Update on the Pregnant Life~ Halfway there!

The news is out! We are expecting a sweet little girl, Kate Marie! Oh, were we so thrilled when we were told. Obviously, we would love and and be excited for a boy too, but we were both sort of hoping for a girl! Kate looked as perfect as could be in the very extensive ultra sound pictures that were taken. I would share them with you, but they were given to us on a disk and in this modern world we don't have a disk drive on our computers!! But honestly, those ultra sound pictures are hard to understand... I just can't wait to see her in person!

Blake and I both seemed to prefer the more simple names. And bless her heart, if she spells anything like her mom, she will appreciate having a 4 letter name! I'd always hoped to give my first daughter my own middle name, Marie. My grandma Lehman was Inez Marie, and many of my cousins have Marie as their middle name as well. So it's special to get to pass on a little bit of my Lehman heritage.    As far as the name Kate goes, we were just fond of it from the beginning. And several of my cousins have names that ring similar so it's really just fitting! So, Kate Marie Jesch it is!

In other pregnancy news, my endocrinologist is officially treating me as someone with gestational diabetes. I got to skip the nasty orange drink test and hopefully I won't have to take it all with this pregnancy. The good news is that I've been managing it well by diet and exercise. In fact I just came home from an appointment where I learned that my  A1C has gone down and is now actually in normal range! Though, it's at the brink. My doctor told me that if I keep working hard it should go down more next time. My blood pressure is still is a very healthy place, so all is looking great for me and Kate!

Another big change for me right now is that I'm no longer working. Friendship School wrapped up last week for summer vacation and I won't be returning next year. I look forward to being a stay-at-home momma with my little girl! I feel so blessed that I'm able to stay home and that it's important enough to Blake that he wants to make the needed sacrifices to allow it to happen. I know that these next few months of pregnancy will fly by as we get everything ready for this new chapter of life!

And now for a little peek into life... I'm sharing a picture of my 20 week "bump"! It's not the best picture in the world, as I took it myself with my tripod, but it'll do! We are halfway into the pregnancy now and I know there is SO much more to come!

That's all for now friends!

humility cures

We sure do love our lists. We love things to be neat and tidy. We sit through bible classes where we talk about how to be a better Christian, and we use little lists to help us along the way.

Well, I'm about to mix things up here because I'm tired of the lists. I'm tired of neat and tidy 3 point lessons.

I'm tired of making all these tasks for myself that are completely centered around me and what I can do. Here is the why.... we can't do these things within our own strength, or even within our own will! It's only through God's powerful and living spirit that we are able to overcome the patterns of the world. When, and only when we submit to his Spirit will we be able to be a "better Christian."

It's very rare that I refer to the NKJV, but in this case, I find comfort in the familiar text of James 4:8, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."

But let's look at this whole little section of scripture to see where it's coming from. This section of verses is labeled, "Humility Cures Worldliness". Boy, do I love that. Already we are seeing that living Christ-like does not come from ourselves. OK... here we go...

"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." ~ James 4:7-10 NKJV

My toes were just stepped on, I'm not sure about you! We are asked to open our hearts up to God and let him reach a place of vulnerability that we offer to no one else. We are asked to draw near to him. That is how we "cure worldliness".

It isn't neatly outlining all of the things we need to work on and giving them sub-points to list how we do each thing. It's submitting to God. Drawing near to God. Lamenting with him. Letting our smiles drop sometimes when we are in his presence and admitting that we don't have it all together on our own. Humbling ourselves to allow HIM to lift us up!

It's all about our hearts. We can cross out every list there ever was about being a better Christian and replace it with "GET YOUR HEART IN THE RIGHT PLACE!!". When our heart is in the right place, everything else works out because when are heart is in the right place we are humbled and in submission to God so that His spirit can work in us and through us. When our heart is in the right place, these things come not naturally, but supernaturally!

I love David Crowder's song, "I AM". My favorite line in the entire song is, "Love like this sets our hearts on fire." Because it's true. When we spend time drawing near to God, embracing who he is, how much he loves us.... then we have everything we need to conquer the world.

update on the pregnant life :)

Blake is enthralled with the never ending NFL draft, so I thought it'd be the perfect time to give a little update on my pregnant life!

As of today, I am 17 weeks and 4 days. I'm feeling pretty good... though I'm quite embarrassed when I realize how fast I loose my breath these days. Apparently even though I'm not that big yet, it's still a common thing. The weather has been great (most days) here in Houston- perfect for the pool! So I've started going out this week and getting in some exercise (and relaxation!!) time. I started out to do breast stroke laps and all I can say is that it's been WAY too long. Can't believe how slow I am and how much it wares me out- after just 1 lap! But I'll blame part of it on the fact that I don't have goggles and so I'm doing it in my sun glasses! So it means I have to open and close my eyes a lot to make sure I don't swim into the wall!

This week was fun in that I made the appointment for our anatomy scan! We'll know the gender on May 27th if all goes as planned and I CAN'T WAIT!!!! (Blake can't wait either!)

It's so much fun planning for this babe but it will become so much more "real" after we know! Inspired by a beautiful nursery rhyme toile fabric, and my childhood love of nursery rhymes, we've chosen a nursery rhyme theme for the nursery/ guest room. If  we'll have a little boy, we'll use a soft mossy green and very soft yellow. If we have a little princess we'll use the mossy green along with very soft pink. (Sort of similar to our wedding colors!) Blake's mom is making me a beautiful rocking chair cushion out of the toile fabric we found that I can use with the wooden rocking chair that my mom rocked me in!

My favorite nursery rhyme book from when I was younger is falling apart... so I'll select some of my favorites to frame. It'll be different for a boy or girl. For example, "Little Boy Blue" for a boy and "Mary Mary Quite Contrary" for a girl! Either way I've got some charming illustrations to choose from!

That's the FUN part of baby planning!!! There is plenty of not-so-fun things to think about but I'll leave that out!!!

In other news.... my baby brother is getting ready to graduate high school. Last week he had his very last symphony concert with his HS, the senior banquet at church, and Senior Sunday and church. Goodness... so hard to believe it but his graduation will be here before we know it!!

We are planning on moving to a 1st floor apartment in June and so I can't wait for that!!! These stairs up to the 3rd floor are getting a lot harder.... if you remember that whole "easily winded" problem I'm having. Blake makes fun of me for going so slow.... but I'm trying to tell him... everything I read tells me to avoid getting short of breath!! That feels like a nearly impossible task.

I've got 2 more weeks of Friendship School. It's actually just 6 school days. Then I will be a housewife and soon to be stay-at-home mommy!! Oh goodness! My heart melts! I feel so blessed to be able to do that!

Well that's all for now! Hope you all have a great weekend celebrating the moms, grandmothers, great grandmothers, and all the special women in your life! :)