having a daughter, etc...

I just read a friend of a friend's blog that just had a baby girl March 1st. It caused me to really start thinking of this baby sister growing inside me and of the day she will come. Will she come on June 20th, her due date, like her big brother did? or will she come early or late? I often feel bad that I do not think about her more. I know she is in there, growing and developing, but I guess it just seems so surreal that she is, and that she is a precious baby GIRL. I also have really been treasuring all my days with Griffin, realizing that soon it won't just be me and him all day every day, which makes me sad in a way, not that I'm not excited to meet this new baby girl, though. I just have loved staying home with Griffin these last two years. TWO YEARS! that is so crazy to me! It seems like less time. I love him so much. He will always be my baby boy. He is my first baby, and will always be so, so special to me. These last two years spent with him have been the highlight of my life. They have been the sweetest times. I will hold them so close to my heart all my life. I will miss it just being me and him, and somehow I sense that he also knows that our special "me and him time" is almost over. This evening he grabbed my hand, looked into my eyes and said "wuv you." This was the first time he's told me he loves me on his own. I usually say it and ask him to repeat it to me. My heart melted needless to say. He is just so sweet and such a remarkable child that I definitely do not deserve as my child. I am so thankful for him.

I know I am going to love this baby girl just as much as Griffin and when the third one comes along, I'll be sad that it won't just be me, Griffin, and sister anymore. haha.. not that I won't be thankful and excited to have a third.

Anyways, I am treasuring and pondering all these things in my heart lately-being pregnant, knowing she is a girl, and these last 3 months with just Griffin.

Parks are FUN!

Griffin is loving all these fun parks they have here! We have been to two and can't wait to visit all the others. These pictures were taken at the Catholic school playground that is right behind our neighborhood that we walk to every now and again. We have also noticed that most the neighborhoods in Georgetown have their own playgrounds within the neighborhood, which is really nice. So maybe when we buy a house here we'll have our own little playground to go to. :)

Georgetown-first two weeks

We have been here in Georgetown for two weeks now and it has been so wonderful! We love being back in Texas (no offense New Mexicoers) and have enjoyed our church more than we ever dreamed would have. Someone told us recently that its good for born and raised Texans to leave Texas for awhile, live somewhere else and then come back. We agree. We loved living in New Mexico and came to love it as our own, but coming back to our home state has been very special and refreshing, allowing us to appreciate it even more after being gone for awhile. So Texas is good, Terranova (our church) is amazing and living here has been such a blessing. The best thing, though, would have to be our church. We are extremely grateful to God for bringing us to Terranova. It has been so encouraging and the people, preaching, singing, etc. has ministered to us in very powerful ways. God is so good.
There is also so much to do here! Round Rock is five minutes down the road and has everything! And georgetown is filled with all kinds of stuff to do. Yesterday we ventured out to the river and walked along side it (there are sidewalks) and then we took Griffin down to the water and let him throw rocks in the river for about thirty minutes and after that he still wanted to keep throwing them! We love how in Georgetown you are in a pretty big town but you feel like you can escape to nature. We cant wait to go swimming this summer and wade in the river. They have several public pools and even a mini kiddy water park at the rec center.

We have made several new friends and have had dinner with two different families each weekend we've been here. People have been so welcoming and kind for which we are so thankful.
The house we are living in is very nice and has been such a blessing. Please be praying our house in Clovis will sell. We are being taught a lot of patience through this time and trust in God's timing and plan, knowing it is good and perfect.

PS. Tyler is loving his new job and youth group. He is very thankful to be part of Terranova and get to minister to teenagers here. Please pray for him as he continues to get acquainted with all the kids, etc...

Here are some recent pictures of Griffin. OH! And baby girl is doing great! I went to my new doctor last week and really liked him and his nurse. I am excited to have her here in Georgetown. Just about three more months to go! (we still havent decided on her name yet. Suggestions are welcomed...)

Alone packing in your soon to not be house anymore....

So today was hard, I'm going to admit it. I cried several times. (pregnancy hormones were a factor I'm sure) I have just become so sentimental about our house. And not to mention I am missing Tyler like crazy! He is in Honduras with our new church staff on a missions scouting trip. He has never been out of the country w/ out me! He also isn't able to call me. It was so hard not getting to talk to him today. I am so spoiled! I am used to being able to reach him at all times, so it was very weird today.
My good friend, Jan, kept griffin for me today so I could pack some more without having interruptions and it was very nice but very strange being ALONE! Now my dad was encouraging me about all this alone time I'm getting to have and he told me to enjoy the solitude because soon I'll be so busy with a newborn and toddler that I'll be dreaming of some solitude. So why did I not enjoy my house being silent today? I love having griffin running around the house, dragging all his toys all over the place. I even love him interrupting me wanting me to play with him for a bit or read a book. I love hearing him and tyler wrestling in the living room. Isnt that what a home is for? And I cannot wait to have this sweet baby girl joining in the noise making and filling out home with more life and laughter.
I have had so much time to think today, and my mind could not be kept from thinking of my family and my heart was constantly full of thankfulness to God for blessing me with them. I realized how much I would miss them if they were not with me, and how much I enjoy them each day.

I also kept thinking about our house that will soon be someone elses. This is Tylers and mines first house that we purchased. It was where we brought griffin home from the hospital and where griffin and i played all summer in the backyard making mudpies and swinging. It is where we have shared so many fun memories as a family. It will always be our new Mexico house, our first street to live on, taking walks with griffin up and down it. I will miss so much about it. I miss griffins nursey, the tree in middle of the backyard, all the creeks and noises it makes as you walk down the hall or open a certain door.
I know all this sounds a tad bit silly, but its how I feel. I have loved this house since the first day we walked into it to look at it with our realitor. It has been our home for 3 1/2 years and it will always be special to me.
It is, however, just a house. And you would think it wouldnt be that big of a deal to just pack up and leave. I am just thanking God for providing us with such a sweet and perfect first house. And I know that it really isn't the house in of itself that I have loved so dearly, but the precious times we have had here together as a family with our first child. It has been the best 3 1/2 yrs of my life, and I will always treasure the time we had here.

Georgetown, tx

I'll keep this short, since I have tried to write a long blog post several times with a lot of details and then had to get up to do something, never to get back to it, therefore losing it all.
We are moving! God has called us to a church called Terranova, in Georgetown, Tx., just north of Austin. Tyler will be their student pastor. We will be moving march 4th. We are very excited about this church and place that God has led us to. We are also very sad to be leaving Clovis, the students in the youth group, our church family, and dear friends we have here. It has been hard to juggle so many mixed emotions lately, but we are trusting God and His plan for us and know that He is always good. We thank Him for bringing us to Clovis for 3 1/2 yrs. and for all the many ways He has blessed us by being here.

Please pray for us during this transition.
Pray our house here in Clovis will sell soon and that God would bring a family or person to see it and cause them to love it just as much as we have. (side note: a family that goes to Terrnova has gone to scotland for 6 months, and they are so graciously letting us live in their house until they return, rent free. We praise God for this gift! This will give us time for our house to sell and then hopefully buy another one in georgetown within six months.)
Pray for energy to get everything done we need to get done- packing, loading, driving the 8-9 hr drive to georgetown with griffin, etc.
Pray for griffin, that he will adjust well and continue to sleep well being in a new place.
Pray for safe travel on moving day.
Pray that God would provide central baptist-clovis with a new student pastor who is God-centered and who will teach the word powerfully to the students here.
Pray that God would use us in Georgetown for His names sake and His great purposes, keeping us near Him and worshiping Him always.

Thank you for any prayers prayed. We truly do appreciate them!

21 months and 4 years

Griffin is 21 months old today. Happy 21 months Griff Griff! He is currently at the stage of leaning something new every day and wanting our attention pretty much all the time. Some new words he has conquered are:
Milk
Hi- he must wave as he says this.
Delicious- ok not exactly but he tries really hard.
Stick
Cold
Hair
Nose
Mitch- his uncle
Pig
Pjs
Book
Read
Juice
Hop
Outside
Tree
Glasses

Many more too. We are so proud of him! He loves to point to my belly when asked where is baby brother/sister and then he must kiss my belly. I'll post some recent pics of him soon. Tomorrow I hope to get him out in the snow that is left and take some pics.

On another note, tomorrow is Tyler and mines wedding anniversary! We have been married 4 years! We have loved every single moment of our marriage and look forward to all the years to come. God has blessed us by giving us each other and we are so very thankful for His constant grace and nearness to us as a couple and family.
We are having a date night tomorrow night while our sweet friends, Isaac and Kristie have volunteered to keep griffin for us. We have been saving a gift card from Chritsmas to a local steakhouse here in Clovis and are going to go see a movie. We are extremely excited to get to go do something we used to do together all the time before Griffin. Thankful we have sweet friends who want to stay with g. :)

20 wks

today I am 20 weeks pregnant and feel GREAT! Praising God for the energy and enjoying this second trimester very much. We find out the gender of the baby on Friday! So 4 more days! Will def post a gender announcement then. :)