With Grateful Hearts...

Happy Thanksgiving! 

I am kicking back at my parent's house today, full from an incredible meal and surrounded by laughter and family and blessings, too many to count. This day is a sweet one and we are so happy to be here, catching a break from "real life" and just soaking up time with family.  And as many times as I've thought about what I'm thankful for today, I can't help but echo the song of Mary...

Luke 1:46-49

"And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.  For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name."  

Our hearts are full on this day of giving thanks.  There are so many reasons we praise the Lord and rejoice in God our Savior...

For His timeless Word, for the gift of Jesus Christ, for the Gospel that reconciles us to God, for the cross, for forgiveness, for grace and second chances, for His patience and His perfect plan...

We give thanks for the sweet days, for the hard days, for the ups and downs and ten years of marriage that have grown us stronger and deeper and closer...for family and our precious kids, gifts from the Lord each of them...for Ava, for Carter and for baby #3...

 Yes, baby #3!!!!!!!!

 We are giving thanks for so many things today and especially for this little one.  

 Coming soon to a baby swing near you, in July of 2014!  

We were surprised to find out that baby #3 was cooking, although it quickly explained why I've been feeling so sick and why I've had zero energy for the last two months.  I'm nine weeks along tomorrow and all is well with the baby and I.  It's been a hard couple of weeks lately as I've been plagued with nausea round the clock, but for all the ginger-ale and cereal I've been surviving on, the joy of knowing another baby is joining our family far outweighs the symptoms.  

We are so thankful God saw fit to bless us with this baby in His perfect timing.  We know and believe that every child is a gift from Him and we consider it a privilege to parent another little person in this world.  

Our kids are just over the moon about the news and have been expert, little secret-keepers for weeks!  Ava in particular has been asking about and praying for a baby in our family for months and months.  All along we've told her that God is the one who gives babies to mommies and daddies and if she's hoping for another sister or brother, she should talk to God about it.  And she has!  We've listened to countless prayers from her sweet heart, asking God to "please give us a baby in Mommy's tummy?"  It's been so fun to hear her innocence and watch as her faith grew week to week.  Before we ever knew or even had any idea I might be pregnant, she suddenly switched her prayers from asking for a baby in Mommy's tummy to telling us that God was going to give us a baby.  We always answered her by telling her that we were trusting God too, knowing that she might be right, but wondering ourselves if He would do this for Ava and bolster her faith in Him?

On the morning we found out and before we ever told the kids, Ava drew this picture for me, OF me, and when I questioned the large stomach she gave me she said "That's the baby that's in your tummy Mommy, the baby that God gave us!"  Oh my, was she ever right!  There was a baby in my tummy and she didn't know it yet, but her Daddy and I had tears in our eyes realizing that God had answered our prayers and this would be a sweet reminder for her about God hearing our prayers.

We are so grateful and thankful for all that the Lord has done for us, all that He is to us and especially for this new adventure in our life.  We are elated and full of joy for baby #3!!

So today and every day, we are giving thanks and enjoying the goodness of God.  Stay tuned for a new journey on the blog, I have lots to share with you and of course many funny stories that have unfolded as the kids have begun processing what's happening, ha ha!  We have full hearts tonight and we echo Mary in saying, 

"...He who is mighty has done great things for me, and Holy is His name!" 

Happy Thanksgiving!!