Today I am turning 24 years old. Weird. That is how I feel about it. Like really 24? HOW did that happen? ;)

I am so very blessed! I was reflecting over the past year and am just in awe of what the Lord has done and is doing.

SO many life changing things happened. One of the bigger ones was the birth of this little man:

He has changed our lives forever and I am so thankful for him. He is one of my favorite gifts :)

One of my other favorite gifts is my TWO year old (I wonder how fast time will seem to fly by till we are celebrating HIS 24th birthday!?) :)


My boys-I always wanted to have boys especially after being able to babysit for a family with three boys when I was a teenager for a few years!


Another gift is watching them together and seeing their relationship grow every day. They adore each other and that is so beautiful to me :)



Another relationship that has been growing more beautiful this year is our marriage. We reached a really tough place in March but the beauty that has come from re-surrendering our relationship to the Lord is beyond both of our imaginations!

    and proclaim what the Lord has done."

Psalm 118:17

To PROCLAIM what God has done-He has made my family new and I am forever grateful and thankful to Him for that! :)

What about you? Has God done some amazing things in your life this year? I would love to hear about it! 

What is your favorite birthday dinner?

My mom made me hash brown casserole and an AWESOME steak and chicken salad. Deliciousness! :)

Splat!

I looked up shocked! We all burst into peals of laughter as Sarah said: "Well, that was an answer from the Lord."

Gluten Free.

Ever heard of those words?

Gluten is found in wheat. Now some people can tolerate it but more and more people are beginning to realize that they are not able to tolerate it. We think that Jason is one such person.

He has been sick for months now and ,after getting some council from people who have had some of the same problems, we decided to cut wheat out of our diets and see the difference that it makes.

We are on day two and so far I have eaten two eggs (and less then a handful of chocolate chips you did not just read that).

Yesterday was day one and we did pretty good. It was also the first time that we were really tested!

My sister-in-law invited us and a few other families with young children over for dinner. We were supposed to grill out but it was rainy so we ate inside. Jason and I (I am doing this with him) did pretty well overall. Instead of hamburger buns we had spelt bread (which is a more ancient grain and many people with wheat intolerance can eat it), forsook the chips, pink stuff and macaroni salad.

Then came time for desert.

Ice cream sandwiches, loads of cool whip, chocolate sauce and butterfingers. Can anyone say: temptation?

So I was outside with all the mom's helping the little ones get their desert and then they started handing our desert out.

I caught Jason's eye and asked him if he thought it was ok if I had some. He indicated he did not care (which I knew he wouldn't I was just trying to not feel so guilty about devouring eating this amazing looking concoction) and so I took my serving and happily envisioned myself eating that first amazing, definitely not gluten free/healthy bite.

Guilt consumed me.

Ok, that may be a little bit dramatic but I really did feel bad! I mean, here is my sweet husband doing so well and I can't even NOT have desert to help show him some support.

What is a girl to do?

Ask the other Mama's what they think of course!

"So what if your husband is going gluten free? Should you support him in all things or just eat this desert anyway?"

They smiled and said: "Eat the desert."

I smiled thinking of the smooth medley of flavors I was about to consume when all the sudden without warning: SPLAT!

My bowl slipped (not even sure how that happened) and that beautiful ice cream stuff smashed all over the patio.

Now really-would it have been that bad if I had had that teensy weensy little piece of cake? No!

But, I am glad I didn't!

See the Lord has called me to be my husband's help meet. I believe that means even in the little things in life.

My husband has to give up wheat, which is really hard for him, so what can I as his wife do? Support him in it!

I am thankful that I did not eat that desert because I could go to my husband and say: "I didn't have any either."

Not only did it make him feel better but it also showed him that I love him and am willing to support him and help him even in the things that are not as fun!

So folks, we got through the first day of no wheat! On to the next...well, who knows? I am excited to see how this is going to change our lives! I will definitely keep you updated!

Have you ever had to go gluten free? Have any suggestions? I would love to hear them!

My amazing friend Rebecca from over at Butterfly Days made this video for us and I just love it! Truly sums up this past year!

How blessed I am. Truly. This year has been amazing! Filled with some hard times but also some amazing times! Through it all-the Lord has been so faithful and we have grown so much!

Happy first anniversary my love :) You are the best thing that has ever happened to me and I could not imagine life without you by my side.

You truly are my prince and I fall more in love with you every day :)

You are the best husband and father and also you truly are my very best friend!

I love you Jason Samuel! Can't wait to see what this next year holds. Knowing you I am sure it will be an adventure :)<3

Waiting. Pretty sure that no one really likes to do it. And yet there are times in our lives when we really do not have a choice!

For me-this would be one of those times!

Today I am 39 weeks and I am waiting.

I have the room ready for my little man and so now I am waiting for him to come so I can start using the adorable boppy pillow my friend mailed me, start dressing him in the insane amount of onesies people just showered us with (this kid seriously has clothes for like the first year of his life), start using that recliner our amazing grounds manager gave me to rock my sweet baby boy as I feed him...

I can hardly wait to start so many things-but, we are still waiting.

That is ok.

Because I am realizing that never again will my life ever be the same once this little man makes his highly anticipated entrance into this world.

Never again will it "just be" Jason and I.

Never again will I smile as he moves and twists and nudges me from inside. I love feeling him move and watching him move! Soon, I will get to see it in person. Never again will he be inside me.

Life is going to change.

Waiting for that change is hard but even this is just a season.

And you know what...even just writing this-I have realized that I am ok with it!

Yes, I would love to not be a beached whale, be able to roll over in bed, not waddle anymore....etc...but that is going to come soon enough. So in the meantime-

I am going to try my best to enjoy this time and make the most of these last few days before he arrives...while I am waiting.

(Source)

A long time ago (ok so less than two years ago because that is how long I have known him) I was just starting to get to know Jason. "Oddly enough" he had started spending a lot more time with us at church and Bible studies and just hanging out (ok don't judge me I was still in denial lol).

At the time we went as a group to clean a friend of our families house. They were returning from a year in the mission field and the people that had been renting their house had just up and left leaving a wreck at their house (literally it smelled so bad we were gagging the first time we went in).

We got to work but there were two places people did not want to touch. That was the two bathrooms. We truly thought that we were going to have to replace to toilets they were so beyond disgusting.

We worked the first evening and then continued to come back and work on the house over the next few days. The toilets had stilled not been cleaned and no one out of the group was going near them with a 10 foot pole! Then-one night Jason did something that made such an impression on me and spoke volumes about his character.

I remember distinctly working in the living room and glancing up to see him quietly scrubbing away at the worst toilet out of the two. He didn't make a big deal about it. He didn't draw attention to it. He just did it. He took the least desirable job that no one wanted and did something about it. Humbly. Quietly. Without a word of complaint.

I remember just standing there amazed. Watching him and realizing that I had seen just another thing that proved that he was a man of depth and character.

He scrubbed that toilet for a long LONG time and by the time it was done it looked brand new. Once it was done he just moved on to the next thing that needed to be done  but that left such an impression.

Why do I bring this up again?

Well, last night I was laying in bed absolutely exhausted and unable to move. When all the sudden I blearily opened my eyes and there my husband was-cleaning the toilets. His sister came today and he was doing his best to help clean.

Now, you have to understand, that the bathroom is a chore I really do not like at all and so just seeing him sacrificially just serving and trying to make things easier on his very swollen, exhausted pregnant wife just reminded me again what depth of character my husband has.

He is such a prince. Truly, he was so worth waiting for! To think that God blessed me with such a godly man truly humbles me. I am so thankful!

Besides Jesus-Jason is the best thing that has ever happened to me.


Who would have thought that scrubbing toilets would be a reminder of how blessed I truly am? God is so good!

What little reminders has God placed in your life lately? I would love to hear about it :)

Today is my last day of being 20 weeks! :) Things have been insanely busy lately but that is ok because I still got some pictures! :)

It has been exciting lately! We found out for absolute sure that Elijah is indeed a boy! I am so happy about that :) I love finding out just because now it just seems so much more personal to me :) And yes-I look crazy sometimes just walking around talking to my belly! ;)



And then of course my amazing husband Jason who was so patient while I played around with the self timer on our camera! I am so excited for him to be a Daddy. He is going to be the best! :)


Speaking of the best-guess what my husband did for me today? Well, here is a hint in pictures:







So my husband is the sweetest man in the entire world! I came home and this is what I found: GORGEOUS roses, the sweetest card and then because we are trying to stay away from sugary stuff raspberries (instead of chocolate) and TORTILLA CHIPS COMPLETE WITH FIXINGS FOR NACHOS! Yes, I did a happy dance when he told me about the nachos ;) I love him so much :)<3 What an amazing six month anniversary!

Wait a second! Did I say six months? Why yes I did! Six months ago on this day we got married and began our journey as man and wife and while that is not long for some people for us it has felt like six years just all the stuff we have packed into these last six months! What an amazing journey it has been so far! I am truly blessed among women! It is so worth waiting for the man that GOD has for us! He is my rock, my lover, my best friend. He is my husband.