NEW BLOG!

You should check out my new blog for updates! =)   http://web.me.com/melanie.ann

If you know how to move over all of these posts to my new blog, you should let me know!  It's a work in progress but I already love it so much more than I like blogger.com.

(so... I wrote this yesterday and my pictures never uploaded...so let's just pretend that it's still yesterday so I don't have to re-write my post! =))  Hopefully I'll post a picture or 2 soon!

What an incredible day this has been!  We went to the dr. today and found out that we will be welcoming a baby girl into this world July 25th.  God has truly blessed our growing family and I am so thankful!  After our appointment we went to Target and picked up a few things for our precious little one, but then I had to go back to work (blah!).  Gavin and I decided that we wanted to tell his parents the news, but we wanted to wait and do dinner with my parents and Mer and Jordan tonight to break the news to them.  It was so hard keeping a secret from all of my friends, and especially some of my co-workers who kept asking and trying to find different ways to get it out of me, but I didn't budge! I was so proud of myself!  I can be a big push-over sometimes and just give in, but not this time! =)  I pray that Gavin and I will grow to be the Godly example that we are called to be and that our child will never know anything but love!  

I think we've decided on a name for her, but we're holding off on telling everyone because it's not set in stone yet.  Gavin doesn't want people to get attached to the name just yet, because we haven't completely decided on it (even though we're like 98% sure it'll stick).  For now we'll just pray that Baby Girl will continue to grow stronger and stronger each day!  20 weeks down, 20 weeks to go!

So...just real quick--I started the Beth Moore bible study tonight called 'A Woman's Heart: God's Dwelling Place.'  I already love it!

Just a small piece of insight from tonight...

"The day our Savior bore the thorns in His flesh was the day God perfected the ultimate sufficiency of grace."

Nicely put.  His grace really is enough for me.  Now if I could just live like I believe that... 

Have a blessed week!

Halfway Point!

Well, I'm 20 weeks tomorrow and I really just can't believe how fast time has gone by!  I realize that for about 8 weeks of that time I didn't know that I was pregnant, but I like to pretend like I did so I make myself believe the next 20 or so will go by just as fast! =)  

Okay we have our dr. appointment on Monday and we find out if we will be welcoming a son or daughter into this world! What a blessing! We will be absolutely thrilled with either one, but we are having a hard time being patient and waiting to find out!!  I'm thinking girl...What do YOU think?  

Gavin and I went to Babies R Us last weekend--what an overwhelming place that is! Holy cow, there is so much stuff to look at!  I can't wait to go register for all of that fun stuff to make way for baby Greer! YAY!  I can't wait to hold our precious little one in my arms!  I've heard that you never know how much you can love something/someone until you hold your baby in your arms...I can't wait for that feeling!

Sonogram pictures to come......

This week.

Just in case you were curious as to how big Baby is getting and what's going on this week....

Week 19

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.

Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting.

Ya know, I was talking to Teresa at church about how incredible the development of a baby is...you may be thinking, what?!  However, it completely blows my mind to think about how tiny the little peanut starts out and in just over 12 weeks all major organs have been formed and in place--granted they can't all function yet, but seriously, it fascinates me more than anything.  In my life, this has reminded me what a mighty and powerful God that we really serve.  I am not sure how else to describe the development of a baby inside the womb....every organ develops in the right place and can fully function, the heart divides into 4 chambers, I could really go on and on---but do people really think this just automatically happens and it's by chance that everything is placed right where it should be?  Gosh I hope not.  I am not sure how we could find any other explanation than it being the Divine hand of God who is forming each and every child and designing each of us with such intricate detail.  Blows my mind.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. 

Have a GREAT weekend!

MG

Meet Farley

Well, this is my pride and joy, Farley.  He is almost 2 years old now and is pretty much the best ever (contrary to what Gavin thinks)!  However, Farley is quite the mischievous one and seems to constantly find himself in trouble with Gavin.  So, in the near future, my little man is going off to boot camp for Obedience School!  We've decided to do this because I could never dream of giving Farley away when the baby comes, but he is too out of control to be around such a little bitty baby!  We're just looking for him to calm down a little bit---You see, he has this problem where he just can't contain his excitement.  This is something that I have grown to love about him because he is the first one to greet me when I get home from work and jumps all over me and is just overly excited about me getting off work; however, now that we have a baby on the way, I have a feeling this quality of jumping up and uncontrollable excitedness is not going to be near as cute.  Anyway, I'll keep you posted on when we decide to do it---but we're thinking it will be in the next few months.  It will be hard to part with him for a while, but I think it will be for the best.  Anything to convince Gavin we should still keep him around!! =)

12 days and counting until the BIG day that we find out whether we'll be decorating with pink or blue!!! Yay!

Memorable Weekend Trip! =)

We're back from our weekend get-away to Oklahoma, and it was nothing short of fabulous!  Gavin wanted to combine Valentine's Day and our Anniversary all in one since I'll be super pregnant by the time the end of May rolls around, so he took Sunday off from church and we packed up the car!  We stayed Friday night with Gav's parents and, as always, it was so great to see them!  They really are such a blessing and it was great to share some sweet time with them!  Saturday we got up and got ready for the day and headed off to the mall.  Gavin let me buy some new clothes (ALWAYS a treat!) and I wore one of my new dresses (in the pic above) that night to dinner.  I was extremely stubborn about it because I really wanted to wear my new dress to dinner despite the fact that it was like 25-30 degrees outside and it was a short-sleeved, knee-length dress!  Yes, I did freeze, but dangit I got to wear my new dress! =) While we wanted to go somewhere super fancy, apparently Gav and I don't really plan ahead that well because we neglected to call anywhere to make reservations until early Saturday afternoon, and by that time everything was booked since it was Valentine's Day.  Anyway, we ended up going to Cheesecake Factory and it was fabulous!  We ended up staying one more night in Oklahoma and we came home today (Monday) just in time for my dr. appointment.

Basically, this weekend was exactly what Gavin and I needed---just to get away, with no agenda and just have fun!  It was a weekend full of laughs and good memories, and a special time that I'm sure we will never forget!  This was probably our last 'just because' trip just the 2 of us for a real long time since we have a little one on the way, which made this trip all the more special!

My appointment this morning went well--we heard the heartbeat again and the dr. said everything looked and sounded good and healthy!  AND the most EXCITING part of the visit was that we set up our next appointment and on March 9th we will find out whether Baby Greer is a boy or a girl!  Oh my goodness I can hardly stand it!!!  3 more weeks!!

Well, that's it for now.  Until next time........

Oh--here are a few pics.  Gav thought he could make his tummy stick out as far as mine....and this is my "I will beat you everytime look!"

Replacing my doubt

Trust----Reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.

This is dictionary.com's definition of one of my biggest struggles.  I'm not one to trust too easily, it's just not something that comes easily for me.  This past Sunday in church the theme of worship was TRUST, and, this past week Gav and I have had several discussions about trust and what it really means to trust each other, and most important--to trust our God.  My whole life I have been taught to put all of your trust in God and everything will eventually fall into place.  It's something I've heard over and over and OVER again, yet something I never truly sat down and thought about.  Being a control-freak like I am, that thought is absolutely terrifying to me now that I really think about it, but I think that God is really trying to show me something through all of this.  I strongly desire to be that trusting and to have that much faith--to just give everything over to God (who will take care of things so much better than I ever could), but I'm finding that i'm more of a 'doubter' than I thought I was or than I would like to be.  A 'Doubting Thomas,' if you will.  (Have you ever heard that song by Nickel Creek? Random side note....).  

Anyway, it's just been something that's been on my mind, and something that I'm really going to try hard to work on.  It's so easy to believe the lie that I know what's best for me...but that's just denying God's reign in my life and denying His call.  The truth is, I can only see a small small fraction of the big picture that God is painting in my life, and He will give me a bigger glimpse of all the things He has in store for me if I just let Him and let go of the reigns that I think I hold.  I think that's the key--Letting Him, because I know He wants to.  He really does want the absolute best for His children.

That's all I got.  Just a glimpse of the thoughts spinning in my head right now.

P.S. This upcoming weekend Gav and I are taking a little weekend get-away trip for Valentine's Day and to celebrate our anniversary a few months early.  He said he wanted to go somewhere and assumed that I wouldn't really be up to moving, much less going anywhere when our one year anniversary rolled around because i'll be so big, so we're combining it into one! =)  

15 Weeks and growing!

Good News!  We found our camera battery charger!!  Now we can take pictures again, sheesh, I feel like it's been forever!!!  Several people have told me to take pictures to document the growth of my growing tummy...so now, I guess we don't have any excuses not to.  We went to the dr. a few weeks ago and heard the heartbeat of our precious little one! Such a sweet sweet sound!  It's crazy what all is going on inside of me right now and so neat how Psalm 139 is playing out in me....God is designing and forming our little one as we speak and He has amazing plans in store for them.  How cool is that!?!!!   

On another note, we went out to eat to celebrate Mer's birthday last night at Olive Garden.  I love her!  My sister is pretty much the greatest---I can't believe she's 25!!!  I'm so proud of her, she just started back to school to get her masters in counseling so she can pursue her dreams professionally.  It's hard not to be somewhat jealous of that, but I suppose I'll just live vicariously through her!!  Maybe one day I will go back......

Oh we find out the sex March 16th----Feels like forever away, but time will fly i'm sure!  I still can't believe i'm almost 4 months along!  Where did the time go??!

That's all for now.....pictures to come soon, so it's not just my boring writings..... =)

Love y'all!

Just a moment to brag....

This past weekend Gav put on his first Disciple Now/Winter Retreat, and I think it was a big success!  The youth seemed to have a really good time, and hopefully learned something along the way!!  Ya know, Gavin continuously surprises me with how much he can juggle on his plate.  Between gearing up for his last semester of school, being the worship leader at our church, being the student minister, and still managing to be a great husband and take care of his pregnant wife---I am amazed that one person can handle so much.  I would probably breakdown and lose my mind with all of that going on, but he doesn't.  It fascinates me that not only is he able to handle all of those tasks, but he is passionate about each and every one of those things.  (Okay, not so much school, but he is definitely passionate about getting done)!  Anyway, I just wanted to take a minute to brag about my husband, he's pretty great!! =)

I added a countdown at the top right of the screen, so you can all countdown with me until the arrival of Baby Greer!! =)  Oh and good news, as of last Monday, I have made a complete 180 and am feeling TONS better!!  Still get nauseous some, but nothing like what it was! YAY!  Praise God for that!  I go to the Dr. this morning for my 2nd appointment, and we're hoping to get to hear the heartbeat of our little one!  I'll keep you posted!!  Have a great Tuesday!

MG

Life as of Late...

Well, my friends...If I had made this post on Monday or Tuesday, I would have told you the nausea and sickness had definitely let up and things were looking good....however, this is post-Monday or Tuesday, and what a week it has been!  Wednesday, I was in a car accident (completely not my fault)....it wasn't bad at all--thank goodness.  I was rear-ended and will be needing a new bumper and the other ladies' car was beat up pretty bad, but no one was hurt, so that was a blessing.  Hopefully I'll be getting everything squared away with her insurance beginning of this week so I can go get an estimate and get it all fixed up!  This is exactly why Gav says I can never drive a small car anymore and must always drive a tank!  Works out well for me anyway, they're much safer! =)

Thursday, I took a half day at work because I was feeling so puny, only to find out that I had caught a stomach virus....YAY!  So I took Friday off and have been lounging pretty much ever since.  My hope and prayer for this week is that I will continue to feel as good as I did on Monday/Tuesday of last week and have that continue....forever, haha!  I would really like to make it the full week at work!  It's been a while since i've done that (with the holidays and all).  It would be really nice to have a job where you could work at home in times like these don't ya think?

Anyway, on a lighter note, the Papits are in town this week and I mustered up the energy to meet them for lunch w/ Gav today after church!  Gosh we miss them so much.  Wish they'd move back here, but, you can't argue with God's calling and we know and have seen the great things God is doing in them out there in Cali.  We're actually hoping to take a trip out to see all of them somewhat soon to visit and they've asked for Gav's advice for sound equipment and everything, so that is right up his alley! He's stoked about being able to help and he absolutely loves that sort of thing!  He's so talented! =)

No other news really, just living life one day at a time!  Hope you all have a blessed week and that you find God in a new and refreshing way this week!  Love y'all!

Funny How Plans Change....

Well, Secrets out I guess...much to our surprise, on 11/24 (our 6 month anniversary), we found out we were pregnant!  Since then I have had time to pick myself up off the floor, and we really could not be more excited!  Baby Greer should make his/her appearance at the end of July!  It's really neat to look back on everything and just see God's hand in it all!  Before we got married, we were looking at one bedroom apartments because we thought it would just be us 2 for atleast another 2 years or so, but this amazing deal on a house opened up for us and we could not pass it up.  Funny how perfect God's timing is.....while we are just renting it right now, we are so blessed to already have an extra bedroom to put baby in until we can buy our own home! 

If we were going to have a surprise such as this, it really came at a perfect time.  The same day that I got the phone call we were pregnant, is the very day I got my letter in the mail from UNT giving me the go ahead to register for classes.  This has made me completely re-think my life's plans/goals.  I really love the thought of being a coach and I think it would be something I would really excel in, however, I just don't know if I am okay with giving up my nights and being away from my child for that long.  Being a coach requires long hours....before and after school practices everyday, and then game nights 2 nights a week.....I just don't know if i'm up for that, I think I would miss being with my family too much.  It is a bonus that I would have my summers off, but I can't decide if that's worth being away for the other 8 months of the year, ya know?  This is something that I am really going to have to prayerfully consider over the next few months as I have pretty much decided not to start this Spring as I originally thought.  I'm tempted to go back on what I originally went to school for....Play Therapy.  Lots to think about.

To wrap up...I've been feeling okay.  I've had some really rough days and then i've had some really good days, but I am really looking forward to these next 2 weeks being over so I can jump into my 2nd trimester, with high hopes that my energy will all come back and this sickness will subside.  I am so grateful for where we are right now.  It's hard not to feel overwhelmed, inadequate, etc....but how great is it to serve a God that will never give you more than you can handle and that knows the desires of our hearts?  We are so blessed and pray that our child continues to grow to be healthy and strong, and even more so, someone who grows to love the Lord and earnestly seeks Him.