Whirlwind Summer

You know its been too long since your last blog post when it takes you a second to remember how to log on to your account. But that's just how life is right now! I could probably write post after post of what's been going on but I'll try to keep it as short as possible.

Craziness began on June 12. I was at my doctor's office for a routine visit. It started off the same way they always do (height, weight, blood pressure, pregnancy test...yes, the girly doctor). As I was sitting in the room checking email, my doctor walks in with the pregnancy test in hand. He says, "So this might change the course of our discussion today...this is slightly positive." Hmmm, a "slightly positive" pregnancy test?!? Who knew that were possible? I had my suspicions but the test I had taken the day before had been negative. Well, that's not exactly true. When I looked at it, a minute too early, it was negative. When I took the bathroom garbage out the next day, low and behold it was positive! I say this was the start of the craziness not because finding out about my pregnancy was a bad thing. It was actually a very good thing, an amazing blessing from the Lord! After all the trouble we had conceiving with Mary Elizabeth, it seems that the surgery I had 2 years ago really solved the problem. Praise God! As I write this, I am 16 weeks pregnant with a healthy baby BOY and couldn't be happier about it!

The reason I said that the craziness began with that was because, well, it did. It has truly been a whirlwind since then. Here's the synopsis of our summer:

June 16 - I turned 30! I was very much dreading turning the big 3-0 and although I was a little bummed I couldn't bid adieu to my twenties with a nice bottle of wine, my hubby and my sister made it a birthday to remember. They truly spoiled me rotten.

June 22 - Parker and I left for our first mission trip to Sevilla, Spain! Luckily, I did keep up with that amazing trip on my blog because otherwise, I don't know that I would even remember it.

July 2 - We returned home to the most amazing welcome by Mary Elizabeth! She was so excited to see us! However, sometime in the 11 days that we were gone, she became this sassy, independent, boundary-pushing, patience-testing, moody little toddler. Yikes.

July 8 - We had a seller accept a counter-offer on our house!! After being on the market almost exactly a year, we had had one offer that after a little negotiating, was finally accepted. For the entire month of July and first half of August, we spent every free moment and ounce of energy (which in my case was very little), packing the house, researching storage options, talking about floor plans, scheduling inspections, walk-throughs, appraisals, home repairs, etc, etc, etc! Of course, moving in and of itself is crazy stressful. Add onto that an exhausted and nauseous pregnant mamma and a feisty little teething toddler and you have a recipe for chaos.

July 20 - Me and Mary Elizabeth traveled up to Minnesota to visit my dad and tell him and his family that big news about the new little one. (Anyone that has ever traveled alone with a toddler knows why this makes the list of craziness.) That being said, we had a great time and were able to enjoy some much needed respite from all that was going on at home.

August 3 - Out of town family arrived for a long weekend visit. When is the best time to have visitors from out of state? When your entire house is in boxes of course! Luckily, they are family and didn't mind sleeping on a mattress on the floor (since the bed had already been taken apart and packed in the storage unit!)

August 11 - Parker, Mary Elizabeth, and I moved in with my sweet and welcoming in-laws! This doesn't make the craziness list for the reason most people think of when they hear "moving in with the in-laws." It is a bit challenging going from a 3,000 square foot house to a 1.5 bedroom, 1 bath basement. For 2 weeks, we were completely unsettled in both places, trying to balance getting settled in the new place with getting completely moved out of the old place. Praise be to God that our closing date got pushed back 3 times (!) so that we actually had enough time to move out.

August 28 - The day I've waited for ever since Parker asked me to be his wife...the day we sold his bachelor pad!! (Ladies, stay strong. If I can survive the bachelor pad for SIX YEARS, you can too!) Parker said he hadn't seen me smile like I did walking out of that closing in a long time, which says two things: 1-there are no words to describe how badly I've wanted out of that house; and 2-unfortunately, between the stress of moving, the terrible toddler (12-18 mon might officially be my least favorite age), and first trimester hormones, I apparently haven't been smiling much lately.

So here we are, at the end of shortest (yet somehow the longest) summer of my life. In the middle of the process, a girl I work with said that she had read in a devotional about the concept of managing blessings. That when we're stressed and overwhelmed with life and motherhood, we should keep the perspective that it is like that because we have so many blessings to manage. I've tried to keep that perspective throughout all of this but if I'm just being honest, I haven't done a great job with it. It has been hard to truly experience the joy of this pregnancy because in so many ways, it has come at an "inconvenient" time. I say that knowing that it sounds insensitive after all I went through to get pregnant the first time. But because it is not exactly the timing I would have chosen, I rest comfortably in the truth that it is without a doubt God's perfect timing. Isn't it so true that often His timing doesn't align very well with our timing? And now that we're settled in at my in-laws, I'm starting to see all the many ways that this timing is truly better than mine would've been.

I'll try to post some pictures soon of Mary Elizabeth and of course, the ever growing baby bump. I just need to get internet to my home computer! Suffice it to say that the chaos has momentarily (temporarily) subsided. I'm sure with building a new home, moving into that home, and learning how to have two babies under two, more chaos is sure to follow. But luckily, I know I'm not doing it alone.