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Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Introducing...

Easter Sunday...we were 40 weeks and ready to meet our little girl... 


On Wednesday April 23 at 9:11am the most beautiful sweetest little lady entered our life.


There are no words that I could think of to describe the emotion and experience of meeting her...



Cale reading to her out of the belly! :)













I posted on Facebook the other day...

There have been several moments that I'm overtaken with emotion as I look at this baby girl. I can't believe she's mine. Many women have talked to me and told me about the love that is like no other experienced when you have a baby...I didn't get it. I couldn't understand; and then I held her. My whole world has changed and I don't think it could be anymore beautiful or that I could be anymore thankful. Watching Caleb love her is like a tender kiss from the Lord over and over. The reminder of how He has walked every single day holding us and never leaving us and will continue to do so. 




For this child I prayed...
1 Samuel 1:27


I snapped this picture quickly this am- she was exactly a week old! :)


I had planned on working on getting this post on here last night but got too tired to finish. I had time today to get it posted but this was so much better...


After being in this house for a week without leaving, I had my first trip out today! It was to good ol' Walmart. Thankfully I had a hunk of a man to go with me!


and later today, little Miss Nora had her first trip out of the house!


I will be posting at a later time about how labor and delivery went. For now I'll just say that it was incredible. Painful. But...so incredible. I couldn't have asked for anything to have gone better.

Cale so far has been adjusting as best he can. There have been hard days and moments that make it clear that brain injury is in this home. There have been the sweetest moments that melt me to mush. Please continue to pray for him as he adjusts to such a big change in our home. Also, we do have a new RS that will be joining us, we're just in waiting for all the paperwork stuff to go through!

Mama has just about been stuck to a chair or in bed this last week. Between her knee in serious pain, her allergies in a serious mess and then getting some kind of GI bug, it's been difficult. I think she's on the mend and starting to feel like herself again.

I'm doing great. Really. I've been a wee bit surprised with how well I feel. I have had points that I was just too tired to carry on another conversation and some crazy emotions that came (which I was told was normal...but yikes!). I'm absolutely loving getting to know this sweet Nora of ours!

Thank you so much for ALL of your prayers.

We'll keep you posted on how things are going and how this baby girl is doing! :)

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Prayers Please.


This is my man. I snuck this picture of him praying. It's him having a personal conversation with the Lord about his daughter coming and how scared he is...

...will you join him in praying?

Specifics-

Cale has been saying he is very "freaked out" with the whole situation. As time has kept going of waiting for baby Nora to come, its caused him to be more anxious. This morning has been a little more so. 

He's also been very confused. I went to get checked by the midwife today and Cale later made it known that he thought we were dropping him off at Joe's house and then going to the hospital to have the baby. Once home again...there was no baby.  This was all very out of sorts in his mind.

God's perfect timing! We of course are so very ready to meet this baby girl but we want it to be in God's timing not our own (not that we have much of a choice!). 

Peace to fill our hearts. It's always an emotional time waiting for a baby to arrive (not like I actually really know this, I just assume!) and we want to claim peace! 

Wisdom for our Midwife. As many of you know, we have chosen to have a home birth. We're very confident in this decision. Our midwife is amazing and we're so thankful that she loves the Lord and is praying for wisdom as well! 

Safety. This seems to be on Cale's mind a lot. His biggest fears and stress comes from me being in pain when I'm delivering. We talked this morning and he said, "If God made the accident happen and it's bad, he can make something else bad happen." We talked awhile on this but it's a real fear for him. 

Thank you for praying. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for your sweet words. 


Sunday, April 13, 2014

trust & confidence

It's interesting how for so long sitting in front of this computer and pulling up a blank page to update for this blog was comfort. It was a way for me to unleash all of my thoughts and help process whatever was taking place. Now, I sit here and it feels foreign. I've let so many days pass without taking time to pause and capture in writing all that has taken place! 

Maybe one day it'll become that familiar source of comfort again...but with this little one on the way, it could be awhile :)

February was the love month. ha. 

Cale has been going to the Senior Center here in town with his RS. They sometimes take a game and play it or they join in on a game that is scheduled for that day. They had a Valentine's Day Bingo event and this hunk of a man asked me to go with him as his date. Of course I said yes! 


The next night we had a Valentines Day banquet at church. They did Duck Dynasty themed and Cale went right along with the part! Let's just say his BDU's from when he first joined the Army do not fit anymore...which meant his pants were tied together with twine. Oh yes we did. 



We don't get much snow in these parts but when it came, it lasted its few days and then it was gone again. We managed to get some fun pictures taken by our friend Bonnie before it left!






My SIL came into town the beginning of March and she took some pictures of us. Her blog is http://nicoleyorkphotography.blogspot.com and she has a page on FB Nicole York Photography that you can check out and like :) 








There are others that she took as well, just us at home together being us and not posing for a camera. She really captured some elements of this pregnancy and of how we are together that are so special to have in print. 

Mama had surgery beginning of March. This caused a huge adjustment in our home. My life very quickly became...uh...overloaded. It was perfect timing though because now her knee will be healed for when Nora comes! 

March was celebration madness! Our Anniversary is on the 17th, Rachel's birthday and Mike's birthday are both in March along with their anniversary. We decided this year to go somewhere fun and enjoy a few days away. We hopped in the car and drove to Portland, OR. It was such a good trip! We started it off with a hockey game, our local team against Portland's team. We went to the Zoo, ate good food and enjoyed being with friends...














Fun. Fun. Fun. 

Our anniversary came and I found this picture from the morning of the day we exchanged vows and rings! 9 years later and we still like each other :) 


I was weeding one night and started noticing all the flowers in our yard starting to bloom...and suddenly I had butterflies in my belly with the excitement of all the new life happening around here! Flowers blooming means we're about to have a baby in this house! Eeeeek!


This was at 36 weeks! I'm now 39...and very ready to meet this baby girl! :)


Our little Nora is loved so much already. We were showered with love in NY, CA, and then two showers here in WA...and that doesn't include all the gifts that have been sent to her from all over the US! I absolutely love that we have so many people in our lives from all over. I've been overflowing with thankfulness lately. This little one has no idea how blessed she is with all of you to share life with! 



Our dear friend Marion came for a visit with her son. She is a woman that has never once stopped praying and supporting us. She's still constantly sending emails, commenting on the blog, sending packages, and leaving voicemails to let me know that she's still here. Still a part of our life. Still rooting for us. My heart is constantly warmed by her. Her and her son Jon drove from the west side of WA all the way to our little eastern corner, visited for a bit and then drove all the way back. Why? Because she's that awesome. 
Marion, thank you for being you. We love you so much. 




Our weather has been gorgeous lately. This has allowed for lots of walks lately. I'm throughly enjoying being outside in the sun and getting lots of fresh air! Spring is here and shortly summer will be coming to these parts!


I mentioned to Cale the other morning that I needed to take down an old chair that we've had sitting by our garden. I loved the chair but recently it started to fall a part and a little more than an easy fix was going to help. About two minutes later Cale headed to the back yard. I got him a pair of gloves and he went to work breaking down the chair. He needed some help but his initial willingness to help his wife without even being asked...well, I just really loved it. He is limited in so many ways, but in whatever ways he can help-he does. So thankful for him!


Sometimes girls just need a nap.


Many of you have asked about her nursery. Here it is! Simple. Sweet. And...cheap! ;) Haha.
Her room has been my go to place when I'm needing a smile. Everything is as ready as can be waiting for her.

Cale and I were watching the show Last Man Standing on Netflix a couple weeks ago. One of the episodes has the dad coming up the stairs and the oldest daughter wakes up with her boyfriend in her bed. They both go into a panic because even though nothing had happened, her dad was not going to be happy. The boyfriend ends up jumping out of the window and is caught limping across the yard. Anyways, the show goes on with the dad not happy about what had happened. I had paused the show to run (or waddle) to the bathroom and when I came back, Cale told be he had some serious questions. "How to keep boys out of Nora's room?" To respond to his question I talked to him about how we're praying for her that she would grow to be a godly woman and hopefully she'll want to honor the Lord, honor her future husband as well as honor and obey us. After I talked for awhile, his response was, "you never know though." Well, that's true. Before I could go into another long explanation, Cale asked, "Where is the closest Army post?" I told him it was near where Ty and Nikki live on the other side of the state. Not very close to us. Not a problem for him though...he quickly came up with another plan. "Ok. I'm going to go to the recruiter station and get guys to come patrol our house to keep any boys away." HA! What?! He totally is already thinking like a dad!

It's amazing to me that he's already having these thoughts and able to think about the future (which is not the norm) along with problem solving a situation that is just not acceptable to him! I loved everything about our conversation!

How is Cale doing with Nora coming?

Pretty much, all around we're both thrilled to the core. When Cale first wakes up he's nervous and scared. When we talk about her coming or if he gets a good look at my growing belly and actually takes notice, he says he's freaked out. As the day progresses and he processes, by the time evening comes, he tells her he's so excited and can't wait to meet her. Of course then he goes to sleep and wakes the next day, it starts the whole thing all over again ;)

For the majority of the time, he's very ready to meet her and hold his baby girl. Although, he did say that just holding a baby is boring so he'll want her to play soon.

I've been feeling great! I feel so thankful that everything has gone so smoothly and I haven't been too uncomfortable. I remember being told that when I hit 8 months I'd hate being pregnant and feel terrible. It didn't happen for me! I was also told when I hit 36 weeks I would feel the worst and not want to do much. Didn't happen for me! This last Wednesday was my first day really being uncomfortable though...I was hot, tired, and my fingers and toes were sausages. I felt so large and couldn't get comfortable no matter what I did. I ended up sleeping really good that night which was a gift since the sleeping part has been the hardest for me. I woke up Thursday morning feeling like a brand new woman!

Now I'm at 39 weeks and wondering how often those uncomfortable days are going to come!


This last week has been a rough going week. I was given some news on Monday that was shocking and just hard to swallow. With Cale, any change; good or bad, is difficult. After going to two child birth classes, he started to act out a little more. It's because a huge change is about to happen. We've seen it happen a little more lately as we talk about her coming any day. He doesn't realize he's acting out and he doesn't have control over it...we just work through it.

My news on Monday was that we were loosing his RS that we've had since November. She takes him out in the community and gets him doing things away from home or at home but that are his things to do with out me. This has been such a blessing in our family as it gives Cale a chance to be more independent through his day. We love at the end of the day to talk about what we each did and the little adventures that happen. He doesn't always remember but it allows for possibility!

I found out Monday that his RS was moving out of the area and her last day was going to be...Thursday! Yikes!

I tried to keep myself together and not overreact but all I kept coming back to was it is the worst timing possible! Cale has a routine and a comfort with her. If she's gone that already breaks that up and it's a lot of change to deal with and Nora is coming ANY day now! Not to mention bringing someone new into the picture.

I just felt frustrated and nervous every time I thought about it. All week was difficult and there just didn't seem to be an easy answer.

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him." -Jeremiah 17:7


I read Jeremiah 17:7 and instantly a work was being done on my heart.  I want to be that person. I want to be the person that in every circumstance I trust in the Lord and my confidence is in Him. I want to be thankful for the challenges that arise rather than be caught and tangled up fretting about them.

My friend reminded me this week that everything was going to work out and be fine because I was able to handle and survive Cale facing death. We got through that. We made it. By our strength? Nope. Not in the slightest. I was able to walk through that time in our life because my confidence was in the Lord.

It feels like the worst possible timing but as much as it shocked me, it didn't shock the One in control. He knows Cale. He knows how hard change is for Him. He knows Cale's every need. He knows my needs and our families needs.

I just need to trust Him.

So...after battling this dramatic situation in my heart all week, I found out my friends boyfriend had been shot in the head while in Afghanistan. He's still alive at this point but he's currently facing death. I think about her; my friend that I treasure and how she's having to deal with this. I think about his family and all they're going through...was finding out we were losing our RS that big of a deal?

Today at church our Pastor shared about a trip that he just returned home from. He went to a country where millions have never even heard the name of Jesus. As he talked about the trip and all that took place I asked myself, was finding out we were losing our RS really that big of a deal?

It's so easy in my comfortable life to get caught up in the things of this world. I can so easily lose sight of the Kingdom when I have a bad day; when I receive news that brings difficulty.

I know when Nora comes there will be hard days. There will be days when I'm so tired and everything in my world feels like its spiraling away from me...

I want to be that person that trusts in the Lord in all circumstances putting my full confidence in Him.


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