This Home Ownership Thing

All our bags are packed and we are ready to go. Not too far away from the city but far enough that when I look out the window, I see Eastern Bluebirds and American Gold Finches in my yard. It has been so long since I've seen birds up close and I realize how much I missed it.

We are painting the house and hope to move in two days. It looks really good! The Hubs painted all weekend while I took off wall plates, taped the rooms and organized the kitchen. Where was Baby Girl? She has been on "vacation" with both sets of grandparents and

from what I hear she is LOVING it!

 

All weekend, The Hubs kept saying, "I love homeownership. You get to paint what you want, do whatever you want outside, there are so many things I get to do." And I'd continue working in the kitchen, listening to him and smiling because I was happy, he finally was beginning to feel not so trapped in a house that wasn't his.

 

For me, it's definitely got to be the sound of quiet. We took our camping chairs out to the house over the weekend and just sat outside. No sounds could be heard except for the wind blowing and an occassional bird. I had forgotten what quiet sounded like. No busy interstates or passing motorcycles to get me all stressed out. Just the sound of nothing and it reminded me that God is a still small voice. He is everywhere. Even in the suburbs, I would find God on my strolls with Baby Girl but He knows that my place of worship is really outside in the country.

 

Now don't get me wrong, we didn't move so far out that it takes a day to go to Wal-Mart but it is 5.5 miles away...and after living in the suburbs, 5.5 miles is a pretty big distance : )  In the suburbs, I could make it to Wal-Mart in 3 minutes. Now mind you, I'd have to "dress up" to go to the old Wal-Mart. But this new Wal-Mart in our new neighborhood completely shocked me. Let's just say, I loved it! I parked beside two trucks and people were walking in there with their jogging clothes on!

I kept thinking, "What! What! I don't have to actually dress to the nines anymore to go to Wal-Mart...this is awesome!"

I heard children saying, "Yes Mam," to their mother and when I actually went to pay for my groceries, I walked right up to a register. NO MORE waiting in line for ten minutes to pay for groceries! Yay!

 

Yes, it's a great place to be...this homeownership thing! Lord knows we have patiently waited since October 29th to hear about this house. The short sale process is HARD and my patience was surely tested. But the end result is so sweet.

 

"I can't get past the evidence and the proof. I can't get past the evidence, it's impossible to do. You are the reason that I can't deny the truth. I can't get past the evidence of YOU."

Your Love Never Fails!

The Hub's work through us a baby shower and it was beyond beautiful! I was so overwhelmed with how much work everyone put into the shower and they even thought about Baby Girl and got her presents too. We were so blessed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baby Girl tries her hardest to help us pack every night. She is Daddy's Tape Girl and stands their patiently waiting to give him tape for all the boxes : ) Here she is helping pack up the pantry by putting cans in her lunch box.

 

Found this Jiffy Peat Moss Box at Lowes and decided to plant Zinnia's with Baby Girl.

 

Sorry for our shirtless girl. She insisted on drinking our tea and spilled it all over her shirt.

Baby Girl wants to be a Big Girl so bad and decided it was time to try the Big Girl swing.

 

While packing up a closet, Baby Girl found mommy's old boxing gloves and threw a few punches at us!



 

What do daddy's do best? Build their little girl's forts when their sick and let them eat as many doritos as they please ; )

 

Is this not the most adorable picture ever? Reading in her chair and not even 2 years old yet!

So the signs work! The paci habit was broke within 2 weeks. Took away the paci on Feb 6 and by Feb 14 all the grandparents came to celebrate Baby Girl's new Big Girl Status!

 

We took her to Build a Bear and let her put her Paci in the Kitty Cat-whom we later named Miss P. (Miss Paci-get it?!)    ; )

 

 

 

There goes the paci. She wasn't thrilled about it but no major tears!

 

She kept saying, "Wash Wash Wash!" At first we didn't know what she was talking about but she wanted to bath her kitty. Apparently, she remembered going to Build a Bear with her Momaw before. 

We also got her Big Girl sheets from Pottery Barn but no Big Girl bed yet! I decided I'm not ready to have her get out of her crib whenever she wants. This night she asked me to get in the crib with her. Yes, I hopped in the crib...30 some weeks pregnant!

 

 

It's Official! We are closing on the short sale home this week! The owner's didn't mind us coming in and fixing a few things before the close date, so we did and had a Pizza Picnic on the floor today : )

 

"You Stay The Same Through The Ages, Your Love Never Changes, There May Be Pain in the Night But Joy Comes in the Morning! Your Love Never Fails!"

He Knew I Needed Him

 

I'm changed for the better
More smiles, less bitter
I'm even starting to forgive myself
I hit my knee, I’m here I stand
There I was, now here I am
Changed
Yes I am
I’m changed for the better.

How Beautiful. I was driving in my car one evening while The Hubs was watching Baby Girl and this song came on the radio. I had never heard it before but HOW.BEAUTIFUL.

It may be hard to believe but when I would hear some people tell their story of accepting Jesus into their lives, I would be embarrassed for myself…questioning if my story was even for real. After all, I was only 12 years old when I gave my life to our Father. So many times I’ve thought, “I was just a kid. How did I really know what it meant to be saved? My story was so... normal. There were no terrible life experiences or regretful pasts to talk about…I was just a kid!”

And then I’d have a battle in my head. “Well am I really saved? Is this for real? Or now that I’m an adult maybe I should go through the process again…”

But you know what? I gave my life to the Father at the Exact. Right. Time. He wanted me too at 12 years old. He knew when He created me, I was going to be the type of person who questioned everything and had a hard time giving up control. He knew that I’d need Him during my teen years more than ever. And for that I am grateful. He knew that during my college years, I’d need a Heavenly Father to lean on during lonely times while The Hubs (who was then just my boyfriend) was in a completely different state. He knew I’d need Him during 2009, when I’d regrettably find out and struggle with the misdiagnosis of cancer. Even more, He knew I’d need to trust Him when I could do nothing on my own to get pregnant. And of course, all of this has happened in 28 years. I still have much more life to NEED HIM. So even though my story of accepting Jesus as Leader of My Life was only through a child’s eyes, He knew I was READY.

I came up out of the water
Raised my hands up to the Father
Gave it all to Him that day
Felt a new wind kiss my face
Walked away, Eyes wide open
Could finally see where I was going
It didn't matter where I'd been
I'm not the same woman I was then.

I got off track, I made mistakes
Back slid my way into that place where souls get lost
Lines get crossed
and the pain won’t go away
I hit my knees, Now here I stand
There I was, now here I am
Changed

 

 

Maybe you’ve been questioning your “Saved Story” and wondering if it was all for real. Take comfort in the knowledge that Your Father knows your heart and knows where and how to lead you in your life.

Maybe you’ve been wondering what it means to actually have a Heavenly Father-the Leader of Your Life. I encourage you to seek out someone who has already made that commitment. I encourage you to fall on your knees and say, “Lord, I can’t do it without You. I need You in my life.  I ask for You to come into my heart and life today. Change me. Make me new. I will follow You-All The Days of My Life.”

 

When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

~ Matthew 19:25-26

 

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

~Romans 10:9-10

 

 

 

To Move or Not To Move? That is the Question No One Seems to Answer.



Baby Girl with her brand new cousin. She loves to give her kisses and fist pumps. Haha!

It has been such a long time since I've had the desire to blog. Don't get me wrong, I would love to blog everyday but so much has been happening that when I finally get a break, all I want to do is take a nap...

 

Third trimester has hit hard and I am almost positive Baby Boy is going to be a BIG BABY! Let's hope he's average but every night The Hubs puts his hand on my stomach and says, "What is that!? Kim, are you sure he's not a big baby?" And I say, "I KNOW! He has got to be huge." I never felt Baby Girl's feet or shoulders while pregnant but it seems like this baby could possibly give one big stretch and pop out of my belly...and I'm only 33 weeks. That, my friends, is the scary part. LOL! There is officially no more room in the inn, so to speak. The doctor says she would like to do an ultrasound at 36 weeks pregnant. So we will know more info then.

 

Trying to kiss the baby at 28 weeks pregnant : )

But other pregnancy symptoms that I feel has started early are loss of appetite (no place in my stomach for large meals), waddling and constant heartburn. The heartburn I can handle but the waddling and backache are the toughest. Why?!!!! Because it appears we may FINALLY be getting the opportunity to move!

 

Don't you just love how the Lord's timing isn't our timing. I suppose that's because He is an everlasting God and time to Him means something completely different than time to us. So the bank that owns the short sale finally okayed our offer. We had originally hoped to close 6 weeks before Baby Boy arrived.

 

I would sarcastically say to people, "Yep, did you hear the bank finally agreed to let us move into the house...6 weeks before Baby Boy gets here?" And they'd just stare at me bug eyed. I could see the wheels turning in their head and I knew they were thinking, "Girl, you don't know what you're in for. Moving, an almost two year old and a newborn...you have got to be CRA-ZY!"

 

But then another stepping stone popped up in our path that made the original plan seem heavenly. We had proactively locked in a three month loan rate thinking we'd have everything ready to go when the bank finally agreed. But about two days after we found out we got the house, our loan guy said that our loan rate had expired. Can you believe it! Errrr we were so frustrated. So the loan is back in underwriting (again).

 

Our NEW PROJECTED CLOSE DATE IS...4 weeks before Baby Boy enters the world! I'm still in shock over this. I'll be 36 weeks pregnant when we move! Just reading that outloud makes me want to shake my head furiously in hopes that this is only my imagination. NO PEOPLE...this is the ultimate CRA-ZY! So could you all continue to pray for us that our loan people don't piddle around and actually okay the loan say...SOON!

 

Nevertheless, all this "stuff" has created even more patience in me that I didn't know I had. Our God  sees the bigger picture and because of that, He wants us to focus on how big HE is instead of how BIG the problem is. Isaiah 40:27-31 says,

"Why do you complain, Jacob?
Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
my cause is disregarded by my God”?

Just like this verse says, so many times I have asked of the Lord, "Don't you hear my problem. Don't you see that I'm trying to make the best choice. Why haven't You blessed me.

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.

 

But our Lord is everlasting and He sees and knows all even before it happens. So why worry over this simple problem when He created this very Earth that we live on?

He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint."

 

So because of this I have learned that my God is in control. Any problem I face will be met with a renewed strength and it will be as if I'm running a race and I never grow tired. My Lord will give me all the power I need to move and unpack and DELIVER A BABY. All in His Good Timing.

 

 

 

 



Baby Boy's furniture is here but it's sitting in the dining room ready to move. We have no room set up for him yet...another pregnant momma's worst nightmares. 33 weeks pregnant here : )