The Name

Before we find out the gender of our new arrival, we already had both of our names picked out. I had liked the name Silas for a long time because of his role in the NT(before a husband was in the picture) and was thankful that JP was open to the idea. We threw around some other names though because I wasn't fully convinced by the meaning of Silas. I really like names with strong meanings, and Silas means "man of the forest". This isn't a bad meaning but it seemed kind of silly. One morning while I was praying for our baby and thinking about names, Jeremiah 17:7-8 came to my mind.

"Blessed is the man who trust in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord, for he will be like a tree planted by the waters that extends its roots by the stream, and he will not fear when the heat comes but its leaves will be green and it will not grow anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit."

That sealed it for me. This verse reminded me of the forest, and this would be my prayer for my child. Thus we were set on Silas.

The middle name was a little more difficult for us to settle on. We made a list of Bible names with strong meanings and also some family names (none of which had strong meanings). I was leaning toward Charles because I wanted to honor my grandfather, JP was leaning more toward a Bible name. I decide to leave the decision up to JP- and the wonderful husband I have decided to honor my grandfather and go with Charles.

Charles means- "manly" or "free man". The verse we chose to go along with his middle name is Galatians 5:1- "It is for freedom that Christ has set you free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery."

So- Silas Charles it is!! I can't wait 'til he gets here.

The beginning of baby

I found out that I was pregnant on March 5th or 6th. I had been suspecting this was the case for about a week, but I didn't want to waste a pregnancy test, so I waited to take it. After attending our women's conference at church, I went home, snuck into the bathroom without JP seeing me, and took the test. It didn't take long for the two lines to appear and confirm my suspicions. I would not say that it was a surprise, but at the same time, I wasn't really expecting it or planning on it quite yet, so I honestly wasn't sure what to think I didn't know what JP would think.

I composed myself and got JP to go on a walk with me. We walked to where he proposed to me. I then told him sweet things and gave him a button that read "Future Father". His face lit up and he said "Really!!"- He thought it was great and I started crying. I must say that it took us a while to get used to the idea, but now we love it!

We waited a few weeks before we told anyone, partly because I wanted to tell family in person before anyone else knew, but mostly because I had a lot of fears about early miscarriage because we found out at 4 1/2 weeks. But God has taught me a lot about that. At every stage of pregnancy there is the possibility that something could go wrong. There is this baby growing inside of you (and aside from basic health choice) and yet you have no control over the situation and you cannot see what is going on. God teaches us from the very beginning that we have to trust God with out children- it isn't going to change when I can see him, his growth and development (physically and spiritually) is up to God, no matter how much control I may think I have. I must give Silas to God from the very beginning.

Belly Shots

I confess that I have kind of forgotten how to post pictures correctly on Blogspot, but here are a few pictures of my growing belly- though not too recent. I will try to get better at this. This is in July sometime- I don't remember how many weeks.
This was the middle of May- a little over 3 mos along.
This was at 18wks- at our gender party where we revealed that we are having a boy.
Obviously, this is the pregnancy test.

I'm Back

My last post was featured a picture of my newborn nephew who is now 3 years old. It has been a long time and a lot has changed in my life. I was really planning to just start a new blog, but I couldn't decide on a name, so this one stays for now.

Since my last post I have gotten married

Earned a Master's Degree

And we are now expecting a baby boy- Silas Charles. I will put a new post about that one.

My life seems to be constantly changing. I am trying to learn however that I need to cherish the moment I am in and not keep looking ahead to what is coming next.

So, I am going to try to be faithful to keep this blog updated- mostly regarding Silas and our life once we move overseas again.