A Hug from Heaven

These two have been such a blessing to me as of the past month. Hold your horses, this isn't a bragging session, I promise. I believe their sense of imagination, ability to play together (as well as independently) for hours, fend for themselves in many ways ... the list goes on has been a little hug from heaven direct from God to little ol' me. You see, God rocked our world about this time last month when it was revealed to us that his plans for our family were much different than what we had thought. Travis and I had many talks about being fortunate enough to have one healthy girl and one healthy boy (after what seemed like a rough 1st year). We talked about the emotional ups and downs with all the testing and therapy we endured with Dawson as well as were raw and honest with one another about our fears of having a baby born with even larger scale health issues as we have had others close to us experience. Let's be completely honest here, we also discussed the fact that we were loving our new gained independence to do things and go places with ease ... we talked about the financial aspect of raising a larger family and we touched on the issue of "did we have enough energy and stamina" to start over again. Guess who is in control? GOD! So, here we are - almost 11 weeks pregnant with baby #3. I am fatigued and dealing with awful indigestion. I had virtually stopped ALL cooking, cleaning and couponing (catch your breath as I am here). I am compulsive about cleaning and am passionate about couponing and frugal shopping so putting those things on hold was a stretch for me. I have felt much better over the course of this past week and am happy to report I have prepared and served at least two hot meals to my family so far this week. I am so thankful for my little one's sweet attitudes when they have heard their mommy say repeatedly "Mommy doesn't feel so good right now" or "Let Mommy rest a few more minutes then we will work on getting lunch together." I am grateful that Gabrielle allows me to rest EVERY day during Dawson's nap time and she fills that time with creative play and making an awesome disaster in her room. I have began referring to the disaster in her room as an extension of her creative being. I am blessed beyond measure that my amazing parents live within a 5 minutes walk from here. They never fail to make special time for the kids and fill their love tanks to overflowing on a regular basis. I am loved more than I realize by my husband who works from 6:30AM until supper time then walks in the door and immediately takes over meal preparation & clean up, entertains the kids & gets them ready and tucked into bed. I appreciate that we live in a beautiful neighborhood that has a community pool that has provided more than one "bath" for my kids on occasion over the past few weeks. So, what I am feeling right now is a deep sense of overwhelming joy that the Lord has entrusted us to be parents again and that he is daily sending me a Hug from Heaven letting me know that this 1st trimester blah stage will soon be past allowing me to enjoy my family more.
Grateful - yes!!!

Sweet smiles from the Big Brother and Big Sister to be!!