This weekend, hubby and I will celebrate our 2 year anniversary.  I can’t believe how fast the past two years have FLOWN by. They have been absolutely amazing and I really expect them to get even better.  I wanted to share a few things I’ve learned from being married.

How deeply our God loves us.

If marriage has taught me anything…It has taught me about love.  True love. Agape love.  The love that is so deep that only God can give.  I always thought I had a bit of a grasp on how God loves us.  I had John 3:16 memorized.  I knew despite all we do, that He loves us. I’ve been told all that my entire life.

It was until saying I do, and beginning a life with this man that God had created for me, did I realize I didn’t understand His love at all.  It is unconditional.  Unbelievable.  Something we as humans can’t wrap our minds around.  But God created marriage between a man and a woman to to perfect, pure and intimate.  Just like He wants our relationships with Him to be.

My husband has taught me how to love fully.  For that, I am forever grateful.  I have a deeper love for our Father who created us with each other in mind. I have a deeper love for my husband each and everyday.  It’s truly a beautiful and perfect thing.

I’ve had some people asking to see pictures of Baby Girl’s Nursery, so I thought I would post some.  We aren’t completely done with it yet, but close.  On the pink & black striped wall behind her crib, we’re going to do her name but since it’s a secret that can’t go up yet!! I’m also planning to hang an electric guitar on the wall between the crib and changing table but haven’t found the perfect one yet.

Living in SoCal, we have a pretty small home and the nursery is really tiny. So we had to make do with the space we had.  I think we did a pretty good job of making things fit, and hopefully someday we’ll have a much bigger room for her to grow with!

Here it is…the nursery for our little Rockstar!!

I can’t wait to have our little girl here in just a couple weeks!!!

We made it!!!!! FULL TERM!!! I would be more than happy to kick this kid out of Hotel KK any day now.  I’m exhausted. I’m tired.  I’m done. So come on baby girl…come see us soon!

37 Weeks

I went to the doctor yesterday to check up on the little alien in my belly and the doctor told me it could literally be any day now…or a couple weeks.  Real helpful there doc. I’ve been having some really intense contractions, which makes me think more on the any day now side of things but who knows! So, I decided that it was about time to start getting packed up for the hospital and get things ready for our baby girl to arrive.

Since getting pregnant I think I’ve actually cleaned the house maybe 3 or 4 times. Yeah, in 9 months.  That’s awesome.  And gross.  Thanks to my amazing hubby, he’s really pitched in and helped out around the house a ton.  I figured since I’m on maternity leave now, and our house is a disaster zone I better do my part to clean up.  So the house cleaning is underway.

Thanks to so many of you, I have some great ideas of what I need to pack for the hospital.  I’ve gotten started and plan to finish up in the next couple of days. So if she does decide to make her appearance a little early, hopefully I’ll at least have our bags packed!

The biggest thing…I am officially starting laundry for the baby today.  It begins.  Motherhood.  The caring for another life. The LAUNDRY. As I put my first load of tiny baby clothes in the washer today, I can’t help but wonder how many years it will be until I am back to washing for just me and the hubs.  Kind of a crazy thought.  It is very fun to see piles of  little people clothes around. Although, I seriously think she has more clothes than both of us put together.

Please continue to pray for us as we prepare for our little munchkin.  We are so excited to introduce her to you!!

Yesterday the hubby had his wisdom cut out of his mouth.  With the hubby on pain meds, we thought it was best that he didn’t blog so he asked me to guest blog over at brookjames.com!

Click here to read my recap of the fun day we had!

I am VERY pregnant.  I want nothing more than to be un-pregnant. However, this could possibly be the worst week for Baby Girl to make her entrance.

Today the hubby is getting his wisdom teeth yanked out.

My doctor is on vacation all week. Ouch.

It’s the first week of my maternity leave, and I selfishly want some more time to myself.

Still don’t know how to put the car seat in. Yikes.

And that’s just a few of the major things.  So baby girl, get cozy. None of this coming a week or two late, but none of this coming 3 weeks early either.  Give mommy two more weeks and then you can come a week early! She has started to drop quite a bit and the contractions continue to prepare my body.  All is very exciting, but we don’t need a baby this week.

To my Valentine…

You are my best friend. The love of my life.  I love you for a million reasons, but here are just a few.

There is no one else in the world I can be completely vulnerable with, but still completely comfortable with. I can laugh, cry, wear no make up, be afraid, be confident….be the REAL me.  You know the real me, and you love every bit of me.  That is something I will never understand, but will be happy to continue to try to understand for the rest of my life.

You have been there for me for the past 9 months through the ups and the downs. Thank you for taking me to Babies R Us just to play on the days that I thought I couldn’t take it anymore.  Thank you for constantly telling me I’m going to be a great mother when I doubted myself.  Thank you for taking care of me. It hasn’t been an easy ride, but you’ve been there every step of the way to help make me as comfortable as possible and be my constant encouragement. Only 26 days until we meet our daughter!

In 5 years. In 20 years. In 50 years. YOU are the one I want by my side. You are the one that makes me laugh. You are the one that holds my hand through the hard times, and rejoices with me through the good times.  You are the father of my children.  You bring more joy to me than I could have ever known. You are the one I want by my side until our time here is done.

You’re sexy. And we’ll leave it at that, because after all our parents are probably going to read this

You will always be my #2 love. You encourage me to walk daily with our Savior, and you help me understand how much God loves me through the love you show me.  I never knew a love so deep until I knew you, and could even get a glimpse at how much our Father loves us.  You are the leader of our relationship, and I know you will be an incredible leader for our children. What an amazing earthly daddy our baby girl has.

I love you baby, more than I can ever tell you. Thank you for being the love of my life, and teaching me how to love.  The past two years being married to you have been more than I could have ever hoped for.  Happy Valentines Day!

February 12th.  I really thought this day would never come. It’s officially my last day of work for 3 1/2 months!!!! Yippeeeeeeeeee!! I am so excited to be able to take the next few weeks to rest and really prepare for Baby Girl to arrive.  I keep hoping she comes early to put me out of my misery, but I also wouldn’t be opposed to having the full 4 weeks to just rest.

This week our doctor told us that she thinks we’ll have a smaller baby just from her judgment, and I’m really hoping for about a 7 pounder.  As long as she’s not walking out as a toddler then I’ll be fine All is going great with baby, and we seem to be right on track! The contractions are really keeping my body busy and exhausted, but also it’s good that my body is already preparing. Only 4 weeks to go!

36 Weeks

Integrity comes from the Greek words ‘integritas’ and ‘integra’ meaning whole. It’s a belief system without faltering no matter how dangerous, how unpopular the person makes themselves to others. It includes things such as: sincerity, keeping one’s word, honesty, truthfulness, ethics, fairness and justice, punctuality and never faltering for what you believe in.

Dictionary.com says that integrity means “adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.”

How often do Christians not live in a state of integrity?

We assume that because we’re Christians, people will let things “slide” in a business sense.  We assume that people know we’re Christians, so we can get away with being unfair. We play our “God Card” and think that will automatically get us in the clear.  Integrity is a foundation that we build on, we can’t just keep assuming. We all know what assuming does

As Christians, we should set the standard, not fall under the world’s standard. I believe that living a life of integrity is one of the greatest ways we can set ourselves apart and stand out in a positive way. Integrity is something that I always strive for, but not sure I always uphold.  It’s the times when I find myself forsaking what I believe in just for the sake of not wanting to stand out. I should want to stand out!

I encourage you live a life of integrity. Of honesty. Above reproach.  Different.

Sometimes I fear that I don’t take the time enough to brag on my hubby and tell him how proud I am of him.  I always hope he knows, but I never want to take for granted that he does.  Being a pastor’s wife isn’t always an easy job, as I’m sure my fellow PW friends can agree.

It’s a difficult balance of “work and life”, when your life revolves around your ministry and serving others. My hubby is amazing at this.  Sure, sometimes he brings his work home.  But he does a good job of knowing when it’s time to unplug and focus on me. He’s practicing well for being an amazing daddy by taking his days off to spend with his family.  I’m so thankful for this.  Although him being pulled in a million directions can get hard from time to time, it’s a blessing to get to be a part of what he does. It’s not just his ministry, it’s OURS. I love that he makes me a huge part of it and always values my opinion so highly.

I’ve been a bit of a wreck for the past 8 months.  It’s not been easy on me to be pregnant, and that could have put a lot of pressure on our marriage because it’s hard for me to focus on it a lot of the time.  He has stood by me every step of the way. He tells me I’m beautiful when I feel the size of a house.  He encourages me. He tells me it will be over soon (that’s the best thing I can hear these days…). He never questions his feelings for me.

As women, it’s not always easy to be vulnerable with our spouses.  Especially when we want them to see us as beautiful and as perfect as possible.  But we’re in this thing…for better and for worse.  I’ve had my fair share of “worse” days lately, and he’s not left my side for a second.  And he won’t leave my side during our better days either.

One of the best days is to come, when we see our baby girl for the first time.  I can’t imagine a better man to share this with and to be the father of my children.  Thank you baby for all you for our ministry and our family.  You are truly my hero.