An Extra Sweet Valentine's Day

If you happened to see our recent Facebook announcement, you'll know we are thrilled to be expecting Baby #2 at the end of August (more likely, beginning of Sept ;)!

We're incredibly thankful to God for this sweet blessing after a year of praying and waiting. It was an early Christmas present to us, with a sweet little moment with Charlie...

As many of you know, there is about a 2 week period of time when you are pregnant before you know you are pregnant. This was always a difficult time for me of waiting each month. Well, during this time in early December, I was asking Charlie where baby Jesus was, since he had gotten a nativity set for his birthday. He quickly pointed to baby Jesus in the manger in his nativity set. Then immediately, he pointed to my tummy and said, "Baby!" I was pretty shocked he did this, because we've never told him that's where babies grow, and he's never done this before. I didn't really react too much other than to say, "No, probably not, Charlie." Then without any prompting, he started saying it out of the blue, pointing to my belly and laughing saying over and over, "Baby, baby!!!" Then I started to get kind of sad, since I didn't know what the Lord had planned for us in this area.  I told him, "No, Charlie, I don't think there's a baby in there." He would probably bring it up randomly at least once a day during those 2 weeks. When we found out at the end of that time that we were pregnant, I couldn't believe it, and was amazed at his little toddler intuition. What a sweet gift to us from the Lord :)

The past few months have been incredibly challenging, as I've had severe morning sickness that I had with Charlie, as well. We'd hoped it would be better this time around, but unfortunately not. I mention the following not to complain, but to sincerely ask for prayer! I lost about 10 pounds in the first few weeks and decided to try the anti-nausea meds that I had been on with Charlie. This time they seem to be working much better than with Charlie, so we are very very thankful! Still, about the only foods I have been able to eat consistently in the past 7 weeks have been fruit, some veggies, and peanut butter. I've lost a total of 12 lbs so far, and I've only been outside our house about three times since Christmas. ( We are REALLY looking forward to celebrating New Year's, my 30th birthday, the Superbowl, and Valentine's Day once I'm feeling better...). The Lord is faithful, and He's definitely teaching me, once again, to rely on Him more and trust Him to carry me/us through this.

This is where I mention how amazing my husband is. Poor Dan has not had a real meal cooked for him (by me) for about 2 months. Instead, he has taken on taking care of Charlie when he gets home from work and literally serving me hand and foot while I lay on the couch or in bed. He doesn't complain when he makes me something I think I can eat, and then I realize it makes me want to vomit as soon as I look at it. He finds Charlie and himself dinner each night, somehow, and puts Charlie to bed. He lets me sleep in on the weekends and takes care of Charlie, or gets up in the night if Charlie is crying. He's seriously Superman. I'm so incredibly grateful and in love with him. He's an awesome husband, daddy, and my favorite Valentine :)

Happy Valentine's Day from the 4 of us!