It's a Lucy!!!

A pink blog only seems fitting today!! Doc and I had our 20 week ultra-sound 2 weeks ago, and we found out that we're having another girl!!! Lucy Kay is due to make her grand appearance on February 22nd!! We're super excited!! I'm not gonna lie, there was a bit of dissappointment in Doc's face when the Nurse typed "It's a girl!" onto our ultrasound screen, but he very quickly perked right back up at the thought of having another healthy little lady to giggle all over the house with Miss Jordan :)

Today I had my 22 week check-up! Everything is going fantastic! Thus far, I've gained 3 pounds total. My Dr. is extremelyl pleased with this, as am I, so that was wonderful! If I keep gaining at the rate that I am, I'll only gain about 10 pounds total when I deliver. Did you notice that I said DELIVER??? That's right!!!! Though Jordan was born via C-Section, and there are a billion myths that "Vaginal deliveries after Caesareans are SO dangerous and should never be done" blah blah blah, I am extremely blessed to have a Dr. that believes in looking at the outcome, not the convenience!! The truth of this matter is that the risk associated with a V-Back (Uterus rupture) actually occurs in less than 1% of V-Backs. With the type of incision that I had, the chances are even lower than that! After much research about this subject, Doc and I were praying that I would be able to deliver this baby vaginally, and thank the Lord, that is exactly what we were told today! We are keeping open minds about this for many reasons, the biggest being that God is completely in control of this situation, and if for some reason intervention is needed, we will understand. We are also at the mercy of the Dr. we choose in Washington. The station we are going to doesn't have a military hospital within a reasonable driving distance, so I will be referred out to a civillian hospital. Doc and I will have to work quickly once we arrive to find a midwife, and hopefully a facility that is conducive for natural childbirth! We know we'll have to be in an actual hospital that has an OB/GYN in house as well as an anesthesiologist ready just in case intervention is necessary. We're praying that search will go smoothly!! Will you pray with us?

Our move is in full swing!!! We have dates set for our movers, hotel reservations booked, pet flights ready to reserve, and lots of stuff on the market so that we don't have to move it with us! We're slowly but surely beginning to say "Til next time..." to our awesome friends that have become family here. It's not a fun process, but we're excited for the next chapter!

Thank you all so much for your continued prayers throughout this process!!! We know that God is the reason things are going smoothly and we pray that He continue to lead us! We're SO excited to be physically SEEING many of you in the coming months!!! We'll have more updates soon! Until next time....we love you all!

Happy 4th Birthday Jordan Elaine!!!

I am in disbelief that these pictures were taken 4 years ago!!!

What a beautiful whirlwind life has been ever since....

My precious Jordan Elaine:

4 years ago you blew into your Daddy and I's world like a hurricane! We were scared to death to think that God had chosen us to be parents, thinking there was no way we would ever get the hang of it, nor that it would possibly be something "fitting" for us to do. Little did we know, you were the piece of our hearts that was missing all along!

2 Weeks ago, we celebrated your 4th Birthday! You've grown into such a beautiful little lady, Jordan! Your Daddy and I are so proud of you, and we absolutely LOVE being parents! We love being your parents, Jordy! We want you to know that you are the very best thing that has ever happened to us, for many many reasons! Though it is our hope to teach you all about Jesus, we want you to know that you are the one who led us back to Him! Through your innocence, and your love, your Daddy and I found a greater calling on our lives. We have seen the love of God through the eyes of our beautiful baby girl. We've come to know our Saviour, Jesus Christ, in a way that demands that we give our lives to Him. We see God's divine Will unfolding in our lives, and we're empowered by it!

Loving you makes time go by so quickly! It really seems like yesterday that you were perfectly swaddled (by Daddy, the Master-Swaddler) with a cute pink bow in your hair, and now here you are....4 years old, smart as a whip, beautiful as ever, polite, positive, encouraging, and wonderful in every way. You have a special gift Jordan, and your Daddy and I hope to encourage you and help you develop it over the course of your life. You are a joy to everyone that comes in contact with you, and you can find the good in any situation. You have a heart for prayer, and you use it to pray for every circumstance that you come across. That is a powerful thing, baby.

Jordan, I could keep writing all of the wonderful things about you for days, and still not have enough time to say them all! I want you to know that you have stolen my heart in a way that I never knew was possible. You have given purpose to my life, and I adore you.

Happy Birthday Baby!!!

Love,

Mommy

"Honey, we have orders!!!"

I got the best phonecall bright and early about a week ago! "You better start getting ready for our move.....because we have orders!" In 41 days, we will officially be checked out of this command and on a plane headed to our new duty station: Everett, Washington!! This is great news for us, as this was one of our top choices in orders! Doc and I have been very open with Jordan about our upcoming change and how everything will work, and she has remained completely positive and excited throughout the process so far! Doc's Dad and Stepmother live around 2 hours from Everett, so we'll be able to see them much more often! We also have family in Oregon, and some others in Washington as well! And, of course, my beloved Capistrano's just a short 8-hour drive in Boise, ID!! We already have plans to meet up with them in December, and it definitely cannot come soon enough!!!!

I know I've written before about how much Doc and I have enjoyed our time in Hawaii, and now those memories seem even more vivid and dear with the thoughts of our move coming so quickly. We've had a wonderful time here, but we are most definitely ready to move on. Doc's ready for a deployment break, and frankly, so am I. We're use to being seperated for months at a time for training, deployment, etc., and by the grace of God we handle that seperation very well, but that certainly doesn't mean that we enjoy it. The thought of spending 2 solid years with my husband makes me go weak at the knees, and he feels the exact same way. After 3 years of weekend field ops, weeks on the Big Island, months in California, and half a year in the desert on 2 seperate occasions and long work days even when he's "home", he is feeling the strain and ready for some family time as well. We know that this duty station won't be perfect, and we know that there is still the chance that Doc could deploy as an IA or a MAP, but we're excited for the change and hopeful that it will be just the break we're longing for! Hawaii has been a wonderful twisty-turny portion of Doc's and I's life long journey together, and we're ready for the next phase.

Our days now have been filled with PCS Workshops, meetings with JPPSO (our household goods shipping peeps), taking inventory and photos of all of our possessions, and many many more fun moving tasks! There's been some fun thrown in there too, but for the most part, it's all business right now! We're very much ahead of the curve when it comes to our process right now, and we intend to stay that way, God willing!

We've been in prayer every step of the way, and desire to be even more reliant on God now than ever. We ask that you all pray with us for a smooth move, and for God's direction during the transition. We'll keep you updated every step of the way, and we thank you for all the prayer and support during this time!!

I'll write a little more about the fun stuff in the next couple days, but for now I wanted to update you all on the business stuff :) I hope you all are doing well, and we love you all!