himself. 'Look what a good leader I am! I led these men to victory against this huge army!' But God had different plans. In the end, God whittled down Gideon's army to just 300 men and led them to victory in a battle that would have been 450 men to 1. God got all the glory for it, too." Our doctor encouraged us to trust God and relinquish all control to Him so that He gets all the glory when we become parents. I like the sound of that a lot.

He also quoted Isaiah 40:31, "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength...they will run and not grow weary...". He explained that the word "wait" in this scripture was talking about someone with their hands bound together, unable to break free or do anything. They have to wait for someone else to come and set them free. We are helpless except to wait upon the Lord to move. When He is ready, He will come and set us free, but in the meantime, during the waiting, we must hold on to hope and be renewed! We must trust that He will be faithful to rescue us! Through the waiting, there is refreshing. Strength rising as we wait upon the Lord. The part about running and not growing weary ties right in with another Scripture that I've been standing on: Hebrews 12:1-3, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

Throughout this past year, I have had such highs and lows. Twenty five of my friends, family and co-workers have either had a baby or become pregnant. It's been a hard pill to swallow at times, seeing them so full of excitement and anticipation, preparing for the changes to come. It's especially hard to listen to them complain about feeling like a whale or having indigestion or getting to those last few weeks and praying that the baby would come early so they wouldn't be miserable anymore because I'd give anything to be big, fat and pregnant right now if it meant I'd have a sweet baby in my arms as a result. Sometimes I've thought my pms symptoms were those of pregnancy and have enjoyed feeling nauseous because it meant that my dream might be coming true.

Even though I'm still in the process of waiting and my hands are tied until God says, "It's time!", I want to give Him the glory now. If it weren't for these past 11 months, I wouldn't have this compassion for women who struggle with infertility. I wouldn't have this kind of relationship with God and started praying Scripture over my family and myself. I wouldn't have met this wonderful doctor whom I'm greatly looking forward to delivering my baby. I might not have cherished these last few months of "singleness" with Alex and let them slip by, taken for granted. I wouldn't have learned all the many lessons that God wants me to understand through all of this.

Thank you, Lord, for the times of waiting. Even though it's so hard to be patient and it's so easy to get caught up in a pity party of despair, You give me hope. You have good plans for my life, not plans to harm me. I rejoice in You in the midst of sorrow because You are still in control. I give You all the glory and praise for being with me in this season, because a time of harvest is coming and it's going to be awesome!