20 Weeks: Flying By and Thankful (Bump Warning)

This post is about pregnancy. If you're not in a good place, please feel free to pass! Take care of you!

20 Week Bump

Wow. Wow, wow, wow! I can't believe this pregnancy is halfway over!

Here's the thing: I love being pregnant! I know pregnancy is really hard sometimes and that some people can be (physically) miserable the entire nine months. Goodness, even my sister had a really rough time. But, for me, pregnancy is pretty easy. Although I had some GI issues in the first trimester, it never came to actual morning sickness. I expect that my hips and feet will start bothering me more and more as things progress. But, overall, pregnancy is simple and fun.

So part of me gets sad that we're halfway done. I know that, unless God changes my heart (and R's heart, and our financial situation, and our living situation), we will not be having anymore children. That this is my last pregnancy. As much as I'm looking forward to meeting Aaron, I want to wait.

Aaron, please take as long as you need cooking in there! Let me enjoy even one more kick before you decide to be born!

We've started collecting baby things with a bit more earnest. We now have a swing, diaper clutch, rocker/bouncer combo, activity mirror, white noise machine, a few books, a couple of stuffed animals, a box of size 1 diapers, and some clothes. Our registries are complete (Target and Amazon). My parents have committed to purchasing our (expensive, oops!) stroller. The baby shower has a definite date and is being planned by our neighbor. I'm collecting the info for the guest list.

It's all really happening!

Sometimes I can't believe how blessed we are.

The Lord has been so good to us. He has provided a solution to pay for birth/delivery that R and I are both comfortable with. He has provided a solution for our health insurance in 2014 that is affordable and offers better coverage with our same doctors. With these two solutions, the Lord has shown us how to pay off all of our debts, except for the mortgage, within the next five years. God is so good!

The Lord has been answering my prayers for connection to other women in our community. Although the study we are completing at church is still not all I hoped it would be, I am really enjoying building relationships with the women in the group. The same goes for BSF. I am noticing that the women who prayed for us so much last year are still making contact on Monday nights, even though we are in different groups this year. The Lord has really been at work in me with this year's group and I'm building relationships with two women there, one of whom is still in the trenches with IF.

And, honestly, I see the Lord building relationships with women here in our IF community. I'm so grateful for all of you who are with us on this journey, commenting here and blogging your own stories. You bring hope, thankfulness, and faith into my days. Thank you for writing!! You are in my prayers daily and I love seeing how God is working in your lives!

Even with all of the loss and pain we see in the ALI community, my heart is overflowing these days with praise for who God is and how He works.

A psalm. For giving grateful praise.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he who made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.