Going back to the 'TCBY'...

I have been meaning to comment on two topics that we mentioned in our letter we sent out with our Christmas cards...yadda yadda, I thought I'd be a little better of a blogger by now...but I've been trying to not 'waste away' too much of my time in front of the computer because I can get carried away very easily searching things and what not.

So, as I sit here letting my fingers and toes dry from my at-home mani and pedi (yup, I've given up the salon as we are learning to budget), I thought I would make good use of my time and do something that I have been meaning to!

...as Tyler says, I am a story teller - I always go back before getting to where I'm going :)

I thought I would give a little more detail on the adoption and the 'turning of a new leaf' that we mentioned, since that has been brought up in several conversations in the past few months.

As we stated, we felt a new stage of life coming on as we wrote our newsletter. It was nice that it was being felt by the both of us; the Lord was keeping us on the same page :) It made it nice when we started moving forward. After much prayer and complete peace in our hearts, I gave notice at my job that I have been at in one capacity or another, since November of 1997. The direction wasn't quite clear at that point - other than out. I gave a 5 month notice and have 1 month left at my job. I started to work part-time in March to wrap up my time there.

Thoughts on the 'next step' have been going to nursing school, or just school of some sort. Or just searching for jobs in fields that seem interesting and trying them out. The 'plan' was to keep an open mind and to figure it out after some no work and rest time over the summer.

Shortly after (days!) giving this notice at work, we had the following conversation:

ME: man I've been incredibly hungry the last 2 days - like never before...

TYLER: uh...are you pregnant?

ME: gasp - um....

approximately 5 minutes later we had a positive pregnancy test and an array of emotions going on - then we took another test to make sure, followed by going down to Kaiser 2 days later to make extra sure. We just couldn't believe it!

We know we caused a little confusion as we started to share the news - some were wondering if we were paper pregnant, or why were were talking adoption in December.

...which takes me to the other item to comment on!

Tyler has always had a heart to care for the orphans and widows, as he's heard of throughout the years from the Bible. Randomly, in 5th grade I was having a conversation with my aunt and said 'I'm going to adopt'...and that statement has never left my heart since.

Together, we'd discussed adoption as a part of our family. After our miscarriage, and the wait in trying to get pregnant again, we had begun to pursue adoption...only to find out that we'd have to wait until our 3rd anniversary (this upcoming September) before we were able to move forward with anything.

SO, this news combined with our 'new leaf' and leaving my job...it all seemed to us like the Lord was leading us to: have me go to nursing school, which would take me about 2.5 - 3 years, while going through the adoption process which takes 2-3 years...so then I could start my new career after spending some time with baby. But, like I said, we weren't 'making plans' the Lord had us on our knees waiting on Him and trusting that whatever little plans He has for our lives were better than we could have imagined....

and here we are...still in the midst of it all, but moving on, nonetheless.

While I always thought of myself as a working mom with kids in daycare, the Lord has been working on changing my heart and discovering femininity and different roles for women - one being a mom that stays at home.

I've dreamed of not working and lavishly living my days without work :) (who hasn't), but this is one direction I had never thought of for myself...and now seems like quite a possibility!

So, that's where we are. Pregnant, working part time and just praying about going back to work (at an unknown place) or school OR staying at home with the beautiful life that's growing inside of me.

Adoption is still in our future; we're certain of God's calling to do this. So we're praying about the timing of that...but focusing on where we are right now :)

So there you have it....in case you were wondering :)

January

I have so been meaning to get caught up to what's going on NOW since I've been home more. Oh well, right?! :)

Here are a few shots from Josh and Dani's wedding! I'm sure they posted their gorgeous pics...but of course we took our own :) And lets face it, they didn't have nearly as many shots of us as we do! :)

My husband the emcee???

Yup, for someone that doesn't like to be the center of attention or on stage, Josh kindly asked him to do the honors and Tyler accepted! He did such a great job :)

Tyler and Mile's first meeting :) ...it was super exciting for Tyler to get to hold Miles that day since we had just found out we were pregnant not too long before the wedding.

cute couple:)

a couple of Tyler pics :)

and adorable Kayla - i just love her big beautiful eyes :)

We didn't get many good shots of the bride and groom...but this one was too cute! on their way out and off to the honeymoon :)

Here's a pic someone else actually took of us :) Tyler couldn't resist posing on the belly...

Stay tuned for more catch up pics :)

Precious Baby

He's here! After about 12 hours, the beautiful little guy made his way in to the world.

The grandma and great-grandmas...

The very proud aunt :)

Ya know I had to get in there and hold him as soon as I could!

Here's Lita when she was finally able to see him.

Here are a few other shots of him during his first photo shoot with Tia Connie :)

Baby Shower

We had a baby shower just a couple of weeks ago...and just a heads up to those wondering, it sounds like baby Isaiah will be making his way soon!

this is the invite that Tyler and I made :)

...and we had fun with the decorations :)

the mama to be (posing for another camera, but we grabbed a shot of it too)

the daddy to be walking by...

here's Lila having fun with her boys :)

Isaiah will be the first of the next generation in our family!

the first time grandma

the first time great-grandma

the first time great-great-grandma

...and Tia Connie :)...who is now assured to have 2 other little ones (crystal's and jessica's) to play with our little one. it's going to be fun to have 3 new additions to our family all in one year.

Auntie Shirley was heading up the games

and there were a ton of gifts to open up!!

We'll keep ya posted on when the baby comes! He's starting to make his way today!