Getting into the holiday spirit

So it's Friday...Happy Friday! This week has been a long one for both Brandon and myself, as we've been working long and hard (although Brandon MUCH longer and MUCH harder!), so we're really looking forward to the weekend and hoping he doesn't have to go in tomorrow. So I've had such a great morning today that I just had to pass the story on in hopes to get everyone in the holiday mood. Since I'm the Homeless Liaison for the school district here, I get all the phone calls about the homeless kiddos not having coats, clothing for school, etc. I received a phone call yesterday from a mom who's 7-year old little girl did not have a coat, but merely a little hoodie that she was wearing, and was wondering if I could find a coat for her. Well, I set off on my list of people to call and asked our church's clothing ministry if they thought they might have a coat for a sweet little 2nd grader. I was told they might, but were not completely sure, as it's been getting a little cooler here and so coats and sweaters are flying off the shelves down there on days they give out clothes. I was interested and they said they'd be open today, so for me to stop by around 8:30-9:00 to check and see. I called the mom back and asked if it'd be ok if her little girl got the coat tomorrow, I had a lead on one that I could get to her by mid-morning. She was SO appreciative and said that would be fine, so this morning, as I was getting ready to head down to our clothing room, I was just praying it would fit; if it didn't, I was definitely considering looking at stopping by Goodwill to see if they had any gently used coats I could just purchase with my own money, as we had already spent money on this child for clothing and are only allotted so much. When I walked out to the car this morning, BURR!, it was cold and I just knew that sweet little girl needed a coat today, no matter where it came from, but I was hoping and praying with all I had that this would be the coat for her as I drove. When I got the The Bridge (our clothing room; which is indeed right next to a bridge), the sweet lady I spoke with yesterday showed me this adorable gently used fur coat and I just knew it was going to work, but when I looked at the size, it was smaller than what the child's mother had told me she wore. So I told the lady that I would try it on her and if it didn't fit, that I'd be back so some other child could use the coat. So off I went to this little girl's school, wanting so badly for the coat to fit. When I got to the office, the secretary told me to wait as she went to get the little girl from P.E. When that sweet girl came into the office (this was the first time for me to see the child face-to-face), she looked so sweet and so innocent and so COLD. I asked her if she'd like to try on this coat for me, that if it fit, I'd love for her to have it. Well, she eagerly tried on the coat and what do you know...it fit PERFECTLY!! I couldn't believe it fit so well, I was so worried it was going to be too tight or too short, but no, it fit her like a glove! It was the sweetest thing to watch her wrapping herself up in it, smiling and walking down the hall, just clutching the ends of it around her body. I was so happy and so grateful!! When I went back to The Bridge with our thank you letter, I let the women know they had just made one little girl SO happy! One of the ladies told me that it was amazing they even had the coat, as they didn't get very many little girls' coats in and the ones they did flew off the shelves. She also said this one was even from last winter; how amazing! It was just as if God was allowing all this to happen and for that coat to have been put aside so this precious little girl could have a coat to keep her warm. It was so encouraging for me to really look at that and realize how so many things occur and get taken of, all with God's touch.

Well, I just wanted to share that story. It just made my morning start off so well and get me in what the true spirit of the holidays is all about. I hope everyone has a great weekend and are looking forward to the major start of the holidays next week!

Houses and Babies

Hello blogging world! So sorry I've been away so long, but I wanted to make sure I had things to tell when I wrote next. The past three weeks Brandon and I have been busy closing on a house (yes, our first house!) and anticipating our first prenatal visit, which was today. Back to the house, we bought our very first house and couldn't be more excited! It's so amazing to sit around and look at walls (yep, walls) and just realize they're yours. Brandon and I have spent a couple nights just commenting on how wonderful it is to know this place is our own, a place we plan to bring our bundle home to in May. How good God is!

In other news, we found out last week that our sweet Annie has a hernia (a rather large one) and that her intestines keep falling in its hole (?) and there poses a risk of her blood supply somehow getting cut off and potentially killing her. As scary as that sounds, we decided to see how much it would cost for her surgery (which they said would be the most effective way to remedy her ailment) and thankfully its quite easy for us to afford. So Miss Annie will be having surgery on December 9 as we once again praise God for letting that be an easy decision to make.

Now, on to the baby! This morning was our first appointment with Dr. Ford. What an amazing man! He and his entire staff were so gracious and made Brandon and I feel so assured that our baby is in good medical hands. I will tell you though, I was so anxious, I could barely sleep a wink last night! I kept tossing and turning, looking over at the alarm clock to see if it was time to get up. I think I might have driven Brandon just a tad nuts... :) SO, we were able to have a sonogram and WOW!, I am once again amazed at the workings of God's hands. We just sat there, speechless, as Dr. Ford showed us our baby kicking around and playing with it's hands...it was just amazing. Dr. Ford asked me what I thought and all I could come up with was "I'm in awe at how amazing that is." We could see it's face, legs, feet, hands, elbows, and heart...something I don't think either of us thought we would really see! I think we both went in thinking it wasn't going to look like, well...a baby. Brandon commented on how it was going to look like a sea monkey...ha, well he was rather pleasantly surprised. I couldn't help but tear up at realizing that this precious bundle is actually growing (and MOVING!) inside me and that God made it to where my body knows how to grow and reposition itself to accomodate this amazing little person. Ah, and we also found out we're a little further along than we thought. We thought we were at 11 weeks 2 days, but we found out we're actually at 12 weeks and are due May 26...which just so happens to be one day after my own birthday. I can't think of a more amazing birthday gift. Well, here's a couple pictures of our sweet little bundle at 12 weeks, enjoy!


(The first is with its head up top and its arm outstretched; the bottom is an upside down side view...I never thought I would know what I'm looking at, but I guess it's true that when it's your own, you just see it!)