Before I get to the typical weekly update and belly pictures, I want to share a little something...
This past week was a VERY hard week for me. It had nothing to do with the pregnancy, but my emotions were probably heightened because of it. In January Ray and I began looking to buy our first home. (Yes we are the crazy ones who like to do everything all at once...if you've known me for any length of time, you know that that's simply how I function...at one point, towards the end of my undergrad I was working 3 jobs at the same time, going to school full-time and planning a wedding...I graduated on May 6th of 2006 and got married on May 14th...so, if you don't know me very well, don't be too surprised that Ray and I would decide to pursue buying a house, while being pregnant, while both going to graduate school, while...).
So anyways, in January we met with our Realtor, Shaun (who is AWESOME!!!), and set out on our house search journey. Well, it's been quite a journey. Only a week after starting to look, we found a house that we liked - put an offer in on it and it just didn't work out. A few weeks later, we found another - put an offer on that one and someone came in with a cash offer right after that. UGH! A little under three weeks ago, we found another house (we'll call this house #3), put an offer in on it and let's just say, we never heard back from the listing agent. After a few days, we submitted an amendment to our offer, stating that if we didn't hear back by 5pm the next day, that we'd pull our offer. Well, we heard nothing and we pulled our offer. Last week we found house #4 and boy did we think this was THE ONE. It was a great house, lots of potential, much bigger than we needed, but the price and location was right and there was a lot we could do with it. So, same as usual...we submitted an offer. We heard back after two days with a counter offer from the sellers. We accepted the counter offer and they were to have the ratified contract to us within the hour. Ray and I (especially me) were totally stoked. It was a done deal, we finally had a contract on a house! Yeah, well, the contract never came and never came and never came. Three days later our Realtor finally heard back and the sellers were "having second thoughts"...the next day we found out that they had received two more offers, both higher than ours. Let's just say, I was devastated. I had done so well up to this point to not allow myself to get attached to ANY house that we looked at, but this one just seemed right and we had been told that we had an agreement on a price and were expecting the contract. Long story short, this past Friday we decided to revise our offer, offering more than the other two offers that came in. Late Friday night we found out that the sellers accepted one of the other offers...an offer lower than ours, but had conventional financing (we're doing FHA). I was pretty upset. To be completely honest, it was really hard to acknowledge that it just wasn't where God wanted us.
While all this was going on last week, I noticed that house #3 had gone under contract. I remember saying to myself, "That's great...at least someone got a response on their offer." Well, Saturday morning we received an email from our Realtor. He had forwarded an email from the listing agent of house #3 - she was asking for Ray and I's birth date's and social security numbers. We all wondered why she was asking for this information because, remember, we had pulled our offer from this house because we never heard anything following the submittal of our offer. We soon came to find out that house #3, which had gone under contract earlier last week, was actually under contract with the offer Ray and I put in on the house almost three weeks ago. We had a ratified contract on a house and we didn't even know it. At first I was VERY upset. I didn't understand how someone could just ratify a contract with our offer when they never corresponded with us and especially after they had been notified that our offer was pulled. Thank God for my patient, calm, wise husband who was quick to remind me that we've been trusting God this whole time for the right place and that didn't it seem He had us in the palm of His hand, protecting us again? My response to his reminder was "Yes Ray, BUT I JUST WANT TO BE MAD FOR A FEW MINUTES! JUST LET ME BE MAD!" Oh boy...it was an emotional and very hard week and I can just imagine that God was watching me (and my foolishness), as I tried to control all these situations myself, and just laughed because I really had NO idea what was coming down the line.
Our good news...we have a contract on a house! It's a great house, in a great neighborhood and we are very excited! It is a short sale, so we have to wait for the sellers' bank approval. Ray and I are believing that God is in COMPLETE control and His will will be done!
This whole situation last week really reminded me of how much God is in control of our lives. The Lord really brought me to my knees this weekend as I was quickly reminded of how much I want His will to be done in my life and not my own - His way, not mine. Hillsong United has a song on one of their latest CD's called Arms Open Wide and I think the lyrics really capture the heart of this...This was my plea to God this weekend...
Take my life I lay it down
At the cross where I am found
All I have I give to You oh God
Take my hands and make them clean
Keep my heart in purity
That I may walk in all You have for me
Oh here I stand
Arms open wide
Oh I am Yours
And You are mine
Take my moments and my days
Let each breath that I take
Be ever only for You oh God
Oh here I stand
Arms open wide
Oh I am Yours
And You are mine
My whole life is Yours
I give it all
Surrendered to Your Name
And forever I will pray
Have Your way
Have Your way
Oh here I stand
Arms open wide
Oh I am Yours
And You are mine
I truly want my life to be all His...to surrender every part of it to His will. And I want this for my daughter as well...I want her to see her father and I walking in God's will everyday in everything we do...
Alright, so onto the weekly update...
27 Weeks, 6 Days
27 Weeks, 6 Days
Fun Baby Facts:
This week, baby girl weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, her brain is very active now. Her retina will develop this week. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. (Taken from www.babycenter.com)
How Am I Doing?
I have been feeling really good. Baby girl is moving so much. She is definitely NOT afraid to let me know or remind me that she's there. Every time I bend or lean over, she kicks...as if to say "Listen you are crowding my space!" HA! I remind her every time that it's MY belly she's in and that technically is MY SPACE. She's not listening though because she keeps kicking. I think that she had the hiccups last week...it was hard to tell, but the movement was more rhythmic than her normal kicks, so it was definitely something.
Something really special happened this weekend. Saturday night Ray and I were laying in bed (one of the rare times that we actually both went to bed at the same time) and she was moving so much. Ray has tried before to put his hand on my belly and feel her move, but it seems that she stops moving when he tries. Well, Saturday night, he placed his hand on my belly and after about a minute, she gave one really good kick. The look on Ray's face was priceless. It brought tears to my eyes. Our little girl made her presence known to her father and I loved it! It was so special to me for him to really connect with her for the first time. AMAZING!
It's really hard to believe that our daughter will be here in less than 90 days. We're in the home stretch now! Every day we get more and more excited to meet her face-to-face!
This week, baby girl weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, her brain is very active now. Her retina will develop this week. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. (Taken from www.babycenter.com)
How Am I Doing?
I have been feeling really good. Baby girl is moving so much. She is definitely NOT afraid to let me know or remind me that she's there. Every time I bend or lean over, she kicks...as if to say "Listen you are crowding my space!" HA! I remind her every time that it's MY belly she's in and that technically is MY SPACE. She's not listening though because she keeps kicking. I think that she had the hiccups last week...it was hard to tell, but the movement was more rhythmic than her normal kicks, so it was definitely something.
Something really special happened this weekend. Saturday night Ray and I were laying in bed (one of the rare times that we actually both went to bed at the same time) and she was moving so much. Ray has tried before to put his hand on my belly and feel her move, but it seems that she stops moving when he tries. Well, Saturday night, he placed his hand on my belly and after about a minute, she gave one really good kick. The look on Ray's face was priceless. It brought tears to my eyes. Our little girl made her presence known to her father and I loved it! It was so special to me for him to really connect with her for the first time. AMAZING!
It's really hard to believe that our daughter will be here in less than 90 days. We're in the home stretch now! Every day we get more and more excited to meet her face-to-face!
1 comment:
Great to hear the updates!
love you guys!
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