Oh Jonah

What is this picture you ask? Well, lend me your ear...

This Sunday, my wonderful husband started preaching a new series on Jonah. This weeks was called, "Jonah on the Run." Jonah is not a book I frequent much, and is not something I've studied much. This week we talked about the first chapter where God calls Jonah to Ninevah, but he basically picks up and runs as fast as he can in the other direction. Brian talked a lot about hearing from God and how we respond. This part really resonated with me. The act of hearing God is a tough one- we always ask, "Did I hear that right," or maybe you heard him, but don't want to do it, or maybe we think our plan is just way better. All of these responses I can fully say I'm guilty of.

It's interesting that we just started this series, because last week I was really struggling with all of the changes that have happened in our life. I was feeling homesick, overwhelmed, lonely, and even questioning God's purpose in bringing us here. Let me just say that I am fully confident that we are in the center of God's will in being here, and it's really been a great transition. We have a lot to be thankful for. But that doesn't mean that it's always easy. But listening to the way that Jonah ran from God, I really thought about the way that I've responded to Him.

Brian's sermon had a lot of parallels to running a race. At the end, he showed a video clip from the Olympics on Barcelona, I think maybe in 1992, but can't be sure, where a runner was running the 400 M race and very quickly into it, he pulled a muscle. Years of training and preparation for his dreams to be so quickly crushed. The amazing thing was that after the runner was down for a few seconds- he kept on going. He hobbled his way along that track and midway through, his dad ran out put his arm around him and finished the race with him. Was I crying- yes! It was incredibly touching of how a father comes alongside of his son and carries him. Not only is God doing that with me, but he's already ran ahead of me. Wow- what a great feeling.

I learned that God is more interested in my character and who I'm becoming than my comfort. And, that God will take you where HE wants me to go, but he's saying, "I'm here Shannon, let's finish the race together." So at the end of our service, we all picked up our marathon numbers- 512- yep that's mine, that I can tack onto my shirt and keep running. What a comfort to see through Jonah's story that there is no where we can go to run from God. And more importantly that he wants to run with us.

I'm so excited to continue in the next couple of weeks learning about Jonah. In a week or 2 our new website will be up and if you want you'll be able to listen to Brian's sermons. I hope this is encouraging to you as well wherever you are in the race- that we need to keep running WITH Him who wants to hold us up.

23 Weeks

Today baby girl is 23 weeks! They say at this time, she's about 1 lb and about 11 inches. I feel like my belly is getting bigger just this week. Which also means my body is hurting more! Ah the pains of pregnancy. Oh well, she'll be worth it. I'm feeling better, so I'm so thankful for that!

Big girl

I decided today that it was time to give Halle a little more independence. I told her she could pick out her clothes for today. Tada!! Look at her outfit- a mother could not be more proud than when her child picks out an outfit that matches. I'm glad she's caught onto my fashion sense. She even let me put on this adorable headband for 2 pictures until she couldn't bear it any more. I settled for one pony tail. She even put the skirt on mostly by herself and partially helped with the shirt. My little girl is growing up! Although I said she was little and she said, "you're little too Mommy," I guess that's a compliment and I'm going with it.






And our little reader keeps on keeping on- I love that she loves to read and it occupies much of our days together!



Quick update: Some of you know I had a short visit to the hospital this past weekend for some blood pressure and breathing issues. Everything checked out ok and baby girl is doing great. I'm so thankful for all of our church people who came to our rescue this weekend, especially since Brian was 2 hours away when this all went down. We've been greatly cared for and I've been feeling better- just praying my blood pressure stays normal and I have no more little episodes.

Updates

House: We are planning on closing on our new house on Sep. 30 but there's a chance that date could be moved up which would be fabulous, so we could get in earlier to paint and get everything ready. We are planning on moving on Oct. 3! The countdown is on and I cannot wait!

Pregnancy: I'll be 22 weeks tomorrow- yay! Baby girl is moving a ton and is very happy. I've had a few minor issues with blood pressure, which my doctor assures me is normal mid-pregnancy. I've had to make sure I stay very hydrated and rest lots. But other than that, I'm just so thankful to have my appetite back and to be feeling normal!

Halle: My efforts with potty-training have shrunk back due to the tears whenever "undies," or "sitting on the potty" are mentioned. The once excitement for going potty in the potty has dissolved. Halle is telling me now that, "when I 5 I go to kindergarten." I try to tell her that she is only 2 and 5 is a long ways away. She also frequently requests going to the airport or on a plane to see her grandparents. It's so fun to imagine the thoughts that go on inside her head about the baby. She tells every one that, "Mommy has a baby in her belly," and she'll kiss my belly. She also tells me that when little sister gets here, she'll help feed her a bottle. I just wonder how much of that she really grasps.



Me: My basic point of focus is the house and picking things out and wondering where certain things will go, and what we need to buy. I'm so anxious to be settled and to finally have a place to call "home." At church, I'm heading up our Women's Ministry which has been fun. I'm in a women's group reading a book called, "The Search for Significance," which has been really great so far and a chance to go deeper in relationships with other women. We're also launching another group based on the book, "Apples of Gold," which I've been wanting to start for years. It's going to be great and I'm so glad I found a group of women to pull it off. I also joined the Early Childhood PTA, which meets once a month and then has events in-between for moms and their kiddos. There's a few ladies I know who are in it, and it will be a great way to meet new people. So we're staying busy!

Brian: Brian is doing a great job at our new church- it's been wonderful to see him fit so perfectly into a role as the lead pastor. He's making many changes and doing great things. Our new website will be up soon and then I'll post the link so you can check it out. Our church has many needs and our biggest right now is finding a more permanent facility to meet in. We have to set up and tear down each week and it's getting exhausting and limiting for what we want to do as a church. I've never seen a church with so many people serving and giving of their time, and that's amazing to see.

That's about it for now!!

Kelsey Lu

Today we said goodbye to Kelsey. Kelsey was the most wonderful dog, pet, and friend. There is no other dog, so friendly, so loving, so faithful, so obedient than Kelsey. Unfortunately her life was cut short due to kidney failure, and today was her last day. Going "home" will not be the same, and Halle's best play mate will be gone. If Kelsey could write to us now, I believe she'd say something like this...


I will miss you all,

I will miss:
my nightly walks, my bones, trying to get a treat out of my kong, visits from Grammy, laying next to you when you're on the couch, table scraps from Dad, playing at the park with Halle, watching you water the flowers, sitting on the lawn watching people go by, the sound of you coming home, long pets from Quinn, getting my belly rubbed, playing with Lucy, all of the attention, sitting by your side, playing tug-of-war with my sock toy, my duckie, feeling how much you all loved me, and being a part of your family.

Thank you for the best life a dog could ask for!

Love, Kelsey Lu

I know some people don't understand the dog-owner relationship, but Kelsey was truly a part of our family and will be missed greatly. Halle talks about Kelsey nearly every day so I'll have to figure out how to tell her about "doggy heaven."

Goodbye Kels- Sweet Dreams!

Football season is here!

This weekend kicked off college football and our house loves football! I surprised Brian with making him a cake for his favorite team, LSU and we were all dressed in our gear. Both of our teams pulled off wins this weekend which was great and made it fun for us to cheer them on. Go Irish! Go Tigers!! Halle is getting the hang of cheering for the Tigers, but mostly still says, "Go Cubs!"









And here are a few other pics from our past week, playing at the park and at the apartment. Only a few more weeks until we close on the house- it seriously can't come soon enough! I can't wait!

Potty time 101

This week began Halle's potty training. This involved many pairs of "undies," skittles, a potty chair, many hours sitting on that potty chair (or in my case watching her sit on the potty chair), many instructions on not going pee pee on the undies, and an occassional sucker. I feel like we had success, but I also feel like we have a long way to go. Halle did a good job going a few times in the potty. A few times, I think she doesn't think about it and we had an accident. That's why when we went out anywhere, we went back to the diaper. I feel like it was a good week introducing the potty and stocking up on "undies." I think all of Kohl's knew we were shopping for undies, as she yelled through the store, "undies where are you? I'm getting new undies!" My little girl is slowly learning and I feel like we'll continue to make progress. Here she is one on of her many stints of sitting on the potty.









And here's what Halle's doing when I'm not looking




In other news, I'm 19 1/2 weeks now and I think I finally kicked the morning sickness. Thank you God! Just this past week, I've started to feel more like myself. I'm so thankful there was an end to all of that. I'm excited to have 2 little girls and to dress them alike and to watch them become the best of friends. I hope! Halle is enjoying telling everyone about "little sister" and likes to say hello to her by kissing my belly. We've brainstormed name ideas but haven't come up with anything we really like, so good thing we have some time! When we decide, we're going to wait to reveal the name until she arrives, so you'll have to stay tuned!

And we finally think we have a house! After 4 months of searching every day, we've landed on one. We are set to close on it at the end of September, so we're praying everything goes smoothly and that the date doesn't get pushed back so that we can get in and paint before we move in. The timing should be perfect for us to move out of our apartment and into the house. We are soooo excited to finally have a home after 1 1/2 years of being in temporary housing. I can't wait to decorate and have something that's my own. I'm waiting to post pictures until after it's officially ours, so hang in there! I think that's about it for us! I'm looking forward to fall and for some cooler weather! TX is sure hot! And I'm ready for some relief!

So proud

Yesterday was the big day! My dad was baptized! Here he is after the big dunk! I was so bummed that I wasn't able to be there on such an important day, but my mom was able to video tape it and send it to me. It was amazing to see. You see, my spiritual heritage begins with my parents. Both of them became Christians as adults and thankfully raised my brother and I in the church. I remember my baptism- around age 10. I actually attempted one time a little younger than that and when it was my turn to get baptized, I cried and chickened out. I've witnessed many baptisms since then, large ceremonies, small ones- simple and more extravagant. They all leave me with the same feeling of excitement and celebration. When my dad told me recently about his decision to be baptized, I was thrilled. I've seen his faith grow immensely over the span of my life, as he's seen in me. And it's a great moment of pride for me to watch him as he made this important step in his faith. Wish I could have been there Dad, I love you and am so proud to be your daughter!

Halle was right!

She said she was getting a sister and she is! We saw our little girl this morning on the ultrasound and there she was! We were both really surprised, but we're excited for Halle to have a sister! I guess her big sister had intuition!

Louisiana

We just got home from another week away. We were able to go to Louisiana for the week to spend with Brian's family. We were very busy doing lots of activities and seeing lots of people. Halle loved spending time with her Mimaw and Pipaw and Aunt Lisa. We were able to go to the zoo and to a little Children's Museum while we were there. Brian and I took a day and went to New Orleans to visit some friends which was a fun day away.








In house news..we were negotiating on one house and have decided to move on. We're really hoping to find something in the next 2 weeks in order for the timing to be right for us moving out of our apartment. There doesnt seem to be any great options at this point, so we're really praying for just the right house to come along!

Baby is now 17 weeks and hopefully I'll be feeling better any day. I had a good day yesterday, so keeping my fingers crossed. Hopefully we'll find out the sex of this baby tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Home away from Home

This week we've had an amazing time in Naperville at my parents house. It has been so wonderful to be here with them for the week. Here are a few of my favorite things about this week...

1. Being outside- it's so much cooler here than TX!
2. Driving with the windows down
3. Driving.- Bri and I share a car now, so it's been wonderful to have some freedom
4. Babysitters
5. Spending time with my parents
6. Seeing so many friends and family members
7. Doing no housework
8. Doing no cooking
9. Naps
10. Watching Halle with her grandparents
11. Seeing the arrival of one of my best friend's first baby

Here's some of what Halle did this week...

A lot of playing with Nana and Papa outside!







My mom took us to the cutest restaurant called 2 Toots right by the train tracks where a train brings you your food. It was so cute!






We went to a mini zoo









Playing with cousins- Karen and I are pregnant for the 2nd time together- she's 2 weeks ahead of me.





And just a few more- and yes that's my 91 yr. old Grandmother on her knees playing with Halle. We'll be sad to leave, but excited to get back to Brian.







Today marks 16 weeks and I'm not feeling better yet, so I'm hoping any day! And we put an offer on a house and are waiting to hear back, so we'll see!

Around our house...

Saturday was a great day because the ladies at our church had a Welcome Tea for me. It was held at a nearby french bakery type restaurant. The food was very yummy and many ladies showed up to simply say, "Welcome," and to get to know me better. We played a few games and they took a quiz about me. I was also able to share my testimony with them so they could see a little bit more of who I am. Below is what I came home with- a beautiful cookie bouquet that represented Texas. The heart cookie in the back said, "Deep in the heart of..." and then the Texas shaped cookie was in front of that. It was so cute!



This is Halle in her new bathing suit going to the pool. Our church had a big event on Sunday at a water park in our town and we left the park with no bathing suit for Halle. I'll spare you the details, but let's just say a constipated child + a laxative= a bathing suit that goes in the trash. Halle is getting more comfortable in the water, the more we go swimming and loves to wear her bathing suit!





This was my conversation with Halle in the pool.
H: Bye, have to go to work
M: Where do you work?
H: Have to go to meeting, have to go to lunch
M: Oh ok, well we're going to go home in just a minute.
H: 5 minutes.
M: Oh ok, Halle


This is what happens when Halle disappears for 30 minutes- a big mess!




She is becoming quite the little mommy. She loves to take her baby for walks and feed her a bottle. I've caught glimpses of her rocking her and last night as I was washing dishes, Halle came in and took the dish towel off the hook and wiped the baby's mouth- then returned to what she was doing! So precious!




In other news: I'll be 15 weeks tomorrow (Friday) and I have had about 2 days of feeling better- so I'm holding my breath, but hopefully I'm on the way to no morning sickness! Halle and I will be flying to Chicago this weekend to spend the week with my family, so I'm especially hoping to feel good with all the traveling. And, we have a really strong potential house that we're looking at. We're getting the roof checked out today, so please pray that if this is the house for us that we'll know and everything will work out accordingly!